What’s Missing from Zach’s Season of The Bachelor

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Sorry, I took a bit of a hiatus. I have been watching and live-tweeting for the past two weeks, but there hasn't been much to parse. With so much content at the click of a button, this season is getting harder to watch when stacked against more sensational options. I used to think that I watched the show for the love story, but I've come to realize that I am here for the drama. This season has had drama, but with Zach nipping it in the bud before it grows, I have found that what this season is missing most is a common enemy. We need collective outrage or shock to bring us back together again.

Say what you want about previous Bachelors being horrible (and many were), but we as a nation have always found some shock to unite us in the past few years. I don't know about you, but the split screen of Arie and Becca's breakup was both horrible and riveting. Remember the fence jump? The novelty of that moment will live in infamy. Do you remember the final episode of Peter Weber's season? It was perhaps the last great moment of togetherness in Bachelor Nation. Even though people have lots to say about the ending of Matt James' season, we still had to deal with the messy fallout of a scandal that genuinely changed the trajectory of the show.

Even if you didn't root for Clayton at first, which I was among those who didn't, his ending was an absolute train wreck, and we rallied around Rachel and Gabby, and for a few months, we got to see Susie and Clayton defy the odds together. I was previously among the people who cried that the show was broken and that the process didn't work, but as we can see, when the process works, it doesn't exactly make for great television. We should thank Greg Grippo and Victoria Fuller for the finale, the Nick Viall podcast, the reality tv show go-to for a mess, and for giving us someone to root for and root against as a nation. I don't think we'll be getting that from this season.

Due to Zach playing whack-a-mole with the drama, we don't even have a consistent two-week episode arc of drama. Finally, because he has genuine feelings for Kat, he doesn't eliminate her, so we might see the drama play out between her and Brooklyn, who has been an outstanding champion for Charity. All of the usual damsel-in-distress antics Kat would typically get away with don't work on Brooklyn, who is a straight shooter that isn't going to drop Kat's indiscretion, which she was wrong for stealing Zach. A week is a month during a Bachelor season, so I understand why Zach and the women were frustrated about losing time. Still, there is no excuse for him to shut down Greer or for Kat to steal Charity's moment, especially since Charity's date from the previous week got postponed.

The season hasn't been a complete bust. I do love some of the women! Brooklyn is a little firecracker, and Charity is sugar in human form. Gabi is a great narrator, and I love her quirkiness and honesty. Ariel is funny, beautiful, and direct, and Kaity seems to have done the impossible of getting along with all of the women while growing her connection with Zach each week. I would like for there to be a happy ending. Even the most messiest of seasons have ended with lasting love. Arie, Peter, and Matt are with women from their season today, but we got a little drama along the way.

From what's included in the preview footage, the most exciting development that has the potential to unite us as a nation is Zach's "no sex rule" for the fantasy suite. Madi Prewett Trizzy Trout would be beside herself for going on the wrong season if she wasn't married to a billionaire. In the complete inverse of Peter and Clayton, I feel that the no-sex rule can potentially create the controversy we need to experience collective shock and outrage. At this point, it's the only hope we have.