I wondered this as well but I also think it brought some awareness to the issue of jealousy causing women to pit against each other. I’ve been watching bachelor since season one, and I’m 26. This season made me reflect on my own character more than ever.
They brought in five more women for dramatic purposes. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m closer in age now to the girls on the show but I got major middle and high school flashbacks. I think this was a great season of women who were put in a position that brought the worst out in them. They were quarantined for 2 weeks, left their families and jobs during a pandemic, the drama started immediately, Matt denied them of more cocktail parties than any bachelor or bachelorette in history!
They showed 3 or 4 dates tonight that we never saw because the drama was so intense they couldn’t fit it into the episodes. And I do not mean to pin the actions of the women on one particular person, but I went to school with girls like Victoria, a queen bee. Victoria is a bully. And the girls I knew like her could be really intoxicating when they’d bully. That’s a whole other topic...
I was shocked to see no mention of Sarah. I was shocked Victoria said something to Anna at the WTA about the rumor about Brittany around the house, because they teamed up and had big ass smiles on their faces when they thought they had some dirt on Brittany, and they were laughing together at Sarah’s expense too. Victoria’s apologies felt very insincere and I felt she defended herself in calling Ryan a hoe in mentioning people saying stuff about her eyes and bra straps showing, as if her targeting Ryan as a hoe for being a dancer was the same thing. I think that’s why Katie mentioned karma. I was shocked to hear MJ attempt to say something about women boosting each other up. I really liked her at first but I feel like she made a scapegoat apology and then turned around and defended herself for “calling people out,” like almost directly quoting Katie. She wasn’t as bad but she definitely hopped on the train against Sarah and the “OG” bandwagon. Those poor five women had no clue what they were getting into and the timing of their arrival was not their choice, so why were they treated so badly by the other women??
I really think this group of women are amazing, but got caught up in drama that brought bad behavior out of them. I remember saying on like the second episode “this is a group of incredible women, I’m so excited.” And it just became so disappointing. My blame isn’t entirely on Victoria, I think Bachelor needs to work on creating an environment where this can still be entertaining without pitting these women against each other for entertainment. As much as an “evil character” on a reality show is a guilty pleasure of mine, I’ve never been more frustrated with a season and unsatisfied with how they handled it. I wish the women had taken more responsibility for the way they acted and treated Sarah, Katie, Hannah, and the five women that came in late. And I wish the topic of Victoria being a bully had been addressed better because I think she got away with saying some really horrible things about the other women that contradict the entire ideal of building other women up.