-Lets first begin on how differently everything was done last night. Definitely was a different twist to have Rachel essentially narrating the show in the commercial breaks. I thought it was ok. But it surely cut into the actual footage we saw of what happened those last two days. Rachel was getting 5-10 minute segments, and obviously the more they kept showing her and Chris talking, the less we were getting of what happened in Spain. They knew they didn’t have two guys showing up to the final rose ceremony, which meant less footage anyway. Not to mention we didn’t have the meet the parents in the final episode like we usually do, so that cut into stuff we normally see as well. So I see why they did it, and it added a different touch to change things up. Good or bad is up for you to decide, but I didn’t have a problem with it. Are they going to continue it in future seasons? We don’t know yet. Every season will dictate what they do and it’s impossible to say today if that’s their plan moving forward.
-So for those that were following on Twitter last night and may have been confused as to what I tweeted at the beginning of the show, let me explain when I have more characters to use. Every season, the “Bachelor/ette” finale airs live at 8:00pm EST/7:00 CST. Those two time zones watch it live. MTN and PST watch it on delay. Jimmy Kimmel starts taping his show at 5:00pm PST, which is obviously when the show goes live. In the past, they’ve had the final couple on his show taping their segment in front of the audience while it’s airing, usually in the first couple segments, then that couple just drives over to the finale lot to make their appearance on the ATFR, which doesn’t begin til 10pm EST (7:00 PST). And those last couple years, I’d been given notice of, “Hey, even though I’m sure you know the spoiler is right (Nick/Vanessa, Jordan/JoJo, etc) were just on Kimmel, so it’s been confirmed.” And that’s sent to me while the finale airing so it’s “officially” spoiled publicly before the finale is aired.
-Well last night, since Rachel was live on the finale beginning right at 7:00pm CST, which was 5:00 PST when Kimmel began taping, obviously she couldn’t be in two places at once. So I tweeted out that her segment with Kimmel was taped in advance, it’ll open the show, and she’s with Bryan. If you saw the opening to Kimmel’s show last night, you realized that they weren’t in front of an audience, even though Kimmel made it seem like they were with crowd shots. Go back and look at those crowd shots. It was stock footage of random people in an audience, not the Kimmel audience. So as long as the final couple still appears on Kimmel the night of the finale, and Kimmel continues to tape his show at 5:00pm PST, even if it took me all season to get the final spoiler, inevitably, I’d still know it before the end of the finale because Kimmel spoils it, and I somehow find out every year about that taping. With that said, I can’t imagine scenario where I don’t know the winner by the time the finale day rolls around.
-There really isn’t much to talk about with Eric. Anyone with half a brain, regardless of the spoilers, knew she wasn’t picking him. But Eric certainly endeared himself to the viewers for how he handled the break up when it happened in Spain, and then again last night on stage. Couldn’t have been more gracious, understanding, and definitely had the audience in the palm of his hand. Of course, that’ll make everyone ask if he’s gonna be the next Bachelor, and nobody knows at this point. I’m sure he’s been talked to about it. They talk to a lot of people. But from what I know, and what I’m hearing, no, Eric will not be the Bachelor. Been wrong before, and obviously this is basically the only spoiler that ABC can technically keep because it’s not “filmed” in advance, but no, I don’t see it with Eric. However, he’s on the top of my list of guys from Rachel’s season that I’d love to talk to one day. Stand up guy, had a great story this season, and would really like to know more about him.
-So in talking about the spoiler in general, this season really was no different than past ones. Granted, there was a 3 week time span there where you guys thought Peter had won because of what I had posted, so maybe that skewed your thinking a bit towards him. I’m sure it did for some of you as you had your hopes up for him. But ever since June 6th when I told you it was Bryan, and basically every column since June 6th I’ve beaten over the head with you that the spoiler was wrong, my source who told me it was Peter corrected themselves and told me it was Bryan, and I’ve reiterated it essentially for the last 60 days, I think some were still holding out hope the original spoiler was right. There was nothing I could say that was gonna make you change your mind, so I basically just kept repeating myself that it was Bryan and you’ll see on August 7th. There was never a doubt in my mind from June 6th on based on the information I was given, but obviously I can’t share that with you. Most of you listen, but still a few who don’t. And I really think the few are just people who A) are so hung up on Peter they didn’t care about reality or B) people who just want to see me be wrong. Because obviously a person who didn’t have the information that I did couldn’t possibly say with certainty she was with Peter. They were just either hoping she was or hoping I was wrong. That’s why people like that don’t hold much weight. It’s just tough sometimes because yes, I do wish I could share with you what I know. I think it would ease a lot of your minds. But outside of the Nick plane video, I’ve never been able to regarding the finale. Sh**, even then some people didn’t believe me and thought it was a plant by producers to throw me off.
-I know a lot of you have a short memory when it comes to this franchise, but we need to dismiss this notion going forward of, “Well, they can’t be engaged to that person because it’s too obvious.” Ummmm, yes we can because it’s happened quite a bit recently. Andi was attracted to Josh from night one, he said he was there for her, they lived in the same city – they ended up engaged. Shawn got Kaitlyn’s first impression rose, she mentioned (or he did) “love at first sight” on the first episode – they ended up engaged. Jordan got JoJo’s first impression rose, she was clearly into him the whole show – they end up engaged. So lets stop pretending like the final one always has to be like a Catherine or a Chris where it’s more hidden throughout the season. Sometimes this show is blatantly obvious of who the lead wants from the get go. Bryan got the first impression rose, he’s the only guy she made out with on night one (twice), they were all over each other on every single date – and they got engaged. Some people like to overthink this show too much. No need to. And those are just “Bachelorette” seasons I’ve referenced recently. There have “Bachelor” ones where it was obvious too. So lets not get too carried away in dissecting things that aren’t there.
jordan5827
August 9, 2017 at 7:56 AM
I feel like the tension between Peter and Rachel was normal given the situation they were in. They are technically exes and it seemed like they didn’t get much closure when things ended. I just didn’t read too much into the saltiness like everyone else has. It also seemed very obvious that after filming ended, Rachel figured out that she might possibly have been played by Peter and that he only wanted the Bachelor gig. That’s also probably why she seemed a little bit bitter towards Peter. She doesn’t seem like she is very good at faking emotions. She is very easy to read. Not sure if Bryan is the guy for her, but I think she still would have picked him even if Peter had proposed. They had chemistry from the first night and Bryan was very consistent from the beginning and a lot more of a “take charge” personality, which seemed to be what Rachel was looking for. I love Eric! I think he is so genuine and positive. Just seems like a wonderful guy. Would love to see him as the Bachelor. Peter is easy on the eyes, but very boring. I don’t think a Ben 2.0 would happen. Just listened to him on a podcast this morning where he was asked if he would ever be the Bachelor again if they asked him to, and he said that he wouldn’t.
keddo
August 9, 2017 at 8:39 AM
Didn’t anyone else notice how Harrison asked questions that had already been answered, seemingly with the sole purpose of dragging out the angst? It just seemed slimy to me. Or maybe it was because he had his list of questions but didn’t have the flexibility to alter the next question to draw out something different and more insightful. I know, it’s trash TV, not a serious news program.
The seeming contradiction of having Peter, who didn’t want to propose marriage after only a few weeks and 2 or 3 dates with Rachael, being the next bachelor, is not really an issue. Several previous bachelors have ended the show with a non-proposal, an “I choose you to see how it works between us in real life” conclusion. Who knows, he might have an instant connection with someone and find himself being surprised at being head-over-heels in love and ready to propose.
I would watch a season with Peter as the Bachelor; he seems to have integrity and his personality isn’t all out on display. I didn’t watch Nick’s season and won’t be watching BIP due to the sliminess.
After watching Jessie Graff on American Ninja Warrior, I want to see her as the next bachelorette.
sjcaligurl
August 9, 2017 at 1:29 PM
I initially liked Peter and thought they were cute together until he started getting wishy washy and that was around the home town dates. He expressed concerns to his friends but turned around and told her family that he couldn’t imagine not having her in his life. She was shocked because he’d never given her a hint of that before.
There have been guys who’ve left early because their feelings weren’t getting there the way they should given the time limits but he kept dropping little nuggets when she seemed to be willing to let him go. I was questioning Bryan’s realness at first but now I’m starting to think Peter was the one who might not have been real. It was her show but he wanted to control the game. Some seemed pissed with her for saying “I’m not living a mediocre life. I’m living my best life” but he’s the one who threw that in her face when he saw that she wasn’t going to keep him if he wasn’t ready to propose to her. Then that whole thing where he got nasty with Bryan and told him that he didn’t want to be sitting there with him. He’s got a “side” to him that’s not as sweet as people want to believe. He was jealous of Bryan yet didn’t want to offer her more than maybe status.
Some guys were envied Bryan because he was older, more confident and knew what he wanted with Rachel and she ate it up. He got the FIR, a group date rose, an expensive watch and, ultimately, the final rose. It shouldn’t have been a shock despite all the emotional drama with Peter. Her issue with Bryan was that things were happening so fast and seemed so right that she couldn’t believe it was true. Peter made that worse with his insecurities (or plot to get eliminated so he’d be up for Bachelor). I think she made the right choice. She kept saying she wanted a guy who knew what he wanted and wanted it with her. Peter couldn’t offer her that (even if he claimed to want to give it to her)
She was used to indecisive guys like Peter or guys who needed a bit of healing like Eric and Dean. Eric thanked her. Perhaps Peter could have thanked her for showing him that sometimes he needs to seize the moment. His own friends told him: “Don’t F it up!”
Now that it’s out that it’s been his dream since high school to be the bachelor, it appears he was the insincere one – not Bryan. Maybe he got further than he thought but he also got close enough to be in the running for Bachelor. I wonder how much the producers had to do with it.
elizabeth82
August 9, 2017 at 7:08 PM
I didn’t even like Bryan particularly (too suave and aggressive kisser), but as the season went on and especially in contrast to Peter, he got better. He never played with Rachel’s emotions, got into mind games, or resented other guys–all of which Peter did. One thing I really liked in this crazy finale was how he called out Rachel right away about not being present during their final date. Realness goes a long way with me, and that shows that he’s got some realness to him and that he wants to work through issues by bringing them out in the open, which is what I believe healthy relationships require.