Does The Bachelorette always have to have a villain?

Well, after all the drama this season, this episode was fairly lackluster. It’s also a case of where you can kind of see the wheels turning behind the scenes, where I feel like the producers told Katie: “Look, you got to send everybody else home. You have to keep Hunter.” Otherwise how could she have given him a rose after he took out our beloved Michael A.? Who was on the same team, right?

Actually, I would much rather talk about Michael A. and Greg having far and away the most chemistry this episode. Showing men cry on TV in support of each other was an antidote to the toxic masculinity that usually flies around on this show. There are honestly so many good guys still in the top 12; eight of them have already received individual roses from Katie, and I feel like at least a handful of them could be all-out contenders. I agreed with all of her elimination choices this week (and still wonder why Brendan is still there). But the vast majority of the remaining guys are an excellent crop. None more so than the purest of hearts, widower and dad Michael A. urging his fellow contestants to appreciate every moment they have, not just on this show, but on this earth. Greg, already wowed by how unfailingly positive Michael A is, totally lost it, and who could blame him? Honestly, I’ve never liked Greg more than in that moment.

I’m similarly coming around on Blake, although it is hard to get over that whole Madagascar lion thing, and the beard isn’t helping. But if his entire career is about advocating for wildlife, I kind of have to like him now (although he’s a wildlife expert who’s unfamiliar with horses?). Still, starting out with “The only reason I’m here is because of Katie” is not exactly going to win the guys over, because ostensibly that’s the only reason that any of them are there, as Michael A. wisely points out. And Blake getting a one-on-one right away did seem like kind of a gut-punch to the other guys, but as I said, I still think she’s making the right decisions. And their chemistry on said date was pretty cute. (Katie Thurston tweeted out that this episode had a lot of kissing, and she was… not wrong.) Did anyone else notice that the music got super-triumphant when Blake got the rose? So much so that I wondered if it was an indicator that he’d be around for awhile this season.

Katie unfortunately had much less chemistry with Andrew S., who would make a great future Bachelor, producers! He is such a sweet guy and the pair obviously have a lot in common—but he was so nervous on that date. He would definitely need to get past that if these two are ever going to have a future together.

But honestly, I would still list Andrew S. as a front-runner… along with Greg, Connor B., Michael A., and yes, Blake. Who I would not list, in opposition to his various delusional thoughts this episode, is Hunter. Bad enough that he tore up the Bash Ball Battle by being an absolute menace, but then he pulled the old “I already have a rose and I’m still going to monopolize Katie’s time as much as possible during the cocktail party.” It’s obviously that Hunter just views this whole thing as a competition—he even said to the other guys, “I’m competing for the same love as you are”—which, yes, is the whole premise of this series. But the best way to win someone’s heart is not by using your competitive tendencies; if it’s meant to be, then Katie getting a chance to talk to these other guys shouldn’t bother that one bit. Hunter is obviously vying for alpha male status, just by the way he cut off Aaron’s toast at the end. But as savvy as Katie is, she’s bound to see through that sooner (hopefully) rather than later.

Stray observations

• I’m with Aaron, I had no idea who those two guys were either.
• Katie was so honest and open about surviving sexual assault, and it was very brave of her to ope up about that again. But Blake’s question bugs in the first place; Why is having a woman be “sex-positive” so noteworthy? When it comes right down to it, area’t most of us sex-positive?
• Hey, Kaitlyn finally got to interject something this season, talking with Katie about when Nick joined mid-season when she was on The Bachelorette.
• So Blake wasn’t at the rose ceremony, right? But he appeared in time for the toast afterwards?
• Man, the stylists really had fun with Katie this week, didn’t they? Like that red leather dress and the Catwoman-like suit for her date with Andrew S.
• I don’t like Hunter either, but Aaron calling him a “circus person” was excessively cruel and should not have been allowed to air.
• So given how fairly well this season has gone so far, that promo for the rest of the season was a bit startling, right? Lots of tears (and not the good Greg/Michael A. kind), another surprise guest (judging from the the height, it looked like Matt James), and not only Greg but also Katie storming out. And Michael A.’s kid actually say, “I guess Daddy doesn’t want to see me?” Unfortunately, I predict he is on his way out then. I guess the Bachelorette powers-that-be have to keep those drama fires burning, and it looks like the upcoming episodes do not disappoint as we near the back half of the season. See you next week!
• P.S. After going through some Twitter comments, it looks like it was Justin who took Michael A. down, not Hunter. Which makes sense considering what teams they were on. I blame Hunter for amping up the aggression levels on the “Bash Ball Battle” anyway!