Our bachelor Ben has a busy week as he will visit the families of the four remaining candidates for love. These opportunities offer unique views into the dynamics of the respective families.
We all come from a family of one sort or another and as part of the mate selection process we evaluate
integration into another family. Meeting
the family of a potential partner can be
a view into the future. Herman Wouk wrote Marjorie Morningstar with the idea of
demonstrating how young girl evolved into a next generation version of her mother.
For Ben, perhaps he can catch a glimpse of
the future by getting to know the mothers of these four ladies and observing
their family dynamics. Downton Abbey has been a popular show for years presenting
the actions of family members over time
as well as the evolving relations between family members. This week on Downton Abbey, Lady Edith showed us that
despite sibling differences at the end
of the day, siblings are the ones with
the shared memories of the family.
 |
| Ben, Amanda and the kids at the beach |
First up ,is Amanda
out on California. As we know, Amanda brings a couple bonus packages to
the dance ;one age 3 and the other 1. Ben being a 26 -27 year old single guy
has exactly zero interest in kids but hides it well enough to give Amanda a sense he might be able to
jump aboard the kid train as part of his overwhelming desire to be with her.
Ben does a good job of showing enthusiasm for the kids but as they scream in
the car on the way home from the beach we can see him thinking "I have had enough fun". The elephant in the
room is not how our boy feels about Amanda but how he feels about the instant
family plan. Ben expresses he is really connected with Amanda but I suspect he
was checking for the limo prior to the scheduled departure. I recalled a day I spent
back in my first years in NYC in the 70’s . Rob Lawrence ,a fellow with whom I worked
had married and had a 2 year old. I spent the day out in White Plains at their home . The
child ( a girl named Kelly ) ran around as kids do. She was fine by the time I left
but I was exhausted. I have not been to White Plains since that day. Another year or so and I will be fully recovered. I understood then why married people with kids don’t
spend a lot of time with single people. Now
Ben knows too. At the end of the visit, Amanda offers she will be crushed if
she does not get a rose. It was if we were watching a murder mystery and an axe
fell off the hook in the garage. We were on notice for the execution.
 |
| Portland dining |
Next is Lauren B. Lauren hails from Portland ,Oregon the city of roses. As she has all throughout the
show, Lauren navigates Ben through the
day with warmth and humor. When Lauren’s sister
Mollie sister meets Ben , Mollie prods Ben to know what Ben sees in Lauren
besides the fact Lauren she is pretty, funny, smart and nice . Ben demonstrates
he has exhausted his articulation skills and brings tears to his eyes which Mollie interprets as love and gives our
boy a hug. At this point we have seen enough to conclude Lauren will be the one left standing . If she isn’t the one ,
I will be starting an investigation into the fix ! The
good news for Lauren is that sister Mollie has nothing in common with Lady Mary in Downton
Abbey. Lady Mary is on the short list for the worst sister
in the history of mankind she consistently sets new records for being nasty to her sister Lady
Edith. How one treats ones siblings and parents
is probably as good an indicator as one
can get in projecting how someone will be over time.
We get the sense that Lauren’s family is quite the happy lot and all are rooting for Lauren’s continued happiness. I keep watching even though it is apparent to me that Lauren is miles ahead of whomever one seeds in second slot.
We get the sense that Lauren’s family is quite the happy lot and all are rooting for Lauren’s continued happiness. I keep watching even though it is apparent to me that Lauren is miles ahead of whomever one seeds in second slot.
Next up we meet Caila from Hudson , Ohio. Caila is the only
child of a white toy company executive and a Filipina mother . Caila takes Ben to create a couple
things in the toy factory and then Ben carries her out of the factory as if he were Richard Gere
in "An Officer and Gentlemen"
 |
| Ben and Caila leave the factory to cheers |
Compare their exit with Richard Gere and Deborah Winger here:
One thing about Caila is she has beautiful
hair which she manages to showcase. Ben seems smitten with her appearance but
other than kissing her every chance he can get he seems to barely know her. I noticed that Caila still refers to her mother and father as mommy and
daddy which gave me a little doubt as to whether she was ready to “bring home
the Benjamin”. She surely has the hair
to be the next Bachelorette and I am sure she has been angling for that spot
since the beginning.
The final hometown visit is in Dallas where we meet Jo Jo and her family. Before Ben shows up
, we get some drama when some ex boyfriend named Chad leaves roses and a note professing
he has discovered after a whole 39 days he loves Jo Jo. We have Ben arriving
any minute and Jo Jo feels compelled to give Chad a call. Bachelor Nation knows that Amanda’s
kids have contributed to Amanda’s stock trading down to Lehman Brothers bankruptcy
level. All Jo Jo has to do to get through to the next round is avoid
having Ben get hit by a bus . But Jo
Jo wanders Ben into traffic and risks becoming No Jo.
Jo Jo hurriedly tells Chad thanks but no thanks and when Ben
arrives she immediately tells Ben all about this. The gentlemen’s guide to being the a bachelorette
strenuously recommends never mentioning anything about
past relationships or ones the Bachelor
may have with the other girls but No Jo risks doom and shares Chad misses his
old flame Jo Jo.
I imagine Ben thinks “At least there are no kids I have to
deal with" and he brightens up that "all that" ( 2 minutes tops ) is behind us and
we can go enjoy ourselves at the family meeting .
 |
| two non believers in Ben |
Ben is wrong about
this forecast and is met with two brothers who care a lot about No Jo and fear our Boy Ben
is stringing No Jo along . They accuse Ben that he is not as into her as she is to him.
They have a point in that we seem to be playing a game of the girls declare
their undying love and devotion while Ben murmurs he is being real and there is
something "there”. In his defense what is he supposed to say –“ hey the
producers coach me on keeping doubt up to the rose ceremony otherwise I should send
everyone home now and hang out with Lauren who we all have to figure by now is
going to be the one” . Instead he mumbles something and gets out of Dodge as
fast as he can.
 |
| Jo Jo making a statement |
Well No Jo just entered the range of possible hometown
casualty and the rose ceremony starts as expected with Lauren and Caila getting roses to the next round. Amada and
Jo Jo are left standing with a final rose left. JoJo tried to save her hometown disaster by showing up in a dress revealing enough cleavage to give Ben something to think about besides getting beaten by her brothers. I imagine Jo Jo is thinking toss the chick with the kids Ben and we get the overnight date and all that offers.
Charlie Don't
Surf is a famous line
from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, spoken by Lt. Col. Kilgore ( Robert Duvall in a great role) as
justification for taking a beach at the Mekong Delta so the American soldiers
could go surfing. American soldiers referred to the Viet Cong as "Victor
Charlie" or simply as "V-C". "Victor" and
"Charlie" are both letters in the NATO phonetic alphabet corresponding
to 'V' and 'C', respectively. "Charlie", when used alone, referred to
communist forces in general, both Viet Cong and North Vietnamese.
Well Charlie Don’t Surf and BEN DOES NOT DO INSTANT FAMILY .
Well Charlie Don’t Surf and BEN DOES NOT DO INSTANT FAMILY .
Jo Jo gets the
third rose and we are down to three.
No comments:
Post a Comment