The Bachelor 20 - Ben Higgins - General Discussion - *Sleuthing - Spoilers* #3

Miyala wrote:I believe he feels very protective over Jubilee and he likes her a lot. I however don't see the same emotions as with Lauren. His body language is very different (my own opinion after watching the dates 1000 times). For example, almost every time after he kisses Lauren he keeps looking at her. With a lot of the others (including Jubilee) he looks away right after. He also often (not in the bath tub though) is the one leaning in for the kisses with Lauren and with most other girls its the opposite. Also with Lauren he seems so full of emotion that he looks sleepy ;). It was also cute how silly he felt about giving Lauren the rose (the reason I believe was that with her it felt so natural that the whole rose-thing, game-thing felt strange and silly)...

1000 times? Wow! That is a lot of in-depth analysis... ha ha!

Yeah... I too can easily see Lauren as the finalist. Also, like I said above, most times I think there is a twist... there isn't.

Now...

In past seasons, this forum had body language threads, but they always morph into Battle Zones because everybody views each relationship differently. Those who are fans of such and such candidate are particularly vocal... and we ALL wind up as a fan of somebody at some point in our many years of Bachelor/ette viewings. In addition, some leads don't necessarily choose the ones they want or the ones they have the best "connection" with anyway (like *cough cough* Juan Pablo). Regarding the "looking away" effect.. quite a few leads have done that with their finalists as well, in particular Jillian and "googly eyed" Ed who never could stay focused on her.

Desiree's season is worth mentioning as a side note. For one thing, it was not JUST somebody on HIS popular blog claiming that Brooks was her F1. No less than three "verified sources" on this forum claimed the same and the posters delivering the news never were the types to fib. Their sources DID, in fact, tell them he was engaged to Desie, so why argue? Add to this: Brooks was a very lovable guy and anybody daring to question if somebody like Chris Siegfried had a chance with her had to be extreeeeemely careful not to say the wrong thing in a post.

Nonetheless, there were plenty of "curios" long before the sloppily edited Antigua Boo-Hoo... among them the curious fact that, for a top 3 candidate, Chis Siegfried was pretty much off screen in episode 1 between limo arrival and his rose ceremony call-out, aside from a blink-and-you'll-miss sitdown shot in which he utters the word... "Seattle". Then there was all of the silly business going on in episode 3. After Chris got the soccer group date rose, Brandon (I think it was him) was fussing about all of them "having to watch" him dance with Des just before shots of the two of them sporting VERY bizarre "blurring" (digitally done) over their faces. Why did the editors go to this trouble? Simple. Chris was chosen as the next Bachelor and Desie was showing disgust over him that the editors didn't want us to see since she was forced to drag him through much of the season. *chuckle chuckle*

OBVIOUSLY... we have ALL been searching for another "nugget" like that one each season since!

All joking aside, my point is this: it is OK to "zero in" on one contestant, but... make sure you keep the eyes on the BACK of your head open for that spitball that might be shot from the other end of the classroom.

Again... he is KISSING and showing more OPEN affection with Lauren than anybody else... NOW. Will he be later? Well... if the spoilers are correct, yes. No, I will not "assume" that there is some sort of "gotcha" at the end of this, but I will be open to it. (Likely by hometowns, most of us will be pretty certain whether or not Lauren is The One.)

A couple things worth noting: Even though Jubilee is expected to leave... I guess before hometowns?... not that he needs any Father's "approval" from her like other contestants... there are few things to consider:
1.) Lauren's date was before Jubilee's
2.) Jubilee is more guarded and cautious than Lauren but we can't necessarily say that there isn't anything there even if it isn't seen up close. (Speaking of up close, the cameraman really zoooooomed in on Lauren in her hot-tub scene conversation. I could see every "beauty mark" on her face enlarged on screen.)
3.) They are definitely NOT showing Ben giving Jubilee much affection and, yet, he is... like we both agree... rather protective of her. One scene that can easily toss the ball back into Lauren's court is the pool scene of Jubilee massaging Ben's head and he apparently not reciprocating.

Now... here is another thing to just... speculate about. Not assume anything, just ask "what if?"

So far, we have never had a interracial couple from this franchise AND Jubilee definitely stands out with all of the remaining ladies. Now... let's suppose she WAS to make the top four. How would the editors hide her?

JBF, it actually wasn't Lauren who said "hashtag Mrs. Higgins", I think it was her sister who was sitting next to her. If you listen closely Lauren says "oh god" in response.

Thanks for the correction. I did not re-watch and was basing on memory.

Bottom line: I only included it as an EDIT comparison to Olivia. I would never say that Lauren and Olivia are alike. Olivia (whose "eye is on the prize") is definitely... unique.

JBF- I'm glad to see you back and I hope whatever is going on with you will be okay. I really enjoyed your analysis of the season so far....It didn't occur to me that Lauren B is too showcased as of now. I remember we barely knew who Catherine was in Sean's season until the last few episodes. And yes, the hidden Chris S. during Des's season which you saw through. I see Jubilee as having a very strong relationship with Ben but not necessarily a romantic one. He seems to need to protect her which is not necessarily the same as being interested in her romantically, as you mentioned. But yeah, there is a lot of focus on her and her background. Olivia I feel bad for because an epic meltdown seems to be on the horizon for her. And it actually was Lauren's friends who say "Mrs. Higgins" as the above poster mentioned.

You know me. I like broadening the "net" early in the season and not just assume it only such and such person the lead is interested in. Of course... in the past (my "youth")... I tended to get carried away.

Not so much now though. In contrast, I tend think all of MISTER Harrison's boring chit-chats post-show with "fellow fans" and "polls" involved are just a subtle way of making a boring season more interesting than it is.

Yeah... again, I can easily see him choosing Lauren in the end... lah dee dah. Yet there is that little side of me that asks "what if there is a surprise?"

This is one of the few times in recent memory that I hoped that the spoiled F1 was actually the F1. I was so disappointed with Chris S's season because it was so obvious that he was way more interested in Becca than in Whitney. But so far I do see an emotional investment from Ben with Lauren B.

Hi JBF!

I agree, we should NEVER stop sleuthing... either way! i.e. no-one should assume everything that is said in favour of Lauren as F1 is bias! (I am not saying you did!)  Sleuthing goes every way.

So let's keep sleuthing, and fan-girling, and (in my case) a bit of both

As for the edit? Well if Ben demanded to give Lauren B an early 1-1, not much TPTB could do to hide her, especially followed by a GDR this week...

However, I think they will pile it on with Caila, Jojo and Amanda's chemistry with Ben, and with thei gushing about him (same reason LB is the only one now showed as saying ILY i previews). They need to make the public doubt.
I have seen so much written about Ashley H and Ben F's LCD chemistry (her leg over him on bed...), and about Arie and Emily, and even about Sean and Lindsey (that FD scene on the beach with the monkeys), even Claire and JPG's chemistry was sold way harder than his "connection" with Nickie...

So I am ready for a whole lot of very obvious gooey sexy stuff with F4, especially Jojo...

I will look at how he looks at each of them, not at how his body acts with them ;)

sophie IA

Great minds GA ;)

Have there been any good indications that Ben & Lauren could have had a SHV? Since she's based in LA and he needs to go there from time to time, that in and of itself would be a good opportunity for them. But I know she was in Mexico recently, and I think he needed to be in LA around the same time. This is the only thing that bugs me about there being a happy ending for them.

JFB love your post, keep them coming.

sophienette wrote:Hi JBF!

I agree, we should NEVER stop sleuthing... either way! i.e. no-one should assume everything that is said in favour of Lauren as F1 is bias! (I am not saying you did!)  Sleuthing goes every way.

Certainly not on this thread since Miyala watched THE DateS 1000 times and not just Lauren's. However you did see where I was going with my post. We are ALL... well, maybe not YOU ... guilty of getting too focus on one relationship over the others. I kinda miss the ol' pre-spoiler days when each of the top three contestants had a "fan" video uploaded. Now we only see them posted for the spoiled F1.

sparkler wrote:This is one of the few times in recent memory that I hoped that the spoiled F1 was actually the F1. I was so disappointed with Chris S's season because it was so obvious that he was way more interested in Becca than in Whitney. But so far I do see an emotional investment from Ben with Lauren B.

I liked Whitney. Yet that relationship with Chris was a trifle... weird. Talk of "little soldiers" and all. Becca did seem like the one he was more into. This season, she isn't doing all that much as a returnee. Chris seemed a better match for her than Ben.