So with Monday night being my busiest night, and still trying to sort out episodes 4 and 5, I told you yesterday on the podcast that I was gonna have your episode-by-episode spoilers today. I’m gonna push that back to tomorrow. It’ll allow me to go through everything in the trailer last night and make sure I have everything correct. I did go through it for about 30 minutes, but I want to make sure I didn’t miss anything. They definitely gave away quite a few things that I will cover here in a second, but I’ll have everything laid out for you in written form tomorrow so you can always refer back to it during the season. Will make it much easier for you that are readers rather than listeners.
Because the first episode is basically the same thing every season, honestly, there isn’t a whole lot to breakdown in my eyes. But here were some of my thoughts watching last night:
-8 guys got intro videos: Marcus, Sam N., Grant, Sam M., Thomas N., Aaron, Dylan, and Devin. So the streak continues where at least 2 of the final 4 got intro videos in episode 1- Marcus and Devin. It’s interesting because now they show them during the limo entrance instead of dumping all 8 of them before the men show up. I like that change because I think people remember them better.
-I said it on the livestream Sunday night, but during the game of Truth or Dare, Devin rolled Truth, he was asked what conspiracy theory he believed in, and he said he thought 9/11 was an inside job. Not something I agree with whatsoever, nor does at minimum 70% of America. Not sure why that’d be something you’d want to share publicly, but hey, maybe that’s why they cut it from the episode considering how long Devin lasts. Bizarre answer that I just roll my eyes at and move on. I think it’s pretty telling they left that on the cutting room floor and left all the corny stuff in that didn’t really tell us much about the guys.
-Like clockwork, this show every season makes such a big deal about the first impression rose when it’s brought out. Everyone’s mood changes and they act like this the first time the show’s ever done it. Drives me nuts every season. Every guy is forced to talk about it, what it means, how much they want it, etc. It’s so overplayed at this point, but if you go back and watch EVERY first episode known to mankind in this franchise once the first impression rose was introduced, you’ll see how much the focus turns to it and how much every person HAS to talk about its importance over and over again. Nauseating. Great. We know. One person gets it and is immune from being eliminated and others are bummed they didn’t get it. Wash, rinse, repeat. Shows how much little content they have on night 1 every season.
-One editing “trick” I wanted to point out was once Sam M. got the first impression rose, they made it seem like the rest of the men were waiting for the rose ceremony to start and Jenn and Sam were just holding everyone up so they could make out. Total editing. All they did was show Jenn and Sam making out, followed by a shot of the men standing in the rose ceremony room. Yes, it implied that they made them wait, but there wasn’t a camera shot that panned the room and then stayed in the single frame and brought it over to Jenn and Sam making out so you could see it was happening simultaneously. Hope you weren’t fooled by that.
-As for the trailer, I’ll have a lot of the breakdown in tomorrow’s column, but the two biggest things to go over now was them revealing who got the 4th hometown date and the arrival of Jenn’s ex this season. Lets first start with who got that 4th hometown that I’ve been trying to figure out. It was Jonathon Johnson, the guy who arrived in the hospital robe.
(SPOILER): As suspected, I knew the season trailer would give me the answers I needed. Jonathon Johnson is the 4th hometown date and also makes it to overnights and finishes 3rd. This is him on his hometown date pic.twitter.com/wwOBfNFQJL
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) July 9, 2024
That is clearly not anywhere in Australia, New Zealand, or Seattle. That’s clearly someone’s home backyard. And that’s not something Jenn would wear on a 1-on-1 or group date during the season. That’s somebody’s home. So thank you ABC for putting this in the trailer. I knew you’d spoil something in your trailer that I needed. Happens every season.
-The other big reveal during the trailer was Jenn’s ex showing up. We see a scene of her sitting by herself and someone walks up behind her that she can’t believe is there. Then we see her walking away saying she can’t believe he’s here, and in the next scene, she’s sitting a rose ceremony telling the rest of the men someone from her past came and talked to her earlier that day, said he still loves her, and wants to join the show. This is her ex Matt Rossi. Here’s his IG: @themattyrossi. Even last night on his IG story, about 5 minutes after that trailer ran, he posted this story and caption:
So yeah. It’s him. But of course because it ended up in the season trailer, they’re really making it a bigger deal than it is. He arrives the day of the episode 4 rose ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand, and Jenn clearly doesn’t let him join the show because there’s zero evidence of him anywhere from that moment on. She obviously tells the guys, they’re already 4 episodes deep with her, I assume tell her they don’t want him there, tell him he’s already had his chance with her, and Jenn doesn’t let him continue on the show. So again, the trailer gives you something that makes it seem like is a big deal, but really isn’t.
On Sunday during the livestream, I was asked about if I’d heard what this “thing” was that happens at the end of the season that’s never happened before which they’ve been promoting. And I said I’d heard something about it, but I hadn’t gotten it confirmed. And what I’d heard was an ex boyfriend shows up. However, when it was told to me, I just assumed it was the ex showing up at the end of filming, which has never happened before – to a lead. We saw Becca Kufrin’s ex show up when she was final 2 on Arie’s season. JoJo’s ex showed up during her hometown date on Ben’s season. But we’d never had an ex show up at the end of filming to screw with the leads decision. So the info I had was right about the ex appearing, but not in the time I assumed it was.
So now this season I need to figure out exactly what this thing is that they’re referring to. Last season, took me up until the final week or so to find out about the Daisy/Kelsey meet up on final rose ceremony day. I assume it’ll take me a while to figure this out. After the opening scene last night of Jenn at the final rose ceremony telling one of the guys “I can’t have you propose to me,” the running consensus on social media is that she says that because she’s the one that proposes to him. Definitely something that’s never happened before, but I have no idea if that’s what it is. What I do know is in that scene, the guy she’s talking to has an off white/tan suit on. During the live on Sunday, I shared the one pic I have of Devin in Hawaii and he’s in that exact color suit. So unless Devin and Marcus wore the same color suit to the final rose ceremony, that’s Devin she’s talking to.
Hmmmmm looks like that pic of Devin I showed on the livestream last night WAS his final rose ceremony suit based on this shot of Jenn on finale day… pic.twitter.com/Ac667kAMMo
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) July 9, 2024
Just like last season where the opening shot was Joey at the final rose ceremony altar crying, walking off, taking his jacket off, talking to producers, and making it seem like he left single, we all know these trailers are never what they seem. So her saying that to Devin I don’t think means very much because we don’t actually know what happens after that. Does she propose to him? I guess it’s possible, but we’ll have to wait and find out. All I do know is that what was shown, her telling Devin I can’t have you propose to me, is just part of whatever story they’re trying to tell. At some point I’ll find out what it is and let you know.
Your transcript for the Daily Roundup begins on page 3…
