So, yes, it’s true. I watched The Bachelor last night. You know, Jake is certainly easy on the eyes, but up till now, he’s just been a bit…okay, a lot too Howdy Doody for me. And then last night he actually showed that not only does he have some perception where the crazy is concerned, but he’s not afraid to say buh bye when he’s done. No need to wait for roses, just get on out of here, don’t let the taxi door hit you on your delusional ass on your way out. So, buh bye Crazy Michelle and Rules Girl Elizabeth. (Refreshing when a guy doesn’t fall for the “I want you, you can’t have me” routine, isn’t it?) It was kind of fun when he called Michelle’s bluff, too. “I’m going to go unless you make me want to stay.” Um…here’s your cab. HA!

Also interesting was watching him start to work on the conundrum of why he likes one of the girls who apparently is the polarizing chick in the house. In past seasons, we’re usually right on board with this assessment, only this season, at least to my mind, they haven’t really shown us exactly what it is that Vienna is doing to so turn the house against her. Yes, she’s lacking in social graces, but she doesn’t seem mean spirited. What seems mean spirited is Ali’s “Mean Girls” pact against her. And I liked Ali. Or I did. Seems like jealousy to me, amped into a gang mentality. Except it also seems hard to believe that they all feel this way without some reason. You can see Jake trying to work this out as well, and I was glad to see the two of them actually have a discussion about it, or the beginnings of one, anyway. Nice to have a season where there seems to at least be some cognizance on the part of the Bachelor/ette that things might not seem as they appear, and a genuine attempt to inform themselves on what’s true, but without casting any stones first. He and Vienna shared a pretty intense date, and you could see in the comedy club setting, when the girls were openly bashing her, while she wasn’t there to defend herself, that this definitely didn’t rub Jake the right way and his defenses on her behalf were pretty raised. I liked that about him, too, but that he also started to ask questions as to why.

So…interesting season. I just wished that as much as I’m coming to like the guy, there was at least one woman in the house I could see him having a future with. He clearly fully anticipates finding one and would be ready for it…but I doubt it’s in that group of women.

Oh…and on a totally different note….why on earth would you involve a woman’s small child on what amounts to a first date with a strange man??? Who does that? Clearly Ella was happy to see her son, but if you check her expression when she first sees him, she’s not all that thrilled that he’s there. I’m guessing partly due to the lack of consent that she should have given to have him there, and partly because she finally gets some alone time to get to know this guy…and her son is going to tag along? I’d have been mighty unhappy on a bunch of levels had it been me. That said, they both handled the situation really well and it turned out to be a fun day for the child. Plus, there is zero chemistry between these two, so perhaps just as well they were chaperoned. But still, shame on you, show, for involving a child like that in an adult situation. Sea World or no. Reality show or no.

Tonight, it’s more Idol auditions. Perhaps then we can gracefully move past the Pants on the Ground invasion. This is my fervent hope.

In the meantime, let’s give away some free stuff! Just send an email to donna@donnakauffman.com with “Free book? I’m in!” in the subject line. I’ll choose one name from the pile and announce it here in Friday’s blog. Winning Blog Babe gets to choose a book from my website bookshelf. Good luck!

But right now? DISH! Are you watching Bachelor? Come on, you can tell us. Who do you think is on the right side of the Ali v Vienna debate? Can you see any of these women with Jake in the end? Gia? Tenley? Who’s your pick? And who needs to go home? There are roses tossed in the fire next week, so things continue to heat up!

Tags: Writing //