-Which brings us to Vanessa’s overnight date, that couldn’t have been more lets-pull-the-ol-switheroo on the audience if they tried. The average person who watches this show and doesn’t read spoilers or the internet, would look at this date and go, “Geez, it’s their first time alone together and everything they talk about they seem to be butting heads on. How are these two ever going to make it. They can’t even agree on compromising.” Now granted, these two won’t make it in the long run, but for the short term, the audience is supposed to believe these couples have a chance. Nothing about Nick and Vanessa’s date led anyone to believe they won’t have major struggles ahead. Everything they talked about was legit (although Nick did say in an interview he had those types of conversations with Raven and Rachel as well, they just weren’t shown), and they did bring up some interesting points.
-First off, after a horribly planned date where some producer thought it’d be a good idea to have these two in bathing suits in the freezing cold running from essentially an ice bath and into a sauna, they finally settle in to a hot tub to discuss themselves. Nick tells Vanessa her family is so traditional, whereas his is not. She asks what he means, and he tells her their Sunday family tradition of spending 3 hours together. He tells her their family tradition is passed down whereas his family creates their own. Then Vanessa essentially contradicts herself within a span of 10 seconds. She says that relationships are built on compromise. A solid, sound statement I don’t think anyone would disagree with. But almost in the same breath, she follows that up with, “…but I will not compromise on my family time.” Ummmm, huh? Well I hate to tell ya’ this Vanessa, but unless you decide to end that family time every Sunday and move to LA, Nick is not gonna be a part of that. We don’t know what Vanessa is gonna choose to do in terms of her living situation post-show, so I guess it’s all guessing at this point, but she’s sure giving the impression she never wants to leave. Whether that’s to throw the viewers off or what, we don’t know. But she seems pretty stubborn when it comes to that. With DWTS starting for Nick, if she’s NOT there in attendance, then the speculation will begin they’re already done. So she’s really in a no-win situation at this point. She HAS to be there, at least on some weeks. If she moves to LA, then she loses out on being with her family.
-After ending that hot tub conversation with, “I don’t know if Nick is willing to make big compromises for me (he’s not),” it turns even more heavy when they get to the night portion of their date. Immediately Vanessa starts in again with “I felt he was questioning whether or not he wants to be as close to my family as I am.” Ummmm, yeah. Pretty much. How can he be close to them when he’s entrenched in Los Angeles and Hollywood and DWTS, and you’re off in Canada which he never plans to move to? So she tries to dig more to see where he stands and, wow, she sure got an answer.
Vanessa: “Anything you would feel uncomfortable compromising on? Is moving for you something you see yourself doing?”
Nick: “I’ve moved a lot. I never imagined living in Canada. To be honest, it’s not easy for me to picture. Hope that’s not a non-negotiable but I’d do anything for the woman I love.”
I guess if you’re a Nick and Vanessa fan, you only listened to the last 8 words of that sentence and focused on him doing anything for the woman he loves. I tend to put more stock into what he LED his answer with, which was zero interest whatsoever in moving to Canada. You know, Nick the guy who always speaks his mind, is open, is honest to a fault, and all that that Nick fans love about him. Well if you love how open and honest Nick is, you can’t dismiss things he was open and honest about because it doesn’t fit your Nick/Vanessa long term narrative. He just said out loud to her face he never imagined himself living in Canada and that it wasn’t easy for him to picture. Ok. I think I see Nick’s point clear as day. Others might struggle with that.
-Can we put an end to one thing that is driving me batty when we get to around this episode every season please? I don’t know how many seasons in a row we’ve heard or seen this, but it seems like every single one. Someone remaining when it gets to four or less, will almost inevitably say (and I’m paraphrasing here): “Marriage is very important to me. I only want to be married once.” Really? Stop. Just stop. It’s such an obvious statement, I don’t know why people feel the need to utter this to drive a point home. I highly doubt anyone in a serious relationship is actually thinking, “I’d like to be engaged to this person someday, get married, and get divorced. Ultimately, I’m looking for my marriage to fail.” You don’t need to tell us that you only want to be married once. Any rational human being understands that. Vanessa was the culprit last night saying, “being engaged is like being married…and I only want to be married once.” Thank you Vanessa for clarifying. Here I thought you came across as someone who wanted five marriages in your lifetime. So ridiculous. Everybody who’s ever uttered that line needs to take a frying pan to their face.
-The rose ceremony came around and it was basically a forgone conclusion at this point. Yes, we already knew weeks ago Rachel was the next “Bachelorette.” I guess there could’ve been some people in America who thought Raven was eliminated last night, but those people might’ve been missing parts of their frontal lobe. I get that they spoiled their own “Bachelorette” early, but having a Rachel/Vanessa final means they would’ve spoiled both shows as of last night. That’d never happen. They’d never do that. I’ll do that for you, as you knew who the final 2 were four days after the show wrapped filming. But the show would never have announced Rachel as the “Bachelorette” early if she was final 2. The only thing interesting about this rose ceremony was after Rachel was eliminated, she gave a long, two handed, squeeze-the-life-out-of-me hug to Raven and turned and gave the most pathetic, side arm hug to Vanessa, proving once again these two didn’t get along. Not to mention, as those who pointed out to me on Twitter and email this morning, that Raven tweeted out last night Rachel handed her a note. No idea what that note said, but judging by Raven’s reaction to Rachel in that tweet, I’m sure it was filled with superlatives as these two seem super close. Vanessa and Rachel? Yeah, you could almost imagine if either of them had a knife on them during that side hug, they would’ve tried to shank each other.
