As we near the end of the bachelor season, let us reflect on those who were wronged by this season’s bachelor, Peter. It all began with the hope that Peter would be a better fit for the mantle than the previous season’s Arie. Yet, that soon was not the case, and we witnessed how indecisive Peter was.
Kelley Flanagan, a lawyer looking for love on a high-publicized reality show put her law career on the line for a pilot she had sporadically met at a hotel before signing up for the season. Automatically, Peter becomes enamored with her and they sit down on the first episode to have an intimate moment away from the rest of the other girls.
Yet, things get tricky when Peter starts making out with another girl, and then another and another. In the first episode, the tone for the rest of the season is set. Peter makes out with the most girls in a single episode than previous contestants. After listening and watching the conversations between him and different girls, he is keen on physical attraction over personal connections.
Throughout the season, we see Kelley struggle with putting herself out there. However, instead of helping her transition into the limelight, Peter accuses her of not giving it her best shot. Yet, he has to understand the level of professionalism often tied to being a lawyer.
One of the challenges he places before the girls is a pillow fight in lingerie. Not only is he subjecting women to fight each other, he’s also sexualizing them by displaying them in their lingerie in front of millions of people. Kelley jokes that she hopes one of her potential clients won’t see their lawyer dressed in lingerie in front of them. The following week, Peter confronts her for not voicing her feelings on national television and not giving it her all through the process. Time after time she is faced with insane challenges such as undressing herself in front of strangers for a ritual and playing football with some of the other girls. Spoiler alert: she eventually gets eliminated for not “giving it her all.”
In my opinion, no one will ever be as great a bachelor as Sean Lowe, who kept his morals throughout the season while constantly being tempted. He was extremely sweet and thoughtful unlike many of the other bachelors who had previously caused controversy by being playboys.
Kelley deserves better and as a woman with a professional background, she needs a man who isn’t on a reality show just for making out with strangers. Not to mention his lack of maturity and obsession with younger women who look more like a younger sister. I was rooting for Kelley to be the next Bachelorette and have her chance at finding “love,” yet they assigned someone from a previous season. Not to mention, she wasn’t even invited to the Women Tell-All. It’s probably for the best—she deserves to find actual love that’s not a scripted fantasy.