Spoilers ahead for the finale of Kristy Katzmann's season of Labor of Love on Fox.
The first season of Fox's Labor of Love has come to an end, and Kristy Katzmann chose the man who she wants to start a family with. Over the course of eight episodes, Kristy had narrowed the pool of 15 hopeful dads-to-be down to just two: wealth management CEO Stewart Gill and sales and marketing director Kyle Klinger. After traveling to Kristy's hometown of Chicago and introducing the families to each other, Kristy made her choice and brought Season 1 to a close. The lingering question now is: does Labor of Love deserve a Season 2?
First things first. I was hooked by Labor of Love against my better judgment, and I was genuinely invested in learning if Kristy would pick the perfect-on-paper option in Stewart, or Kyle, the dark horse who brought some serious chemistry to the dynamic.
I'd been on Team Stewart for most of the season, at least since Keith Reams couldn't find anything bad to say about him, but like Kristy, I began to wonder if Stewart was a little too perfect and not challenging enough for her. He just didn't seem to light her fire.
So, as much as Stewart was probably the most stable choice as a potential father, I wasn't surprised when she went for Kyle. Despite holding out hopes that she would pull a Beverly Hills, 90210 Kelly Taylor moment and choose herself rather than one of the guys, I'm fine with it. Congrats, Kristy and Kyle. If only Stewart hadn't looked so sad!
All of this said, do I think Labor of Love deserves a Season 2? Well, the whole reason I had to be hooked into Labor of Love against my better judgment (and despite my status as a Bachelor Nation viewer) is that the stakes are just too high when the goal is to make a baby ASAP, rather than just maybe get engaged at the end of a season a la The Bachelor and Bachelorette. Kristy would be choosing from a pool of guys that she didn't select herself, and after spending not a lot of time with them.
As for the guys, I spent most of the season trying to suspend my disbelief that all of them decided that this woman who they didn't know and barely spent time with was worth competing against a bunch of other men for the chance to make a baby with her. Nothing against Kristy, but the guys were going with the flow a little too much for me to go along with.
I also kind of don't want to believe that there are lots of women out there willing to choose the father of their children via Fox reality TV show, or lots of guys who want to find the mother of their kids by beating out 14 other men to win her favor. The Bachelor Nation viewer in me just can't accept such high stakes out of a dating show, which I can admit is basically a silly concept anyway.
Nobody in Bachelor Nation actually has to plan a future with who they end up with on the shows. Just ask Peter Weber! No babies are made or futures tied together for forever. To me, Labor of Love worked as a way to spend a couple months' worth of Thursdays in a pretty bare summer TV lineup, but I don't think I need this to be an ongoing series.
That really might be the Bachelor Nation veteran in me speaking, though, since watching Stewart cry over his heartbreak over Kristy choosing Kyle immediately made me start thinking of Labor of Love: Guy Edition. Hey, if the heartbroken suitors on The Bachelorette get the chance to become star of The Bachelor every year, am I really to be blamed for instinctively thinking Stewart would get another shot at making a baby via reality TV?
In all seriousness, Labor of Love hadn't been either renewed or cancelled when the Season 1 finale aired, so only time will tell if Kristy will go down as the only Labor of Love mom-to-be or the first of many. I'm perfectly content with just the one season and never revisiting this bizarre premise ever again, but be sure to weigh in our poll below about whether or not you think Labor of Love deserves a Season 2, and don't forget to check out our 2020 summer TV premiere schedule.
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