Carrying over the drama from last week, Shawn B. opened up The Bachelorette by cornering Kaitlyn in her hotel suite and demanding that she declare her feelings for him then and there. Shawn literally point-blank asked Kaitlyn if she loved him. You see, between Jared's one-on-one date and everything with Nick Viall, he freaked out and decided to find our resident Bachelorette and demand answers. Five weeks in. Um, dude, can you slow down a little bit?
The thing that irks me when contestants on The Bachelor/ette (and it’s usually The Bachelorette, since the men come out swinging and begging for validation) do this is that, like, have you guys not seen the show before? The Bachelor and Bachelorette are pretty much not really allowed to say, “I love you” until the finale rose ceremony. So, what makes you think that he or she, respectively, will break all the rules for you, dude? There have been roughly 55 seasons of both shows: You should know how this works by now.
Kaitlyn seemed as uncomfortable as the rest of the viewership with Shawn’s advances, because she thought he came in to demand answers about her sleeping with Nick. Luckily for Kaitlyn, Shawn has no idea, and that’s really for the better at this point. To Kaitlyn’s credit, she mostly dodged his questioning.
In my book, at this stage in the game, that should really be enough for Shawn. What he’s failing to remember is that there are ten other guys in the game. He’s not the only one vying for her affections. Instead, Shawn kept saying over and over that he’s “having a hard time” and seems pretty close to walking away.
Kaitlyn made an excellent point in a one-on-one interview after her conversation with Shawn: She said that Shawn feeling doubtful about the whole process is the exact reason that she can’t commit to anyone this early. If someone is not feeling it, she risks getting her heart broken, too, and she’s not ready for that.
The next evening, just to pile more stuff on top of Kaitlyn, Shawn came back to Kaitlyn's hotel room. Once again, she thought that he was there to talk about Nick. (Is this going to be the cloud that hangs over Kaitlyn's head all season?) In reality, Shawn stopped by to have a discussion about the fact that, off-camera in San Antonio, Kaitlyn said that he was the one and that he's having a hard time with that now. Kaitlyn is so obviously relieved, and she tells him that if this works out, this is only a few weeks in the span of forever and he has to deal with everything that comes with being on The Bachelorette.
What a head on her shoulders! It seems like Kaitlyn has a grip on this Bachelorette setup, and Shawn is just flailing. I hope for both their sakes that he stays (and I think he does), because I think they’re great together. He just needs to remember how this show works, first.
Images: ABC/Rick Rowell
