Season 24: A season never seen before

Sarah Parduhn, Entertainment Editor

Avid “Bachelor” fans turned their TVs on at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6. It was the 24th season of the “Bachelor,” and from the previews, fans had high expectations for this season. Peter Webber, the season’s bachelor, is a fan-favorite, known for his third-place finish on the most recent “Bachelorette” season.

“Peter is a great bachelor. He deserves a lot,” Ethan Cassler, junior, said. Cassler watches the show occasionally for its entertaining events.

Even within the first three episodes of the show, there were various forms of drama and intensity.

“It’s definitely my favorite thing to look forward to each Monday night,” said junior Lauren Carlson, who started watching the “Bachelor” in 2016, the 20th season, or for the fans, “Ben’s season.”

During the three-hour premiere of this season, all 30 of the girls stepped out of their limo, trying to make a memorable, yet sometimes lunatic, first impression to the new bachelor.

“There are some contestants that I don’t feel would go well with Webber,” Cassler said.

As the night went on, nothing too crazy occurred, besides a ‘therapy cow’ one contestant brought and a multitude of girls with the occupation of flight attendant, which checks out because Webber is a pilot and wants to find his co-pilot.

Then, out of the blue (but not really because this scene was in all of the previews) stepped Webber’s former flame Hannah Brown, a contestant of Season 23 of the “Bachelor” and the bachelorette on Season 15 for the “Bachelorette.”

“I was not expecting her to come back at all and do what she did,” Carlson said.

Brown ended up showing up only to give the bachelor back his airline wings, a pin he previously gave to her in her “Bachelorette” season: “When you said you wanted to find your co-pilot … I want you to find that person and so I brought these back for you,” Brown had said to him.

That was the end of that relationship, or so everyone thought.

But Brown returned, as she planned the first group date, which occurred on that same episode, and it was an emotional roller coaster for both Webber and Brown.

Her return was a strong move by the producers, as Brown became vulnerable backstage, mascara running down her face, telling Webber she may have made a mistake sending him home all those months ago during “The Bachelorette.” He then asked her if she wanted to stay as a contestant. After much crying and conveying of emotions, though, Brown decided to leave.

“I thought it was good for her to leave because she had her time to make things right with Peter,” Madigan Franzen, senior, said. “It was important for Peter to send her home.”

And all that drama was just in the first episode.

“I do believe that the majority of the drama is set up by the producers,” Carlson said. “At the end of the day, it is reality TV and is supposed to be entertaining to the viewers. I think there is a lot more personality of the girls seen off-screen than what the camera shows.”

 

The contestants to look out for in Season 24

So far, this season of “Bachelor” looks to be an intense one filled with heartbreak, love and a lot of drama.  As the show heats up, here are the three top-runners of the season so far.

Hannah Ann S.: Hannah Ann is a 23-year-old model from Knoxville, Tenn. She is one of the top prospective contestants because she received the ‘first- impression rose,’ a rose in which the bachelor gives to the girl who, well, gives the best first impression. On a group date fashion show put on by the girls, she won the show (along with a whole lot of clothes). It is expected that Hannah Ann will go far this season.

Kelley F.: Kelley is a top contender because of her relationship with the bachelor– a relationship that seems to have started even before the show. Kelley ran into Webber at a hotel that was hosting both his 10-year high school reunion and her friend’s wedding. Suspicious, right? Fan theories say that Kelley planned out this ‘meeting.’ It doesn’t matter much now because, according to Webber, “Kelley, just right off the bat, [we had a] really great connection. I’m feeling really good about her,” he said in an exclusive ET interview on Jan 21.

Madison P.: Madison got the luxury of the first one-on-one date with Webber, and it was a meaningful one at that. The couple went to his parents’ vow renewal ceremony at his parents’ house. This date seemed to have connected the two on a much more intimate level. “She just absolutely killed it. I’m really vibing with her as well,” Webber said in a January interview with ET.