Jenn and Her Insufferable Men: Bachelorette 21, Episode 2
Jenn seems like she legitimately likes obnoxious men. Hate that for her.
Hello good people! So before I start my recap, I wanted to talk about the lackluster casting. While Jenn has some standouts (Hakeem and Thomas N. imo) a lot of these guys seem random. Which in turn makes me feel like casting either didn’t know Jenn or didn’t care.
Let’s get one thing straight, this show is about entertainment. If production and casting were in the actual business of matching-making, I don’t think there’d be yearly racism scandals or regular sexual assault allegations. These men (and women) would be properly vetted for fit with the lead, instead of being vetted for fit on the TV show/in the franchise.
Despite this, I expected better from the cast of the first Asian Bachelorette. This feels like Rachel Lindsay’s season all over again. While she had more men of color than we were used to seeing, production seemed to cast (and according to Rachel did cast) a bunch of Black men who didn’t really date Black women. That’s a problem.
It’s not enough to select a diverse cast for leads of color, you need to select a diverse cast that is also interested in and has a history of dating all sorts of people. Jenn has gone on record saying that most of her inner circle and dating history has been with Asian men or men of color, so why wouldn’t you select a cast that reflects that and is also open to interracial love? Not only is it unfair to the contestants and the lead, but it sets up the audience for a bad viewer experience as well.
I don’t know how Jenn’s journey will end (I like to watch unspoiled—so no spoilers here please!) but I hope production takes seriously what it means to successfully produce a diverse and inclusive show. Or that they learn to double down on the racist mess they’ve been giving us with Rachel and Matt James seasons. Because if most of your fanbase is racist, and you’re cool with that, then just be honest about it! Sure, they’d lose me as a fan/viewer, but there are other relationship shows to fill the void, maybe I’d finally get into Love Island (it’s just too many episodes y’all).
Ok, on to the recap!
This week’s cold open Devin and Thomas N. are going at it. Y’all, it’s week TWO. Thomas even tells Devin to fuck off! I was eager to see what got the men to that point.
Jenn and her 18 men are in Melbourne and it looks beautiful. I’ve never cared about visiting Australia, but the views lowkey sold me. At least the scouters are taking their job seriously!
Let’s Find Love in Melbourne
On the date: Sam N., Marvin, Brian, Jonathan, Aaron, Grant, Jeremy, Devin,
It’s Jenn’s first group date and the group is exploring Queen Victoria Market, eating, drinking, and sightseeing. We actually saw these men eat a lot. Have we ever seen a date where everyone (except Sam N.) actually eats?
Devin decides to spice things up and grab Jenn for some private time. The dudes are immediately turned off by this, but I’m here for it! If you’re there to see if you and Jenn are compatible and you know you only have ~8 weeks to discover that, every move matters. I find Devin insufferable, but I’m not gonna hate on him for playing to win.
Next, the group is headed to a comedy show where of course they are the butt of the jokes before having to write their own jokes and perform them. It felt a little early for the roasting date. These dates are much funnier when they’ve gotten to know one another for a bit longer so the jokes could be based on personal info about the contestants instead of just mean. Most of the men come for Devin, which is understandable, he sucks. But none of them were funny just a bunch of punch lines that boiled down to “Devin is loud and annoying.”
For the cocktail party, the group is cozying up in what looks like a beautiful Victorian home. Jenn is rocking a silky burnt orange halter dress and it looks luxe, but the faux feathery shawl cheapened the entire look for me.
Jonathan grabs Jenn first and to me, they had more chemistry this time together than in the first episode. It doesn’t hurt that he cleans up well. Grant and Jenn also get some one-on-one time together where it seems like sparks are forming. They share their hopes for a future family and which life moments have been key to who they are today. They seal their time together with a kiss.
Meanwhile, Devin and Aaron (Noah Erb’s twin brother) are fighting about whether they’re right for Jenn. Why do these dummies do this? The peacocking of “I know what’s best for the woman I’ve known for 24 hours” is such a turn-off. Aaron feels like Devin is taking away from his time with Jenn and Devin feels like Aaron needs to chill and not take everything so personally. Unfortunately, Devin is probably right. All you can do in this process is focus on yourself and the lead because otherwise, you’re gonna get caught up and potentially be the victim of a shitty edit. Not worth it. Devin gets the last word (for now) by interrupting Aaron and Jenn’s one-on-one time with ice cream—and only two spoons—in hand.
Aaron tries to get his lick back and it backfires as Devin is the one that ends his night with a kiss. Aaron is still seething and fighting with Devin in front of the other guys. It’s awkward for everyone.
At the end of the night, when Jenn hands out the group date rose, it goes to Grant. Devin and Aaron doing all that back and forth only to lose to a guy playing Chess instead of Candyland.
Diving Into Love
Marcus getting the first one-on-one date of the season is confirmation that they’re trying to set him up as Bachelor, in my opinion. Because why else is he getting the first date? He had a great intro, but he’s not someone who stuck out as having a connection with Jenn in the first episode.
They’re going skydiving and I immediately get flashbacks to Matt James season when Rachel hit the ground hard during their skydiving date. Marcus has extensive experience sky diving, so of course they give him this date, it’ll set him up perfectly to talk about his work life and how he served his country. The audience will love him.
Before heading into the nighttime portion of the date, Marcus tells Jenn that since he helped her conquer her fear of skydiving, he wants her to help him conquer his fear of opening up when they see one another later that evening.
This was supposed to be cute, but to me, it felt more like “be my therapist and responsible for holding all my feelings.” No thanks. Also, how has one managed to survive the front lines of war multiple times, but can’t manage to be vulnerable? Make it make sense.
Jenn says she picked Marcus because she felt comfortable with him from the moment they met. If that’s true, we ain’t see it.
Marcus wastes no time sharing that he wasn’t always a confident and assertive guy, but thanks to almost dying serving in the United States Army, he has been molded into the perfect man that America will swoon over once he’s named Bachelor. And he’s *just* brown enough for production to dodge the racism allegations, but not so brown that the show has to focus on it.
But seriously, Marcus has an incredible story. And I do like the representation of more vets on our screens because I feel like members of the military are lauded when they’re active, but virtually ignored otherwise.
Of course, our next Bachelor gets the rose. But despite what Jenn was saying, she did not seem into him and he doesn’t seem into her either. Their kisses seemed forced, but maybe it was because they just met 48-ish hours ago.
An Australian Wildlife Photoshoot
On the date: Spencer, Sam M., Hakeem, Thomas N., Aaron, Dylan, Jahaan, Thomas A., Austin
The men arrive camera ready for a photo shoot in the Outback with some cute (but very dangerous) animals. Jenn says a man who likes animals is really important to her, which feels like something a kindergartner who wants to be a veterinarian would say, not a grown woman in her late twenties looking for a husband. But ok. She keeps naming these qualities she wants in a man, but they all seem surface-level and inconsequential.
At the end of the photoshoot, Jenn will pick one man to share her evening with. I like it when the group date has these sorts of stakes. I want to see more of Jenn going deep with one man, or a few men, rather than watching her pretend to enjoy a date with half a dozen men.
One by one, the men get to pose with Jenn and an animal local to Australia. There are big rat-looking things, snacks, lizards, koalas, but unfortunately, no kangaroo. It’s Hakeem’s turn to take a photo and the animal he gets to pose with is a spider, one of his biggest fears. Production is so dirty for this. Despite Hakeem and the other men facing some fears during the photoshoot, Dylan wins the special one-on-one time with Jenn.
Sometimes, the editing makes the evening portion of these dates seem so confusing. Jenn says she’s looking for someone who is going to stick up for her and have her back and Dylan’s response is about how his parents got married in six months and his dad has been playing the same song that reminds him of his wife (Dylan’s mom) for 20 years.
Despite the confusing editing, they must of hit it off, because Dylan got the rose and Jenn says their time together allowed them to lay good groundwork.
Devin and Aaron are still fighting. Aaron really wants to tell Devin about himself, but can’t even remember his name 😭. There’s a lot of back and forth, but no understanding is reached. Instead, Aaron “gifts” Devin the book Properties for Self Growth. My kind of pettiness.
Still, I don’t understand why Aaron is going so hard at Devin. He’s annoying, yes, but just let him be annoying. Focus on why you’re there. Don’t burn all your energy on this dude and get sent home week one.
[Pea]Cocktail Party and Rose Ceremony
Going into the cocktail party, we’re reminded that the men from the first group date promised the men who were on the second group date that they’d lay low a bit since the second group lost out on extra time with Jenn. But of course, that didn’t stop Devin from swooping in and grabbing Jenn first.
The men are pissed that he said one thing, but did another. So Thomas N. comes up the steps and instead of interrupting Devin’s time with Jenn and grabbing her, he grabs Devin and starts yelling at him where Jenn can hear! WRONG MOVE THOMAS! Even though Thomas tries his hardest to share his perspective on his actions with Devin, it doesn’t land well for Jenn. She says the men don’t get to decide who she speaks to first, which is true, production does 🙃.
The rest of the night is downhill from there. Thomas N. makes it a point to find Devin and continue yelling at him, the other men are in their interviews with producers agreeing that Devin is the crux of the chaos, and Jonathan—the very hot man who decided to come into night one with his face covered—is looking sexier by the minute and Jenn clearly thinks so too.
With no resolution, the men head into the rose ceremony hoping Devin will go home, but we know that’s not going to happen.
In the end, Jenn sends home Brian, Jahaan, and Marvin, all of whose names I had to look up because I’m not sure we got a single confessional with any of them, nor a moment with them and Jenn.
Next week, the group is still in Australia and tensions continue to rise between Devin and the rest of the group. The previews make it seem like Devin is sent home, but I actually think it’s Aaron, for planting “wrong reasons” accusations without naming names. We’ll see.
Gut check: How are y’all feeling about this season so far? Personally, I appreciate the messy characters and personalities, but Jenn is getting lost in it a bit. We didn’t know much about her from Joey’s season and two episodes in it feels like we know the same amount we did before the season started. I hope that starts to change in these next few episodes.
Here’s to hoping ✌🏾