Bachelor S25 E1 Recap

I promise I’ll get back to more relationship posts just as soon as I get caught up with my initial bachelor analysis. So here is a brief synopsis of what happened in the first episode and my various thoughts on it. If you have not read my analysis of the man himself, Matt James, I suggest you check that out. I did a bit of a dive on what I think the popular themes are going to be this season and how they might play out. They are themes that many of us may be able to relate to in our own lives. I also did a rundown of the women of the show as well, which you can check out if you have not already. So without further adieu!

Bachelor not on a Budget

For anyone who watched the budget Bachelorette season that just recently ended I am sure you took note that the Bachelor seems to have found quite the location for their quarantine edition of the show. It is clear that The Bachelor has a much much larger budget than their sister show, wow! Also from the sneak peaks it looks like they were able to break away from their mansion to get out as well. Perhaps they snuck the show in during a lull in the global pandemic? I don’t know, though people did mention the quarantine, the tests, and I saw masked members of the crew, so it is still ongoing.

In case you were wondering The Bachelor was filmed at the Nemacolin Resort in PA. It apparently has thousands of acres and includes an airstrip. Perhaps they don’t have to go anywhere outside the property to pull this entire season off. It certainly is a few steps above the Lq Quinta from The Bachelorette this year.

Matt James, First Black Bachelor

We get an overview of Mr. James, we meet his mom. He talks about the pressure he feels as the first black bachelor. We hear a lot about VULNERABILITY. Should I start a counter for the amount of times people are going to say that? We then got our shots of a few select women before we get to the big bachelor reveal. Immediately Matt James… if you couldn’t tell I don’t know what to call him yet… takes our amazing host Chris Harrison aside to talk to him about the pressure and expectations. I mean, I get it, but the way they sold this I could tell a producer told him to go have this heart to heart. Overall Chris tells him to be VULNERABLE. Bring on the ladies!

A Blur of Sequins

The next 40 minutes is a blur of sequins, cheesy lines, and weird entrances. My recap about the ladies mentions each of their entrances if you are curious how each one arrived. Most went normal. Of note we had the reveal of a vibrator, a woman in almost no clothes, and a queen carried in by some poor members of the production crew. I can only assume interns, new guys, or someone they wanted to punish. Who came up with this idea anyway? One bold woman even concocted a way to get a kiss during her entrance. I do not approve of sneaky kisses in situations where it is hard to say no. I don’t quite count it, but it will go on the kiss counter anyway.

The rest of the evening has the women getting one on one time until the sun comes up. I did the math, if he spent ten minutes with every woman, it would take him more than 5 hours to see everyone. That is a LONG night. Some women get zero time with our main man, though The Queen got two meetings with him. I still think she’s a producer plant. There is no way someone would keep her around right? Spoiler alert… he does. First strike against you my friend.

First Impressions Mean a Lot

Abigail scores the first impression rose and the first real kiss of the season. I like her. I did not expect this even after her feature in the beginning of the show. If history tells us anything she will be around for a long time. She also appears to be fairly normal and without a lot of drama. I look forward to seeing where this ultimately goes.

At the end of the night we lose 8 of the 32 women. Here is the order the roses were given out in case that means something about their overall ranking, which I believe it sometimes does. I also believe they make him put certain people at the end to build suspense.

Roses in Order of Delivery

Abigail – First Impression Rose

Photo by The Nemacolin