Ah yes, one of the best times of the year: Bachelor/Bachelorette season. After Peter’s messy and disappointing season of The Bachelor, it’s weird to think that I’m back watching again, but what can I say? The drama is too exciting, or maybe it’s just an excuse to have a girls night and avoid doing homework on a Monday night. Either way, The Bachelorette is back and millions are watching, and as Chris Harrison would say, it’s already looking to be one of the most dramatic seasons yet.
Introducing this season’s Bachelorette: Clare Crawley. If you are a new Bachelor franchise fan or didn’t start watching until a few years ago, you are probably unfamiliar with her. All that you need to know is that she’s been on The Bachelor, Bachelor in Paradise and Bachelor Winter Games, where obviously she did not find her husband. She is also the oldest Bachelorette at 39 years old.
Now on to the recap of this season’s premiere:
Honestly, I was not hooked by the beginning of the episode. It was more of the producers proving that they took all the necessary precautions for COVID to be safe to film, which is completely understandable given the circumstances. I’m sure they would have faced major scrutiny if not shown, but it just was not entertaining. Instead of the normal beginning clips in which we would’ve been able to get to know the personality of a few of the guys, we got their reaction to their COVID test and quarantine, which was also very underwhelming.
Finally, after all getting cleared, the show could begin. They aren’t filming at the iconic mansion but instead at the La Quinta Resort because of COVID. The first night, Clare wore a silver dress with sequins. Personally, I loved Clare’s dress and I feel like it complimented her very well. The sequins were definitely giving me 2008 vibes, but nevertheless the silver was a good color and she was glowing.
Ok, time to meet the men.
The men looked snazzy and pulled out all the tricks to impress Clare. We have a guy who speaks a different language to impress, one who practiced a breathing exercise with Clare, a guy with a shirt with her dogs on it, one wearing a straitjacket and a guy who bought her flip flops in case her feet got tired (Ok, we have a keeper.) We also have another Tyler C! I’m not sure anyone can compare to Hannah B’s Tyler, but we will see how he does. One of the guys named Bennett pulls up in Rolls Royce and is wearing a scarf, which apparently has all the other guys intimidated. Finally we meet Dale, which if you kept up with Bachelorette news before the season started, is a big part of a lot of rumors. After meeting him, Clare says “I definitely feel like I just met my husband.” Woah! Chris Harrison comes and talks to her and basically has to remind her that she does have other guys here for her, so she doesn’t just run after Dale.
It starts off with pretty normal conversations and so far, so good. They all seem super genuine. They talk a lot about the difficulties with COVID. Her conversation with Dale is one of the most memorable from the night as they talked about difficulties with family members with health issues and both being empaths. Chris comes and leaves the first expression rose. Yosef is set on getting the impression rose, however Tyler C starts drama by mentioning how girls in his hometown have said to him that guys from the show, particularly Yosef, DM’d them. Yosef basically denies it or at least says “he doesn’t remember it” and that he’s not here for high school drama. He immediately goes to Clare and Clare, like the boss lady she is, grabs Tyler C as well so she can go ahead and settle it.
Yosef denies again and Clare wants to move on to talk to other guys she hasn’t yet. She then brings in Blake, who was the only guy to reach out to her during months of quarantine (Are we sure she wasn’t talking to Dale?), even though it was against the rules. She states how she was going through a tough time and it really meant a lot to her and they share the first kiss of the night! How cute!
The first impression rose goes to no other than Dale (I mean she did call him her husband…) during the rose ceremony, and among the eight guys to go home is Tyler C. Yikes.
We then get a sneak peek for the rest of the season and boy, does it look intense. There’s a lot of clips about time being cut short or Clare leaving early. So, I guess we will find out if those rumors are true sooner rather than later. This season looks like it’s going to be one heck of a ride and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out!