'The Bachelorette' Season 8 Recap/Review
I really enjoyed this season of The Bachelorette because Emily Maynard, the title woman of the show, seemed much more intelligent than most bachelors and bachelorettes. Normally, we see awkward “conversations” on dates where there are many silences and strange looks with forced, obviously scripted sentences here or there. This year, Emily and the men laughed and talked seemingly honestly with no strange pauses. Serious conversations occurred and they seemed natural, so you actually got a feel for the bachelors and the relationships Emily was developing. Admittedly, this is still a reality TV show, so it isn’t as though I can say I know exactly what happened, because the producers edit lots out of each week’s dates.
Some of my favorite moments of the season were on the group dates. Part of the reason for that is probably because we get to see many of the men interacting with each other and with Emily and the events that they do are usually more entertaining.
The group date in England was a lot of fun. Emily had the guys reenact scenes from Romeo and Juliet. Among others, Ryan (pictured) and Kalon were Romeo, Arie and Doug were Juliet’s nurse, and Emily was Juliet.
Some of the most fun was watching Arie and Doug dressed in flowing skirts with braided wigs pretending to be the nurses and speaking Shakespeare with high pitched voices. Doug, one of the two fathers in the show, had no problem playing along and getting into the character, but Arie had a bigger challenge with the role. His incredibly red face the entire time he was in front of the audience was so cute, and Emily definitely appreciated his role in the play they put on.
Ryan and Emily’s scene was the death scene at the end of the play. As Emily lies on the ground pretending to be dead, Ryan is supposed to quickly kiss her as he kills himself. As he was the somewhat likable bad boy of the season, it was a cheeky but cute moment when he kissed her once then went back for another kiss making Emily and everyone in the audience laugh.
The last two men vying for Emily’s heart were Jef and Arie. From the first few episodes they were my favorites, but I have been finding it difficult to decide which man I want to be engaged to Emily in the end. Emily and Arie had a hot and heavy relationship from their meeting, but it seemed like they only ever had passion, and no lasting connection. Jef took longer to kiss Emily, but they built up a friendship and then quickly caught up on the passion. A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted Jef to win, and I hadn’t looked back since. Yes, I still found Emily and Arie very attached to the lips when they were together, but Emily and Jef seemed to have a much more strong connection.
In the finale, we see Jef and Arie meet her parents and brother and watch Emily confused about who to choose and whether to introduce Ricky to anybody. Before her date with Arie even commences, she knows she has fallen in love with Jef and plans to tell Arie that before their date and before he proposes a few days later. She’s so noble and such a wonderful person because of it.
Even though Emily knew that she wanted Jef, she still didn’t know whether she would want to get engaged to him or not. Thankfully, when he asked her if she would marry him she said yes, and on the live After the Final Rose episode immediately afterward they are all cute and still engaged and planning a life together. I’m so excited for them, and I hope they continue to prosper.
Next up, we will get a season of Bachelor Pad (starting tomorrow at 8pm) with Chris and Kalon from this season, men and women from past seasons, and fans added in to the mix as well. I’m not sure how I feel about adding fans into this show, because I like seeing all of the ‘characters’ from the old bachelor/ette seasons, but oh well. Hopefully it turns out well! I’m definitely excited to see Michael Stagliano on this season of Bachelor Pad because I’ve always liked him so much. Apparently Chris is hooking up with everyone on this season and Kalon isn’t the worst of the bad guys. We shall see! Look for my review tomorrow!
What did you think of the season?