Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Love On The Spectrum’ Season 3 On Netflix, Where Neurodivergent People Manage Dating And Relationships

Season 3 of the U.S. version of Love On The Spectrum shows just how far some of the people the filmmakers have been following since the first season in 2022 have come. Two of the original single people they followed are in relationships at the beginning of season 3, and three others continue to put themselves out there with a better idea of what they want from a mate. But the fun part of a season of this series is meeting some new singles who try to negotiate the world of dating.

LOVE ON THE SPECTRUM SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We see the singles and couples being followed on the third season of Love On The Spectrum.

The Gist: In Season 3 of Love On The Spectrum, filmmakers follow people on the autism spectrum as they try to find love, or in the case of two of the returnees from previous seasons, continue to grow the relationships they found in previous seasons.

We follow five sets of returnees this time around. Series supercouple Abbey and John don’t appear in the first episode, but we’ll get an update on their long-running relationship later in the season. In addition, we see Dani celebrate her first anniversary since she started dating Adan. Rather than watch Dani get ready for her anniversary date, though, we see Adan putting on a suit and tie and wrapping the photobook he made for her. Dani proposes that it’s time they take their relationship to a more physical level.

The single returnees are James, whom we’ve followed since Season 1, Tanner and Connor, both of whom debuted in Season 2. Connor now has some experience with dating and has a lot of requirements, including that he prefers brunettes. But when his mother sets Connor up with a nice woman who happens to be blonde, Connor gets visibly upset. Still, he goes on the date anyway, and finds that the woman watched the second season and liked what she saw.

James goes on a speed dating night, but he definitely gets disappointed when many of the women have kids, dogs or both. One of his stims is yawning, and he can’t help but yawn on a few of the dates when things get super awkward.

There are also three newcomers: Madison and Pari. We’re only introduced to Madison in the first episode; she lives on her own and has come far since her childhood, when she used to act out and literally tear things like rugs. Since she’s found jewelry making, though, those impulses have stopped. She has an extensive collection of beads and other things she can put on strings to make jewelry, plus a very well-organized collection of stuffed animals and American Girl dolls. She also has a set of friends from church who are very supportive. She enlists the help of the show’s dating coach, Jennifer Cook, before her first date.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Love On The Spectrum is from the same producers as Love On The Spectrum Australia, which was the original version of this series.

Our Take: As with the Australian seasons and the first two seasons of the U.S. version, the producers of Love On The Spectrum are giving the people they follow the utmost respect for putting themselves out there.

It’s tough out there for anyone who’s single, but for people on the spectrum, who process stimuli and communicate differently than those who are neurotypical, it can be even harder, so we have to admire the people like James and Connor, who keep returning to the show to find love, with some of the knowledge they learned in previous seasons in their back pockets.

The date Connor had in the first episode seemed awkward, but given the fact that social awkwardness is something that many people on the spectrum have, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether a date is going well or not. We did feel bad that Kate, who already liked Connor due to what she saw of him on the show’s previous season, got the “let’s be friends” talk from Connor, with his reasoning that they lived in different cities. But we’re pretty sure that her being blonde didn’t help.

James has always been one of the more socially awkward people the producers have followed, so we wonder if it was his decision to do another speed dating event, one that seemed to have a mix of neurotypical and neurodivergent people. It almost seemed like either he or the producers were setting himself up for failure here, given his specific dealbreakers, his yawning and his pressured-sounding speech patterns. It just doesn’t seem like the kind of situation where someone like James can thrive, because he needs to be in a more relaxed situation, doing things he loves, but at least he’s still trying.

We’ll see where Dani and Adan go; we know how outgoing Dani is, and it seems like her high energy doesn’t quite match Adan’s. And Madison is also outgoing, so it’ll be interesting to see how she works through her sensory issues and the need to feel secure in social situations by bringing some of her dolls with her.

Sex and Skin: None, though Dani really, really wants to be physically intimate with Adan.

Parting Shot: Connor and Kate are about to end their date, and Connor pauses before he tells her whether he wants to go on another date or not.

Sleeper Star: We certainly appreciate the fact that Madison lives on her own, and it’s interesting that she’s one of the few people we’ve seen on this show whose support comes from friends instead of family.

Most Pilot-y Line: Sometimes it feels like James’ yawning is treated as a flaw; even his parents tell him to not do that during dates. But we do get that it’s a way for him to deal with being overwhelmed and disappointed, which is why we were a little annoyed that the filmmakers deiced to emphasize him trying to stifle yawns while on his speed dates.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Love On The Spectrum continues to be an enjoyable look at neurodivergent people finding and maintaining relationships.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.