S17.E05: Week 5

[TomGirl]

28 minutes ago, Kiss my mutt said:

He reminds me of rumplestiltskin from the Grimm’s brothers or maybe a gremlin. 

All of these descriptions of Hunter are gold!  But I think Geico caveman is my favorite so far.

[tinkerbell]

1 hour ago, SassyCat said:

I think he’s attracted to Katie because shes the bachelorette du’jour and thats all that matters to him. Nothing else, just an association with the leading lady is all that attracts him. He likes the lime light, and since he cant be the bachelor, he wants to plop himself in the middle of any bachelorette season using any means necessary. He’s the epitome of wrong reasons, Feigning love and attraction , for the spotlight.

like I said before, he wants the PEOPLE magazine cover and the Jimmy Kimmel appearance.

[JenE4]

5 hours ago, blackwing said:

Agreed.  I don't normally watch this show... but I was channel surfing last night.  I get that if you're going to appear on a show like this, you have to have a certain mentality and personality and not be afraid of how you're going to look on TV.  But these outfits were ridiculous.  Tight wrestling singlets to play some kind of rugby game?  With the butts cut out, revealing tight underwear with hearts on them?  Truly demeaning.  They might as well have made the guys drop their pants and measured everyone's penises on camera.   Or just simply forced them to play naked.  If the next edition of the Bachelor made the women dance while wearing pasties and butt floss and nothing else, I'm sure people would be complaining.

Last season they played strip dodgeball and got totally naked! There was such outrage, that I’m seriously shocked they’re continuing dates like this. Somehow the show thinks it’s hilarious and titillating to subject these men to physical violence while not wearing any clothing. This board has had years’ worth on negative reactions to such dates, so I don’t know where they’re getting any Bachelor Nation positive reinforcement to keep this going.

[Kiss my mutt]

Doesn’t Canada have a Bachelor show Blake can be on, like in Saskatchewan, preferably?

[Recyclorette]

1 hour ago, Kiss my mutt said:

Doesn’t Canada have a Bachelor show Blake can be on, like in Saskatchewan, preferably?

Yes!!!  My thoughts exactly.

Go home, Blake, you've worn out your welcome!  (Maybe Canada doesn't want him, either, and won't let him back in.)

[jackjill89]

6 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

He works in animal conservation.  

I actually thought that on Clare/Tayisha's season he was a firefighter? Whatever he does for a living, I don't like him. 

I'm not loving the trend of the person who gets the one on one date giving a little speech about how they feel. It's not an award. Same with the person who gets the rose on a group date. Just say thanks and shut your mouth. 

I'm really shocked she gave Hunter the rose. I think that may have been producer driven. She created a little monster with that rose. A dozen guys left and he thinks he's already chosen for hometowns. Please. He's a troll, and last night he showed that he's got some troll going on inside as well. His aggressiveness was not attractive, and his boasting about it was worse. 

 

 

 

[deSchenke]

Hunter reminds me of Alex, the little marine, on JoJo Fletcher's season. Both thought they were high in the ranks, but came up short. 

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, Kiss my mutt said:

Doesn’t Canada have a Bachelor show Blake can be on, like in Saskatchewan, preferably?

The viewership of the Canadian Bachelor/ette shows is much smaller than the US audience. Not as conducive to amassing social media followers.

[DEL901]

There hasn’t been a Canadian bachelor slow in 4 or 5 years at least.   There will be a Canadian Bachelor in Paradise this summer with firefighter Kevin as the Bartender.  (Btw, he and Astrid, after in vitro, are expecting.  Wedding was postponed due to Covid. 

[Kiss my mutt]

10 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

The viewership of the Canadian Bachelor/ette shows is much smaller than the US audience. Not as conducive to amassing social media followers.

Right! A dog can dream though!

[azprimadonna]

For integrity purposes, no man should be allowed to enter late, unless the others all drop dead first.  

For integrity purposes, no man should be allowed to enter who has had prior secret interaction with the Bachelorette.   

This show has no integrity.  

 

[Refresh]

6 hours ago, tinkerbell said:

I've posted this before, but I can't get this out of my head.   Blake said when he first saw Katie on The Bachelor, he was attracted to her.   Now, she was one of how many women who stepped out of the limo, said hello, did a little intro, and said "see you inside". What was different, unique, about Katie, as opposed to the other 2 dozen women?  Her hair?  her body?  her dress?  sparking personality?   No, Katie brought along a dildo and made a sex joke!   Said she'd been masturbating, and wanted to meet a man so she didn't need the dildo any more!  And Blake thought, "wow!  that's the girl for me!"  

Last year during Tayshia's season, she had the Art Date, with the naked man and woman, and the guys had to make art based on it. Blake made a phallus, that's it. I remember the other guys Voice Overing that it was very much Blake: “It surprises nobody that he made a penis,” says Spencer. “He is constantly talking about sex.” 

So maybe they're Made For Each Other 🤣 .but it's a pretty thin connection. 

I'd like Blake to define what he thinks Sex Positivity is. I don't get the impression he fully comprehends that Sex positivity not exactly the same as really horny / DTF (as the kids say these days). 

[Stats Queen]

3 minutes ago, Refresh said:

Last year during Tayshia's season, she had the Art Date, with the naked man and woman, and the guys had to make art based on it. Blake made a phallus, that's it. I remember the other guys Voice Overing that it was very much Blake: “It surprises nobody that he made a penis,” says Spencer. “He is constantly talking about sex.” 

That’s all I think about when I see Blake.

[Kiss my mutt]

1 minute ago, Stats Queen said:

That’s all I think about when I see Blake.

That and his over the top orgasm noises he broadcast over the loudspeaker for Tayshia. Yuck yuck yuck!

[chocolatine]

18 minutes ago, Kiss my mutt said:

That and his over the top orgasm noises he broadcast over the loudspeaker for Tayshia. Yuck yuck yuck!

They all had to make orgasm noises, but Blake's were especially enthusiastic. One of the men commented that Blake needs to go to church after that.

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, azprimadonna said:

For integrity purposes, no man should be allowed to enter late, unless the others all drop dead first.  

For integrity purposes, no man should be allowed to enter who has had prior secret interaction with the Bachelorette.   

This show has no integrity.  

 

Didn’t Michelle enter late?   She got almost to the end and is the next Bachelorette.  

[Crashcourse]

I don't like the latecomers on The Bachelorette or The Bachelor and I wish they'd stop it.

[Stats Queen]

21 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

Didn’t Michelle enter late?   She got almost to the end and is the next Bachelorette.  

That was a little different because the producers deliberately kept several women waiting as a group for dramatic effect.

Bringing ONE person in who has already been on at least 1 bachelor franchise show and has DM of talked to the lead is all kinds of wrong. Chances are the Kate has spent more time having a text conversation with Blake that time she has spent on any of the contestants with whom she hasn’t had a one-on-one date.

 

 

 

 

[mishap]

I loved how Katie's big concern over the MIchael's injury, was that if he had to leave, he  couldn't come back and she would always wonder 'what if'.    Not concerned about him breaking his neck  or spine.  And  I know, when she said that, she knew he ws ok, but still, I would have thought a little more concern for  him and the fact that he could have been seriously hurt and is a single dad.    I wonder what kind of waivers these guys sign.  

  Oh, and she told Michael , when she say that hit, that he took she knew it was time to stop.  Well sweetie, it was time to stop with the first hit.  They are so lucky that he was not hurt.  The way his neck snapped when he was hit in the back,  was horrible to watch.  

[woodscommaelle]

Michael is cute. He reminds me of Jason Sudeikis. But he has to keep the facial hair. 

[Thumper]

How long has it been since Michael’s wife passed away?  I wonder why he thought this show was a good option for him?  He seems to need more time.

[Hip-to-be-Square]

2 minutes ago, Thumper said:

How long has it been since Michael’s wife passed away?  I wonder why he thought this show was a good option for him?  He seems to need more time.

Michael's wife passed away from cancer two years ago.  I also think that Michael needs some more time to go through the stages of grief and I think that he could greatly benefit from one on one therapy and a support group for single parents who are widows/widowers. 

[tinkerbell]

since someone posted the Fred Flinstone comparison to Blake, it's all I see. 

[tinkerbell]

Wells announces that they are there for one reason - to find Katie the love of her life -  and we do that by having this competition where they FIGHT.   Because every woman knows that's how you find a husband, right? 

And then encourage the guys to engage in tackling each other,  with no protective gear, no helmets.  There's just no way this is safe.  But it happens every season, in one way or another - some kind of wrestling/tackling/sports thing, where somehow a guy proves he can be a good husband by parading around in a skimpy outfit and trying to hurt other guys.   And the guy who was the most aggressive, the one who says hurting people is "FUN" - gets rewarded.  And, because he is the most aggressively competitive person in the house, he sees it all in terms of a victory over the other guys.  

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Thumper said:

How long has it been since Michael’s wife passed away?  I wonder why he thought this show was a good option for him?  He seems to need more time.

I believe she passed away Jan of 2019.  I don't necessarily think he needs more time. Things were tough for him in this episode because his wife's birthday was the day before.  Those days can be especially hard and he's doing it with people who didn't know her.

But I thought he was fine on his one-on-one date with Katie and had a surprising amount of game.

I think his motives are a bit like Zac's from last season.  It's an experience to do something different as opposed to those who do it to gain social media influence. I think he's just as likely as anyone else on this show to have it work out.

[misokinesia]

Michael A's story has been very interesting for me to watch. I lost my husband to cancer as well, four years ago December; he was 34, I was 39. As a younger widow, I've found one of the most frustrating things (of many) about dating again is people around you who think it's their business to decide if, when, or how ready you are. I didn't go into it blindly and I'm sure Michael hasn't either. If he's decided he's ready, that's what matters. I absolutely understand why he chose to keep quiet about it around the house, why he wanted the guys to get to know him first as he was, without that 'widower' cloud hanging over him. He does seem like a sweet guy, and I'm sure he'll find what he's looking for if it's not with Katie. (...ahem...call me, Michael..? 😍).

FWIW, I still refer to my late husband as my husband when I talk to people who a) know the situation already or b) it's not really relevant to the conversation and I don't want to see that look or feel the need to explain further. I would not do it in front of the family or friends of someone I was seeing, especially who didn't know the situation haha. I will, however, correct anyone who refers to him as my ex-husband, which happens more than you might think 🤷‍♀️

[DEL901]

Michael A said in an interview that he spoke to his former in-laws to make sure he had their blessing to do this.  I think he is a great guy, but I just don’t see him with Katie. 

[ECM1231]

 misokinesia, I'm sorry for your loss.

[Thumper]

Thanks for those perspectives regarding Michael.    As I mentioned earlier, this is the first episode of this season that I watched, so it is all I had to go on.

[GracieK]

The only thing I see when I look at Hunter is Ben Stiller 

 

[ljenkins782]

23 hours ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

Hunter is getting the Olivia-from-Ben's-Season edit, i.e. lots of talking head shots about "I'm already the winner. All the other contestants are just wasting our time and need to leave NOW so Ben/Katie and I can get on with our life together," which is then followed by a humiliating exit a few episodes later. Rinse and repeat.

Yeah, Hunter showed season villain potential early on with his eagerness, alongside Aaron, to sniff out any Wrong Reasons guys, but now he's getting the overconfidence edit, always a harbinger of an embarrassing exit.

At least Olivia got the first impression rose and initially seemed like a frontrunner, outside of the bizarrely awarded date rose in this episode, I don't see any real connection there. I have to assume that rose was awarded under direction because she had Michael A right there, almost got murdered in the activity and had a nice chat at the party. Usually the date rose goes to that guy.

Quote

Gee, a spur-of-the-moment athletic contest featuring live tackling by a bunch of guys of varying athletic levels who don't know each other's abilities and have convinced themselves they have an emotional stake in the outcome. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? One of these seasons, some idiot is going to seriously hurt someone and, medical release or no, Fleiss and ABC are going to have a big lawsuit and a ton of bad publicity on their hands.

Most of those hits would have been illegal in pro sports, great idea to have any anything goes attitude among these amateurs who have been cooped up with only each other for weeks. 

I did get a chuckle out of the juxtaposition of all the gym rats loving their outfits and poor Michael A being like "this is the worst day of my life" with his dad bod. But that hit was no joke, they are incredibly lucky that he wasn't hurt really badly.

Quote

If the next edition of the Bachelor made the women dance while wearing pasties and butt floss and nothing else, I'm sure people would be complaining.

There was a group date on one of the seasons (maybe Nick's?) where the girls were given costumes for a photo session and one girl's didn't include a top. It didn't appear that they had any input into their costumes and the girl was clearly a little taken aback by it, but went along with it awkwardly. That seemed like a clear crossing of the line to me, but IIRC, another contestant willingly took her own top off and that ended up sucking up all the attention, instead of the forced nudity of the other girl. 

Quote

Unfortunately I don’t think Greg is “the one”. No one wants to date or be married to someone that they think has “resting sad face”.    I think his shyness has gone from being  “cute” to Katie to just being kind of boring.   Too bad, as he seems like a great guy.

I wasn't sure about Greg at first, but he seems great. I loved his unabashed tears at Michael A's story, he's apparently not above cuddling based on him and Catman on the couch, and he seems genuinely invested.

I know it's the premise of the show to have one lead and a million other potential dates, but if I were the lead, I would question it if my top choice didn't have any feelings about the other dates in the mix. 

I was sure Andrew was getting the friend zone exit after the talk about how smiley he is and how he makes her laugh, but he did a nice job turning it a little bit serious. 

Also, I watch this without commercials on Hulu and the juxtaposition of Katie literally rolling in the hay with Blake with a disclaimer about depiction of sexual assault made me think Blake was about to do something that crossed a line. Turned out to be related to Katie telling the story she told a few weeks, but had I changed the channel, I would definitely have thought Blake did something in that hay. Unfortunate smash cut there without a commercial in between...

[Kiss my mutt]

Blake look seriously bored when Katie told him about her sexual assault Iike, shut up, so I can get in your pants. His eyes always look dead to me like a psychopath and I wouldn’t be comfortable being left alone with him. I wonder if Tayshia really thinks he’s that great of a guy. 
I’m living for Hunter’s exit. He’s the type of guy if you turn him down, he’ll call you a bitch and tell you you’re not that hot anyway. 
 

I would say overall, this is a pretty good group of guys with a few notable exceptions. 

[Alexander Pope]

1 hour ago, Kiss my mutt said:

Blake look seriously bored when Katie told him about her sexual assault Iike, shut up, so I can get in your pants. His eyes always look dead to me like a psychopath and I wouldn’t be comfortable being left alone with him. I wonder if Tayshia really thinks he’s that great of a guy. 
I’m living for Hunter’s exit. He’s the type of guy if you turn him down, he’ll call you a bitch and tell you you’re not that hot anyway. 
 

I would say overall, this is a pretty good group of guys with a few notable exceptions. 

There is something feminine about him, despite the Cro-Magnon jaw.  He knows how to simulate empathy which is why your comment resonates with me--that is a scary quality.  That and naked ambition are why he has been able to fall "in love" so often in the past several months.

[LBS]

4 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

There was a group date on one of the seasons (maybe Nick's?) where the girls were given costumes for a photo session and one girl's didn't include a top. It didn't appear that they had any input into their costumes and the girl was clearly a little taken aback by it, but went along with it awkwardly. That seemed like a clear crossing of the line to me, but IIRC, another contestant willingly took her own top off and that ended up sucking up all the attention, instead of the forced nudity of the other girl. 

That was Juan Pablo’s season and Lucy aka the Free Spirit did it.  I think it was Andi who balked at it.  It was for a charity shoot for a dog rescue.

super unpopular opinion but I like Blake.  I think he’s sincere and they have obvious chemistry.  I also find him cute.

[Kiss my mutt]

I will never understand why aggression is rewarded on these shows. It’s such a turn off to me. 

[Hip-to-be-Square]

I think that The Bachelorette should do away with the inadequately trained combat sport dates and instead make the men reenact the  Top Gun volleyball scene with Kenny Loggins singing "Playing with the Boys." 

Edited July 8, 2021 by Hip-to-be-Square
spelling

[ljenkins782]

1 hour ago, LBS said:

That was Juan Pablo’s season and Lucy aka the Free Spirit did it.  I think it was Andi who balked at it.  It was for a charity shoot for a dog rescue.

No, this was Nick's season (I didn't see Juan Pablo's season).

Corinne's antics overshadowed the incident but one girl was handed a costume without a top, which she neither chose nor seemed entirely comfortable with. There are a ton of people around during filming, not to mention the millions of people watching it later on TV. I feel like this should have gotten more backlash, but every article I saw about it focused on the voluntarily topless Corinne and only one included even a brief mention of the other girl:

Quote

A moment of silence for Brittany, the “Adam & Eve”-themed bride. Brittany wore leaves as underwear and hair extensions as a shirt. She was also forced to get a severe spray tan and/or roll around in the dirt. Behold, the final product, which you can never unsee:

 

[TroopinFairy]

So, Hunter is this weeks villain. Last week it was Thomas. I wonder who’s going to be the villain next week.

Can Aaron please just leave. I’m sick of his complaining ass. 

Since I’m a first season Bachelorette watcher I don’t know that much about Blake. Blake’s on his third bachelorette in less then a year. That would be red flag to me but, people online are really rooting for him. 

[violet and green]

Hunter and Blake both remind me of evil trolls in a fairy tale. I am curious to see if Blake's appearance improves minus the pointy beard, but not curious enough to search for images.

Hunter is getting a lot of screen time, and almost every single time he appears on screen he snorts back snot. This does no add to his limited appeal.

It took me three days to get through that episode...

[chocolatine]

22 minutes ago, violet and green said:

Hunter is getting a lot of screen time, and almost every single time he appears on screen he snorts back snot. This does no add to his limited appeal.

Hunter apparently has Tourette's Syndrome and the snorting is a tic which he can't control: 

 

[violet and green]

5 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Hunter apparently has Tourette's Syndrome and the snorting is a tic which he can't control: 

Oh, that's interesting. Thanks for that. I just assumed he was one of those men I encounter on public transport who feel the need to snort their snot back for the entire hours of the journey, while I battle the urge to offer them a tissue.

ETA: Mind you, he manages to not tic when he's with Katie, so that is somewhat suss...

Edited July 8, 2021 by violet and green

[LBS]

7 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

No, this was Nick's season (I didn't see Juan Pablo's season).

And so they recycled that from Juan Pablo’s season. Oh show… please change.  (Below from Glamour)

 

[Starlight925]

The producers must have not liked Hunter, because they're keeping his Tourette's tics in full view.

On 90 Day Fiance, Loren (of Loren & Alexei) revealed that she has Tourette's, but that the producers were able to hide a lot of her tics with camera work.  Redoing scenes, etc., until Loren herself was comfortable talking about it.  So it can be done.

[chocolatine]

7 hours ago, violet and green said:

ETA: Mind you, he manages to not tic when he's with Katie, so that is somewhat suss...

Based on my limited understanding (from a friend who was recently diagnosed), people who have Tourette's can't control the timing of their tics. And stressful situations are more likely to induce tics. So maybe when Hunter is with Katie 1:1 he feels more at ease than when he's in a group setting. Granted, he creates a lot of the stress himself by being hyper-competitive, but I'm not going to knock him for the timing of his tics.

[tinkerbell]

21 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Yeah, Hunter showed season villain potential early on with his eagerness, alongside Aaron, to sniff out any Wrong Reasons guys, but now he's getting the overconfidence edit, always a harbinger of an embarrassing exit.

Yeah, and I suspect there's a producer whispering in his ear - "don't worry about the other guys, she's totally into you, she's required to keep dating the other guys, just hang in there."   

I remember the photo shoot for the "dog rescue" thing, and thought it was ridiculous at the time .  But the one I recall more was the one that was in the water, I think?  It might have been a "bridal" photoshoot, where some women wore gowns, and others were nearly naked.  This show can give all kinds of messages about consent, but when they push women to do something they're clearly not comfortable doing, they are contradicting that message.  

[jackjill89]

There was some season where the bachelorettes did a semi-naked photo shoot on a beach. I think I remember Ashley (of the former JP and Ashley) held ups seashells to cover her top? Thinking there was discomfort with that too. 

[Kiss my mutt]

14 minutes ago, jackjill89 said:

There was some season where the bachelorettes did a semi-naked photo shoot on a beach. I think I remember Ashley (of the former JP and Ashley) held ups seashells to cover her top? Thinking there was discomfort with that too. 

Oh yeah! That was Farmer Chris’ season. I remember that and was so embarrassed for her. 

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, Kiss my mutt said:

Oh yeah! That was Farmer Chris’ season. I remember that and was so embarrassed for her. 

No, that was Brad 2.0. It was relatively late in the season, they were in a tropical locale, and the photo shoot was on a small group date with Michelle Money, Chantal, and Ashley. IIRC, Michelle was the only one who was comfortable with the shoot.

The bridal theme was on Ick Vile's season. They were trying to do all kinds of wedding themes, and one happened to be Adam and Eve, hence topless. I forget the name of the woman who was picked for that, but yes, she was very uncomfortable. Then there was a beach wedding theme with Corinne so she was supposed to wear a bikini, but she took the top off because that was her "thing."

But Juan Pablo's "charity" photo shoot stands out as the worst to me, because IIRC he guilt-tripped Andi and Ali into taking their tops of after they said they didn't want to.

[Blintzie]

My son has a mild case of Tourette. In his case, he can control his tics for a brief time (like when he would bat in Little League). My son's vocal tic was also sniffling. But to be diagnosed with TS, you have to have both a vocal and a physical tic. Haven't seen Hunter display any physical tics (for example, my son's are a neck roll/shoulder shrug kind of thing), but maybe the producers are editing those out? Regardless, Hunter reminds me of the love child of Ron Perlman and Thanos.

[Neeners]

I teared up during the Greg/Michael A scene because...wine. But seriously my respect for them both grew. I'm sure it'll tank before the end of the season, but right now they are sitting pretty!

I think Blake is very unattractive, as is Hunter (who reminds me of Perez Hilton for some reason).