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Reality TV dating shows typically fall into two camps. There’s the free-for-all show like ITV’s Love Island or MTV’s Are You the One, the incentives of which typically have less to do with finding true love than with a significant cash prize and/or free vacation. Then there are the shows with leads—think the behemoth Bachelor franchise—where the prize, so to speak, is officially a relationship and unofficially several Instagram sponsorships. 12 Dates combines the best parts of both while neatly sidestepping the worst.
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For the most part, the leads seem to have a good handle on who they are and are not interested in, and effectively weed out the inevitably drama-fueled toxic interlopers; when confused, the three of them meet up to get some valuable outside perspective and moral support. The fluidity of the dating pools also allows for some interesting crossover.