If you didn’t see “Bachelor Pad 2″ last night, you missed one shocking fiasco of an ending. What producers withheld from the participants on the show was absolutely ridiculous. As a viewer of the show, I can understand why producers left out a huge piece of information but I also don’t understand why.
What happened during the shocking ending of “Bachelor Pad 2″? Michael, who was previously engaged to Holly, found out that his former love and current partner on the show was now engaged to dentist Blake.
Ugggh. Michael had absolutely no clue that the two were engaged as he first appeared on the show. Michael even asked the producers of the show to take a break-which they didn’t-pausing inexcusably to gather his live reaction on camera. It was horribly awkward. I am not exactly sure what producers of the show or host Chris Harrison were thinking by withholding this key information from him before he entered the show.
They had the video of the proposal on camera and aired it before Holly and Michael came out on stage.
So the information was there to give to Michael-to prep him for a horribly awkward moment on live television. Instead, producers of the show opted to keep that information secret. Neither Blake nor Holly had told Michael of the news of their engagement either. So Michael was completely set up-or at least probably felt that way. It was an awful few minutes before the ever cheery Michael rebounded and received enough votes from his peers to share the $250,000 with Holly.
But there was some drama before that happened. Per rules of “Bachelor Pad 2″, Holly and Michael had to choose individually if they wanted to “share” or “keep” the money. As if we didn’t see this same scenario unfold in the original “Bachelor Pad”, the same game rules applied this time around. Didn’t producers of the show think the cast of this years show watched last season and were both prepared to share the dough?
I found this kind of lame and the following drama of Michael acting as if he’d keep the money very silly. The theatrics were just a bit overplayed. What didn’t seem very theatrical was the live reaction of Michael when he found out that Holly was engaged to Blake. That appeared to be true emotion and Michael seemed as if he wanted to run across the room and punch Blake. Perhaps producers of the show thought Michael knowing of this engagement would add drama and directly impact his decision on whether to keep the money or share it. A betting man would tell you that any person in that scenario would most likely split-because getting the guaranteed $125k and not looking like a jerk is better than not getting any money at all and watching the other participants split it.
What else happened on the “Bachelor Pad 2″ finale? Vienna was made out to look a big creep for treating Jake horribly. In fact, her boyfriend Kasey even apologized on live television for treating Jake so rudely.
Kasey, the guy who swears to protect and guard the heart of Vienna, actually seemed sincere about his words and actions on “Bachelor Pad 2″ towards Jake. So that seemed like another real emotion moment on the show.
You have to wonder what these people are thinking when they go on a show and say these horribly rude things about other people in front of cameras when they are well aware they are being taped. Perhaps the participants of a “Bachelor Pad 3″ might opt to keep their mouth shut a bit more often or at least say things that aren’t so controversial. We have seen how the words of participants can quickly turn them into villains. Such was the case for Vienna and Kasey this season.
As for the overall show this season, I found it completely average and certainly way less controversial and emotional than host Chris Harrison pumped it up to be. Other than the Jake and Vienna feud, the show offered very little in terms of new controversy and raw emotion. Sure, we saw the weird awkwardness of the Holly, Michael and Blake drama. But the show seems to need some tweaking going forward. The fact that producers want the teams to couple up is a bit forced sometimes and yields weak partnerships. There also were moments like when producers of the show felt compelled to once again make the contestants say bad things about one another during competitions(or two things at the people they would least like to kiss).
Having one last competition that determines who stays or goes was a bit harsh in my opinion. I kind of felt that somehow the participants should have to vote on who stays. I kind of felt like Kasey and Vienna got the shaft(even though they probably deserved it). Other than that, it wasn’t bad television for a summer show. I did find it horrible that so many contestants on the show were offering up different sappy premises for what they would do with the money should they win it. Ella, who might have been the most ridiculous, often mentioned how she wanted to get the money so she could raise her son in comfort. So let me get this right-the only way you can raise your son is by winning money on a game show? It kind of seemed like a sad act of desperation to me and I think most viewers probably feel the same way. Whatever happened to getting a job and paying for daycare and showing your kids that you have to work for a living-not participate in a silly game show?
Some of the other premises weren’t as bad but it seemed like everyone tossed out some sentimental reason to win the money-that I could certainly live without next season. Why can’t more participants just come on the show and admit they’re greedy and say they just want the money? That part seemed kind of phony at times. Maybe some were truly prepared to give the money to charity or do something noble with it-but if that’s the case then don’t cry when you don’t win-it is supposed to be a game show. Not a “money means all” scenario.
The biggest shocker tough came on the finale when producers opted not to let Michael know of the engagement of Holly. Maybe they felt it was perhaps change his mind to “keep” or “share” if the bomb dropped on live national television. Either way, it seemed kind of shocking and heartless-even if 250k was up for grabs. The fortunate thing is Michael seemed okay at the end to share the 125 grand with the girl who dumped him for a dentist. So what is the final lesson learned from this summer show?
Perhaps it leaves us with the theory that maybe money, at least on “Bachelor Pad 2″, does change everything.