The Bachelor

They’re dropping like flies now. Ben Flajnik is down to his top three girlfriends on The Bachelor Season 16 and Rosemaster Chris Harrison is here to share his thoughts on them in his Entertainment Weekly blog on the Episode 8 hometown dates. His major topics are Kacie Boguskie and Courtney Robertson — with Chris seeming to back his boy Ben on recognizing the “great divide” between his and Kacie’s backgrounds.

The fall of Kacie: “I can’t recall ever seeing such a strong front-runner like Kacie falling so far, so fast after a hometown date. From the moment she started talking about her family to Ben you knew there was going to be a bit of a culture clash. Ben summed it up best himself when he said, ‘Kacie’s dad doesn’t drink, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Well that’s great — I’m a wine maker.’’ Of course that isn’t the reason this didn’t work, but all joking aside it did point out some of the distance between them. Kacie has a newfound perspective on life and love, and this experience has definitely changed her. She has an amazingly loving family, and while things didn’t go smoothly with Ben she should be grateful for the love and wisdom her parents shared with her. This is a great example of why the hometown dates are so important. Ben comes from a very different world than Kacie does and this wasn’t a good fit for him or her. Kacie’s departure was easily one of the most emotional we’ve seen in a while. We’ve all gotten to know and love her so much, so it was tough to see her so confused and broken-hearted. I’m sure, upon reflection, Kacie can now see the great divide that was between them, but that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hurt.”

The second coming of Courtney’s perspective: “I found it interesting to hear that upon reflection, Courtney isn’t happy about the way she acted towards the other women and regrets it. It seems that her demeanor was one big defense mechanism. This doesn’t excuse everything she’s done and she still has some explaining to do, but at the very least, this was a great glimpse into what makes her tick.” (It’s still a shame no one feels like calling out the other women for their own behavior — you can’t blame Courtney for the mean girl bashing of Shawntel Newton or Blakeley Shea.)

Chris disagrees with Courtney’s dad: “I found the comment by her dad to be most interesting. He said marriage is life’s greatest gamble; you have a fifty percent chance of winning. I’m not really sure I know what that means, but it sure seems like a sad, depressing view on life and love. I’d like to think that each couple defines their own chances.”

Fake wedding fever: “Now, onto one of the most awkward things I’ve watched in quite some time, the mock wedding. Beyond how strange it was to hold a faux wedding, it really showed an interesting side of Courtney. She definitely opened up to Ben and expressed her love to him, but it was very hard and uncomfortable for her. She had trouble reading her vows and it seemed like it was really hard for her to spit it out. The most important thing though is her relationship with Ben. Ben gets her and appreciates the way she is. I’m looking forward to hearing all the opinions on Courtney this week. I think not living with the other women anymore gave Courtney some time to reflect on her actions, and I’m curious to see how things change next week.”

He can’t be that curious since he’s probably seen all the episodes and knows how things end up. And a fake wedding isn’t that weird since Ashley Hebert put William Holman through one on The Bachelorette Season 7. Plus, the gal’s got good taste if she took a cue from Carrie Bradshaw, who said something similar in Sex and the City.

Read Chris' full blog for more.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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