Two out of Three aint bad

We enter the show with our farmer having the brutal responsibility of whittling down his roster of three candidates for true love to two ladies.

But your faithful correspondent is looking at the bigger picture and trying to figure out who the real winner is –that is which of the ladies will be selected  to be the next bachelorette. Alert readers may recall Andi took the occasion of a botched evening in the fantasy suite with Juan Pablo to parlay a crying fit into the next season of the Bachelorette . Looking from the point of view of a young Bachelorette ( admittedly a bit of a stretch given my age, gender and perspective ) I ask  what is a better prospect: 1) a 6 month show traveling around the world for exotic dates with handsome guys working hard to get your attention or 2) moving to Arlington, Iowa and checking corn prices every morning ?  From this perspective I understand Britt’s approach to be a top candidate but bow out with a flurry on the diminished enthusiasm to move to the farm. Britt had her eye on the Bachelorette role from the start. She might not be as far sighted as Bill Belichek  but I think she had a plan.  

Our farmer, whom we can call Prince Farming  now, meets Kaitlyn our bubbly dance instructor in Bali. We see an exchange where Kaitlyn  professes she is falling in love with our boy and he responds he is falling in love too.   I am surprised he tosses this out as bachelors are historically reserved  with regard to the “L” word .( Bachelor Nation can recall Juanny Pabs “I like you ..a lot” . The lads want to hear the ‘L’ word from the  candidates to be assured of their emotional commitment but they  hold back offering the sentiment because there exists a strong likelihood they will need to cut loose the candidate.  At this point. Kaitlin and Prince farming seems to get along nicely and  I see the final coming down to Kaitlyn and Whitney who remains the top seed.  

Chris chats up Whitney and in one of the worst sales jobs ever seen, he points out Arlington, Iowa  has absolutely nothing to do and if he wants to do anything he needs to drive three or four hours . I am sure the townies appreciate this depiction but  in fairness the place  did look pretty boring.  Whitney though is savvy and offers that babies are her solution and she imagines lots of them. This response  triggers another make out session ( # 456 by my count) to affirm their future in the corn fields. Whitney seems the most mature and is ready for this step. The years in the fertility clinic has her geared to family and babies and Chris responds with enthusiasm. She seems to be the right fit.

Up last is Becca, our young one from Louisiana.  Thus far, I thought her a bit bland compared to others, especially Kaitlyn  but she seems to have caught  the interest of Price Farming. Who knows if it is the scent of her hair or the touch of her skin but he seems a bit smitten. The animal kingdom has numerous manifestations of the mate selection rituals. We can’t know or feel what he feels or responds to , but something has triggered  his interest.

  

At the same time as all this , Warren  Buffett has seen fit to release his annual report and letter. In it, he offer the blueprint of his success was a simple maxim:” Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices; instead buy wonderful businesses at fair prices.”

Well this reinforces a earlier observation where he opined that “selecting a marriage partner clearly requires more demanding criteria than does dating.”  ( yes this quote is in there)

So Chris is left with a heavy burden that even Warren Buffett might describe as Herculean.

We come to the bachelor nation rose ceremony  ritual and Chris is dressed up in local garb, while the ladies  have a tropical look that lets us know that humid climates don’t help their hair.

Chris selects Whitney for the first rose .  He  hesitates between Kaitlyn and Becca. Eventually he pulls the trigger and keeps Becca on hand for the finale. I admit to being upset at this choice and shouting oh no! on Kaitlyn’s behalf. But at least she is now in the running for the next bachelorette although I think she is seeded 3^rd or 4th and faces an uphill climb.

Whitney seems to be a lock from this vantage point and after the final rose  we will likely forget Becca as quickly  as we forget who lost the super bowl two years ago.

This  week  the girls came back to relive their experience and  jockey for the next bachelorette gig.

We see Britt cry and Kaitlyn wonder where it fell apart but the highlight is crazy Ashley S . Ashely relives some moments where there were questions about her sanity but then she gives a little smile that lets us sense she was playing the whole time. When she greets Chris with a “nice to meet you” we can see  she has treated this whole affair as a lark  and was making fun of the whole thing. I admit to being impressed and root for her to be a surprise Bachelorette. She is the anti Jeter of bachelorettes . Where as Jeter never said or did anything controversial or inflammatory Ashely S will only be doing or saying controversial things. I say bring her on. You would definitely watch that show.

Next Monday we get to watch Chris make his choice and I would be surprised to see anything but Whitney. But we are dealing  with matters of the heart so who knows. But if they can wrap up the Downton Abbey season with happy endings so too can the Bachelor.