The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart Goes Back To Being The Villain

The Worst

In the first week of The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart, I figured Matt was going to be one of the villains of the series. He notoriously sat down with both Mel and Rudi about going on dates, made Rudi really excited to think that she was going on a date with him, and then proceeded to go on a disastrous date with Mel. The Plain White T's were involved. It was terrible.

Rudi was pissed off, naturally, and so she badmouthed Matt the entire night. When it came time for roses to be given out, both Rudi and Mel went with other guys. Matt only made it to week two because of Cheyenne, a person who was never remotely relevant on the show outside of that moment.

The next week with the guys handing out the roses, Rudi was panicking about trying to stay alive, so she went back to Matt. They ended up being a solid pairing for the most part, despite the early rockiness. They were one of the more talented couples on the show, even though most of that talent was Rudi's. They probably could've gone the distance.

But when Brandon and Julia beautifully fizzled out, we needed a new villain. Natascha seemed primed to take that role as the house's native gossip, but she really didn't do anything after her "sabotage" of Brandon/Julia. And with nobody else's business to meddle with, her actual couple with Ryan was boring, at least until Ryan decided to make an Ed Sheeran ballad sexy and got them kicked off.

Luckily, Matt became the villain. After a romantic date with Rudi that featured Shaggy, Rudi said she loved him. Matt told her, "thank you." Despite that, they proceeded to absolutely slay their rendition of "Shallow." The entire show was based heavily on the first hour of A Star Is Born (and not a minute after that). The producers didn't hand that song out lightly. They knew they were setting Rudi and Matt up for success. So after sending Ryan and Natascha home, the couple made their way to Nashville, hoping that the two of them would get on the same level emotionally that they are musically.

Except this week, Matt stood brooding in a hotel for an entire day while Rudi cried in bed, and then Matt told her to pack her bags because it's not working. Rudi is of course pissed at him again, because if he wanted to end things, he could've ended them in Vegas. For him to wait until after they got to Nashville and got their assignments for their final performance, right before they could've gone on a date with a fantasy suite ending? That's a dick move. Brandon and Julia were distractions. Matt was always the villain.

But the villain of the show leaving halfway through the finale, he takes most of the remaining drama of the show with him. The other two couples are boring. Chris and Bri have been rock solid since their fateful night in a Guitar Center. Trevor and Jamie have a newfound confidence since they said they were falling for each other.

The show tries to make some drama out of the dates. Chris and Bri decide to forgo the fantasy suite. Trevor and Jamie do the deed. The question for the rest of the night is, "should Chris and Bri have done it?" Even though both of them were on the same page about waiting a bit and not wanting to rush things physically while they're still in the process of getting to know each other emotionally, because both of them have made that mistake before.

But we still get video of Chris and Bri sitting in silence on car rides back-to-back with clips of Trevor and Jamie feeding each other breakfast. We see video of a rehearsal where Chris and Bri aren't really vibing with the musicians.

Then the performances happen, and Chris and Bri win it because with Rudi gone they're the better couple both chemistry-wise and musically. There was really no drama there after all. Chris and Bri get to record an album with a big-name producer (who is never actually named) and go on a tour (except this was filmed a month before everything shut down and now nobody knows when concerts can happen again).

The right couple won, but in the most boring way possible. At the end of the day, it was just an American Idol clone with a slight twist. Which is fun! I loved the first few weeks of this show where we got Michael Todd and Julia/Brandon leaving a trail of eliminated contestants in their wake. It was a great time. But once all of the worst musicians and most villainous personalities were off the show, it suffered. Maybe if we got a little more time with the couples it would've worked better. Having so many people quit the show throughout the process made for good television in the moment, but it probably shortened the entire show by a week or two.

I'd be interested in watching another season of this. It's an interesting enough concept, and I did really have fun with it, but I hope things can maybe stay as spicy down the stretch as it was for the first few weeks of the show. Right now, it's just not quite on the level of regular Bachelor or Bachelorette, or even Bachelor in Paradise. At least we'll always have Guitar Center

The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart Thanks You For Speaking Your Truth

The song you want to hear before she says "I love you"

This week's episode of The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart was a lot weaker than episodes past. That's probably to be expected. The Julia-Brandon storyline was what was propelling the drama for the past few weeks, and now they're both gone. We have to find new drama.

The preview of this week's episode showed Chris and Bri in a wedding chapel, Natascha being accused of being manipulative, and the other couples worrying about when to say "I love you."

Two of those were bait-and-switches. Chris and Bri merely sang for another couple getting married in Vegas. Jamie said she didn't like how Natascha handled last week's Julia situation, but it doesn't actually become an issue. A potential wedding or Natascha manipulation would be very entertaining, so I understand the bait-and-switch. The tension of the couples saying "I love you" is much less so.

There is some pressure. Chris and Bri said those words for the first time last week on stage, so they've got it all out of the way. They've been seemingly more comfortable with each other than any other couple, and this makes them even more comfortable.

Everyone is now going on dates. Natascha and Ryan go... to a construction site? It wasn't shown much, and I was in the bathroom, so I'm not sure exactly what happened. It didn't seem important enough to rewind. I don't think they had any drama about admitting their love, because I don't think either of them were actually at that point where they were ready to say it in general. Chris and Bri had their date performing for the couple.

The rest of the episode is focused on two dates, which have opposite results. Trevor and Jamie have a successful date at the ice skating rink, where they talk about their feelings. Jamie is ready to say that she loves him, while Trevor gives a speech about how he thinks those words are sacred. He takes them seriously. Then he admits to Jamie he's falling in love with her as well. They make out. Afterwards, Jamie has a newfound confidence that's completely taken over the anxious energy she's had since the musical portion of this show started.

Then there's Rudi and Matt. On their way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, they actually spend a night at a weird hotel in the middle of nowhere, because apparently they weren't "ready enough" for the next step, and this got them there. Weird. They go on the most romantic date on the show so far: A Shaggy concert. They get to go up and perform "It Wasn't Me" with Shaggy. You might think that an anthem about cheating on somebody is a little weird, but I think it's potentially magical. "It Wasn't Me" is a fantastic song, and having the opportunity to sing it onstage with Shaggy should be everybody's dream.

Rudi clearly agrees, because she admits to Matt that she's falling in love with him afterwards. Matt responds, "Thank you for speaking your truth." Man, that's rough. That has to be one of the most brutal responses to "I love you" that anybody can give. The couple already seemed like they were in rough shape, and now there's a one-sided "I love you" making things even more tense. The rest of the episode is padded with a teary-eyed Rudi anxious about everything.

When it's time for performances, things gel a lot more for almost everybody. The judges this week: Pat Monahan from Train, Ashlee Simpson and her husband Evan Ross (Diana Ross' son), and another Bachelor couple that I cannot remember. Nobody here on the level of a Kesha or Toni Braxton, probably because they spent most of the budget on a real star like Shaggy.

Any tension between Matt and Rudi goes away when they sing together, and they kill it. Newly confident Jamie and Trevor do a pretty good job themselves. They're clearly safe.

Bri and Chris do hit a bit of a snag. Chris is a little bit shaky at the start of "Can't Help Falling in Love," but they make it out fine.

The only bad performance happens with Natascha and Ryan. The first week of competition had Natascha (probably the most talented singer of anyone) completely overpowering Ryan. The second week they hit a balance. Now it's Ryan's turn to take things over, because he wants to "reinvent" Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" for their performance. Instead of doing a straight-up normal duet, he turns it into some weird guitar jam. He's said on multiple occasions he idolizes John Mayer, so I think he was going for something like that. It didn't work. Natascha hands him a mic while he's playing guitar, because apparently she forgot that people need two hands to play guitar. She also forgets the words. It's awkward.

Things probably would've been fine if they just did a straight-up cover of the song. These are two very talented people. Every successful couple has gone on because they've done very no-frills covers of the songs, and looked into each other's eyes while they perform them. Ryan trying to make the song sexier crashed and burned. It's not as bad on the ears as Brandon trying to turn classic rock songs into weird country abominations where he makes weird faces, but watching the performance is just as awkward.

The rose ceremony is one of the least tense elimination ceremonies I've ever seen. They try to make it seem like Chris and Bri are on the chopping block, but shakiness from Chris isn't nearly as bad as whatever it was Ryan and Natascha did. They go home, and it makes a lot of sense. Despite Rudi and Matt's struggles with saying "I love you," Ryan and Natascha seemed to lack the seriousness that Chris Harrison has been harping on. They seem like they like each other, but they're mostly having fun and maybe making out a bit as they go along. That's not what this show wants. Natascha stirs the pot with other contestants, but her actual relationship doesn't have the drama that producers want. The horrendous performance here gave those producers a good excuse to kick them.

Next week is the finale, and I hope it's a bit more exciting than this relatively tame, predictable episode. Though at least we got Shaggy.

Things I Enjoyed Last Week: 5/4/20-5/11/20

Florian Schneider, 1947-2020

I took last week off mostly because I was having a pretty bad week overall. I am once again ready to enjoy things.

Music Thing I Enjoyed: Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor: The Paramore frontwoman's long-awaited solo debut finally came out last weekend. More accurately, the album fully came out, as Williams has been releasing it in chunks since February. There's been a slow trickle of songs being released. Part one came out in February, and part two came out in March. I largely avoided listening to the singles because I enjoy listening to albums in full. I thought it paid off really well. I've never been the biggest Paramore fan, but I have enjoyed their forays into more straight-up pop music, and Williams' solo album feels like a really natural progression from that, with a bit more of an "artsy" filter. I think the last third of the album where things get a little more straight-up dancy is my favorite, but the entire thing is worth a listen. Here's "Sugar on the Rim."

Alcoholic Thing I Enjoyed: Experimenting With Bloody Marys: Last Tuesday my friend and I did "brunch" from our respective houses as we watched The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart. Naturally I wanted the ultimate brunch drink, the Bloody Mary. I usually don't make my own mix, which usually isn't a problem. There are plenty of decent mixes available. Unfortunately, the only mix left on store shelves when I ventured out was Mr. & Mrs. T's Original Bloody Mary Mix, which sucks on its own. It's not nearly spicy enough on its own. It's honestly more sweet than spicy, which is an issue. That's not how anybody should be drinking a Bloody Mary. So I had to get creative. Once I got a good blend of additives going - extra celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, chili garlic Cholula sauce, black pepper, cayenne pepper, a little bit of Old Bay - it was very solid. In the long run, I spent too much time dressing this up where it would've been a lot easier to do my own mix. Still, finding the right blend of spices and flavors was fun.

Non-Alcoholic Thing I Enjoyed: Pineapple Orange Mango Mountain Dew Kickstart: I stocked up on these last week. This was my caffeinated beverage of choice to get me through college, and it has been helping me get through *coronavirus advertisement voice* these unprecedented times.

Movie Thing I Enjoyed: Den of Thieves: 50 Cent and his band of thieves grilling his daughter's prom date is the best "action movie dad intimidates teen daughter's date" since Bad Boys II. Also the movie as a whole is very good. It might legitimately be Gerard Butler's best role (though that's honestly not saying much). Really fun heist movie. Predictable as hell, but it hits its notes really well.

Music Thing I Enjoyed: Kraftwerk: Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider's death in late April was made known to press this past week. Kraftwerk is easily one of the most influential musical acts of all time. Their fingerprints are all over electronic, rock, pop, dance, and rap music. I spent a good chunk of this last week revisiting some of their albums for the first time in ages. Here's the title track from Trans Europa Express.

The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart Reaps What It Sows

The faces of evil

For the past few weeks, The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart has been focused largely on Julia and Brandon's reign of terror. Early on in the show, they seemed like the hottest commodities as potential mates, with them seemingly having to choose between three or four people rather than just one or two. They also had an attraction themselves. Despite Julia eventually pairing up with Sheridan and Brandon pairing up with Savannah, they still seemed very into each other. Last week Julia seemed more focused on what Brandon was doing with Savannah, and whether they were there for the "right reasons" than she was on her relationship with Sheridan, while Brandon continued telling Julia that they could figure this whole thing out. They don't seem like great people!

This week, The Bachelor producers capitalize on that unfortunate situation even further. The sadistic bastard Chris Harrison comes into the house and announces that this week, the relationships between the remaining couples will be put to the test as they will go on dates with people from other couples. This is under the guise that the producers are making sure only the most serious couples remain, but it's clearly them pushing Julia and Brandon together even more so that this whole thing can blow up.

You can tell just by the dates that they don't really care about anybody other than Julia and Brandon here. Rudi and Chris's date is a picnic like twenty feet from the mansion. Jamie and Ryan do have history as they were the first-ever date on the show, and Jamie had to choose between Ryan and Trevor at the end of that episode. They go on a spa date, which could be a bit more romantic, but they seem cool just being friends and getting to know each other that way.
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Meanwhile, Julia and Brandon go to the iconic Roxy club on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, where they are told to write a song together and perform it, with the help of a professional songwriter. That's a lot more intimate! Julia says in interviews that it would be stupid not to treat this like an actual romantic date and explore her feeling for Brandon, even though last week she was constantly saying that Brandon was a jerk who wasn't here for the right reasons. Shock or all shocks, they kiss. Brandon continues to say that they can figure things out. Sheridan sits and sulks at the piano in the mansion, talking about how he's a "nice guy" and girls don't like "nice guys."

When they get back to the mansion, Julia immediately sits Sheridan down, telling him that she is going to explore things with Brandon. Sheridan basically says "I hope you find happiness" and gets up to leave. Julia is upset by this, for some reason. I don't know if she wanted Sheridan to fight for her more strongly, but that's basically what Sheridan's been doing since he laid eyes on Julia. The fact that she's going back to Brandon and getting upset at Sheridan is wild.

Brandon actually hasn't chosen Julia, though. He sits down with Savannah, and says that they can make this work (take a drink). Savannah says she doesn't want to be Brandon's second choice, or even a choice. This is where you see Brandon truly become a garbage person, as he tries putting the blame on Savannah. He says he is choosing Savannah, and that Savannah isn't being an adult about this, even though it's clear that the entire issue is that Savannah doesn't trust Brandon at all. So Savannah leaves right after Sheridan.

So Brandon and Julia are finally together, and they are to perform "We Belong Together" by Pat Benatar at the next set of performances, because the producers know how to pick them. Brandon seems to hate the song and has hardly even heard it. He seems frustrated by this fact. Julia thinks it's perfect for them. This will surely end well.

While talking with Ryan and Natascha about performances, Natascha asks Brandon if he would've chosen Savannah if she hadn't quit. With Julia in the room (she is covering her eyes and ears), Brandon says yes. Before the performances the next night, Natascha tells Julia what Brandon said. Natascha gets pissed because she thinks Natascha is trying to sabotage her. Real musicians would never sabotage other musicians before a performance (the history of musicians' personal lives and pettiness says otherwise).

Natascha is definitely trying to stir the pot, but this could've been avoided if Brandon hadn't admitted that he would've chosen Savannah to the person in the house that loves to gossip the most. It's also on Julia for leaving Sheridan for a guy she had no idea would pick her. It's also on Brandon for being a bad, manipulative person.

The performances happen with new judges. There's another Bachelor couple and Andy Grammer, but Toni Braxton is the big name they busted out. Toni Braxton seems to be having a lot of fun judging people on both musical talent and romantic chemistry. She keeps telling contestants that she wants them to make everything sexier to the point where she gets uncomfortable. It's great.

Chris and Bri continue to feel like the most authentic actual couple on this show, and they crush their performance of Taylor Swift's "Lover." I feel like Natascha and Ryan are still a bit unbalanced with how much Natascha takes over their songs together, but this one was better. Rudi and Matt do a pretty solid version of "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton. The two other performances are rougher.

Jamie and Trevor perform, with Trevor assuring Jamie beforehand that she just needs to look at him, and the nerves will go away. Jamie seems shaky for the first chunk of the song, and by the end seems like she's really trying to overcompensate in showing the connection even if her performance gets stronger. Trevor just doesn't really seem that sturdy as a partner this time around, and it seems that he kind of leaves Jamie to drown. The judges note the nerves, and say as much about Trevor's performance. However, Jamie takes this as a slight on her, breaking down and repeatedly saying she screwed up when she's offstage.

Julia and Brandon, only a few days officially coupled together, now have to convince this audience that they belong together. They do not. There's a distinct lack of chemistry. Even when Julia was more focused on Brandon and Savannah over what she was doing with Sheridan, her natural chemistry with Sheridan was much better than her chemistry with Brandon. I think a big part of that is that Brandon has no charisma and cannot sing. He's the dirt worst at everything, and he thinks singing is making weird faces and grunts into a microphone. There's a reason he's been on the cutting room floor two weeks in a row now.

They have the rose ceremony right away in the venue after the crowd leaves. They play it up like Trevor and Jamie could go home, but it's not enough. Brandon and Savannah are clearly the worst couple. They must reap what they've sowed. They damaged their existing couples as much as they could to force the other person to leave, and now their couple of destiny has drowned immediately. They played themselves. Julia leaves, blaming Savannah for sabotaging her and Brandon for not holding up his part of the performance, because Julia has done nothing wrong in her time there. She does say that maybe she would've been better off with Sheridan, but it's clear she still wants to deflect all of her own choices on other people.

That leaves Chris and Bri, Jamie and Trevor, Ryan and Natascha, and Rudi and Matt. I think Chris and Bri have to be the frontrunners to actually win this, because they have the most natural chemistry and are pretty good at performing music. The preview for next week suggests they might elope in Vegas, which is wild. From previews it seems that Natascha is going to take on her natural role as the villain now that Julia and Brandon are gone. It works. Natascha's a seasoned veteran of reality television. She should be a perfect foil for everybody else.