Jason & Molly Mesnick - Bachelor 13 - Discussion

sosleepy wrote:I like Jason! Never really understood all the backlash against him, and to this day I'm surprised that out of 34ish seasons Jason is the only one to commit his "grievous error." Love Molly even more. She's awesome. I'm so completely meh/annoyed with Melissa though. 

Jason faded back to real life. He and Molly are legit. He isn't sanctimonious at all like certain other successful formers. He doesn't take himself too seriously. He seems like a good dad. He isn't offensive at all. And I still credit him for being the first Bachelor to walk down the aisle with his chosen lady. I think he deserves that credit, and it often gets gifted to Sean instead.

But he didn't walk down the aisle with his chosen lady. He picked Melissa and he married Molly who was his runner up. As successful as they have been post show, that is not the same as picking and marrying the same woman. Nevertheless, it's good to see them happy even though I was never a huge fan of anyone from that season...other than Jilly. They went through hell and despite all the odds against them, still managed to make it work. Got to give them

Back then fans/the franchise were probably grasping because of the dry spell. Even being the first Bachelor to marry someone remotely from his season was an accomplishment . The odds are better nowadays but but 8 years ago? Unheard of IMO.

Technically Molly was 2nd choice but their wedding was long referred to as the first Bachelor wedding. It will always have a little * though.

To me Molly was the last one standing when the show stopped airing. Melissa had been dumped. Molly was the new F1. She was on every single episode up until the bitter end. Semantics. Jason, to me, is the first Bachelor success story. Just a little messy, but that's life and most seasons of this silly show.

sosleepy wrote:To me Molly was the last one standing when the show stopped airing. Melissa had been dumped. Molly was the new F1. She was on every single episode up until the bitter end. Semantics. Jason, to me, is the first Bachelor success story. Just a little messy, but that's life and most seasons of this silly show.

The show's premise is supposed to be a social dating experiment. What has always stuck in my craw is that even though this is the premise, TPTB did a lot behind the scenes to force situations rather than let them naturally unfold. Had the show not been so set to sway Jason a certain way, he may have chosen Molly as his final. This is only one example I can think of from many. In past seasons, cast going against the grain of TPTB, have paid for it in bad post PR or edit. It's ironic that a reality tv show, was forced from being reality in many ways.

From listening to their podcasts, I never got the impression Jason was really swayed to pick Melissa. Molly talked about how she was a completely different person on-camera/around Jason versus off, so I don't think Jason ever got to really know the real Melissa. Plus, he was always really into her look. It seemed like the biggest thing was that Jason wasn't ready to propose to her and the show essentially blackmailed him with a bad edit and manipulated him to get him to do so. IMO.

I think that Jason/Molly count as a success story, but I do think that not getting engaged on the last day of filming really helped. I think that puts so much pressure on a couple and it forces them to worry about the wedding, instead of just getting to know each other. Molly said she wasn't in love with Jason or ready to say yes to a proposal on that last day of filming, so I think being able to say yes when they were genuinely in love and knew each other and Molly had gotten to know Ty really helps, IMO.

From my understanding from several sources I had during filming and post filming, --Jason was encouraged to pick Melissa.
As far as cast really getting to know the lead, this probably holds true to every season and most cast. It's said even the F1-F2 only spend very little real time with the lead. So you can connect, but really knowing each other comes after the show. IMO

I read here in the Social Media non discussion thread that Jason is going to be at some GMA thing with Nick and some other former Bachelors? Why?

There was no description in the article, it just said they would be on.

Can't believe it was 7 years ago! Happy Anniversary to the Mesnicks.

Oh my gosh, 7 yrs??? That's insane (that I remember that like it was yesterday)

Jason and Molly!

Ahh I've become a very big fan of them, especially Molly. Congrats to them!

I was pretty young when Jason's season aired but I loved him and molly SO MUCH. I was supposed to sleep over at my aunt's house the night of the finale airing and when he chose Melissa I cried & threw the biggest tantrum of life and forced my aunt to take me home and by the time I got home, I missed most of the ATFR drama.