Yes, yes, we love The Bachelorette. We’re not complaining about it all the time, but the thing is, though we do understand the drama, that doesn’t mean we always have to like it.
The dates this season have been a lot to deal with, and the lie detector test was a little bit too much for us. There are things that we’re loving about this season, and things we aren’t.
Lets talk about it.
We’re almost to hometown dates. What are your thoughts on Tayshia’s season so far? What have been her strong points? What have been her weak points?
Erin: I love Tayshia, a lot more than Clare. Well, we all know that I think Clare was Satan. But I like Tayshia, because I feel like she is a person that is true to herself, knows what she wants and won’t give up on herself. I feel like a lot of the drama is fabricated and that’s okay. That’s what keeps me watching. Tayshia’s strong point is that she’s genuine. Her weak one is that she can’t see the bad shit that is happening or chooses to overlook it at every moment in her life.
Lizzie: I like Tayshia much more than Clare, which I guess isn’t saying much? No, I actually really do, honestly like her, not just in a “in comparison” way. She seems genuine, and I know about 68% of what’s happening is drama that is a little fabricated so we’re shocked at the ending – like anyone has ever been at any ending in The Bachelorette history – and that’s annoying, but I still think she’s done what the show expected of her, and she’s an easy woman to root for, so that’s a plus.
Jessica: For the most part I like Tayshia, and I like most of the guys she has. They are older and more mature than the last few seasons. I wish we could have had her for more time. I do think she’s looking for something real. Her weak points? Not seeing through Noah’s lies and keeping him around.
Jade: I think Tayshia is likable and I do find myself hoping she finds real happiness. I can see why the guys would be drawn to her. I also wish we could have had a little more time with her instead of feeling like we’re launching her into a situation where she has half the time to find “true love.” But the fact we’re STILL dealing with the Noah/Bennett drama when both are about as appealing as congealed milk is…girl, come on. And being “torn” about Bennett when he’s standing outside her door in the dark, waiting for her to come out like some kind of serial killer? I know she wanted a guy who would “show up” for her, but I thought she meant that in a deeper kind of way. I didn’t realize she literally just meant “show up at my door and I’ll think maybe it’s love.” Raise the bar, Tayshia!
The men have really opened up to Tayshia this season and are really following the rules of complete honesty. What do you feel about their vulnerability? Who is your front runner and why?
Erin: I have never understood anyone’s need to be on any part of this franchise. Putting themselves out there on television is one thing, because the world will judge, but another thing, because editing is a way that this show has to destroy you.
But that being said, I love Zac. I think that his vulnerability is one of the most important things about him and I am here for him. I do appreciate the other ones also, but hey… one thing at a time.
Lizzie: Zac needs to win this show. I’m not here for anyone other than Zac. Who are the other guys again? I don’t remember.
All kidding aside, I commend them, I really do. This is a weird ass situation to begin with, and to add this season’s wrinkles, and it seems amazing that we actually got a group that seems to truly want this to work out.
Jessica: It’s honestly refreshing to see these guys opening up to her. Right now I think the front runner is Zac, but Ivan and Ben are still in the running. These guys just seem to have a stronger connection with Tayshia, and she likes spending time with all of them.
Jade: On the one hand, I think it’s good that they’re opening themselves up to her. Certainly that’s necessary for any kind of relationship, so it’s something she needs from them for their relationship to move forward. However, in the setting of the show, The Bachelorette has made this season a sort of Trauma Olympics – setting up a need for each guy to try to prove how damaged he is to the entire world in order to get the audience to root for them. I’m glad that the show is shining a light on issues of addiction, eating disorders, and suicide, but I’m not really comfortable with the way the show is forcing those stories into their own kind of competition.
Okay – the Bennett and Noah drama is haunting us all. Are you surprised Noah got a rose? Why do you think that Tayshia feels for him? But also, what do you think of Bennett’s ambush? Do you think both of these two need to go?
Erin: I would give anything for these two to disappear. I hate them. Bennett, I was rooting for you because my ass can be shallow as fuck, and I am okay with my one moment of failure in pettiness. The thing is that these idiots need to go. Tayshia deserves better. We all deserve better.
Lizzie: Is production making her keep them to up the drama level? Because nothing else makes sense here. How could she want Noah around? Or Bennett for as long as she did, for that matter?
Jessica: I really just wanted both of them to go home. I think Tayshia just wanted a little more time to make sure Noah wasn’t the one. He’ll probably leave this week, and I’ll be seriously disappointed in Tayshia if she takes Bennett back. Why does she want to waste her time with these two when she has other great guys to focus on?
Jade: What does she feel for him? Or for Nightstalker Bennett? No, seriously. What? Tayshia, I need you to explain this to me. Honestly, the only thing I can think is that what Tayshia feels for Noah (or Bennett, frankly) is that some producer pulled her aside and told her she’s contractually obligated to keep the drama going for a few more weeks. Oh, I’m sorry, that might be perceived as “questioning her integrity” but honestly…it’s a TV show, and we all know the producers aren’t just sitting back and letting Tayshia call all the shots. That’s just not how TV works. So it comes down either to questioning Tayshia’s “integrity” or questioning her judgment and taste, and I really don’t know which one I’m rooting to be the source of the problem, here.
Riley pulling aside Tayshia and saying it’s their 1 week anniversary? Do we find this cute or do we find this creepy as fuck and we aren’t in 7th grade so go the fuck away? How do you feel about Riley?
Erin: I wanted to love you Riley, but like you’re creepy. It didn’t make me like you. It made me want to forget you exist.
Lizzie: I thought it was lame AF. One-week anniversary of …what? She’s dating a bunch of other guys too, dude. This is just …no. It didn’t endear him to me at all. Though it at least made me pay attention, so there’s that. I wouldn’t have been able to pick him from a lineup before he pulled that.
Jessica: I thought it was kind of cute. I like Riley, but I don’t think he’ll be one of the finalists.
Jade: Riley’s…there? I like him fine. Sure, that line was a little cringe, but when you’re competing against a dozen other guys, you gotta find a way out or they’ll toss you into the middle of the Trauma Olympics as a way to force the audience to care that you’re there. He tried, but they did it anyway!
How do you feel about the lie detector test date? Do you feel like this was fair or an invasion of privacy? What questions do you think should have been asked but weren’t?
Erin: I feel like this was too far. It would have been one thing if everyone wasn’t in there, but like everyone doesn’t have a right to what is happening in these men’s lives, past and present. Like The Bachelorette crossed a line and the need to back the fuck up.
Lizzie: There was a line, and they jumped over the line and then just stood about 100 yards away from it and waved goodbye to the line. What the actual fuck was this? On TV? With the possibility of them editing it any way they wanted? No way this should have been allowed. Nope.
Jessica: I don’t think the show should have had the other guys in the room watching when they had to answer the questions. Some of the questions were very personal and inappropriate. So I think the very least the show could do was give them privacy. But I’m not a huge fan of lie detector tests in general because they’re sometimes not accurate, and there’s always more to the story than “yes” or “no” (like Zac’s cheating and Riley’s name)
Jade: The Bachelorette became really cringe for me with this one because, sure, lie detector tests aren’t really accurate (seriously, speak to a lawyer before you ever agree to one in real life). But this also wasn’t a lie detector test. It was the contestants tethered with a Bungee cord to a Macbook Pro while the producers hit buttons backstage. And that more than anything highlighted the way they’re demanding performative displays of trauma. How many of those contestants said, “I don’t really want to share this on national television before I tell my own families” and were told, “Tough. You go out there and tell the world or we cut footage in a way that makes you look like a villain and boot you off the show right now! Now cry, damn you, cry!” I’m not entirely confident that the answer to that is “zero.”
