Thursday, June 5, 2014

The Bachelorette Gets Testy

This week's episode of The Bachelorette had me wondering why I watch this reality show. It can be so stupid sometimes and I know the show is set up to make the most of a potentially dramatic situation, but it seems to be getting more ridiculous. Like a car accident, I can't look away.

The evening started with the crew in Connecticut. Not sure why they ended up at the Mohegan Sun Resort unless Chris Harrison owns a share in the hotel but there they were in chilly March weather, in a dreary geographical setting, at a huge monstrosity of a resort. The men were excited to be in a nice hotel suite which was a good thing because they are sequestered inside the room for days on end, like prisoners. This must be part of the psychological deprivation plan to make the men so appreciative of a date with the Bachelorette that they all think they're falling in love after four weeks. It's working, but more on that later.

The first date was a steam train ride through the countryside with the quiet contender, Dylan. He has a chiseled, handsome face but needs a good haircut. It's distracting to his lovely face.
Turns out the poor man lost both siblings to drugs and is very close to his single mom. There was a heartbreaking story there but Andi didn't pull it out of him. Just let him say his piece and they moved on. The chemistry between the two was about zero as the train moved through the very countryside that Dylan grew up in, passing a river that he and his brother used to swim. Dinner was in a highly lit, camera filled train car and without even touching their food, they moved on to the next surprise of the night. The train whistle. Okay, that wasn't a big surprise seeing they'd already pulled the thing earlier. The whole thing was a bit ho hum except for the squirm-worthy fact that Dylan said it was one of his best dates ever. Sorry Buddy.

                                  Andi gets a love letter from a secret admirer. (NickV? Josh?)

The next date was a group of ten men who suited up to play basketball, first against Andi and some super tall chicks from the WNBA or whatever the women's league is called, then against each other.
This date brought out a side of Andi that I personally do not like. Let's just say, she isn't as sweet as some other bachelorettes. When I say she could eat some of the guys for breakfast, I mean it. Brian, the basketball coach, for one. She liked what she saw on the court but he has no game with girls (his words) and neglected to seize the kiss moment when he later took her on the dimly lit court that night, made a half court basket, impressed the hell out of her and couldn't kiss her. Dude: Be less impressed with yourself than her, then move in for the kiss.



The next date was with Marcus, a Canadian-born front runner, who considers Andi his girlfriend. He obviously has no idea about Nick V. and Andi. On the date, the twosome rappelled down the side of the Mohegan Sun Resort, right past the room of the holed-up men. Both Marcus and Andi were elated to conquer their fear of heights and then dressed up to go to dinner.

Again, nothing was eaten, deep feelings were declared and Andi led Marcus to a concert by one of his favorite country artists, Jon Pardi, where they danced and kissed. Marcus couldn't stop telling her he was falling in love, he loves her, he's crazy about her etc. It got old. Andi smiled. Like the photo below. Lots of that.
They are definitely cute together. Note to Marcus: Hold something back.













At the cocktail party, Andi spoke with several of the guys, Tasos, Marquel
(who is super funny!) and Eric who confronted her about being real. Oh no. Hearing that he thought she was being fake, Andi proceeded to go ape shit on him, blowing his words way out of proportion. She then confronted the men about getting their asses out the door if anyone doesn't think this is real. Well, Andi, I hate to tell you but it isn't real. Have you seen the cameras? The clothes? The settings? Eric was being honest when he said he doesn't usually dress this way. I think the guy just wanted her to admit it's a fake situation but she got all pissy about his words and Eric left the show bewildered.

Because Eric Hill died a month later in a paragliding accident in Utah, the producers of the show decided to forgo the actual rose ceremony and instead let Andi do some damage control with her reputation. If you believed Eric's words about Andi not being real on camera, then you might have found this segment strange. It was a lot of Chris Harrison asking leading questions to allow the Bachelorette to say that she's sorry her last conversation with Eric was a fight. I'm sure she is sorry and that it was shocking when Eric died but I think this segment was smarmy and weird. I can't help but wonder if they felt the need to clear Andi's reputation. Think about it.


Afterwards, I realized that Eric was right, this is not real life, not actual dating, not a great way to look for love, and his last words on the show about that were even more poignant than anyone at that time knew. He called it like he saw it. But, I wanted to see the rose ceremony. I wanted Tasos to have his moment to say goodbye.

On another note, The Bachelor franchise is filming a summer show in Mexico right now with alumni and yes, Chris Bukowski gets on that one. If you don't recognize the name, he's the guy who showed up on Andi's first night with flowers. This guy is desperate to keep his Bachelor star shining and looks like he gets his chance on this soon to be released summer show that is sure to be worse than Bachelor Pad. I'll be watching through my hand over my eyes August 4th. How about you?


Kim Hornsby is the author of The Husband Hunt, a free novella on Amazon Books that strangely resembles the TV show, The Bachelor. If you like this reality series, download the novella on a Tuesday when you're pining for a new episode!
Kim is the Bestselling Author of The Dream Jumper's Promise, which was nominated for best indie first book and best Paranormal in 2013.Publisher's Weekly calls it a "fascinating and engaging paranormal romance."
 







No comments:

Post a Comment