Kaitlyn's decision to have sex with Nick is big news, at least among people who are interested in Reality TV, and not everyone approves. Kaitlyn herself is clearly feeling defensive, and like many Bachelors and Bachelorettes before her, she may be dismayed at the way ABC is choosing to present (and promote) her activities. From her blog at People.com:
Should I have had sex with Nick in that
moment? Probably not my best idea, but intimacy is important to me and I don't
believe the act is wrong. I got lost in the moment and maybe I shouldn't have
made that choice. Hindsight is 20/20. I can't help but wonder if I waited a
couple weeks and did that in the fantasy suite and didn't talk about it, would
I be getting this kind of backlash?
...It's hard reliving my
choices now because people are VERY opinionated and this has been all I have
talked about for over a month now. But I'm also honest and that comes with
owning my decisions. The reason I didn't want Nick to go tell the guys was
because that was a private moment that I felt I should share if I wanted to. (Read the article here.)
Sharleen Joynt, who was on Juan Pablo's season, provides some background about what happens on the show:
So, as a former contestant, I implore you, the viewer, to
think outside the box. How much producer involvement was there? How many
marionette strings were pulled? ...How many whiskeys would need
to be all-too-conveniently placed in your hand before you made a decision you
might not have made sober? (And, side note: since you know you removed your
mics once behind closed doors, did they use booms or hidden microphones to
record you? (Read the article here.)
It wouldn't surprise me if this story is on People's cover this week, probably as a sidebar. I'm guessing the Charleston murders will be the main story and if so, I'm really, really hoping People chooses to feature the victims and not the killer.
I missed a significant part of the show last night because, once again, Chicagoland was experiencing severe weather and local news kept breaking in with information about tornadoes. I had moments of thinking I'm a horrible person because I was seriously annoyed by the interruptions. On the other hand, between following along on Twitter in real time and reading some of the recaps I had a pretty good sense of what happened on the show. I also watched the second half of the show on my cable TV service this morning. Thoughts:
Ian's breakdown. Here, as transcribed in all its glory by Lauren Piester at E Online, is Ian's exit speech:
"I really think the right decision was made. Kaitlyn's
shallow. I just don't think she's nearly as complex as I am. I'm too deep a
thinker, I'm too self-aware. I'm very different than every single other person
that's here. I went to Princeton, Deerfield, and that's what I have to offer.
I'm an interesting guy, a guy that's had a lot of different experiences. I'm
not lame, like the others guys. I'm way glad to be out of there."
"God, I've missed that. I've just missed having conversations
with people about life rather than about sex. I'm tired of talking about farts
and people's bowel movements. I'm being punished for being an intellectual.
They didn't teach cheesy movie quotes at Princeton! I have to have original
thoughts. I don't find that women have trouble relating to me because I'm too
deep.
"Seeing how badly Kaitlyn has been
at the Bachelorette, I feel like I know what it takes to be the Bachelor. I
understand that she's trying to divide up her time, but for that reason you
have to be deep. I feel like I'm destined to be the bachelor and destined to
find love on this show. If I was made Bachelor, I think they would come out of
the woodworks, man. I think they'd be like, oh s—t, I wanna go out with that
guy. He's so deep. Oh man, I need to have some sex."
You can read the entire recap here.
The Rose Ceremony. Ian's already gone, Joshua of the alien haircut, which was predictable, and Justin are the roseless ones this week. That leaves the Bens, Cupcake Chris, Jared of the very strange facial hair, JJ-who-probably-should-have-left-with-Clint, Joe from Kentucky, Shawn-who-got-the-First-Impression-Rose, Tanner (who?) and of course, Nick. Chris Harrison returns to tell them that, finally, they're leaving the country and heading for Dublin, Ireland. Poor Joshua had to listen to the cheering as he gave his final interview. Come on producers, that's just mean.
Nick. Oh Nick. He got the first one-on-one date, which as everyone knows, ended behind closed doors in Kaitlyn's suite and was strange, even by the standards of this very strange show. Prior to actually watching the episode, I had wondered if K and N really, really went all the way in her room. It seemed possible that this was just more of ABC's creative editing, but no, they really did it, apparently with microphones still on and a cameraman filming just outside the door the whole time. Really? Scenes of that closed door, complete with moaning sounds from Kaitlyn, were intercut with Shawn and Jared's conversation about the process and how much they don't like Nick. The whole thing seemed manipulated and not one bit romantic. As K and N were having their sexy time together, did they just forget their mics were on? That there was a cameraman just outside the door? (Although it's possible the closed door shot was filmed separately and one recap I read suggested that the moans weren't really from Kaitlyn either.)
Nick was shown doing the walk of shame in the hallway outside Kaitlyn's room, complete with his tie on, and Kaitlyn was shown having some morning after regrets. Not about the "act" but about how it will affect dynamics of the group. Obviously if everyone had just kept private things private the show could have continued along the usual path, but ABC has heavily teased the fact that Kaitlyn "confesses" to the rest of the guys, although that didn't happen last night.
Anyway, the whole thing was strange, possibly fueled by too much Irish Whiskey, but it created lots of drama and that's pretty much the point.
The group date. The producers really do appear to be running out of fun ideas for group dates. The one this week consisted of six men delivering "eulogies" as Kaitlyn was laid out in a coffin with a flask of whiskey in her hands. It wasn't as morbid as it sounds, again possibly fueled by whiskey, but it was still a headscratcher. Shawn is still fretting about Nick and said the following in his "eulogy": "Kaitlyn, I was absolutely devastated when I heard you took your own life, but I understand. I would've done the same thing if I had to spend the entire day with Nick yesterday." Kaitlyn burst out laughing and everyone thought it was cute, but we the audience have information the guys don't have, namely that less than 24 hours prior, Kaitlyn and Nick were getting naked together. Yikes. Jared gets the rose and they enjoy a concert by the Raspberries and some slow dancing. The clock is ticking on the episode and not only was there no rose ceremony at the end of the show but we didn't even get to the third date, which presumably will be the dreaded two-on-one/one-guy-is-definitely-going-home-date, featuring JJ and Joe.
Finally, Shawn. End-of-episode breakdowns really are the new normal and this week it's Shawn. Did Kaitlyn really sit on his bed for seven hours and tell him he's "the one"? Within the conventions of how this show operates that seems almost impossible but he appears to believe it. Based on the "Next week on The Bachelorette" tease, everyone, truly everyone, is in tears next week. Meet me back here, Rosebuds, same Bach time, same Bach channel, to see how all this weirdness turns out.
Nick. Oh Nick. He got the first one-on-one date, which as everyone knows, ended behind closed doors in Kaitlyn's suite and was strange, even by the standards of this very strange show. Prior to actually watching the episode, I had wondered if K and N really, really went all the way in her room. It seemed possible that this was just more of ABC's creative editing, but no, they really did it, apparently with microphones still on and a cameraman filming just outside the door the whole time. Really? Scenes of that closed door, complete with moaning sounds from Kaitlyn, were intercut with Shawn and Jared's conversation about the process and how much they don't like Nick. The whole thing seemed manipulated and not one bit romantic. As K and N were having their sexy time together, did they just forget their mics were on? That there was a cameraman just outside the door? (Although it's possible the closed door shot was filmed separately and one recap I read suggested that the moans weren't really from Kaitlyn either.)
Nick was shown doing the walk of shame in the hallway outside Kaitlyn's room, complete with his tie on, and Kaitlyn was shown having some morning after regrets. Not about the "act" but about how it will affect dynamics of the group. Obviously if everyone had just kept private things private the show could have continued along the usual path, but ABC has heavily teased the fact that Kaitlyn "confesses" to the rest of the guys, although that didn't happen last night.
Anyway, the whole thing was strange, possibly fueled by too much Irish Whiskey, but it created lots of drama and that's pretty much the point.
The group date. The producers really do appear to be running out of fun ideas for group dates. The one this week consisted of six men delivering "eulogies" as Kaitlyn was laid out in a coffin with a flask of whiskey in her hands. It wasn't as morbid as it sounds, again possibly fueled by whiskey, but it was still a headscratcher. Shawn is still fretting about Nick and said the following in his "eulogy": "Kaitlyn, I was absolutely devastated when I heard you took your own life, but I understand. I would've done the same thing if I had to spend the entire day with Nick yesterday." Kaitlyn burst out laughing and everyone thought it was cute, but we the audience have information the guys don't have, namely that less than 24 hours prior, Kaitlyn and Nick were getting naked together. Yikes. Jared gets the rose and they enjoy a concert by the Raspberries and some slow dancing. The clock is ticking on the episode and not only was there no rose ceremony at the end of the show but we didn't even get to the third date, which presumably will be the dreaded two-on-one/one-guy-is-definitely-going-home-date, featuring JJ and Joe.
Finally, Shawn. End-of-episode breakdowns really are the new normal and this week it's Shawn. Did Kaitlyn really sit on his bed for seven hours and tell him he's "the one"? Within the conventions of how this show operates that seems almost impossible but he appears to believe it. Based on the "Next week on The Bachelorette" tease, everyone, truly everyone, is in tears next week. Meet me back here, Rosebuds, same Bach time, same Bach channel, to see how all this weirdness turns out.
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