Posted at the request of some commenters on my original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/LoveIslandTV/comments/ze7djf/tasha_and_davidewhere_to_begin_grrr/

I've pretty much done a complete 180 on my thoughts on Tasha since I wrote my first post! I finished S8 last weekend and since then I've even rewatched a few parts and what really stood out to me about Tasha's character was how she remained so calm and mature when she came back from Casa Amor and Andrew was calling her Pinnochio. She didn't shed a tear, didn't get angry, didn't even react. But she explained her reasons for recoupling to Laura and she was secure in her decision despite Andrew, Jacques, Dami, and the others making judgmental faces at her. She confronted Andrew about his behavior so calmly later on when they were alone and that just made me respect her more. I love that she called him out for treating her like that in front of everyone when she'd done nothing wrong.

I think everyone underestimates just how much Andrew was to blame for Tasha's uncertainty in their relationship early on. He claimed that he wanted her to get to know other guys, but he also couldn't hide just how much it bothered him that Tasha experienced Love Island the way you're supposed to; talking to everyone and choosing the person you vibe with most.

At first I couldn't believe Tasha brought back Billy, but now I think she owed it to herself to explore things with him and see if there could be potential. I still don't believe that the tunnel vision comment should've ever been made, but Andrew always knew there was a possibility that bombshells would come in and Tasha would get along with someone else better than she did with him. Tasha always chose Andrew in the end though, despite admitting to feeling more subdued around him compared to Billy.

I think we as viewers are sometimes too concerned with the feelings of the 'victim' and stop caring about how the other person in the relationship feels. In this case, we all wanted Andrew to be happy but what about Tasha? Andrew fell in love quickly and there's nothing wrong with that, but he could've been more patient with Tasha and less judgmental of her for dating on a dating show.

By the end of the season I did love that Andrew and Tasha seemed to be completely on the same page. Tasha seems to still be 'sassy bad bitch Tasha' even though she's with someone like Andrew who is more chilled. Andrew isn't shaming Tasha anymore now that licking Coco's breast has put them on a more than level playing field. It feels like they're both truly equals now. Tasha's boyfriend proposal to Andrew was extremely sweet and from that point on her devotion to him couldn't be more plain. It really disgusted me seeing Luca and Dami try to degrade her for wanting to chat to other guys in the early weeks of the show when Dami was slobbering all over other girls within moments of being away from Indiyah. The misogyny there was unreal. It warmed my heart seeing Andrew stand up for his woman and I think being in the bottom 3 so many times helped him and Tasha develop a 'fuck you' mentality. They don't seem to give a fuck about anyone but each other now and that's just how it should be.

I could write a whole different post on how I feel about Luca and Dami (especially Luca) but that's not the point of this, but before I move on I just want to say that Luca really stifled Gemma's Love Island experience. Dami was right when he said Luca was holding Gemma prisoner. The poor girl hardly cracked a smile with Luca constantly hanging over her. I wish the producers had given her more options of guys her age to chat to. Luca's possessiveness was scary and it really felt like Gemma hated him by the end of the final week. The tantrums were too much and the bullying of Tasha was even worse. I haven't closely followed the islanders since the show ended because I was trying to avoid spoilers, but I do know that he apologized which does make me feel a bit better. I also know that he and Gemma split up which I wasn't shocked about since there were many times in the villa where I felt like she wanted to end it but couldn't because of the proximity. It was obvious she never wanted to be his girlfriend. Luca doesn't seem like a completely bad guy though, so I hope he does find someone in the future when he's ready to date again. But I hope Luca respects his next partner's boundaries this time.

Moving on to Davide, I thought it was really beautiful to see the change in him once he got over his trust issues. I still don't condone how he always made Ekin feel like a villain, but at the same time it's easy to forget just how fresh their relationship was because they were coupled up so early. They were only back together for 1 day before Casa Amor started. That wasn't realistically enough time for Davide to build up that trust again, so it's no wonder that post-Casa things weren't suddenly perfect. Trust takes ages to build and seconds to break. Ekin literally went behind the man's back, kissed someone else, and lied about it on national TV. That's not an easy thing to forgive. Once he finally got a few uninterrupted weeks with Ekin he finally began to trust her and that showed in his actions. I was absolutely stunned when he admitted during the final date that he only had eyes for Ekin throughout his entire Love Island journey and that he vividly remembered the night she walked into the villa and had his sights on her ever since. Ekin seemed genuinely moved when he finally said the words "I love you." I don't blame her if she thought he'd probably never admit it.

There was a moment right before he asked her to go exclusive where Ekin is talking to the girls on the terrace and she's telling them how Davide cuddled her and held her hand all the way through the night for the first time ever. Then when he gave her the tiramisu it was like he was a different person, seeing him so nervous and actually putting effort into doing something nice for her was actually such a wild switch up. This is the same guy who didn't want to make her coffee in week 1.

Watching the Ekin-Su/Davide and Tasha/Andrew relationships has taught me a few lessons:

1. Just because someone doesn't immediately open up to you doesn't mean the relationship will never work. Give people time to fall in love with you the way Ekin and Andrew had to. If it's meant to be, it'll happen.

2. Forgiveness can be worth it. Not always, but it can. Davide didn't have to give Ekin a second chance, but as he said during their final date he knew deep down he needed to give her that grace because their connection was too strong not to.

3. Ask for forgiveness. Ekin could've kept claiming she did nothing wrong, but she owned up to the terrace incident and humbled herself.

4. Stop caring about what other people think. Tasha and Andrew had to basically tell the whole villa (and the viewing public) to go fuck themselves before they gained any respect. Advice is fine, but stop letting your friends dictate your love life (assuming it's not an abusive relationship). Put your foot down and stand up for your partner

5. Regularly do nice things for your partner so they don't feel unloved. Ekin seemed genuinely shocked by the tiramisu gesture. And I don't think Andrew was expecting Tasha to give him the boyfriend label when he'd been the one who was more into her at first. Once you've reached that stage in your relationship where there's equal trust, don't be afraid to regularly display your feelings through acts of service.

6. Explore your options respectfully the way Tasha did. If you're in the early stages of speaking to someone, you can still get to know others and find out who you vibe with. Don't let anyone shame you for doing this.

7. Know when to trust. Movie night was a pinnacle moment of the Davide/Ekin relationship. Davide could've used the whole George thing as a reason to blow up at Ekin and go crazy, but instead he was calm and measured and he believed her. Just like he knew deep down she wouldn't recouple during Casa Amor despite claiming that he didn't know what she'd do. In the end he knew it was time to let the trust issues go if he wanted a real relationship with her outside the villa and judging by how things are going for them in real life it seems like he's completely moved on from the terrace stuff and he hasn't mentioned George once.

I might add more thoughts to this post if I think of any, but thank you for reading!