I’m Satisfied With This Tinder Swindler Sequel’s Non-Sensational Approach To Romance Scams
The Tinder Swindler widened the lens of how romance scams are impacting people around the world, but Love Con Revengebroadens the scope in hopes of delivering swift justice. The reality crime series follows Cecilie Fjellhøy, a target of Simon Leviev from the 2022 documentary, and private investigator Brianne Joseph as they carry out justice against romance fraudsters across the US.
Across the six-episode series, both Cecilie and Brianne highlight a number of huge romance scams, some that made the headlines, and others that went under the radar. But their goal isn’t just to shame the people who ran these criminal campaigns: through their investigations, they seek to bring them to legal justice. The dramatic presentation is not the biggest focus here.
Love Con Revenge nimbly sidesteps the trappings of sensationalism that come with independently investigating criminals for a TV series. Instead, the show is focused on bringing attention to events like those in The Tinder Swindler, turning these monetary crimes not into content but into cautionary tales that others can learn from.
Love Con Revenge Focuses On The Stories Of The Victims
Cecilie Fjellhøy and Brianne Joseph speaking to someone over the computer in Love Con Revenge
Instead of following the same social media documentary format as The Tinder Swindler, Love Con Revenge uses this as a baseline for how it portrays the stories of its victims. Each new case follows a similar format, with a victim explaining the details of how they met their romantic partner, and how their relationship dissolved into them stealing money and assets from them.
These stories can, at times, feel long, with details that sometimes seem unnecessary to the larger investigation. But this actually works to the show’s favor; it’s trying to lull viewers into a false sense of security, much like the victims being interviewed. Not just jumping right into the crimes offers a deeper emotional connection to what’s going on, emphasizing empathy over any other emotion.
With this approach also comes a more enthralling investigation. What’s interesting is that Cecilie and Brianne both have important roles to play in discovery, despite the latter being the private investigator. Their skills as interviewers and seekers of information make them a perfect team, adding a layer of entertainment to their important work that makes it easy to watch them dig up info on their criminals.
This is exacerbated by the heart-wrenching and oftentimes anger-inducing stories of victims. It’s not easy listening to how perpetrators would use emotional blackmail, from financial woes to threats of self-harm, to make victims give them money. It’s even more difficult when, unsurprisingly, the series pulls back to reveal the highlighted victims are never the only ones being scammed by people they believed loved them.
Even though the series is classified as reality TV, it takes on the mode of a true-crime documentary as it weaves these narratives. This genre blend is emphasized by the investigative duo’s efforts, which often require additional interviews and intense, on-the-ground surveillance. There’s a satisfaction to much of it, though, as perpetrators become the ones being tricked to gather intel that will be important to bringing them to justice.
Love Con Revenge’s Structure Could Be More Streamlined
Cecilie Fjellhøy speaking to the camera in Love Con Revenge
The only blemish to Love Con Revenge‘s approach to these cases comes in post-production. While the cases themselves are important glimpses into how financially abusive romance scammers can be, the episodes feel broken apart. The first case of the show bleeds into episode 2. Every case starts midway through an episode and gets resolved midway through the next one.
This broken structure makes sense editing-wise, given it would have extended the first episode to well over an hour. At the same time, though, it makes it difficult to put down the show after any given episode. Love Con Revenge is built for binge-watching, but sometimes to the detriment of the cases it’s presenting.
Luckily, the series’ positive attributes shine beyond this structural issue, never failing to deliver realistic endings to every investigation. How they’re all resolved is quite different depending on the case, with results that would be classified as spoilers. But, even with different endings, each case still highlights the individuals and signs to look out for in romance scams, perhaps helping audience members who find themselves in similar situations.
Love Con Revenge may look like a typical reality series about romance scams on the surface. But, thanks to Cecilie and Brianne’s investigative approach and the deliverance they bring, the show evolves into an important must-watch that highlights the dangers of online romance that feels too good to be true.
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