It may have taken 16 seasons, but we finally get to see the bachelor butt naked. Well, sorta. What we see is a blurred-over video of ABC's "The Bachelor" Ben Flajnik as a toddler walking around without his diaper. There's probably a metaphor there, but we leave it to you to find it and let us know.
After last week's debut episode, one major question hung in the air: Is this year's bachelor, a winemaker from Sonoma, Calif., a dude or a dud. Perhaps the show's producers thought a bare-bottomed video clip would boost his image. They used the first half hour to make their case. The jury is still out.
Ben takes the 18 women chasing his heart to his hometown of Sonoma -- a bit early for the homecoming, isn't it? -- but Kacie B., the sweet brunette from Tennessee, gets the first alone date. Her impression? "This is so cute!"
Sappiness aside, though, it turns out to be a first date most of us would enjoy. Good conversation, some honest laughs. Dinner. A first kiss. Kacie admits to something "kind of embarrasing," that she used to be a baton twirler. She teaches Ben how to "stir the pot" and they walk down the center of deserted Sonoma (where'd everybody go? Hello?). No parade will pass them by.
Ben takes Kacie into a deserted yet well-lit movie theater where the feature films are their childhoods captured on home videos. (That's where we see young Ben's birthday suit.) We also meet Ben's father, who died some years ago. As Ben wells with tears, Kacie asks, "What did you learn from your father." A good question. Turns out Ben is a down-home family guy, not very different from his dad.
As the date winds down, Ben, obviously having had a sentimental pathway to his heart opened, tells Kacie: "I can see you here (in Sonoma). I want you to be here." A proposal? Pretty darn close. It's a match America could live with, but the season is just getting started and we haven't really met Blakeley yet. (And a grown up Ben nearly naked again!)
Blakeley is a cocktail waitress and a scorpio -- translation: she knows what to do to get a tip. Back at the house she disses the idea of a group date, a staple of 16 seasons. "I don't want to knock somebody out, but who knows," she scowls.
At the same time, Courtney, the model, is putting down everyone in earshot.
The group date involves a bunch of the women and the local kids, who've written a play the women will star in. It's silly stuff, but nothing sillier than when Ben, dressed as a sheep, has his clothes blown off by Monica and is on the stage in fluffy wollen undies. Oooohs and aaahs offstage and on.
Enough family friendly television. Back to the mansion, where the women are in bikinis and playing around in the pool. In walks Ben, wearing blue swim shorts, and all eyes turn to him like he's Michael the Archangel walking on cloud tops.
Ben and Jennifer break away from the group for a makeout session that seems genuine and touching.
Not to be outdone, Blakeley also gets Ben alone, but she skips the small talk and goes right for the lips in a full frontal attack. Unfortunately, Jennifer witnesses it and our sympathies are with her. As word spreads among the bacherlorettes, animosity builds against "Blakeley the flakely."
That evening, though, Blakeley gets the day's rose. Humility is not one of her treasured suits. "I got the rose. I got the rose. He chose me. He chose me." Later, she adds, "That's the whole reason I was there. I got the rose and that was that." We fully expect to see her on a "Real Housewives" show one day.
One more one-on-one date, and this time it's Courtney, along with Ben's dog, Scotch.
Scotch, Courtney, an enchanted forest where the redwoods grow tall and some wine. Anything could happen!
Scotch wisely keeps his mouth shut as Ben urges him to howl. Not happening, buddy. But that doesn't stop Ben from talking about his future. When Courtney wants to know all about him, Ben rattles off a resume. Zzzzzzzzz. They don't seem to be connecting. Yet Ben tells us Courtney is "smart, witty and drop-dead gorgeous." Well one out three. Obviously, though, his upper brain isn't working. Let's credit the bottle of red, bottle of white they share at dinner. They make an attractive couple, and they're equally shallow. So maybe they are a fit!
Back at the mansion for the final rose ceremony, Blakeley has been cutting in on everyone else's Ben-time, ratcheting up tension in the house. And Ben seems oblivious. So there's at least one story line going forward.
The big disappointment of the evening was the failure to give Jenna a rose. She's a blogger from New York, and for a writer, she has an awfully hard time expressing herself. Last week she couldn't fumble her way through a sentence. This week was no better. She became so frustrated, she crawled under her blanket and cried. She would have made for entertaining television.
Related Stories:
'The Bachelor' 2011 winner: Emily Maynard
'The Bachelor': Emily Maynard speaks about breakup with Brad
Fan favorite Ben Flajnik named ABC's new 'Bachelor'
Continue Here...
No comments:
Post a Comment