Welcome Back and Goodbye!

[00:00:02] What You Want, When You Want It, Where You Want It. This is The MESH. Welcome Back to My Dad Watches The Bachelor. I'm Meredith and I'm here with my co-host, my dad. Hey, Meredith, how are you doing today?

[00:00:20] I'm doing well. I'm very excited to talk about yet another episode of Zach's Season of The Bachelor with you. Are you really? Because, you know, it's like that's sort of like the standard response that whenever these young ladies are asked, how is it going?

[00:00:36] They're so excited, you know, and I sometimes I question their sincerity. So I hope you're sincere in your excitement to discuss today's show. I'm excited to talk to you, Dad, but I feel as though this show is getting a little too formulaic for me.

[00:00:51] I knew going into this that there were going to be two one-on-one dates and that one of them would get sent home. And I knew it wasn't going to be Katie. So I know as like whoever gets this next one on one date, this is a death sentence.

[00:01:07] Well, see, I did not see that coming in Brooklyn was the young lady who got the second one-on-one date after we had our first one-on-one date with Katie. She went well. She gets a rose. We have our group date, which I'm sure we'll discuss, which was pretty weird.

[00:01:25] And then the last one-on-one with Brooklyn who dates seems to go pretty well as far as I could tell. And this sort of weird Hungarian thing of we're going to go to communal bath sort of thing.

[00:01:39] I wasn't that big a fan of Brooklyn, but they seem to have a good rapport. I did not see it coming. Oh, I did. There's no way that we were going into that rose ceremony with just one rose to give out.

[00:01:55] Yeah. That one puzzled me a little bit, but I honestly thought he was hooked on Brooklyn. So I was surprised by that. I feel like if we had the data from the past five seasons, I would guess that in this week of like this episode week seven,

[00:02:17] there's always one one-on-one date that gets sent home. Well, you're a student of this, so I should query you more before the episodes. They need to start getting a little more spicy with the formatting. They're getting those away now.

[00:02:36] Well, what sort of highlights did you have from last night's show? I enjoyed the Hungarian bath houses. Both of them looked pretty cool. You know, solo one with Katie looked very romantic, very nice.

[00:02:51] Even the communal one with Brooklyn, I thought it looked cool. It looked like a fun experience. I guess I was not that big a fan of the Hungarian baths. I mean, we had a one-on-one date with Katie that they have dinner at,

[00:03:12] what did they call it, the oldest bath house in Hungary? I think so, no. Which I just found that to be a puzzling place for dinner. And the dinners they have there, and I'm sure we've discussed it, at least when we're actually seeing the show,

[00:03:30] the parts that we see, they don't really eat. I don't know how often these people actually eat. They're maybe sipping some wine or something and chatting, but I don't know. It just seemed like a weird place to have a date.

[00:03:44] And then the second group date, Brooklyn and Zach, end up at a communal pool that's just sort of, it looks like our YMCA pool on a Saturday in the summer with 20 million people in it, including some old folks who are in the middle of it playing chess.

[00:04:04] They seem very pleasant and delightful, but I don't know. I did not realize that Hungary was so well known for bath houses and communal pools. I don't think you can compare that to the YMCA. It looked very European, like old fancy buildings surrounding it.

[00:04:25] I also think it was a hot tub type deal, and it looked a lot more elegant than your YMCA. It looked to me like a bastion of germs and disease there.

[00:04:39] I'm not sure. I want to get in a warm bath with 100 other people, so I was not crazy about that. Even the solo one that Zach and Katie ought to do? Don't you recall some of the hot tub experience that you had when you were a younger person

[00:04:59] and you had these crazy rashes and whatnot? You sure you want to be getting in these hot tubs? Who knows who's been there before? I'm just not that crazy about it. I just think they look like beautiful places. Well, I thought Hungary was beautiful.

[00:05:14] One of my highlights is that obviously the bachelor franchise must have saved their travel budget during COVID with all the chintzy places they were going, and it really opened it up this year, and that we've gone from the Bahamas to Estonia now we're in Hungary.

[00:05:31] Beautiful scenery. It made me want to go to Hungary. I'm just not going to go in the bath when I'm there. We get to go to Thailand for the finale. Is that where we're going next? Well, I think next we're going to some hometowns,

[00:05:44] but after that I believe the finale and the overnights are in Thailand. Okay, well, yeah, they're spending the bucks this year. Good for them. Another high for me. I enjoy magic. And I think magic, I think maybe it's weird to enjoy magic as an adult,

[00:06:03] but I think it's really cool. I like the tricks and I find it interesting. So I was excited about a magic date. I was a little let down by the lack of magic and I was more mentalism focused,

[00:06:20] but I found that super trippy and I was kind of into that too. And I think him knowing like the specific words the women were thinking in their head was pretty crazy.

[00:06:31] But I'm sure like the producers gave him the lowdown on like all the women before the date. So we kind of knew where they were at like mindset wise with Zach. But being able to guess specific words, pretty cool. Well, again, I must disagree.

[00:06:51] And I also found it freaky and you're referring to the group date where we went to some sort of dark mysterious place where a magician and mentalist who had to go back and look for his name. I think Malik Labib was there reading the minds of our bachelorettes

[00:07:16] and it made me feel uncomfortable. It seemed to make the ladies feel incredibly uncomfortable. And I don't know. So a couple of things I think that if I'm sent home or if I go home because of a mentalist reading my mind

[00:07:39] and sharing information, I think I'm going to be pissed off. I don't I think there are certain things that are appropriate to keep yourself. I don't want some mentalists reading my mind. And secondly, it bothered me that don't we get to read Zach's mind a little bit?

[00:07:57] How come he doesn't have to partake in this exercise that's just ripping the ladies apart? And he used to get to stare in their eyes and taking this information. That's fair. I wish the mentalist had spoiled the season for us right then and there.

[00:08:13] Zach, who will you pick? Righted on the chalkboard. And writes it. Then we could have been done with this. But yeah, so I am somewhat fascinated. To me, it's sort of like you can't you can't turn away from the car wreck.

[00:08:29] You know, I'm sort of fascinated by it, but I felt for the ladies and then I felt that they were putting in a very awkward situation. And, you know, I don't know how he does it. You know, I questioned some of the things that I say on TV.

[00:08:45] I don't know how the editing works, but it was pretty freaky. The girls seem surprised. The girls were terrified. Yeah, I mean that's freaky if someone's able to guess a specific word you're thinking about. Of course you're going to be freaked out. It's kind of cool too.

[00:09:06] You know, the magician slash mentalist would ask questions of the girls and then a very probing question with a one word answer that he would write on a chalkboard and then have the girl share it and and he was right on.

[00:09:20] But he didn't make Kat share anything because she broke down and cracked before she even had to share anything. Yeah, she was too easy. Yeah, he didn't even have to write anything down because she gave it all up. Another high for me.

[00:09:35] Ariel's dad thinking that the show is all orgies. They'd make her get naked. So Ariel's dad told her that she should not go on the show because it's it's all just orgies and getting naked.

[00:09:47] And kind of ironic because she and Zach went to a nudist sauna last week. Well, maybe he shared some of the mentalist's powers and knew what was coming and knew that his poor daughter was going to have to get to go to the nude, the nude bathing place.

[00:10:04] Or maybe he was thinking about paradise when he was thinking orgies. No, that's probably something I would have told you when you're younger. You cannot go on the show. It's just a bunch of orgies and they're going to make you take your clothes off. My last tie.

[00:10:18] I thought Brooklyn and Zach's like faux hot air balloon thing looked really cool. I would love to go in a hot air balloon. I thought that looked fun. And as I said, I thought they had a nice date. So I was surprised that Brooklyn got the hook.

[00:10:37] I was not. What other highs do you have? Well, as I mentioned, I was, I thought Budapest looked beautiful. They're showing scenes that make you want to go to these various places.

[00:10:54] I was interested in what I thought was the gondola, but I was called something else sort of a fun color or something like that. I was not sure.

[00:11:07] I guess that's sort of a Hungarian thing that it seemed like a gondola that I guess was on a track and not up in the air that took them up some, some hill mountain to see some beautiful scenery there in Budapest.

[00:11:19] I sort of was amused by the fellow who was giving them Hungarian spices and sort of winking at them like they're going to, you know, we know that you guys are going to, you know, get to go. I thought that was fun.

[00:11:37] And I had, I put this as a hive after I had it as a low. I'll be interested in your take on it. Greer coming a long way to get dumped.

[00:11:48] Greer who has been in COVID quarantine in Estonia comes back and she's skipping through the streets of Budapest saying, oh, you know, I've got to make up for lost time. I can't wait to see Zach.

[00:12:01] I guess to see Zach, they talk and Zach basically says, look, you're very nice. But things have moved forward with these ladies. We've lost time. And I just don't think that I can get there with you.

[00:12:17] And I thought credit to Greer because I thought she handled it very, very well. She handled it in a more mature way than I was expecting Greer to handle it. I mean, she cried, but she said that she understood and I thought she handled the situation well.

[00:12:34] So I put that as a high. I did not enjoy any of the Greer stuff, but I'll speak on that later. Okay. That's all I had for highs. Okay. Let's get into the lows. Big one for me trying to stay awake through a second Katie one-on-one date.

[00:12:53] She's such a snooze and Zach is a snooze. So it's just not a good way to start off two hours of the show. And I just need Katie to aim higher than just wanting to have a stable guy. Like you can let's want more for yourself. Katie.

[00:13:10] Yeah, I think Katie seems very, very nice. She seems like a very safe choice if Zach were to go in that direction. But I do think that you want someone that is going to be more on both sides.

[00:13:28] I think someone that's going to challenge you a bit, someone that's your equal. And I don't want to say that Katie seems a bit subservient or whatnot. But I think she just needs to be a little bit more challenging and I don't know.

[00:13:46] Just pump it up a little bit. I didn't see that as a low, but I think your point is correct. I do wish we got to see more of the personalities of the women like in the credits and scene

[00:14:01] blooper-y type stuff where we get to see Gabby and Katie like playing around in the bubble bath and having a good time. Like I think that makes me like Katie more, but I don't feel like I get any of that from what they're normally showing me.

[00:14:14] This podcast is sponsored by Jackson Creative, a custom communication agency located in downtown Hickory, North Carolina specializing in online content creation. To learn more, visit thejaxancreative.com. Jackson Creative, we tell your story. I think that's a fair comment and so I can see that.

[00:14:40] Another low, the group date cocktail party. I feel like every other minute someone new is crying about being in their head or expressing their feelings and it's just like getting a bit monotonous at this point. You know like cats crying, charities crying.

[00:14:59] Okay, I think we're past it all of a sudden Gabby's crying because she's in her head and it's just like Ariel's the only one holding herself together here. Well, but I attribute that to the mentalist who I think messed them up pretty good that afternoon.

[00:15:16] I think that he was pulling this weird stuff out of them. Number one, I think it might be upsetting to think that someone can get in your head like that and I'm speaking of the mentalist, not Zach.

[00:15:32] I think that might shake you a little bit and the stuff that they were sharing, I don't think they intended to share it so I think they were all pretty shaky on where they might stand was Zach except for Ariel who I continue to find quite delightful.

[00:15:52] I love Ariel, Ariel for Bachelorette. Ariel for the winner of this one. No, no, no, no, no, she can do so much better than Zach. Why are you so down on Zach? I think Zach has been quite the gentleman throughout this whole thing.

[00:16:09] He seems to be listening and sensitive and whatnot. Why, you know, he seems one, I don't think Zach wants a woman that's going to challenge him. Ariel is going to do that. Two, I do not like how quickly he turns on people. He's very into you.

[00:16:25] You say one thing you don't like one thing he doesn't like and then you're gone like you can see it in his eyes. They like lays over. He's like, oh, I'm done with you. You serve no purpose anymore.

[00:16:34] You're out of here and I just, I don't think that anyone should be with someone that's like that. Do you think that some of that is premeditated where, you know, with Brooklyn and some of these others, he had pretty much made up his mind and

[00:16:51] might have just been looking for that opening to say, all right, you know, we, you know, we've lost that confidence that we can get there. You're a wonderful person, but you need to leave.

[00:17:01] Maybe, but just the way that he shuts down so quickly, I think is a red flag and just like the way he handled Greer a couple of weeks ago when he had COVID and like she was trying to relate to him be like, oh, I had

[00:17:15] COVID in our Q4 for sales. It was so stressful. I totally get it. And he's like, he's just like, you absolutely don't get anything. I'm going through right now. Like I can't believe you're comparing me potentially getting married and spending a future with someone to your Q4 sales.

[00:17:31] Like that's so rude in his, in his defense. He did have COVID. So she could have died. I think he was fine. All right. Another low for me. I've touched on this already. I saw Brooklyn getting sent home coming from a mile away is just

[00:17:51] too formulaic and predictable for me. Did it appear that maybe he was having some second thoughts? He sort of, you know, they, I think Brooklyn said, oh, I can't wait for you to meet the family. She started talking about her family and I think her grandpa

[00:18:10] being so special and everything. And I just want, and Zach had to excuse himself, which, you know, when that happens, you do know what's going on. You know, when the guy gets, when the guy doesn't give you a rose

[00:18:24] and has to gather his thoughts, that's generally, that's generally a bad sign there. But I sort of wondered if he went into it maybe as you're saying with the assumption of, you know, I'm going to have to say goodbye to this person and.

[00:18:42] It's that for he was comfortable taking Brooklyn to hometowns until she started talking about how much it meant to her and how like she has family issues and, and she promised she would herself, she would never bring someone back unless it was

[00:18:57] like real and there was a real future there and Zach's like, well, maybe I shouldn't do that then. Maybe. You know, you can see some of the gear spinning in his brain. I'm not sure what they were saying, but he was trying to figure

[00:19:14] out the best way to tell her that it was time for her to leave. So. Any lows on your end? Well, I had lows like, you know, dinners at bath houses and communal pools and, you know, the mentalist magician.

[00:19:32] I guess the other thing that hit me and bothered me throughout is that several of the girls, I guess Katie Brooklyn just talked about how they talked about their families and the fact that they, their father sort of bailed out on them at an early age

[00:19:54] and it just made me. I know bad dad behavior, you know, I have to stand up for the dads, but you know when you can't do that, Dad's so so that was that was pretty bad. I just hope you can appreciate how good you've got it.

[00:20:12] Yeah, I've got a dad that podcast about the bachelor with me. Not many, not many people can say that. All right, let's get into the right reason. This is going to be shocking coming from me, but they gave it

[00:20:25] to Zach because like sending Brooklyn home since he wasn't as confident in their relationship and he knew how important it was to meet her family. Like I think that was the right call and it finally felt

[00:20:38] like a good time to send someone home outside of a rose ceremony unlike how he did it like with Jess and other people in the past. So just after you just ran him down, you're going to give him the right reason award. Yeah, I am. Don't question it.

[00:20:59] Okay. Well, I'm giving the right reason to Ariel just because I so much enjoy her humor and I think as she said when she was talking to Zach that she was going to be stupidly honest and she talked about her Ukrainian Jewish family

[00:21:23] and I'm looking forward to meeting them. Although it looks like from our previews that her brother's going to really give Zach the third degree and put him through the paces. It looks like all the brothers are.

[00:21:37] Yeah, yeah, it looks like Zach might have a few tough conversations next week. Good. My wrong reason I'm giving it to Greer. I think she was just so dumb. She finally is like coming back from COVID and she's acting as if this is the greatest thing ever.

[00:22:00] She finally gets to see the love of her life, Zach. And it's like, do you not remember the most recent conversation that you had with him where he kind of treated you like shit and got mad at you for

[00:22:11] comparing his COVID to her sales job and you were like crying afterwards, barely made it through the rose ceremony. Why are you so excited to see this guy and talking about how much your parents would like to meet him? Like one, you barely know him.

[00:22:27] Two, he was so rude to you. And I side know pretty shitty of the producers to make her come all the way to Budapest post COVID just to get sent home. Besides, I wonder. I think that's a good pick.

[00:22:44] I wonder if they like say, well, look, since you're already in Budapest, we're going to let you through a day of sightseeing or something, or do they just stick somebody on an airplane and say, hey, you're, you know, you're on the first flight back to the States.

[00:22:59] I don't know because my understanding she was in London quarantining and then they're like, okay, now you can go to Budapest, go to Budapest, gets dumped. Like last season when Logan had COVID, he didn't even, he was just off the show forever. He was never heard from again.

[00:23:16] We still don't know where he is. So I don't know why Greer got to stick around just to get dumped. I hope she got to claim those frequent flyer miles. That's all I can say for poor Greer. All right. Who's your wrong reason?

[00:23:32] I'm giving my wrong reason to Kat, who is just like was the drama queen of the episode and really ever since she horned in on who's one on one date when she pulled Zac aside and made up charities one on one date and got into it with Brooklyn.

[00:23:53] She's, you know that to me she was rolling. She was a favorite to make the final four. She was one of my picks to make the final four, but ever since then everything's unraveled for her. You know, she felt attacked by the other girls, which deservedly she was.

[00:24:14] You know, Zac felt like things were a little bit off, which is never good. When she doesn't get a one on one on this episode, she gets freaky and crying and doesn't understand why she wouldn't be picked for the one-on-one and just so emotional.

[00:24:33] And during the mentalist portion of the group date, she admits that she's thought about leaving and says that she's uncertain whether she wants Zac to meet her family and I guess those are the last nails in her coffin. Yeah, it wasn't sad to see Kat go.

[00:24:56] And then quite a twist like turn of events here. I have more top four picks left than you definitely would not have guessed that after a week, two or three. Well, and I really, and you said you were surprised that Charity

[00:25:12] was one of the final four when you and I were texting last night. And I was also surprised, particularly when Brooklyn went home, I said, oh, I'm going to have two cats going to make it and Katie and you'll have two and we'll have everything covered.

[00:25:30] So Charity is the only young lady that we didn't. He's our dark horse to get into the final four. So anyway, I and honestly, I kind of like the two horses that you're riding, Ariel and Gabby more than Katie.

[00:25:50] I like them more as well, but I think Katie has the best chance of winning. I don't know. I kind of think Gabby might, but I guess that'll be part of the exciting conclusion in the next what six weeks. When do we get to finish this?

[00:26:08] I think we finish in three weeks. OK. Well, what who is your MVP? My MVP is Ariel. She's who I like the most and I enjoy her her witty comments and I like her confidence, like her quiet, mysterious confidence.

[00:26:25] And I would I wish we saw more of her. I look forward to as much as I hate to admit, I look forward to watching the show. I look forward to seeing her family next week and seeing a little bit more about her back story.

[00:26:43] Her Ukrainian father seems like he'll be very fun to watch. I think so. Do you have any fatherly advice to wrap us up? Well, a couple of things I picked up during the show. Number one, don't invite the magician mentalist to your company Christmas party.

[00:27:01] He's a real downer and would probably create all sorts of chaos for your company. Zach talked about what he was looking for in his partner and he talked about compassion, respect, kindness, which I think are wonderful attributes that you should be looking in for your partner. So good.

[00:27:19] I continue to think Zach has run a pretty tight ship here. And finally, I guess I always think that timing is everything. When we had the Greer stuff, it made me think.

[00:27:30] I did pick Greer to be in the final four, although I recognized a few weeks ago that that was very unlikely even before she got COVID. But but it just made me think of the fact that between Zach having COVID and Greer having

[00:27:47] COVID that in some world maybe they would have been the right pair. But timing, timing's got to be right. And you know, whether it's COVID or other stuff going on in one's life, that can really mess you up. So anyway, timing. It's very insightful. Thank you.

[00:28:08] It's pretty deep stuff, huh? Yeah, very deep for 930 on a Tuesday morning. Well, yeah. Thank you. We'd like to thank the mesh for hosting our podcast. And if you like what you're hearing, feel free to give us a five star rating and

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