By: Rebecca Capozzi | Staff-Writer and Treasurer
Frustrating. That is the only word that I can use to describe this week’s episode of The Bachelorette. There were so many ups and downs of this episode. There were more moments of me being upset and frustrated with Clare than not. Let me explain why I was so frustrated while watching this episode.
During the episode, DeAnna Pappas, the Season 4 bachelorette, came to visit Clare and to have a conversation. During that conversation, DeAnna told Clare that she will know when she meets the one, and that she did not have that feeling with anyone until she met her husband. Well, Clare said that she felt that feeling when we met Dale. She then laughed and told DeAnna, “This might be the shortest season ever!”
This is just one way that she has shown how close-minded she is. Yes, I completely understand that she knows that she has the strongest feelings for Dale, but there are also other men who are there for her. She should at least give them a chance before she runs off into the sunset with Dale.
She was supposed to go on a group date on the day that DeAnna came, but told the guys that she wanted to do an extra-long cocktail party instead so that she could have more one-on-one time with the men. I think we all know what she actually meant: she did not want to spend her time hanging out with the other guys when she knew that she could easily spend most of the cocktail party with Dale.
Well, her plan worked. At the cocktail party, Dale was the first to take Clare aside, and told all of the men that he just needed to talk to her for five minutes. That five minutes turned into an hour, which all of the men were very upset about. Clare on the other hand could have spent the whole cocktail party with Dale and would not have cared one bit. The two then got interrupted, causing Clare to have to go and spend time with some of the other men who were fighting for her attention. Bummer.
At the end of the night, Clare gave the group date rose to none other than Dale! As you can guess, the men were not happy about that. One of the men, Eazy, said “I feel cast to the side for no reason.” I bet every other man feels the exact same way.
Clare then went on a one-on-one date with Zach J. It was very obvious how nervous Zach J. was during the entire date, and Clare noticed right off the bat. She said that she was feeling a weird energy from him, and that she wished that the date was with Dale instead. When they were leaving each other to get ready for dinner, Clare leaned in for a kiss, but then suddenly pulled away and started walking away from him. He was very confused, and kept trying to pull her in and kiss her. She kept laughing, walking away, and saying, “Let’s go get ready for dinner!” When it came time for dinner, Zach J. showed up, sat down, and waited for Clare. Then, Chris Harrison showed up and told Zach J. that he was not going to be having dinner with Clare, and that he was instead being sent home.
I think that there are a lot of things wrong with this scenario. First, Clare went into this date wanting it to be with Dale. That is so wrong. She basically gave Zach J. no chance at all. Second, why did she lean in for the kiss in the first place if she did not want to kiss him? She claims that she wanted to kiss him but that he pulled away, but if you look at the clip, he did not pull away at all. I think that she felt obligated to kiss him, but then right before she did, she realized that she did not want to. Third, I think that it was totally disrespectful for her to send Chris Harrison to break up with him and send him home. Although I do agree that Zach J. was a little aggressive when he was trying to kiss her after she rejected him, I do not think that it was an excuse to send him home that way. I just think that Clare does not care about any of the men since she already knows who she wants.
There was also a very interesting group date during this episode. The date was a roast. Everyone wrote down roasts and read them to the audience, which were the men that were not on the date. You guessed it! Dale was in the audience! Did the men roast Dale the entire time? You guess it, yes! Was Clare upset about it? Extremely!
Even though Dale was not at the cocktail party, it was entirely about him. During her time with each of the men, she asked about what they said about Dale and was asking how he is when he’s not around her. All of the men said that they would rather not talk about Dale and would rather get to know each other, but she continued to make the conversations about Dale. She then went on to tell a producer that she was mad that they were roasting her fiancé. Yes, her fiancé. At the end of the date, she did not give a rose to anyone because she did not think that she got anything out of any of the conversations that she had, even though she was the one who did not want to make the conversations about getting to know the other person.
One thing that I applauded Clare for during this episode is how she handled Yosef yelling at her. He was calling her classless, distasteful, and immature. He also said, “I expected a lot more from the oldest bachelorette”; “You’re not setting the right example for my daughter”; and, “I am ashamed to be associated with you.” Clare went right back at him saying, “I would never want my children to have a father like you,” just like she said to Juan Pablo. She also said “I’m the oldest bachelorette that’s 39, that’s standing here, that’s single, because I didn’t settle for men like that.” In that moment, I was cheering her on! Yosef was extremely disrespectful, and I think Clare handled that situation perfectly.
If I am going to be completely honest, I lost a lot of respect for Clare during this episode. I think that she is being very selfish and needs to give the other men a chance. I understand that she thinks that the has found the love of her life, but at least give the other men a chance. I do not think that she has given a single one of them a fair chance against Dale.
Did I expect more from the oldest bachelorette? Yes, I did. But I am not going to say it as aggressively as Yosef did.
Cover Image: rose by Waldemar Jan is licensed under CC1.0 Universal (CC1.0) Public Domain Dedication
