THE BACHELORETTE: Bentley is a Creep, William Gets a Break

As irrational as it may be, I find myself incredibly angry with THE BACHELORETTE tonight.

I understand the show is not the highest in terms of “quality” — okay, let’s be fair, it’s a guilty pleasure. But at the same time, human decency shouldn’t be unheard of, even if this is a reality show.

Was Bentley good TV? I don’t know. He got people talking. But whereas in previous cycles of THE BACHELORETTE when there have been ridiculous contestants and they got their rightful blame, much of the anger I saw expressed on Twitter Monday night wasn’t towards Bentley — it was towards the producers for allowing him to do what he did to Ashley.

The producers don’t want to tell her the absolutely despicable things Bentley was saying about her while he was on the show? Fine. I don’t agree with it, but I understand that by showing her that footage, it would have changed the game — especially when she had been warned against Bentley before she even met him.

But as soon as he took himself out of the show — as soon as Ashley crawled into her bed, heartbroken and crying her eyes out because she guy she was crazy about was leaving to “be with his kid” — how did someone not step in? Bentley lied to Ashley. He told her he was leaving to be with his kid when in reality he was just done with her, having never really liked her all along. Given the fact that the producers surely had to have known what was going down and saw that he left her hanging by saying things might not be over for them, how could someone not say, “Look, we understand you felt a connection to him, but your initial warning was right. Take a day, get yourself together and then we’ll move on with the show.”

By not stepping in, they allowed Bentley to inflict further damage to the series. Ashley’s date with JP ended up being mopey and angsty and she was too distraught to do the cocktail party before the rose ceremony. Ashley said she was as upset by Bentley leaving as she was by her breakup with Brad last season! (To be fair, I can’t believe Ashley thought Bentley was “it” for her. Blech. But she was invested in the guy and his leaving devastated her.)

Let’s be blunt — Bentley was arguably the biggest jerk the franchise has showcased so far. There is a ton of blame that should be placed squarely on his shoulders. After his cruel words about Ashley, his uncaring nature and his general idiotic-ness, he deserves all of the blame he will get in the upcoming days. But unless those confessional interviews where he made his harshest comments were filmed after the actual show was taped and the producers didn’t know how terrible he would be, there is no excuse for letting him get the last word.

Do we really think Bentley will come back to any reunions? No. He got what he needed from the show and to come back now would be allowing himself to be rightfully dragged over the coals. So how great would it have been if Ashley could have had hard proof that Bentley was the jerk she was warned he might be and she had gone after him like Ali went after Justin when she was THE BACHELORETTE?

Instead, Bentley won. He got his airtime, he made Ashley cry, and he could have potentially sabotaged relationships she was forming with the other guys.

And you know what? I’m freaking annoyed I spent several hundred words writing about a jackass (sorry to any kids who stumbled upon this post, but there is no nicer way to put it. I tried.) who really didn’t need more publicity than ABC already gave him. We didn’t need to see him lie to Ashley again and again and again in Monday’s episode. We didn’t need to see him doing his hair at the tag at the end. Hopefully I never have to write Bentley’s name again. (Oh, and this arc should serve as a warning to all potential contestants…under the right circumstances, you too can be set up by the show to look like a complete idiot, plus have the person you were crazy about badmouth you for weeks without anyone stopping them. Yay!)

As for the other contestants, a few other notes from tonight’s episode…

• Ben C. was charming and held up well with the flash mob. While his dinnertime declaration of what he wants love to be was romantic, I wonder if it will inevitably scare Ashley off. He seemed intense.
• William is lucky his first date with Ashley was so successful, because if anyone else had made the crack about wishing she was one of the other BACHELOR rejects during the roast, they’d likely be gone. Instead, William survives another week.

Okay guys, what did you think? Are you okay with how the show handled the situation?

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