Numerous new TV series invite viewers and visitors to a beautiful locale only to make their vacations more difficult within minutes of their arrival. HBO Maxs FBOY island isn't as exciting as The White Lotus, or the upcoming Nine Perfect Strangersnor. However, it is a reality dating series that aims to be. Trouble is still brewing in paradise with hookups and bromances.AdvertisementFBOY Island was created by Elan Gale (who has worked on The Bachelorette and The Bachelorette) and Sam Dean (executive producer for Love Is Blind, Married at First Sight). Although their new dating show is more marriage-oriented than previous ones, the stakes for the three lovely women in the center, Nakia Renee and CJ Franco, are still very high. They all have dated men who need two phones to keep up to date all their prospects so they went to FBOY Island (really somewhere in the Cayman Islands) and sex with 24 sexy dudes. Half of them claim to be nice, while the other half admit that they are fuckboys. You now know what the F means! They would waste their time with fuckboys who, as the term has become distorted to mean by non Black people, are the latest generation of womanizers. Here's the problem: The three female daters don't know which hard bodies belong to which group. It seems that neither do the men. However, some men can't help but to give away their hard bodies.Reviews Pre-Air Reviews Pre–Air FBOY Island FBOY Island B - B- FBOY Island Developed by Sam Dean & Elan Gale Cast Docuseries Premieres on Thursday, July 29, at 8:59 p.m. on HBO Max Format. Hour-long reality dating series. Complete first season available for reviewThis twist is found early in the series. However, its effects continue to reverberate through the entire 10-episode season. CJ, Sarah and Nakia struggle to discern who is looking for something more meaningful from who is just trying to get it. The guys point out that potential can be very seductive. This is why it is important to convince someone you have a future together. This bowdlerized expression is one of few instances where there's some restraint. What does the self-imposed label actually mean?This is the main question these three women, and, in a lesser extent, their suitors, wrestle with when they're not having pool parties or yacht parties. FBOY Island is all about having fun and not just finding love. The fboys and nice guys quickly become friends, so tension soon dissipates. Some bromances are more powerful than others. One guy is ready to ruin his chance with a woman just to be there for his friend. This is a fboy shit or a nice man move. Ask the woman involved, and she will tell you that it is bad strategy. There is a $100,000 cash prize.FBOY Island, as many noted in the lead-up to its premiere, sounds like something that 30 Rock would have pitched or watched. The series is more comedy-oriented than traditional matchmaking programs like The Bachelor, but it's still funny. FBOY Island is a pleasant series. Fans of the genre may find themselves wanting more drama. Limbro, the place where exiled fboys go after being eliminated is also right on FBOY Island. It is refreshing to see the camaraderie between the women. Sarah, Nakia and CJ quickly form bonds, helping each other find the fboys, and being there for each other during dates. They aren't really in competition with one another; they each have their own fboys. They are all clear-eyed and likable about their choices, even though those of us at home may want to shout at them.This kind of reaction is unavoidable in this type of show. But unlike its nameake, FBOY Island doesn't try to make fun of women. CJ, Sarah, Nakia and Sarah are not kept in the dark long. The rules change and gradually reveal the men's backgrounds. The tension is only increased by removing most of the intrigue. Just because women know which suitors they should avoid doesn't mean that they will choose the nice guys. While some decisions can be confusing, others are not so difficult. But, it is possible to sometimes ignore our own best judgment. It is to the credit of the women and to the shows that they chose to concentrate as much on their dynamic than their chemistry with their guys. Their missteps feel real.AdvertisementFBOY Islands' biggest problems are with the gameplay. FBOY Islands' biggest problems are the rules. Goals change and rules can seem arbitrary. The concept of a fboy is still ambiguous. There are some traits that can be identified, but the idea of a nice guy is more fluid. (Boyfriend dick, on the other hand, is so last years horny-people-at-a-resort series.) As the women notice that some nice guy behavior is fundamental human decency and that fboys can, and should, be defined, it becomes more intentional. This reveals the core conflict of the show: the desire to be more then a guilty pleasure while still wearing all the trappings. FBOY Island, like its residents, is still a work-in-progress, but it's worth checking out.
