Though we gotta say goodbye for the summer . . .1
Here are my closing thoughts on this season.
But first – a bit of neuroscience. It has been said that people dislike change. That is not very accurate. What people don’t like is surprise. We don’t like the unexpected (I didn’t see that coming!) or the misexpected (That’s not what I thought was going to happen). In either case, our brains are screaming, “I WAS WRONG!!” And we don’t like ot be wrong. Surprises cause us to momentarily freeze, then instantly come to a conclusion about the surprise, e.g., who or what caused this to happen, and finally register an emotion, typically one of the big five – sadness, anger, joy, fear, or disgust.2
This season of Bachelor in Paradise came with a lot of surprises, and they were constant. With the Suits at ABC (sABCs) appointing new showrunners and New Evil Genius Producers (NEGPs), each episode had lots of the misexpected and unexpected, even while we were getting accustomed to surprises we had already experienced.
With that mini-lesson in neuroscience as my backdrop, here’s where I come down on the surprises that I had the most brain activity about.
The Money
Initially, I was upset about offering the possibility of a cash prize, but I became more intrigued by the idea as the season progressed. It was nice to see the winning couples get a bag.
Money brought the following elements to Paradise:
- A happy ending.
- Suspense – who was going to get a chance to win the money, or not?
- Misdirection – although we were initially led to believe otherwise, it was never ONLY a choice between love or money.
- Tension for the viewers: Were the tests fair? Who was going to win?
Each of these is an element in good storytelling. So, case closed for me. While the money bag was initially an unexpected surprise for me, I eventually came to like it. And because the awarding of the money – or not – was dependent on how your partner chose between love or money (the Prisoner’s Dilemma), there is no reason why the NEGPs can’t repeat the money thing next season.
Relationship Tests
These were stupid. To me, it was unfair to put couples at risk in “tests” that had so little to do with real-life relationships. In defense of the games, though, we did get the right four couples towards the end: Andrew/Alexe, Dale/Kat, Spencer/Jess, and Jeremy/Bailey. And we had a final round featuring the two strongest couples, Spencer/Jess and Andrew/Alexe, along with an engagement. So it’s hard to argue that the tests didn’t work.
UNLESS – you believe, as I do, that there was much NEGP manipulation of the tests to produce pre-ordained outcomes. If that’s the case, give me better tests.
The Goldens
Naturally, the sABCs had to promote and normalize the shiny new toy in the franchise. So I can’t say that I was surprised. But that doesn’t mean I welcomed it. However, I did end up being surprised by misexpecting (I didn’t see that coming!) the humor and balance the Goldens brought to the chaos of Paradise.
Voting
I’m still not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, if the show is about finding love, couples should have a say in which couples are finding it and which couples aren’t. But this is so subjective. In the case of Jonathan and Lea, it was easy to see that they didn’t have a connection. But even a professional relationship therapist undervalued Andrew and Alexe’s connection because of their goofy playfulness with each other.
I think I’m for it. It’s suspenseful and plays into Paradise’s chaotic nature, which is woven into its DNA.
Hannah
I wanted more of Hannah. Where was Hannah?
The Villain’s Redemption
A common theme of Paradise is the redemption of a villain from a prior season of Paradise, The Bachelor, or The Bachelorette. My Girl Demi Burnett and Nick Viall come immediately to mind, but there are many others. This season, it was Kat. I was one of the many who had fun at Kat’s expense – “She, The Devil’s Bride” – for her drama-filled runs on Paradise and The Bachelor. Rather than being the villain in this season of Paradise, she was more often portrayed as an undeserving victim. Despite various unpleasant situations, she made it to the Final Three with Dale. And her good news continues as she and Dale recently hard-launched their relationship on social media.
Bottom Line
In the infamous words of Sam the Sham, who had a laughably brief tenure in Paradise, did the sABCs and NEGPs keep the main thing the main thing? Did the ends – four couples and one engagement – justify the means of bringing in surprising elements of Bachelor Pad and Survivor?
I’m voting yes, they did keep the main thing the main thing, despite trying out lots of new stuff. I understand that others’ mileage may vary. For me, they worked more often than not. As I mentioned at the top, the season had a happy ending, suspense, misdirection, and tension. For me, that made the episodes easy and fun to watch. I’m sure that the NEGPs will make tweaks next season. And probably have more surprises to throw at us.
Until next season . . .
Ray's Musings 
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