Contains spoilers for Season 28 of The Bachelor and Season 21 of The Bachelorette.
There is no doubt that Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor revived the franchise. Throughout past years, we’ve seen a decline in the viewership and social media response to both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, two of ABC’s previous biggest reality hits, and this is in part due to the lull they fell into.
Every single episode is always the most dramatic ever, every ending has never once happened before, and every single contestant is more special and unique than the one who came before them. This constant overstating and overselling of this drama drove the series down in the ratings, not to mention the consistency of at least one candidate per season seemingly having a resurfaced video of them in blackface and racist tweets from 2012.
So, when Joey won America’s heart in Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette and ended with heartbreak as Joey was turned down before getting on one knee, almost everyone wanted to see him return to the franchise as The Bachelor. When he was announced, it was some of the largest social media press they had had for the show in years, drawing in viewers across multiple demographics due to his relatability and the great women of his season. From the beginning, a great love story was told, one without drama and filled with certainty throughout, and one that won everyone over: Joey and Kelsey.
Kelsey Anderson, the winner of Joey’s season, was given a letter from Joey that he had written in the third week that stated he was almost entirely sure that she was the one, and at a certain point, the producers even had to ask him to spend less time with Kelsey because it wasn’t giving the rest of the women a fair shot. So in the finale, when his last two dates were spent completely differently, Joey tells Kelsey to have complete confidence in herself and then sitting in a silent mud hut with runner-up Daisy Kent and telling her to keep in mind it may not be her, it was no surprise who he ended up with. They are one of the first couples to come from The Bachelor franchise that I actually see working out outside of the show: they have chemistry, humor, and an undeniable connection. It wasn’t only this that made this season grow in viewership though; it was the genuine on-screen friendships that the women in the house had and their strong, outgoing personalities that drew in so many.
Despite the love for the contestants, though, the announcement of Jenn Tran as the next season’s Bachelorette was met with a lot of backlash and even blatant racism, which seems to be a prevalent issue in the fanbase. Jenn, as the first Asian bachelorette, was receiving numerous hate comments saying that she was essentially chosen as a “diversity pick” and that she wasn’t at all deserving compared to the other women of the season.
Despite this, her strong, bold personality and her determination to find her ferocious love made the season enjoyable; however, the drama queens that were her contestants did not.
While the women of Joey’s season helped to cement it as one of the best, the men of Jenn’s season were altogether weird, for lack of a better word. There was a self-proclaimed “love virgin,” a gaslighting misogynist, an army veteran, a pet portrait entrepreneur, and, well, Devin.
Whereas Joey tended to kick off the drama starters of his season, it seemed like the ones of Jenn’s seasons were her favorite. From the start, one of her initial connections with Devin Strader, one which she only formed because he “reminded her of Pete Davidson,” was shown to repeat the same toxic behaviors that Jenn talks about many of her exes presented. Devin immediately started drama with Aaron Erb, the identical brother of former Bachelorette contestant Noah Erb. They argued about Devin not being ready to commit to Jenn, and the argument ended with Aaron giving Devin a self-help book in the ultimate “I’m better than you” move.
Due to Jenn’s upbringing in a traditional Vietnamese household—as her parents immigrated from there—many viewers wanted to see some contestants with a similar upbringing to her so she could have that cultural connection, but unfortunately, the only contestant that fit this was Thomas Nguyen. Thomas, from the beginning, was very awkward; he came across as harsh in group interactions and got involved in every single house drama because he couldn’t help but insert his opinion into everything when his focus should’ve been on Jenn. This came to a boiling point when Thomas, as many contestants do, walked in on a conversation to steal someone away, only this time he didn’t interrupt the conversation to talk to Jenn but rather to argue with Devin.
This immediately rubbed Jenn the wrong way as Thomas was more concerned with his petty grievances than spending time with her, and he went home soon after, but not before numerous altercations where he tried to come off as a tough guy, not in front of Jenn, but in front of the rest of the guys, which was a strange choice for sure.
Now for one of my favorites of the season, Sam “ Love Virgin” Nejad; if you’re confused as to what this means, I was too at first; he quite literally has never been in a relationship before and decided that the perfect situation would be sharing a girlfriend with 24 other men. The first episode featured him curling his eyelashes before leaving to meet Jenn, and this pretty much encapsulates how he was throughout the show. He constantly boasted and talked poorly about people as often as he could; he could dish it, but he couldn’t take it. This came to a conclusion when, on the group date, they played rugby, and Sam N. wore a jersey with the words “Jenn’s Husband” on the back and was determined to win her affections by tackling every single person there and taking personal responsibility for their win. He then walked into the cocktail party wearing a leather jacket and carrying the trophy, and when he and Jenn went aside to talk, he awkwardly leaned and asked if they could share their first kiss, to which she responded no and sent him home. At this point, Jenn had kissed every other guy there except Sam N., and he took this as a personal attack on his character, but it seems like, just like everyone else in the house, Jenn also saw him as too childish and not quite ready for an engagement.
Surprisingly enough, however, Sam N. wasn’t the worst Sam of the season; that award goes to the aforementioned gaslighting misogynist Sam McKinney. Throughout the season, he had a series of frat boy-like phrases, including the fan favorite, “Keeping the main thing the main thing,” which he repeated at least three times each episode. He basically talked nonstop about himself without ever saying anything of meaning. At a certain point on one of the group dates, Sam M. was asked to name his favorite attribute about Jenn, and he could not think of a single thing; it was a long, awkward pause where he cleared his throat five times and finally decided that the best thing to say was that he expected Daisy or Maria to be the bachelorette, two previous candidates from Joey’s season. In an attempt to let him recover from this, they asked him a follow-up question that everyone else found easy to answer, “What was your initial reaction when you met Jenn for the first time?” and he decided, again, that the best response was to say that when he met her his first thought was that she wasn’t at all his type.
The nerve he had all season blew me away, and the way he talked about this woman he was supposedly falling in love with showed every sign of him being there for attention on social media. After that group date, Jenn pulled him aside and again gave him another chance to redeem himself, asking him what attribute he liked about her. Even after this second chance and a whole day to think about it, he had no answer. It was another awkward few minutes of silence, clearing his throat, and eventually, the jaw-dropping statement he landed on, “I love you.” The small chance that he was actually genuine immediately evaporated from my mind as this jaded attempt at getting back in her good graces clearly failed miserably, and he was sent home before the rose ceremony.
Although Sam M. drove me crazy throughout the season, nothing he did could live up to what Devin did. In the segment after the finale, where the seemingly happy couple comes on and talks about their relationship, Jenn instead comes on alone, sobbing before they even air the proposal. In a romantic gesture for her love for Devin, Jenn decided she wanted to be the one to propose to Devin and prove her commitment to him, and she stated that she left Hawaii after the engagement, believing it was the happiest day of her life, but after this, everything went downhill. Apparently, after the show stopped filming, Devin became increasingly distanced from her and stopped replying to her texts and calls, and when she said she wanted to work out their relationship, Devin basically just called it quits and broke their engagement over the phone.
They had Devin come on, and the two spoke to each other in person for the first time since their breakup and the situation did not improve anything for Devin’s poor image. Devin, instead of apologizing to Jenn, provided a narcissistic technical apology, saying he was sorry she “felt that way,” a classic way to avoid actually apologizing for your actions. He left her completely heartbroken, and although he promised he would wake up every morning and choose her, he left her with nothing but false promises and fragmented apologies. It seems that he came on the show for clout and fame, and he got what he wanted; he has garnered a lot of attention online, none positive, however, and Jenn deserved a better ending.
Despite the strange contestants of her season, she had many stand-up and outgoing guys who would’ve been great options, but in the end, they weren’t able to commit quickly enough, and when Devin provided the answer she had been waiting for, she chose him. Although Jenn’s relationship ended before the finale even aired, there is still hope for her to find love. The next bachelor, Grant Ellis, has already been announced, and he has the perfect, charismatic personality to bring another entertaining season of romance and drama that I will be eagerly awaiting.
