Tag Archives: Bryden

Bachelorette Des, Episode Two: Boys with “B” Names

Episode Two of the Bachelorette did not disappoint. Our first look at all of the guys in their everyday casual clothes revealed an amazing amount of hotness. It’s a frustrating group to figure out as a viewer because it seems like each guy gets cuter or uglier depending on the camera angle. I can’t get a handle on them, so I’ll have to wait and see their personalities! Which lucky for me that was the highlight of this show. We started to really see who some of these guys are.

The First One-on One: Brooks gets a rose.

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ABC.com Bachelorette Bios
The producer’s make sure we know that the guys of the house think Brooks is genuine by having Ben (the least liked guy – though we don’t know why yet, say so). Brooks is just a really chill guy. On their date he continuously calls her by her full name and he’s really, really cute in an indie, not hipster, way.

For their date they check out a wedding dress store, because surprise, she wants him to know that she seriously wants to design her own line of wedding dresses. She tell him to pick out a tux and we see his humor when he chooses a hideous green concoction. Brooks says silly is fun and he wants to really get to know her. He calls her beautiful because of her confidence

I’ll admit they look cute together. He picks her up and puts her in the Bentley and they drive around in their costumes, stopping for a cupcake at a truck where she gets mobbed by fans.

Their date has two more parts and both are romantic and we see a side of Brooks that let’s us know he’s a crazy good listener and able to open up! They drive to Hollywood sign where Des explains it’s the sign’s 90th anniversary. He gives her his jacket and they talk past relationships and taking chances on love. Brooks gets the first kiss he at sunset and it was very natural. He’d had his arm around her for a while and there was no awkwardness at all.

Later, driving in a shady looking area, she says she’s lost and she freaks him out a little with driving past the road closed signed. Viewers, however, know she’s got that practical joke side to her and it turns out to be an awesome dinner for two on a bridge that’s lit with a romantic purple glow.

At dinner we get to see he genuinely wants to know about her. There’s no agenda. She describes her parents relationship as the reason she hasn’t settled and asks about his family. His parents are divorced. He didn’t talk to his father from age 13-19 and is still working on that relationship. He’s learned not to take things for granted and to be grateful for what he has He almost cries as he’s telling her this but doesn’t. It’s just the right emotional tone.

Finally, she gives him the rose for his openness and vulnerability, and they go off to dance to Andy Grammer and his band. He says he’s “stoked” and the moments are only going to get more romantic.

I’m in love. The thing I like watching the two of them is that he listens to her, recaps – proving he heard her, and then makes a deduction that shows he wants to figure out more. It was a damn good first date, but this is the Bachelorette, does the 1st date guy ever win? This date feels different from other first dates. They aren’t gushing about each other or overwhelmed by the experience of a date on the show. They seemed to really connect on a chill, romantic, and friend level with room to grow.

Back at the house:
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ABC.com Bachelorette bios
We hear that Chris wants a date! But since we’re hearing this, we can be assured the cutie, normal, brown-haired boy of course won’t get put on group date. The scene plays out again with the next one-on-one. Disappointment. Then at the group date, we’re shown a snippet of her walking somewhere to talk with him and he’s saying how glad he is to get to talk with her. It’s looking good for him staying around a while…that’s producer editing for a sleeper top three boy…and I just intuitively like him so I’m hoping.

The group date is crazy: Ben gets the rose and a kiss.

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ABC.com Bachelorette bios
Soulja Boy leads the guys and Desiree through a video rap of “All the Right Reasons”. The only funny part was that they dressed some of the guys up like old Bachelors and it kind of felt like we were getting some foreshadowing and hints.

Brandon is sure he’ll pass any test, but it’s obvious he’s playing “guard and protect your heart” Kasey from Ally’s season. I wish they hadn’t made that connection because I liked Brandon and now I can’t see him without thinking of tattoo boy.

Ben’s in cowboy hat. Is this foreshadowing that he’s like Wes and there more for his career? It’s hard to think that when you’ve only heard about his little boy but later the guys talk about how he talks about his hopes that his business will expand because of the show.

James plays Justin, Ally’s guy that faked a broken leg and had a girlfriend. We’ve seen in the preview some convo where he ends up in tears and she looks miffed so that makes sense as well.

Michael G., the federal prosecutor who tried to fish her wishes out of the fountain played single dad Jason. Remember as a Bachelor Jason came in second…I doubt Michael will be the one but he’ll stick around. He tells her he’s got her back and will let her know about other guys.

Throughout the date she says she wants a man who can let loose and have a good time and at the group date night has a few moments worth mentioning besides all the guys ganging up on Ben.

Zack W. wanted time to show he was more than abs and brought her something from an antique shop. It’s a journal that’s never been written in with an inscription from a father to a daughter. SCORE! She’s impressed and he says don’t think of me as the clown. He blew her away with his depth.

We get a hilarious quote from Brandon regarding love that unfortunately comes off as too “Kaseyesque” He says love is like a butterfly…and he’s not gonna be the guy who squishes it. Then he goes and interrupts Drew who she was having a great conversation with to say he’s not ivy league, rich, , and doesn’t own his own business, but he’s a good guy. He tells her the story of his dad leaving, moving every two years as a child and his mom’s addiction. He basically raised his little brother and sister and can’t wait to have kids.

Desiree’s such a good person. She says she saw kindness in his heart, can tell he’s selfless, and has positive energy. My thing is if he’d just been a little more patient he’d have been more effective. He rushed all that information into a few minutes and came off a little crazy.

Ben steals Des from Mikey who runs and tattles that he got “swooped”. This starts off the whole Ben’s not here for the right reasons discussion with all the guys and Ben saying “what????” Ben honestly looks like he’s clueless as to why the guys dislike him. And as former bachelorette Ally F. tweeted, “What has he done?” Not much besides talk about his kid and kiss her.

Des asks if he misses Brody. He does but wants to know if she have questions. She says it doesn’t scare her. He said he wanted to kiss her earlier but thought the cowboy hat was gonna get in the way, so he asks to kiss her that night.

They’re setting up lot’s of tension between Mikey, James, Brandon and Ben.
Mikey wants to air frustrations – on a date???? Ben appreciates him approaching. Mikey says he gets a politician feel with him but wants to be friends. Ben assures him that he doesn’t want tension and says he won’t talk trash or stab him in the back, then compliments his shoes…is Ben good??

Rose time: She mentions Zack W. and Brandon but the person who made her feel special and used his time wisely was Ben. The guys are not happy and Ben will sleep with one eye open.

The Last One-on-One: Bryden – The Iraqi War Vet
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ABC.com Bachelorette Bios

Desiree takes Bryden on a road trip. She loves road trips because they were too poor to fly when she grew up. She’s stoked to have Bryden on date (yes, she says stoked – like Brooks said earlier…interesting as it’s not a word commonly used) and they stop for snacks.

1st stop: El Matador Beach – it looks like beach from the Notebook when Allie says, “Say I’m a bird.” They play on the beach and just goof around. There’s a very child like vibe with Bryden…an innocence that you don’t see much. They feast on fish tacos before heading on. First thought with that was,”Guess they won’t be kissing soon.”

2nd stop: an Orange Grove, where they stop to pick some oranges and he confesses he doesn’t know what Brie is. (He’s not missing much in my opinion). They run through the groves and we move on.

3rd stop: Ojai Valley Inn and Spa – At this point some very familiar, romantic music plays…it’s a music cue…he’s sticking around. We should pay attention.

Des says she likes his funny and goofy side and how they’re like little kids when they’re together. He says you need that once in a while. Then, we get serious and he tells the story of his car accident in college that he had to be airlifted from. He brought pics and then talked about how it influenced his decision to join the military the next winter. He thinks you should enjoy every moment because you don’t know what’s gonna happen.

Des says the more she learns the more she wants to know and asks about his being ready for a relationship. He says he may have used the military as and excuse, but now he’s ready for something real.

He’s so sweet and he accepts the rose before they go to the pool. They do have chemistry. Des says there is something there and that he’s 100% such an amazing man. However, in the hot tub she obviously wants to be kissed and he’s clueless. She has to say “Just kiss me already.” To which he responds, “Just go for it?”

The pool and hot tub, the making out, the music…it’s all reminiscent of Sean and past successes so we can be assured Bryden will be around for quite a while.

At the Party:

While most of the guys are obsessed with the fact that Ben interrupted Michael G’s revelation to Des that he’s diabetic, Brian keeps his eye on the prize.
He says, “Can I steal you, sweetie?” He picks her up and takes her outside. The voiceover let’s us know he wants the rose badly and is not gonna leave anything on the table. They talk past relationships. His last ended a couple of months ago, but was probably over about 6 months ago. He says it was hard to break it off. This is obviously all a set up for the next show’s girlfriend drama.

At the Rose ceremony:

Keeps:
Ben, Bryden, Brooks, James, Kasey (who we don’t know yet), Dan(who we’ve seen nothing about!!!!), Juan Pablo, Brad (another…who???), Chris, Brian, Zack W., Drew, Mikey, Zak K., Michael G., and Brandon gets the final rose!

Sent Home: Nick M. who was a little shocked and feels rejected. Robert, who didn’t see it coming and Will who says, “Thanks Athena…”

My predictions: Still have high hopes for Chris, Brooks, and Bryden…she threw me for a loop by getting rid of Nick M. and I think Ben will stay around until at least final four. No new crushes for me tonight though.

Bachelorette Des: Episode One

Well, we’re off to another great start. First let me say that I loooove Des. She’s real, and funny, smart and unafraid to stand up for herself. She’s everything I wanted Emily to be. So, yeah – I’m excited.

I’m going to take a calculated risk here and offer what I saw on the guys she kept vs. the guys she sent home because come on, a guy in a suit of armor, a magician, and player that kept trying to take her to the fantasy suite – did anyone really think they were staying?

So, I tried to do a pre-ranking using the abc.com photos and profiles and was once again totally foiled. The photos of the guys never show what they really look like and you just can’t judge anyone until you’ve seen them next to Des.

Right off the bat, I knew I’d missed some good ones when half the guys in the opening segment weren’t on my list. Like Bryden, the Army guy that loves his dog and spent time in Iraq. He was adorable in person and she really liked his vibe. He walked away with a rose, but not the first rose of the evening.

The show repeated Sean’s trick from last season and gave Des the chance to pass a few out during the party. The first rose went to Ben, a relatively handsome dude who played the kid card in a way no one has before. He brought him in the limo. Now granted the kid was frigging adorable but I’m thinking this is a producer set up all the way. She’s definitely attracted to him but there’s something off that she’s not picking up on yet.

Another party rose went to Drew, who happened to be first out of the limo. She liked him right away and he talked about his “butterflies” that he hoped wouldn’t leave. I think it’s his eyes and his pretty smile that had her saying, mmm, mmm, mmm as he walked away.

Zak W. is a hard one to figure out. He came out of the limo shirtless and at one point stripped down to his undies to jump in the pool. He’s super smart and can actually be pretty good-looking at times but I can’t get a consistent read on whether he’s a geek or not. He’s definitely a nice guy though and I think I’m glad she kept him around.

Two other guys got roses at the party but we didn’t see hardly any of their conversations. That leads me to believe they could be sleepers and in it for the long haul. Michael G. who had her looking for the old penny she threw in the fountain seems nice but a little goofy. They showed him get a rose and get interrupted, but we only got a quick glimpse of the rose going to Nick M. He’s a pretty handsome fellow with some stunning blue eyes and a nice masculine aura. He wrote her a poem that he read out of the limo and it actually came off genuine. Des cries at the drop of a hat and you could see her eyes get a little shiny. I think she likes him a bit.

All of the other guys got their roses at the ceremony and it wasn’t really full of surprises. She kept The gorgeous Venezuelan, Juan Pablo, who played soccer with her and gave her chocolate – duh – no brainer. However, their language barrier will eventually get in the way. She also kept James from Chicago, who talked about loyalty and from the previews seems to be a part of some big drama in the house…he obviously loses.

Brandon from Maine is a cutie but maybe a tad too cheesy for her? He gave her his mother’s AA coin that he used to flip to flip to see whether he’d go to the interview for the show, and told her to give it back to his mom on their hometown. I like the kid but I’m betting he doesn’t get quite that far.

Other guys that she kept that were probably place fillers: Zack K. in his chucks, Will with his nicknames, and Brad with the bonehead wishbone move.

The guys we have left all have “could be” status. Brooks didn’t get a rose at the party despite some good conversations, but she obviously liked him and said his name at the rose ceremony in a way that made me go hmmm. Kasey seemed a little goofy at first but the more I watched him the more handsome he looked and he seems to have a brain as well. Robert – same as Kasey.

The final three guys to discuss all look really similar. Brian, who showed up in what looked to be a velour smoking jacket and jeans, Dan who was handsome yet pretty bland (although that could be an editing trick to throw us off), and Chris from Seattle who was one of my pre-show picks. Out of the three I just have a gut feeling that Chris will stick around awhile. He seems smart, genuine, cute. He’s non-threatening and serious and he just looks like they match up.

So: Episode One Predictions? I’m sure these will change by episode two but I’ll place a bet on her final four being:

Brooks, Chris, Bryden and Nick M….I’d throw Ben in there but it just feels like something has to be off with him. Happy Monday! See you next week. PS. If you leave comments make sure they aren’t spoilers. I’m going cold turkey this season…want to practice my matchmaking intuition.