Entertainment

Alert! Here's Your First Look At Arie's 'Bachelor' Contestants

by Marenah Dobin
ABC/Lou Rocco

It is almost time for a new season of The Bachelor. Yahoo! recently released the first promo featuring Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s Bachelor contestants, and there is just so much to address. First of all, let's talk about the silver fox in the room. No one expected Arie to be the star of The Bachelor this season. Pretty much everyone thought (and hoped) that the honor would go to the runner-up from The Bachelorette Season 13, Peter Kraus. Casting Arie was a shocking choice to everyone — and a disappointing decision to some people — but the promo shows that the women are very much into Arie.

In the clip, one woman throws her arms up in the air and yells, "He is such a catch!" in a scene that looks like it's from night one in the mansion. Sounds like maybe she was familiar with Arie and his backstory going into the season. Another suitor declares, "He's definitely hubby material!" One woman even says, "He's Mr. Dreamy."

Sure, those quotes only account for three women, and it seems like the ladies are always wrapped up in this "journey" no matter who the Bachelor is, but the interest in Arie is definitely reassuring to see after the love for Peter led to a lot of Arie-induced backlash from the fandom. (You can watch the full trailer over on Yahoo!)

The truth is that no matter how much people complain about Arie being the lead, most fans are still going to watch the show no matter what. Plus, it really looks like everything is what we are used to seeing based on the promo. The women are into the Bachelor, there are make out sessions in the hot tub, and the ladies are keeping the hair extensions industry afloat on night one. It will all be just fine.

The only thing that is different than the promos for previous Bachelor seasons is that they are really playing up the race car driver angle. The narrator says, "He is in the driver's seat," and there was obviously a clip from a racing date. You can probably expect some line about "hearts racing" in the near future. The show follows a predictable path every year, but each Bachelor has their own shtick going into his season.

Last year, Nick Viall's season was promoted by emphasizing his many appearances in the franchise over and over again. They even used the phrase, "No longer a runner-up."

For The Bachelor Season 20, which aired in 2016, Ben Higgins' overall flawlessness was played up with the line "Perfect Ben."

Other than a few catchy lines that pertain to the man of the hour, this promo for Arie's season is no different than the ones that came before his... and the ones that will come in the following years. The fans who love watching The Bachelor and still have an issue with Arie just need to accept that he is the Bachelor and that the essence of the show will still be the same. The viewers may not be fawning all over him (yet), but the promo shows that plenty of his contestants are. There is no need to fret. The Bachelor franchise is still alive and well. And everyone knows that the real entertainment of the season will come from the contestants anyway.

And even if the season does disappoint in some way, that just gives people more to complain about on social media, additional material for memes, and a more interesting conversation. Arie either kills it as the Bachelor with some women (and viewers) falling in love with him, or he doesn't and it will still be entertaining to watch. Either way, there is some joy to be had from watching.

When it comes down to it, viewers just need to have an open mind and get ready for the premiere episode on Janu-Arie 1, 2018.