A. Холостяк #24 Peter Weber

barish

During all of the above, Victoria P is having a particularly Bachelor-ific date, complete with cowboy boots, line-dancing at a country concert, and dinner in an airplane hangar (we’ve had a LOT of these over the years but this is the first time it actually makes sense). Over dinner Victoria P opens up about her difficult past. The following line stood out to me…

I have to admit that, up to this point, Victoria P’s general narrative of never having had a loving boyfriend has been something I struggled with. It’s just tough for me to buy that this woman (with her Hollywood actress looks and, as we learned this week, pageant title of Miss Louisiana 2019) has somehow struggled with men. It felt like too much of a Bachelor trope, that the gorgeous blonde with a sob story also just so happens to have never been loved. The skeptic in me wasn’t buying it. Therefore, as difficult as it probably was to share in this unnatural and filmed setting, it was helpful on our end to hear Victoria P to identify why she thinks her past has affected her dating present. I do believe some people tend to seek what they think will bring them happiness, only to reliably sabotage things, and often due to a deep-rooted feeling of being unlovable and unworthy (some Ben Higgins vibes there). So while this was a tough conversation, it was necessary for Victoria P to share this particular tidbit, how she thinks her upbringing affects her love life. Without it, I wasn’t really buying the too-perfect Bachelor contestant portrait. This was a puzzle piece I felt I was missing before this date.

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Back at the mansion, we start getting the memo that, lo and behold, Alayah is the one we’re supposed to dislike…

I always find scenes like this hilarious in their unsubtlety. Cue the minor-key, evil villain track, the lack of context, the hidden camera suggesting she’s FINALLY being caught unawares. Like—HINT HINT, NUDGE NUDGE—Alayah is the BAD GUY, okay??
In terms of actual content, I didn’t find this remotely offensive. It’s also not super surprising: It’s been this young woman’s identity to be squeaky clean and doll-like and perfect for the last 8 years, and she’s a whopping 24 now. It’s been a big part of her life, but OF COURSE there’s more to Alayah (and news flash, EVERY pageant girl) than meets the eye, and OF COURSE she can turn it on and off as she needs and wants to. That’s not even pageant-specific—many people do this. More on this later.
To me, it seems like the above context is sexual (she uses the word “innocent” enough throughout the episode for me to suspect this), which I couldn’t care less about. Trust me when I say my housemates and I talked about sex during my season (another news flash, almost everyone does), except we waited until we were in our rooms, after the mics and cameras had gone. All I see in the above clip is a young woman who has had a few drinks and has gotten a bit sloppy while talking to a friend. (I have my doubts that the actual friend she was talking to was Kiarra but that’s neither here nor there.) No more, no less.

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

GROUP DATE, AKA “DEMI’S EXTREME PILLOW FIGHT CLUB”

Peter’s poor ladies were on the wrong season at the wrong time. Here I was, applauding the show for allowing every woman a career to her name (versus the joke careers), thinking it represented some step forward for feminism in Bachelor Nation. But no, it may be 2020 but it was still somehow deemed appropriate to put the women in lingerie and make them "pillow fight” each other. (Can I use “pillow fight” as a verb? Yeah, I’m doing that.) This date activity is so bad it sounds like a joke, like some Onion spoof or SNL Bachelor parody.

Тут я воспользуюсь моментом и прерву Шарлин, чтобы мы могли познакомиться с девушками на свидании.
Но первой нам показали Деми, появляющейся в особняке. Нет, я не соскучилась по Деми совсем!

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Но на минутку вернемся к Шарлин на время раздавания одежки на свидание:

Not to be outdone by “finasco”, Kiarra gives Hannah Ann a run for her money with…

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

А одной, кажется это Саванна, похоже, что я ее узнала ,
досталась детская пижамка:

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

I had a good laugh over the fact that Peter asked if the women actually slept in these outfits
and Alayah gave him the flak he deserved…

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

I loved when Kelley reminded us what an APPROPRIATE reaction to a lingerie-clad Group Date activity looks like…

What I particularly like about Kelley is that, although she’s clearly the season’s “normal” one, the woman who has a life and career and her general shit together, she’s still a good sport. You don’t get the sense she thinks she’s TOO GOOD to partake, only that she’s the right amount of self-conscious and embarrassed to partake.

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Тамми - боец!

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Сейчас она себя проявит!

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Посмотрим что же ис этого получится.

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Тамми тренеруется на Питере, нам этого не показывали, насколько я помню:

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Питер разговаривает с Алаей, она счастлива!

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

А тут Алая держит куртку Питера?
Очень интересно!

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

А тут, похоже, Питер разговаривает с ней и она кокетничает:

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

До этого Питер поговорил с Деми, она сказала, что они друзья,
ну да, она же была в сезоне Ханны!

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Все готово, пора начинать!

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Девушки готовы:

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

SARAH очень старается!

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

FRED WILLARD и CHRIS HARRISON комментируют:

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Киарра и Сидней:

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Питер смотрит рядом с Келли:

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

I almost didn’t bother making a .GIF of this because I know my Pretty Pandas readers all noticed this inconsistent, out-of-order editing. But for the sake of thoroughness, here is Alayah’s magical self-retying ponytail…

Also, HOW SHOCKING that these two would be pitted against each other.

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Деми говорит девушкам, что сейчас объявят победительницу:

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Ей стала Алая!

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“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)

barish

Питер надел на нее тиару:

__________________
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that something was wrong with me.” (c)