Dating in the Dark, Week 4, Reality Dating Show Experiment Monday Nights on ABC

Dating in the Dark, the reality dating show experiment Monday nights on ABC, week four was full of chemistry between ALL of the participants on the show. It was amazing, all three men and all three women sparked noticeable chemistry right away, in the dark. There was no doubt about it, all three men and women were going home together on Dating in the Dark, week four. So did it really happen? Did the strong chemistry and attraction that was obvious between all three couples translate into three couples who met in the dark and then chose to continue dating after the show? Not exactly.

For those of you who are not familiar with the reality dating show experiment, Dating in the Dark, it is a new show with a slightly different twist on other dating shows. The participants are not paid for one thing but the big difference is that three men and three women meet in a dark room and get to know each other without ever seeing what the other person looks like. So they are forced to get to know each other based on voice and personality instead. The dark room is completely dark; the people are unable to even see their hands in front of their faces. The audience can see what's happening in the dark room only through the use of infrared cameras. The men and women go live in a big house together for a couple of days, men on one end and women on the other end, with absolutely NO contact whatsoever outside of the dark room.

Dating in the Dark week four started in the dark room with almost instant chemistry between the men and women with certain individual hobbies and activities pairing them off from the start. Now each week, there is a different activity that the host of the show, Rossi Morreale, gives the men and women so they can draw conclusions and make decisions about the person they are the most interested in.

In the first episode of Dating in the Dark, the host had the men and women take off the clothing they were wearing to give to the opposite sex to see and handle. In week two, the men and women were able to go through each other's luggage. In week three, they went through each others wallets and purses. For Dating in the Dark week four, the men and women got to watch video footage of each other's living spaces. I must say that was interesting! You could tell that one of the men definitely lived with his parents and one MIGHT have still been at home though he said he was living in a "guest house" while saving to buy his own place. I'm sorry but that translates to living with his parents to me! All three women had their own places that were fairly nice and tidy. There were ants crawling on yellow gloves in the sink of one of the women which was very gross even though the place did not look dirty, the ants gave a bad impression. When she was asked about the ants, the woman said she used to kill them but then she felt bad karma so now she lets them live and they're like her pets now. Ok, that certainly gives the impression that she is a fluff brain! After seeing each others living spaces, each couple chose to continue dating in the dark to get to know each other better.

Each date between each couple seemed to go well. They got along, there were no awkward silences and the chemistry practically sparked off the television screen. I'm telling you, there was no doubt in my mind that each couple would meet on the balcony and continue dating. So what went wrong? Why didn't all three couples go home together? Once each couple saw each other in the big reveal (beam of light in the dark room shining on one person at a time), the reactions of the women were confusing while all three men were happy with seeing the women and all three men went out to the balcony to meet the women.

Upon seeing her man in the dark, one woman just couldn't quite decide to meet him or not because she said he came on too strong in the dark room and she didn't like that. Ok, I was watching the episode she was in and she MIGHT have been a little withdrawn at a point or two but she never acted repulsed by the guy and she didn't complain about him to the other women afterwards. I think she might not have been telling the truth about why she didn't meet the guy but he was sad to see her go out the front door instead of coming onto the balcony to meet him. That's my least favorite part of the show just because it is so painful to watch sometimes when the person chooses to walk out the front door instead of meeting the other person.

Another woman decided not to meet her guy on the balcony because he was a couple of inches too short. I kid you not; she really did say that on national television! She said she was sorry and she knew it might sound shallow but she just couldn't get over the fact that he was not taller than she was. OMG, she thinks it MIGHT sound shallow, well how about it sounds not only shallow but completely prejudiced too! She rejected someone because of their height! That's called heightism. Wikipedia.org says "heightism is a form of discrimination based on height." I don't know how anyone could date this woman after seeing her on Dating in the Dark. It seems that to date her, a man would have to bring along a tape measure so he could "measure up."

The third woman, Kelly, after seeing her guy, Cormac, was upset. And why, because she said her guy was "a pretty boy that her mother would approve of." Wow, I was watching the show and didn't see a pretty boy, what I saw was a nice looking man but nothing exceptionally "pretty" about him. My first thoughts about this woman were that she was awful for rejecting someone because she thought he was too good looking. But this woman surprised me I'm happy to say, she struggled with whether or not she should go out onto the balcony. But I was surprised; she DID go out onto the balcony to meet Cormac.

Week four of Dating in the Dark did surprise me. I thought I had it called from the beginning, what with all the chemistry and attraction and the things each couple had in common, I KNEW all three couples would be going home together. I am actually happy to be disappointed though because it makes the show more interesting to me. And I do love making fun of the shallow people who decide not to continue dating for the stupidest and shallowest of reasons! Yes, I can definitely say that I have begun to look forward to the next episode of Dating in the Dark as I try to guess what surprise week five will hold.

You can read the other articles I've written about Dating in the Dark, week one here; week two here; and week three here.

Dating in the Dark used to be on at 10PM, but week four was at 9PM so check your local listings to see what time it will be on in your area. Or you can watch full episodes free at ABC.com.