By now we’re all exhausted with the Bentley storyline on The Bachelorette, but it still hasn’t reached the painful peak of the heartbreak villian jetting over to Hong Kong for a free vacation and to lead Ashley on some more.
Apparently a big source of the drama tonight doesn’t focus on Ashley’s reunion with Bentley, but on the way news of his return affects her attitude towards the other guys. According to Chris Harrison, after Ashley meets with Bentley (and falls for more of his lies) she gets “cocky” with the other gents. Reassurance from Bentley “gets to this happy place and is almost a little arrogant and cocky because of it. It’s like you walking up to your boyfriend and saying, ‘For the last couple of months I’ve been sleeping with another guy, but the good news is I don’t want to have sex with him anymore.’” In fact, Cosmo Bachelor of The Year Ryan “Mickey” McLean gets so fed up with Ashley that he walks out on her during cocktail hour.
Of course, there’s a lot of about The Bachelorette that is edited, controlled, and “fake,” but part of the show’s artificial manipulation is that sequestering these people together in such a weird and unique situation does create some real emotions, even if they’re not based on reality. I think Ashley’s feelings for Bentley are a real, soul-rattling crush. Not love or anything serious, but one of those teenage feelings that intoxicate you and make you want to kill yourself at the same time. When you get one of those bad crushes, you do ridiculous things, and hurt others who might really care about you.
What is fascinating and disturbing about watching Ashley gush over Bentley is getting to see the other side of one of those crushes when the the other person doesn’t care as much, or in Bentley’s case, at all. This kind of thing happens every day, when one person tells the other lies they want to hear just so they can get away after using the other for sex or money or attention, or just ego boosting.
