Monday, May 28, 2012

Emily Maynard is Season 8's: The Bachelorette

Season eight of The Bachelorette is shaping up to have all the things we expect from the summer guilty pleasure. There are some villains, some nice guys, beautiful backdrops, and an amazing bachelorette. Emily Maynard, 26, thought she had found love with Brad Womack on Season 15 of The Bachelor, but the relationship ended after disagreements and a long distance between the two. Emily is a resilient woman who has already been through so much, she's raising her five year old daughter Ricki after her fiance, race car driver Ricky Hendrick died in a plane crash. The two were high school sweethearts.

I think Emily is back as The Bachelorette because she genuinely wants to find love, Ricky was her love, but I believe people can have more than one soul mate and this is Emily's chance to find hers. I think it would be great for Ricki to have that permanent male figure in her life; Emily had also talked several times about wanting to have more children. I think she's ready to find a partner, someone to share her life with.

From the beginning, something I noticed is that the majority of the bachelors are a lot more mature than in past seasons. There have always been mature men on the show, but this group overall reads as mature. Several men made a good first impression on me:

I liked Chris, his conversation with her, including personalized bobble head dolls, was very sincere.

Jef is so sweet, he has a very laid back vibe, and I think Emily needs someone like that.

Doug and Emily are on mutual ground, both of them having children gave them an immediate connection. Doug actually ended up receiving the first impression rose.

Arie is genuine, he told Emily on that first night that he is a race car driver; he cared enough about her to tell her and see if she was okay with it.

Kalon is someone who did not impress me, he came across as arrogant, it was almost like by showing up in his own private helicopter that he wanted to show up the other guys. To me, he is the one who ended up looking bad.

Following the first cocktail party, six men went home, and 19 remained.

Brent, David, Jackson, Jean-Paul, Lerone, and Randy were all sent packing; guys, we hardly knew you.

The show is based in North Carolina this year to accommodate the fact that Emily wanted to be at home with Ricki.

Ryan, a pro sports trainer from Georgia received the first one on one date with Emily. Their date was very casual, they started it out by baking cookies at Emily's house, and then Emily dropped by Ricki's soccer practice. By night, Ryan and Emily dined at her favorite restaurant in Charlotte. Ryan explained to Emily that he is not here to compete for her; she isn't a prize. He said he is competing in the sense that he wants to put his best foot forward with her. Then one of Emily's favorite bands, Gloriana performed. Something very telling was when Emily mentioned that she is attracted to Ryan, but that he reminds her of Brad. That may not be a good thing, considering that things ended with her and Brad. Nevertheless, Ryan did receive a rose.

The group date of the week was actually a fundraising event for a charity dear to Emily's heart. The guys and Emily had the opportunity to perform with the muppets. The lucky contenders were: Aaron, Alejandro, Alessandro, Charlie, Chris, Jef, John, Kalon, Kyle, Michael, Nate, Stevie, and Tony.

We learn that Charlie had a near death experience after falling 15 stories from a balcony. As a result, Charlie needed to learn how to walk and talk all over again; he has a fear of public speaking. Charlie speaks to Emily about it, and she is able to put him at ease. He goes out there and overcomes his fear; Emily smiles and says she is proud of him.

Following the fundraising event, they have a small party. Emily tells Chris that she likes him because he is super attractive but he doesn't act like it. I have to say I am liking Chris too.

Emily talks to Jef and tells him she has been waiting for him to come up to her so they could talk. There is definitely something about Jef that's intriguing and Emily definitely sees it too. Jef ends up receiving the group date rose.

Emily takes Joe on a one on one date to a beautiful hotel/ resort called The Greenbrier in her home state of West Virginia. This place is absolutely beautiful, and it would seem the perfect backdrop for a one on one where these two could connect. At one point, Emily was even comparing Joe to Matthew McConaughey.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disaster. By the end of dinner and putting their wishes in the love clock, Emily realized that she had trouble figuring out how she and Ricki could be a part of his life. She sent him home. This is early in the show, and Emily isn't that attached to these guys. The fact that was crying after sending Joe home could be a problem for her, let's hope that her emotions don't end up clouding her judgement.

Doug and Kalon have a heated confrontation after Kalon claims that Doug put being a father on hold to come and be on the show. Yes, it is absolutely true what Doug said, Emily would be pretty angry if she heard this. Kalon seems to say a lot of awful things without thinking about the consequences; I believe it is going to end up costing him.

At the cocktail party, the knucklehead move of the night goes to Ryan who insisted on spending more time with Emily despite the fact that he already received a rose. Poor Tony went to cut in to reveal to Emily the fact that he had a son, but before he could do that, he had to listen to Emily read a seven page letter that Ryan had written to her. Emily commented that Ryan probably didn't do this at the right time, but why did she have to read it then?

Joe, Aaron, and Kyle were eliminated.

Is your favorite still in the running?

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