DriveInSaturday

Just throwing some old fashioned troll/unpopular opinions to end this season 1. LOL at Nick not actually having had a connection with Rachel. This man is the world's worst actor. Take a look at his scenes with Danielle M if you want to see Nick trying to force a connection with someone that the producers encouraged him to keep around. There's not always an "affirmative action" answer to every time a person of color wins something. It took pretty much a billion seasons for this to happen. If the show was in the business of "fixing" for diversity against the preferences of the lead, it wouldn't have taken this long. Honestly, I think its just sour-grapes Raven fans. And I know every season the fans of the 'ette that might have been throw some shade at the chosen one, but perhaps such folks can consider arguments for Raven and against Rachel that aren't subtly racist (because, really, it comes down to: "A white guy with options couldn't possibly have actually been interested in a black girl! There has got to be foul play."). 2. I personally can't relate to Bachelor Nation's obsession with blondes. Nick is being raked over the coals for preferring brunettes like it's some kind of bizarre dirty fetish. Meanwhile plenty of previous Bachelors have obviously preferred blondes with precious little being made of it. Furthermore, people are WAY overstating the physical similarities between Kaitlyn, Andi, and Vanessa. Kaitlyn looks completely different from Andi and Vanessa in the face. And I guess you could say Andi and Vanessa look somewhat similar in the face (I think Vanessa's hooded eyes make her look quite different, but hey, let's say they look similar in the face for argument's sake), but they have completely different body types from one another. IMHO Vanessa is a real natural beauty with a gorgeous body and Andi and especially Kaitlyn are just really thin and clean up well, but YMMV.

Also, per RS (if you don't want to give him clicks) via reddit, this is what went down between Rachel and Vanessa. This would have been such good TV, omg. But it does make the winner look like a crazy, insecure and manipulative villain and the next Bachelorette seem like a Taylor Swift-style queen bee with her #girlsquad which is hardly appealing either so I can see why they cut it. -Vanessa approached Rachel in Bimini. She felt that Rachel wasn’t being “real” with her. Vanessa told Rachel she felt like she was bullying her in the house and ostracized her with the other women because Rachel rolled her eyes and didn’t look her in eyes during “girl chats.” She accused of her of using her “lawyer” traits and that her tone was intimidating. -Rachel took offense to it because she didn’t see that as bullying. Vanessa backtracked on saying she felt she was ostracized in the house. Rachel told Vanessa she didn’t have a problem with her but that Vanessa made her uncomfortable. -Said that she didn’t want to align herself with someone like Vanessa because of how she was two-faced with a few of the girls in the house. She would buddy up to tehm, relay that information on to Nick, and then go back to pretending to be friends with the girls. -The examples that I was told were: Vanessa turned on Taylor when Taylor wasn’t popular in the house, she defriended Sarah when Nick’s friends came over for a group talk to all the girls in Wisconsin (something else that I reported but was never shown), and also tried to fake a friendship with Corinne. Rachel told Vanessa in Bimini she just wanted to keep her distance from her. -Vanessa told Rachel she told Nick about how Rachel felt about her, and I guess that was the last straw that set Rachel off. Vanessa’s M.O. in the house was that of someone who was “manipulatively attempting to take down those she felt threatened by.” -Vanessa was one way on camera and another way off camera with girls, and the relationship with Danielle Lo was another one used. This was the one I’d heard originally that I reported to you, in that Vanessa used her group date time with Nick in Wisconsin to “warn” him about Danielle L., who he had just been on a date with the day before, but then all we saw was them being chummy at the cocktail party in Wisconsin. She’d basically say one thing about girls then do the complete opposite when they weren’t around. -I’m also told that the tweet Vanessa sent out the night Rachel was announced as the “Bachelorette” congratulating her was another example of how Vanessa operated. To the public, it looks like she’s supporting one of her “friends” from the show, but in reality, it was completely insincere and done to make herself look better as there’s zero relationship between Vanessa and Rachel. -Post show, it is very apparent who is on TeamRachel and who is on TeamVanessa. Rachel was universally liked in the house and there aren’t many girls who had an issue with her. Vanessa is a different story.

I can totally see that "lead on" thing. Either as a matter of principal or the producers not wanting to make Nick look bad, I think they wanted to avoid the "close runner up" scenario that Nick was in twice in a row. Besides Rachel, I saw Nick as having more chemistry with Kristina and Corinne than Raven. Maybe even Danielle L, too. I think they went a bit too hard, though, because even though having a clear non-option as F2 is easier on the lead it makes the viewing experience crappier. My actual conspiracy theory on this point is that the outcome was at least in part "produced" (i.e. achieved via subtle manipulation) in the UnReal sense. They might have really been selling Rachel on the 'real prize' of Bachelorette even in-season during filming, making her less vested in building a relationship, and actively nudging Nick more towards Vanessa/Raven/others. I also think Vanessa was told things to make her more confident, but it only served to make her more paranoid because of her personality type (I can relate, tbh).

I can't believe they sent home Sarah and Astrid! Who is "Whitney" even? Why are Josephine and Jami still there? I remain unimpressed with the show's focus on Corrine/Taylor drama, given the lead's lack of chemistry with either. It felt like there were two different shows going on tonight, a bootleg Bad Girls' Club (Corrine/Taylor), and an extended New Orleans ad (the group date and the one-on-one). I've often read people who watch the show comment "I wonder what a season with more mature contestants might be like?" This could have been that season, given that we have an older-than-usual Bachelor interested in older-than-usual bachelorettes with substance, but the editors and central casting are lazy. We could have had more mature contestants to begin with, and the mature contestants we have aren't featured enough.

I'm mad about the over-focus on Corinne (and her "feud" with Taylor) just because it's so darn done to death. Corrine is harmless, drunk, and not terribly clever. Taylor is annoying, sanctimonious, and immature, but ultimately also harmless. They're just basic girls of the same age used to being the tallest and skinniest on the block henpicking each other out of insecurity. Both feel like reality TV stock characters. It's a particular shame because there seem to be a lot of fun, funny, interesting girls in the "also ran" group like Alexis, Sarah, Astrid, Kristina, and Jasmine that I would like to see get more screen time. Also the girls who are in it for the long haul with the exception of Danielle L have personalities and substance! So there's probably other drama and interesting conversations that have been left on the cutting room floor in favor of standard tropes. The editing is just lazy. And I don't get why they don't show Rachel more given that she's the only other girl Nick seems to be making any effort toward besides Vanessa. He actually appears to be trying to get her to like him rather than the other way around. (Danielle M was supposed to be a contender too and she'll be around until close to the end, but they seemed like brother and sister on their date. He doesn't appear to be into blondes or super feminine-acting women based on his extensive TV "love-seeking" record. She's lovely though. And to be honest, who knows if he's her type?) Perhaps in the age of internet spoilers they don't feel the need to even make pretenses at hiding the ball as to who "wins" (haven't read spoilers but Vanessa's way out in front, she'd need to leave or self-destruct not to be F1, and as for really winning, Rachel is getting a standard issue Bachelorette edit so far), but at least they should make the journey more fun by making the aired girl drama not so paint-by-numbers.

I appear to be alone here, but I still think Jojo is a decent Bachelorette. She's definitely a cut about Kaitlyn and Farmer Chris. They're not showing much of her personality, but she has one. I remember that from Ben's season. Perhaps Fleiss and Co are protecting her, because as someone mentioned above, it's clear they really like and respect her. Her main "issue" is that she has a very particular (and very boring) type. Must be very athletic and tall, must have decent earning potential, and must have very little personality. I think she likes being the one with the personality (I mean, look at her parents). Jordan is probably going to win because of his last name but I actually think even he is too dynamic for her. Chase and Luke's hyper-flat affects seem more her style. She seems very impressed and nervous around Jordan, but I actually think she's more attracted to and comfortable with Luke. I think if Chase bothered to try at all, he'd be the frontrunner. Because she's both very attracted to and comfortable with him, but also seems a little nervous. The only thing that could throw off Jordan's roll toward F1 is exactly how this family drama plays out (on or off camera). Superficially, I'm sure Jojo saw herself palling around in glittery sports and Hollywood circles via Aaron and his girlfriend. But it's also a red flag, in a more ordinary way, that a guy would be estranged from and comfortable trashing on national tv a brother who's supported him extensively in the past. There just doesn't appear to be an acceptable reason for it. I'm not someone who reflexively says "Family is family." There are definitely very good reasons to cut off family members. In Jordan's case though, if it's over Olivia Munn or just some general "he thinks he's too good for us now" pettiness, I do think that could make a reasonable woman think twice. And as others have mentioned, for many folks (myself included) if it's about Aaron's sexual orientation, that's an automatic dealbreaker. For what it's worth, I think the rumors about Aaron Rodgers are probably true. There has been talk about Aaron having relationships with men since college, which is exactly why he dropped down in the draft to the point he had to be the Packers backup, despite his obvious talent. Rumors have persisted since. Kevin wasn't even Aaron's first long-term male roommate. With this sort of thing, as a gossip veteran, I find where there's smoke there's fire. On the other hand, though, I don't necessarily discredit his relationships with Olivia Munn or Destiny Newton. He also could be bi.

This was an excellent episode. A good challenge and twists and turns everywhere. -Redemption arc for Derrick! Will he go home next week? I hope so because there are now officially two queens who are clearly overall stronger than he is out of the competition. But he appears to be able to slay a lipsync reliably. I wouldn't count him out in a lipsync against any queen remaining, and I'd favor him over all remaining queens but Bob. So there's a real chance he makes the top three. I'm sure WOW loves that they might have a villain in the finale. I liked to see the "growth" he experienced working with Bob, but ugh, he's basically awful. His smugness in Untucked was so offputting. - Naomi's redemption arc continues. I think she may even make top three at this rate, especially given the prevalence of visual challenges. She's the personable, mature and friendly fashion queen we've been waiting for for seven seasons. If she doesn't make the top three, she has my vote for Miss Congeniality. People often act like's it's a given that it'll be Cynthia or Thorgy, but Cynthia wasn't around very long, and Thorgy wasn't congenial. Naomi suffers from the sort of a Courtney Act-esqe lack of the kind of star power that shouts over other people's star power. I just can't see her winning, even though she compares favorably to many other members of "Team Look." If Season 7 REALLY didn't exist, it would be a different story. - Speaking of people with star power, Bob's runway look this week was excellent. I actually thought he was Thorgy when he first came out, the makeup was so stunningly different. And of course he nailed the challenge and is the presumptive winner. HOWEVER, I have noticed that Ru doesn't seem to have much personal warmth towards Bob (at least compared to Kim Chi and Chi Chi, clearly his pets this season, along with Robbie Turner), so it's always possible that Bob ends up in the bottom and gets summarily bounced in a shock elimination, like his NYC brethren. I think there is a shorter leash for established queens, because Ru gets less credit for their success, and WOW has less influence over them. Bob's edit is basically that he's super loud and annoying but basically also harmless and nice, which is a weird edit for a winner to have. - Speaking of established queens, I've soured on Thorgy since the first three episodes or so (the halcyon days of Frieda and Empire!). She just hasn't been performing well, and she really has been petty and bitter. It's obvious that she's a huge talent but it's clear the competition was beating her rather than the other way around. Somehow I found Robbie Turner's bitching more amusing and relatable because he wasn't as passive aggressive. Also Thorgy's fans can be kind of annoying in trying to deny the fact that she was obviously super shady and competitive. Like, that's part of her personality, deal with it. I'm sad Thorgy's leaving, though, just because she's one of the most interesting and talented queens left. And I still had hope she'd turn a corner. But to be honest, I didn't think she was a real threat to beat Bob. - I'm over Chi Chi, as well. She just seems very resigned, like she's decided her storyline is over even though Ru and the judges don't want to give up on her yet. I might just be misreading her body language and behaviors (and clearly she brought it to the lipsync), but all the other contestants are so thirsty to win and Chi Chi's just kind of still there. Her ad could have actually been funny if she had been intentionally butch (I really laughed the first time she did it, unintentionally gold), but she's basically like "I'm not creative and I have no resources." Okay, then go home. - Kim Chi's this season's Adore. Clearly a real star and brimming with talent in some departments, but unforgivably deficient in others. I just don't think you can crown a winner that can't walk in heels, perform a lipsync, dance or sing. It's clear she's been given tons of passes not given to other queens because Ru has such a soft spot for her. People don't just want to look at her (as some of her critics say). She's also hilarious and charismatic and I could totally imagine her playing well off another queen on a video series. But she's not even at Violet/Raja/Tyra's level of versatility at doing the things outside of the things she does well. It's frustrating because Kim Chi seems like the only possible legit winner besides Bob, but...she also doesn't seem like a proper winner because of her limitations.

I lived for Acid and I'm mad af that he went home. That bitch was a tease/goddess on his knees/angel undercover etc., etc., etc. Worth a shady save via sending Robbie to lip sync for his life versus Naomi instead, at least. So I guess I'm team Chi Chi now? SMH.

I didn't read it as Acid being willfully ignorant of a style of drag (ala Phi Phi and Roxxxy circa their seasons). Rather, I thought the point was (1) if Trixie is going for sight gag/clown realness, she's not doing a good job at it, and others can and have done that genre of makeup better (like Bianca, and Kim Chi himself), and/or (2) Trixie is pulling the old "it's just my drag" as an excuse for not polishing her drag.

I LIVE for a shady queen who knows her worth. Heck, Tyra Sanchez was one of my favorite queens her season, and I miss the halcyon days of seasons 2 and 3 when we had tons of queens of this type (Raven, Morgan McMicheals, Shangela, Raja, Manila, Delta, etc). However, even I had to side-eye Acid Betty for raining on Kim Chi's parade during Trixie's message. Not cool. It was Kim Chi's moment and Trixie wasn't there to defend himself. But...as long as he doesn't make a habit of that type of stuff, I'll remain here for Acid Betty. But for the record, I think Trixie is wildly overrated. I not only do not "get" her drag, but I don't even respect the drag she does. There are other queens I don't really get and wouldn't pay to see (like Bianca, Jinxx, or Katya), but I respect what they do and understand why others are fans. Trixie's like Pearl but without the hotness explanation. So I feel it's time SOMEONE called Trixie out, but unfortunately it was done so meanly that even my bitch-loving, Trixie-hating behind didn't like it! That this will whip Trixie's stans into an even further frenzy. SMH.

Not enough is said about Lauren's butt. It's amazing, and might just be the key to this entire season.

This is completely accurate, but I doubt Ben is sophisticated enough to put those feelings into words, even without the Greek. There was just a different type of connection with Lauren, even though I do think he really liked Jojo, too. Ben and Lauren make a lot of sense together. Ben appears to be a quite a sensitive and neurotic person, and Lauren seems to fill his need for comfort and centering without diminishing herself, if that makes sense. (Jojo somehow always seemed to be grovelling in her efforts to fill his needs.) It's promising that she's moving to Denver, too. I turned down a job and ended up getting a different one a cool six months into a relationship to be closer to my now-husband. So I'll never judge someone for making a move for a shot at love, and she didn't even need to switch jobs! These kids may have a shot. I'm not terribly bullish, though. Having a lot in common helps a relationship, but simply because they're both very conventional and mildly above average looking hardly means they'll go the distance. Those don't seem like the most important of commonalities to me. One thing I noticed on ATFR was Lauren coming out of her shell. Her voice was a little different, and she talked a lot more than she ever did on the show. It seems like she had been holding back the entire time to put her best foot forward on the show with Ben. But Ben also seemed not terribly into this genuine version of Lauren. He never seemed like he was listening to her. Their chemistry was not what it was on the show. Only time will tell if they have enough in common to make it work, and if they really like each others' personalities as demonstrated in real life. I don't think that it was clear that it was Lauren from the start. Obviously he liked Lauren from the start, but he also liked at least five other girls in the beginning, namely, the final four plus Olivia and Jubilee. I think it was clear it was Lauren only by mid-season, and it was kind of due to process of elimination rather than a meteoric rise. He initially was most interested in Olivia, but after getting to know her he realized she wasn't a fit. He also seriously considered Jubilee during their brief, intense courtship before ultimately rejecting her, too, due to clear lack of fit. Amanda is an odd case...I always got the sense that she could have really been a contender if she didn't have kids. Ben knew that he didn't want an insta-family, but he also really liked Amanda. So she stayed a long time, but she was never really IN it. He knew he was never going to actually pick her. There may have been something substantial with Caila early on, before (roughly around their second 1 on 1, but probably a little before it) it became clear to Ben that it wasn't going to work, because he just couldn't relate to her. I don't know when or why it happened, but by the late episodes of the season it was clear to many that Caila was just marking time. Whereas at the beginning, some people thought Caila could be F1. So two early prospects totally crashed and burned, and Ben kept around two other girls that he liked a lot, but knew full well he wouldn't pick as F1. Lauren and Jojo were the only relevant contestants not ruled out, and he could barely choose between them! I don't say this to discount the possibility of Ben and Lauren working out (I think they have a better shot than most), or to imply that Lauren was not the best match on the show for him (I think she was). But let's not retcon that this was always apparent just because she won. And I think telling ILY to both girls was really unfair, inconsiderate, and disrespectful to Lauren. Especially if he pretty much knew he was going to pick her as of mid-season or earlier. This is the type of situation that Toni Braxton's "He Wasn't Man Enough for Me" was written about(LOL). Lauren got screwed by these shenanigans much worse than Jojo. Jojo has an ex that was rude to her. Lauren has a fiance who disregarded her feelings on national television for a slightly better storyline (at best), or who proposed only because he barely preferred her to another woman (at worst). I don't identify with Lauren as much as I do with Jojo, but I like Lauren. She seems like a kind person. So, I also think she deserves better than the Ben we saw on the show. He may well be different in real life. I hope so. I'm psyched to see Jojo as Bachelorette! I'll definitely be watching. She was so beautiful and poised and articulate on ATFR! I probably wouldn't have watched if it were Caila, or at least I wouldn't have watched in real time.

I completely agree with this last sentence, and am sympathetic to the observation that Jojo has chosen a sexy way to present herself. It's not all editing. Where I do disagree is that, if Ben were to pick Jojo, "maybe he's influenced by all that money and the prospect of selling million dollar properties instead of software." A couple people have made observations of this type. I don't see the need to throw in any ulterior motives. Jojo and Ben have a strong connection. For better or for worse, men sometimes choose the "sexy" girl to marry over the "nice" girl. And there's nothing wrong or suspect about that. Just because Jojo has had a boob job doesn't mean that she's automatically anathema to a Christian household or way of life.

I'm not clutching my pearls about Mom having an opinion on which girl to pick. It's quite immature for Ben to claim he's in love to the same extent with both women. Mom may well care more about giving her son honest advice than about the supposed feelings of women she doesn't know from Eve. The women assumed the risk of this type of humiliation, and a whole lot more, by agreeing to appear on the show. We all think we "know" Lauren B is a better fit for Ben based on watching what the TBTB have chosen to show us every week. But Mom has known Ben his entire life. That could be informing her take on which girl is the correct pick. Maybe Mom knows that Ben likes the idea of women like Lauren B, but it never actually seems to work out with them, and, in reality, he prefers and is more compatible with women more like Jojo. Or perhaps she thinks Jojo just likes Ben more than Lauren B does, and she knows needy Ben needs a girl who's over the moon for him. I've never been sure that Lauren fully reciprocated Ben's feelings for her. The idea that Ben's mom could prefer Jojo to Lauren B goes against the whole narrative we've been sold about the two women, and I think that's awesome. I've always been a little disturbed by the madonna/whore dichotomy that the show subtly presents as the choice between Lauren B and Jojo. "Lauren B is sweet, and Jojo is sexual." "Lauren B is the girlfriend and Jojo is the funk buddy." That sort of thing. I bet this is nothing more than a storyline germane to the show's conservative values, because they want to canonize the eventual "winner" (make no mistake, I still think Ben will choose Lauren B). Ben is clearly a momma's boy though, so this definitely makes me think that Lauren and Ben won't last long after the final rose.

I said most of what I had to say way back before, I want to clarify as to why I think Jami/Amber picking on Jubilee was also cry-bullying, as a couple people questioned me on that. (Twins on Olivia seems to be uncontroversial.) I'm not defending what Jubilee said, although I have no idea what she said as there is no film of it. I'm just saying that they were victimizing themselves as a tool to make Jubilee feel bad and create distance between her and the (mostly white and/or unfamiliar with issues of black racial identity) audience. Does anyone seriously think that Jami/Amber thought that "The Bachelor: The Women Tell All" was the best, or even a marginally decent, forum to have a nuanced conversation about the identity of biracial people and the language used to describe them? And a strong point was made earlier, Jami/Amber (Jamber?) kept confusing whether Jubilee said "fully black" or "really black." Both of those terms could be offensive in context (again, not defending Jubilee on the merits of whatever she said), but the confusion about the phrasing showed me that neither Jami or Amber really remembers what was said, and were constructing it in a way that made Jubilee look the absolute worst, just because they didn't like her. The were opportunistically making a mountain out of a molehill to exploit a vulnerable person, confident in their support from most of the other girls on stage. I guess it comes down to proportionality and context, and I think that Jami/Amber's reaction was out of proportion and in such a context that I could only assume that they were tearing down Jubilee for air time. At the risk of being boards on boards (tbt TWOP!), I thought another poster made a great point about why some people don't like Jubilee, and I want to add to it. Ultimately, some people dislike Jubilee because they think that the way she expresses herself belittles the experience of others. But I actually don't think anything she actually has said or done shows that she really believes that other people don't have struggles or substance. Jubilee-haters draw that conclusion entirely from IMPLICATION. They make a series of slippery logical moves: "she says she's complex, therefore she thinks others are simple, therefore she thinks others are worthless, therefore I hate her because just because your whole biological family isn't dead doesn't mean you're worthless." Do you all see how many moves that is before we get to "Jubilee is arrogant and judges all these girls as less than her"? To make this firmly relevant to the show itself, I think some of the girls on the show definitely made those logical moves out of insecurity about their own depth, not because of anything Jubilee actually said or did. Maybe it was Jubilee's failure to reassure the other girls that they were worthy and deep and interesting that was her "crime." Jubilee is a bad communicator who is full of excuses for why she is a bad communicator. It seems to me that her issues of shyness, struggling to fit in groups and difficulties expressing herself don't have anything to do with "complexity" at all, that's just her crutch for not working on getting better at dealing with people. It is hard to change how you socialize with people, and easy to make excuses for not making changes. But I don't see bad faith or judgement of others on her part. Heck, she appeared to really like Ben, who clearly has WAY less substance than any of the girls on the show except for perhaps the twins. I think, if anything, she wishes she could be confident and "normal" and bubbly, she doesn't see her awkwardness and introversion as making her better than other girls. Maybe she was even jealous of Jami and Amber as black girls who clearly fit in with the other women as that made it harder for Jubilee to use race as an excuse for being isolated and antisocial. TL;DR Jubilee is a bit of a whiny brat, and that's reason enough to dislike her. I think she makes awkward and stressful TV, and I wouldn't like to see her as the Bachelorette. However, imo, major judgements on her character are hard to support.