Is The Bachelor the problem?
Producers made Peter Weber’s season of The Bachelor the most dramatic one yet
Jennifer Mossuto / Copy Editor / The USD Vista
I was never one of those people who watch The Bachelor. In all honesty, I thought it was a staged reality television show and I could not have cared less about watching 30-year-old men find a girlfriend.
But then everything changed. I watched Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor that aired in January of 2019. The first few episodes consisted of a constant cringing from me and my friends because of all the virginity jokes, but Colton stole my, alongside many others’, heart. The only girl Colton actually cared about tried to leave the show because it was too much for her to handle. But then he changed the entire process by instantly cancelling his last two dates. He left and went to her hotel room to get her back. No proposal. No newly-engaged tears. But they still ended up perfectly happy. I mean really, what’s better than watching two people fall in love over the course of three months? It’s like a romantic comedy that never ends plus a few routine catfights.
But this isn’t the point. The point is that this current season, with Peter Weber as the bachelor, is becoming as painful to watch as people anticipated due to the producers’ never-ending need for drama. The producers are the main source of all of the ridiculous events that take place on this show. As much as I was a diehard fan of Cassie and Colton’s relationship, there is always unnecessary drama and awkwardness that comes with watching the show. However, this season the producers have truly worked their hardest to give us the most awkward, annoying, and dramatic season yet.
At first, viewers were upset because we have yet another white, relatively wealthy bachelor who is older than all the girls. This is likely the producers’ fault and Peter can’t help who they bring on the show or how old they are — Peter actually seems really nice. There are nice guys, and there are guys that are so nice that if you ran into them at Starbucks they’d probably spark up a casual conversation about the weather, or more realistically planes because that’s all Peter talks about. He seemed excited to be on the show and genuinely excited to find a wife (who can live with him in his parents’ house). Well, now that the season is reaching an end, I think it has been decided that this season was not as successful as expected.
Where did it go wrong? First — the girls. They all happen to be pageant queens. Kelsey Weier, known for her exploding champagne in the face scene, is Miss Iowa 2017. Then we have Hannah Ann Sluss, a clear frontrunner of the season, is former Miss North Knoxville. There is Victoria Paul, who started off as America’s sweetheart nurse, holds the title of Miss Louisiana USA 2019. Madison Prewett, another frontrunner, competed in the 2014 Miss Alabama Teen USA pageant. Lastly, Alayah Benavidez, current Miss Texas USA, was sent home but magically reappeared for another dramatic episode before going home, yet again. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with pageant queens. One thing is for sure, these girls are confident and know how to develop a connection with Peter. However, how is it possible that they found this many to come on the show? Is it because Peter fell in love with Hannah Brown (the last bachelorette) and she is Miss Alabama 2019? Well, if the shoe fits.
Our last four contestants are 22, two are 23, and 25 years old, with Peter being a mature 28 years old. This leads everyone, including Peter, to question if they are ready for marriage, because that is the show’s real intention besides providing lots of memes and SugarBearHair vitamin sponsors. However, Peter could be asked this same question, because he is certainly not acting like he’s ready either. For example, a few episodes ago, Madison Prewett told Peter she sees a future with him and that she wouldn’t still be there if she didn’t, and Peter said, “I’m glad you told me that” rather than a simple, “Me too.” Similarly, Kelley Flanagan, who recently went home, called Peter out for not being ready for marriage by rewarding the drama the girls have been starting.
Peter loves the drama. Actually, since I am just an average viewer and cannot prove that, I will say the producers are having a pretty good time controlling Peter and convincing him to let this unnecessary drama continue. He is so nice that he will go on a two-on-one date with the two most unlikeable girls of the season, and then send them both home with way more screen time than they deserved, just because the producers probably asked him to. For reference, a two on one is when he goes on one date with two girls and as you can guess, it never goes well.
It is also allegedly true that the producers suggested to one of the girls, Hannah Ann, to open a bottle of champagne with Peter. What they did not tell Hannah Ann, was that another girl, Kelsey Weier, brought a very special bottle that she wanted to open with Peter. And then Kelsey got mad, Hannah Ann cried and claimed that Kelsey bullied her, and the producers cheered as they claimed victory again. This scene is where we were provided with Kelsey’s famous line, “Me saying unkind words to you … that is not bullying.”
Another famously unnecessary moment of the season was when Victoria Fuller’s one-on-one with Peter led her to a concert where none other than her ex-boyfriend, Chase Rice, was performing. Better yet, Peter actually suggested that Chase play at their wedding.
It seems obvious that the girls are getting extremely tired of being controlled by the producers to create more drama for the show, rather than focusing on why they are really there — for Peter.
On another note, the theories of this season are truly the most outrageous, but actually plausible, ones I’ve heard in awhile. For starters, lots of viewers think that someone ends up pregnant at the end of this season. If you watch any clip of this season, you will find out why this is a theory. Peter is really running with the windmill joke from Hannah Brown’s season and it shows. If you don’t know, the windmill joke refers to Peter and Hannah getting intimate in a windmill on their overnight date. Another theory is that he ends up with one of his producers, Julie LaPlaca, because she has been seen in the same place as him and in photos with him very recently. It is surprising to not have any “real” finale spoilers yet, as by now it is usually very common to accidentally find out who wins.
I personally would love to see Madison Prewett come out on top; the high school basketball star who met Peter’s parents on the first one-on-one date when they renewed their vows. I also have a hunch that the famous trailer of Peter’s mom sobbing and yelling, “Don’t let her go” is about Madison.
Although Peter’s season is not the greatest that we’ve seen due to the producers’ need for drama, it is coming to a quick end. As the weeks of roses are dwindling, we are left with three girls going into fantasy suites: Victoria Fuller, Hannah Ann Sluss, and Madison Prewett. Will Peter the pilot find love? Probably. Will it last? Viewers will have to wait until March 9 to find out.