Disclaimer: Spoilers Up Until Week 6
Despite all the criticisms The Bachelor has gotten over the years, the show’s views have prevailed for the past 24 seasons earning nearly 7 million weekly viewers. However, I’ve noticed that this season has generated a radically negative response not just because of the contestants, but because of the bachelor himself, Peter Webber. Some have even been quick to call him the “worst bachelor in history.”
It’s no shock that when the contestants are not providing an adequate level of drama, the producers step in to spice things up. We saw this a lot this season, specifically in Victoria’s first one on one. Regardless if the events are staged, the added controversy makes for pretty entertaining television on a Monday night. Except for this season, the drama has gotten everyone more riled up than entertained. So let’s take a look at why America is fuming over this season of The Bachelor…
Our Bachelor Is Not Ready For Commitment Himself
Peter talks all about how he’s ready for marriage and to have a serious connection with someone, but truthfully his actions prove otherwise. His tendency to feed into drama at every turn and his warped idea of a connection are concerning. What went down with Alayah was a prime example. It’s not like Alayah was my favorite out of all the girls, but honestly, I don’t think I got the chance to formulate a proper opinion on her and neither did Peter. Alayah being sent home was the true product of pure bullying, to put it bluntly. It all started with Sydney deciding to throw her under the bus claiming that she’s been “fake” the majority of her time on the show. This is a pretty bold statement coming from Sydney considering she turned out to be pretty fake herself. Fans questioned her interaction with Peter on her one on one when she opened up about experiencing feelings of isolation in high school saying that she never even went to her high school prom. Despite what she said, after some digging, fans quickly found pictures of her on Prom court. This, of course, led people to feel skeptical of her character on the show.
The point is, after Sydney opened up to Peter about her concerns with Alayah, Peter thought it’d be a good idea to ask all the other girls what they had thought of her. I understand that he felt the need to confirm or deny these rumors about Alayah immediately, but it was a totally terrible move on his part. It seems that he failed to realize that these girls are competing with each other. If they are presented with the opportunity to talk badly about another girl, they will. It’s a competition- if they can kick off another girl, their chances for winning are higher. He fed into this drama so much rather than using his limited time with the girls to get to know them better, or even to form his own opinion of Alayah. This was such a childish move on his part and really showcased his lack of emotional maturity.
Peter’s reactions to the girl’s dramatic displays of emotion have led fans to believe that he has a pretty weird crying fetish and honestly I see it. It seems to be a trend this season that Peter likes to equate a girl’s mental break down to proof that she’s committed to their relationship. This season we saw it with Kelsey and both Victorias. And it became particularly obvious on Hannah Anne’s one on one. During the dinner, Hannah Anne’s vague responses did not resonate with him and lead him to walk out of the date. It was only when Hannah Anne went after him and began to cry that he promptly responded with “that is what I wanted to see” and rewarded her with a rose. What I’ve gathered from this behavior is that Peter clearly has a power complex which is fueled by his attraction to emotionally unstable girls. It’s all about him feeling like the stronger one in the relationship, which is precisely why he sent Kelley and Natasha home. Both women have successful careers and are at an age where they seem emotionally mature enough for marriage. In my opinion, they are the ones ready for commitment, but of course, this is not what Peter wants.
So Much Victim Blaming!!
There have been such classic cases of victim-blaming on this show and it has me apPauled!! But I had never seen a more clear case of this than with Victoria P. I began to like Victoria when she opened up to Peter about her financial struggles growing up, I could tell she didn’t have it easy. Peter really began to feel a connection to her after this conversation as well. Things took a tumble when he questioned her if she had known Alayah prior to the show to which she responded that she barely knew her and “probably spent collectively three hours with her, even at Miss USA”. Alayah was quick to clear her name when she returned after her elimination to break the news to Peter that she and Victoria had taken a trip to Vegas together. Naturally, Peter decided to confront Victoria about her lies only for it to result in her breaking down and attacking him for “not trusting her”. Rather than apologizing for fabricating the truth, Victoria plays the role as the victim and this is a pretty toxic trait to have.
Everyone Has Been the Villain
It seems that in every season of the show each girl falls under a certain narrative. There’s always the baby of the show, a couple front runners, and of course at least one or two villains. But it seems that in this season the formula is reversed. Almost everyone in this season has played the role of the villain once or twice and some have only been the villain. A particularly interesting case of this was seen with Victoria F who seems to not be the biggest villain to the girls, but to Peter. It appears that every one on one she’s been on has led to her throwing a fit and attacking Peter for simply trying to have a real conversation with her. Despite this he still has kept her for pretty long on the show and it’s ridiculous.
In week 5 it was pretty painful watching Kelsey drown herself in Wine as Peter went on a date with one of the other contestants. Her reaction was pretty confusing to the world because she seemed to be stressing about something that made up the whole premise of the show. Tammy noticed this and began to comfort her, her intentions felt pure. This only led Tammy to tattle to Peter about Kelsey having “alcoholic tendencies”. Tammy pulled this behavior with Mykenna too which in return gave her some well deserved karma. This example, among so many others just scratches the surface on how these girls have such malicious qualities.
Amongst all the drama it’s hard to tell if any of these girls are on this show to find love or just to board their one way flight to fame. It definitely does not help that Peter has consistently held onto and rewarded toxic behavior. Regardless of the hate this season is getting, I, along with the rest of Bachelor Nation, will still be tuning in this Monday for the latest episode. With a season like this, the ending will be totally unpredictable.