‘The Bachelorette’ review: Chad Johnson, JoJo Fletcher, James Taylor, Evan Bass, and strange stories

Remember when “The Bachelorette” had a reputation for being somewhat classy and about a fairy-tale? Yea, that’s been abandoned for a long time. After having to listen to several guys talk about their sexual history publicly, we’re not sure that is ever going to be coming back.

Going into this episode tonight, we got a few pretty-clear indicators that Chad Johnson was going to be at the center of everything. We got some bigger context tonight as to why everything went down, and it seemed to start with his overall attitude. Do we think that some of the other guys cornered him at the sex-talk date, especially Evan for calling him out about things that may not even be true? Sure, but you do have to have a sense of humor. Also, had he had a better sense of humor before that, it never would have gotten to that point in the first place. The guy threatened Evan, and really did so in a way that probably should have gotten him booted from the show. He’s a villain for sure, and also a dangerous one. We say that as someone who has defended him at times, especially since we do think there is some truth to what he’s said about the other guys merely playing a part.

Now, let’s turn over to Evan again, who had the guts to proclaim to her that if Chad stays, he’s going to go. Evan doesn’t want to be around anymore, and we certainly do understand why given that he doesn’t want to handle that guy being around all of the time. Evan went to Chris Harrison at the end of the night, after getting his group date rose, and apparently wanted to inform him what was going on. Chad, meanwhile, got a lecture of his own, and proved once more to be TOO MUCH. Enough with him.

As for some other dates on the night…

Chase McNary – Yes, sweaty yoga doesn’t really sound like all that much fun as a date, but if it worked out for them, hooray? This was a pretty boring date, but almost all of the one-on-ones are. That’s why most of the hype is put into the group dates at this point.

James Taylor – The dude kind of looks like Andy Dwyer after he lost the weight on “Parks and Recreation,” and he was in the end a lot of fun on his little dance date with JoJo. There’s probably no real romantic spark here, but isn’t it good to at least have a nicer date after the nutso one with Chad?

Sure, the Chad stuff makes for drama, but underneath all of this, let’s face it: This is really the same show. Grade: C+.

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