You can’t spell Michelangelo without Elan Gale. Sir, you’ve done it again.
The FBoy Island creator has pulled off another masterful season of reality-dating chaos, and he saved the best twist for last. Forget about FBoy Island. Haven’t we seen all the FBoys the world has to offer? FGirl Island is where it’s at, baby!
Hearts were broken. Relationships were solidified. New villains emerged out of the shadows. Yes, the last two episodes of FBoy Island had it all. During the “Mansplain”—in which every guy convenes on the island one last time to air their grievances on the remaining dudes—the first twist dropped: Tamaris traded Nice Guy Tom out for Nice-ish Guy Niko. This didn’t even matter, but cool.
Then, the girls embarked on 24-hour dates with their final two—for Tamaris, Casey and Niko; for Louise, Mercedes and Benedict; for Mia, Peter and Danny. After a summer of weeding out FBoys from Nice Guys, the girls faced their final decision. Select a Nice Guy, and you get to split the $100,000 cash prize. But laud an FBoy as your final decision, and the money’s in their hands.
That’s not all. This season, host Nikki Glaser presented the girls with a surprise bonus option as they waited for their men to arrive. If any lady desired to keep the money for herself, she could reject both men and pocket the $100,000.
If anything, the sophomore season of FBoy Island found that, yes, Nice Guys do finish last. None of them walked away victors in the end. But does that mean an FBoy can’t reform himself to be a better man for the right woman? The jury’s still out, but we’ll unpack as much as we can about what the season finale taught us and what we’re hoping for next.
Fletcher: So, first of all: What do we think of the ladies’ choices?
Laura: I love that Tamaris took the money. Screw these guys, get paid! I could NOT believe Mia chose Peter though…
Danny seemed genuinely upset and blindsided. Do we think Mia made some real promises and flaked, or was this an overreaction to the shock of the moment? I wonder what those alleged pinky promises were!
Allegra: Based on everything the guys had to say about Danny during the mansplain—they really tore him a new one!—I think it was him blowing the situation out of proportion.
Fletcher: I felt like I never saw Danny and Mia’s real connection, but there clearly was one there. There was a lot more focus on Peter and her scrambling after only selecting FBoys.
Allegra: Yeah, that did feel abrupt.
Fletcher: I just never felt super connected with Danny. I wasn’t rooting for him or against him.
Allegra: I liked him at first, but the things he allegedly said were bad, even if Mia doesn’t believe they’re true. And that was hard to shake.
Fletcher: I think she made promises to both guys to try and convince them to split the money with her. That’s my bet.
Laura: You are both very wise.
Allegra: I will say: It was very telling that on the final super-dates, both of Mia’s guys asked if she was going to kill them.
But the way you feel about Mia is how I feel about Louise. Mercedes??? Really????? Benedict was ROBBED!
Fletcher: I’m going to be honest with you—before I read Laura’s interview with Tamaris, I felt that Casey was robbed, too. But after that interview I was 100,000 percent on Tamaris’ side.
Laura: VINDICATIONNNN
Fletcher: I’m sorry to Mia, but I was betting on Peter taking the money. Same with Mercedes. They didn’t make themselves out to be villains, but I don’t really like them, either.
Laura: Same, re: Peter. I had thought Mercedes might be playing the long game for a reformed FBoy arc; it makes sense that some of these boys thought bigger.
Allegra: F Boys—and F Girls!—won the season, and I don’t know how I feel about that!
Fletcher: So, with this season’s ending—do nice guys always finish last?
Laura: Evidently they do on this island! But never in my heart. <3
Fletcher: Every girl wants one trip to hang out with the fellas at Nice Guy Grotto.
However: Were all these dudes really nice guys? Or just “Nice Guys”?
Allegra: Okay, that’s a great point.
Fletcher: On-camera Nice Guys.
Allegra: Especially after what we learned from Tamaris about Casey. I do think that some of these guys must be nice, right??? Tom is absolutely a Nice Guy, in ways good and bad. All of this is performance, though, and if you’re gonna join a show like this, you’re probably not THAT nice. These girls were horny, and bad boys are more cool with being horny on camera, is where I’ve landed.
Laura: My thing is also, why fork over tens of thousands to a dude I know I won’t wanna actually date? Even if he is “nice”?
Fletcher: There were some guys who seemed nice—Asante, JaBriane, Benedict—but they all felt more friendly than sexy.
Allegra: Totally. And regarding the money… that’s why Tamaris made the best call, right? She chose herself and the money.
Laura: I think so!
Allegra: When Louise chose Mercedes she was SOBBING out of fear that she made a horrible choice, and it’s like… well, yeah! You are sacrificing money either way.
Fletcher: I’ve always felt a little weirded out by a show that will only reward its women with $50k max, but men can win $100k—if they’re douchebags. So I’m glad they made that change.
Fletcher: Ok, but in that vein—while I’m proud of Tamaris for her selection, I’m a little confused. Did she come into the whole season as an FGirl? Or was she just playing that off once the money option was announced?
Laura: I think they retconned that.
Allegra: Yeah, I think so, too—they showed certain ways she reacted and things she said in a new light after she chose the money and called herself an FGirl.
Like, she had said she’d cheated before, she didn’t like to commit, etc. etc. etc. Which doesn’t inherently make her an FGirl but she decided to lean into that by the end.
Fletcher: “I came in as an FGirl” was so confusing to me. She did kind of play the men, though. She should’ve voted out Tom the second she realized he was way too overcommitted. If there is an FGirl Island… for the love of god, please let Tom be a contestant!
Allegra: She definitely acted like she had a blast at the end of all of this, getting guys to admit their feelings to her, but I refuse to believe she is really that douchey at the end of the day. OMG YES TOM MUST COME BACK!!!
Laura: It almost felt to me like she means “FGirl” to speak to a kind of strategic mindset—not falling for the sentimental lines and keeping her own objectives in mind (be that protecting her bag or otherwise).
Allegra: Yeah, as opposed to the hard-and-fast rules that the show gives to the guys.
Laura: Put Tom in charge of the Nice Guy Grotto.
Fletcher: I want Tom, Garrett, and that one guy Sarah rejected in Season 1 on FGirl Island—Josh! He was so cool.
Speaking of Tamaris—did Niko’s comeback actually add anything to the show?
Laura: Absolutely not.
Allegra: GOD I sighed SO loudly at that. It felt shitty to bring him back!!! There was no point!!!! Except that they got to make out.
Laura: I also saw no chemistry there to begin with!
Allegra: Absolutely none.
Fletcher: Give me one more hour of Tom sobbing and reading from his journal, GOD.
Allegra: That was amazing. An amazing exit. Tom: Thank you for your service.
Niko’s return meant nothing, it added some needless late-game drama that almost immediately amounted to zip. It was instantly obvious they were incompatible.
Fletcher: And then she didn’t even pick Casey. She had enough drama in her arc at the end. I didn't need Niko!
Speaking of which: Casey! What should this man do next?
Allegra: Give him a spinoff. That is all.
Fletcher: He’s, like, the face of FBoy Island.
Allegra: Nikki doesn’t need a co-host but if they ever wanted to give her one…
Laura: NO!
Allegra: Or Casey could just come in to be a sagely advice giver.
SORRY LAURA BUT WE NEED HIM! My baby-face bestie.
Laura: ;[
Fletcher: The producers really do a great job of making him so lovable, against literally all the odds this man could possibly throw at them.
Allegra: He’s a fantastic performer, clearly. He’s the kind of dude reality TV was made for.
Fletcher: Again: We should’ve trusted CJ. She always knows best. If they did do an FGirl Island, Casey would break up with his girlfriend three days before the show again and do it. And I’d hire an FGirl to get out there and break his heart!
Allegra: I mean, I love this idea.
Laura: If they do an FGirl Island, Casey is 100 percent gonna be an inaugural lead.
Fletcher: So, Casey, Garrett, and Peter came back for this season. Who do we think the new faves from Season 2 will be heading into a potential third season?
Allegra: Benedict! Tom!
Fletcher: Benedict, obviously.
Allegra: Iconic, both of them. If they do a queer twist, they can bring back Lukasz. The strangest moment of the show… was him admitting his attraction to Mercedes.
Fletcher: I would make the case for bringing back Lukasz—YES! Like in Survivor when Francesca keeps getting voted off first—that would be Lukasz.
Laura: I don’t see Tom coming back but Benedict for sure. Asante could be fun?
Allegra: Asante was so good, too. And you’re probably right about Tom. I don’t think his heart could take another round of this.
Fletcher: I’m drawn to Carlos, too, who everyone thought was a producer. Bring him back! Or hire him as a producer.
Allegra: Producers deserve love, too.
Fletcher: Okay, so, as long as HBO Max isn’t forced to cut the FBoy Island universe—what’s next for the show?
Allegra: I absolutely want an FGirl Island spinoff more than another FBoy round.
Laura: At the risk of becoming a broken record: I need a queer season of this show!
Allegra: I love the idea of the women getting a chance to be duplicitous. Yes, queer version! FBae Island.
Laura: There it is!
Fletcher: I think the problem with FGirl Island would be that it’s so fun to tease manipulative guys. I just feel weird going after girls on reality TV sometimes because there’s a history of misogyny in reality TV. They’d have to be really careful but I do think they could do it.
Allegra: That’s a very good point. Maybe it’s that the boys are sussing out the girls…
Laura: If a woman hosts, I think it could work.
Fletcher: If they’re all girls who are into crypto, that’s fine with me. (Tamaris is, too.) Even if FBoy Island is just FBoy Island next time around, I’m in. I’m always in!
Laura: If Nikki Glaser hosts and Elan Gale produces, I will watch.
Fletcher: My mother and my father.
