seacliffsal

I think that reality doesn't always match up with what Katie imagines or wants. She stated she was disappointed that while watching the episodes she didn't see Chris fall madly in love with her from day 1. Of course, she's forgetting that she encouraged him to go on dates and expected him not to go. But, he did go. I think she also thinks that he should drop everything and only focus on her once they were engaged. Well, no. Chris is one of the few in Bachelor Nation who actually has a real job (i.e. not instagram...). In the "real" world, we have to balance our lives. Many of those who see their careers being dependent upon participating in all of these shows don't necessarily have other obligations and they can just hang around and declare their love for each other all day. The narratives seem to focus on the women and how the men have treated them horribly rather than how it takes two to make a relationship and that both of them have to make compromises.

I, too, have no idea how they chose Derek to be the host. His behaviors were so far removed from the wonderfully elegant and sophisicated world of Downton Abbey. Is NBC trying to make "fleck" happen with him? There are so many fine actors they could have chosen instead of him. Or, like the special on PBS, just have one of the DA cast serve as host/hostess. Yet, I still watched it because, you know, Downton Abbey...

I did notice that at one point Anne just had to remind Bobby that she sent Adrian to him and his team (in the trade earlier in the season). I would bet that if Adrian wins that Anne will try to take credit for him.

Maybe the producers like pairings in which one person is already married to someone else. We've had Ricky, Rebecca, and Summit. Any others? For whatever reason, it is not too unusual for this show that someone is already married.

I was really hoping that they would pull out amazing stars this season as it had been a year since it was last on. So, I was watching the relative "non-star" stars (i.e. Hannah from The Bachelorette, Lamar from The Kardashians) as well as more recognizable semi-stars such as Kate Flannery (who I saw in Jane Lynch's Christmas Tour last year) when it was announced that Christie Brinkley's daughter would dance in her place. It's one thing, in my opinion, to have "lesser" stars, but to bring on a complete unknown (at least to me) in place of her far more famous mother, I decided that I was over this season before half-way through the first episode. So much for any meaning to "Dancing with the Stars." And, I guess, yippee for nepotism? Who knows, I may be back, but whatever happened to the Stars?

No sympathy for Jenny here as she knew exactly who Summit was-a liar. I agree with others that she is looking at her life as a romance novel come to life, but, alas, it isn't. I disagree with those of you who want Tiffany to come back to the U.S. to give birth. Why should we, as taxpayers, have to subsidize her bad decisions? We have to subsidize the decisions of those who stayed in the U.S., but Tiffany chose to go elsewhere and marry someone fresh out of rehab and then, just like magic, get pregnant. Of course, I'm assuming that she will use Medicaid from her home state for the birth. Hopefully, administrators will catch wind of her financial earnings from this show and make her pay for her own insurance. If she gives birth in the U.S., Ronald still won't be at her side (you know, due to his problems getting a visa), so why not stay there where he'll at least be in the same country. And no, mother Paul, do NOT sponsor his family to come to the U.S. Look, they have an apartment, Karine was able to give birth in the public hospital and they are building a life as a family. And, Brazil even agreed to let him stay in the country! Take that as a sign. Yes, I know there are babies, soon to be babies, and young children involved. But, these "parents" need to figure out how to take care of their families beyond relying on the rest of us. Whew! Okay, rant over...for now...

I think one of the issues with the Amsterdam non-canal view choice was that the wife specifically stated that she wanted a canal view. Although we can intellectually know that they had chosen their apartment before filming the episode, we can only comment and snark on what we are shown. Therefore, she stated that her priority was a canal view and we can snark on that no matter what shenanigans the house hunters and producers came up with and participated in while filming. I don't always comment on the episodes as I'm usually far behind (I keep them on the dvr until ready to view); it just so happens that I am currently up to date so have participated a bit more. My favorite episodes are the ones in which the house hunters actually have a realistic budget for where and what they want and in which they house hunters respond to each other and the options in a positive way.

I was just in disbelief about the warehouse in Dallas. They wanted to sleep 8 to 10? What adults want to sleep four to a bed in a bunkbed alone with three other bunkbeds? Even as a kid I wouldn't want to sleep 2 to a bunkbed (my sister and I had bunkbeds) as the interior person would have difficulty getting out whether on the bottom bunk or the top bunk. They were so proud of themselves for creating a rental that would sleep 10 and I was like, so make more than two bedrooms. They even stated how proud they were of their creativity to create queen bunkbeds as they had never seen them before. For which there is a reason. I wonder how often they really do rent out that warehouse. I did really like the owner-it seemed that he had had a rough time and his joy just touched my heart. That, however, did not override my disbelief about the four bunkbeds in one room. Kids, maybe, but adults-just no for that many people in those bunk beds. Anyone have any updates on this?

Iris, once again, was acting as an expert on relationships. She pretty consistently did so whenever the women/group was together. This is also consistent with her view that Keith would need to make some changes before they could ever get together in the future (as if). She seems to believe that she is an expert on most things. How much lemonade one should drink, how to wash one's hands and face, relationships, etc. Rather that let Amber tell Matt how he hurt her, Iris took over for her. I think Keith was as polite as possible when stating that he wanted a divorce. I also think that if Iris were more open to his views and perspectives things could have turned out differently; instead, we saw that she told Keith what he wanted, etc., and did not really listen to him just as she told Matt how he affected Amber rather than letting Amber decide for herself how Matt's actions impacted her life.

I am always speechless when the house hunters announce that they want the authentic "fill in the blank" experience. How do they think people live? In hovels without any modern conveniences? I love the modern apartments that we often see on this show and would want one if I moved overseas (when I applied for a position in London I had so much fun checking out housing online...alas, I did not get the job...). Related to the Madrid episode, if the apartment is in a building in which Spaniards live, then it is authentically Spanish. I get it when house hunters are looking for an expat community-it may be more to expats' tastes, but when moving to another country I would just assume that most of the places I looked at were "authentic." Some people may have a budget that allows them to live like other elites (and would live that way even in the U.S. [well above how the rest of us live]), but in the $900/month range, they are looking at authentic Spanish apartments. Maybe people want to recreate historical fiction or something, but this is a common theme on this series.

This season has seemed pretty boring to me and I felt like this episode was the worst of them all. I have never fast-forwarded through a season as much as this one. So, I was wondering why and then it struck me-I don't think there has ever been as many contestants on this show who were eliminated on the first night of their Bachelor/Bachelorette seasons before. I think because Grocery Joe was super popular that the producers thought they could re-create that magic with another first nighter. Nope. Grocery Joe was popular as soon as he was eliminated on his first night (many of us couldn't believe she would eliminate a good-looking, seemingly nice guy who owned a grocery store!). It seems like the producers thought they could take a first nighter and make them popular. Nope again. It also didn't help that they also brought on someone who had never been on the mothership but was in a "relationship" (maybe) with Demi. So, there has been an overwhelming number of people who I had absolutely no idea who they were. This led to me not really being invested in most of the people they included in this season.

All I can say is that I am so looking forward to seeing Boston Rob again. He generally did well with figuring out how to change up his game and he built an amazing shelter and furniture (?) which I hope to see him do again with Sandra. I know that many don't like him, I didn't either after his first season, but since then I've become a fan.

My issue with having young children on these shows is that I just don't want to watch children on reality t.v. I barely like watching them on scripted t.v. I know there is an allure to being on t.v., but I just think children are too young to really understand the "price" that is paid to be on t.v. or to be famous. Of course parents have the right to decide whether or not their children should be on t.v., but once parents put their children in the "public" as it were, they are inviting others to form opinions on them and make comments about the children through social media (such as I am doing right now...). I seem to remember that they were going to do a House Hunters Family version (and they may actually be doing so) which I had no desire to watch. I also didn't like it when years ago Trading Spaces started their family edition. Look, I'm a teacher and I actually love my students (in a totally appropriate teacher/student way), but that doesn't mean I want to watch children on t.v. trying to be witty or sarcastic. In this particular episode (see, I brought it back to episode talk), I just cringed when the brother and sister were going on and on about who would get each room. I also didn't like it when the parents said the children would get a say in which home they took, the son stated that he liked a different home than the one they chose and the mom manipulated him into changing his mind. Either they have a say or they don't. Okay, I've rambled on enough about this. But, I did connect it directly to an episode so hopefully I'm not too off task per forum rules...

Actually, Sumit showed Jenny exactly who he was when he originally catfished her. He's a liar. He started their relationship by lying and continued to do so. She chose to believe that she could "change him" as, unfortunately, many other people tend to believe (I'm different, I can change him/her...). I think he is on a different level from most of the scammers we see on these shows, but he really did show Jenny who he was. The person with whom I sympathize is his wife. Well, I also sympathize with Jenny's daughter and her wife because they tried to get Jenny to see who he was. I hope that both Jihoon and Ronald are barred from entering the U.S. due to their criminal endeavors. I also now understand why Tiffany was so quick to defend Deaven at the beginning of the season, as they both chose to not only get involved with men they hardly knew, they also procreated with these same men and then are shocked, shocked I tell you, that they did not fully know these men and are continually "surprised" by what they find out. I am not entertained by Laura and her delight in lying to Aladin. My heart went to the lamb that is giving its life for this sham of a relationship and marriage. So, finally Karine's baby is born. Yawn. I know that Paul's mother wants to meet her grandson, but I'm afraid that the U.S. is in for a terrible blow when Paul's mother decides to sponsor Karine and Pierre which will mean that they will all be here. I guess that Brazil's gain is our loss...

South Carolina ETV just started the new series last Thursday. Really interesting and sad first episode. I'm so glad it's back (it's season 5 by the way).