OPINION: Opinions editor reacts to ‘The Bachelor’
Photo of a rose courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Ren Sikes | Opinions Editor
Who doesn’t love love? Who doesn’t love drama? Who doesn’t love dating 30 women at once over six to nine weeks?
You know where you can get all of that at once? None other than the American dating and relationship reality television series “The Bachelor.”
Season 27’s bachelor is Zach Schallcross, the heavenly hunk from Austin, Texas who is all about family, football and frozen pizzas. This season Zach is looking for love, but more specifically he is looking for his best friend.
I shall be your guide through this tumultuous season of “The Bachelor” as we follow Zach on his journey to find his one and only.
As per Bachelor tradition, Zach met each of the 30 contestants as they arrived at the Bachelor Mansion, and as usual there were some very interesting first impressions. Between bringing a pig named Henry, expertly popping champagne, forcing Zach to drink maple syrup, coming in on a party bus and making an “Everything is bigger in Texas” joke about Zach’s… you know what… we had some truly memorable moments.
Moving right along into the cocktail hour of the evening, Zach gets to mingle with all of his new lady friends. Well, most of them. It always feels like there is just not nearly enough time to chat with everyone— as several girls were left having not met with Zach since they got out of their limos. It’s the classic Bachelor conundrum— 30 ladies, one guy and only 45 minutes left of screen time.
The girls who did get a chance to meet with Zach certainly made a lasting impression. Genevie, a neonatal nurse from Baltimore asked Zach to change a fake baby’s diaper— which he so expertly accomplished. Christina Mandrell played a compatibility game with Zach on her party bus— that led to an epic party when Madison and Co. infiltrated the date (more on her later).
Zach saw characteristics of his mom in Charity. Brianna, the recipient of America’s First impression rose, convinced Zach that she cared and wanted to make an effort to get to know him despite the fact that she was already safe from being eliminated on the first night. Katherine makes an impression.
One thing that really stood out to me was that Sonia and Christina ended up wearing the same dress but in different colors. I was happily surprised when Christina laughed it off and responded with “She has great taste in men and fashion,” instead of accusing Sonia of attempting to sabotage Christina. The classic “One of us will have to change” was thankfully avoided this time.
Remember Madison? I mentioned her previously when she infiltrated the party bus with several other girls and crashed Christina and Zach’s date. Madison didn’t stop there. One unfortunate consequence of “The Bachelor” is being painted as the ‘Mean Girl’ or the ‘Drama Queen’ These girls often make it through the entire season because they add plot or spice to an otherwise dull season. There is always at least one girl who is jealous and will do just about anything to get what she wants. Madison was that girl, but only for a single episode.
I genuinely couldn’t tell you what her introduction was, I don’t even know if she got any screen time for that. She just immediately started squeezing her way into Zach’s line of sight. Starting with bringing a group of girls onto the party bus. This was my first indication that she would be the Drama Queen of the Season. She then pulls the classic move of interrupting a date to have more time with the bachelor.
The entire time, she has been talking about how much she wanted to kiss Zach, and she gets a kiss. After teaching Zach how to griddy, she pulls him in for a smooch. Zach pulls away almost immediately. It is clear he did not want that kiss. Sorry Zach. Madison then turns on the water works, and the producers waste no time and film her at seemingly every angle they can, even getting the sounds of her sobbing over the other girls on screen. I honestly feel bad for her, with how much they focus on her distress.
Madison finishes off the night with a bang, when she interrupts Host Jesse Palmer and Zach right before the rose ceremony, asking Zach to give her a chance. It doesn’t take long for Zach to simply tell her he doesn’t feel a connection and asks her to leave. It’s unfortunate to say the least, but Madison really threw herself out there and Zach was not feeling it. While Madison played the role of Drama Queen excellently, now that she is no longer on the show, the real Drama Queen is yet to be revealed.
What has been revealed however, if the first impression rose and that goes to none other than Greer, the medical sales representative from Houston. Greer made a good enough impression on Zach that she not only got the rose, but two kiss scenes.
Oh, that’s the other thing, Greer and Madison weren’t the only ones to get to kiss Zach. May I present the episode one kiss count.
Bachelor Episode One Kiss Count:
Zach and Bailey kiss right after Bailey exits the Limo
Zach and Kaity kiss
Zach and Christina make out on the party bus
Madison pulled Zach in for a kiss and after a quick peck he pulled away.
Greer and Zach make out
Charity and Zach kiss
Jess and Zach Kiss
Greer and Zach get a round two
The 20 ladies who received roses and are continuing onto the second week of “The Bachelor” are as follows:
First Impression roses:
- Brianna (America’s first impression)
- Greer (Zach’s first impression)
- Christina Mandrell
- Charity
- Bailey
- Jess
- Genevie
- Davia
- Aly
- Brooklyn
- Kaity
- Anastasia
- Kylee
- Gabi
- Katherine
- Mercedes
- Ariel
- Victoria J
- Kimberley
- Cat
The 10 ladies who went home were as follows:
- Sonia
- Holland
- Madison
- Becca
- Cara
- Lekha
- Olivia L
- Olivia M
- Vanessa
- Viktoria
Unfortunately many of the ladies who went home had little-to-no screen time, so we only ever saw them in their final moments as they left the show. This is pretty common in reality television shows, in my opinion. People who leave first generally get the least screen time.
That’s all for the first episode of the Bachelor! With 30 women and only an hour and 25 minutes in an episode, this was a jam packed first episode. I hope you enjoyed my little recap and I hope you join me for the rest of the season. The teasers at the end of the episode certainly make me want to keep watching…
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