PhilW

I don't think it really matters, because you know Whitney's sister watched every episode, and she probably despises Chris right now. If Whitney and Chris do get married, her sister won't give her blessing.

Neil Lane looked miserable to have to be in Iowa, and those rings looked really tacky. I don't think I was the only person who said that, but I'll take credit! Whitney made me nauseous with her rehearsed, insincere sales job. And what was really aggravating about it was that her supreme (manufacured) confidence about wanting to move to Iowa and marry Chris and have babies with him -- after having known him for about 7 weeks in real time -- was supposed to be the rational, preferable stance in the eyes of Chris and his family. Becca dodged a bullet. I thought it looked like a Pier 1 Imports store threw up on an Orvis store. I enjoyed the heart-to-heart talk Chris had with Becca in her hotel suite. You could see the gears in his head struggling to turn, trying to spit out thoughts.

The last time I had to pull out the dictionary was while watching this episode, because Kelsey uses so many big words.

Thank you..."crass" is a great adjective for Kaitlyn. That aspect of her personality is why I do not want her to be the Bachelorette.

I hadn't seen Ashley's ax-wielding until tonight...I guess I missed some of the camping group date when that occurred? But I agree, it was awesome...Chris looked genuinely terrified as he watched her chop wood.

Speaking of lipstick, I almost lost it when they showed the preview of the season finale, which showed Whitney still wearing that dumb fuchsia lipstick that most of the women have been wearing all season long.

I totally agree...I would loathe Kaitlyn as the next Bachelorette...she seems like the kind of woman who friend-zones every man she dates, and she's also the kind of person (and there are plenty of men like this, too) who thinks they could hack it as a standup comedian, so they feel the need to constantly crack (lame) jokes. The book definitely needs its own thread in this forum. Since the start of the season, I've thought she looks more like a young Courtney Thorne-Smith. She's very frustrating, because she's cute but so, so crazy.

Just when I thought the Bachelor universe couldn't get any weirder, Chris Harrison plugs his new romance novel out of left field. Oy vey! When this season first started, the two women I had the biggest crush on were Nikki and Samantha. Unfortunately, the two of them flew under the radar and never got any screen time because they're not crazy, slutty, controversial, etc. Tonight, apparently even the crew didn't know who they were, because the first time Nikki spoke, the on-screen graphic identified her as Samantha. My first thought was, what happened to Samantha's olive skin? Chris has gotten a lot of flack for being inconsiderate to various women, but I think he handled Ashley S's craziness (especially when she randomly interrupted his interview during the zombie date) in a polite and tactful way. Kelsey and the handkerchief / pocket square...I can't even. What is it with Britt and too-long hugs? Does she actually think that's endearing?

What a great decision that was...because there are so few eligible bachelors in her tiny hometown of CHICAGO. Who knows? They might have made a baby in the fantasy suite! And yet...five minutes earlier, she was still head-over-heels in love with Chris, and ready to marry him if asked. I'm not saying your analysis is wrong, but it's just silly how quickly the contestants snap out of their Stockholm Syndrome.

Whitney's reaction didn't surprise me at all. She doesn't really care about Chris. She doesn't care about the feelings of the other women. She's the Tracy Flick of The Bachelor.

Emily told each of her final 3 up-front that she would only use the fantasy suite for some private conversation with them, but they would not be allowed to spend the night because she didn't want to send the wrong message to her daughter. And Sean did basically the same thing, because he was a "born again" virgin. And in recent years, I think at least a couple of the leads sent one of their final 3 home before the fantasy suite, possibly because they didn't want to face the awkwardness of spending the night with someone they knew would not be in their final 2. But other than those cases, it's basically been assumed for years that all three of the fantasy suite nights include some kind of hooking up. There have been plenty of leaked details to back up those assumptions. Bachelor Bob was the first lead on either show to be rumored to score a hat trick, so to speak, but a hat trick in the fantasy suite has basically gone from being considered inappropriate to almost expected. I agree...it will be a lot easier for him in some bar in Des Moines to meet a woman who's a decent match for him and is willing to move to Arlington than it was on this show.

Wait, which is which? You need to be more specific. That's an interesting point that I don't see discussed much. Whitney has an actual career (and maybe a master's degree?) while I think Becca may be a college dropout...her job definitely doesn't require a degree, and she alluded in her own ABC bio to the fact that she hated school. Becca definitely is more of an intellectual equal for Chris.

That's what makes this show so dumb....it goes without saying that many more than 30 women from the state of Iowa applied to ABC to be on the Bachelor in the past year...surely the producers could have picked an all-Iowa cast if being benevolent matchmakers and giving Chris good choices was really that important to them. All they care about is ratings. That's too bad, because (assuming Becca does end up finishing 2nd) I'd love to see Becca as the Bachelorette, to see how she would handle the experience with guys who are a better match for her than Chris. The pink lipstick did seem to go "viral," as if one woman brought a bunch of it and passed it around. Because it started with just one or two women on a certain episode...then suddenly two episodes later every woman left was wearing it. But I can't remember who wore it first.

Yep...Whitney's over-the-top enthusiasm for him, and willingness to please him and placate him is exactly why he wants to pick her...but eventually her Stockholm Syndrome will wear off and she'll get outta there. I do think that Whitney sincerely is willing to be that kind of Stepford wife for some doofus...but she would prefer he live in Chicago, not Arlington, Iowa. Was it just the ridiculous hot pink lipstick they continue to wear every episode, or something else?

Exactly...and he couldn't mask his disappointment. It was also interesting to see about 60 seconds of uninterrupted "conversation" between Chris and Becca, since we mostly just see 15-second sound bites between him and the women. It underscored how awkward he is. Chris' face during the virginity reveal rivaled Kaitlyn's face when she realized she was going home. "Why did I just sleep with that lunkhead in the fantasy suite?" Becca returning to the rose ceremony was the funniest Bachelor/ette moment I can recall. I actually thought the editors did a great job, keeping it suspenseful before and during Chris' conversation with Becca, if not after. None of these three really seem like a good match for Chris, for various reasons. Chris seems to have a serious perspiration problem...his face and hair were drenched throughout this episode, and every shirt he wore had massive sweat stains. It was hard to tell during the date with Kaitlyn what was a sweat stain and what was a monkey urine stain. I think Whitney singlehandedly cancelled out 50 years of the women's movement when she told Chris how ready she was to give up her career, move to Iowa, and have babies right away. It was really sweet how Chris introduced Kaitlyn to that local at the beginning of their date: "This is [one of] my [three] girlfriend." You could feel the love.