Editing Analysis

[luv4eric]

It was about Frank.
Unless Fleiss cut out things like Ali saying that she is in love with Roberto and he's def. the one, as of the HTD it's about Frank

As much as I love Roberto and Ali together, I have to agree. From my perspective, it was Frank and has been about him for a while. She has gone out of her way to make him feel comfortable about their relationship.

I am also one of the few who feel that she will choose no one.

[Bloomers]

That season it was so obvious she was all into Ian. I remember some Matt fans on this board at the time very angry about the wear your ring comment. It is still Ali saying to Franks parents, Yes he could be the one and the way she justs looks at him with the doe eyes. I see she has something with each of the final three but is it as strong as the edit showed with Frank and the other two yet, I don't think so. So I guess I still have to be on board as the pick no one. If in deed her and Roberto and something strong enough for him to move then we the audience have been stolen from seeing any of it. There is still two more shows but watching it back I don't know how the two left could not feel like a default pick.

And yet!!! Something clicked in my meomory, so I started checking, and guess what I found?
Lo and behold, in F1 Shayne's hometown date, the episode description tells us that, ""in a fatherly chat, he (her father) advises her to follow her heart."
Those are the identically exact same words that Roberto's father says to him in his hometown.

Roberto's father is the only father that we hear say these exact words.

Moreover, look at what point in the process it is? This is not a voice over. This was actually spoken at the time.

What this suggests to me is that even as early as the hometown dates, Ali was leaning toward Roberto as the F1, and the producers had been apprised of it. We know (because we have been told by contestants that they are encouraged to "say" certain lines and to "talk about certain things").
Therefore, Roberto's dad listens to what Roberto has to say, when he feels confident enough, Dad says the line " to follow your heart."

If Frank had continued, I believe that instead of reading Dad's comment that Frank isn't ready for a serious commitment in Ali's blog, we would have heard Dad say it.
That comment coupled with the "You scare me" comments would have ensured that Frank did not end up F1 had he stayed. She would have seen that his waffling indicated that he just wasn't stable enough to risk it.

[maryhse]

They showed a deleted scene with Ali playing wiffle ball with his family. Chris melted my heart when he said he was happy because he finally had a partner to play with.

I don't mind so much that the edit is focusing on his mom because it's letting us see what a sweet, kind, amazing man he is. Obviously the edit is working as most fans are madly in love with him, even those rooting for a Roberto F1 like Chris and want him to be the next Bach.

What's more annoying to me is that they're specifically showing us the building of the Chris/Ali relationship while keeping the Roberto/Ali relationship at the "ohemgee, come here, beautiful!" stage when really all signs are pointing to the A/R relationship being more feasible than C/A. I'd rather see more of them getting to know each other than Chris and Ali since that relationship is going no where fast while the Roberto one may have some legs.

I always cringe when I see Chris referred to as sweet, kind, amazing man based on the fact that he went home to help take care of his Mom and that she passed away. To me that does not make him any sweeter, kinder nor more amazing than any other child, son or daughter, who loves their parent. ANY child who loves their parent would, and HAVE, done the same. We just don't get it brought to our attention every Monday night. This is why I think Chris is shown more as being one dementional.... Yes, it is sad, but I highly doubt that is what defines him as a man. Where is he talking to Ali about THEM and not about how she would fit with his family on the Cape and in the house, he stated on the HTD to his father that he saw Ali THERE on the Cape and his Dad agreed. I see Ali doing a lot of nodding her head while Chris does most of the talking. Maybe she keeps bringing up his Mom because she can't think of anything to talk about with him. I saw the same thing when she talked to Chris' Dad, at least with Roberto's Dad she talked about she and Roberto and what they would do and how they would live and nobody mentioned them doing it in Tampa with the family. Maybe she's prompted by producers to bring up Chris' Mom all the time, I don't know, but I don't get an equal exchange between her and Chris conversation wise.

I think all they show is a one dementional relationship with them all.

[Jobro]

And yet!!! Something clicked in my meomory, so I started checking, and guess what I found?
Lo and behold, in F1 Shayne's hometown date, the episode description tells us that, ""in a fatherly chat, he (her father) advises her to follow her heart."
Those are the identically exact same words that Roberto's father says to him in his hometown.

Roberto's father is the only father that we hear say these exact words.

Moreover, look at what point in the process it is? This is not a voice over. This was actually spoken at the time.

What this suggests to me is that even as early as the hometown dates, Ali was leaning toward Roberto as the F1, and the producers had been apprised of it. We know (because we have been told by contestants that they are encouraged to "say" certain lines and to "talk about certain things").
Therefore, Roberto's dad listens to what Roberto has to say, when he feels confident enough, Dad says the line " to follow your heart."

If Frank had continued, I believe that instead of reading Dad's comment that Frank isn't ready for a serious commitment in Ali's blog, we would have heard Dad say it.
That comment coupled with the "You scare me" comments would have ensured that Frank did not end up F1 had he stayed. She would have seen that his waffling indicated that he just wasn't stable enough to risk it.

Fleiss edits this show the way he wants us to see it.
She got the parents blessing from all of them. Not much weight there.

I wasn't so much paying weight to what the parents said, but to Ali's reactions.
While the HTD with Roberto had the largest hotness factor, other things were missing. Sure, the father was controlling, but that's the Fleiss edit.

Frank's date had NO hotness. They did granny kisses, and Frank was pulling away.

However what Ali was saying, is what SHE was feeling. SHE'S the one doing the choosing, not the parents. I mean to tell Frank that HONESTLY for the first time she was considering HIS PARENTS as in laws out of all the HTD says A LOT. She told Frank's mother that she felt Frank IS THE ONE. To me, that's big.

How are Rob and Chris going to feel watching that today?...esp if one of them was chosen? Think REAL LIFE, not the show.

[StanleyCupCanes]

I found this article from The Buffalo News about the supervising script producer for TB very interesting (Buffalo native finds his niche behind the scenes on ‘The Bachelor’) He's a former screenwriter who writes love stories. It confirms much of what we've already figured out re: the storytelling and the edit. Particularly this part:

As supervising story producer, he oversees a team of story producers who are responsible for tracking the story lines of the character arcs of the entire season. His team assists the editors when the episodes are put together.

"My job is in looking at the material that comes in and deciding what's important, what's not important... What is going to happen in Episode Seven and how can we set that up in Episode Three."

He's worked on four "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" programs in the two years since executive producer Martin Hilton persuaded him to join the program. Hilton read one of Graebner's screenplays and decided his skills fit reality TV needs.

"It really is about storytelling," explained the 38-year-old Graebner. "It really has a lot of the same kind of storytelling principles, like planning a payoff, character and story structure Ñ just from a slightly different perspective."
But Graebner bristles at any suggestion that "The Bachelor" is scripted, noting you can't make up some of the big twists and turns. "The truth is I can't script [past Bachelor] Jason deciding that he wants to marry Melissa and then six weeks later deciding Melissa is not the one for him and it is really Molly," said Graebner. "And having him breaking up with Melissa and getting back with Molly. These are real people. Sometimes I find it a little frustrating that we're accused of scripting the best material. But I'm also flattered by that."

[brittyiswitty]

However what Ali was saying, is what SHE was feeling. SHE'S the one doing the choosing, not the parents. I mean to tell Frank that HONESTLY for the first time she was considering HIS PARENTS as in laws out of all the HTD says A LOT. She told Frank's mother that she felt Frank IS THE ONE. To me, that's big.

How are Rob and Chris going to feel watching that today?...esp if one of them was chosen? Think REAL LIFE, not the show.

Let me try this in Meredith season she said to Matthew I would be honored to wear your ring, she was force to say it she did not mean it she was not in love with him it was done for storyline purpose she was in love with Ian, now back to now that is what is been done with FRANK the CAD he is been use for storyline purpose. Ali see he is not interested her gut tells her be cautious, and he would have been final 2 not final 1 no way no how. The hometown dates Ali basically call it she wants when she and Roberto comes back to visit his family to get up and dance. It is done.

Roberto HTD was the most real I have seen Ali she was so happy, giddy she run to him, she voluntarily kiss him took his breath away too, she was happy playing ball and told him she was practicing for it, she could not stop touching him and laying on the field her face said it all she was happy. As she said she was like a proud wife. They hide that the mom thought her how to cook something for Roberto and then she mention that feeling and was so happy dancing and speaking to the father about a future which I think they did discuss. When she said she is getting cold feet it tells me marriage might have been on her mind even if it was not yet discuss with Roberto because she said it is getting serious.

[Alanna]

I always cringe when I see Chris referred to as sweet, kind, amazing man based on the fact that he went home to help take care of his Mom and that she passed away. To me that does not make him any sweeter, kinder nor more amazing than any other child, son or daughter, who loves their parent. ANY child who loves their parent would, and HAVE, done the same. We just don't get it brought to our attention every Monday night. This is why I think Chris is shown more as being one dementional.... Yes, it is sad, but I highly doubt that is what defines him as a man. Where is he talking to Ali about THEM and not about how she would fit with his family on the Cape and in the house, he stated on the HTD to his father that he saw Ali THERE on the Cape and his Dad agreed. I see Ali doing a lot of nodding her head while Chris does most of the talking. Maybe she keeps bringing up his Mom because she can't think of anything to talk about with him. I saw the same thing when she talked to Chris' Dad, at least with Roberto's Dad she talked about she and Roberto and what they would do and how they would live and nobody mentioned them doing it in Tampa with the family. Maybe she's prompted by producers to bring up Chris' Mom all the time, I don't know, but I don't get an equal exchange between her and Chris conversation wise.

I think all they show is a one dementional relationship with them all.

First bold- I agree with you but that's the lens MF has chosen to show WHY Chris is sweet. Even if many have done that for their families, and I agree that Chris isn't unique in that, it's the only way we know to view him- as the perfect, kind, loving, great man who gave it all up for his family.

Second bold- when asked why Ali likes Chris she said because he's from MA (umm thanks, Ali!) but when asked about Roberto, it's because she has a feeling and he makes her feel safe. So you're totally right. Although we haven't seen it, obviously, her feeling overrules anything else. A feeling is undeniable, a spark, and if she has that, she absolutely needs to go for it and see where it leads. If they're together, I wish them all the best because that elusive feeling is quite simply, AWESOME

So from the HTD, I got that she's scared of Frank and his recklessness, has a 'feeling' with Roberto, and wishes she could love Chris but for some reason, it seems she doesn't. But still, it makes me mad because in my own head, I do see a love story with Chris. Ugh.

[northernviewer]

I don't see the story of Chris' mom as a sob story. Ali brought it up more than he did and she would ask him questions about his mom. She even spoke of it all in her blog, re: how his mom raised such a good man. If Chris was using that story for sympathy he would have tossed it out the first night and tried for the FIR. He wanted to wait until his 1:1 date but having to be shirtless for the BNL video (a blessing for all of us who appreciate the man he is), Ali saw the tattoo and asked about it and then asked more about it during their alone time on that date. His mom's illness and death was something that affected him deeply, he left a job and went home. Did anyone see Ali's similar story about her grandmother as a sob story, no....they are stories of things that made them the people they are now. There's no reasonable reason to take the death of someone and make it that their child uses it as a sob story. It's a story about an important part of his life, a story about why he is at the point in his life he is. He is now ready to move on and begin the next phase of his life and going by the show he is hoping Ali is part of it. Chris' family sees him as a good person who can offer Ali a lot but they don't refer to him as a prize to be won. He's a good man and doesn't need a sob story to draw attention to himself....that's just a rude term no matter how you look at it.

what a wonderful post! and I agree 100% A sob story has negative connotations, and is one that a person uses to get sympathy when they need to make excuses for something. A sob story is "I've been in trouble all my life because I came from a broken home and it's all my parents fault that I am the way I am".... now that's a sob story. Chris's "life story" is what it is, it's not told to get sypmpathy to get the girl and make people like him, his story explains who he is and why he hasn't dated in awhile. Huge difference IMO

His mother's death is being used by the producers, not Chris, and I'm sure we'd all love him even if his mom was still alive and he was a teacher in NY.... but then again, he'd probably have been snatched up long ago and wouldn't even be on the show in the first place

[nikkij_26]

Does anyone know how the HTD's work? Are they the first time the guys' get to see their families after being on the show? Have any of the episodes aired such that the family can see them prior to the dates?

Yes, it is the first time the guys get to see their families since they have been on the show. No, the family will not have seen any episodes air because the show is still filming. No episodes air until the show has completed filming. The only exception to this was Jillian's season. Jillian season premiered while Jillian was filming her MTP/LCD. SO, families no nothing about what has gone on the show but, what they see when they meet bachelorette.

[latergator]

Yes, it is the first time the guys get to see their families since they have been on the show. No, the family will not have seen any episodes air because the show is still filming. No episodes air until the show has completed filming. The only exception to this was Jillian's season. Jillian season premiered while Jillian was filming her MTP/LCD. SO, families no nothing about what has gone on the show but, what they see when they meet bachelorette.

So I assume then that Roberto or Ali must have told Roberto's family that he received the FIR? I wondered how his brother would have known that to ask her what made her give Roberto the first impression rose.