-Lets talk about Blake this page and how this timeline of his arrival actually happened. As we know, if the “Bachelorette” were airing episodes without cliffhangers, an episode would consist of:
-Group Date
-1-on-1
-Group Date
-Rose ceremony
That’s the standard that’s been set by the show. And as you move deeper into the season, it’s two 1-on-1’s, a group date, and rose ceremony. So since the second rose ceremony – the one where Kyle, Garrett, John, and Karl were eliminated – there were 3 dates. However, those 3 dates were spread out over two episodes. Last week we saw the first two dates, which were the intervention group date that Nick hosted, and Michael’s 1-on-1. The “last” date was the Truth or Dare group date last night. Got it? Simple. 3 dates since last rose ceremony: Intervention w/ Nick, Michael 1-on-1, Truth or Dare Group date.
-I say this because we now know that the scene of Katie talking with Tayshia and then meeting Blake happened BEFORE any of her “Week 3” dates happened. We know this for two reasons:
1) Nick said on his podcast last week that when he spoke to Katie before the guys showed up for the intervention group date, Katie had mentioned she met Blake on set and talked to him already (the convo we saw last night).
2) Katie was wearing the same white top and jeans that she was wearing when she met Blake that she did on the intervention group date.
Why was it shown out of order? Probably because last week’s episode was so heavy on vulnerability and opening up – from Katie’s reveal of being sexually assaulted, to Michael sharing the story of his deceased wife – my guess is they just figured “We’ll show the Blake stuff next week and the audience won’t know or care that it happened before any of these dates took place.
-So essentially while the show made you think that Katie didn’t meet Blake on set until after the intervention and Michael’s 1-on-1 happened, that’s not the case. She already knew Blake was there and had spoken to him before any of this “week’s” dates had happened. Now the question becomes, how much do you believe of their story in regards to any pre-show relationship. She admitted last night (and in pre season interviews) that Blake had slid into her DM’s when he saw her on Matt’s season. And even last night, Katie admitted that in that moment speaking with Tayshia, Blake was 1 of 2 guys she thought Tayshia might be talking about.
My guess was him or Dr. Joe #TheBachelorette https://t.co/7bVEynARHU
— Katie Thurston (@katiethurston) June 29, 2021
Now, do I think they ever met pre-show? No. Only because travel restrictions from Canada were so tight during that time, I highly doubt they risked it. But to know exactly the extent of their DM’s is anybody’s guess. Could’ve been a couple. Could’ve been numerous ones. Could’ve advanced to FaceTiming. They could’ve been texting all the way up to her leaving. We just don’t know and I don’t think we ever will. Personally I don’t really care if it was serious pre-show or just flirty banter. Blake liked her, made it known to production, they brought him on, and now they’re engaged.
-Some people will have an issue with the fact that Blake was brought on later and ended up winning for sure. Especially knowing now they had some type of pre-show friendship/flirty relationship. Because then the argument turns into, “Well why not just not be the Bachelorette and have her meet him outside the show. Or why couldn’t they have just met on Bachelor in Paradise.” Well, they couldn’t meet on “Bachelor in Paradise” because she’s the “Bachelorette.” And maybe it wasn’t until after she was announced as “Bachelorette,” that production didn’t find out about the Blake interest. There’s too many unknowns and too many things that, to me, are totally irrelevant in the long run. Who cares really? They talked pre-show, they didn’t talk, they met, they didn’t meet, etc. If the end result is an engagement, however they got to that point, I don’t see why people are complaining? It makes no difference to me. This relationship, and all the end of season relationships, don’t start until the cameras are off anyway. A majority of this shows audience watches in hopes of seeing a love story and an engagement at the end. And they’ll see it this season. If you’re gonna push back on the semantics of how they got there, just seems like a waste of breath. They’re either gonna make it or they aren’t. And whether they do or don’t I don’t think has anything to do with them talking/flirting before the show started.
-Will the guys be bothered when he comes in? I’m sure. Will they feel threatened once they see a connection with Blake and Katie? Probably. But the only people who’d feel pissed, upset, bothered, threatened in reality are the guys that don’t have much of a connection with her. If Katie was into someone more than she was into Blake, she would’ve picked them. She didn’t. So it’s not like you can complain after the fact. She wasn’t into you. Move on. You knew that was probably the chance you took coming on the show in the first place. Any faux outrage seems kinda pointless when they all know they basically are just there to build a brand, get on another show, and explore options from other seasons within the Bachelor franchise. So ultimately, while I doubt many of these guys are truly upset, watching them pretend to be the rest of the season is probably gonna get old for me because I know deep down they don’t really care.
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