How did Clayton Echard’s ‘Bachelor’ season turn out to be such a shipwreck?

Is our Clayton Echard about to find himself alone in Iceland? It’s definitely looking in that direction! Last weeks Bachelor double layer-a brutal “Women tell it all” followed by an even more chaotic week of fantasy suites, where Clayton sees his obvious top pick take her home—Introducing a Bachelor in distress. And with the previews for this two-week finale, things are only going to get worse for our rising ex-footballer.

Clayton’s season has been shaky from the start – in part because The Bachelor itself doesn’t seem to be anyone’s top pick. He didn’t get far in Michelle Young’s Bachelorette there used to be a season as a lead (although the mandatory deadlines for contestants to become a leader have become more flexible in recent years) and many fans had hoped for the franchise Commerce will choose a different color Bachelor. After all, Michelle’s season has left the franchise confused about options.

It also doesn’t help that Clayton barely got any screen time in Michelle’s season, another detail that makes his choice confusing. Fans were not pleased with his announcement; Social media is already rife proposed boycott and some fans have gone as far as Submit request Clayton Venmo for “their pain and suffering.”

Clayton also faced a logistical hurdle. Former Bachelorette Becca Kufrin recently pointed out“Clayton is in a very bad position” entering this season was immediately eliminated Bachelorette. He won’t “know” what people are saying backstage. “I think he came in, really looking for love and finding a mate, but in a very naive sense and didn’t know that there was going to be more drama and all this drama.”

Becca added, there’s no point in having the contestants this season… shall we say… a little more intense than usual?

The first was Cassidy Timbrooks, who managed to get away from the entire house in just two weeks. And then there’s her villainous successor, Shanae Ankney, who seems to enjoy her own hypocrisy in a particularly horrifying film “Women Tell All.”

But much of the frustration with Clayton at this point is of his own making. He seems to be easily swayed by the producer’s intervention, just like before Bachelor of Shipwreck Peter Weber. Despite the show’s insistence that he’s a serious communicator, Clayton has struggled this season to match the depth some of his contestants have brought to their conversation. surname. And worst of all, he was Therefore unspeakably terrible in sorting through any home movie. (That final defeat is what turned last week’s “Women Tell All” into a bloodbath of words.) Ever since the season began airing, Clayton has even sorry to a contestant, Elizabeth Corrigan, whom he sent home instead of Shanae, after he discovered Shanae had bullied Elizabeth.

And while we’re on the subject of Peter Weber, the two have one more thing in common: both men try to eliminate their top pick by behaving less chivalrously.

To be fair, Peter’s abusive behavior was certainly more serious. Madison Prewett asked the Bachelor not to sleep with other women if he wanted to leave the show with her – but he did anyway, hoping after the incident she would forgive her. for him. It didn’t work, and in the end, he has roasted high heaven by the woman he proposed, Hannah Ann Sluss, though not all of their relationship.

Clayton’s misunderstanding with Susie Evans is at least one small more nuances. As teased endlessly throughout the season, Clayton claims to have “fallen in love” with three women this season. The producers knew Susie wanted her man to remain chaste – so of course they scheduled a date in her imaginary room one last time, giving our Bachelor plenty of chance to share his feelings (and a bed) with two other women before her.

And oh boy, did our bachelor take the bait. He’s on high when he leaves his second imaginary date with Gabby Windey; he screams to heaven that he is “in love!” when he got in the car to leave. However, when he sat down to dinner with Susie, things began to fall apart.

Susie never actually told Clayton that he had sex with another woman or that confessing his feelings to another woman would be a deal-breaker — and given that context, it’s only fair that argue that she definitely should. However, Clayton’s angry response to her feelings is less than desirable – especially when he starts saying absurd things like, “I don’t believe in anything anymore; literally everything is void” and “I don’t even know who I am looking at”.

“Honestly, I just thought he would end up having more compassion for me in the end,” Susie said during the ride home after the breakup. “Whatever love is at this point, I just think he’d be better off if that conversation was kind.”

Clayton may have thought he was in love with all three of his contestants, but the moment Susie says she can’t get over his failure to stay chaste, it’s clear he’s in love. She is better than the other two. So, uh… what will he do now?

It’s never good when a final trailer features the Bachelor’s father telling him, “You fooled the dog.” However, that’s exactly where we’re headed. The teaser includes everything it takes to cry, as well as Gabby telling Clayton that she can’t trust anything he tells her anymore. There’s also a “Rose from Hell” to look forward to, in which our Bachelor will tell the other two women of his that he’s not only in love with both of them, but that he’s “close” secret” to both. Fun! Relaxation! Not awkward at all!

It’s hard to blame finalist Rachel Recchia for falling to the floor and saying this was not the experience she wanted or expected. We all won’t!

There’s a chance things could change for Clayton; Chris Harrison replacement Jesse Palmer can be seen in the teaser saying he has some news that could “change everything for you.” But my gutsy intuition and the years Bachelor see tell me otherwise. It seems more likely that this man will be left on the black sands of Iceland, with nothing but the Northern Lights to keep him company.