JAKE & VIENNA, RIP…
Sarah Kowalski and Tigh Rickman are respectively a graduate of, and a candidate at Stonecoast MFA. Both longtime fans of reality televison, they are both relative newcomers to ABC’s The Bachelor. However, much like crack cocaine, it only took a small hit to hook them both, and now both watch religiously with their fiction writers’ eyes.
The Bachelorette – Week 7: Jake and Vienna Steal the Show
Apologies for the slight delay, Bachelor/ette Nation! Tigh’s on a cross-country road trip and Sarah just became an aunt! But what a Monday night we all had over at ABC… Ali explored Portugal with her final five, and narrowed them down to the final four whose hometowns she’ll be visiting next week. But all that was only a prelude to the main event: Jake vs. Vienna, for the first public confrontation since the break-up. Tigh and I dove straight into analyzing our old pal Jake — recap of Ali’s exploits in Lisboa to follow.
On the Jake and Vienna special: Who could have anticipated that this would end badly?! (Oh right, EVERYONE.)
Sarah: Oh man. What a week! I miss Jake’s special breed of crazy.
Tigh: Me too. It was like seeing an old friend, a friend you really didn’t care for much back when you hung out originally, but who now has an aura of nostalgia about him. Which in the long run was bad for Ali. After all, this is HER season and all, but still, who cared? This was Jake and Vienna imploding on national television, just like Nostradamus said they would.
Sarah: And man, was it captivating! Where to even begin… Vienna went a long way towards vindicating herself in my eyes this week. She basically called Jake out on every single thing we’d picked up on about him during his season — his famewhoring, his fakely “sincere” smirky Serious Face (a.k.a. Jake Face), his need to be the center of attention and to control every situation. It was mind boggling. I seriously think we could’ve scripted this whole thing four months ago.
Tigh: And to prove it, let’s go back to the first installment of this blog, written around week six of Jake’s season of The Bachelor:
Sarah: I hadn’t realized I felt this way until now, but I’m prepared to say that, barring the excuse of being a serious athlete or actor, I just don’t think you get a 12-pack without some major personality issues. Seriously: do you know anyone with that many abs who’s also an interesting, emotionally healthy human being?
Tigh: I don’t see Jake as nuts in a dangerous way, but I could definitely see him being a little unhinged. […] But when his real emotions do come to the surface, I wouldn’t be surprised if they do in explosive outbursts. Put it this way — I wouldn’t want to piss in this guy’s Corn Flakes.
…and, from the following week:
Tigh: It’s a fine line between protective and possessive, and given his constant need for attention, I’m pretty sure what side of it Jake comes down on.
Sarah: Dude’s got so many walls up… and I’m not sure why. I think you’re onto something with the abandonment issues, but according to his bio, his parents are happily married. So I’m guessing it’s some combination of a lack of parental approval, a whole lot of childhood trauma and some serious past relationship hurt.
Sarah: Yep. This week definitely brought back up all the various theories we had about him at the time — in which we were trying to figure out what exactly his damage was. (more…)
