Last week The Golden Bachelor premiered where our guy Gerry met his eligible ladies. Fantastic first episode that flipped this whole franchise on its head. I loved it and so did a ton of people as it got the best ratings for a Bachelor Nation show in so long, and even Stephen A. Smith was getting all horned up about it. This week we have Gerry’s first dates of the season and I cannot wait for it!
Wild to see all of these senior citizens walking into the Bachelor mansion. These producers are making these old ladies share rooms and use bunk beds when they’ve had knee and hip replacements. I didn’t even think of that whole aspect of this thing, but that’s fucking hilarious.
Jesse Palmer, and after explaining it to a few of the ladies, drops off the first ever Golden Bachelor date card. Theresa, on her 70th birthday gets the date card. Gerry says he hasn’t been this nervous since his first date all the way back in high school with his late wife. That’s completely wild to think about, that this guy hasn’t gone on a first date in over FIFTY years. 5-0. FIFTY!
Gerry picks up Theresa in an old convertible for their date and it’s a whole storyline that it’s his first time driving on a California freeway and that the headlights on his car aren’t working. He gets real stressed about it but is relieved when she puts his hand on his shoulder. This has to be the first time I’ve watched a first date, fictional or real, or whatever this is, between two people in their 70s, and honestly, it’s like adorable to watch. They finally get to the location of their date, an old school diner. Right away, Theresa tells Gerry that she didn’t expect to like him as much as she does, and that she felt a connection right away. She tells him about her story and how her late husband, her high school sweet heart passed away. Pretty similar to what happened to Gerry. They connect on the feeling of their loss of their spouse. The genuine and peaceful honestly and maturity that we’ve never seen on any show in this franchise (well maybe in the first few seasons before social media like Trista’s season of The Bachelorette, but that was before I started watching these shows in Ari’s and Becca’s seasons). Like its FUCKING ADORABLE. Don’t Stop Believing starts playing off the jukebox in the diner and the waitresses start dancing on top of the bar in a combination of what reminds me of Tony Soprano sitting in Holston’s in the finale and Monica dancing in roller skates in Friends.
Don’t stop believing.
“Theresa, we have both had an incredible night, will you accept this rose?”
THIS SHOW’S ADORABLE!
Next up is the first group date of the series. Gerry and his twelve ladies to a romance novel cover shoot. Cute group idea for a bunch of old ladies. The ladies and Gerry have fun. One of the groups of ladies dresses up in wedding gowns and one of them, Nancy gets emotional remembering her wedding day with her late husband. Awe. Gerry talks to her after the photoshoot. He asks her about the disconnect and if something was wrong. She tells him about how she felt with the wedding dress on and the emotions that it brought up for her and how she was overwhelmed. The honesty and how open these people are on this show vs. what we’re used to on these Bachelor shows that are normally so much mind games is wild to watch. Gerry gives Nancy the group date rose.
The next day it’s Gerry’s birthday and he heads into the mansion for the cocktail party, where he’s surprised by the ladies for his birthday party before the rose ceremony. He connects with several of the ladies and gives Ellen a gift of a framed picture of one of the photos they took the previous day at the group date. Cute.
Onto the rose ceremony. Leslie gets the first rose, then Joan, then Ellen, followed by Sandra, Susan, Christina, then Faith, who got the first impression rose but no date this week, then April, and with the final rose of the evening…
“Kathy, will you accept this rose?”
I still think she kind of looks like Kaitlyn Jenner (is that mean, idk?).
Gerry cries as he sends home Jeanie, Natascha (Stephen A. is gonna be pissed on that one), and another lady who’s name I can’t remember home. In the normal shows, you don’t see this kind of maturity when people get sent home after hometowns, let alone in the first week of dates.
ABC has a fucking hit with this show. That’s for sure.
Tomorrow I’ll break down tonight’s episode of Bachelor in Paradise where it goes from such mature adults to immature children on the beach. Can’t wait.
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