The Bachelor, and is It really worth it?

Alright ladies and gents, it's the moment you've all been waiting for, the most DRAMATIC BACHELOR FINALE EVER!! I would actually like it if Chris Harrison just admitted that, you know, it's not actually that dramatic, you all saw this coming, don't even bother watching it. Yeah Chris I said it, not actually that dramatic at all. Sorry 'bout it. (not actually sorry, though I apologize for saying actually like a billion times in the last paragraph, actually it was more like 6 times, but whatever).

~These are my Pre-Finale Predictions~ 
(I swear I wrote this a week ago after I watched the Women Tell All Episode)

We'll see if I'm right once I watch the episode, but I thought I'd chronicle what I thought would happen before the actual viewing of the train wreck I'm predicting will occur.

For one, I think we all can agree that Ben is definitely going to choose Courtney over the likable (and sane!) Lindzi. I mean how many girls have tried to warn him about her? Like all of them? I think the only reason Lindzi is still there over Nicki is that she's the only girl left who hasn't said anything bad about Courtney. He made up his mind on day one when she walked out of that limo and told him she was a model. Boom! Decision made, done.

I think the After the Rose is going to be super awkward though. I mean, really, she was a complete bitch to everyone all season long. Her claims of trying to make it work with the girls will be shown to be completely unfounded and Ben will have to face the fact that he made a mistake in letting Kacie B. go. Yeah I'm a Kacie B. fan, the biggest injustice of this season was Ben sending her home. My only consolation is that she's almost a shoe in for the next-next Bachelorette after Emily Maynard (I almost want to shoot myself at this point for knowing so much about this show, but we shall persevere)

I think Courtney's whole "heartfelt" apology on the Women Tell All episode was caused by Ben's reaction to her behavior all season and we're going to see some of that tension in the After the Rose. At least I hope so. I hope he realizes the error of his ways. Maybe he'll pull a Jason Mesnick and they'll have Kacie come back and he'll declare his undying love for her, and they'll live happily ever after.

Probs not.... let's be real how many of these relationships make it? Like maybe 3 out of all of the seasons? I'm not too worried about Ben and Courtney's chances.

~After watching the Episode~

Now that I've seen the final episode and suffered through the After the Rose special, I have some different observations to impart. Ben and Courtney deserve each other. I'm glad he didn't choose anyone else and subject them to his weird erratic behaviors. "Oh Courtney, you're my forever girl" blah blah blah, "I know it will be hard, but we'll make it through together" (these are not actual quotes, just dramatizations of what I'm sure occurred, he did however say she was his forever, so that's accurate, I just didn't know he was unaware of the definition of forever. I guess winery owners don't also need to know the English language, whateves). He knew she was disliked by all the other girls, that they didn't trust her and had reasons. Maybe it's true that they were unable to give him specific examples, (I'm not even going to go into how often men need "specific examples" as though my emotions aren't enough evidence or something) but that should not have discounted the sheer number of women who all came together under the single purpose of warning him about Courtney. If he was going to discount all that, which he did, he should have been prepared to deal with the consequences of that. Oh you flip-flopping untrustworthy young man, so fickle in your affections.

I would also like to retract any hope of a reconciliation with Kacie B, my personal favorite. She deserves so much more than what Ben was capable of offering her. I seriously hope she's the next Bachelorette chosen. That's a girl I can cheer on!

WHAT A CUTIE! 

We all know, I believe, at this point that Ben had made up his mind very early on in the series. Let's be honest about it, Courtney is a very attractive woman, and she was using all her best tricks and treats to win that guy over. I'm surprised they didn't go skinny dipping more often but maybe the show's producers put their collective foot down and said America had to believe Ben was giving these other girls an equal chance at love. I'm not going to argue that he didn't have "feelings" for these... oh sorry, "strong feelings," never mind that he didn't specify what kind of feelings those were, for these other girls, but those feelings were nothing to the fierce blaze of unbridled lust he felt towards Courtney. He was leading them all on, and frankly I'm a little disgusted.

I would like to add a disclaimer at this point. I do not take this show seriously at all, it is definitely a guilty pleasure type of thing, along the same lines as Dance Moms and The Real Housewives of Atlanta. For the most part I don't really care what happens, but I can't help getting attached at least a little bit to some of the people. I think Chris Harrison is hilarious for one thing. He always asks the most ridiculous questions during interviews then presents this solidly unflappable poker face when the girls burst into tears or Ben presents some insincere platitude about how hard this all is. I think the only hard thing about being the Bachelor is having fun while maintaining the facade of a nice guy that America expects. I also thought that Kacie B was a sweet heart and Nicki had a good heart, and Ben wasn't worthy of any of them.

So part of me hates Courtney and the other part, a larger part actually, feels sorry for her. She fucked up over the course of the series. She let her, what she calls "sassy" and what the rest of us call "bitchy" side out due to the pressure she was under in the house. I can understand wanting to be a little vindictive with the other girls. I mean, come on, you are all living in a house together, going out of dates, sometimes group dates (which just sounds like another name for my worst nightmare) with the same guy that you're all supposed to be "finding love" with, whatever that means. Any one of those things would be sure to cause a lot of stress but we got a cluster fuck with all of them combined. This cluster fuck is what makes the great television, but it spelled trouble for the volatile model. She let that stress get to her and instead of working past it, like almost everyone else did, and choosing to form friendships with the only other people she could talk to, she chose to turn into the bitch that is within all of us. Her biggest mistake was unleashing the inner bitch on national television. Her actions are understandable to a certain extent but I think she went past what can be considered acceptable and just kind of reveled in the pain and anxiety she was causing in the other girls, "twisting the knife" as Chris so eloquently put it. She genuinely appeared as though she loved Ben once we took her away from the other girls, so perhaps those feelings are real. We probably won't know until we see if their budding relationship lives past the shit-storm of controversy that is about to rain down on them. 

 Ben did not handle himself very gracefully either though. Not only was it clear to everyone watching the show that he had made up his mind on Courtney before the romantic fantasy suite episodes (bad form sir, bad form) but he did not stick with his lady. I think the controversy over Ben choosing Courtney over anyone else would have been salvageable if he had stuck with her through it all and they had provided a united front to the world on the After the Rose episode. However, he decided to renege on his vow and they enjoyed a brief separation to their relationship while the show was airing. "Here have this rose, oh wait sorry, I'll just take that back now... Awkward." It didn't help that their stories were so confusing and inarticulate when Chris questioned them on the show, going from, "we broke up" to "I still consider us a couple" to "we're engaged" all the while Courtney is crying and talking about trust issues like the broken record she is. 

That's my biggest issue with her, why would a girl with such big trust issues go on the Bachelor show at all? HELLO? You're on the show with 24 other girls who he is kissing and possible having carnal relations with. This does not seem like a fertile environment for trust to grow. Quiet the contrary, but then again I'm old fashioned, I'd like a little monogamy before I entertain the idea of an engagement. This makes me think Courtney didn't go into with the "right" reasons but I guess she found them while she was there because she loves Ben now... again, they kind of deserve each other.

I feel bad for Lindzi, but I honestly think she dodged a bullet here. She was obviously too normal to be attractive to Ben. He was looking for a more unhinged model, (I crack myself up) and he found it in Courtney. What infuriates me is that Ben made up all these excuses for why Lindzi wasn't the one, "she hasn't opened up all the way yet" "I think I would need more time with her" ummmm, yeah. You've known each other for what? Two months? And for the majority of that time you were dating what like, 20 other girls at the same time? I would need more time to open up to you too. This is a process. Lindzi, good for you, you were not drawn in by his strangely hypnotic floppy hair and weird lips. You got this, you had the correct and sane response to the situation. Don't let anyone make you feel as though you did not. I'm not worried about Lindzi though, she's a smart beautiful strong lady who will not have any troubles achieving whatever she decides she wants to go after. But I do not think they're going to be bringing her back for a season of the Bachelorette, nor do I think she'll take them up on it if they offer it to her. Plus it's obvious Chris is in the process of grooming Kacie B for the task. I mean come on, those questions about whether she feels as though she is ready for love again asked on the Women Tell All Episode? I think he has a soft spot for little Kacie B. Adorable!

Well now I'm going to go and read something intellectual to make up for all the brain power I've wasted obsessing about this show. Toodles everyone, at least until the Bachelorette with Emily Maynard airs in May! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA then the madness BEGINS AGAIN!