*No Spoilers* Episode 11 - 8/05 - Bachelorette 9 - Discussion

Nd, interesting to know that there were magazine stories earlier. I guess they primarily @covered the James issue?

Albean, I know what you mean about "little action"! Also interesting that the sc's were so limited. I guess tptb are starting to understand people look at those! :giggle:

I'm hoping tonight is good!! I heard that Des is scheduled for Kelly and Michael in the morning. Do we know what other interviews she'll do? I'm assuming that if she picked someone, he'll be there as well!

LibbyBell wrote:Nd, interesting to know that there were magazine stories earlier. I guess they primarily @covered the James issue?

Albean, I know what you mean about "little action"! Also interesting that the sc's were so limited. I guess tptb are starting to understand people look at those! :giggle:

I'm hoping tonight is good!! I heard that Des is scheduled for Kelly and Michael in the morning.  Do we know what other interviews she'll do? I'm assuming that if she picked someone, he'll be there as well!

I think she's on Jimmy Kimmel tonight which I believe is taped ahead. I didn't mean SCs were limited in general although I guess they were but that we only got the season preview and not the episode preview SCs here in the non-spoiler section. This season they really aren't giving us FRC pics and I must say that this is the most confused I've been going into the finale.  

nd4reality wrote:

Chacharo wrote:Veggie's AVI is one of my absolute favorites.  Every time I see it, I think of her in that same pose loving life and spreading happiness.   

Libby, your making it to the finale unspoiled is very impressive!  I can't believe you were able to divert your eyes from the magazine covers.  I would have to totally avoid the grocery store and the message boards to accomplish what you have!  You have inspired me to try again next season!

Oh me too - big time. That way I can stay away from the boards too.

If Love_me can post that episode SCs and preview SCs for us over here then we can do our own little SC discussions like albean and Co did at the start of the season. It should be fun and interesting.

I will make a No-Spoiler Forum for people who want to stay that way during The Bachelor 18 as well.

Is that what you meant?

Yes. Thanks LM.

The problem I think is with the spoilers so out there that any sort of searching and online activity brings you face to face with them. I was unspoiled in Seans season and therefore skipped the boards completely but then ended up getting spoiled from seeing a comment under a YT vid as to who the winner was.

Albean, thanks for letting me know she's on JK tonight! Do you think the reason they are withholding SC's for the final RC is because they want to keep everyone wondering if she ends up with no one?

Love-Me, I appreciate that you have kept a spoiler-free area this season. I know there have been many more non-spoiled lurkers than posters, I hope it hasn't been too much trouble.

Yea! I'm very pleased. I'll post my thoughts later-- I don't want to spoil someone on the West Coast!

LibbyBell wrote:Yea! I'm very pleased. I'll post my thoughts later-- I don't want to spoil someone on the West Coast!

I was wondering what you thought of tonight! Can't wait to read your thoughts.  

Well, well, well; another season of the Bachelorette is finished!

Early on I knew that Chris and Brooks would go far. I knew this not only by the avi's that I saw on posts but by the interactions I saw with the 2 of them. (Early on in the season I realized that I needed zoom in on the posts so that I would not be able to see everyone's avi's if I wanted to remain unspoiled.) Brooks and Chris were by far the guys that Des lit up around and showed the most affection with. That being said, the affection that I saw (with all the guys but especially Brooks and Drew) seemed a little forced and put on so I wasn't sure if I could even trust what she was saying. I think that this speaks most about the fact that Des, in no way, is a very good actress. She also has a terrible poker face. This was especially evident when she was sending Drew home. I liked Drew throughout the show-- he's great looking, considerate, sincere, etc...! Their interactions were very sweet and I knew that they were important in the way that tptb concealed/highlighted them throughout the season.

I was hopeful that Des and Drew's relationship would blossom even though they had such a late 1:1. I thought perhaps he might be Des' JP because the snippets of their interactions were very sweet and supportive. This helped me know that Drew was a very sweet and sensitive guy. The way he and their relationship was presented helped me know that he would go far. By the time of their HTD, I realized that their relationship wasn't developing with the kind of depth that was needed for Drew to be F1. I thought (hoped) that he might be chosen as the next bachelor. Based on the banner sc's, I thought there was a very good chance that Des was going to send Drew home early. I felt sorry for Drew, as I believe, he really did have feelings for Des. I felt very uncomfortable with the fact that Des was fighting off the giggles  (GMA video this morning) while breaking up with Drew.

From their very first date, I saw that Des wanted to have a relationship with Brooks. I could tell that she was drawn to him or at least to the thought of him. To me, however, it seemed like her emotions were a bit forced throughout the season. I don't know if it was just her feeling that she had to "act" in love for the cameras or what but I always felt that, despite what she said, something was off. I definitely felt that he was not on the same page as Des. So, with 20:20 hindsight, it is easy for me to think that her "desperation" was due to the fact that she thought all the guys should have been in love with her and here was another one that wasn''t. I think that embarrasement, lack of sleep and editing have more to do with it than how she was really feeling.

Let me preface by saying: I was not a Chris fan-- I thought that although (like Brooks) Des was talking about falling in love with him, her kisses and their body language were a little "stilted" and she seemed like she was putting it on for the cameras (like she was also doing with Brooks) but, at the same time, she seemed the most relaxed with Chris. Des and Chris always seemed to have a good relationship. She always seemed to find him at the group dates and they always seemed to be thinking about each other in the in between times; they wrote poetry to each other, etc. After his HTD, I was worried because his family was edited to be a little creepy (nasal adjustment?!?!?) Going into the fantasy dates, I thought that her F2 were Brooks and Chris, pretty equally. IMO, when Brooks told her he was out, I think that she got scared that one of her frontrunners wasn't returning her feelings and if he didn't love her maybe Chris didn't either-- hence, I just want to go home. We know that tptb are great about editing a conversation to appear seamless but to not show exactly what is expressed. I choose to give Des a pass with her meltdown. I think that she at least had an equal relationship with Chris and after Brooks was out of the picture, she was able to see that what she "needed all along was right in front of her". I was happy that Chris seems to be very protective of Des and that Des was able to see that his feelings were real.

As most couples will attest to, the couple actually falls in love after the show. The show just gives them opportunities to see each other's personalities and to share experiences. Once the show is over, they can grow together, or grow apart due to their experiences on the show and post show.

As soon as the show ended, I went into the spoiler threads; my prohibition was lifted!!  I didn't read much, but just enough to get the jist that RS had said that there were going to be 2 proposals and that Brooks was going to come back and was F1, is that right?  I'm glad that I didn't know all that-- I had much less stress than in past seasons!  However, I had to learn how to skim posts and stop reading as soon as people went from speculating to sharing too share too much info based on spoilers. It was hard to stay unspoiled but I'm glad I did. :Biggrin:

ETA: wow-- sorry for such a long post!

Actually libbyBell here is what RS originally spoiled

He said that Drew was out at F4, Zac and Des had some sort of falling out during their FD and that Chris was f2 with Brooks F1 and the man she became engaged to.

Love_Me and San posted Chris was F2 and Brooks F1. All were 100% confident of the information. A few weeks later Sophienette also posted that Brooks was F1.

Over on the sleuthing side, we found that Drew was in fact in Antigua (SCs) so therefore he made it to the F3. The SCs of Brooks were very scant in antigua (he was identified as BSG i.e. blue shirt guy/ hugging guy) and this prompted a bazillion questions. Therefore the spoilers did not match what we were finding over on that side after sleuthing.

Chris had the most SCs in Antigua followed by Drew and Brooks brining up the rear. Zac was missing in Antigua. Some folks emailed RS and shortly prior to the HTDs RS changed his spoiler of Zac and Drew.
That is why we kept saying that the spoiled side is as clueless as the unspoiled side - because things were just not lining up. At all.

See my signature - not possible eh ?

LibbyBell wrote:Well, well, well; another season of the Bachelorette is finished!

Early on I knew that Chris and Brooks would go far. I knew this not only by the avi's that I saw on posts but by the interactions I saw with the 2 of them. (Early on in the season I realized that I needed zoom in on the posts so that I would not be able to see everyone's avi's if I wanted to remain unspoiled.) Brooks and Chris were by far the guys that Des lit up around and showed the most affection with. That being said, the affection that I saw (with all the guys but especially Brooks and Drew) seemed a little forced and put on so I wasn't sure if I could even trust what she was saying. I think that this speaks most about the fact that Des, in no way, is a very good actress. She also has a terrible poker face. This was especially evident when she was sending Drew home. I liked Drew throughout the show-- he's great looking, considerate, sincere, etc...! Their interactions were very sweet and I knew that they were important in the way that tptb concealed/highlighted them throughout the season.

I was hopeful that Des and Drew's relationship would blossom even though they had such a late 1:1. I thought perhaps he might be Des' JP because the snippets of their interactions were very sweet and supportive. This helped me know that Drew was a very sweet and sensitive guy. The way he and their relationship was presented helped me know that he would go far. By the time of their HTD, I realized that their relationship wasn't developing with the kind of depth that was needed for Drew to be F1. I thought (hoped) that he might be chosen as the next bachelor. Based on the banner sc's, I thought there was a very good chance that Des was going to send Drew home early. I felt sorry for Drew, as I believe, he really did have feelings for Des. I felt very uncomfortable with the fact that Des was fighting off the giggles  (GMA video this morning) while breaking up with Drew.

From their very first date, I saw that Des wanted to have a relationship with Brooks. I could tell that she was drawn to him or at least to the thought of him. To me, however, it seemed like her emotions were a bit forced throughout the season. I don't know if it was just her feeling that she had to "act" in love for the cameras or what but I always felt that, despite what she said, something was off. I definitely felt that he was not on the same page as Des. So, with 20:20 hindsight, it is easy for me to think that her "desperation" was due to the fact that she thought all the guys should have been in love with her and here was another one that wasn''t. I think that embarrasement, lack of sleep and editing have more to do with it than how she was really feeling.

Let me preface by saying: I was not a Chris fan-- I thought that although (like Brooks) Des was talking about falling in love with him, her kisses and their body language were a little "stilted" and she seemed like she was putting it on for the cameras (like she was also doing with Brooks) but, at the same time, she seemed the most relaxed with Chris. Des and Chris always seemed to have a good relationship. She always seemed to find him at the group dates and they always seemed to be thinking about each other in the in between times; they wrote poetry to each other, etc. After his HTD, I was worried because his family was edited to be a little creepy (nasal adjustment?!?!?) Going into the fantasy dates, I thought that her F2 were Brooks and Chris, pretty equally. IMO, when Brooks told her he was out, I think that she got scared that one of her frontrunners wasn't returning her feelings and if he didn't love her maybe Chris didn't either-- hence, I just want to go home. We know that tptb are great about editing a conversation to appear seamless but to not show exactly what is expressed. I choose to give Des a pass with her meltdown. I think that she at least had an equal relationship with Chris and after Brooks was out of the picture, she was able to see that what she "needed all along was right in front of her". I was happy that Chris seems to be very protective of Des and that Des was able to see that his feelings were real.

As most couples will attest to, the couple actually falls in love after the show. The show just gives them opportunities to see each other's personalities and to share experiences. Once the show is over, they can grow together, or grow apart due to their experiences on the show and post show.

As soon as the show ended, I went into the spoiler threads; my prohibition was lifted!!  I didn't read much, but just enough to get the jist that RS had said that there were going to be 2 proposals and that Brooks was going to come back and was F1, is that right?  I'm glad that I didn't know all that-- I had much less stress than in past seasons!  However, I had to learn how to skim posts and stop reading as soon as people went from speculating to sharing too share too much info based on spoilers. It was hard to stay unspoiled but I'm glad I did. :Biggrin:

ETA: wow-- sorry for such a long post!

Great insight! Congrats for staying spoiler free all season. Def not easy to do.

I tried but was spoiled either at ep 3 or 4. At that point I was firmly a Chris fan and felt certain he would be F1. I agree that they had the most comfortable relationship and she really admired him and expressed this admiration. I think that's important in a long-term relationship/marriage. While I kept Chris as my F1 and never lost faith in him, I did lose faith in Des realizing he was best for her and believed the spoilers - esp during last week. Oh well. Wish I had stayed spoiler free but know that I would not have been able to esp after the part 1 of finale.

Even though he's my hometown boy, I was never a big Drew fan ... he's sweet, eloquent and good looking ... but thought their relationship was forced.

As far as Brooks goes, I really only started to like him after the Mr. America date. While unspoiled, I had pegged him going before HTD or as F4. BUT ... I could see her school girl crush on Brooks growing strong during the season but it was so clearly not reciprocated on her 2nd 1-on-1 date with him. He was pulling back/looking somber while she was "running" full speed ahead. I love what you said about her feeling the "need" to make all guys fall in love with her. Lots of pressure, huh?!

Love_Me wrote:

nd4reality wrote:

Chacharo wrote:Veggie's AVI is one of my absolute favorites.  Every time I see it, I think of her in that same pose loving life and spreading happiness.   

Libby, your making it to the finale unspoiled is very impressive!  I can't believe you were able to divert your eyes from the magazine covers.  I would have to totally avoid the grocery store and the message boards to accomplish what you have!  You have inspired me to try again next season!

Oh me too - big time. That way I can stay away from the boards too.

If Love_me can post that episode SCs and preview SCs for us over here then we can do our own little SC discussions like albean and Co did at the start of the season. It should be fun and interesting.

I will make a No-Spoiler Forum for people who want to stay that way during The Bachelor 18 as well.

Is that what you meant?

Love, can you put the SC no discussion threads in their own forum? Half way through the season I had to sneak into the spoiled threads (being careful not the scroll down too far) to see the see the SC's you guys made for the upcoming episode.

ETA: maybe forum is the wrong word... maybe their own link separate from the SC discussion threads.

Also Media threads, Edit and VO threads.

What we will need help is spoiled folks brining stuff over from the ABC websites etc for us so that we can discuss things.

For example this season - MF gave an interview but it was hard to bring that to the unspoiled threads. However that is stuff coming from production which we need to see and discuss.
I always feel that CH gives some sort of clues to the outcome or where the season is heading so that would need to come across as well.
We will need a lot of support from the spoiled folks :Smiley: