Dejana

Ben Higgins is engaged.

In the flashforward to their 40th birthday in August, Kevin said his fiance had morning sickness. People thought that meant the Kevin/Madison hookup couldn't have led to the pregnancy, because she'd be pretty far along for morning sickness by then. Perhaps that was a hint toward hyperemesis gravidarum, which can persist throughout a pregnancy and is more common with multiples. I was looking back through the forum yesterday and read the episode thread for "The 20s", which showed Randall as an anxious dad-to-be eager to be the perfect parent. It also featured a storyline where Kevin tried horning in on his roommate's audition opportunity, and there were comments... Also stumbled across the site's "It's Time to Boot Kevin Off This Is Us" article. LOL, the worm has turned, but we have two more seasons to go and Sterling is a brilliant actor. Remember when Kate said that only she could carry on a piece of Jack Pearson? That was a "yikes" moment that didn't go over well. Anyway, it's really interesting how many of Jack and Randall's actions were shaded as heroic/noble early on but as the series continued, their behavior got cast in a harsher light.

I feel that movie star "maintenance" would allow Kevin to look closer to how he does now, and that they've made Randall look closer to early 60s than 50, but the show needs to differentiate this timeline from the present day one in a pretty instant way. I think the show could have avoided so many complaints about Rebecca not looking old enough, circa Jack's death, by introducing the glasses at that stage. I watched one of those episodes on a different device than normal and noticed some attempts at aging that went unnoticed on my normal TV. I agree it's pretty likely that we saw Kevin and Madison's twins at Rebecca's bedside. When the flashforwards were introduced, I was really leery, because this isn't some alternate universe sci-fi show and there's no way to know the ways in which the real world will change. Baby Jack's future in 2049 or whenever looks an awful lot like the present day...

More revelations from Colton's upcoming book: I've read a couple of these Bachelor books before, got them from the library, and they were entertaining enough for what they were. What I remember most from Andi and Courtney Robertson's memoirs were the Fantasy Suite revelations, and obviously Colton won't be able to deliver on that front...

Adults can still live at home with their parents, have reasonable boundaries with respect to their love lives and not recoil from making tough personal decisions. However, it doesn't seem to have happened with Peter, and IMO little will change if he continues to live at home. Still, he should only move out because he wants to or because his parents say, "Enough!" (that'll happen) and not because of peer pressure. Barb being chummy with Kelley at AFTR makes sense now... A lot of very unimpressive behavior from Bachelor Nation in the wake of a pandemic...

Unsure about when everything is happening? Have the timeline(s) all worked out? Here's a place for questions/comments about the chronology of this very nonlinear story. Please move/lock, mods, if there's already a topic like this in the forum. Shoutout to @greekmom for the thread idea.

Jack Damon, successful singer/new dad, is happening many years beyond Rebecca's death. When Rebecca is on her deathbed, he'd be a teenager at most. Kevin and Randall got in some low, low blows. That fight wouldn't have happened if Randall hadn't emotionally manipulated/blackmailed Rebecca into changing her mind about taking part in the study, but sometimes it's up to you to be the bigger person and just walk away before saying something you can't take back. The toxic dynamic between the brothers is really Jack and Rebecca's fault, but it will be difficult/impossible for either sibling to see it that way.

Yes, his parents' house isn't very far from the Bachelor mansion. I think Peter is saying he'll either get his own place in Los Angeles or will move to New York for a year.

LOL, even in these difficult times, there's still Peter news: https://people.com/tv/bachelor-peter-weber-plans-to-move-out-of-parents-house/

Update from Cassie about Colton: https://people.com/health/cassie-randolph-colton-underwood-coronavirus-update/

News from Colton:

AMPAS is already thinking about next year's ceremony:

Maybe Kevin and Kate will have their "What If?" episodes in the next two seasons and they could ponder different alternate realities than Randall. Kevin seems like the prime candidate for a "What if Kyle had lived?" episode given his issues with Randall and being the least favorite child growing up. I'm not really surprised Kate wasn't thinner in Randall's AU version of life, not only because it ended up being a pretty self-absorbed exercise, but he has always accepted her as she is. If TPTB ever even portray a "Thin Kate", it would probably be within Kate's fantasy and they would send out Chrissy Metz on the mother of all "I am totally okay with this!" PR tours. The show doesn't have the time/budget for Irishman-style CGI to make someone hundreds of pounds lighter or to put Chrissy's head on someone else's body. Also, I'm not an actress, but can imagine how it would get under my skin if my bosses trotted out an "after" version of me right under my nose, to do my job! Especially if it were their idea vs. mine. If Chrissy herself had lost weight and the writers wanted to work that into the show, that would be fine, but a totally different circumstance than supposedly needing to "fix" Kate's appearance in an episode where she was a tertiary character at best.

A profile of Barb that ran back when the season premiered:

For now. This weekend was the worst attended in 40 years: It's only going to get worse in the next few weeks. More places might order movie theaters to close altogether and IMO decisions will be made about whether trying to stay open on a national level is worth it.

Unsurprisingly, the box office sees massive drops and low openings in the face of a global pandemic. Some localities have already shut down theaters: will the major chains start suspending operations next? The profit margins for movie theaters are thin even in the best of times. March 13–15, 2020 Estimates: 1 (1) Onward $10,532,000 (-73%) | 4,310 Theaters | $2,444 Avg. | $100–200M Budget | $60,290,687 2 (N) I Still Believe $9,500,000 | 3,250 Theaters | $2,923 Avg. | $10–14M Budget | $9,500,000 3 (N) Bloodshot $9,300,000 | 2,861 Theaters | $3,251 Avg. | $45M Budget | $9,300,000 4 (2) The Invisible Man $6,000,000 (-60%) | 3,636 Theaters (+26) | $1,650 Avg. | $7M Budget | $64,419,685 5 (N) The Hunt $5,320,000 | 3,028 Theaters | $1,757 Avg. | $14M Budget | $5,320,000 6 (4) Sonic The Hedgehog $2,575,000 (-67%) | 3,041 Theaters (-676) | $847 Avg. | $81–95M Budget | $145,806,328 7 (3) The Way Back $2,415,000 (-70%) | 2,718 Theaters | $889 Avg. | $21–25M Budget | $13,435,873 8 (5) The Call of the Wild $2,241,000 (-67%) | 3,201 Theaters (-713) | $700 Avg. | $125–150M Budget | $62,106,911 9 (6) Emma. $1,370,000 (-71%) | 1,732 Theaters (+167) | $791 Avg. | $10,005,975 10 (7) Bad Boys For Life $1,100,000 (-64%) | 1,451 Theaters (-708) | $758 Avg. | $90M Budget | $204,292,401 Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey $555,000 (-74%) | 1,014 Theaters (-1,159) | $547 Avg. | $82–100M Budget | $84,063,557 Jumanji: The Next Level $420,000 (-68%) | 862 Theaters (-541) | $487 Avg. | $125–132M Budget | $316,782,404 Brahms: The Boy II $340,000 (-73%) | 607 Theaters (-748) | $560 Avg. | $10M Budget | $12,568,803 1917 $336,000 (-75%) | 766 Theaters (-769) | $439 Avg. | $90–100M Budget | $159,183,029 Parasite $220,000 (-67%) | 330 Theaters (-295) | $667 Avg. | $11M Budget | $53,367,844 Fantasy Island $200,000 (-77%) | 515 Theaters (-847) | $388 Avg. | $7M Budget | $26,381,179 Portrait of a Lady on Fire $178,420 (-66%) | 333 Theaters (-1) | $536 Avg. | $3,767,474 The Gentlemen $110,000 (-71%) | 226 Theaters (-266) | $487 Avg. | $22M Budget | $36,300,665 * International Box Office: JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL: $479.1M Overseas Total | $795.9M Global Total BAD BOYS FOR LIFE: $213.3M Overseas Total | $417.6M Global Total 1917: $204.6M Overseas Total | $363.8M Global Total KNIVES OUT: $141.1M Overseas Total | $306.5M Global Total SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: $153.7M Overseas Total | $299.5M Global Total PARASITE: $215.9M Overseas Total | $269.3M Global Total DOLITTLE: $146.3M Overseas Total | $223.3M Global Total HARLEY QUINN: BIRDS OF PREY: $113.9M Overseas Total | $197.9M Global Total THE INVISIBLE MAN: $58.3M Overseas Total | $122.7M Global Total THE GENTLEMEN: $74.3M Overseas Total | $110.7M Global Total THE CALL OF THE WILD: $45.2M Overseas Total | $107.3M Global Total ONWARD: $41.4M Overseas Total | $101.6M Global Total JOJO RABBIT: $54.8M Overseas Total | $88.2M Global Total FANTASY ISLAND: $19.5M Overseas Total | $45.8M Global Total EMMA. $15.1M Overseas Total | $25.1M Global Total BLOODSHOT: $15.1M Overseas Total | $24M Global Total

Tyler's mom recently died and I thought I read Hannah was there with the family, as a friend, but who really knows? There might be more about it in the Bachelorette forum.

A fun trip down memory lane that shows that The Bachelor has a long history of "love stories" not working out:

Yeah, Peter has an actual job that was very easy for viewers to grasp as a real, substantial profession (as opposed to influencer/personal trainer/chicken enthusiast), and could also be worked into the show as a theme for the season. The average person presumes pilots, even accounting for nepotism, aren't completely stupid. Peter's a co-pilot/first officer most likely, but the starting salary at Delta is one a lot of twentysomethings wouldn't mind: https://money.cnn.com/2016/03/29/news/companies/delta-pilots-pay-hike/index.html Peter wasn't a Firestone, but those days aren't coming back, so on paper, he seemed like a very good candidate for the show. People thought he was cute, virile and he had a glamorous job! It's just that he falls in love at the drop of a hat, has low emotional intelligence and still lives at home with an overbearing, overly involved mother, which has severely damaged his ability to make decisions about his personal life. It's the perfect storm for a bad Bachelor.

The official social media statements: Barb got everyone talking about her, so I guess that's a win in her mind? Peter and Madison were probably never going to work under any circumstance, but he seemed pretty dazed by his mother's antics on AFTR. He surely knows about her continuing to trash Madison even after the show when the "relationship" was probably already over. Everything might go back to "normal" for the Weber family in a week, but I don't know...

If I'm reading Reality Steve's column correctly, the 42 year old is Larry King's ex-brother-in-law?!

Reality Steve's latest column says that he's heard a lot about Peter's activities with other women in the past three months, and seems certain that at least some of this will be making its way into (mainstream) media soon enough. His sources are saying TPTB did not expect Mama Weber to go in quite like that. Steve is now also not ruling out that Peter hooked up with that producer Julie at some point.