Why We Need A Villain On Every 'Bachelor' Season

Ultimately, people tune into The Bachelor and The Bachelorette to see a love story unfold. But, it takes a few episodes before real feelings start to generate. Before the love triangles and squares really get underway there are group dates, funny costumes, and villains to entertain the audience. As much as people love to hate on the bad guys and rebels, there are plenty of reasons why we need villains in the Bachelor franchise.

It really is sweet to see people fall in love, but what kind of story would it be if there were zero obstacles to overcome? If there's no conflict, it would be a pretty boring journey. Without opposition there would be no plot and without a plot we would just be subjected to watching people make out in hot tubs and on helicopters. Don't get me wrong, the make out sessions do have their place in these shows, but we need more than that to have a successful reality TV show. We need the pot stirrers, the "bad boy/girls", and even the people who are not "here for the right reasons" to spice things up.

Whether you love them or hate them, it's time to face the truth: Villains are essential to the Bachelor franchise.

The Show Would Be Boring Without Them

Without the villains it would just be a bunch of people weirdly getting along even though they are all trying to date the same person. As interesting as that concept may be, I cannot watch that for an entire season. We need the villains to provide story lines.

They're Usually Hilarious

Most of the time the bad guys and girls aren't even straight up mean. Sure, they can be rude, but a lot of the time things they say are actually hilarious. I don't think anyone will ever forget JJ Lane and Clint Arlis coining the phrase "villains gotta vill" among the other ridiculous things they said on The Bachelorette.

Aside From The Winner, They're Usually The Most Memorable

Excluding the people who go on to Bachelor in Paradise or to take on the staring role in their own season, there are very few memorable people on each season. With 25 to 30 contestants on each season, it's just way easier to remember someone who got in arguments with the cast instead of five perfectly "normal" women or men. As sad as that is, that's the reality of reality TV.

They Provide The Most Material For Live Tweets & Memes

Every once in a while the fans will tweet about a cute or moving moment in one of the Bachelor romances, but for the most part people tweet way more about the scandalous moments. And those times usually come courtesy of the resident villain. No one is going to make memes about the quiet contestants, but the house nemesis is likely to be the subject of many retweetable statements.

They (Inadvertently) Give Us Someone To Root For

Having a villain on the show sets up a dynamic of opposition. Just from wanting the villain to go down or learn a lesson, fans get plenty of contestants to cheer for. Not only that, but a lot of the time the presence of a contestant who is "not here for the right reasons" pushes for the fans to hope that the star of the season sees through the fake and ends up with someone we love. Sure, these suitors could be lovable on their own, but having someone against them really makes us support them even more.

They (Usually) Say What We Are Thinking

Sometimes villains say extremely offensive things that rile up the fandom, but sometimes the things they say make them sound like the most rational people in the house. Even the (arguably) most hated Bachelorette villain ever Chad Johnson made a lot of sense when he questioned how the guys could be "falling in love" with JoJo Fletcher even though they were only a few days into the show and barely knew her. We all think this when we watch the show and Chad just shared his thoughts out loud.

Let's face it, aside from the Bachelor or Bachelorette and the winner, the villain is the most essential character to every season of this show. Without an enemy to unite the fans, this would probably be a pretty boring show to watch.