Seven. Four. One.
Seven Men. Four tickets for Hometowns. One Sam the Sham (‘The Sham”).
As James Brown might have put it, the Evil Genius Producers (EGPs) made sure this latest episode was on the One.
Sure, they gave us some minor sub-plots to get us from The Seven to The Final Four. But the question of the night was if The Sham would get into that Four.
For her part, Jenn asked The Sham question after question wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’ [cue Dusty Springfield Wishin’ and Hopin’] that he would/could give her even a single answer that showed he had an emotional connection that was in the same hemisphere as their physical connection. She even had the EGPs follow her while she knocked on every door in the hotel to find him for one final Q and no A session.
The Sham whiffed on every opportunity. Never once got his bat on the ball. Couldn’t even foul one off.
It’s not worth going through a page of notes and numerous text messages on all the ways The Sham manifested his unique form of narcissistic, emotionally vapid, socially oblivious a-holery. Likewise, I am disinclined to psychoanalyze Jenn, who I sometimes find as exasperating as The Sham. She sees the same negative qualities in The Sham as in her mysterious toxic ex. She is merely “confused” by the gap between their physical and emotional connections. She sees red flags. And yet she was desperately looking for any little bit of evidence that would justify continuing their relationship.
(It is important to acknowledge the EGPs’ role, too. I’m sure that they edited the Jenn-The Sham scenes in such a way as to heighten our reactions to their interactions.)
Meanwhile, Marcus was the first to get his Hometown Ticket after sharing his heartbreaking story of his and his sister’s childhood abandonment by their parents. Here is a quick summary of their Wicked-themed date:
- Appearances by two of my favorite Bachelorettes, Charity, and Daisy, along with Kelsey and Tristan.
- There was a hot air balloon ride – what is it with so many high-altitude dates!?
- And fireworks.
And Jeremy got his first 1-on-1. It went very well, although I don’t recall anything about it. It’s kinda the way I feel about Jeremy. Oh yeah, they talked a lot about the possibility of blending their Jewish (him) and Buddhist (her) family religious traditions. There seemed to be a lot of “yeah, sure, we can do that” that felt totally unlikely. And it never felt like Jenn saw him as The One. But it was enough to get him the second Ticket to Hometown.
This left Grant, Devin, Jonathan, and Spencer vying for the final two Tickets. Devin getting one was a no-brainer. She’s clearly into him, although I feel like what she is into is how into her he is. But I was surprised she picked Jonathan over Grant (Spencer was never in the picture).
But Surprise! Surprise! Moments after the show, The Suits at ABC (sABCs) announced Grant as the next Bachelor! What?
And here I was planning to nominate him for that role.
https://ew.com/the-bachelor-grant-ellis-season-29-8694040
And that’s a wrap. As I said earlier, this episode was really about freeing us from Sam the Sham.
Two questions remain: Who will come out of Hometowns and into the Fantasy Suites? And who is The One? I still think Devin will be the brutal breakup. And I can’t believe it’s Jeremy. I guess that leaves Marcus or Jonathan.
See you next week.
P.S. This week’s viewing wine was a Nero d’Avola Appassimento with an amazing quality-to-price ratio.
Ray's Musings 
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