Hello, Bachelor Fans!! Thanks so much for your patience in my delayed recap from last night’s episode of The Bachelor. I hope some of you were able to listen in to me and The Boyfriend videochatting live from http://www.getmarried.com/ last night. In case you missed it, not to worry, we’re trying to get a video of it to post on the blog and there is a strong chance we could be doing this again next week!!For anybody who doesn’t know, I was contacted by Get Married (an informational show about wedding planning co-hosted by DeAnna Pappas on Lifetime TV) on Valentine’s Day to see if I wanted to conduct an interview with DeAnna Pappas. Imagine my surprise and delight (I was shopping in Filene’s Basement for business suits to wear at my new job) and here was this wonderful opportunity. I spoke with Get Married on the phone for almost an hour to discuss this and by the end of the call, the show was interested in having me get involved in DeAnna’s videochat that was scheduled for last night. The plan was to have me and The Boyfriend start the videochat at 9:45 PM from our apartment using the video camera on my Macbook. We would talk about my blog, The Bachelor and then introduce DeAnna who came on at 10 PM.
Now picture us, two semi-regular human beings suddenly finding out that we’d be videochatting live with the world (or whoever logs in to these sorts of things). We went to work immediately. The Boyfriend took the blanket from our couch and literally took a hammer and nailed the thing to the wall so that we would have a backdrop for our video. We worked on lighting for at least an hour. I debated getting my hair done. My sister called twice to highly suggest I get my hair blown out, but ultimately, I ran out of time (and didn’t want to spend the money). We did a make-up and wardrobe test run. I decided I wanted to exude both a writer/blogger AND a Bachelor expert. So I went with a simple black v-neck top, a purple scarf (every female on The Bachelor wore a scarf, why couldn’t I?) and dangly silver earrings. I did that “top of the hair pulled back and poofed up slightly in the front” look that Melissa and Molly sport regularly and even used a little self tanner (I am whiter than white these days). The Boyfriend officially thinks I’m nuts, but he’s been very supportive.
The unfortunate part about videochatting at 9:45 PM last night, was that we had to both speak live on camera AND watch the conclusion of The Bachelor simultaneously. This was quite challenging as frankly, I was completely distracted by Jason’s decision. Not to mention that every time a new person joined the video chat the computer would scream out “Welcome!” which repeated over and over until you figured out how to click off the Audio button. All in all, it was a great experience and we hope to be able continue to do that (hopefully starting a little bit later to “warm up” for DeAnna.) That said, let’s move on to last night’s CRAZY show.Recap
We saw the overnight fantasy dates which seasoned Bachelor/ette participants have coined the “Exotics.” The three dates were in New Zealand where the final three ladies (Jill, Moll and Mel) spent the week. (I wonder what they do when they’re not on their overnight date with Jason??). All three dropped the “L” word on Jason this week. How it is that Jason managed to get three women to fall in love with him within 4 weeks, I have no idea, but I guess he deserves it after his failed marriage proposal on national television.
There was a good 15 minutes of airtime spent recapping last week’s events. We never saw Naomi and Jason going horseback riding together (looks like Jason nearly fell off his horse), but I guess the producers had to decide between a dove funeral and horseback riding and I’m sure you can guess that a dove funeral will always win that competition. One thing I failed to mention last week – did anyone else notice how there were slot machines in the background when Jason was talking to Naomi’s parents? This was supposed to be Naomi’s mom’s house, right? What kind of operation is she running?
But back to last night, we see Jason saying goodbye to Ty again. What must that poor boy think? You hear Jason speaking his mind about each girl. I knew as soon as he started describing Jillian as being funny, having more strength than anyone he’s ever met and then wondering if she’s “too independent to be in (his) life,” that she was treading on thin ice. Jason clearly needs someone that needs him. At least that’s what he thinks he needs. Given, this boy has been kicked around the block lately (first with the divorce from him ex-wife Hillary, next with DeAnna), but come on, Jas – now you’re the Bachelor. Women flock to YOU. Don’t give up on Jillian because she’s too independent. Since when has strength in a person been considered a bad thing?Jason’s concern with Molly is that he has too much fun with her and he’s worried that there may not be anything real behind that fun. Guess what, Jas. There’s not. You might as well enjoy the fun because once you stick Molly in your real Seattle house and she’s on Ty meltdown duty, it’s not going to be all argyle golf lessons anymore. Those beautiful eyes that you can’t seem to peel yourself away from will brim with resentment.
As for Melissa, we already know she’s the black sheep of her family, but the front runner for your affections. Jason wants to have a “serious conversation (with Melissa) about why (her parents) didn’t want to meet him and why they weren’t there for her.” Here are the reasons Jason: (1) You are 32, their black sheep daughter is 25. HUGE emotional age difference; (2) You are seeking your future bride and stepmom for your son on national television and that scares them; (3) they may actually not want people commenting about their physical appearance on EW.com, Chris Harrison’s blog, my blog, any blog; which means they may really be normal.
Fantasy Overnight Date 1
Jason Picks Jillian up in a helicopter. It must be plaid day in New Zealand and I’m wondering
whether the plaid connection intensifies her feelings for him? Jillian jumps into Jason’s arms and he twirls around. I think this speaks volumes about their intimate relationship, until I see him do this with Melissa and Molly later on. The helicopter ride was pretty magnificent, but you’ve got to think that if you haven’t seen Jason in about a week and you’ve traveled for hours and hours to another continent – you’d much rather have a nice picnic overlooking that scenery to catch up rather than being in such an intense adventure as a helicopter ride over snow capped mountains, etc. Jason describes this date as “going from one fairytale to the next.” You can see Jillian is much more comfortable around Jason on this date. She’s calling him “Babe,” and saying how she can’t keep her eyes off him. Her affections have clearly escalated since he met her family.Once they start playing the standard romantic Bachelor music, I knew ABC was trying to fool us. Jason uses the word “adventurous” to describe Jill and I cringed, knowing that’s how he described Naomi, and eventually, found that adventurous is not something you want to be if you’re interviewing for position of future wife and stepmom. Jills keeps telling Jason that she wants to spend the rest of her life with her “best friend.” Jason wants more than just a best friend. I don’t understand. Of course she’s not saying that it’s your platonic best friend. Jason almost uses this best friend theory to justify eventually booting her off the show. But what I saw between them in their bathing suits, her legs wrapped around his back as they kis
sed in a hot tub – did NOT look like just best friends. It was definitely the something more Jason was looking for, only he couldn’t see it. GRRRRRRR. So aggravating.During the night time part of their date, Jas and Jill go to a winery. She gets all teary, tells him she gets butterflies (like Molly) and says that never in her entire life has she felt that someone is more meant for her than Jason is. Who didn’t get choked up at that moment? The date card arrives for them and they of course decide to spend the night together. I was watching my boyfriend watch Jas and Jill during this little love scene, and cracked up that he was totally smiling in approval watching them exchange their feelings. So busted!
As soon as they go to the fantasy suite, the bathing suits come out and Jason admits it’s
possible he’s falling in love with her and that there is passion will Jillian. (This is quite the opposite of what he says after he gets rid of her, so I’m confused. Anyone else?) Jillian drops the “I’m falling in love” with you on Jason, and in comes the sexy Latin music as they canoodle in the hot tub together. There’s even some butt rubbing by Jillian of Jason’s rear. It’s steamy in there! Where is the camera guy? I think my laptop was steaming up as I was typing. You get the feeling that it’s DEFINITELY Jillian by the end of the date. How could it not be?Fantasy Overnight Date 2
It’s raining in Queenstown, New Zealand which can only mean one thing: perfect bungee jumping weather. Molly comes running up to Jason in a Burberry scarf, the cold weather equivalent of an argyle sweater. There’s an immediate kiss. I can’t stand how Molly screams “Shut up!” whenever Jason surprises her with something. To me, “Shut up!” is rude. She’s doing it to be cute, but I don’t find it cute.I have to admit, despite her conservative family and upbringing, I was very impressed that Molly was willing to do the bungee jumping thing. It looked absolutely terrifying. I can barely jump off a high dive at a pool, let alone off a bridge into a free fall with nothing but a rope and a guy I barely know attached to me. I think I would have cried. But she seems to have liked it – even stated that she wanted to do it again. Her little analogy “That’s exactly what falling in love is. Just have to let go and do it” was a bit much, but I’ll let it slide.
We get the thumbs up from Molly’s parents, much to Jason’s relief as we know Molly only does
what her parents approve of. Her list of questions eerily reminded me of something her mother would have done (hat box/draw a picture). Why can’t the two of them just have an open conversation? Why does she have to make organized questions? Is he taking the GMATs here? He seems to have liked it. If Molly asked him to walk into a lion’s cage, he would probably have had equal enthusiasm. He’s smitten. If the argyle didn’t scare him away, Molly might actually stand a strong chance again Melissa.Jason says that he adores Molly and could picture her as his wife. But he wants her to open up more. Their dinner conversation was definitely awkward. Jason himself says that he “feels like he needs to pull a lot of things out of Molly.” Anyone else get the feeling that we only hear negative things about the women he keeps and great things about the women he boots? One interesting thing that Jason did point out was how Molly’s parents sat on opposite sides of the couch, as did her sister and the sister’s husband. Jason wants more affection. Molly gives him the whole “I’ve had a wall up, I’m vulnerable” speech and all seems to go well. Once she throws out her own “L” bomb, Jason is happy. He says that Molly even “kisses him differently.” I wonder what changed.
I liked that Molly took the initiative to invite Jason to stay with HER. Like he’s going to turn that down. And to the writers on ABC – come on – you’ve been using the same wording on the overnight date cards for the past 12 seasons. There has GOT to be something more original. How about, “Should you decide to forego your individual rooms, we have provided condoms and spermicide in the fantasy suite bathroom.”
Moll and Jas get into the bubble bath. She says how excited she is to sleep next to Jason that night. That he could be her husband. I was hoping we'd get to see a shot of Jason waking up with all three women, and seeing how they deal with their morning breath. Just as I’m thinking this, the shot of them in the tub zooms out, so that the viewer is now watching them in the tub through a window. It’s as if there’s a stalker creeping up on them and this could almost turn into a horror movie.Fantasy Overnight Date 3
Melissa is the third lady to run, jump up on Jason and get twirled around. We soon learn that Melissa is worried about Jason not meeting her family. We hear this about 20 more times throughout their date. Jason takes her to Winston Churchill’s old boat which happens to be in New Zealand. Surprisingly, Melissa knows who Churchill is.
Melissa’s afraid of getting hurt. No kidding. On the boat, she says that she has these walls up around her, but the walls are gone the second she sees Jason. That’s because she’s 25 and doesn’t know any better. They go to some hot pools, where my boyfriend declares that Melissa definitely looks like DeAnna and that’s why he’s interested in her. We see the third bathing suit shot of the fantasy suite dating series.
They discuss Melissa’s parents some more, and although the viewer is supposed to think that this will affect Jason’s decision, we know it won’t. Here’s a comment I can NOT get over. When Melissa and Jason meet up later that night, Melissa says to Jason that she thought their date was over. Really Melissa? Because it’s an overnight date and you were only with him for an afternoon. Despite this memory lapse, Jason can’t keep his hands off of her.They walk around downtown Queenstown, then go to dinner where Melissa eats one almond before running off with Jason to the fantasy suite. She chooses to read the entire card as if she is not familiar with the words. Mel, it’s been the same for 13 seasons. Seriously, are you surprised? We find out that Mel is very close with her family – sees them twice a week and speaks to her brother pretty much every day. Now I think it’s even more important that Jason meet them before he commits.
Once they are alone together, Melissa tells him how she’s feeling scared. She’s never felt this
way before. They play with each other’s hands. Their heads are like 5 cm apart. He is so waiting for her to drop the “L” bomb. He’s waiting, watching, hoping. She’s skirting around it. I’m watching my boyfriend who is again smiling in approval. He loves this stuff. Finally she says it. She’s fallen in love with him. Jason’s psyched. He admits that he is completely falling for her, and thinks he has been since their first date. After this scene is over and the commercial break hits, my boyfriend decides Jason has “the greatest gig ever.”The Conclusion
Chris Harrison shows up in a suit and Jason’s confused. He doesn’t know what he’s gong to do. He reevaluates all the girls. Again he’s concerned about Jillian’s best friend speech. Molly has been distant and not meeting Melissa’s parents is hanging over him. Chris tells Jason that each of the women have left him private video messages. Basically each girl declares their love with beautiful New Zealand scenery in the background. There are tears in Jason’s eyes as he watches Melissa’s video (or at least that’s how it’s edited).
At the final rose ceremony, first rose goes to Mel. The second rose goes to…Molly. OH NO!!! Poor Jillian. Jas walks her outside and sits her down on a bench where he apologizes and says she’s amazing and blah blah blah, he’s not interested. Instead of getting angry or defensive, Jillian reveals a dream she had two nights earlier of Ty trying on her shoes and Jillian, Jas and Ty laughing about it and then taking a nap together. She was so happy. I again got choked up at this. Then Jason uses his back-up break up plan which is to throw in the fact that he wants more than to just be best friends. Jillian says – of course you need to be more than best friends – but I thought we had it. She tells him again that she is in love with him. Go Jill. I’m so impressed that she could put herself out there once again for the record even though she knows it’s of no use. Jillian for Bachelorette!!! After he sends her off in the car (and she was wearing the most adorable dress ever), Jason has a very difficult time recovering. You can almost read his thoughts, “Did I just send my future wife home? Am I making the right decision? Is my nose running on national television?” He was teary eyed and sad but tries to justify his actions by saying that “he just wasn’t falling in love with her.” I don’t know about that. I almost wonder if this is not the last we see of Jills. At least, I hope not.Next week is the Women Tell All. Looks like the Megan/Erika cat fight is back on. Should be interesting.
Where Was DeAnna?
As for DeAnna, she did not make her appearance on last night’s show. She’ll be back for the finale for sure. She is still not talking about what goes down between her and Jason, but I still don’t think Jason ends up picking her. Between Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss’s quotes on how this season’s ending will be the most shocking ever and they even created additional shows after the finale to reveal what happened, etc. everyone in The Bachelor world is in a buzz. I can’t even begin to speculate on what will go on. Nothing with Molly or Melissa being the winner would surprise anyone, so I am left to think that it could be Jills or DeAnna. DeAnna clearly stated on last night’s video chat that she is NOT dating Ace, however, I don’t see her living in Seattle full time either. It’s a mystery. Also, DeAnna revealed that she has not watched any of this season's Bachelor because it's a little too close to home. Hmmm??? If DeAnna "won" this season, don't you think she'd be watching every episode?I am interviewing DeAnna tomorrow night, and will post the interview later this week. If any of you are still reading, thanks for your continued support. We will be podcasting later this week too. Please post your comments and any questions you would like us to discuss. Have a great week!!
On a side note, there was a New York Times article yesterday about how the Bachelor ratings are sizzling: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/arts/television/16bach.html?ref=television
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