It really almost seems pointless to talk about anything that wasn’t the Greg date and subsequent argument, doesn’t it? Like, is anybody going into work today, or discussing with their friends, what happened on Justin’s hometown date late night? Or what she did with Blake? The answer would be no. I’m not gonna dismiss them completely, but I’m not gonna spend a hell of a lot of time on them either. It just wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things last night and it’s not what people are talking about today. But I do have a few thoughts on what they did:
-With these bubble seasons, creating a “hometown” date for the guys just isn’t working. Family? Yes. Bring them in. But the silliness of saying, “Hey, I’ll bring Canada to you. Lets drink some syrup and ride a moose” seems awfully reductive and almost insulting. Granted, nothing they could’ve done on any of these dates would truly re-create Canada, Baltimore, or New Jersey. But relegating these dates to what they’ve been doing isn’t doing them much justice either. While the things they did on Blake’s Canada hometown were different, we literally just saw this same exact thing last season when Serena P. brought “Canada” to Nemacolin. They did geography and ate poutine. Last night they played hockey and downed syrup. Same difference. As I mentioned when updating you on Michelle’s season, the plan was to go back to regular hometown dates. I do not know if that changes now due to the Delta variant. I guess we’ll see as they get closer to hometowns. But that was the plan.
-The idea that Greg was “watching” Blake’s hometown from the balcony seemed forced. I know he said he “caught a glimpse” of their date and it upset him, but nothing about that scene made it seem like he actually witnessed anything. All it showed was him out on a balcony and you heard audio of Blake and Katie. That doesn’t mean he saw anything. I’m guessing he didn’t. And if he did, he maybe saw them walking. If he saw the date, we would’ve seen a wide shot where you could see him watching it. I didn’t buy that for a second.
-You know what was missing from Blake’s hometown date when his family came? Brendan. Being the close friends they are, I think that would’ve been pretty hilarious and somewhat Inception-like if Brendan was part of Blake’s hometown. Would’ve seemed appropriate and blew everyone’s mind.
-Blake’s sister just spit the facts when she spoke with him. It’s what a lot of people watching the show have said about Blake from the beginning. He was ALL IN on Clare. Guy was buying books on Alzheimer’s hoping to get on her good side. Then Clare leaves and he’s ALL IN on Tayshia. Then months later he’s ALL IN on Katie. It’s absolutely a fair question to ask when it comes to this guy. Is he really in love or is he just in love with the idea of being in love, and being a couple from the show and what comes with that? I guess we’ll see in the coming months.
-I can’t really say that I got much of a taste of Baltimore for Justin’s hometown. I know, shocking right? Unless Lamar Jackson would’ve shown up in New Mexico and bounced 20 yard out patterns to Justin and Katie, I wasn’t really feeling the BMore vibe on that date. They rode by some bad art on a wall which was supposed to represent Graffiti Alley, and then they ate crabs. Well, at least they didn’t give each other crabs, so that’s a start. Aaaaaaaannnnnd, yep. That’s what we got for Baltimore. Talk about doing the bare minimum. Geesh.
-Even if you didn’t know any spoilers, there were 2 things about Justin’s hometown that worked against him. 1) His parents didn’t show up. That’s never a good thing. 2) During a conversation with his buddy, Katie reveals to him, “Justin has kind of been a slow progression.” And in the history of the show, in Bachelor terms that translates to: “He will be the next one eliminated.” You know, unless Greg eliminates himself. So while Greg technically finished 3rd this season, we all know who was going home if Greg didn’t self sabotage.
Speaking of Greg…ok lets get to it starting on the next page.
jlal
August 3, 2021 at 10:49 AM
Katie made it clear she wasn’t saying the love word to anyone, but the guy at the end. That is what Greg was pushing her to say. On the flip side, if someone is just not that into you, you can sense it on some level. I think Greg sensed on some level that Katie was not where he was and he couldn’t deal. I do think Greg set her up to fail. I have known men and women who do the same thing – they have expectations the other person doesn’t even know exists and then are mad/sad/disappointed when those expectations are not met. The bottom line is she either couldn’t (because of shoe rules or lack of feelings) or she wouldn’t (because of her own code of waiting until the end) give him what he needed, so he left.
adelina
August 3, 2021 at 12:36 PM
Totally agree with what you stated @jlal.
Greg’s meltdown was a total turnoff and such an indication of future issues. His intensity is too much and has no appeal in a longtime partner.
I imagine he’s the guy that gives you the silent treatment or pouts at random times and with no warning. Also, to proclaim his love and then claim, “I gave you everything.” That’s some intense neediness. He reminded me of someone with an alcoholic personality that I once knew. A bottomless pit of neediness – no thanks.
It’s too bad she now is stuck with consolation prize Blake. She’ll be single again in no time.
unlisted
August 3, 2021 at 1:33 PM
The impression I got was that Greg didn’t really understand the rules of the “Bachelorette” game. And there were some other miscommunications, as well.
He kept saying that once he confessed his love for her, and he felt he got the message from Katie that he was El Numero Uno, they no longer needed to go through the motions of getting a rose, overnights, engagement, etc. That he expected she would have just declared her love right then and there (using the L Word) and told the other two guys to take a hike.
Instead, when he opened up to her, rather than melting into his arms as he expected and reciprocating in kind, she continued acting and speaking BacheloretteSpeak– as if from an ABC script– which he interpreted as b.s.
Also it sounded to me as if he felt he was getting mixed messages from her. On the one hand, she strongly hinted he was her choice. So why not say so and let him be the winner then and there, without leading the other two guys on? But then she not only insited on going through the rest of the process, she refused to reciprocate his level of feelings and vulnerability at the same level, which was confusing to him.
It was almost the reverse of what used to happen in the good ol’ days: when a woman was kissed by a man, she would assume that he loved her and wanted to marry her.
JMO!
p.s. I think they both have “issues” and are not good candidates for marriage.
switt610
August 3, 2021 at 5:39 PM
Steve… I really appreciate your commonsense response to what happened last night. Because of what I have learned from you, I like to remind people this is a producer driven TV show with REAL people that we know nothing about. Losing sleep or being angry over any of it is ridiculous. Neither Greg or Katie are bad people. Thank you for keeping us updated.
ctrealitygirl
August 4, 2021 at 11:40 AM
I’m really surprised at all the fans who are taking Katie’s side of the Greg/Katie debacle. Did anyone not take notice of her body language? Or her dismissive facial expressions? All season we’ve watched her lavish Greg with affection, then, out of nowhere, she changes her tune. I’m not saying she owed him an answer to whether he was her final pick. But everyone seems to forget that Peter basically gave Rachel the same ultimatum and everyone LOVED Peter. How is this different? I wasn’t crazy about Katie being picked as the Bachelorette but was willing to give her a chance. But she just leaves me cold. I noticed on the MTA episode that she treated all her so-called favorites- namely Andrew and Michael A – like that were yesterday’s news. In past seasons, both male and female leads at least act like they still have some fondness for the ones they let go toward the end. Katie was downright stone cold, especially how she responded to Michael A’s profession of still being in love with her. I think Blake is smarmy…didn’t like him on the Clare/Tayshia season, and like him less this season. He reminds me a lot of how smug Nick Viall acted when he came onto Laitlyn’s season…but even worse. I’m glad she picks him in the end. they deserve each other. I sure hope Michelle’s seaon is better than this one. I used to look forward to Monday nights..but no more. I have not finished watching one episode…fall asleep before the end and don’t even bother to watch what I missed. The producers made a huge mistake picking her and the ratings prove it. I’d really like to see Andrew named the next Bachelor. He’s another one she treated pretty badly. Her picker is WAY off.
megs
August 7, 2021 at 12:23 PM
Just wanted to point out that the scene with Katie and Greg where he’s crying and telling her he’s in love with her and she said she likes looking at his face… was edited LIKE CRAZY. In one second, he’s bawling, and the next time they cut to his face, supposedly immediately after, not crying at all, plus Katie had her hand on him in the crying scene and then not the next time they cut to him. There’s plenty we didn’t get to see from this conversation, so I don’t really think it’s fair to even have opinions on it since we didn’t get the whole scene.
xoxo00
August 9, 2021 at 1:36 PM
I surprised you can’t see what Greg was saying. He was pouring his heart out and very emotional. He talked about his Dad and cried and she was as cold as ice. Greg’s brother said he never talked about his Dad, not even to him, but he did let himself hurt in front of Katie. That was a big deal to him and she didn’t give him anything. She smiled weirdly and said she loved his face. Someone who is sincerely in the moment would say “I am so sorry your Dad isn’t here – I know how much he meant to you” or “It means a lot to me to me that I am able to help you see the sun after being in a dark hole after losing your Dad”. Instead she said oooohh heeeyyy I love your face and by the way you’re going to be getting the rose. He didn’t care about any of that. He was talking to his girlfriend and Katie was still playing the bachelorette. That is why he no longer saw her as “real”; he saw Katie as the Bachelorette and it was over for him.
It’s likely Katie was trying to do the right thing by the show by not giving away her final choice. It seems she really was in love with Greg and couldn’t tell him. It’s also possible that she was not able to fully feel due to the pressure of being the Bachelorette — Katie is a people pleaser and I think she worked hard to do it right. She was just caught up in the show, IMO, and lost Greg because of it. Greg wasn’t manipulating her. He told her over and over he wasn’t looking for the rose or to hear that she loved him too he was looking for Katie to be Katie instead of Katie the Bachelorette. It’s odd no one can see this. They’re both great people. They just didn’t communicate well and this is what couples sometimes do. I don’t think Katie has a chance of reconciling with Greg, if she wants to, because he has a wall up now. He stopped trusting her the second she couldn’t stop being Katie the Bachelorette.
And, finally something real from this series, sometimes poor communication can kill a relationship. If you’re in a relationship you better check yourself and make sure you’re clear with your mate and listening to them as well.