Chris Harrison returns! Sadly, that means we won’t be able to enjoy this again.
Chris also told Tayshia early on that this is a “pivotal week”, allowing you to get your initial drinking game sip within the first few minutes.
I’ve talked a lot about foreshadowing and if you pay close attention in the context of the story arc, you’ll know what’s coming. In this case Blake and Riley got some early screen time to chat up their relationships with Tayshia which told me things were not going to end well for them.
In particular, Blake’s 1-on-1 was AWKWARD!!! Boy was SO into her and she was so not about that life.
Oddly enough, that difficult moment (and I’ve been telling you the breakups were going to be brutal) provided her even more clarity – take a sip, it counts when I use Bachelor lingo, too – to go ahead and also give Riley the insta-boot prior to the cocktail party and Rose Ceremony. Every season of The Bachelorette has some really nice guy who gets seriously friend-zoned and unfortunately, it was nice guy Riley this time. Nice guy Riley who also was haunted by the Introvert’s Curse. I’ve said many times how this show favors extraverts. Nice, introverted guys rarely finish last in the franchise. Moreover, they don’t get picked as the next Bachelor, either. [cue Jimmy Ruffin What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted]
Strengthened by even more clarity, Tayshia decides to extend her record for most cocktail parties canceled in a season by canceling one more (got that TF?[1]) and going straight to the Rose Ceremony. Let it be said that if you had my Final Four bracket of Ben, Ivan, Zac and Brendon – you win! And the producers won by having squeezed an additional week out of the Bennett-Noah Villain 1 vs. Villain 2 drama.
Good line from My Daughter Diandra (MDD) on Low Emotional Intelligence Bennett (LEQB): “Boy, bye. I hope you can read the stock market better than people.”
Once my Final Four was certified, we moved onto The Men Tell All. Without a live audience of women lusting screaming for their favorite Bachelors or booing the ones they detest, this was a letdown for me. A bunch of guys screaming at each other isn’t a tell all, it’s basically 8th grade PhysEd. The energy of Villain 1 vs. Villain 2 had already been spent and gave us nothing, although LEQB’s preening, eye-rolling and condescending contempt was annoying. I really would liked to have seen a live female audience react to him. And ironically, the best shot was delivered by Noah not at LEQB but at Kenny calling him “One Direction’s manager.”
By the way, did anybody else forget that the season started with Claire the Chaos Queen?
Muser’s note: Once again, the real world beckons me to much busyness this week so please be patient in looking for Musings after Tuesday’s hometown episode. LOTS of misdirection clips in the previews!
P.S. This episode’s viewing wine: Piattelli Vineyards Cafayate Reserve Malbec 2019 purchased for a nice discount at Costco.
[1] Long-time loyal Musings follower. Plus we’re connected by a band I loved that his brother was in.
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