Bachelorette 17 - Katie Thurston - June 28 - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

HEA wrote:

Amethyst wrote:One flag for me with Andrew S. (as with his cousin Clay,) was a mention that he helps to support his family. If I were looking at him as a prospective partner, I would want to know to what extent this is the case. If you are buying a house for your parents and/or grandparents, sure. If you are helping your siblings to get their educations, sure. Occasional help or gifts, fine. But if it's an endless string of cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc. with their hands constantly out, then I would give that a hard no. But that would be something that their prospective partner would have to figure out over time, and during the course of many intimate conversations.

There's no question that he's a sweet guy, though.

Katie mentioned she was very very poor, to the point to go to the free meals.

question: do you think she also helps/helped her parents and now her mom? (forgot if she has siblings)

No idea. Looking back, I wish I had helped my own mom more, but I was focused on finishing school, dealing with student loan debt, getting my career up and running, etc. Still, looking back, I could have done more to help her. I do think that families should help one another when needed, but conversely, I've also seen examples of families and extended families really taking advantage of family members who are doing well. I think if you are assessing a potential partner, you have to look at all of the facts and make a call.

While I was watching last night I was thinking -- I'm not 100% sold on Katie as Bachelorette just yet. It could be because it's still relatively early in the season, but so far, she just seems bland to me. Everything is out of the Bach playbook, especially the "I'm here to get engaged" speeches, listening to the tattlers, and pointing the finger at those men she suspects are not there for the right reasons. It's all so predictable. I know that she has a strong personality, but I'd like to see it come out in more novel ways.

It could be that as relationships develop, or as certain men possibly bow out, more of her personality will emerge. But so far, I'm finding her a bit ho-hum as the lead.

@Amethyst For me even on Matt's season Katie was bland I saw nothing major stand out for her aside from her entrance. Other than that she is dull sorry to say. Dare I say a bit "vanilla" JMO.

@Amethyst @chasus71

Katie is the girl next door. She defines herself that way too. Nothing wrong. She is indeed pretty but not model material. However, she speaks her mind and her bold entrance on Matt season as well as the support of her anti-bullying crusade put her on top.

But at the end of the day, she is a prod puppet. They cast the guys, they pick the dates with who and when. GD are not her choice either. The only thing she is free is to tell her top 4 or 5 on episode 1 to the prods so they play around that.

She looks like a control freak and this is very explainable. Insecurities means people must control what is going on, friends, family, lovers, job etc. I think this show put her out of her comfort "control". Everything was IMO insecure because of the unknown. So she was very influenced by anyone who looked a good guy in her eyes... not knowing if he was or not a good guy. So each time, a guy happened to be a bad guy, she was destressed because she lost control of the situation.

this is a loop that makes a person IMO very insecure. So top her own insecurities before the show, that means she was IMO terrified to be wrong. And this is why she focused so much on Greg and Michael

Greg looks like her ex. that means everything. She associated both and put Greg on a pedestal with the qualities probably lacking with her ex. And maybe her ex split with her, not mutual. When Greg will finally realizes that he cannot lead on Katie anymore and maybe arrived at the place he wanted to be regarding the hometown and FDS. He bailed out. I saw more frustration when he opened the swimming pool gate and sat down rather than being emotionally devastated. I think the breakup was messier than he wanted and maybe afraid that it will not look good on edits... maybe.

Michael is the secure dad with a son. It is not a player in her mind. He wants long-term and stability. Someone mentioned that he is the one in the ambulance at the football GD... I think that is an excellent suggestion. After he came back from the hospital, maybe it was said that he needed a surgery?

Both if you think about it have a very teary story that she related to. Crying over a sad past is definitely bonding and in her case most especially because indeed she had a terrible sad past too.

With Andrew, she bonded with the poverty. and that is heavy but not teary. But she mentioned in an interview that she wants kindness in her partner. It looks like Andrew has this quality.

So IMO we have to look for those teary emotional moments. She is bonding with those guys.

Ratings:

ABC was first in ratings with a 0.6 in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and second in total viewers with 2.8 million, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers. At 8 p.m., “The Bachelorette” scored a 0.7 and 3.1 million viewers. “The Celebrity Dating Game” at 10 received a 0.4 and 2 million viewers.

https://www.thewrap.com/bachelorette-truth-or-dare-katie-abc-cbs-reruns-ratings/

In real time, does anyone know when Blake showed up during filming?

The way the epis are edited is chopped up time wise so I can’t tell. Katie is wearing the sweater from the circle group date so she met Blake earlier than shown. Rose ceremonies have also been at the beginning of an epi meaning things happened earlier than the edit suggests.

@HEA Great insight, thank you. I believe you have nailed it where Katie is concerned and how she is reacting being in this lead situation and conversing with the guys. Not uncommon for people to bring things from their past & place it on people in their present which that scenario relates to her getting in deep in a way with Greg.

I get that Katie can be a one who speaks her mind and stands up to things that may be negative. However, I truly believe that she bumped that up a notch on purpose to stand out from the other ladies on Matt's season. Because for me there is nothing else I could pinpoint about Katie other than her entrance & sometimes whining about not spending a lot of time with Matt. I get she was one to speak up about bullying but to me it just seemed a way for her to be noticed in that setting. This is not necessarily a bad thing but I get that she could feel very insecure when competing against other ladies who stand out more than she does. Yes she could seem like a girl next door maybe but a dull girl next door who might try gimmicks to grab attention in certain situations. JMO.

bluwavz wrote:Ratings:

ABC was first in ratings with a 0.6 in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and second in total viewers with 2.8 million, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers. At 8 p.m., “The Bachelorette” scored a 0.7 and 3.1 million viewers. “The Celebrity Dating Game” at 10 received a 0.4 and 2 million viewers.

https://www.thewrap.com/bachelorette-truth-or-dare-katie-abc-cbs-reruns-ratings/

Compared to the other episodes, are the ratings steady or have they slipped a bit between each episode?

@chasus71 It takes a lot of planning t to arrive on national TV with a sex toy. She thought about it and you also nailed it about trying to bump herself not only at the entrance but also making it OTT regarding the bullying (I watched only clips, not the season). not that I tolerate it. I despise it. But living with a bunch of girls 24/7, mostly strangers and not friends, with catty, jealousy, behind-the-back slabbing to look good in front of cameras... I think she indeed did her best to not be ignored. I do not condemn her at all, I am explaining that she planned it carefully and therefore her role as a bachelorette must have been a challenge because again she could not control anything. I believe she is a smart girl but I am taken aback to see her reacting as if she doesn't know most guys came for fame and glory. I honestly don't get it. The tantrum at RC about if you didn't come for me, get out? But it would have been hilarious if half of the guy said: see ya!  

HEA wrote:@chasus71 It takes a lot of planning t to arrive on national TV with a sex toy. She thought about it and you also nailed it about trying to bump herself not only at the entrance but also making it OTT regarding the bullying (I watched only clips, not the season). not that I tolerate it. I despise it. But living with a bunch of girls 24/7, mostly strangers and not friends, with catty, jealousy, behind-the-back slabbing to look good in front of cameras... I think she indeed did her best to not be ignored. I do not condemn her at all, I am explaining that she planned it carefully and therefore her role as a bachelorette must have been a challenge because again she could not control anything. I believe she is a smart girl but I am taken aback to see her reacting as if she doesn't know most guys came for fame and glory. I honestly don't get it. The tantrum at RC about if you didn't come for me, get out? But it would have been hilarious if half of the guy said: see ya!  

On the bold statement: I truly agree about that. At least that would have been something NEW that had never happened before in this franchise. Contestants saying Deuces I am out & leaving in masses

@chasus71

https://youtu.be/n8G6i9g74RM