Too Hot to Handle season 6 episodes 1-2 spoilers follow.
Too Hot to Handle returns to our screens for season six but with more than a few new twists.
A new batch of sexed-up singles will still be made to fight their lustful urges and choose abstinence for a chance of winning a cash prize, but for the first time in the show’s history they are fully aware of what they’ve signed up for. Once more the prize money has increased from season five’s $100,000 to a bountiful quarter of a million dollars.
The format shake-up doesn’t end there as perhaps the most exciting addition to the cast is Bad Lana. Unlike her cock-blocking counterpart, Bad Lana makes clear from the jump that she has a bad side too and she means to bring it out in the rest of them. While Bad Lana’s in control, everything from kissing to sex is on the table (so to speak) and won’t incur any fines.
Naturally, the contestants made the most of her leniency with the title of hook-up king and queen being awarded to Charlie and Bri for kissing the most people.
However, with the sweet comes the sour and our contestants found themselves sucking on lemons when ‘good’ Lana resumed control to introduce yet another new concept: banishment.
Their kinky trysts may not have cost them financially but there were still consequences for their behaviour and the two naughtiest members (Bri and Charlie) were booted off to banishment quarters (unknown to the rest of the team, who thought they’d been kicked out).
There they were made to count paper clips and also chose to shell out some cash in order to spy on their respective crushes through a TV monitor.
Their suffering only lasted 24 hours but it was enough time for Too Hot to Handle to throw in another new feature – the return of past contestants, (hey, it worked for Love Island…sort of).
Hard-to-tame Louis and Flavia returned to the retreat to spice things up.
The past contestants were thrust into the mix to not only have a second go at finding a connection or the cash prize but to set an example as ones who had walked the path before. Well, that yielded interesting results in a way we don’t think Lana had quite intended.
Too Hot to Handle is definitely on a mission to reinvent itself, as Lana put it:
“In order to help my guests, I have to be one step ahead of them at all times and that requires innovation in how I do things.”
However ‘innovation’ seems to be churning out the same kind of show we’ve always known, complicated love quads, couple-swapping and passions rising as they try to find new ways to obtain sexual gratification without hacking at the prize fund.
While these new aspects of the show are initially interesting, it still falls back into the same old patterns, so if you’ve come to the show hoping for a sustained burst of freshness, you’ll be disappointed. Still, we can only speak to the first batch of episodes (1-4) as that’s all we’ve seen. Perhaps the middle and back half hold the promise of something spicier.
What it ultimately comes down to are the contestants and their chemistry, platonically or romantically, and in that there is some hope. The latest crop have bounds of energy and charisma and are entertaining to watch for the most part (we’re looking at you, Jordan).
For now the season is middling but we’re excited to see how things develop as the season progresses into no doubt more sensually challenging spaces.
Too Hot to Handle season six episodes 1-4 are available to stream now on Netflix with a new batch of episodes dropping Fridays.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
