Bachelorette recap or "Wait you can do that in a Fantasy suite?"

We resume where we left off, the rose ceremony is progressing and ARB (Aaron Rodgers' Bro) gets Rose 1, then Robbie Rose 2 then OMCH shows up to tell us one rose remains and Rose 3 goes to Chase. Luke looks stunned. Jojo (J) walks him out and Luke says "this is not supposed to be happening" J is bawling. Luke says he had no clue that he was not saying enough. I sip some more of the Red Stripe my mom brought up from Jamaica and think 'this is the only thing good about this experience.'

J is crying so much you would think she is the one that was let go.

The Show goes off to Thailand and J quickly gets over Luke.

Robbie gets the first date:

And it is storming, so they go and get "Thai massages in Thailand." Robbie is telling J that he has been honest with her from day one. He uses his own words as proof - she knows he is honest because he told her he loves her - say what?

Going into the dinner portion J tells us that she is wary of Robbie. She brings up the fact that Ben told her he loved her last time, a lot. Robbie gives J a note that his dad wrote him basically a 'keep the faith' note as a sign that he is in it for her. This makes no sense, (even though J gushes about it) your dad writes you a personal note, you give it to the girl and that proves that you are honest? Shouldn't she be hanging out with the note writer then, if the note shows truth?
Robbie accepts the fantasy suite even before reading it (they force him to read it out loud anyway). Cut to the morning after and it is breakfast in bed time. They are both in Pajamas/lounging clothes, how did that get into the fantasy suite? Are we not adult enough to see 'walks of shame?'

ARB is up now:
J tells us that she has planned a hike for them, I bet if you asked her anything about the hike the producer would have to mouth the words to her. They claim that the hike is very strenuous but, the peeps hiking behind them seem fairly chill. The hike leads to a temple (this show has desecrated more temples than World War 2) J has to put on a shirt with sleeves and they have to follow the rules of no kissing in the temple. They claim that it is very hard to sit there and not kiss.

The evening portion and they continue talking a lot about J's family coming to Thailand, note that is the next stage not the current stage, this is basically J planning ahead for them, nothing obvious here at all. J is worried about ARB's stability he keeps saying "right now" he can be anywhere she needs him to be - He then says "I want to spend the rest of my life with you" and she responds with "that is what Ben said." That gets old fast!
ARB does the pretense of thinking about the fantasy suite but he of course accepts it. J tells us that she loves ARB she just is not ready to tell him.
Breakfast in bed time and again PJs

Chase completes the run of dates:
He pulls up on a scooter looking less than confident. J calls chase extra playful as they horse around in a fish market. I confess, I zoned out through much of this date portion it was boring. BUT, while we show Chase musing on the beach Robbie shows up at J's hotel room. After making out with him J then points out that she is currently on a date. Chase buddy, pack your bags.

To the evening portion; and Chase shoots himself in the foot telling J that he is scared but he still gets the fantasy suite because it is J. BUT, because it is J, Chase keeps talking and talking while in the fantasy suite and he puts doubt in J's mind. She asks him for a moment and walks off to spend some alone time. Chase is left sitting on the couch alone and he has to know this is bad. J tells him that she is not feeling it and Chase is telling her that he is shattered "now love equals get the [bleep] out?" He is pissed off and doesn't think that J gave it a chance.

J tells him that if she had met him outside of all the other relationships they would probably be together, yeah that is what a guy wants to hear. Chase starts to walk away and J runs after him crying, she basically wants Chase to reassure her, it is a bit weird. Chase cracks a beer as he enters the bus to go home "This sucks, get a fantasy suite card to be sent home, it's like pull your pants down so I can kick you in the nuts."

Rose Ceremony time:
The guys show up and meet OMCH and his pedantic questions.
J starts off the ceremony telling the remaining 2 guys that she sent Chase home and he was angry and upset and "I have not been able to stop thinking about...[trails off]" because Chase shows up at the Rose ceremony. Chase pulls J aside to go and talk to her. Both Robbie and ARB both start to dab their brows (and makeup) with handkerchiefs as Robbie begins to worry. Chase tells her he is not there to ask her to take him back, he is just there because he didn't like how their initial parting ended. I think he is just acutely aware that he does not want America to have an impression of him mistreating the Bachelorette.

Bachelorette recap or my hometown can be more boring than your hometown.

Home town dates begin and I continue to realize I am utterly bored by Jojo (J).

Number 1:

We start with Chase and he immediately starts with his sob story...he comes from a broken home, which he shares with J as they lie on a bear skin (I think) rug overlooking a snow tinged town. J is going to have to meet Chase's parents separately.
Chase's dad shows up and Chase digs into the divorce with his dad, seems perfectly reasonable to do in front of a camera and nation. The dad asks if Chase is thinking about consequences, Chase brushes that off...maybe you should listen to the man who went through a divorce!
The meeting with the mom is with a much larger family group. The divorce is the main topic of convo, J and the mom think it is why Chase might be a bit withdrawn - Imagine how much more he will be when he doesn't get picked! Chase's sister thanks him for the experience, which makes me think the production hooked up the house and the food (well we know they definitely cater the food). Chase tells J that he is falling in love with her J says "You never say stuff like that, that is how I know it is real."

Chase tells us he hates goodbyes. 

Number 2:

J goes to Chico, CA and calls it beautiful, it can be...but there are a tonne of us who live in So Cal and know that there is much more to Chico than beauty (google it).
Jordan takes her to his high school - I am always wary of people who use High School as the point of their best and most important memories. Especially the guys who were hot shot athletes! Jordan claimed he never had a serious high school girlfriend, J thinks "maybe I can be his new high school sweetheart" maybe misunderstanding that not having a serious girlfriend is not the same as not having had any girlfriends!

J constantly brings up the fact that Aaron Rodgers wont be there solidifying my belief that Jordan (Aaron Rodgers' Brother ARB) is the front runner because she wants to get close to Aaron. The mom calls ARB her "spicy child" apparently he would try to run away constantly.
ARB's mom practically cuddles with him when he tells her he likes J, I can see why Aaron would not want to be a part of this. J tells us that she stops herself from telling ARB that she loves him because she remembers how hurt she was when Ben told her those words and then rejected her.

Number 3,
Robbie in St Augustine, FL - and he and I own the same shirt - he is fitter than me but it looks better on me (take that, guy who doesn't know me from Adam).
They start off in a horse drawn carriage, the illusion that he ordered it himself is destroyed when he has to introduce himself to the coachman.
J tells Robbie that she is worried about the timeline of Robbie breaking up with his ex and then getting on the show.

Robbie's dad tells J to call him coach - let it go bro. J asks Robbie's mom if she thinks Robbie is over his ex that he just broke up with. J tells the mom that she is falling in love with Robbie. Robbie's mom warns him that the streets are talking: His ex's roomie "has made it look you broke up to go on the show." So Robbie goes and takes J away from talking to his sisters to reassure her that he is serious about the relationship with J and that he is here for wait for it "the right reasons." J asks if he broke up with his ex when he found out that he was coming on the show, J insists that he tells her the truth, he keeps repeating that it is not true. He says the relationship "was over 9 months before it actually ended." He says they had a blow up fight at the end of December and she slapped him (shame, no one male or female should ever put their hands on a partner).

Number 4:
Luke and of course he has a pickup, though it looks brand new and I want to think it is his, but I suspect rental.. They go to a massive family picnic/outing - and Luke gives a speech about how much family means to him. He seems to have a great family but this date is boring, watching grass grow might be more energetic.
It marginally gets better when he leads her into a field and takes her down a path lit by lanterns and ending in a heart made out in flowers..but it just comes across as cheesy and still lacks passion, he is a great looking guy but it all just strikes me as a guy who saw a 'Western Romantic Novel' book cover once.

The Rose Ceremony:
Is at a private Airport Hangar the forced metaphor is strong with this one. J shows up in a blue dress that looks painted on (or more accurately taped on). J cries a lot and tells us that she has to say goodbye to Luke this is said before the rose ceremony even starts! The camera keeps focusing on Luke while J pauses and holds the first rose, Luke then asks "Jojo, can I talk to you for a sec?" They go to the side and Luke tries to reassure her that he was being honest when he told her that his heart was hers, and now proceeds to tell her that he is in love with her. BUT, she only hugs him when he says that and I think he is starting to realize that she is not going to tell her the same...This causes her to walk away from him and from the group, I fear that he is going to be the next Bachelor and it is going to be such a boring season.

Dreaded - To be Continued!

Bachelorette recap or taking care of family puts you 3 weeks behind

My mom was staying with me for almost a month, and I could not let her see me watching this show...I know, I know.
The episode I am watching (can't say my usual of "this week") starts with Alex looking less cocky than normal because he realizes that he was on the chopping block last night. OMCH comes in to reassure him that if Jojo (J) wanted him gone, he would have been gone.

First one on one goes to Alex "I gaucho on my mind" reads the date card:
Apparently Alex has been "bitching about being the only guy to not get a one on one." Alex doesn't seem to understand the purpose of the show "she needs to show me that she is into me." The other guys are placed on a bus together and seeing the five remaining guys you get to see how "generic white boy" they are, from a distance the only differentiation is weight...tell me why this show would be hurt by diversity? The guys in the bus stop at an Argentinian bbq joint and Aaron Rodger's brother (ARB) tells us that he is a picky eater..often code for I just like American food (and Italian).
Alex and J watch a gaucho relax a horse, Alex called it "putting a horse down" as they snuggle together with the horse (yes it is as weird as it reads). Alex whispers "I'm your goocho" yup a whole date plus the word written on a date card and he still could not get it right.

A date card for a one on one shows up and of course it is for ARB. Back to the date and Alex is telling J that he is falling in love with her and she gives him the stone face and it is at that moment that we know that Alex is going home. J tells us that she is sending him home early out of respect...Alex might be thinking, "or you could let me party for one more week." Alex is the kind of cocky guy that cannot believe he could get broken up with.

ARB's one on one date:
Of course he gets the private jet to a wine tasting treatment...they start it off by smashing grapes under their feet, then take glasses and scoop out some of the pulp and juice (unprocessed) that they just made and in my head I can hear my cousin screaming "white people!" While they are disgustingly drinking foot juice, we cut back to the house and Luke and Chase are discussing ARB with very little respect regarding him as a person.
A date card arrives and Luke gets the final one on one...but of course he had to, she has a type.

Back to ARB and he is telling J that if she goes home with him to meet the families, Aaron Rodgers wont be there...he starts snitching on the fam. He says that he and Aaron do not have much of a relationship, and makes it sound like Aaron has decided to distance himself from his family. He says they do not talk at all, so Aaron wouldn't know that he is doing the show, PRETTY SURE HE KNOWS HOMIE! He claims he walked away from football because he wanted to not because he had to. He tells J "I am so in love with you" she glows - massive make out session.

Group Date:
It is raining, so the group stays in, and eats a tonne of American junk food, with James betting that he could stuff his mouth full of french fries, they are all basically simulating a slumber party, with Pictionary, Charades and Truth and Dare. Robbie has to do a dare of running down the hallway in his underwear. James starts snitching on Robbie, telling J that Robbie stares at other girls on the streets.

In some one on one time with Robbie, we find out that he quite recently broke up with his girl, as in he claims "4.5 months ago" you can see J doing the math to try to figure out if he broke up to come on the show!

The guys are hanging out together and Robbie asks what the other guys think about the rose distribution, James being practical thinks that ARB and Luke are front runners - that annoys Robby whose name I just figured out is spelled with a Y, I refuse to go back and fix all the other references. Robby is telling the other guys he thinks he is a front runner...his cockiness is immediately validated, because he gets the group date rose. Look J clearly has a type 'washed up former athlete' is her sweet spot. Then something that makes no logistic sense (or equity) occurs, "because Robby won the rose [which means he will spend a tonne of alone time with her soon] he gets some more time with me right now" so the other 2 guys have to skedaddle.

Luke one on One:
J tells us that Luke is smart, not just good looking - and immediately after that he tells us that he broke his first horse at 12 and that helps him with human psychology...sigh. Anyway, Luke the cowboy gets to go on a date with J that involves riding horses - yeah this show is not rigged at all. Then they go skeet shooting, if the next thing is calf roping I would not be shocked at all.

Chase is telling us that he is concerned that the decision for the guy to go home is between he and James so he will need the cocktail party to impress J. At that moment Luke comes in and tells the guys there will be no cocktail party!

Rose Ceremony:
Luke is brimming with confidence, and so too is ARB!
They get the first 2 roses, as we knew they would and the final rose goes to Chase. Come on, this is a blatant case of looks over personality, and James didn't help himself by playing the goofy snitch towards the end. J does the 'can I walk you out and sit on this special bench and talk' move.

Bachelorette recap or all Chad are bad?

I mock this show all the time, but when it was gone last week I missed it! I have got a friend at work that cannot stop talking, to the point that even my boss is annoyed now, but no matter how many warning she gets she will not shut up…this is my move with the Bach/ette franchises I warn myself that this is not healthy but I keep going back.

You might recall that on the last episode the Chad, is being sent home but…he stalks through the woods to go and find the other guys! Nemacolin, PA is not ready for this Chad storm. The guys hold a mock funeral for Chad, and spread his protein powder like ashes – wasteful and petty…and cowardly because it is done when he is not there BUT WAIT, what is this? Chad is knocking on the front door and now dragging his fingers down the glass panes of the door. Evan in his ITM says “I hope he is not here for his protein powder” coward.

Chad tells the guys that he felt backed into a corner, but refuses to apologize to them. He says that when the group attacked him the only thing he could think to do is to get physical. Aaron Rodger’s brother shows me that he is braver than I expected by standing up to Chad. But Evan does a foolish move of asking Chad to pay him for his shirt that was ripped, son just get that money from production (thanks to Evan Old Navy shirts were a trending twitter topic).

When Alex walks in, the guys put him on their shoulders and start chanting “Dragon Slayer!” mysteriously a cake and sparklers show up and of course they dunk Alex’s face into it…I am sure production had nothing to do with that!

Cocktail party/Rose Ceremony #1:

The guys are all expressing relief that Chad is no longer there. Robby gets a kiss, but many of the guys get to see it. But now that Chad is not there, new villains have to emerge and now that the guys who already have roses still want to take time with Jojo from the guys who do not, the absence of Chad allows the remaining guys to see that those guys are not so great! Luke takes time away from the other guys to spout some cheesy lines “heart beats faster” “thinking about you.” Wells now notes what I just said “The wonderful thing about Chad…we had a common enemy, a distraction” Evan calls the rose guys “mini Chads” Aaron Rodger’s bro pulls Jojo aside to make out with her on the other side of the wall from the other guys. It looks as if the remaining guys might be able to hear the make out sounds.

Roses: The show dials up the music to let us know this is serious; we get a lot of commentary from Evan as we see each guy get called up but he gets the last rose which sends home Daniel (the Canadian and Chad’s boy…maybe he got booted because of his affiliation) and James F. Daniel says “She was going for personality and my personality is (bleeped)” he rants a bit more that he has the best body, and the “chance of her picking me is like me getting struck by lightning while (exaggerated pause as he tries to think of something) shaving my face.”

Jojo (J) tells the guys that they are off to Uruguay and makes sure to tell them it is in South America.

In Uruguay, Jordan aka Aaron Rodger’s Brother (ARB) gets the first one on one date: the other guys look ticked. Wells thinks Jordan is “just playing the game to get another stamp on his passport.”

One on One: 

As soon as ARB leaves the guys start to talk about him. The date goes to Isla de Lobos (famous for the largest colony of sea lions in the western hemisphere – see you learn from this blog) and while they are on the date the guys read some gossip mags that Vinny has. The mags indicate that J is still in love with her ex or may still be dating her ex.

Cut to the evening portion and J tells us that she met a girl that dated ARB and she was told that he was a terrible boyfriend. So she brings it up to ARB and he does a tonne of hair flips to try to stall, then admits that he did cheat on his ex. J is worried that ARB will cheat on her he says this reminds him of something his pastor told him growing up “Don’t tell a girl you love her until you are ready to put a ring on her finger” Church of Beyonce is clearly a thing. J is easily bowled over by his simplistic explanations because let’s just be honest, let’s just be real, she wanted any answer that didn’t sound like “and yeah I will cheat on you too.” ARB gets the rose and they walk off into a street festival as always happens on this show, random street parties or musicians we do not know, that is the staple of the franchise.

J gets back from her date with ARB and is telling us how magical it was but then a producer shows her one of the Vinny’s mags and tells her the guys have all seen it. I initially screenshot her face because it was epic, but I am too lazy to do much with it: J says she is furious at her ex and starts to cry. She says the ex doesn’t want her to be happy and that she used to love him, she does not want to be dragged back ‘to the terrible time in my life’ we see shots of her crying and saying “I hate him” which is a clip the show used to promote the season as if she was saying it about one of her suitors. I love that her ex’s name is Chad!

She goes to tell the guys about it and she is crying when she explains to the guys that “this is somebody that brought me to a bad place in my relationship with him.” She tells the guys that she is there for the right reasons.

Group date time and we head to Valizas Sand Dunes: with the B roll showing J standing isolated on top of a sand dune. They are going sand surfing. There is a tonne of tumbling over into the sand followed by a torrential downpour.

In the evening Derek gets the rose by playing the ‘I need to be reassured victim’ it annoys many of the guys.

One on one:

J plays with a dog and then Robbie, but let’s cut back to the house: and ARB (who is safe) brings up that many of the guys are on the block. Back to the date and they are jumping off a cliff, metaphor for dating…allow me to say Robbie has a much better body than I expected with that face…yeah, I said that. Back to the house and some guys are asking Derek what he thinks he did to get the rose, they brought up J’s words “that this guy needs reassurance.”

J tells Robbie that he has “emotional intelligence” sigh. His sob story, is that his best friend died last year in a car accident while texting his girlfriend. Because of that he realized that time is short so he quit his job, left his girl of three years and moved cities…he then tells J that he has fallen in love with her “I’m in love, I’m in love. I AM IN LOVE.” His ex is probably poking a Robbie doll right now (and justifiably). Fireworks go off in the background as J tells us “It feels so good to be loved…that after tonight I could see myself falling in love with him.”

Cocktail party/Rose Ceremony #2:

“Robbie, Chase, Alex and ARB have been ganging up on me” Derek tells us, so he pulls them aside and tells them “that it starts to look like a high school clique.”  Guys are offended that he chose the cocktail party time to do this (they revere the symbolism of this show so much). ARB comes back to the main group and thinking that he is a big dog tries to call Derek out by asking the whole group if they feel excluded turns out he didn’t get the reaction he wanted because Wells says “it took valor to tell you.” So ARB switches tact and tries to say to Derek “you said we all feel that way” Derek said “I did not.” In truth I do not remember him saying we, but this is not a show I care to rewind.

But J sends OMCH in to tell the group that she does not want to have a cocktail party and 3 guys are going home, Alex and his Napoleon complex somehow spins this into Derek’s fault “he took up all the time being sensitive” as if something that happens outside of J’s presence can affect her.

J arrives and gives her “blah blah blah guy I want to spend the rest of my life with” speech with. She says she cancelled the cocktail party because she knows it wouldn’t be fair [or maybe the show has been shooting overtime and they need to wrap the crew early]. Wells gets the final rose, not that shocking; Evan, Vinny and Grant (half) get sent home. So now the ethnic quotient has been completely washed out of the show…and the guys remaining look basically the same as every other final 10 of this show. Vinny is crying in his goodbye ITM…come on bro!

Bachelorette recap or 4 hours of "Is Jojo really the star of this show?"

Two nights of this…can I handle it? 4 hours of The Chad: 

We start with many of the guys napping and looking sleepy this is how I know I will feel after hour 4

.

OMCH (Obvious Man Chris Harrison) shows up to drop off date cards and warnings.

Chad is disappointed that he did not get a date, he thinks he is “killing it” with Jojo. 

Chase gets the one on one date:

Jojo (‘J’) wants to see if they can “cross that emotional” barrier. So we go to a Bachelor Trope and they go for a yoga session, it will be hot yoga. And the instructor asks “How long have you guys been intimate?” They tell her they have not been, and have only known each other for a week. Of course it is ‘sexual’ they do a move that is described as “kind of like an anger-gasm.” 

Cut from yoga to Daniel and Chad heavy lifting together with exaggerated grunting.

Back to yoga and they are being taught the Yab yum pose which basically just has J wrap her legs around Chase which puts their faces together so of course they make out. 

Evening portion:

He shares his sob story…parental divorce. He wants his marriage to be one and done… “a lifetime decision.” He gets the rose and J tells him there is one more surprise; it is Charles Kelly giving them their surprise intimate concert – Chase in his ITM looks like he is struggling to pretend as if he knew who Charles Kelly was before that night. If you are wondering why the name seems familiar but not a hit name by itself, it is because he is a part of Lady Antebellum. 

The group date card arrives and Chad who is on the group date expresses out loud that he doesn’t want to do the group date, the guys react angrily and some of them call him out, but he picks on Evan first (physically Evan looks like the weakest of the group that was calling him out) whose rebuke of him was the mildest then…

“Let’s hope that whatever competition it is, it is a bench pressing competition and not a spelling competition” said by Jordan directed at Chad and this leads to the Chad response that was used to promote this season of the show which now makes so much more sense in context, “You are a 27 year old failed football player you have done nothing with your life other than throw a piece of leather.” It is a low blow but I can see that Jordan struck first Chad just struck harder. Many of the guys take it to heart with Alex pointing to Chad and saying “I think we can all say that there is a solid sticking piece of s##t right over there.” Chad calls him a mofo and Alex tells him to “Try me bro” as someone who lives in a city filled with surfers and military “try me bro” is the clarion call of every weekend. Chad says Alex will need more tattoos to look tough and Alex tells him he is the biggest pussy in the house. 

Group Date:

Alex says he is excited to go with ten guys and one douche bag. The guys meet J and they are sitting through a one woman show called ‘Sex Talks’ with confused looks. The guys will have to give their own performances, Evan who works as an Erectile Dysfunction specialist is excited for the chance. These are the moments of this show that I find offensive, not because guys or girls are talking about sex, but because this ‘forces’ them to have to do it…Daniel the Canadian is a little too excited to do this. Chad shockingly agrees with me…uh oh. Evan has decided that he is going to use this forum to call out Chad, sounds risky. 

J just keeps throwing it out there that “I think sex is really important in a relationship” cool girl, but we got it the first five times. We actually get to see one of the guys showing off his cunnilingus skills. Now time for Evan to take shots at Chad: He tells a story of the dangers of steroid usage and he uses some of Chad’s mannerisms as examples of steroid usage. As he goes to sit down Chad grabs Evan and rips his shirt. It is then Chad’s turn and he asks J to the stage she is hesitant and checks in on Evan first. Chad then plays the macho bro role of not telling a sex story, telling J that his only concern is for their future and then tries to kiss her in front of everyone (too much like ownership brah) to which she does the instant turn away move and gives him the cheek and a gentle push away. The guys and additional audience members watching roar in delight, with Alex standing up to applaud and say “Crash and burn brother.” Chad then throws the mic away when he cannot get it back into the mic stand. 

The guys go back stage as J and the audience deliberate, Chad walks right up to Evan puts his hand around his neck and goes “You are going to die you piece of s##t” Evan does not back down but also does not retaliate. Daniel tries to calm Chad down while censoring him for his actions (good for him) – Chad, if the guy who says he finds humor in bodily fluids and his favorite is poop is reprimanding you, you know you have gone too far! 

Evening portion:

And the dates are all going mellow, but we know this is the quiet before the storm and so we see Chad try to walk up and interrupt a date. He makes it awkward by sitting close to the date and loudly moving furniture and whistling, “Some guys feel they need to push boundaries and to test the big guy.” Vinny asks “how do you feel when you went to kiss her and she turned the cheek?” Chad says he would have turned the cheek also. Chad then tries to insinuate that the Evan shirt ripping incident was Evan’s fault – that Evan tried to push past him. 

Evan decides to call Chad out “Hey, Chad why are you here?” Chad says Evan is bullying him…uhmm yeah! 

Cut to the house where some of the guys are waiting for the one on one date card, a guys says “if the date card does not have my name on it, I will go cry in a corner somewhere.” 

Back to the group date and Chad is creeping in the background while J is on the different quick dates. Chad keeps sharing his personal thoughts on the guys while telling us that “most of the guys are immature.” He finally gets some time with J and tells J that Evan was “the little kid who tried to beat up the bully?” “So you are the bully?” “No I am not the bully, well he is bullying the bully” J: “Don’t be the bully!” Evan comes along and interrupts Chad’s time with J which of course causes Chad to internally rage, then he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror and says “Hey buddy” while preening. 

Evan foolishly gives J an ultimatum, it is Chad or him! The thing about a power play like this, even if you get rid of Chad, you have made J less a fan of yours and more watchful of you. Even the slightest flaw you have will forever make her think “Should I have kept the other guy?” Should we also point out that Evan has THREE kids? This is not exactly a guy without some things that could cause a girl to think long and hard about keeping him. 

J pulls Evan aside before presenting the group date rose and the first thing she brings up “You are an amazing father” told you dude! J tells him that she wants to give him the rose but she is not sure he will accept it given the situation - showing that he is a man of convictions, he accepts it even after J has warned him that she is not going to boot Chad just because he wants her to. Evan accepts the rose and gushes that he got to make out with J. When they return to the group Chad has a look of shock…don’t worry brah we all wonder what is going on here.

Chad says to J “Is this real? Is this a real situation?” J asks him what his problem is he goes “You are actually vibing this dude right now?” J tells him to stop being disrespectful. Alex tells us he is going to DVR this “and watch it over and over again.” Chad “no girl on earth ever chooses Evan, except to come sweep their front yard.” On the limo bus back to the house Chad looks like he could murder every single guy in there with him.

One of the guys says he does not feel safe sleeping next to Chad. A security guard has been hired to watch over Chad. 

One on One Date:

James Taylor Faker is taken by J to a swing dance lesson taught by who I can only guess is Betty White’s older sister. Post lesson they walk out onto the street and there is a group of performers having a swing dance, showing that the lessons didn’t stick J and J flail around to the music. 

Back to house and Daniel is trying to talk to Chad who is of course eating, Daniel is telling Chad that associating with him is hurting his standing in the house. Daniel to Chad “pretend you are Hitler” Chad “I don’t want to be Hitler” “Okay, pretend that you are Mussolini” this analogy does NOT seem safe! Daniel then says “let’s pretend you are Donald Trump…Mussolini…George Bush” hahahahahah oh man the presumptive Republican Presidential candidate and the last Republican president were both compared to Hitler, Mussolini and CHAD…like I predicted, the analogy was not safe. 

Back to the boring date with James, J is telling us she is not sure there is a future there between her and James. James shares his sob story; he got picked on as a kid this is why he considers himself an underdog. He tells J that he does not think he is good looking enough for a girl like her…blah blah he gets the rose and breaks out his guitar – we all think he is just on this to further his career right? 

Chad is working out and grunting and the guys are watching him. OMCH shows up to say that the night’s cocktail party will be cancelled but instead J will spend all day hanging out with the guys at a pool party, Chad mocks that privately.

 As OMCH goes to leave Evan follows him out to snitch…now look I understand someone having concerns, BUT, you raised it to J she told you “NO”, to go behind her back and tell OMCH is rude and paternalistic…the girl cannot do the decision you want her to do so you tell her ‘father figure.’ Evan you are pathetic, Chad is in many ways a terrible human being, but let J figure that out for herself! 

So now OMCH is out there lecturing Chad and telling him that he needs to make peace with Evan. Chad claims he is going to do just that, but instead he looks like he is going to turn the house into a scene from Game of Thrones. 

The blooper reel shows James talking to a producer with both of them freaking out over a moth

Okay on to the Next Episode: Can I survive one more? 

Chad comes into the house and gives an apology of sorts as required by OMCH. Evan says “Chad you owe me a new shirt and an apology.” Chad tells them if they give him space he will be good with them. He gets to stay. J shows up and Chad is the first to meet her at the door. J gets down to her bikini because there is no way the show was going to let her not show off what the trainer hath wroth. We see two guys jumping into the pool with a reference to two memes near and dear to my heart ‘RKO out of nowhere’ and ‘His name is John Cena’ (look them up you olds).

The guys pretend to be synchronized swimmers entering the pool and somehow Evan comes up from that bleeding…everyone jokingly blames Chad (maybe we should be afraid that he can move objects with his mind).

J is worried that she likes Aaron Rodgers’ brother more than he likes her. They make out; she makes out with a lot of guys this round. But, a lot of guys are bringing Chad up in their convos with J; Chad confronts Derek for speaking about him to J, Derek pretended he did not, only to realize that Chad overheard his conversation with J. Chad takes Derek to the side to have a conversation, some of the guys ask him if he will need backup. Chad opens the conversation with “Whatever guy stole your girlfriend that looked like me…is not me!” Derek does not back down in the confrontation and tells Chad that he is concerned that Chad is unstable. 

Cocktail Party:

The guys all just mill around wondering if Chad will get a rose. Tonnes of dramatic music and glances at Chad as each name is called, OMCH shows up to tell us one rose remains and Chad is still standing there, but come on we know he is getting it and he does! This leaves a lot of pissed off guys and wait, what is this, the half black guy that was featured coming in and Ali the Persian guy there goes the diversity. Evan says it “feels like a kick in the ass.”

J says that because of all the negativity she has decided that they are leaving the mansion for good to go have some fun…She decided it? I am guessing the lease on the mansion has run out.

The group goes off to Pennsylvania because when you think fairy tale romance you think Nemacolin, PA. 

Luke gets the first one on one date card:

They go dog sledding (of a sort) and come upon a wood fired hot tub, so Luke has to chop some wood to feed the fire and then strip down to be ogled by J. But…it turns out they got it too hot. Luke tells J that he grew up on a ranch J responds “you wouldn’t know that by looking at you” how should he look J? Of course there is making out. 

Back to the house and the show spends a lot of time panning the camera up and down Chad's shirtless torso while cutting to video of a bear with Chad talking in the background and saying "don't poke the Chad bear." The group date card shows up which leaves just Alex and Chad to go on the 2 on one date...dun dun dunnnnnn. 

Back to the date J says 'like' a lot, I have spotted that recently I have been saying 'like' more than I would like to (couldn't resist) and I think the culprit was last season's Bachelor and this podcast that I listen to where one of the hosts says "like" every other sentence. I have consciously started to remove 'like' from my vocabulary, and attempting to substitute pretty much anything for it. 

Luke shares his 'sob story' his is an actual sad story unlike so many of the other guys, (unless he is faking it, and I do not want to look it up to find out) someone he was close to in the military died. He of course gets the rose. J says "I have one more surprise" which musical act that no one knows is it going to be? J takes him to a concert hall where there is an adoring crowd with all their camera phones trained on them and they get on the concert stage to start making out while 'Dan+Shay' perform for them (these guys at least went to number 1 on the country charts). 

Group Date: 

The guys get to go to Heinz Field and they get to meet Ben Roethlisberger (cool I guess, but I cannot especially on a show like this forget that he has been accused of sexual assault, not just once but twice) Brett Keisel and Hines Ward so that they can show off their manly skills. The guys run through skills tests and bash each other around, James Faker suffers a split eye and while the medic recommends stitches James refuses because he doesn't want to lose time on the date...blood is streaming down his face. 

Back to the house and Luke is sitting in between Alex and Chad and there is palpable tension. 

Back on the date the guys are squared off into 2 teams Evan appears to be spending more time on his 'look' than on his preparation for the game. Aaron Rodger's little brother gets to play all time QB which of course makes sense and locks him into getting to go to the after party no matter what. Blue team was the clear under dog with Evan (who started bleeding again), James, Vinny et al and they came back from losing to tying the game and with 6 seconds left the White team has the ball and is driving into the end zone when Blue strips the ball and takes it in for a last second touch down and win. 

The losing team had to return home while the winner get evening time with J. J appears to kiss every guy that she gets alone time with, impressive. J is clearly smitten by Aaron Rodger's little brother whom she considers an enigma which of course leads to kissing. Jordan 'earns' the date rose. 

The date card arrives and Chad blows up at the other guys after they question him about his reasons for wanting to be with J. He starts yelling at guys and telling them to meet him outside (if you want to fight just fight, do not posture). 

Two on one date:

Before the date begins the guys are talking about Chad behind his back but he hears them and he goes OFF: "Jordan you think this is a show and you think you are safe for now, but one day this ends and when this ends you go home. When you go home, you think I cannot find you? You think I wont go out of my way to come to your house? I am dead f$%king serious.” "You think I am scared of you?" "I think you should be." Whew I thought I was the only person that harbored that kind of willingness to wait for prey! All the other guys are sitting on a long L shaped couch and Chad is sitting behind them on a solo seat just staring at them all.

The helicopter budget finally kicks in for this episode and comes to pick up the 2 Alpha Bros for the date.

After a long hike the 3 daters awkwardly share a picnic blanket so J first takes Alex aside to talk to him,
Alex starts to fill J in on all the aggression that Chad has shared with the group - normally I think it is a bad move to speak about your opponents during your time, but in this case if you can communicate it quickly and calmly to the person who asked the question and just not linger on it it is probably fine. 

Chad's time with J has her trying to initially figure out whether what the guys have said about Chad is true. J asks Chad if he threatened to find Jordan after the show, Chad tries to downplay it even smiling. J says she is disappointed in Chad because she gave him a second chance, she says that threatening to beat someone up is not the move and Chad with a straight face replies "so that they would leave me alone...if you have a better way I would love to hear it." yup that is the best plan Chad always threaten to kill peeps who annoy you. And you sell luxury homes for a living?

J walks off because she says she needs time to think...about this? J keeps saying that the fact that Chad's mom passed away six months ago is the reason that this is a struggle for her. Chad says he has no option left because Alex keeps getting in his business, so we see Chad stalking through the woods to go back to find Alex on the picnic blanket while whistling: He lies down on the blanket and then says to Alex "I am not mad at you, I am just disappointed....It is just unfortunate that I cannot hurt you right now without getting in trouble." Chad:"Have a glass of milk" Alex: "I don't like milk" "You should, milk is delicious." This really was a part of their argument. By the way, milk is really delicious.

Alex “Chad is a fake disingenuing person” the word is disingenuous bro, but I give you points for trying to get close!

J finally says "Chad I don't think that you are the person that you say you are" so she gives the rose to Alex and in franchise tradition they leave him out in the woods. Chad asks out loud "is this real? Am I getting punked right now?" The guys in the house when seeing whose luggage is removed start cheering and toasting. Back to the woods and it is now dark instead of light and we see Chad still stomping around, makes me wonder if he told the show I am going to walk off this anger...he says to the Camera "now I am going to have to go and find Alex" to beat him up...turns out Chad walked all the way up to the cabin where the guys are staying? Didn't they fly a helicopter to the hike? Chad is seeing knocking on the door and running his fingers down the glass pane. The dreaded 'to be continued' comes up!

The Blooper reel has Daniel and Evan walking to the hot tub Daniel tricks Evan into thinking he is going to go in nude, it is a well done prank and better than I would ever have given him credit for.

 

Bachelorette recap or Chad teaches us the special ingredients in protein shakes

We do the cheesy pan shot of the CA coast line and the usual monologue of the lead telling us they are hopeful that they will find love. Kim sees the ‘James Taylor’ chyron and calls it “the dumbest thing she has ever seen” she means for today, she sees my typing and corrects me “I have seen a lot of dumb things today.” 

Chad proves the text I got from E  “He is the bitchy narrator” correct instantly and immediately starts monologuing 2 minutes into the show.

The budget for this show has stepped up and they explode a limo for the effect of having Jojo show up on a fire truck “When Jojo jumped out of that fire truck she was smoking, the limo wasn’t the only thing on fire” “I was thinking you can spray me down any day” (Jojo is operating the fire hose). Chad calls the group leaving  the “B team.” I suspect this blog will often have the words “Chad says.”'

Chad has a whole suitcase of just protein powders and supplements; he then straps that to himself as he does pull-ups. The guys call him “meat head to the max.” He of course is doing the pull-ups sans shirt.

The B-team is off to pretend that they are firefighters. Grant is a real firefighter…shouldn’t someone have thought this through? Jojo says “The guys are looking good…pretty much the hottest date I have ever been on” (Cheesy smile to the camera) Daniel then pops up (after a challenging of running with the fire hose) “The last time I was pulling hose like that I was in my apartment” (Cheesier smile to the camera).

Wells does not look like he is built for physical exertion, and probably shouldn’t be doing it with gear on. The EMTs have to be called to help him out. As James F pointed out “We all felt bad for him until he started getting more one on one time with Jojo.”

The guys remaining in the home have created a song to sing to Jojo Chad points out that they all already seem obsessed “with a girl they just met” and whom “they basically do not know.”

The top 3 for the firefighter challenge includes Grant…shocking? And Wells and Luke, yes you read that right, Wells was included in the top 3 “for not giving up” don’t worry he was just as shocked as you. Luke is still listed as the ‘war veteran’ and he puts in a good job but pouts when Grant wins. The whole thing felt rigged to make Grant go further than the typical minority candidate on this show…is this Affirmative Action? Gasp, there are about to be a whole bunch of pissed off white guys! Jojo “I would certainly say that Grant is a hero” as we see her making out with him.

Derek gets the first one on one card. The guys tell him to stop smiling.

Back to the group date and the rest of the guys start to get one on one time, Wells is up first; He starts with jokes about his incompetence at the fire challenge. Half of what is helping him here is that he is wittier than the other guys, but then again a man amongst guerrillas will always stand out. Jojo is an aggressive kisser she goes in for it, Luke after giving his sob story (see any prior season of this show) goes for a hug, Jojo instead went for the kiss…you go girl (yeah it does not fit me I felt weird typing it). Wells gets the rose and Luke tells us that he is hurt by it.

One on on date:

Jojo tells Derek that the date is unplanned, it is basically a choose your own adventure type of date. As they leave the gate the options are given “Sky” or “Sea” they both of course pick “Sky” if you have ever seen this show you know Sky means helicopters, Balloons, private jets. At the airport the option is “North” or “South” the idiots pick North MORONS go south, warmer beaches and a more exotic lifestyle (makes me wonder if the producers said No). In San Francisco the choices are “Golden Gate” or “Lombard street” they pick GG.

Back to the house and the main group is  still practicing their song “I always warn girls, stay away from nice guys” said by Chad as he is jabbing his finger. Chad  “If you were making a protein shake made up of all the guys here”, Daniel “what kind of a shake would it be?”  Chad "If you're making a protein shake made out of the group of dudes here and blended it up, half of that dude protein shake would have zero chance” Some of the guys are disappointed when their names are not called on the new date card. Chad points out to them “You have gone your whole life without Jojo” he is a bro, he is a brutally honest bro, but he has moments of lucidity in all that protein haze.

Back to the one on one: J (I am tired of typing that made up name) asks the usual “what happened to your last relationship” type question and Derek feigns sadness. I am thinking he is going to confess that he is a virgin but instead he says that in his last relationship he was ready to get married but his girl ended up cheating on him. “I think I have told myself that I am being open” oh no another wanker playing the ‘unloveable’ card. The minute Ben Higgins parlayed that move into becoming the Bachelor I knew we would be plagued with it. J says that means that they have a lot in common…yup basicness.

Group date time:

And the bros get to go to ESPN’s LA headquarters. The show ‘Sportsnation’ is being filmed with J pretending to be a host with Max and Marcellus. J claims that M and M called to offer to help her out, let’s just ignore that ESPN and ABC are both part of the Disney properties.  Jordan made sure to tell us that he “played football professionally and [my] brother is Aaron Rodgers so Marcellus may not like me” (because he used to sack QBs). James “Chad looks like a protein shake in a blender” after the guys did a spinning challenge. The guys have to do a fake proposal  Chad says simply “Will you marry me?” he gets called out for its simplicity so Chad jokes that J “is starting off a bit naggy here” I would hate this guy in person but on this show I love him.

Then the guys have to simulate a Press Conference and the question they all are asked “Who do you think is performing the worst?” and of course all the guys say Chad some immediately some with prodding. Part of the problem for these guys is that Chad is speaking too much truth to power, he has called them all out for immediately falling in love Alex “just because you are speaking the truth doesn’t mean you are right.”

M and M are doing the analysis of how they would power rank the guys, Chad’s VO “I think I am going to win it.” Chad comes in second with the guys calling him open and honest; Alex is hurt that he lost to Chad. But James Taylor Faker wins it all.

Evening portion and James gets to go first: “A smile is the only thing that you can see on the outside that comes from the inside” – James. Of course that ignores tears, mucus, blood, bile, vomit and my disgust at his simplistic logic. But, it earns him a “thank you kiss,” then a real kiss, that is noisy. Chad is analyzing the guys for us calling one the high school sweetheart type, labeling Alex as too short “you do not go from 6’4” to 5’4”’ “Nick is trying so hard, it is coming off as weird” “she doesn’t want a guy that will kiss her ass constantly” “most of the guys are coming off as kids” “They do not want what she needs, they do not have what any woman needs.” J thinks that Chad might be overcompensating for something, she asks him if he has been in love and he surprises me slightly by saying that he has and even more surprisingly he has a purse dog. We find out that he inherited the dog from his mom who passed away 6 months ago, that makes sense now, but I am still slightly surprised he hasn’t pawned the dog off. J and Chad go and drop coins in a wishing well and kiss I think he reminds J of her brother (I know it sounds a bit gross but look past that, they are the same macho-poseurs).

What’s this? Chad says he is starting to rethink the whole thing because…he is starting to have feelings for J…many of the guys are talking and saying that there is no way Chad can get the rose because it would make them have to reconsider everything, they are lying, they would all have remained if he got the rose. James Faker gets the rose and it leaves him in tears in his confessional.

Cocktail Party:

The guys are all looking around for Chad, not realizing that he was outside waiting for J’s limo to pull up. As soon as she does he asks her to go for a walk and sneaks a kiss before he walks her back in to see the group, he comes in strutting when he walks her in. The guys are now very wary of Chad. So some of them pull him over for a chat: have they not ever seen this show? This rarely goes well. Alex is the lead interrogator, with Jordan as the backup. While they are interrogating him Chad continues to demolish food, they even comment on it and he tells them it is delicious. They start to ask Chad about his interaction with J. They do not like his cavalier answers “they are just being super sensitive” – Chad. Someone makes a 'winter is coming' reference and on cue we cut to J with Chase and fake snow is falling with Chase claiming that because he didn’t get a date with her, he wants to bring a little piece of his world to her. Chad really, really likes to eat and keeps offering peeps plates of food. The guys start commenting on it. Vinny – “I don’t know if he is here for the free food or if he is here to find love.” “He would take an IV of meat if he could get one.” “Chad has consumed enough to feed a kindergarten group, maybe even a fifth grade. He has taken the term meathead to an unparalleled level.”

Chad interrupts an Alex conversation to talk to J and it leaves the guys fuming. J tells Chad that she finds him funny, never let it be said that she needs conversation and depth. “Whole bunch of butt-hurt dudes that are gonna confront you slightly” that is how Chad describes the guys who are giving him the talking to…he adds that it is like ‘West Side story’ and even does the dancing motion, “it is like a bunch of Care Bears.” Again he points out the obvious; “If you are going to do something, think out the end result” the guys confronted him but had no end game.

Chad then goes and interrupts Evan’s time when Evan comes back to the guys he tells them and the guys tell him he should have pushed back against Chad…they all say it of course after their own dates have been interrupted. So Alex goes to confront Chad and tells him that he is “probably creeping” J out. Alex tells him to go drink a beer or whatever he needs to chill out. Chad puts his finger in Alex’s face with a “f#$k you” Alex to his credit does not back down even when Chad threatens to displace his teeth. Alex tells us that he will with “no hesitation punch a guy like that in the face, I am literally about to drop my beer and if he touches my face again, I am about to drop that guy on his head.”

As the guys walk up to the rose ceremony Chad is still stuffing his face, even as J walks in Chad is still sneaking food to his mouth. First Rose to Alex “She’s gonna keep Alex around because she doesn’t want America to think that she hates short people” – come on by now you can guess who said that. 2^nd Christian “Christian, Christian, I don’t even know who Christian is…another short guy” as we see him looking around for Christian. James S “Bachelor Superfan” I think thinks he was going to be the narrator of this episode but Chad took his role, wait till he sees this episode, he is not going to be happy. Chad “I think I will get a rose tonight, I should get a rose tonight, I will get a rose tonight!” 

Alex thinks that the rose symbolizes that one of the best bachelors in the country is here, if Chad gets it “It will symbolize, just garbage.” – it is not that serious brah! And of course after much suspense, Chad gets the final rose! Crestfallen looks on many of the guys, including the “Super fan” well if you are a super fan at least you got to see inside the mansion and 2 rose ceremonies in person you must be loving life.

“I will not write her a song about how much I love her, I am just going to keep eating protein shakes, and eating some food” oh Chad. The promo for next week’s two night episode arc has OMCH calling it a “double dose of Chad.”

The blooper reel has Christian stripping down to his skivvies and inviting J into a bubble bath.

The bachelorette returns, and...Damn Daniel…don’t get so drunk

Every bloody season I rant, I rave, I say there is not enough colour, I call myself a bad person and yet still…I watch.
Welcome back Bachelorette, I have missed you.

You know what? There is a slight comfort to familiarity (even if the claim is that it breeds contempt) I am so used to OMCH (Obvious Man Chris Harrison) telling me that this season will be “The most exciting/emotional BLAH BLAH” so imagine my surprise when I suddenly hear the words “welcome to the finale of Dancing With the Stars” I thought the producers were trying to pull a fast one on me, but it turns out I just have fat fingers and clicked on the wrong show! Whew I only have room for at least 15 crappy shows in my life, I cannot add more. THANK GOD for HD phones and tablets, they make watching anywhere a pleasure. Yes I know I should be thankful for life and health etc. but what good are those things in a standard definition world?

We get a bit of preamble about JoJo being sad about Ben not picking her, the cynic in me always thinks the new Bach or –Ette is always much more happy to be the star of their own show than to have found love on the prior show. This option allows you to pick the person you think is best for you plus gives you your own national exposure - oh and it gives you a 2-3 month vacation.

Before even getting to the show both E and K sent me texts the gist of which were; ‘half of these guys look the same.’

Dez, Kaitlyn and Ally (former Bachelorettes) let us know they still do not have regular jobs by showing up ‘to help’ Jojo with her planning for the show. This is a gab fest to the extreme and leaves me feeling a little dirty, the show is already intrusive enough but to be fake intrusive – to sit in on this made for tv pretense of sisterhood is just ‘icky’.

Before night one we get a rundown of the guys and what they do…Grant is a firefighter from the Bay Area so better hope peeps in San Fran are not dropping matches from their hand rolled cigarettes. Jordan’s career is “Former Pro Quarterback” turns out he is the younger brother of Aaron Rogers…uhm I am pretty much a sports fanatic (I know it does not seem to jive with the viewing of this show) and I barely know this kid, how can he still be claiming ‘former’ as the big job to use? Alex is a U.S. Marine so, so, far it has been 3 muscular dudes who all kind of look like each other…the text messages make so much sense now. Alex has a twin who is also a marine and they have a heart to heart on camera because of course that is where you do these things. James’ career is ‘Bachelor fan’ oh come on now you are just trolling us producers!

Evan is an ‘Erectile Dysfunction specialist’ who is a former pastor and this is how he now “lifts spirits” he does a dozen euphemisms for his job. Ali is a bartender whose parents moved from Iran, this will count as part of the ethnic quota. Christian is a ‘Telecom consultant’ and a gym freak he is biracial and the show makes sure we know that from the start, apparently his grandfather was racist…guess which (color) side of the family the racist was on…so back to back ‘minorities’. Then we get to Luke the Texan with a ranch just so you do not get confused into thinking this is the ‘Flavor of Love’ he is also former military so maybe Jojo has a type? Luke tells us that he has lost many friends (thanks to war) so he “lives every day like his last” cue sad music and grave visits.

“I give you permission to squeeze my balls [hands over what looks like stress balls]” and “Anyone can look good in a suit; let’s see how you look naked.” – These are the teasers the show leaves us with as we go to commercial.

OMCH meets Jojo and speaks in clichés, so let’s skip to arrivals:

Jordan tells her that his parents were a quick engagement…pump your brakes bro. Derek ‘commercial banker’ tells Jojo that she has a really good sense of self. Robbie is a ‘former competitive swimmer’ he breaks out a bottle of wine and they swig from it, maybe this is why he is ‘former’ not current. Alex the marine is a lot shorter than I expected, Will a ‘civil engineer’ does a corny trick with flash cards which just cements the long held belief that engineers are always corny (yes Preeth that is a shot at you). Daniel is a ‘Canadian [job title]’ and says “Damn” a lot probably to play off on the “Damn Daniel” viral video. James Taylor is a ‘Singer/songwriter’ so he comes out with a guitar and sings, Jojo says “I wanna play that guitar later” and he says “we will teach ya” way to assume she cannot play it.

John comes out wearing a kilt and says he is half-Chinese and half Scottish and “lucky for me the half Scottish is below the waist.” Next up is Saint Nick ‘Father Christmas [job title]’ who hands her a gift he walks into the house and the other guys look at him with shock as he hands out Teddy Bears from his sack. Chase is a ‘medical sales rep’ who comes out in a huge fake moustache. Jake (black guy) is a ‘landscape architect’ while Brandon is a ‘hipster [job title]’ go ahead guess his skin colour? Come on, I know you know what his is! Vinny ‘barber’ breaks out toasted bread because he “wanted to give a little toast” but couldn’t find champagne. Wells ‘radio dj’ brings out the 90s music group ‘All-4-one’ as part of his entrance, by this time the guys who had already been hating on new arrivals were fuming. Christian the halfie (I can say it) pulls up on a motorbike so of course the next guy up has to ride in on a white horse with a unicorn horn attached; it is Luke the ‘war veteran.’

Alex is the first guy to grab Jojo and the guys hate him for it, Alex does pushups with Jojo sitting on him. Jordan is the rub your back while talking to you type, Jojo seems to like it, I think it is too soon but hey what do I know? One of the guys (Will) breaks out the kids game where you pick a color and a number to get to the answer he asks Jojo her favorite color and she says “red” while wearing a beige dress, he shuffles through to the answer and it is that he gets a kiss from Jojo she gives him a pity peck. Jordan then steals Jojo from him and gets a passionate kiss…that is going to make Will feel great about himself!

Wells the ‘radio dj’ is constantly being accompanied by All-4-one, it was a great gimmick at the start but it gets cheesy quickly and I just feel so sad for All-4-one (but hey cash those cheques!).

Daniel the Canadian tries to explain the viral video ‘Damn Daniel’ as the reason for his ‘Damn Jojo’ when he got out of the limo…it is exceedingly awkward, plus the ‘Damn Daniel’ thing was barely funny when it was viral. Daniel then goes around poking guys in the belly button to which a guy goes “there is no reason to ever poke another man in the belly button.” Daniel starts to get naked to show the world that he can look good outside of a suit and he is described as “White Canadian wasted” all the guys are predicting he will be the first in the pool – they are correct. The guys are getting so wasted that they start interrupting each other to interrupt Jojo in her confessional time, they are too drunk to realize they are not supposed to be in that room with her.

The Santa guy is better looking than I expected but he kept up the charade for longer than I expected too. Luke one of the many Texans on the show breaks out a stereotype and brings JoJo cowboy boots it gets him the first impression rose so I guess the investment was worth it…oh wait it didn’t - sucker! Aaron Rodger’s little brother got it; guess he couldn’t score on the field but off the field for now he is doing well (seriously he never threw a pass in a pro game). 

Rose Ceremony:

The guys are lined up and Jojo is giving her spiel but wait, a limo is pulling up and in walks Jake Pavelka (I confess I had to use the show for his name, I really am not that long time a watcher). Jojo says that he is a “longtime family friend” and thanks to that revelation by her the show’s attempt to trick us by pretending that he is a new suitor fails with me. He is much older than Jojo and he has known her for a while it just did not seem practical. It was a nice attempt but it just fell flat for me. By the way one of the guys wonders out loud “How old is that dude?” that stings; Pavelka is only a few years older than me…these dumb young pups. Pavelka claims that he was just there to give her advice about looking for love, clearly something he could not have told her in the many months since she was announced as the Bachelorette and her time in front of the cameras. I do not know much about him because his season was before my time but I do know that many fans of the show hate him and he is legendary for having a relationship that did not work but hey I am sure he gives great advice… “What I’m trying to say is I want love … for you. And I want you to find love here. And I believe it’s in that room” – nice try ABC.

I start to play my usual internal “how many brown to brownish peeps will survive the first cut?” A guy’s voice over says “there are a lot of guys in here that if they got a rose I would think that something fishy is definitely going on” I think that every season my man, every season! James F ‘boxing gym owner’ who has been a constant narrator gets a rose; we will need him to tell us what is happening next week. Saint Nick gets a rose and a tonne of guys look pissed - Vinny the barber says “I am a good judgment [sic] of character…and I will overcome [sic] the top” but he gets a rose along with Daniel he of the “let’s get naked.” Jake the landscape architect and the Sottish-Chinese (but not below the waist) fellow do not receive roses. I wondered if Jojo heard landscape architect and like me thought ‘fancy gardener.’

In the follow on for the season we are told that “there is violence, threats of violence” we see a guy telling another guy that merely going home will not save him because he will find him and we get a shot of someone with bloody knuckles - they are white so we can safely rule out a few guys…

Bachelorette Promo 2 yawns up

I have shared this story or some version of it before; I got into the Bachelor/ette/Paradise world because of my friend Elizabeth (E). The ads for the show were routinely on during sporting events which are often (though not always because I will sometimes tape delay) the only shows I still watch live and I am thus subject to their commercials. I was talking to E about how “I keep seeing these ads for a show with just a bunch of girls bawling their eyes out and it looks funny but I can never remember what it is for” she immediately went “It is the Bachelor you have to watch” at this point the show was I think in its 16^th season! Imagine that, a show that I am now a fan and blogger of was in its 16^th season and I didn’t at that point care enough to register what the promo of crying girls was about.

So E tells me I have to watch while we are both at a Texas game watching party (we won that game by the way, so I can blame some of the euphoria of that game on making me so susceptible to suggestions) and wouldn’t you know just as we are talking about it an Ad for the show comes on and it is enhanced by the bar speakers because we were again there for a game watching so all through the bar you just hear loud sobbing and plaintive “why (sniffle) why (sniffle) why doesn’t he love me” and then a pause and “that bitch [with editing to make it not sound like bitch but we all know a ‘bitch’ when we hear it].” I was enthralled by this show that seemingly centered around just making women cry and was somehow a legit television experience, against my better judgment I agreed to tune in to give it a shot because I love E and figured with the funny promos and her rabid endorsement I would like it…I did.

 

ALL OF THAT RAMBLING PREAMBLE TO SAY…the current promos have sucked. If I were not already a fan of the franchise nothing in these promos would bring me into the fold. As my coworker, friend and part-time antagonist Kim points out “they always pick the blandest girls” which is true (except for Kaitlyn [who became so bland thanks to the show that I just had to look her name up]) but even with this desire for super bland they then find a way to mold them into a product that is worth watching. BUT, if even the promos cannot show me some excitement in the person, what am I tuning in for?

Now rumors are flying that JoJo was crazy, the producers had a difficult time blah blah blah “JoJo Fletcher Pushing ‘Bachelorette’ Producers Too Far? Her Over-The-Top Group Dates Revealed
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/3068692/jojo-fletcher-pushing-bachelorette-producers-too-far-her-over-the-top-group-dates-revealed/#1B3WoJ918B1yMeA1.99”. I believe none of it, I think these are just being fed out there because there is concern that this season will just be more of the same especially after we were teased with the long awaited appearance of a minority Bachelorette. At this point I would be happy with the baby steps of a minority not being treated like a curiosity and a sure thing to go home by week 4…but that is just me. The franchises biggest push for diversity always seems to be “are we going to Mexico or Asia for this next set of dates?”

Another rumor I have seen is “plenty of familiar faces” expected in upcoming season, yeah, yeah fine just load it up with guest stars because at this point the only way to sell JoJo is hoping her aggressive brothers show up and the guys ‘fighting’ for her affection actually begin fighting.

All that said I will be tuning in Monday May 23^rd and hating myself…as always.