Pre-finale analysis
So after all of this, we're down to two: Chantal and Emily. Now, in a vacuum, Emily wins this without any thought. She's like the human incarnation of Grand Marnier-infused vanilla bean cheesecake with macerated strawberry compote. However, she has a child named after a guy "who didn't land," and is six years into an apparent 50 year grieving process. On the other hand, you have Chantal who enjoys living with a menagerie of pets, spending daddy's Lexus fortune, and eating Twinkies.. but has rather prodigious mammaries. What to do...
Honestly, the only sane choice is to run. But barring that option since it was exhausted four years ago, Brad
should choose Chantal. I won't rehash the reasons, but given the show's truly awful track record of long-term relationships (even beyond a few weeks), you have to start looking for a safe landing area even before take off. With Chantal, there's an easier out. With Emily, erm.. things get complicated. Not only do you have her daughter to figure out, but you have the entire Hendrick family staring at you. As enticing as Emily is ("no-no, I couldn't possibly eat another bite... oh, yes I can."), this doesn't seem like the ideal option for a guy that has commitment issues at 38. Think, godd
ammit,
think.
Then again, we have to consider that Brad is a bit of a lunkhead and will probably find a way to screw this up. If he can't take none of the above, or sex it up with a producer (still giving this 100-1 odds), then he'll have to go with with Emily or Chantal. My unsolicited
expert advice is to take Chantal and get her vocal training for that nasal deal she's got going on, but it seems more and more likely that he's going to embark on
R.M.S. Emily as it careens toward an iceberg at 40 knots. Hopefully the band keeps playing as the ship goes down. Since it's obvious that neither of these choices will result in a wedding, you just have to go with the most manageable situation, and that's Chantal's big butt and a smile. You can never trust it, but you can at least get away from it.
In hindsight, was there anyone that Brad should have chosen instead from this group? Personally, I think
Madison showed that she had some serious potential in small doses, but her laughably bad vampire shtick killed any chance of that evolving. I figured, "okay, she'll show the fangs a couple of times and take them out. Cute." But instead, she kept that up for several
episodes. It's really too bad since she's shown herself to be astoundingly articulate and infinitely more interesting than I ever expected initially... of course,
once she left the show (ugh). NICE GOING, DUMMY. Her text commentary to past episodes (available on the ABC website) were pretty much spot on and entertaining. She's also stunningly gorgeous.
This should be your next Bachelorette, folks. I can also make a strong case for Shawntel. She seemed to be shackled to the family creepatorium, but I think she would have ditched it gleefully. She had all the signs of a repressed female looking for an out. Yes, it would have taken some work, but it would have been a tenth the effort of Emily's impossible situation. Once Shawntel moved away from Chico, I'm fairly certain she would have been all "what's embalming?" Not a hard sell. Other than that, it's difficult to say if there were better options based on what we know. Michelle was certified nutty (I've seen the paperwork), so let's not even go there. Some of the "stealth" options are interesting in hindsight, like
Lindsay (a personal favorite) and
Lisa M. Sadly, we'll never know.
As to the next Bachelorette,
insider signs are pointing to the contestant formerly known as Ashley H., and I have almost uniformly negative opinions on that. First, what on earth was she thinking with that makeover? It's like she entered the Witness Protection Program on a discount voucher. Oof, try again, sister. If that kind of of thing is going to be rewarded, the system is flawed. Second, I don't think Ashley resonated with the general viewing public, and as the usually misguided Otis rightly pointed out, she's not that attractive anyway. She does have an okay personality, so it wouldn't be a total snoozer, but my god I think we can do better here. At least give the guys a reason to tune in. This tradition of picking some sad sack loser for the next show probably needs to go the way of the
Raphus cucullatus. Let's spice it up here, for the love of Chris Harrison. And speaking of driftwood, can't ABC embark on a joint venture with IBM to create some witty cyber-host to replace the current android model? I liked the fancy fútbol moves he pulled on a throng of five year olds at that run down school in South Africa, but that was perhaps his finest and most creative moment in a full decade of doing the show. This must be the easiest show in the world to produce, as a consequence. The script hasn't changed in its entire history. Now that we have Trip Advisor and Priceline, a team of interns can probably book everything in a week.
I, along with you, eagerly await our arrival on this glorious epic, some might say
Homerian, journey to find true, pure, honest,
real love. Sadly, our hero will go through the requisite motions to get that 25% contract-mandated enthusiasm bonus, but
after the final rose, the bloom will soon wilt, and we'll be stuck watching a dentist struggle to be normal as a stable of attention-seeking male whores vie for her pseudo-affections and the right to put gravy on her fries. Mmm.. sounds delish.
Until the next awkward iteration, I bid you.. adiós.
MP