The Bachelor: Piloting the Plane of Loooove

26Jan10

The best part about having a pilot Bachelor? A convenient excuse to bring “On the Wings of Love” back into the public’s (and my) consciousness. While searching for a YouTube video featuring the song to show my boyfriend, I came across not an official music video, but this blast of awesomeness:

Just soak up that awesomeness for a minute. I have been transported into a Time Life collection. Or into a wood-paneled living room in front of a fire on a bearskin rug with my lovah. I am flying high up on the wings of love, and I am not coming down.

So here we go again, easing on down the road with our Bachelor and his shrinking harem. Thanks for the feedback on last week’s post! I’m going to keep this one shorter, as I don’t want my whole blog to become a giant tl;dr. I’ve decided to do a bit more analysis in this post (using that English degree!), and post a recap as a separate entry.

Last week, our Bachelor kicked to the curb two crazies and one who had two seconds of camera time, and this week, he didn’t let up. Now that we’ve seen Jake in action for a couple of weeks, I’m not sure he’s ready for “this journey,” or “this process,” as past stars of the show were fond of calling it. It really seems to be wearing on him, and I’m actually feeling some sympathy for him. As much sympathy as one can feel for a man who is simultaneously dating more than a dozen women. Seriously, if I were approached to be the next Bachelorette (and did not have a very cool boyfriend already), I’d ask, where do I sign? Twenty-five men vying for my attention? I can’t argue with that. Unless they’re creeps. They don’t get roses.

Skepticism was abundant when Jake was chosen as the next Bachelor, with his lack of personality cited as the main cause. Many (including myself) were of the mindset that Reid (who came in third on the last season of The Bachelorette and made a dramatic return to propose in the finale – and was rejected again) would make a better Bachelor, with his sexy nerdiness and hipster glasses…definitely a guy whom I’d want to get to know better. A different kind of guy than the chiseled macho alpha-males who have starred in every single season. Of course, I could write a whole blog entry about the lack of any Bachelors who weren’t lily-white (Black president? Cool! Black bachelor? America’s not ready!), but that’s been analyzed plenty by better writers than myself.

America loves chiseled abs, too.

But it was Jake who was chosen – my theory is because America currently loves pilots, thanks to the heroic efforts of Captain Sully a year ago (side note: Captain Sully’s first name is Chesley, not Chelsey, which I just figured out a couple of weeks ago. Reading comprehension fail). Jake’s supposed lack of personality could have made this season totally forgettable, but he’s been surprising everyone..

I’m definitely getting on board (haha, PUN!) with Jake. Last night, not only did he dump both women on his two-on-one date, but he stepped it up even further when he stopped the middle of the rose ceremony (could this actually be THE MOST DRAMATIC ROSE CEREMONY EVER?) to consult the wise old sage Chris Harrison and ask if he had to give out two more roses. He’s been critiqued for his lack of personality, but I’m enjoying his honest, no-bullshit approach to the ridiculousness that is this show. I’d almost argue that he has too much of a conscience to be a proper Bachelor, but it’s still possible to play by the rules of the “game” and still be a nice guy – Andrew is the best example of this. I bet the producers, however, aren’t thrilled that he’s throwing their formula for a loop. I won’t be shocked if he pulls a Brad and rejects both women still standing at the end.

But only time will tell. He’s feeling CONNECTIONS (this word was uttered no less than five times in last night’s episode) with several of the women, and that could potentially turn into something. Whether that’s marriage, an engagement that lasts a few months, or dating until the post-show press tour is over (the most likely outcome if past seasons are any indication) remains to be seen. But until then, I will be setting my DVR, feeling embarrassment for setting my DVR, drinking at the word CONNECTION and gratuitous chiseled ab shots, and flying on the wings of love with our pilot protagonist.

Now, where did I put that bearskin rug?

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