‘The Bachelorette’ spoilers: Is this a Desiree Hartsock crisis, or a massive tease?

If there is one thing that we have learned from watching promos for ABC’s “The Bachelor” franchise over the years, it is that a promo is rarely actually a promo. Therefore, it is hard to necessarily sit here and with a straight face say that we are a believer in everything that is in the newest promo for Desiree Hartsock’s premiere of “the Bachelorette” coming up two weeks from Monday, mostly because we have been fooled oh so many times before. (Remember Desiree’s own prank on Sean Lowe earlier this year, which was set up with dramatic music and a clenched fist? Our point exactly.)

In a new promo published over on People Magazine, you see a situation that is almost a combination of Desiree’s joke on Sean and what happened between Ali Fedotowsky and Justin “Rated R” Rego: A woman shows up with Chris Harrison, seemingly ready for a fight, and introduces herself as “Brian’s girlfriend.” Whoops. The best part of this is that the way she confronts her is almost like she is there to pick up her son after he did something horribly wrong in school.

We’re inclined to believe that this instance of trademark “Bachelor” franchise drama is real, if for no other reason than that it would be an awfully cruel prank if Harrison brought some fake girlfriend in just for a cheap laugh. The only annoying thing about this is that you can chart the story from a mile away: Desiree will send the guy home, cry, say something self-deprecating, and then the next guy she goes out with will get major brownie points after he assures her that he is there for the right reasons and comforts her. (The lack of change on this show sometimes is very ugh-worthy.)

The good news is that Desiree knows what kind of guy she wants, and you can read about that here. All we want is for this season to be entertaining, and for there to be drama that comes out of surprising situations.

Photo: ABC