The 22nd season of “The Bachelor” concluded Tuesday night with a never-before-seen Bachelor disaster. This season, Arie Luyendyk Jr., a 35-year-old former Formula One racer, decided it was his turn to try and find love on a reality television show. Before I discuss his poor decision making skills, I’d like to highlight everything I find wrong with The Bachelor to begin with.
I only just started religiously watching “The Bachelor” last year during Nick Viall’s season. I definitely don’t condone the content of the TV show, but when you gather a bunch of friends and crack open a couple of cold ones, the show becomes more of a comedy than anything else. First off, I can’t believe these women actually compete for these less-than-spectacular male candidates; Nick was one of the most boring TV personalities I’ve ever watched and Arie was definitely not much better. Even more so, how is that when we are in the midst of a modern women’s movement there are still TV shows where one man is allowed, let alone expected, to pick his fiancée out of a pool of women? The Bachelor also provides some very conflicting narratives: a more conservative side highlighted by the bachelor’s resistance to sleep with the women before their relationship gets “serious” (really, how serious can a relationship get in 5 weeks?) coupled with a more liberal side in which a man is dating multiple women at the same time. Regardless, the show is ridiculous. But whatever happened in the finale this week was freaking nuts.
The final two contestants of “The Bachelor” were Becca K. and Lauren. My friends & I were all in agreement that Becca was definitely the better choice of the two. She seemed more intelligent, mature, and just generally more complex in contrast with insecure Lauren who needed constant reassurance. Of course, however, Arie was greatly conflicted, which ultimately led him to tell both of the women that he loved them – his first great atrocity. Let me tell you, it’s really hard to be in love with one person, let alone two, so I’m not entirely sure how he even had the emotional capacity to feel that way. But, he did, so clearly he was about to make the “toughest decision of his life.”
After some deep soul-searching though, Arie sent Lauren on her way and proposed to Becca. You could tell she was elated and truly felt a deep connection with him. They were going on luxurious weekend getaways as they tried to settle down together and buy a home. Little did Becca know, however, that Arie was not only thinking about Lauren for their entire relationship, but reaching out to her on Instagram and over the phone. Great guy, right?
Before a weekend trip to Los Angeles, Arie went to talk to Becca and you just knew something horrible was about to go down. Arie dumped Becca and, obviously, we got the whole damn thing on tape. The world watched as their magical engagement crumbled into pieces and then proceeded to sit through 30 minutes of Becca’s crying – probably one of the most painful moments on television I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. To make things worse, Lauren actually took Arie back and he proposed to her on live TV as Becca watched in the wings. As America groans and rolls their eyes at this monstrosity, our prayers were answered when ABC announced that Becca will be the new Bachelorette. Let’s hope she’s luckier this time around!
Main image from Gossip Cop.