Brief summary in case you’ve missed a couple episodes here and there: "The Bachelorette" aired on May 18 with two women, Kaitlyn Bristowe and Britt Nilsson, and 25 guys. The guys voted and decided Kaitlyn would be the Bachelorette for the season. She then puts these guys through some of the dumbest group dates, one-on-ones, and rose ceremonies there ever were, while crying at least five times an episode.
The two contestants left were Nick Viall and Shawn Booth. Nick came on mid-season, slept with Kaitlyn, and is questionably just a guy seeking his 15 minutes of fame. Shawn Booth is a personal trainer from Connecticut; you may know him because four weeks into the show there was a leaked Snapchat video of him and Kaitlyn cuddling (see picture).
The episode begins like most other episodes. This one involves a few dates, some tears, and Nick attempting to prove that he is "here for all the right reasons." But I’m sorry #TeamNick because Kaitlyn did in fact pick Shawn. Whether you are disappointed, jumping for joy, or really DGAF about the whole situation, let it sink in that this is the 11th season of "The Bachelorette" and only five couples have actually stayed together out of the 29 seasons of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette," so chances are they are not staying together.
Moral of the story, the idea of a TV series dedicated to finding love in a game show manner is a bit absurd and seems to be all for media attention. We condone the behavior by positively reinforcing it through addictively watching and following the entire season, and by featuring the contestants on the cover of every magazine. I’m even guilty of being so annoyed by the thought of finding love on a TV show, and yet I continue to watch it. Even though it doesn’t seem realistic to think that two people can be matched together and fall in love in about 10 weeks, the part that freaks me out the most is the fact that this is all filmed in advance, so now the couple is watching the season, while Kaitlyn is literally with 24 other guys.
It just seems like it has to be painful to watch from Shawn’s perspective. I believe that the reason "Bachelor"/"Bachelorette" couples break up isn’t the fact that they are forced to fall in love with someone picked for them after 10 weeks out of a finite number of suitors, but the fact that an engaged couple has to watch while one of them is being super romantic with other people. Even Kaitlyn says at the beginning of her final episode that she is in love with both guys. We already know that Shawn has trust issues so chances of this actually working out must be slim to none. But on the other hand, maybe Shawn and Kaitlyn belong together because let’s face it, I’ve never seen two people cry more in my entire life.
To be honest, as long as Ben H. is the next Bachelor, I don’t care what happened during Kaitlyn’s season. And TG for crazy Claire putting herself back out there for "The Bachelor in Paradise." Do yourself a favor and watch the trailer.
