Here’s a guide to watching “The Bachelor,” or really any kind of reality TV: if someone says they are “real” and “authentic,” they certainly aren’t.
In week 2, we got to know more ladies from the cast of 24 who are absolutely worth rooting for, like Sarah, Bri and Lauren. We have also met one who is not.
Victoria practically begged viewers to make her the bad guy. There was no fight or drama leading to this. She just woke up and decided to make participants and viewers of “The Bachelor” hate her, often through asinine sound bites.
“I’m not jealous, I just want to,” she said of her desire to date Matt. She called the jesters “gestures” and said she and her enemy are like “oil and vinegar.” And she didn’t mean salad dressing.
This is what different went down during week 2.
The first one-on-one
Bri was the lucky girl. At the first cocktail party, the two were connected because they were biracial and raised by single mothers. He gave her the first flower at the ceremony, which many of the ladies raised while complaining that they were not chosen.
Matt and Bri had a romantic time riding ATVs through the Pennsylvania woods. They fell in the mud, of course.
In keeping with this seasonal theme of extreme horniness, Matt took off his dirty shirt and started chopping wood (no euphemism) before taking a bubble bath with Bri.
Over dinner, Bri told Matt about how her mother had her when she was 13. Now that Bri is an adult, her mother is pregnant and starts a new family, which she struggles with.
Both Matt and Bri have wanted their fathers to show up all their lives. The parallels were uncanny. Matt gave her a rose for her honesty.
The group date
18 (18 !!) girls borrowed a date from last season of “The Bachelorette” and put on wedding dresses and veils for a photoshoot with their husbands. (Hello again, photographer Franco Lacosta.) But before they could all end, Chris Harrison came waltzing in to turn the date into a “Hunger Games” wedding-themed death match, with the winning team getting time with Matt . I’m surprised Jason Derulo didn’t show up to sing “Savage Love”.
The ladies ran through the woods while throwing paint on each other. The red team (plus Mari, the golden team’s MVP) got to clean up for an after-party.
Like Matt, Lauren is also a Christian, which really interested him. He and Jessenia shared a kiss. Victoria told him there are ‘many sides’ to her, without actually revealing any of the sides. The rose went to Lauren.
The second one-on-one
This one went to Sarah (a 24-year-old journalist – or maybe an Alexis Rose from “Schitt’s Creek” impersonator, as many online have noted). The would-be lovers flew above the resort in a small double-decker bus before settling down for an informal, vulnerable conversation. They both love their families, great! But Matt knew she was holding back.
During dinner she revealed that her father has ALS. Sarah quit her job so she could become his full-time caregiver. “He wanted me to go out and find love, and I felt this calling to be here,” she said of her decision to join the show. He gave her a rose. “Today’s date has surpassed anything I could have imagined,” Matt said, saying how much he loves Sarah’s compassion and selflessness.
During the show, he shared this on Twitter. Could he actually be a really good guy?
The cocktail party
Not everyone was allowed on a date this week, so time was of the essence for the girls who needed to get a rose from Matt.
Abigail, getting the first impression, got up and made Matt laugh. Kit and Magi too. After Marylynn found out she wasn’t invited to a date this week, Matt gave her an orchid, her favorite flower.
(I’m sorry about what we’re getting into, it’s completely bogus and doesn’t have any lasting effects, but the show took 25 minutes on it so we have to talk about it.)
Victoria, who was Marylynn’s roommate but decided to sleep on the couch because Marylynn “cries a lot,” got jealous and decided to contradict Matt and call her “toxic” for no reason. Convinced that Victoria is the victim, Matt decided to take Marylynn aside to talk. She defended herself calmly and understood that the situation was a “she-said-she-said”.
When Marylynn confronted Victoria politely, Victoria got back a masterclass in manipulation and gaslighting. She wouldn’t even sit next to Marylynn on the couch during the drama.
The Rose Ceremony
Matt gave roses to Pieper, Kit, Magi, Rachael, Abigail, Chelsea, Jessenia, Katie and Serena C. Halfway through the ceremony, Sarah began to feel dizzy and began to see stars. Another woman had to help her from the stage to another room. Matt left to comfort her. She screamed she couldn’t see it, and then the episode was cut off.
Prediciton
Looks like a certain someone makes it to the next week. It also seems that Sarah is feeling better. I hope Chelsea gets some airtime because I follow her on TikTok and she looks cool as hell.