“I Too Would Have Felt Blindsided”: Sharleen Joynt on The Bachelor Episode 6

As much as this season’s been a disappointment thus far, I have to admit last night brought a few surprises I did not see coming. It’s as though The Powers That Be knew Monday’s episode was a downer and that they might lose us if we waited the usual full week for an upswing. Last night, thankfully, did bring with it that turn for the better. While there was still unpleasant conflict it took a distinct backseat to relationships developing, and I for one couldn’t be happier for the reprieve.

I was SHOCKED to see certain women go home last night, namely Victoria P and Sydney. Given how Peter had appeased a furious Victoria P and won back her affections at the start of Monday’s episode, I assumed he was sweeping the Alayah episode under the rug. It looked like he’d officially sided with Victoria, which would suggest her sticking around for a while. Meanwhile, Sydney’s 1-on-1 date last episode was super steamy, in that I-feel-self-conscious-just-watching-this sort of way, complete with Peter telling her she was the best kisser. I thought FOR SURE she’d be getting a Hometown based on that date, if not making it even further. I even put her in second place in Tuesday’s recap!

Both women seemed surprised and, truthfully, based on Peter’s words and actions, if I were them I too would have felt blindsided. It felt as though both women, particularly Sydney, were cracked open, filled to the brim with expectation, only then to have the rugs promptly pulled out from under them. That said, to me, these two eliminations signaled a changing of the tides, of Peter finally taking control of his season. As I said on Tuesday, the lead is responsible for setting the tone for his own season and it would seem Peter is finally getting that memo and acting on it, even if retroactively. Note how involved in the Alayah saga both of these women were—I can’t help but wonder if Peter’s desire to completely rid himself of drama coloured this particular decision-making. At any rate, you could argue their eliminations were a plain case for never, ever talking ill of another contestant. It simply never pays off.

Now for latest drama: I said in Tuesday’s recap that, in terms of choosing sides, I can’t help but notice who the common denominators have been on a cumulative level. It’s like judges on Chopped basing their final decision on the entire meal a chef had prepared, not only their recent dessert course. Despite Tammy casting the first stone against Kelsey and her unwillingness to really own those actions, I continued to give her the benefit of the doubt due to her formerly spotless record. However, last night was officially where Tammy, our former cool girl, lost me completely. Episode 6 is typically when interpersonal tensions are approaching their breaking point; trust me, on my own season, Episode 6 was when you’d have been hard pressed to find a shot of me looking genuinely happy. (Never mind that, on this uniquely combative season, tensions have felt this high for weeks now. Honestly, it looks like hell.) But regardless of how poorly these women get along, I simply don’t believe Mykenna deserved the venom Tammy spewed her way last night.

I have a heart for Mykenna, not only because she’s the season’s sole Canadian (which, not going to lie, does give her a leg up), but because she’s been consistently kind to others and is obviously harmless. If her biggest crime was desperately sneaking a few minutes of time before a Cocktail Party-less Rose Ceremony, she’s definitely one of the season’s more innocent players. She wears her heart on her sleeve and isn’t afraid to melt down on camera, which unfortunately became her undoing, in my opinion. If there’s ever been an example of a contestant whose day-to-day reactions have been identified as potentially explosive and thus preyed upon by production, it’s Mykenna. It first began in Episode 3 when the Pool Party was over before it began; Mykenna was the one who lost it, bursting into tears, securing her future as the contestant whose every minute of filming would be toyed with to the max. It’s no coincidence that, at that following Rose Ceremony, she would receive the very last rose, a camera zooming in on her increasingly fretful expression with every name called ahead of hers. In Episode 4, after Victoria F left for her first 1-on-1 date, Mykenna said in an ITM, her voice breaking as she fought back tears, “For him to not really see me and not know my heart would really suck.” She has said something along these lines in every episode, essentially premeditating what would be done to her. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mykenna was kept around partially to witness someone else—Victoria F—get a second 1-on-1 date before she got a first. Basically, unless Peter felt particularly strongly about Mykenna, she was simply never going to get her very own 1-on-1 date, if for no other reason than to elicit—and of course film—her inevitable implosion.

You see, Mykenna wasn’t one who needed to be puffed up with expectation only to be blindsided. She was the season’s perma-optimist, having arrived already high with hopes and in a state of having fallen in love with the mere idea of Peter. On Monday, despite her name getting passed over for a date again and again, she still said, “I still believe that I’m going to fall in love with him”. The appropriate blindside for a contestant with this kind of unflappable confidence is to NOT give her what she expects. Mykenna mistakenly thought that, if she waited her turn, it would eventually come. She believed the cookie would crumble in a meritocratic way and expected her fair share of that hypothetical cookie, which is sadly something her own demeanour would prevent. Unlike more realistic, skeptical contestants like Kelley, who would need to first be swept off their feet in order to become ripe enough to blindside, Mykenna’s rug-pulling was a different breed. No one ever said the Bachelor contestant experience isn’t bespoke.

Mykenna’s story this season is one that could be studied by strategic Bachelor contestant hopefuls. Since no one goes on this show solely for love anymore, there’s an interesting analysis to be made over whether or not Mykenna’s journey was as “successful”—aka, long-lasting and with decent airtime—as it could have been. It would appear Mykenna lasted until Episode 6 based on her guaranteed eruptive reactions. But at the same time, those reactions may well have been a major reason she wasn’t ever taken seriously as date-receiving candidate for Peter. It’s an age old franchise predicament: Would Mykenna have lasted as long, or even longer if she’d been a more stoic wallflower and hadn’t arrived pre-fallen in love? Would an interest in building up her hopes—again, cracking her open and filling her with expectation—have changed things? Perhaps she’d have received an early season 1-on-1 date, an advantage not to be underestimated. Perhaps that day would have revealed an unexpected connection between her and Peter, enough for her to be taken at least semi-seriously as a romantic lead. My money, being the skeptic I am, is on it making little difference (I always believe the lead is drawn to who he’s drawn to), but it’s interesting food for thought that I’ve never considered before. In a way, one’s mindset and reactivity predetermines what approach producers will take with you, what “bespoke blindside” they have in store for you.

Meanwhile, Tammy’s story was that of the season’s comic relief and narrator (along with Natasha). We could all tell early on there wasn’t much between her and Peter—their kiss in Episode 4 felt forced—but with her wit and timing, she was earning her keep. But funny quips can only suffice for so long; at some point, you either graduate to becoming a Paradise-worthy producer pet or you go home. Tammy’s no fool, and it’s for this reason I feel that, at some point, Tammy shrugged off the hope of ever becoming a romantic frontrunner. Somewhere between Cleveland and Costa Rica, Tammy gave in to the dark side, willingly becoming the contestant who delivered drama on a silver platter. It’s also for this reason that I feel Paradise auditions are no longer limited to the seasons’ Tell All episodes. Tammy’s willingness to throw both Kelsey and Mykenna under the bus in back-to-back episodes, without even a “posse” in her corner, is proof she had nothing to lose in terms of her friendships or her relationship with Peter. There was no greater cause to consider, no light at the end of the filming tunnel to look forward to. Tammy’s “posse” in all this, after all, was the producers. With an audition this effective, there’s little doubt we’ll be seeing Tammy on Paradise this summer.

My frontrunners based on this episode are as follows…

Madison, 23

I was already confident in Madison and Peter’s relationship, but last night only made it more indisputable how much of a shoo-in she is too “win” at this point. She received the week’s Group Date rose, and while her 1-on-1 time left me still desiring more basic conversation (reading a telenovela script some producer wrote doesn’t count), it provided confirmation that there is major chemistry here.

Hannah Ann, 23

I really enjoyed Hannah Ann’s 1-on-1 date in that it finally showed us rapport between her and Peter that didn’t revolve around their physical chemistry. Peter even said that Hannah Ann is probably the goofiest girl there, something we hadn’t come close to seeing before and which is a pretty telling statement. (What man doesn’t love a goofy woman?) Their evening conversation pained me a bit, in that Peter was clearly prompting Hannah Ann to pour her heart out on cue, but in the end she gave him what he wanted and he was a happy clam. I don’t see Peter being able to let Hannah Ann go anytime soon.

Victoria F, 26

Enter Exhibit B of Peter cuing women to pour their hearts out. I understand Peter doesn’t want to be left heartbroken at the end of his own season, but his nudging his dinner dates for an on-schedule “I’m falling for you” is a bit painful to watch. I actually found Victoria F refreshing in this scene, in her reticence to just say what Peter wanted to hear. Peter finally gave up, giving Victoria F a pass, which itself shows how into her he is.

Kelsey, 27

I have Kelsey in this spot over Kelley because I’m beginning to doubt Kelley is going to stick around—of her own volition—for too much longer. Meanwhile, in terms of on-schedule professions of love, Kelsey is easily the most conventional contestant here. She promptly told Peter she was “falling” for him after her 1-on-1 date, and has since taken every opportunity to tell him how much he means to her. We know by now Peter’s a sucker for this, so while I don’t actually see Kelsey “winning,” I think she might be Hometown material.