COMMENT:
Farewell, then, this time, to The Bachelorette. The dating show had its grand finale on Monday night but returned last night for a reunion and man it was weird. Man it was intense. Man it was – more than anything else, and to a degree I don't think I've ever seen on TV – quiet.
We live in surreal times. Great art will be made that defines the time when the world stood still. Picasso made Guernica as a howl of outrage during the Spanish civil war; Gorecki's beautiful Symphony No 3 is seen as a memorial for the victims of the Holocaust. You would not really have anticipated that reality TV junk The Bachelorette could provide any kind of artistic or meaningful response to the lockdown and the crisis of Covid-19 but it was as though last night's show got inside the times we live in, and created an atmosphere of dread and uncertainty and mistrust.
It made for remarkable viewing. Things did not start promisingly or give any indication that the show would have the slightest bit of merit. For about the first 20 to 30 minutes, the final programme of The Bachelorette was like all the most boring moments of the series rolled together into one great big ZZZZZZ sandwich.
Nothing much ever happened on The Bachelorette. A bunch of handsome guys with limited English chased after two eligible women, Hottie Lily and Hottie Lesina. One by one they got rejected. It ended on Monday night when Hottie Lily chose Bachelor Richie, and Hottie Lesina more or less said to her last remaining suitor, Bachelor Aaron, "I wouldn't go with you if were the last man on Earth!" He was a bit put out.