Too Much Bro Factor? The Bachelorette: Week 4 Recap
Babee gurrrrls let’s break down this week’s episode of Hannah Banana and all her Mananas for week four of this season’s Bachelorette. The men hop skip and jump on out of the mansion from West Coast to East Coast and land in Providence, Rhode Island, where we lay witness to Hannah’s adorably sweater-weather cozy outfits topped with furry pom-pom hats (my favorite) and the men have one more excuse in the chilly New England air to snuggle closer to the girl whose affections they vie for among fifteen other dudes.
On that note, let’s have ourselves a highlight reel…
WARNING: Spoilers ahead.
Jed and Hannah’s one-on-one in Boston. Right away I can see Jed’s laid-back demeanor and how well it balances Hannah’s wacky energy. (We didn’t mention this in last week’s recap, but how cool as a flipping kyook was Jed when he walked in on Hannah and Luke P’s shirtless massage/make out sesh?? His ability to play off the awkwardness and comfortably settle back into his own intimate time with Hannah exhibited remarkable confidence and self-assuredness. In other words, homeboy knows who he is, and a little stanky bit of Lukey P garbaggio is definitely not going to harsh that Nashville country music star mellow.
Jed is clearly drawn to Hannah’s personality and beauty, while Hannah is showing signs of comfort and organicness. He allows her to feel free, to let loose, and totally be herself, as we saw from her enthusiastic shrieks every time she made a basket during their casual shoot-off with a couple of Boston Celtics.
Also can we zoom in on the endearingly random foil characters throughout each season that get asked relationship questions on the sideline? Exhibit A (see what I did there): Jaylen Brown, who shared a sweet moment on the bench with Hannah, two Browns dishin out advice for love life. "[You should look for] somebody that makes you laugh. Somebody who you can be yourself with, somebody who respects you," the Celtics guard advised Hannah. "Somebody who's there for the rough times and the good times. Someone who's going to accept you for your flaws and your beauty."
Finally, we lololoooooved their intimate night-time dinner date cap-off, his soft-spoken but earnest profession of his feelings for her, and her obvious giddiness over her new Nashville man.
Tyler C. and Hannah’s one-on-one. Again, I’m enjoying the new turn this season has taken running in tandem to this year’s bachelorette lead. Hannah B. is Hannah B., like it or leave it. And unless you’re those among Bachelor Nation who listen to the podcast and hear the interviews and read the commentaries and are externally in it to examine the people themselves, when they’re off camera, you might not realize how incredibly taxing and challenging it is to be the lead.
For many of us, we’re seeing this for the first time with Hannah. Though we’re still relatively early in the season, already our homegirl is wrestling with very deep emotions, and surprisingly, some of which are for a guy with whom she’s spent very little personal time (Lukey P Peeee). Personally, I’m frustrated that he spilt out an avalanche of words (in that wretched six-word line: “I’m falling in love with you”) after ONE NIGHT with her! And not even with a one-on-one under his belt!!
ANYWAY. I digress.
Hannah is clearly wrapped up in some intense inner turmoil. Men, if we could shut these off like a light switch, we would. But guess what: we’re not robots. We’re not built to choose when we feel, or what we feel. And good old Hannah B., true to herself as always, can’t and won’t fake nice and happy for her next one-on-one, even if it is with Tyler C. She’d only just dealt with a very emotionally draining group date the night prior, and its aftermath carried into the next day.
But what does Tyler C. do? Roll his eyes at her distractedness and aloofness? Pout and whine to producers at his lack of received attention and affection? Quit and dip out to return to his far warmer hometown back in Jupiter, Florida?
Nay, I say! Instead, Tyler C. behaved in the most angelic boyfriend manner I have ever witnessed on reality television. He was gentle, affectionate, silly (anyone else catch his “Want some tail?” pun? Ehh?), laid-back, and comforting.
Personally, one of the worst feelings for me is sensing when someone is uncomfortable or annoyed or otherwise put off by my mood, if it’s anything less than chipper and positive. None of us are one hundred percent chipper and positive. But Tyler C.’s repeated assurances that he wants to be there for her, see all sides of her, good days and bad, and be the one to comfort her amidst all the crap life throws us were all the right things. And it’s a reminder to us gals to never ever accept a man’s intolerance for our emotions as okay.
Finally, can we please talk about their JAKE OWEN CONCERT AT THE END. The private (or in this case, “private”) concerts are always my favorite parts of the Bachelor/Bachelorette dates, and this one was special because (1) Jake Owen was one of my earliest loves of country music, (2) Tyler C.’s crooning at Hannah over how over the moon he was feeling in the moment and how beautiful she looked, and (3) something about a country song marking the high of a fantastic date is just unbeatable. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, well, sorry/not sorry for the spoiler, and go watch it right now.
Peter’s DTR. For the first time in my decade following the franchise, this is a first for me: a contestant asking the lead to be his girlfriend. Peta!! You sly devil, you...asking Hannah Banana to be your girlfriend and make it official!! Keep it simple, fellas. A lot of us really don’t need much to be wooed and wowed (and if they do, just know what you’re getting yourself into...or acknowledge the high maintenance and dip).
Meanwhile, major claps for Peter the Pilot.
