One of my guilty pleasures is the TV show series, the Bachelor and The Bachelorette. I find it good, escapist scripted (yes, scripted) television. And why do I say that? Well, it’s a part of why I watch the show even if I know who the eventual “chosen one” is going to be — as I do this year, with Sean’s season. It’s been spoiled — and I won’t say who it is if you don’t want to know. I’ll just call her Little Miss Chosen One.
When I watch the full season of the show, I love to try and figure out what the story is… the one the editing has decided to tell us. That, for me, is where this show becomes scripted and not reality. Sure, the things the men and women say are mostly natural… and they are acting out in crazy ways, doing stupid things sometimes. But this show does an incredible job of taking thousands of hours of raw footage and crafting a story that they unfold throughout the season. Their story includes all the staples of storytelling, too — including foreshadowing.
Do they foreshadow the winner? You betcha. Often they’ll try to hide the winner, but if you know what to watch for, you can see the hints. You can see the pieces of the puzzle that they are laying out for you — even as they throw up red herring (assumed love interest) after red herring (assumed love interest #2, 3, 4 and 5). They want to tell a story, so they create one.
We’re being shown that Sean is this great, family-focused, fun loving, generous “perfect” man. He has the perfect answers, he discriminates against no one, he’s all about having a family — and oh yeah, he looks great with his shirt off.
But two episodes in, we’re being given a lot of footage of the others who make it to the final 4 red herrings—err, women waiting on a rose. The only one of the 4 we have yet to really get to know is the final one.
But…this past Monday, there were a few scenes that gave great clues to the relationship that Sean already had developed with Little Miss Chosen One. Amidst all the scenes of drama, the brief scene we got of their conversation was built of laughter. Silliness. Mirrored body language. Now, Sean has proven himself to be a prankster, to have a silly side. Showing the laughter and fun with his Chosen One was like advertising that she’s connecting to a side he’s expressed is important to him. He wants someone he can love to spend time with even when they are 80 and their looks are gone. (I have to say, given the track record of this show, now we know that Sean is uber optimistic, as well.)
In another scene, Sean arrives at the house full of perfectly well-adjusted women and they stand in a convenient semi circle to greet him. Our Little Miss Chosen One brightens like the sun and instantly reaches over to hand him a drink. According to my husband, that’s the sign of true love. So there you go.
I wonder what the story holds next week…