JenE4

Annemarie is a 5.8 when it comes to self-awareness. She literally admitted during the reunion that, sure, she says she’s an anesthesiologist because no one knows what a nurse anesthetist is—and yet she’s still attacking (yes, I’m using that word because she’s literally going out of her way to post this attack to Crystal) Crystal for diminishing her career and all that. No one is saying Annemarie’s job isn’t important or takes skill or education or whatever; it’s that she’s lying about what her job is. The only person who’s caught up on thinking a nurse anesthetist is “below” an anesthesiologist is Annemarie for constantly retorting that she’s being insulted for someone pointing out her actual job title or degree. If you’re insulted by the facts of your own career, that’s on you. And don’t even get me started on the whole misrepresenting someone for a storyline. I’ve never heard the word esophagus more in my entire life, and surely I never will again. And how many times did she extend the olive branch to Sutton, only to go back to talking about her esophagus? Well, I actually don’t know the answer to the question because I felt like I was put under sedation every time Annemarie started in on the esophagus business. Annemarie could start a whole new medicine-free sedation method—I’ll just talk you into becoming comatose.

I think Jen would be good only because we need an Asian lead for representation. However, she was dead to me ever since she was all ho-hum about the that synchronized drone display!! She has looks and diversity, but she brings nothing else to the table, IMO. I truly know nothing about her and haven’t seen much of a personality. I think it’s going to come down to Kelsey or Daisy—whichever one doesn’t win will be the lead. A wildcard choice would be Maria, as she has some Hannah Brown spunky (and/or annoying) vibes—but I think she’s most likely a shoo-in for Paradise. And there is also apparently still someone there named Rachel?!? I swear I only noticed her last week because there was hardly anyone else left in the house. I think she somehow skated into the final 4 as a default of liking others less, rather than her more. But I don’t know anything about her, either, so maybe there’s more to both Rachel and Jen than what we’re aware of—but neither is getting a winner/lead edit.

I think there’s a disconnect between Emily’s words and facial reactions. She truly did spend the first half-ish of the process stifling her own feelings and trying to just go with the flow with Brennan—but her face always gave away how she truly felt. However, Brennan hasn’t exactly been a ball of joy. We have never even seen this man smile! Meanwhile Emily was on death’s door and was like, I’m all good!! It’s only now that she’s being more verbally argumentative. But what is there to be “positive” about in this “relationship”?!? I’m glad that the show is finally giving us the “behind the scenes” ceiling-mounted camera footage so we can see what’s happening when the actual camera crew isn’t there. (Though, I could have done without seeing Michael and Chloe presumably giving each other hand jobs!!) So all that Brennan and Austin care about is how they come off on TV. Ironically, that’s what broke up Cam and Clare because he said she was acting like two different people on camera and off camera. Are they over-achievers for realizing that 2 weeks in instead of 2 months in? Though, interestingly, being off camera seems to have really made Clare grow a lot. Cam, who knows since we haven’t seen the guy! But they seem to be having a better, though slightly distant relationship off camera than the other two couples are having on camera.

Scheana was concerned about Brock arguing with her in public, so I can imagine how bad it must be behind closed doors. If they weren’t on a TV show in which they are required to attend group events/trips and thus need someone to watch Summer Moon, I wonder whether Brock would be as focused on going out and partying without the kid. Because I have to say it’s pretty standard for your social life to go to hell when you have kids. Considering he just up and moved to a whole different continent than his other kids, it really makes me question where Brock’s priorities are. But I think he’s moreso focused on getting his MIL out of his house. the conversation at the end between James and Sandoval seemed pretty genuine to me. James was most hurt because he really looked up to Sandoval and trusted him—like the only person he truly trusted in LA. That context made a bit more sense to me because otherwise I didn’t understand why James was so angry since he had already moved on with Ally be the time the affair started. Ariana and Katie better let up on their No Toms decree or they’re going to find themselves out of a job. No one cares about your issues with the zoning board or inheriting glasses from the now defunct Pump. Everyone else is willing to play nice—or at least cordial—with Sandoval because he’s the one who kept the show from getting canceled and brought it its highest ratings and even an Emmy nomination.

IMO, I think Daisy being honest about her feelings (or lack thereof) indicates she’s There for the Right Reasons. I think she went there to find love but is realistic enough to say Joey seems like a decent dude as far as I can tell from 2 dates, but she’s not going to follow the producers’ prompting and lie about falling in love if she’s just not feeling it (yet?). The fact that everyone else is tripping over themselves gushing about how much they love Joey to secure a “hometown rose” is more suspect. Daisy is pretty refreshing the way she’s saying I hope I get there with you and I want to continue, but I understand if the other girls are giving you more than I can right now. It almost seems like Maria’s outburst was a way to prove how over the top her feelings are compared to everyone else’s. That just seemed fake to me.

I did something I rarely do and clicked on your link there to Reality Steve. Dear lord, does this man get paid by the word?! You think the show is verbose talking about “the process.” Steve talking about his process is torturous! Anyhoo… I managed to get down to the shocking ending reveal. Apparently Daisy realized on her final date that it wasn’t her, it was Kelsey. So she actually went and told Kelsey that, which never happens. Then on the alter she also told Joey the same thing before he could dump her. That’s why he’s left all dumbfounded with a rose next to him. Even last night Daisy was expressing some hesitation. So I think she never actually fell for him. It could have even been a plan all along just to get her to the finals to be the Bachelorette, as I’m sure the show had her picked from the start—a pretty, sweet woman who is thriving with a disability.

I hate that Maria is constantly saying, “My honest truth is…” Does that mean you’re lying the rest of the time? Are you lying now and trying to cover it up? Is “honest truth” like a double-negative kind of situation in which they cancel each other out? Why not just say “I feel” or “I think”?

Team Kelsey! Of course the dramatic ending preview might indicate otherwise, but I think she’s the best match for him so far.

i laughed so loud that Maria’s little act didn’t earn her the rose. In fact, it made Joey question whether she’d stay committed. But between Maria and Daisy not yet “falling” for Joey, we have a couple of options already where everything could fall apart for that dramatic ending they’ve been teasing.

Is Maria manipulating him to get the rose—or maybe even force him to pull a Clare and end the show to run off with her? Or is she not that into Joey and thinks she made it far enough to be a contender for Bachelorette—or to find a fiancé in Paradise?

We got a certified bad-ass over here. Is there a licensing board or something? How does one earn their bad-assery certification?

This falling for you-in love continuum timing is starting earlier and earlier. I thought it was wild when Joey started off his date with Daisy saying she’s the ONLY one who hasn’t told him she’s falling for him yet!! Usually maybe one person might say it at hometowns and then by the final two dates. But half the contestants shouldn’t be saying this over the course of the last couple of weeks already, Joey is getting falling for you declarations on first dates and I think at least one or two without even having a date yet. It’s either fake or delusional—maybe both.

This fire-powered hot tub seems a little dangerous to control the temperature. It’s giving me cartoon vibes where the characters think they going for a little soak and don’t realize they’re another character’s soup.

That sounds like a fun little “getaway.” Did you jump on the bed and yell out over the balcony like the contestants when they arrive at a hotel? I hope your heat is fixed soon…or not, if you enjoy having an excuse to be at a hotel. Please, does anyone have an albuterol inhaler for Jesse?!? My man in having a full-on asthma attack after that tennis game.

I remember the early episode when Becca visited Austin’s home and he said that after the show he wanted to continue living in their own apartments and Becca was all uhhhh, we’re married?!?! I bet even if they stayed married, he ran back home with his roommate and was even more distant—now both emotionally and physically—from Becca.

I read an article that fans have been scouring Instagram and noticed that Kelsey A and Joey had similar backgrounds within photos at the same time. I did not see the photographic evidence myself. The same article also had other guesses for the “unprecedented and shocking” ending like Lexi coming back, etc, but the Kelsey theory was the only one that mentioned an actual clue.

What an emotional roller coaster—and we’re only on episode 1! AD is the protagonist I’m rooting for here. Unfortunately she went from two solid options to zero in a flash! Matthew seems to be on the Autism spectrum and had some tough starts, so it was really touching seeing him learn to open up to AD and be very sweet with her. His therapist would be so proud! This was in stark contrast to the smooth operator, Clay, who is probably the player type she warned us she always falls for. We got a little foreshadowing that I only saw in retrospect when they had AD tell us everyone was being coy and keeping their matches close. I nearly fell off my couch when Amber gave us a line-by-line reading of the exact same pre-proposal and escape plan! I even tried to justify it—could it be neurodivergent Matthew just got confused and thought this other Amber was our Amber Desiree, AD?!?! Unfortunately I don’t think that makes any sense, but, nooooo, AD, you don’t deserve this!!!

Maybe Michael’s “make-under” in current times gives a slight edge to the possibility that he and Chloe stayed together. His over-the-top fashion seems to be the only thing she’s hesitant about. So I think it’s feasible that they’ll have a talk to come in show time in which she admits that she loves that he’s unique but the skirts and the pearls are too much for her and she finds herself much more attracted to him when he’s in a more masculine element (boxing, ninja course). Especially since hearing he’s a people pleaser, I can see the two of them going through his closet together and her picking out the items that are too much or those that are okay—just as long as it’s not paired with another questionable item—and then maybe shopping for some more unique pieces together.

I don’t know what’s sadder, watching poor concussed Emily think seeing her on death’s door made Brennan suddenly fall in love with her or watching Becca come to realize Austin just isn’t that into her—but listening to Cal, Pepper, and Austin to just give him another chance! Becca, you were so close!! But they brought in 2/3 of the experts to beg her to hang in there for 12 more days so they can have a show! Meanwhile, Brennan really does seem to finally be treating Emily kindly—and most of all is actually smiling!!! (Afterparty observation in spoiler tag) But then here comes Cam completely out of nowhere after having been missing for most of the series to say if Clare says yes on decision day, so will he! Say what?!? You already said no and have been refusing Clare’s phone calls. Suddenly they’re going to be forced to show up to decision day after not talking for a month?! If this is really happening and he’s still considering staying together, maybe he should be meeting up for talks with Clare, not Brennan. Hopefully he will next week. It seems like I’m the only one who likes Michael and Chloe. She seems to really like him a lot. I don’t think they’ll necessarily stay married, but I think they’ll be the only couple to at least sleep together. It’s nice that their friends and family really get along, too, so they have a network that wants them to be together. Well, aside from Caesar. That guy is not having it. But everyone else seems very supportive. They could be a good couple, unless this is a “people pleasing” mask on both of their parts and they’re not really being themselves yet, which is like a 99% possibility. Still, they’re all we got left at this point, so I’ll take that 1%.

That blue diamond ring was 9 million dollars!! Now I need to make the opposite argument that I did earlier that she “only” gets $3.6M in alimony a year. I don’t think she’s selling that many bedazzled mumus in her store. The earrings were a “bargain” at $68,000—just under a week’s worth of alimony.

Yeah, why live in the same house? They can’t find a good realtor?! 😉 It’s almost reflecting bad on his business that Mauricio hasn’t bought his own house. If he can’t even figure out his own living situation, how’s he supposed to help me?!

That may be a valid point of view. However, she keeps telling us over and over again that she’s making all of this money completely on her own in her very successful store. And that just isn’t true.

I get the premise of this show is rich ladies doing rich lady things…but this was just too over the top! This gross consumption of wealth was icky to watch. $400,000 spent on a party for absolutely no reason, other than to have one last hurrah like in the good old days? And then complain that your marriage is ending because Mauricio spends so much time working. Gee, I wonder why? I think Mauricio is prioritizing status as a global company, but Kyle is prioritizing the money he’s raking in and spending it just as quickly. Meanwhile Sutton is all I’m woman hear me roar, bragging about how she’s a singular success—leaving out the part that she gets $300,000 a MONTH in alimony! Sure, you can buy $68,000 earrings because it’s that week’s alimony check. And talking to her daughter like we deserve all these jewels for working hard (collecting daddy’s money). Even Dorit doesn’t seem to realize if you want PK back home, then make sacrifices and reprioritize your time over money. At the night of the party, PK was already 39 days in London, then a month later, he was still there?! At this point you should be having the conversation that do we need to relocate or what’s our timeline/plan here? Both Dorit and Kyle really only need to be in CA for the 2 months a year of filming. There’s nothing stopping them from being with their husbands otherwise. Granted, maybe Kyle has to hang in there until Portia graduates and it sounds like Mauricio is jumping around to various cities, but Portia is close to entering college. PK seems to only be in London and their kids are little, so there’s no reason why their family can’t just move to London if that’s where is job is. But neither want to compromise NOR lose the money their husbands are raking in. This is a choice: You either make sacrifices for your family or for your career—you don’t get to keep ALL the money and have the husband home. Kyle spending $400,000 on a party certainly confirmed that the money is more important to her. And the cherry on the top was “vindicated” Erika writhing around to It’s Exxxpensive to Be Me. All the ladies singing along at the top of their lungs to this anthem of their lives.

I tend to think Lexi realizes she can do better than a younger, unemployed tennis instructor. In 28 seasons, why have we never seen a contestant say, eh, I’m not feeling it with this guy and reject the rose?! The show just doesn’t “allow” the lead to be rejected, but surely there had to have been many contestants who just aren’t into the lead. What they tend to do instead is convince the contestant to approach the lead before the rose ceremony with some made-up excuse for why they can’t continue on, whether it’s some emergency/obligation at home or an “it’s not you, it’s me” excuse. In the Bachelorette, the guys aren’t always as diplomatic with their pre-rose-ceremony break-ups, or occasionally they’ll have another contestant clue the lead in so she can go break up with him for Being There for the Wrong Reasons. But the women usually bow out gracefully… aside from that one lady earlier this season who smashed a cake on her way out the door… But, still, they had her explain to Joey why she was leaving because of “the process” or whatever, not him. Lexi probably saw she wasn’t likely to get Bachelorette and if she wasn’t feeling Joey, bail out now before it’s too close to the end and you end up a villain for breaking his heart.

I think the 27-days-ago phone call probably actually was with Raquel. However, since she refused to sign the contract, I’m sure the show cannot use her likeness without her permission. The same way group scenes sometimes have people blurred out in the background—those who refused to sign the release vs those who signed it. Two of the three restaurants featured in the intro don’t exist! They also have Pump, which shut down by episode 2 or 3 of this season. The third is TomTom, which I’m not sure why they didn’t go with Schwartz and Sandy’s, but I guess they need to try to include something that Van Der Pump rules. Odd that SUR isn’t included at all, but I guess this is the evolution of the show—more than a decade later it’s not as Sexy or Unique any more. Regarding whether or not the gang should feel sorry for Tom, I think the lens they’re taking here is feeling bad about their actions toward Tom, not the general populace’s sentiment toward him or even about Tom’s actions. Lala and Scheana specifically made an entire year’s worth of content on ripping apart Tom on their podcasts. I do see Tom’s perspective that viewers did take the lead on how to react to Tom from that because we did diligently consume all of the anti-Tom media out there for a year and counting (as Raquel is just getting started with her side on her podcast). Lala and Scheana made a lot of money (presumably) on trash-talking Tom, and got a lot more attention and views than they would have if they just focused on their own lives. Tom doesn’t owe them any type of apology. He definitely owes it to Ariana! And even to Schwartz because he got dragged down by association. But I do think Lala and Scheana are the ones who did Tom dirty in this scenario, and he is rightfully upset about it. But I agree with Schwartz’s positioning that, yes, they do ultimately need to apologize to you, but you need to go in there humble and apologetic to what you did to Ariana first—and even understand that you put them in this position to speak up on defending Ariana’s side. Between Lala and James’s very mature and introspective conversation and Lala and Schwartz’s very mature and introspective conversation, I kind of agree that our gang is growing up—and likely outgrowing this show. That’s good for them, not sure how good it is for ratings. But I think I would be okay with a final season where everyone shows their own level of personal growth. It would be a good way to end the series. However, with ratings so high last year and an Emmy nomination, I don’t think we’ll see the end of this show any time soon. Plus, then James chugs a CBD drink and cannonballs off his roof, so maybe they’re not completely matured after all.