S07.E03: August 24, 2021

[alexa]

26 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Well I don't think Riley hustled Maurissa into bed.  It all seemed very consensual and  romantic to me.  Would she have been a better woman if she had demanded expensive dates first?  I expect the reason she hadn't been on actual dates before was because she was 80 pounds overweight and now she's worked hard on herself and she's ready to step out.  She said she loved sex and needed  reassurance and I don't blame Riley at all for meeting her there.  Why is it when two young single people have sex the man is always the evil perpetrator and the woman some kind of victim?  I think we infantilize women when we go there.

For me, I was a bit surprised only because it all takes place on cameras, and they barely met, but I am aware this happens in real life as well (without the cameras, lol).  I have to say Riley seems kind of creepy to me though--not because he got her in bed, but I am just not sure what the women are seeing in him.  

As for the reassurance, all I could think about was that he had the luxury of meeting her thin, so it is easy to say all of the right things to make her feel good, and I do suspect some of that was to get a bit of what he wanted.  To me he had that look of what do I say that will make me look good here?  That said, she wanted it too, so that is on her/ them to do what they want to do.  

[eyelash]

12 hours ago, JenE4 said:

Poor Maurissa has only been to mini-golf and her first romantic dinner date is an episode of Fear Factor. That’s bad enough that they force these terrible challenges on group dates but to do that on a 1:1 is cruel. Well, joke’s on you, not only did they at least passably pretend to like everything—they liked each other most of all. These two seem like a MUCH better match than her with Connor!

I guess I've watched too many cooking competition shows, but I was just sure when they took a bite of the obnoxious looking items they would turn out to be pastries or some other "food impostors."  No such luck.

[Alexander Pope]

13 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I don’t find Riley as handsome as some of the others, but his intelligence and niceness make him a catch…and he does have a smoking hot bod.  Tazh didn’t deserve getting the date card acting like a star struck teen.  Poor Tre.  She didn’t even get the date and his relationship is deader than Joe and Serena’s.  

I agree--I have always liked Riley and think he is a cut above a lot of Bachelorette contestants in terms of smarts and personality and also realness.  However his "cut like granite" arms remind me of Popeye's.

[Alexander Pope]

13 hours ago, DEL901 said:

She said she’d done things like mini golf, but not a real romantic date. 

Noooooooooooooooo.   Conor broke out the ukulele…and is Wells crying???

Wells was crying and it was priceless! I took it as MAJOR SNARK, which Connor deserved!!

[phlebas]

11 minutes ago, Alexander Pope said:

Wells was crying and it was priceless! I took it as MAJOR SNARK, which Connor deserved!!

*sob* I am here listening to ukelele music instead of doing literally anything back home with Sarah *sob*

[LBS]

That was weird.  Did the forums go down for anyone else?  In regards to the show, I fell asleep during the Thomas date but looks like I’ll actually watch the Riley date!

[MMLEsq]

11 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Am I the only one who finds jacked-up guys repulsive? Riley's huge arms and shoulders make his head look smaller, and I don't think it's possible to get that big just by lifting weights and eating protein. I feel the same way about James, too. I prefer a much more natural look.

Nope, not at all.  I 100% agree.  The only saving grace (for me -- I realize that this is an unpopular opinion) is that Riley didn't have tattoos.

 

3 minutes ago, LBS said:

That was weird.  Did the forums go down for anyone else?  In regards to the show, I fell asleep during the Thomas date but looks like I’ll actually watch the Riley date!

The Forums went down for me as well.

[Dottie D]

Riley certainly caught my attention.  I didn't see the season of The Bachelorette that he was on, so he was very new to me.

[Arkay]

5 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

expect the reason she hadn't been on actual dates before was because she was 80 pounds overweight and now she's worked hard on herself and she's ready to step out.  She said she loved sex and needed  reassurance and I don't blame Riley at all for meeting her there

I get this, but I find it so exasperating that while she claims to have never been taken on a genuine date, apparently many men found her appealing enough to have sex with her, despite being 80 lbs overweight.  But not good enough to take her out in public. Riley selected her, apparently not knowing any of this, but I did find it suspicious that he zeroed in on her insecurities immediately. This is Paradise; how will she feel when new women come in and Riley may or may not drop her? JMO.

[Crashcourse]

1 hour ago, MMLEsq said:

Nope, not at all.  I 100% agree.  The only saving grace (for me -- I realize that this is an unpopular opinion) is that Riley didn't have tattoos.

I agree, not having tattoos was his only saving grace.   I am not a fan of unnatural-looking, jacked up bodies. 

[chocolatine]

2 hours ago, Arkay said:

I get this, but I find it so exasperating that while she claims to have never been taken on a genuine date, apparently many men found her appealing enough to have sex with her, despite being 80 lbs overweight.  But not good enough to take her out in public. Riley selected her, apparently not knowing any of this, but I did find it suspicious that he zeroed in on her insecurities immediately. This is Paradise; how will she feel when new women come in and Riley may or may not drop her? JMO.

IIRC (not going to rewatch to confirm) Maurissa was the one who told him she needs a lot of reassurance, so I don't think he zeroed in on her insecurities as much as he took a cue from her and told her what she wanted to hear. Which, per my previous post, he seems to have done with Tayshia as well. I do agree that she'll probably get very upset if/when he finds someone else more attractive. Right now she's enjoying stringing along Connor while "being open" with Riley, but once the shoe is on the other foot I doubt she'll be a happy camper.

Edited August 25, 2021 by chocolatine

[Bobcatkitten]

What is up with all these people being personally affronted when someone arrives and takes someone out or talks to someone. You don't own them. They can say no. You expect someone to walk in and just be like, oh okay I'll just go. 

[Hip-to-be-Square]

1 hour ago, Arkay said:

I get this, but I find it so exasperating that while she claims to have never been taken on a genuine date, apparently many men found her appealing enough to have sex with her, despite being 80 lbs overweight.  But not good enough to take her out in public. Riley selected her, apparently not knowing any of this, but I did find it suspicious that he zeroed in on her insecurities immediately. This is Paradise; how will she feel when new women come in and Riley may or may not drop her? JMO.

I totally agree! Riley is what I call a "sexual opportunist"- he may feel a genuine attraction to her, but he's also subtly pin pointing insecurities and desires and accelerating intimacy before Maurissa can really evaluate if they're a good match overall.   I think given the cut throat competitive nature of the show, its best for these people to stick to some hot make outs and heavy petting on the beach rather than jumping into bed together before there's a label and exclusivity.  

[Bobcatkitten]

I'm going to go with Maurissa is a grown ass woman and if she wants to have sex fine. Not sure why he is getting made out to be a villain. I don't know him nor care anything about him but it seems like a lot of hate against him for made-up reasons - nothing we saw at all. 

[leocadia]

14 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Every scene of Joe moping about Serena P going on a date with Thomas made him less and less attractive to me. If he has such a huge problem with the concept of the show, he should leave.

Agreed.  He pulled the same stuff the first week when one of the other guys expressed an interest in pursuing Serena.  He whined about how this wasn't for him and maybe he should just leave...until Serena chose him and then he was a-okay with it.  I don't find him that attractive to begin with, but his "poor me, I'm so broken" attitude just makes him seem entitled and manipulative.

[JudyObscure]

20 minutes ago, Bobcatkitten said:

I'm going to go with Maurissa is a grown ass woman and if she wants to have sex fine. Not sure why he is getting made out to be a villain. I don't know him nor care anything about him but it seems like a lot of hate against him for made-up reasons - nothing we saw at all. 

Yes, and it was Maurissa who volunteered the info  that she had been overweight and  needed a lot of reassurance, so what kind of insensitive jerk would he have been to not say something nice about how beautiful she looked now?  I wasn't shocked to see them go off to the honeymoon suite at all, it's Paradise! 

Anyone remember when Tenley, who we all thought was a Disney Princess, bed hopped on Bachelor Pad?

What shocked me was the question about masturbation and Maurissa's cheery, "Every day!"  Is 2021 the year we all start talking about this?

[Crashcourse]

It's one thing to be playing tongue hockey on tv, I get that, but I don't need to see people humping in bed.  So I can do without Riley and Maurissa.  That was gross because they knew they were being filmed.

[call me ishmael]

4 hours ago, LBS said:

That was weird.  Did the forums go down for anyone else?  

I think that Demi crashed them because she was still upset about Brandon.

[Recyclorette]

2 hours ago, Arkay said:

I get this, but I find it so exasperating that while she claims to have never been taken on a genuine date, apparently many men found her appealing enough to have sex with her, despite being 80 lbs overweight.  But not good enough to take her out in public. Riley selected her, apparently not knowing any of this, but I did find it suspicious that he zeroed in on her insecurities immediately. This is Paradise; how will she feel when new women come in and Riley may or may not drop her? JMO.

Totally agree.  But Maurissa did tell Riley before he made his final date selection that she had never been taken on a real one.

Maurissa, you deserve much more.  Heck, Riley didn't even incur the cost of mini golf!

Any other moms out there think this would be a perfect lesson about self worth if you happened to watch this episode with your daughter(s)?

[Arkay]

37 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

What shocked me was the question about masturbation and Maurissa's cheery, "Every day!"  Is 2021 the year we all start talking about this?

I attribute this to it’s being Year One of Katie and her vibrator. So 2021, yeah. 

[tinkerbell]

49 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

What shocked me was the question about masturbation and Maurissa's cheery, "Every day!"  Is 2021 the year we all start talking about this?

I think the "truth or dare" type of situation was unfair and inappropriate.  What if someone says, no, I"m not answering personal questions about sex in front of people I just met (Riley and Lance Bass, as well as the camera crew)  and, I'm also not eating gross stuff either?   How awful that other "dates"  are fun, and they got this awful catastrophe! 

[nlkm9]

4 hours ago, Dottie D said:

Riley certainly caught my attention.  I didn't see the season of The Bachelorette that he was on, so he was very new to me.

I loved Riley when he came on the show the first time and feel like he was overlooked--he seemed charming and smart.

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, tinkerbell said:

I think the "truth or dare" type of situation was unfair and inappropriate.  What if someone says, no, I"m not answering personal questions about sex in front of people I just met (Riley and Lance Bass, as well as the camera crew)  and, I'm also not eating gross stuff either?   How awful that other "dates"  are fun, and they got this awful catastrophe! 

Best date response ever:  Canadian Daniel.  He and his date had just sat down to their meal when some folks dressed in costumes rushed in and carried her off.  He thought for a second and then he pulled her plate beside his and proceeded to eat both meals.  I was hilarious.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, leocadia said:

Agreed.  He pulled the same stuff the first week when one of the other guys expressed an interest in pursuing Serena.  He whined about how this wasn't for him and maybe he should just leave...until Serena chose him and then he was a-okay with it.  I don't find him that attractive to begin with, but his "poor me, I'm so broken" attitude just makes him seem entitled and manipulative.

I feel like it's scripted, which is so weird because from what I understand Grocery Joe is completely popular all on his own just by being himself.  Why the show feels the need for him to create this drama is so far beyond me.  Unless, he really is actually like this which is also incredibly weird.  Either way it's so strange and it's almost like Joe and the show are trying to make us hate him.

He was really annoying the first time around on BIP too.  I liked him so much when he was dumped on that one episode of "The Bachelorette" then he joined BIP and ignored every woman except Kendall, the only woman who ignored HIM.  It was the most convoluted, inorganic relationship ever and I'm not the least bit surprised they're done already.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[chocolatine]

2 hours ago, tinkerbell said:

I think the "truth or dare" type of situation was unfair and inappropriate.  What if someone says, no, I"m not answering personal questions about sex in front of people I just met (Riley and Lance Bass, as well as the camera crew)  and, I'm also not eating gross stuff either? 

That would be me. I'm vegan so I wouldn't eat any of the offal or moldy cheese, and I also wouldn't discuss my sex life on national TV. I wish someone had the courage to just sit there and neither eat nor speak. Let's see TPTB edit an entertaining story out of that.

As for Maurissa, I find it hard to tell whether she really just enjoys casual sex, or if she uses it to compensate for her insecurities. In my experience, women who enjoy no-strings sex don't lament their lack of romantic dates or need constant reassurance from men about their looks, so I'm leaning towards the latter.

[Kiss my mutt]

Grocery Store Joe needs to change his moniker to Mopey Joe. I didn’t notice it last season he was on but they’re really playing it up this time. 

[Just Carol]

Mopey Joe and Mopey Kelsey might have been a good pairing.   

One of the previews shows Maurissa without her 10 pounds of makeup and ponytail.  I did not recognize her.  I wonder if her natural appearance is enough for Riley. I see him as a Player/opportunist, whatever.  His "We should go back, I know a place we can go..." gave me the creeps.  Also, it is sickening that there are cameras on in the room where people go specifically to have sex.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Just Carol

[violet and green]

9 minutes ago, Just Carol said:

Also, it is sickening that there are cameras on in the room where people go specifically to have sex.

The pornification of a nation. They used to, in early seasons of the Bachelor on the fantasy suite dates, just show the lights going out from a camera in a place in the garden below the hotel resort, to indicate this. I prefer that.

[Arkay]

 

12 minutes ago, Just Carol said:

 Also, it is sickening that there are cameras on in the room where people go specifically to have sex.

And the audio. There wasn’t as much moaning as we’ve been subjected to in other cases (was it Kaitlyn on her season? I can’t recall) but there were some preliminary sighs and moans. Maybe it was added in post-production because aren’t the mike packs attached to their backs or something?

I’m certainly aware that BIP is a different level than the pretense on the regular show, but I just can’t imagine how anyone would want to be filmed this way, when they aren’t seeking careers in porn. 

[ljenkins782]

Quote

Am I the only one who finds jacked-up guys repulsive? Riley's huge arms and shoulders make his head look smaller, and I don't think it's possible to get that big just by lifting weights and eating protein. I feel the same way about James, too. I prefer a much more natural look.

I think that every time James is on the screen. He looks actually swollen more so than ripped and muscular so it seems like something beyond weights and protein is involved. He would look so much better without the cartoon body. It bothers me a little less on Riley, maybe because James also seems to have a really bad spray tan on top of the cartoon body, but it still isn't my favorite look.

And you have to wonder what'll become of them when they hit a time in their lives when they can't spend a million hours in the gym. All that bulk has to go somewhere.

Quote

I think the "truth or dare" type of situation was unfair and inappropriate.  What if someone says, no, I"m not answering personal questions about sex in front of people I just met (Riley and Lance Bass, as well as the camera crew)  and, I'm also not eating gross stuff either?   How awful that other "dates"  are fun, and they got this awful catastrophe! 

That did really suck. They were good sports about it, but it would have gone sideways real fast if Riley had selected Taj instead. Maybe the production team thought that was the way he was leaning and decided that they needed more footage of Taj freaking out about things. 

Does anyone else think Taj has major Ashley I vibes? Something about the way she talks and the way she smiles reminds me so much of Ashley I. Also the way she's a very attractive girl who has zero idea how to interact with men.

Quote

Noooooooooooooooo.   Conor broke out the ukulele…and is Wells crying???

After seeing Maurissa with Riley, it's kind of inconceivable that she would ever be with Connor. Just night and day vibes. Hopefully he's more interested in getting his songs on the air than in finding someone because he seems like friend zone city.

Thomas didn't look as good here as he did on Katie's season. Looks like he got his first big boy haircut the day before hitting the beach and it makes his perma-smile look awkward.

I don't see any future potential for Serena and Joe but I'm glad she went back to him. They could have a nice, low-key vacation just trading roses back and forth and then go their separate ways amicably. I'm glad Serena was the first one to deal with Thomas, she seems self-confident enough to resist his manipulative ways.

[Just Carol]

Omg,@ljenkins782, yes.  Imagine Tahz on that date with the strange food.

 

[phlebas]

12 hours ago, Kiss my mutt said:

Grocery Store Joe needs to change his moniker to Mopey Joe. I didn’t notice it last season he was on but they’re really playing it up this time. 

Truly. If this is normal for him, there might be more to his split with Kendall than her not wanting to live in Chicago.

[seacliffsal]

I agree with others about Grocery/Mopey Joe.  I really liked him after his one and done stint on the Bachelorette.  However, his stint on DWTS really started to show his lack of personality (IMO) and his previous time on  BIP didn't fully expose his mopiness.  This time?  Not only is his personality unappealing at this point, he is kind of looking old (and I AM old so I know...).  It seems like he has really aged.  It's sad when people (and this could be anyone, not just him) don't know when it would actually be in their own best interest to quietly fade away while they reputation and image are still intact (and prior to this season I think there was still a lot of fondness for Grocery Joe).  I guess the lure of reality t.v./social media is just too great for some people to resist.  I will try to cling to my fondness for Joe's previous stints but he is making it hard.

[LuvMyShows]

21 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

I'm glad Serena was the first one to deal with Thomas, she seems self-confident enough to resist his manipulative ways.

Did anyone else notice after he helped her up off of the sand, that when they went to go into the water and he put his arm around her, she pointedly did not have her arm around him?  It looked pretty awkward.

21 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

After seeing Maurissa with Riley, it's kind of inconceivable that she would ever be with Connor. Just night and day vibes. 

Yeah, that's what I kept thinking about on her date with Riley...made me wonder what her time with Connor has been like, since they didn't show us any real couple time with them.

21 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Does anyone else think Taj has major Ashley I vibes? Something about the way she talks and the way she smiles reminds me so much of Ashley I. Also the way she's a very attractive girl who has zero idea how to interact with men.

Excellent observation!!

[DEL901]

14 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

Did anyone else notice after he helped her up off of the sand, that when they went to go into the water and he put his arm around her, she pointedly did not have her arm around him?  It looked pretty awkward.

I noticed that as well. It was hilarious. 

[MsTree]

15 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I guess the lure of reality t.v./social media is just too great for some people to resist.  I will try to cling to my fondness for Joe's previous stints but he is making it hard.

Maybe so, but I tend to think that he really believes he can find love in Paradise. Because as many have said, he's lacking in the personality dept, so finding a wife on his own hasn't worked in the past, and isn't going to work in the future.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm so sad David Spade won't be on longer.  I thought I had my late summer watching all set up.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Jax7917]

Thomas has not one wrinkle on that forehead . I think he’d look better if he lightened up on the Botox . 
In Contrast with Thomas, ex grocery store Joe looks like a pug and his face looks so squishy . I used to find him to be really cute but I don’t think he is anymore . He needs a haircut and a good shaving . 

Serena is a cute girl but I don’t think her and Joe’s personalities mesh . She seems like fun and like a girl in her early 20s, but I see Joe ending up with someone more mature and less bubbly . 

Demi looked much better with the extensions . 
 

I agree with whoever said the announcer for this show sounds like he’d be on an infomercial . Calm . Down . 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Jax7917

[Stats Queen]

2 hours ago, Jax7917 said:

Demi looked much better with the extensions . 

Demi would look much better if she was never one my TV screen again.

[luvbadtv]

We call Joe Eeyore in my house.

[halkatla]

Riley is extremely unattractive imo. When I saw him and heard how everyone was saying he was so hot, I got cognitive dissonance. I would personally like to use a much bigger word than just unattractive to describe him but I don´t want to be too rude. Just on the scale of 1-10 in looks he´s a 2. And I did not like his personality either, it has nothing to do with him sleeping with Maurissa, he just sounded fake and stupid tbh. I think Tre looks so much better and I like his personality, it´s a weird universe where the majority seems to disagree with me on that so completely.

ETA: I´ve also been having a problem seeing Brendan´s supposed hotness... something about it is not coming across on television, that is for sure. I guess you have to see him in real life to believe it. But compared to Riley Brendon is super cute and handsome.

Edited August 29, 2021 by halkatla

[Crashcourse]

While I don't think Riley is butt ugly, I don't find him attractive either.  And with Brendan, he's too scruffy-looking and it's just his eyes that are attractive, that's all.  

[chocolatine]

Speaking of attractiveness, I think one good-looking man who's being overlooked is Ivan. He was already cute on Tayshia's season, and now he looks more chiseled and classically handsome, but not like he spends six hours a day in the gym. And he's not being a player, he seems to have had some good conversations with Jessenia and they're spending time together without rushing things. Of course that's not dramatic enough for TPTB, so he barely gets any screen time.

[Kiss my mutt]

I’ve always thought Ivan was a catch. He was my favorite on tayshia’s season. I hope he finds a great girl, preferably one not associated with BN. I can’t see him with anyone from BIP this season so far. 

[Stats Queen]

3 hours ago, halkatla said:

Riley is extremely unattractive imo. When I saw him and heard how everyone was saying he was so hot, I got cognitive dissonance. I would personally like to use a much bigger word than just unattractive to describe him but I don´t want to be too rude. Just on the scale of 1-10 in looks he´s a 2. And I did not like his personality either, it has nothing to do with him sleeping with Maurissa, he just sounded fake and stupid tbh. I think Tre looks so much better and I like his personality, it´s a weird universe where the majority seems to disagree with me on that so completely.

ETA: I´ve also been having a problem seeing Brendan´s supposed hotness... something about it is not coming across on television, that is for sure. I guess you have to see him in real life to believe it. But compared to Riley Brendon is super cute and handsome.

I’m with you on both Riley and Brendan.

[nlkm9]

On 8/27/2021 at 11:59 PM, Stats Queen said:

Demi would look much better if she was never one my TV screen again.

Demi looks like she is already using filler and is on her way to being a freak show along with being truly obnoxious and disrespectful. No shock when she broke up with the female fiancé ( forgot her name) and how she used Derek  until she got there . Just hate her :(

Edited August 31, 2021 by nlkm9
Error

[SassyCat]

I can’t stand the Demi. She’s got one of those horrible fake, forced laughs. She’s  just a big fake in all ways.

[Kiss my mutt]

6 minutes ago, SassyCat said:

I can’t stand the Demi. She’s got one of those horrible fake, forced laughs. She’s  just a big fake in all ways.

She does! She sounds a female version of Beavis and Butthead with the heh heh heh laugh. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Again, why isn't Demi making loads of money doing porn ???

[Madding crowd]

I still find Joe to be handsome and think he has a killer smile. I think he is kind of introverted, doesn’t know many of the other guys and the editing probably plays up when he is by himself. I wouldn’t say he has no personality. He’s not into the fake stuff some of the guys do. We all have our own ideas of attractiveness though!

Demi continues to be very annoying. Hard to believe she is 26, she seems in her 30’s.