kingshearte

Yeah, I don't know if some lead did that once of their own volition (absent-mindedly maybe? I like to believe that whatever else these people are, most of them are probably not outright malicious) and the producers latched onto it, or if it was a diabolical idea hatched by a producer in the first place, but either way, they've been doing it for several seasons, at least, and it's just so freaking mean. That said, by this point, anyone going on this show should probably know that they're not homefree just because the rose is in the lead's hand. Until it's actually offered, it could still go either way.

So the finale's going to be 12 hours long?

This. We've seen over and over again everyone being all psyched because their favourite contestant is now the lead, and then by the end, everyone hates them because they appear to have no personality beyond wanting to make out with everybody and have their contestants tell them how great they are. Honestly, I have less idea why anyone would want to come on this show as a lead than I do why anyone would want to be a contestant.

Ha! They don't actually bother me all that much, because they're absolute filler and can effectively just be filtered out — same as the swearing, really — but if I had to pick, I'd rather lose the "likes." On the other hand, I find bleeps kind of funny, because, in a way, they kind of have the opposite effect of what's intended. If they just let the swearing slide, we'd probably not even notice half of it, but by bleeping it, they draw very noticeable attention to it every single time. Which means that if the "likes" drive you nuts now, they'd send you straight over the edge if they were bleeped. I'm sure it will be a very respectful portrayal of Arkansas that shows it off in all its cosmopolitan diversity... Yeah, I can't. Did I mishear, or did she actually ask him to do that? And does that strike anyone as a little weird? "I've watched you pull this exact move on some other woman, and it was hot, so I want you to do it to me too." Becca makes for dull TV, but that likely speaks in her favour as a human being, so her getting a home town doesn't strike me as odd. Lauren goes well beyond that, based on what we've seen. I have to assume there's actually been much more between them than we've actually seen, though, because there is no way what we've been shown is in any way enough to inspire the depth of feelings he says he's feeling. And I don't think it's just because she's hot, because he's surrounded by hot women (working under the assumption that whatever we think of those who are left, he must find them attractive). Maybe it's the Emily thing; I have no idea. I didn't watch that season. But from the outside, it's weird. And his excusing himself right after her confession was extra weird. I definitely had Jacqueline-as-Bachelorette thoughts during that part. I suppose one could do the filming for this show, then start your school stuff and have a really long engagement... It's hardly ideal and is probably even less likely to work out than most of these pairings, but it's not completely beyond the realm of possibility. On one hand, I give Tia credit for at least giving Bekah the heads-up that she threw her under the bus, but on the other... Ugh. Also, if you didn't expect it to affect his decision, why did you feel the need to bring it upat all? I loathe people who feel the need to state their thoughts about something just because they have the thoughts. You actually can have thoughts and feelings and keep them to yourself sometimes. Finally, I still think Kendall's pretty rad, and I would totally be her friend.

That was the impression I got from the conversation (loosely supported by the LinkedIn research noted earlier), and I think maybe why it seemed so weird to me that he would treat it as a black-and-white either-or. It's one thing if there's a definite PhD process in place, because she'd be tied to one place and not likely have the time or mental energy for much travel for visiting. But if she's still in the applying stage, or even in the still-deciding-where-to-apply stage (which is how I thought it sounded), then there's still the potential for a fair amount of flexibility in location, and if the relationship is deemed worth pursuing, it can be included in the consideration of where to do it. All of which is almost certainly a moot point, since she probably won't "win," and even if she does, they probably won't last, but anyway.

I'm not sure it would be a deal-breaker, but it would raise some flags for me. I don't mind if a guy thinks I'm smarter than he is, or even if he worries that I might not think he's smart enough, but a guy who's basically alarmed at the idea that I might be smarter than he is, or have intellectual ambitions? That is concerning. I also found Arie's concerns about Jacqueline's PhD aspirations a bit odd. I mean, true, trying to start a relationship at the same time as one is pursuing a major, multi-year academic ambition is perhaps not ideal, but to me it almost came across like... I don't know, like it was a 100% either-or (relationship or PhD), or like he was not prepared to be in a relationship with someone getting a PhD. I'm not sure exactly, but it didn't quite sit right with me. French-speakers do use "si" in place of "oui" sometimes. I would have had somewhat mixed feelings about the Moulin Rouge date. I am a dancer (and I do love me a good can-can), so there are elements that would have really appealed to me. Flashing my bethonged butt on stage and on TV (even if barred)? That's a little less appealing. I also didn't entirely understand the date. It looked they were learning some choreography, but that appeared to have no relevance to the "competition" part, which seemed to be just strutting a little, or to the final appearance on stage for the winner. And I agree that even though I would have enjoyed some parts of it, calling this date "for the women" is hilariously disingenuous. Lauren's date, oh my goodness. I sincerely hope she actually had more to say than what we were shown, because that was just sad. And honey, if it takes you six months of friendship before you're willing to consider someone in a romantic light, maybe this isn't the right relationship-seeking model for you... I truly don't care if Kendall was sincere in her convo with Krystal or not. Either she was and she's just far too sweet and empathetic for this show, or she wasn't and was deliberately serving Krystal a dose of her own long-needed medicine. Either way, it was exactly the right way to throw Krystal off her game, and it was glorious.

Finally had a chance to get caught up. Krystal: Good grief. OK, on one hand, I'm all for sulking hissy fits, because Wrong Reasons. But I'm a lot less into listening to everyone else go on and on about the offender. Ugh. I agree with whoever said it would have been much better if no one had mentioned that she wasn't there, and see if he even noticed. I can't even imagine Krystal's reaction if he didn't even notice she was gone. That would have been amazing. But yeah, the endless talking about it I could do without. And I sincerely hope that most of it was indeed producer-driven, because if they were actually that focused on her of their own volition, then I'd have to agree with her own observation that that's pretty pathetic. And I don't care at all for being forced to agree with Krystal.

Indeed. That adds a whole new layer of impracticality to the whole long-term concept.

Ew. The half + 7 thing really does work out reasonably well if you treat it as a minimum, not as an ideal. I'd never heard that it originated as an ideal, but regardless, I'm always amazed at how reasonable a bottom limit it produces, regardless of your age. 14-year olds should date other 14-year-olds (which barely counts as dating, but we all remember teen hormones, right?). 18-year-olds should stick within two years. 30-year-olds should date people they can at least go out for a drink with. 40-year-olds should date people who are older than their kids, if they have any. The gap does get pretty wide as you get older, but even there, there's going to be less side-eye for a 90-year-old with someone in their early 50s than there is if you even go down a little to someone in their 40s. All that to say: Arie and Bekah? Totally not in the same place, or even a particularly compatible one, unless they're both specifically looking for a sugar daddy/baby sort of arrangement.

I had that thought while I was writing my post. As you said, major developments can happen offscreen, but if someone takes a coat off offscreen, the audience will be completely lost and confused! In fact, it probably happened once. Someone took a coat off, but we didn't see it, and since then, nothing has made sense. If only we'd seen that coat removal, everything would be so much clearer.

Heck, you don't even have to show most of it. Character A walks in wearing coat. Cut to Character B while they say something. Cut back to Character A who is no longer wearing a coat. If B's line was really short, A can still be hanging the coat up. Or the entire action could be completed outside of our sightlines. We're all smart enough to figure out what happened, even if we don't see it. And good point about Hook's coat being a little more troublesome. I think an occasional shot of Emma casually sliding Hook's coat off for him while one or the other of them talks would have been a perfectly lovely way to deal with that while subtly acknowledging both his lack of hand and their relationship.

Man, what kind of a bonus do you suppose a camera person gets for actually getting a cast member to let them film in the shower? And how does that even come about? Did the camerawoman have the ovaries to ask (or just straight-up follow him in), or did he invite her? I hope to whatever they at least provided these poor women with hand sanitizer or something after. I know, I know, pee is relatively sterile, and it is possible to do it without peeing on yourself, but the odds are good that you're gonna, and psychologically, if nothing else, you're going to want to wash your hands after that. Ugh. The whole thing was whack on so many levels. I'm a little scared to see what fresh hell they'll come up with for next week.

I didn't love her as a wrench between Cristina and Owen, but I did overall like her character, and I'd be down with seeing her back. Honestly, although I didn't so much quit this show as forget to watch one week and just never quite made it back, I might be enticed back for Teddy. Just please, let it not be as a corner of any kind of triangle with anyone.

Seriously! I started to come around during her Krystal impression (which was impressively spot-on), and then after the bit at the end, I am totally Team Chelsea. Whoever is arranging these group dates needs to be fired. They're not terrible at a base conceptual level, but the execution is just horrible and awkward. Learning some wrestling moves and performing a routine could be fun. Getting personally attacked because you were having too much fun (and had too ethnic a name — still not over that. WTF?) was not fun. A little hiking in the woods, even with the bit of orienteering competition, sure. Eating bugs and pretending to drink one's own pee? Um... what? Glad it gave Kendall a chance to shine, though. I think I dig her too. I cannot even with Krystal. The delusion is astonishing, and I don't even know what she looks like anymore, because every time she opens her mouth, I roll my eyes so hard I have to go fetch them from behind the bookshelf. The Bekah thing? Eh. Overblown. And while 14 years is a lot, especially at that age, it's a little rich to hear someone who's, what, 12 years younger than Arie, make a big deal of it. Honestly, the thing that bugged me most about it was how he was more or less insisting that he knew her mind better than she did, which was just so patronizing. She may very well not be ready to settle down, but it's not like picking someone older would guarantee a settling. Certainly hasn't worked out very well for, what, 95 or so percent of the previous bachelors.

I'm less clear on how anyone with half a brain and half a conscious can get sucked in as a adult. If you've been raised in something like this, though, it's really easy not to see the damaging sides. If you've never known anything else, it's normal, and if they're doing a good job making sure everyone is properly indoctrinated, then there are answers and rebuttals to anything negative you might happen to come across about it, specifically intended to make sure you keep trusting what you've been taught all your life and distrusting anyone who suggests it might nt be so great. If it were so easy for a reasonable person to see the harm and walk away from it, cults in general would be a non-existant problem. But I fully concur with your final sentiment.

I didn't hate him, per se, but I didn't like him for Cristina. It never felt quite right to me, and then Mama Burke showed up and explained that Burke needed a wife who would support him in the background, rather than one who would strive to be great on her own merits. If that was what she thought he needed, rather than what he thought he did, that would be one thing. But he pretty much went along with that as soon as Mama showed up, and what we learned about his eventual marriage certainly bears that out. And that makes him not necessarily a terrible person (if you're super ambitious and striving for greatness, there's something to be said for having a partner who will have your back and hold down the fort at home), but definitely a terrible partner for someone like Cristina.

For me, it was less about the fact that she left, because that whole situation was a seething mess of shades of grey. What landed me ultimately more on his side than hers after that was the way she refused to acknowledge having done anything that could in any way be construed as wrong or that could have hurt him. She basically treated the whole situation as though she was the only one who had been hurt, and that she was therefore entitled to do whatever she needed to to recover. Which of course, ultimately, she is, but not without consequences. Some acknowledgement from her that he had also suffered a loss, and that her coping mechanism made it harder on him, would have gone a long way for me. (I want to say that did eventually happen, but by the time it did, it was way too late and the damage was done, and I, for one, couldn't quite support them together anymore.)

Fair points, @nicgwatchingtv, and I do and have put my money where my mouth is when I say that good graphic design is well worth paying for, and if whatever that graphic design costs ends up working out to $11 apiece for something you've designed specifically for me, that's one thing. Heck, even if it's not a custom design, but it's being individually hand embossed by someone properly paid for their labour on paper hand made by someone also being properly paid, then the price has some justification (heck, at that point, $11 is probably undervaluing it). But for mass-produced notepaper? I agree that it's very likely more clueless than entitled, but it's still pretty monumentally clueless.

If she's a writer, she likely goes where someone is prepared to pay her to go. If someone assigned her to two Bachelor casting calls, she would go to two Bachelor casting calls. And if she resented having to take such jobs (it's a fluff piece, which would be assigned to someone largely because of their looks, so I can fully see why someone would resent it), that could easily manifest in the same sort of bitterness, annoyance, and crankiness about it all that you observe. Or she might be trying to get herself cast and taking the opportunity to write about it. Could go either way.

$11 for one notecard? What planet does she live on? I don't care how luxurious it is or who designed it; it's freaking note paper. It's essentially a disposable item. Good grief.

Finally had a chance to watch last night... Annaliese... Oh my goodness. I was sympathetic to the bumper car trauma, and I'm certainly sympathetic to animal attack-related trauma. But at a certain point... I mean, I know having two things that freak you out is not unreasonable, but for there to be two that came up on this show in back-to-back episodes? Either there are a lot more than two, so it's really easy to hit on one, or the producers were trolling her. And although I wouldn't exactly put it past them, have they ever pulled anything quite like this before? It's not like having experiences from one's childhood that still distress one is all that uncommon, so if they'd wanted to earlier, they surely could have. Maybe it's both. She has a lot, so they decided to troll her. I am sorry we won't see any more reenactments, though. Bibiana appears to still think he or someone else is just going to come and get her. Whether you're used to having to or not, in this situation, if you want to spend time with him, you have to go after it. I cannot wrap my head around her apparent refusal to do so paired with her incessant whining about not getting any time. Not sorry to see her go. That said, she did have my sympathies during the wrestling date. I fully get that pro wrestling is all about the theatrics and trash talking and all that, but I feel like there were mixed messages. On one hand, we (and presumably the women) are told that it's all about having fun and just going with the flow and all that, but then you have their two coaches who are treating it like it's deadly serious right from the get-go, and that's frankly a lot less fun. I'm an actor. I've said and had said to me all kinds of things on stage or during a set rehearsal that didn't bother me at all in that context. But if I just walk into the rehearsal and one of my co-actors just immediately launches into personal attacks — on me, not on my character — without knowing anything about me or what my particularly sensitive spots might be, that's a whole different ballgame, and it's not OK. Did Bibiana and Tia overreact a little? Sure. But I did not care for how that date was handled overall. If the idea was supposed to be fun, they seriously missed the mark.

That whole thing was really interesting, but I love this acknowledgement of the loss. Even thought the actors weren't involved in a romantic relationship, and Dempsey did not in fact die, whatever their working relationship was like, it was a very long, and often very close, one, and she's absolutely right. You need some time to process, and even grieve for, the end of a relationship like that before you're ready to jump into the next one.

Bibiana is a bit of a collection of contradictions. On one hand, she's talking about how she needs to spend some time with him, not merely so that he can see how amazing she is and that they're totally meant to be, but also so that she can suss out whether or not she's actually into him. Which is something that not enough of these people ever focus on. Just because someone has been declared the prize for this game doesn't mean they're someone that you specifically would want to be with. This process should be as much about the contestants deciding whether or not they want the lead as about the lead deciding which of the contestants they want.* So she was fully making sense to me at those moments. But then, the next second, she's referring to him as "her man," which is just... no. Certainly not at this stage. * Yes, I realize that this whole premise only really works if we all buy into the idea that the lead is all that, but that's not how reality works, and great, now I've gotten into a reality-vs.-this crap bubble, and I should just stop now.

They may not have discussed it seriously, but I'm almost positive the conversation I mentioned earlier took place before they were married. And I think Cristina came out of that thinking "I've made my feelings known, so that's that," and Owen came out of it assuming that she would "grow out" of those feelings, so they didn't need to discuss it. They both bear some responsibility for not recognizing that as something that absolutely needed to be hashed out more before they got married, but I am slightly more on the side of the one who was fully straightforward than the one who just assumed that the other would change their mind. Definitely not his fault with the Amelia situation, though, aside from whatever responsibility he bears for getting into that mess of a relationship in the first place.

Nope, I believe that was the conversation that Bibiana had been waiting for for days. It was definitely comical. All that build-up, all that angst, and then she finally gets to talk to him and can think of absolutely nothing to say.