Bachelor Australia - Season 5 - Matty Johnson - Sleuthing - **NO SPOILERS**

@Sprite Thanks for the recap.
After reading this I don't know what to say really but agree that the season is disappointing for all the reasons you just mentioned.
TBH its laughable that he considers the slow burn a plus point when it did not end well for him. Unless one of these slow burns are being targeted for next lead !!!! Which is entirely possible as well and he is playing that game on behalf of tptb.
Thoughts ?

@nd4reality we discussed already that he is an analytic guy and said it himself that he believes in slow burn and falling in love at first conversation.

I think we are just used to see leaders who are more like Art on our screen and pour his emotions all over the place. Matty on the other hand is very reserved about his feelings. I think Laura helped him to open up but I think also he had some pressure from the crew (ep3 and still no kisses?? no way!!).

I believe he explored the girls around, Laura was the closest to his liking. Elora had this neon sign on her forehead: take me take me take me.... Tara at this point was too goofy. I believe the prods pushed him to have this date with Tara on ep6, probably telling him she was fantastic. Matty said it to her: I did not know what to expect before our first date. So he did not invite her because she was on his radar.

However, I think he truly fell for Tara. And I think he found his match with Tara and skepticism. Tara is very clear: I did not know you until I did and thought you were an amazing guy.

I also think that if a person does not like Tara's personality, this season will not be interesting for them. She is not the typical contestant and definitely not the typical F1. The only girl that come close to my mind was the F2 with Sean season Lyndsey and with the canadian bachelor Tim with his F2 Trisha.

Both girls were OTT. Tim picked a "laura type" and sean picked a fun girl and less OTT imo

But this season, I think Matty wants it all. And I am sure for the majority of the public, they must be upset and/or frustrated to do not see more lovey dovey with Laura.

So for me it IS a fun season because I like Tara. I like her honesty and I like that she is on the same level of baby step, yet moving at the same path as Matty... that I still think is a VERY BAD kisser!!!

I do get the feeling (haven't watched the episodes) that Matty is laying the same lingo on for both Tara and now Elise. And will continue to do so IMO.


@Sprite  I'm curious about the whole Jen saga really. How come she suddenly decided that Lisa was a threat during the game ? Is it because lisa is naturally athletic and won the game so she decided she was a threat ? It just seems weird to me.

Which then brings me to my next question - Did lisa actually bad mouth Matty and then turn around and lie to him face to face ? Making Jen the righteous one ?

So I'm going to go back to the season promo ending voices to determine who can and possibly is part of the final girls.

The voices I hear are Tara Laura and Elora. There is one more voice right at the end which is definitely not Laura Elora Elise and Flo. It could be Tara but Tara has a very firm way she bites out each word even when she talks softly.

Tara is the only one out of the potential f5 that I can possibly hear the words "i am in love with you". I can identify Tara as saying "i can see myself falling in love with you" and then laura saying "I am falling in love with you".

But then does Tara say "I am in love with you" at the very end of the promo ?

I think Elise is the girl who is always throw at us to confuse us right before the HTD ... They do that on every franchise... great date, showing some chemistry, kisses, fun etc

I knew elise would fit the role since she had no date before.

However what I find interesting is that Matty seek Tara during the GD to ask her why she seemed different..... he has her in his mind for sure and is very keen to make sure she is genuine

at this point all girls who did not have a date and waiting must be frustrated and tired of seeing girls returning smitten... so at one point they are all human and probably said things out of jealousy... and i am sure they knew they were friend zoned but ego spoke for them... none of them knew the real connection they had with Matty and each believed it is either unique or moot

lisa is no different. I captured some SC when she had this moment with leah at the historical RC.... leaving in a mansion with strangers 24/7 waiting for the sheik to collect one of the harem girl......... everyone say or can be grumpy.... best friend one day; not so much the following... for Jen every pretty girl around her is the enemy and if a guy prefer another one, she has to be model like... even if she hates her for that

Maybe jen wanted a way out and found this as an excuse since michelle left and she knew she had zero chance with Matty... maybe she did not want to wait longer???

nd4reality wrote:So I'm going to go back to the season promo ending voices to determine who can and possibly is part of the final girls.

The voices I hear are Tara Laura and Elora. There is one more voice right at the end which is definitely not Laura Elora Elise and Flo. It could be Tara but Tara has a very firm way she bites out each word even when she talks softly.

Tara is the only one out of the potential f5 that I can possibly hear the words "i am in love with you".  I can identify Tara as saying "i can see myself falling in love with you" and then laura saying "I am falling in love with you".

But then does Tara say "I am in love with you" at the very end of the promo ?

i heard tara saying it

@HEA So do you have Elise out before F4 ?

@nd4reality I'll try to answer your questions.

I'm with you that he is harping on the slow burn because these are the candidates for the next lead. To me he used the exact same wording for both Tara and now Elise about how they were overlooked initially, but all it takes is a single date. No body has ever picked the slow burn. They just don't. Listening to Lisa talk about how little actual time they spend with the lead, kind of explains that. If you don't catch their attention early on, you don't start building the relationship and if you don't start building it, it's hard to catch up. He can repeat that it's not a bad thing and he is not overlooking them till the cows come home, I'm just not buying it. Maybe I'm wrong, but the odds are with me.

As for Jen, during the group date, who ever was doing the best, was who Jen targeted to eliminate. The first part with the date it was Elora and then it switched to Lisa. I admit it was hard to follow because the editing was choppy and I couldn't even tell who was winning. It all just seemed so random. As for Lisa bad mouthing Matty, we never saw that and by how the others reacted to Jen, I would say it never happened. I think she took the words that Lisa said about not spending enough time with him and not having developed the same feelings as some others who have spent more time with him....which is what Lisa herself said to the women earlier on the group date while Matty was off with Tara (Jen and her team had gone home) and later explained to Matty...and twisted those words and used them against her with Matty. I think Jen is very good at manipulating things to get what she wants. She was pissed she wasn't getting time with him and seemed to be targeting the quieter women who I think she thought would be easier targets and maybe not fight back. When you see the episode you will see that pretty much all the others were angry with Jen and not with Lisa, so it makes me think that it never happened like she said. Plus, when confronted, Jen lied. She said she never said anything about Lisa thinking of Matty like a brother, when that was exactly what she said to him. She did admit to saying she told him that Lisa thought he was there to build his status, but still, nobody was buying her back pedaling. Lisa on the other hand seemed taken a back and then upset for what Matty was accusing her. I didn't like how we didn't get to see how that ended up playing out between them. We were left with him accusing Lisa...I think Jen knew how to push at his insecurities...and Lisa upset and trying to explain and then were on to the women drama with no resolution between Matty and Lisa. Very annoying.

I am actually finding Matty to be kind of annoying the further we get into the season. He constantly seems to be asking the women about what is going on in the house and confronting them when he hears negative stuff...which, let's face it has been from the same people (Jen and Leah) who he was not the slightest interested in and who clearly had their own motives. He seems to be very insecure and I am finding him to be a bit of a woose.

I'm sorry @HEA but I disagree with your take that Tara is F1. It has nothing to do with not liking her personality. I actually like her just fine, I simply feel as if she is being shoved down my throat and that is never a good thing. We see a lot of her...in ITM's, interacting with the other women, with Matty and yet the only other real candidate for his attention...Laura...seems to be downplayed and her time with him hidden. Considering that she was the first and only person I have seen him all giddy for...despite spouting lines about slow burns with others...I'm not buying it. For me that is typical Bachelor editing. Build someone up at the start and then hide them in the middle by emphasizing someone else and then they make a come back at the end.

Overall another annoying episode. I can't wait till we get to hometowns. That is when I hope things become simplified, the MOT are gone and we can clearly see who he is into. Fingers crossed.

nd4reality wrote:@HEA So do you have Elise out before F4 ?

only because we saw 2 different dates with florence
i am still thinking helico/potery is florence and bridge is HTD

bridge looks so much like the girl waiting for th elead to show up at their town. her outfit is not as her usual sexy which for me is a sign for visiting family

so just for that i think she will be eliminated with cobie right before HTD.... unless she takes the position of a girl who quit? we are still waiting the : i did not see it coming.... and maybe never will eh?

Thanks Sprite for your explanation.

Matty knew that Jen was a manipulator right from the first episode when he called her out during their 1on1 time.  So he kept her despite of himself (and producers most likely).
for me Jen is the Kiera of this season.

I hope Matty watches back and see how he and the "nice" girls have been manipulated. And feels a bit ashamed of himself tbh for attempting to call them out.


As for the slow burn edit - I agree it has never panned out. Particularly when the contestant has used gimmicks to get themselves noticed. For me Elise is a complete producer pick. TBTH I don't think she is all that attractive to be the next lead.
As far as Tara is concerned and particularly if she is being fed the same lines as Elise, I wonder if she is another prop for a storyline.
Yes she is good with kids etc. but Matty had also stated that he wanted someone who is going to be a partner for him in his downtime. I seriously cannot see her going swimming, boarding and even playing tennis with him. Heck she could barely sit on a bike without looking uncoordinated. And we know from last season that he is athletic. So would they make a real world match ? IDK.

I hope I last on this side till HTDs, its getting hard particularly when we know that the SCs reviews are pretty much useless for sleuthing.

TBTH I get the feeling that Laura has been spoiled as F1 and thats all there really is to his story. Even though with Laura I dont get either the maternal desire that he claims he wants OR the athletic ability that he  said he was looking for on his initial checklist. Neither do I see him happy with an artistic person either. Oh well.

HEA wrote:

nd4reality wrote:@HEA So do you have Elise out before F4 ?

only because we saw 2 different dates with florence
i am still thinking helico/potery is florence and bridge is HTD

bridge looks so much like the girl waiting for th elead to show up at their town. her outfit is not as her usual sexy which for me is a sign for visiting family

so just for that i think she will be eliminated with cobie right before HTD.... unless she takes the position of a girl who quit? we are still waiting the : i did not see it coming.... and maybe never will eh?  

Ok so we have HTDs for Tara (SC), Flo (SC) and IMO Laura (voice at the end of the promo). So there is 1 slot left with no possible SCs from the Promo right ?

this is when i miss IG to see who is having a low profile, who is sharing what, who changed their usual self to keep it low

Laura, for me, was the catalizer to help him to go thru the first kiss. He sure enjoyed it but out of all the time spent with her, the only thing that was shared is that she is not motherly and does not want kids before 6-8 years (close to 40). Didn't hear about family, siblings, projects, interests outside her business, did we? why was she crying at the RC and we never saw? why was she so upset she could hardly focus during the RC? why didn't we see cute moments during RC or GD?

there is hiding and there is hiding. Elora got much more chemistry and time with him and her date was ep2...

I do not say he has zero interrest but so far I saw no momentum. It went up and up until it went down at ep6. But for me the downfall was the no kids for now statement. As I said Matty i looking for a mother and wife, but not at 40. Laura fail to mark his #1 wish

but if she is F1, I am looking forward to see the recap of their love story. But HTD is often a turnaround, so who knows?