Ima wax poetically on Braydon a bit. But first – a question?
In the 20-year history of The Bachelorette, I’m roughly estimating there have been, let’s say, 400 suitors of 22 fair maidens[1]. Quick – how many guys who didn’t win do you remember? I’ll wait. Tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . what? You need more time to get past two or three?
This current season’s Chase for Charity is really delivering and there is one big reason why. Brayden.
Every great story needs a great antagonist. And the great antagonists are complicated. They have layers. Not only do they give us clear reasons to revile them, but they also have mitigating factors that evoke our empathy. Darth Vader is Luke’s father Anakin Skywalker who was driven to the dark side out of fear of losing his beloved wife. The Joker from The Dark Knight Batman movie had suffered physical and mental trauma in childhood.
While Brayden and his role in a reality TV show can hardly be compared to the great antagonists in the history of literature, he fits the archetype, and we are entertained because of it. At times, he is infuriating. It’s easy to call him an immature, gaslighting narcissist. This week, he had the guys so riled up, they were ready to throw hands[2].
He’s also like a comic book figure. He has a physical presence that cannot be ignored. He has great costuming with his crazy earrings, wild styling of his hair, and bold colors and patterns in his clothes. He’s got clever banter, this week setting Bachelor Nation on fire when he referred to Sean as Prince Charming.
And The Beautiful Maiden Charity was quite smitten with him, as giving him the prized first First Impression Rose (FIR) this season indicated. He’s a villain with stuff in his favor, i.e. a good antagonist.
Brayden’s feeling a kind of way about Charity, too, but when things go wrong – and the Evil Genius Producers (EGPs) make sure there is a high likelihood of things going wrong – he’s bad at taking accountability for those feelings and good at projecting them onto somebody else. It’s like Jack Nicholson, the antagonist in A Few Good Men, projecting onto Tom Cruise his own inability to handle the truth by famously screaming at Tom, “You can’t handle the truth.”
Truth. With every great antagonist, their evil is rooted in a distortion of the truth. That’s part of what makes them compelling. We can see, feel, and empathize with what they are crusading against. If only they could see the truth accurately, everything would be different!
What I appreciate about Brayden is that he does see a truth about the show’s core premise. He’s a 24-year-old guy who isn’t sure if he can fall in love enough in a few weeks to make a lifelong commitment. Seems pretty reasonable to me. I mean, Wrestler Dude was crying about not making Charity’s cut this week! Seriously? Who is the immature one here?
I also think he’s right to call out the other guys for believing that they are ready to make that kind of commitment. In the 20-year history of The Bachelorette, only six couples got married. The track record of The Bachelor is even worse. Sure, the guys think they are ready to get down on one knee after spending a few hours with Charity, but the realities of this reality show are on Brayden’s side.
Finally, watching your One True Love (maybe) making out with a bunch of guys on the lot that she’s test-driving is a lot to deal with. Yeah, that’s what he signed up for and he could have handled his consternation about that without always blaming Aaron and gaslighting Charity. Others have walked off the show with less drama.
But that he couldn’t walk away without the drama, the manner in which he stirred up ish, and the manner in which the other guys got in their ish because of him, is what is going to make Brayden a memorable character in the history of the franchise. Like the antagonist in a good story, he had distinctive flair, and he was easy to root against even while empathizing with how he had been instigated by others, e.g. Aaron. Brayden was an inspired casting choice by the EGPs. Whether we see him again in Paradise remains to be seen but I would be surprised if we didn’t – unless in The Men Tell All we find out that he had a sidepiece waiting at home while he tried things out on The Bachelorette.
Quickly summarizing the events of this week, Dotun and Xavier got 1-on-1 roses. I think Dotun is showing dark horse qualities while Xavier feels to me like friend-with-kissing-benefits zone. Tennis pro Joey got the Group Date Rose (GDR). Tanner (who?), Prince Charming Sean, and Aaron got Cocktail Party Roses (CPRs[3]). Alas, John (who he?) who was never able to get that all-important time with Charity didn’t make the cut. He’s got to be a shoo-in for Paradise. Justice for John!
With Brayden gone at the halfway point, the attention will shift to be all about building those deeper connections. With him as the focus each week, no clear frontrunner has emerged, but Joey and Aaron still need to be taken seriously as two of the Four to Watch For in Week 1.
See you next week, thankfully at the regular time of 8:00 PM Eastern.
P.S. For this week’s viewing wine, I returned to the fabulous Rubus Reserve Pinot Noir from Costco.
[1] We got doubled-up with Clare/Tayshia and Gabby/Rachel.
[2] Or give us a tiresome display of testosterone-fueled posturing and braggadocio.
[3] Haven’t used CPR before. I rather like it.
Ray's Musings 
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