Before Ashley Hebert's version of “The Bachelorette” (hereafter referred to as TB) premiered, I vowed never to watch it. I felt shortchanged from previous seasons after the leads and their chosen typically broke up months after the show wrapped up.
So on that Monday night when Ashley met the 25 hopeful bachelors, I felt a sense of pride thinking that I had finally overcome my formerly TB-addicted self by watching a dvd movie instead. The next day on the ride home, my reality TV bus buddy (Doug) asked if I watched the TB meet-and-greet episode. I told him that I missed it and, without mincing words, made it known to him that I was totally done with TB and had no intention of watching the coming episodes. Well, Doug gave me "the look"... the how-dare-you-not-watch-it-so-that-we-can-compare-notes kind of rexpression. That look succeeded in making me second-guess my decision. You see, Doug is not just any guy I share the homeward ride with. He’s my reality TV partner in crime!
So I assured him that I would catch the TB premiere rerun that coming Saturday night. The weekend came and I almost didn’t want to keep my promise. To be honest, the TB premiere cocktail party meet-and-greet has been anything but exciting. This time there was a masked guy who made this season utterly disdainful. For me the first episode left a bad taste in the mouth when one guy named Tim (a liquor distributor) got himself shamelessly drunk and ended up snoring himself to sleep. Ashley made her first out-of-the-box move by sending the drunken bachelor home. If that man was really there to meet TB and find love, he should have made sobriety his first priority, right?
Honestly, from that episode on I could have turned away from TB, but the season previews became fodder for my curiosity. Ashley cried a bucket of tears and it seemed that she was crying in every episode. I had never watched a bachelorette cry so much and I just had to see what the drama was all about.
I couldn't believe that despite pre-taping warnings from a fellow bachelorette about one of the bachelors (Bentley's) malicious intentions, Ashley allowed herself to dive deep, only to fall flat on her face. Bentley became the center of her TB universe to the unfair disadvantage of the other bachelors who were there to find love.
The Bentley brouhaha inspired in me a feeling of loathing for the TB producers for allowing such disrespectful below-the-belt behavior towards the lead. After a short stay at the bachelor pad, Bentley left and broke Ashley's heart. Even with Bentley gone, TB failed to get closure and even in the company of the more deserving bachelors, she couldn't help thinking about him. In Hong Kong Ashley got a Chris Harrison surprise: an unexpected visit from Bentley. The opportunity allowed her to see him for what he really was, never mind that it came after satan-trapped-in-a-man's-body got an all expense-paid trip to Asia. Her Bentley fixation over, TB finally woke up from her self-induced coma before she ended up looking like a total fool.
Hong Kong may have been the end of her Bentley romantic folly, but it was the beginning of her genuine love quest. The dates happened in exotic places in Asia that many people can only dream about. The South Pacific Fiji epsiodes provided a breathtaking setting for Ashley's journey in finding her man.
In the past when watching TB, one guy usually stands out as the one who would get the girl. In this season, the guy named Jordan Paul Rosenbaum (J.P. for short) was my pick for Ashley. From my TV comfort zone, he seemed to have the qualities of a husband material... mature, honest, protective, sincere, trustworthy, even jealous. If he's also financially independent, he certainly had my vote. He seemed the type who would catch Ashley if and when she fell. In addition, he lit up in the TB's company. Ashley must have known he was the one because he was the first bachelor she confided in about her Bentley encounter in Hong Kong. The rest of the guys found out about it during the cocktail party, but JP had a handle on the matter before anyone else. That screamed volumes!
Then later on when Ryan (the bachelor who was sent home prior to the hometown dates) dropped in unexpectedly in Fiji to plead his case, again JP was the first to know about it. It was obvious that TB was comfortable baring her heart to this guy! In other words, long before the hometown dates... the fantasy dates... the final dates... and the Final Rose Ceremony, I had the suspicion that JP would be wearing the last rose on his lapel. Never mind that Ashley’s older sister Chrystie gave JP hell during the meet-the-family date. JP got mad for being judged so harshly and Ashley called her sister (whose opinion she valued most in the world) that nasty five-letter word that starts with a “b.” I knew from that point on that Ashley was JP-attached. One only had to look at the sticky glances Ashley and JP exchanged, and the unmistakable chemistry only bodies SuperGlued together can demonstrate, to realize that the JP-A coupling was bound to happen.
So in the end the construction manager from New York and the dentist-to-be from Maine sealed their romantic deal on the beautiful shore of Fiji. Ashley ended up with a gorgeous $60,000 Neil Lane diamond engagement ring. In post-Finale interviews, Ashley has declared her intentions to move to New York to be with The One. Now it’s anybody’s guess whether or not Ashley’s plan to be married next fall would come to pass. For the sake of TB happy ending, I hope she becomes Mrs. J.P. Rosenbaum.
photo credit: abc
