THE BACHELOR 2/28/11: 3 Down To 2 + *POLL*

Well now…this episode was SOMETHING.  Let’s jump right into it:

Although their first date together early on was PRETTY cute, I have to say Ashley never really stood out to me much after that.  There was something about her that irritated me, and sure enough…she couldn’t quite keep it out of the picture.

The date with Brad was just…AWKWARD.  And I gotta say, in my opinion, a lot of it was due to Ashley.  I totally don’t blame Brad for “getting down” with all the deep questions.  And Ashley WASN’T answering ANY of them CLEARLY.  Like she just kept rambling, and wasn’t really giving Brad any kind of “hope” for a real relationship.  You can tell how CAREER-DRIVEN she is, which is fine…but really, she didn’t make Brad feel comforted AT ALL that there was a place for him in those plans/dreams.  Then when Brad started getting frustrated, she didn’t HELP things AT ALL.  If anything she got even “quieter”…and you could tell that she was getting frustrated with how Brad was acting too.  She was just irritating me already.  But that’s why this show/process is so TOUGH…you feel all this PRESSURE to have to create a FULL-BLOWN romantic relationship with someone in a matter of WEEKS!  In a real situation, you wouldn’t feel the NEED to get SO DEEP SO FAST.  But on the other hand, Ashely was NOT giving Brad much to work with.  I think they needed this awkwardness…so that they (or Brad) knew that this was NOT going to work.

When Brad said goodbye to Ashley during the rose ceremony, you could tell Ashley was quite annoyed with the outcome.  But realistically…COME ON ASHLEY…how can you think that after THAT date, that you WOULDN’T get kicked out?!

EMILY vs CHANTAL

We have our Top 2!  And I seriously wouldn’t have thought Chantal would be there, if I’m being honest.  If I’m looking at these two ladies, for me there’s no contest.  Emily is MILES AHEAD of Chantal, imo.

You know that Brad & Chantal have chemistry…no denying that.  But for me, that’s about ALL there is.  He says he feels the most comfortable with her…which if you compare him with her versus Emily, OBVIOUSLY Brad is a “basketcase” around Emily…but in a sweet way.  But I don’t feel like Chantal is a LIFE PARTNER for Brad.  Yeah, he can have a good time with her and all, but…his WIFE FOREVER?!  Uh…NO.

Emily is so sweet and genuine…you can TELL when she told Brad that she’s falling in love with him, that just MADE HIS LIFETIME.  It’s still funny to be just HOW nervous Brad still is around Emily.  He’s really got shake that off already!  I mean…in two weeks he could be PROPOSING to this woman!  But what’s making me torn about Emily is that I KINDA feel like she’s TOO GOOD for Brad.  I really do – I’m using Brad’s “favorite” term.  I think if he picks Em, the whole instant fatherhood thing will be the most difficult for him to handle.  But if Brad actually does propose to Emily and they actually MAKE IT, I gotta give it to Brad…he would’ve come a LONG WAY.

What do you think?

THE BACHELOR 1/31/11: 11 Down To 8

We really haven’t seen much of Shawntel until now.  I’m glad she got a one-on-one date.  Ai, I know you were saying you liked her…and after this date, I will say YES…I like her too.  She’s very cute.  I actually wouldn’t have expected that she would’ve embraced a HIGH-END (and we’re talking HIGH-END) shopping spree…she didn’t seem like “that type” to me.  But she looked great in all the clothes and outfits.  She seems very normal, and she’s very pretty…I’m trying to pinpoint who she looks like…Ai?  I wanna say Ali the Bachelorette but a brunette version…but I don’t think that’s quite who I mean.  Just can’t think about anything else.  Brad & Shawntel’s “embalming” conversation was QUITE entertaining.  She seems very serious about her job, and Brad was a good sport about listening/being interested in it, especially considering they were discussing it over dinner.

The only thing I wasn’t too fond of with Shawntel was when she came back from her date with all her shopping bags, she basically gave the rest of the girls a fashion show of all the things Brad “bought” her.  It was a bit much.  She should’ve “toned it down” a little.  I know she said she felt bad about showing them…but she still did.  I guess it’s kinda hard NOT to when the girls are all bugging her…and I didn’t necessarily feel like she was “rubbing it in,” but I felt like she could’ve somehow handled it better.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES that for the group date, they’d be going to the RACE TRACK like that?!  And that it had that much of a connection to Emily and Brad didn’t know?!  I’m thinking SOMEONE behind the scenes gave him the race track suggestion for the date on purpose.  I mean…COME ON!  That COINCIDENCE was just ridiculous!

I totally DON’T BLAME any of the girls for feeling slighted during this date.  Brad went a little OVERBOARD with his attention to Emily.  YES he felt bad for the whole race track thing, but…he was a bit too insensitive about the other girls.  I know he explained it later that he would’ve acted the SAME way no matter WHICH girl this happened to, but…GIVE ME A BREAK.  We all know he’s definitely got a soft spot where Emily is concerned, so he’s GONNA try to REALLY make it up to her even more.  It was too much.

I was really sad that Ashley S. got sent home on the 2-1 date.  I really liked her!  More than Ashley H.!  She seemed more down to earth to me, and she was a bit more insecure about HERSELF than Ashley H was, which I think may have been her down fall.  She’s too sweet for her own good.  And then her reaction to getting the boot?  AWW!  That was a genuine reaction…I didn’t get “drama queen” from it at all!  You could tell she just beat herself up over WHY she didn’t get picked…and I’m worried this rejection really made her think something’s wrong with her!  Poor thing!

Brad’s attraction to Michelle is PURELY PHYSICAL.  That’s pretty evident.  What annoys me more than that fact that Michelle is a PSYCHO is the fact that Brad isn’t bothered with her attitude.  Like YES…it’s good that she’s obviously there to be with him/she only has eyes for him.  But on the other hand, he should be bothered by the fact that she’s always making comments like “time to send these girls home…”  and stuff like that.  You can be very honest about how you want to be with him/think you’re made for him…but you don’t have to “bash” the other girls in order to get him.  Altho there are parts of her “advantage” that are bothersome, I can’t see Emily EVER saying anything like that about any of the other girls.  THAT’S the difference.  And Brad should recognize that.  UGH.

Chantal is starting to annoy me.  She’s always been the TOUGH one with Brad…after all, she’s the one who slapped him when they first met…but this week especially, the way she was acting was irritating.  She’s obviously VERY jealous about the fact that Brad has actual connections with other girls, but she’s very good at “calling him on it.”  And you can tell that Brad is bothered by that too.  Their 1-1 time before the rose ceremony, he seemed kind of annoyed when she was talking to him.  And I don’t know if her getting the last rose this week is a sign…but she better watch out.  Whatever connection they HAD, some of these other girls are definitely pushing that connection down a bit.