Thursday, March 7, 2019

The Most Dramatic Bachelor Ever?

Even for a franchise that loves to tout its achievements in the field of manufactured drama, The Bachelor has been particularly delicious this season. As women have fought for the heart of avowed virgin Colton Underwood,they’ve also launched numerous petty feuds, come under fire for caring too much (or too little!) about Colton, and voluntarily ejected themselves from competition in record numbers. All of which raises an interesting question for Bachelor-ologist Laura Bradley: which of these women will end up being chosen by Chris Harrison et al. to star in the next season of The Bachelorette, which we all know is the real prize to be won here? A close reading of Tuesday night’s “Women Tell All” special reveals that a surprising candidate has emerged: Hannah B., the Alabama pageant queen, who has managed to raise herself above the fray. How? As Bradley explains, “Throughout the night, Hannah B. stayed notably quiet through most of the women’s fighting—delivering only a well-placed side-eye here, a subtle eye roll there. When asked about her fraught relationship with Caelynn, which dates back to the women’s pageant days, Hannah B. refused to take the bait.” A little bit of discretion can go a long way on a show like this—as long as a potential Bachelorette also knows how to stir things up when needed.

Elsewhere in HWD, William D. Cohan goes deep on the big money behind the AT&T merger; Yohana Destaanswers a lingering question from Leaving Neverland; Brie Larson explains what makes her Captain Marvel a refreshing sort of heroine; and Will Friedwald lays out the differences between the various iterations of Captain Marvel, two of which are about to be seen on the big screen.