*Spoiler Free* Editing, VOs & PIs and The Fleissmeister's Storyline

What pattern does it show?  I don't notice any are the same.

Back in the day... Bloomers and others studied them with great intensity. Over time, certain "patterns" changed, so it is hard to cookie cutter these. For example, the F3 was often in the middle in the post hometown line-ups, but seasons like Deanna's and Ali's (among others) changed this up... perhaps partly because of the Graham and Frank situations. One curious pattern that often repeats is the second person from the left hand side often leaves in the last ceremony BEFORE hometowns... like John Wolfe in episode #7 of Emily's, Lucas in Ashley's, etc. Yet Catherine was there in Sean's, so you can't just ass-ume THAT anymore.

My speculation with these tend to be this:

It is less about the exact spot you are in than who you are standing next to. Is that person your competition? Zak Waddell and Mike G. are together in three ceremonies in a row. What does that mean? She feels the same about them? Maybe not. More likely they would be far apart if rivals. Zack K. and Juan Pablo are together in two of these. Unlike Zak and Mike, Zack and Juan were an "end man" at one point, a frequent position for "frontrunners" as some of us have noticed.

They like to keep certain "frontrunners" far apart so that it is more difficult for each... as a contestant... to see if the Bachelorette gives a different kind of look at your key rival. As Reid remarked with the Spanish rose ceremony, he suddenly noticed that Jillian was eyeing Ed differently than she was him, now that Ed returned from his *cough cough* "work related" leave of absence. In that line-up, as in the previous ones Ed attended, Reid was kept far apart from him. Yet only Wes and Kiptyn were keeping them seperated by Spain (being down to the final four). Post show, Wes and Kip pretty much confirmed they never felt they were "the one" and Kip wasn't planning on proposing.

Now... with Bachelors Sean and Ben Flajnik, it may not have mattered as much since both had such Poker Faces. Even Catherine seemed clueless of how she stood until the very end regardless where she stood. Yet you do notice Tierra, Catherine and AshLee far from each other a lot. Also Courtney and Nicki in Ben's season, with the latter (despite being F3) always at the end or next to a have-a-rose-already person. Was Nicki the one the handlers favored over Courtney prior to that skinnydip changing the game?

In Ashley's season, JP and Ryan Park were close together in the first two ceremonies, but starting with #3 above and continuing onward, these two either a.) had roses pre-ceremony or b.) were "polar opposites" at each end of the line-up. After Ryan left in episode #7, first Constantine, then Ben F. became JP's "polar opposite". Ashley did say later that she wanted Constantine in the final two, not Ben, but I don't think production did since they knew only the latter would get down on one knee in the end.

Speaking of that... you will notice that once the lead is more certain of his/her top choice, certain candidates for the top 3 and top 2 "dumpee" spots get more solo dates and less time with the future F1 in group dates. Ben Flajnik's last date with JP was Phuket, episode #4, so he may have been "in the dark" about JP's status even if other guys saw the connection he had with Ash much earlier.

Sometimes contestants sense they may not be "the one" but may stay anyway just in case... and they also know there's a chance to be the next lead. Call me a cynic, but I did notice in the later rose ceremonies that they weren't keeping Sean away from Jef all that much in the lineups, but Chris B., Ryan Bowers and Arie were.

in2deep wrote:Oh, JBF, thank you!  Helpful and witty - your usual self.

For those who don't drive Kanan Dume Road, it may be interesting to know that the Malibu Estates Winery overlooks the house at 420 Kanan, otherwise known this season as Desiree's house. It's a relatively new faux-chateau, so I am certain they did the shoot for promotional consideration.  I don't know anyone who has actually been up there.

Slightly off topic, but Jimmy Kimmel reviewed the guys yearbook-style, and it was hilarious....

He did?  When?

It was the other Jimmy...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, JBF. It's always interesting. 

My favorite of Jimmy's list was Brian & Miami Vice. 

I was thinking that Des is already down a 1 on 1 date after last week. Epi 3 often has someone that could be in the f2 but not this time. I'm kind of surprised that Kasey was the guy because I doubt very much that Des ever thought he was going to the end. So far we've seen some good interaction between Des and Brooks/Chris but will have to wait for the others who can potentially go all the way. It's starting to look like a different season but guess it's too soon to tell (for us unspoiled at least). :Nod:

Yeah, it is curious how the show is editing things this time.

Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice in Wonderland would say…
 
Better post this elephant in three parts here so it is easier to digest.
 
Part 1: What the $%#@ is up with Bryden? (Yeah the spoiled already know about his backstory, but still…)


Bryden may have been left out in Jimmy's roast above like Brooks, but he has a peculiar edit. In episode #1, he had the most "final one"-ish presentation from limo arrival to sit-down with Desiree. Traditionally the Bachelorette discusses her future choice in a PI as part of three to six guys making an early impression. Ashley discussed JP with Ryan, William, Bentley, masked Jeff and drunk Tim. Emily discussed Jef with Arie, Doug, Chris and somebody else (can't remember off hand). The Bachelors (Matt, Jason, Jake, Brad) did the same with their future F1 (although curiously Jason only discussed Molly, not Melissa... his initial F1) until Ben changed this pattern by only mentioning Grandma, Emily's rap poem and Jenna's meltdown. He didn't see anybody as his "wife" in that first episode. Sean also didn't mention Catherine, just Tierra, Kacie B., Lindsay, 50 Shades of Grey Lady and somebody I can't remember... yet his season was really odd-ball and maybe the editors did this deliberately because Reality Steve's spoilers were out so early. Desiree discussed Bryden, Ben and Juan Pablo...yet you can’t determine how far they go just based on their edits in the promos.
 
Add to this ominous voice-overs used in the promos over shots of her with Bryden, like "I want him down on one knee because I love him" and "I am the luckiest girl alive". Of course, Ashley said "my heart is with Bentley" in hers... and she didn't wind up with him obviously. When Nick asks in episode #1 "What's our plan now?", Bryden answers with a cynical "Get a rose". Right now, she thinks Bryden is sweet and timid, but can't understand why she has to take charge initiating the kissing and affection. In contrast, she felt that Brian overdid it (we see him pick her up in episode #2) and kept pestering her about when he would get his 1 on 1 date. When Steph called out Brian, Bryden got more than the usual face-shots much as, in 2010's edition, Frank did when Ali went ballistic on Justin Rated R in Istanbul. Is this just a curiosity or some kind of foreshadowing?
 
It also amuses me how we saw so much of him in the Yes to Love music video back in early May, a lot less footage of him in the May 20^th promo and the first promo for episode #1 on May 27^th…  and even more of him deleted from the second episode #1 promo, despite the rest of it virtually matching the 20^th one. They certainly are making sure we see her having extensive footage with him in each episode, including group dates. On the abc.com “smooch video” compiling her make out sessions that episode, Bryden says their kiss is awesome.
 
Yeah… he is getting a weirdo edit here. Not sure what they are doing.
 
Part 2: Anything we can compare to past seasons, theme-wise?
 
One curious pattern repeating with just the last five 'ette seasons (not so sure about the Bachelors) is the fact that a cluster of characters are tied with certain themes that may or may not relate to the F1 guy, but certainly relate the kind of relationship she is expecting. Often I find them interesting as “clues” as to whether or not this relationship will be stable post-show.
 
At this point, there’s no point further dwelling on Jillian’s season back in ‘09 except that she took those hotdog toppings seriously… sauerkraut (Ed/Wes) versus ketchup (Kippy/Reid)… and Wes’ lyrics of “They say love don’t come easy” certainly applied to everybody concerned. Reid went “head over heels” crashing the final rose ceremony and Jillian had to take whatever she could get in the end.
 
Ali’s season had the theme of “will I find love?” in the first part and “will he love me back?” in the second part, but was mostly about the multitude of colorful characters: Perfect Husband Chris Lambton, Overcame Death Kirkie Kirk, Neurotic Frankie who, like Justin Rated R, had a girlfriend on the wings… and Protective Robbbberto. Oh yes, Robbbberto made her feel *drink* protected. He protected her skylining in LA. He protected her on stage for the Lion King. He protected her from hungry rays in Tahiti. When she mentioned Frankie leaving to “take care of things”, Robbbberto sported that angry “let me at him” look. Yet was yellow-ish Ali all that… well, yellow… and needed protecting? She was quite the firecracker with Justin in Istanbul. (“I gave up MY JOB to be here!”) She hardly looked timid back in Jake’s season waging war with Vienna.
 
The hometown dates of F1 are especially interesting to re-watch because they always showcase an “obstacle” that may or may not be overcome… by FRC or post-show.
-Jef’s “good” brother Steve (not the “black sheep” who didn’t say boo) was not doubtful that you can fall in love in a short time, but you have to share “values” and upbringing to succeed… and he was also “nervous” if Jef was ready to play Daddy.
-Ilene Rosenbaum was concerned about JP’s “heartbreak” issues, but… *chuckle chuckle*… if that over-the-top Bentley drama (with Ashley carrying on as she did) couldn’t cure it, nothing else would!
-With Robbberto, he got the lecture from Roberto Senior that “I know she will be happy… I just wanna know if YOU will be happy”. After all, Junior was a “price”. Roberto Senior also gives Ali the lecture about shared CAREER goals and questioned if they are compatible there. Well… Ali did blink her eyes like Cindy Lou Whoo and looked like she was kinda listening. (Robbbberto did move to California with his insurance company in support of her.)
 
Ashley Hebert was such a bumper crop season… a cavalcade of delirious delights.
-She fussed about family criticism… mentioned it on her hometown date with Brad previously, also on Mickey's date in Las Vegas and later fought with sister Chrystie over her inhibitions about JP at the Vomo resort in Fiji.
-She fussed about guys leaving her because she wasn't like Emily... and Bentley certainly did, but also William ran away after the comedy roast and might have gotten himself hurt, Mickey left in Hong Kong (but everybody could see that he was hardly a frontrunner) and Constantine bolted on his fantasy date.
-Also Ashley kept repeating over and over about "sincerity": she thought Bentley was "sincere" despite the text warning from Michelle Money and admired Jeff's mask because he wanted to show he was sincere in a unique way. Once Jeff took off his mask, all hell broke loose at the comedy club and Bentley's departure. In Hong Kong, JP told her not to be afraid to tell him anything. JP even got The Guitar Rift with that line… see my discussion in Part 3 below.
-In addition there was the hidden theme of death and loss: William and Ben F. lost their fathers (and William's watch was stopped at the time his died), Mickey lost his mother, Ames lost both dad and step-dad (but they only briefly mentioned that on screen) and West lost his wife abruptly when she was taking a bath. In addition, William acted very "dark" and almost suicidal after his comedy roast meltdown, wishing to crawl into bed and not wake up, something Ashley pretended to do after Bentley left... but with her trusty Vaseline on the night stand so she could "sparkle with tears". Two weeks before Brad's season began, Ashley lost her ex boyfriend Joe. Although her situation wasn't at all the same as Emily's loss of Ricky, she too was hardly herself that season.
-Speaking of Bentley, he stated before his departure all about "heartbreak being the worst experience" (paraphrasing). Apparently, F1 Jordan Paul had that experience and never was completely over it. Mother Ilene was fearful at the hometown that JP might go through it again if he wasn't the one.
 
Emily’s season involved “perfect like Brad” boys. Arie had an abc.com outtake scene comparing his “smaller” arm to Sean and Doug’s. Emily was gaga over Joe on her West Virginia date because he “looks like Matthew McConaughay” and abruptly dumped him. Ryan Bowers constantly admired himself in the mirror and discussed trophy wives. Jef stated in a post-show interview that he and Arie suspected they might be the last two guys standing simply because they were the only ones not “living in a gym”. Jef, of course, made Emily “feel like a nerd”, but she thought THAT was “cool”. Alas… after the breakup (i.e. did Emily really “sext” some football jock or was she simply “following” him as a fan and that was a problem as well?), bro-buddies Jef and Arie twitter photo-ed themselves “working out” and shirtless almost as if they were competing… or subtly mocking… Sean Lowe.
 
Whether or not Jef had any struggle at all with self image… and he probably didn’t, but those editing the show may have SPECULATED he did… it still takes two to tango. One key line on her promo drove us all bonkers since we initially thought it was Jef talking, but soon learned it was episode #2 dumpee Joe… and he never said this on the show. (I think, since he lives in LA, they just used him post-elimination to dub the line.)  “Sometimes in life you have to take a leap of faith. I want to make this happen for her, for Ricki/y, for myself.” What made this line ssssssooooo slick… and downright sick… was that it could apply equally to both Jef and Emily. Jef needs to do this for “her” Emily, daughter Ricki and himself. Emily needs to do this for “her” (little Ricki), also big Ricky (who would want her to move on if she is still mourning as Brad accuses her to be in his season… see Part 3 below) and herself.
 
So far, Desiree’s season is the season of Daddies.
1.)    Ben is daddy who brought his tyke to the show, but Mike G. thinks he is setting a poor example.
2.)    Brad has Maddex and his peculiar situation with his mother
3.)    Supposedly Juan Pablo has a daughter, but we have yet to hear about her
4.)    Brian was chewed out by Steph for setting a poor example for little Donovan, whoever he is.
5.)    Brandon TWICE told us he was daddy-less in the last episode
6.)    Drew’s daddy had alcoholic problems
7.)    James’ daddy has cancer
8.)    Mickey T. is proud of his daddy and closely knit family
9.)    Kasey may not be a daddy but *spoiler* he was married before.
10.)   Brooks went on and on about his divorced daddy on his solo date, screaming at him when they were reunited after so many years. Now… does that mean he is all reconciled? If he gets a hometown date, will there be any trouble like there was with Nate Hartsock?
 
She keeps saying she wants somebody to “communicate with and be open”. I guess not everybody is communicating WITH her, but have no trouble communicating AROUND her with others.
 
As for the Cinderella story and fairy tales… ugh! That is getting old. All of the Bachelorettes say this and both Ali and Emily had castles to drill that theme to the ground. One thing I did notice… as Reality Steve jokes about in his recaps… is her emphasis on her hardships in childhood. Every guy this season has tales of woe.
 
Part 3: One other silly little tidbit… oh, you folks will want to tie me up now!
 
We have yet to hear one or both of The Guitar Rifts. The final one guy or gal gets this during a key “theme” of the season. Sometimes others do too… like Chris Lambton in Ali’s season, Tony and Sean also got it in Emily’s and Sarah in Sean’s. Yet only F1s Vienna and Courtney did NOT get this… Tenley and Nicki got it instead as if production sensed there was a breakup in the making and… maybe, just maybe… this was the one “they” thought he should have chosen.
 
Two parts are heard on Trista's season back in February 2003 at both the start of this video and after he puts on her ring:
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Both Molly and Melissa got it in Jason’s season in early 2009. During hers, Molly tells us point-blank what was going to happen after Melissa got the ring... while this music was playing.
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Melissa just talks and talks and talks and talks and talks, but we get why Jason was so quick to choose Melissa in haste. “Nothing’s gonna scare me”. “I haven’t scared you so far.” Melissa is still terrified, but Jason thinks she’s “completely there”… in love with him. Lots of fear talk on this fantasy date.
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Jillian's dad gets an abbreviated version of it when he talks about Ed when Ed is not in the room. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the full rendition that season… I think the editors were clueless WHAT was happening that season.
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Tenley had everything Jake wanted. Did “something” happen when she set out to prove their “chemistry is real in every single way”?
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Ali just needed to hear her ILY…
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Brad confronts The Ghost on the NASCAR date…
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JP tells Ashley she can tell him ANYTHING…
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Nicki wants a relationship that stands the test of time, but Ben just wants a girlfriend for now.
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The theme was repeated on her Switzerland fantasy date, which is not online. Note how the theme is repeated twice again (very clever editing) in the above link as she continues “if I do it again, I would like to live with a person first because a lot of stuff changes” and “when I do it again, I want to be the real deal”. Ben tells us he HOPES he makes the right decision. (Side note: Courtney Robertson in LIFE & STYLE, ”I think if we’d lived together, we wouldn’t have broken up.”)
 
Emily praises Jef for who he is…
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Sean gave one-limb Sarah a lot of attention in the early episodes, praising how beautiful she was. On her fantasy date, he tells a nervous Catherine that she's "smoking hot". This cues us into that syrupy "proposal guitar rift"… which was also played during a key scene with Sarah earlier.
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I don't get that she's that into Bryden.  Sorry.  When she did the PI about him at the Western Date, she didn't seem all that different than she was with anyone else.  When she's with Brooks...just the way she looks at him is telling. 

Yeah, she likes Bryden a lot.  But, she was already weary of him and when he goes to talk to her, her face isn't that friendly looking to me.

If Bryden was so important to the edit, then why not more PIs as to his feelings for Desiree other than she's a good kisser?  I would think during the preview the show would milk him leaving her heartbroken in a heartbeat.

Yeah... I was referring more to The Edit than Body Language, but you also were thinking of The Edit when you mentioned her PIs.

She did seem pretty "into" Bryden in episodes #1 and #2 (his solo date), but less so on the group date. Then again, as bland as their solo date seemed dressing up in wedding gear, Des still looked as animated as a pinball machine when Brooks returned from his medical emergency. Sean and Ashley H. were not behaving with the same gusto when Amanda and Ames returned to their group dates.

We discussed this fleetingly before with the Mickey T. versus Zack K. comparison. It is hard to determine "body language" when some guys are hardly seen at all on screen with her. Her scenes with Zack, "blips" that they are (as if trying to hide something from us), show her completely relaxed with him. Even if he is winding up in her "friend zone", they still seem to like-like each other regardless. In the outtake scene on hulu, you can clearly see she's not attracted to Mickey at all and is too hyper critical in her PI comments. So why does she keep him over Dan and Brandon? Well... we know Brandon is the "intense" one and she wanted to end it before things got more serious, but you have to assume that the reason Dan had to go was simply because he wasn't providing enough "entertainment" on screen like the two Mikes with their trashtalking of Big Bad Ben. (Personally I am finding the “entertainment” very boring, as if they are more gaga over Ben and everything he does than Desiree.)

The scenes with Chris are interesting. The guys could see them together from a distance and that may even have been the "point". This can go either way... a.) he is not her top pick but the handlers want the other guys to think he is (for whatever reason such as "distraction" from somebody else)... or b.) he is a frontrunner regardless of who is watching. Frank complained like Brandon did about watching Ali with Roberto on the Lion King date... and Ryan Park commented on JP coming in from umbrella time with Ashley in Phuket, even repeating the same stunt. Yet everybody was so focused on Tierra with Sean that they ignored anything he was doing with Catherine in more private places. Catherine even gets Sean to move away from curious eyes in episode #4. In addition, Chris is all over the promos seen smooching her on tropical beaches... like F2 Aries in some of Emily's promos, F3 AshLee in Sean's and F1 Roberto in Ali's... again, this could go any way.

What about the facial expression of Chris when Brooks came back?

More fun stuff to analyze. Then again, the editors love to lop and chop. They have a field day with those rose ceremonies. Either a Chris face shot can be important or... he is looking at somebody else and those evil little trolls are up to something else diabolical.