Bachelor Recaps 2017

Nick proposes to Vanessa Many of us regard sports as folklore. What captures our imagination is not simply the winning and losing. We love the stories. We embrace the stories of perseverance. We respect the stories of sheer will. We admire the stories of hard work. We cry at the stories of heartbreak. We are in wonder at the stories of miracles. We relish stories of triumph and tragedy. And finally, we root endlessly for the stories of comebacks. This season of the Bachelor has been presented as a sporting event by the producers who try to convey Nick’s “journey for love” as a miraculous comeback. The producers portray Nick as if he were an Olympic caliber swimmer who twice placed third by the narrowest of margins in the Olympic swimming trials. He endured the devastation of those disappointments and missed competing in the Olympics. But as the bachelor ,he was getting one final chance to qualify. We would be hard pressed not to root hard for such a swimmer who would ha...

Can the Bachelor Ride into the sunset? The working premise of The Bachelor is that the last one standing in Nick's journey for love will earn his final rose and  perhaps an engagement.. However, Rachel has already been announced as the next Bachelorette even as she seems to me to have the most going for her so we are really down to three candidates. While Rachel is offering Bachelor Nation some insights into her growing affection for our boy  she mentions that Nick covers every box in her checklist.  I ponder this for a moment and consider  the approach of using a checklist to help make a determination in the mate selection process. Of course, everyone wants an attractive mate and lets throw in a few other defining characteristics such as smarts, sense of humor, attractive personality, nice family , perhaps athleticism and for good measure lets toss in an unappreciated bonus-smells good. Using this kind of approach,  the mate s...

Draining the swamp the old fashioned way We have hometown visits this week as Nick's journey for love takes him to visit the families of the four remaining candidates. The hometowns offer a bit of reality into the equation so this action can offer our boy Nick some insight into a possible future.. The family is a very important element of the mate selection process . Some say if you want to know what the girl will be like in 25-30 years then have a look at the mother ...Others make the case one marries into a family .... I am reminded of the mate selection process in some cultures is left to the parents  -recall the matchmaker song in Fiddler on the Roof - a bit different than the process brought to us  by the producers of the bachelor. Matchmaker Matchmaker make me a match Raven Visit: We see Raven introduce Nick to Southern hospitality and fun by riding a quad around and ending up in a swamp. Nick shows he is...

Chris Introduces Rachel as next Bachelorette In a surprise , the producers announced after the show that Rachel will be the next Bachelorette On to the recap:     Sea Lions      Watching nature shows can be informative about human behavior as well as in the animal kingdom. I recall watching one about sea lions with the story about  males competing with each other for the right to monopolize the females during the breeding season. Not all the males can be the alpha so one strategy to gain access to the females was to establish positions on the periphery of the females. When the alpha was busy (breeding , fighting , eating, etc.) the periphery  males would seize the moment to take a run at the females. These periphery males would rarely take on the alpha male and just hover around waiting to sneak in for a quick breeding action. I see our boy Nick the Weasel...

Rachel and Nick dance in the streets of New Orleans The past two weeks has been helpful winnowing down the candidates in Nick the Weasel’s journey for love.  The producers send Nick and the ladies down to New Orleans hoping the festive atmosphere offers the right setting for our boy and his team of love candidates. To start the festivities, we have a one on one date with Rachel, the attorney from Dallas,Texas. They eat local food, dance in the streets and have an all around good time. Nick is stunned that he is so taken by Rachel as we have rarely seen him so enthused.  Rachel is a conduit for joy and we can understand Nick's enthusiasm. Rachel impresses Bachelor Nation with her warmth, charm , looks and athleticism. I suggest Rachel is being set up to be the next Bachelorette rather than the final rose recipient even as she appears to be a atop the leaderboard for Nick’s final rose. Rachel showing some athleticism Nowhere during the show do the produ...