Out of the gate on The Bachelor season 21, Corinne established herself as the villain. It is a title that she has never come close to relinquishing as the season has progressed. But Corinne is only one part of the villain equation. Every show on Bachelor Nation, be it The Bachelor, The Bachelorette or even Bachelor in Paradise, has a villain, but the villain also needs an adversary. In week 4, Taylor made her play to be Corinne’s nemesis. Is 23-year-old Taylor the heroine of the season, though, or is she just as bad Corinne?
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The Story So Far …
It’s still unclear if The Bachelor needs Corinne. She has almost crossed over into interesting, but insane, TV personality but her greatest asset seems to be adding to the central question of if Nick Viall is on the show for the “right reasons.” Well, there’s that, and Corinne has also given a face to the most unrepresented “minority” on TV since Arrested Development with the never-nudes, adults who still have their nannies.
Unfortunately Taylor hasn’t added much in the way of quality entertainment either. Taylor’s biggest moments on the show have not been with Nick but rather confronting Corinne about Nick. Taylor’s only significant and memorable moment with Nick was their first meeting when she told him that all her friends think he is the scummiest slut on the planet.
In week 4, Corinne was getting flak from all sides as nearly every girl confronted her about her behavior. Corinne’s most aggressive and ardent naysayer was Taylor. The two have been at odds since Corinne and Taylor had the most catty conversation ever about being OK with one another in week 2. Now they are clearly not “OK” and the gloves are off in the most ridiculous way possible.
Their last confrontation over Corinne’s emotional intelligence was left with a “to be continued.” The biggest cliffhanger might not be who Nick ends up choosing between them. Rather, it might be whether either one of them is actually in the “right.”
Right Idea, Wrong Method
It does have to be exhausting for Taylor to live in a house with Corinne. It’s tiring to watch Corinne two hours a week on The Bachelor. So to live with her must be unbearable, especially since whenever the ladies walk anywhere Corinne needs to be physically supported to stay upright. (Watch the episodes, Corinne is always being propped up by someone else.) Yet the way that Taylor confronted Corinne at the end of episode 4 was the completely wrong way to go about it.
Corinne is wrong about a great many things but she was spot-on with her disbelief that Taylor could possibly be a mental health counselor. Taylor has shown very little understanding of people skills on The Bachelor. Taylor has a very blunt way of speaking that is extremely off-putting. While Taylor was lecturing Corinne about her emotional intelligence level, she was showing off her own lack of emotional intelligence.
Taylor is obviously a very intelligent and educated person but she also appears to have no idea how to casually talk to people. Taylor’s talks with Nick are awkward and stilted. Taylor’s conversations with Corinne, or “adult convos” as Corinne would call them, reek of condescension.
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Corinne is incredibly self-centered but she is still a human being and no person enjoys being talked to like they’re an idiot. Taylor talks to Corinne like she is barely capable of understanding the English language. I genuinely don’t believe Taylor is trying to cause drama to get screen time or that she is being intentionally mean to Corinne. Taylor does seem to think of herself as superior to Corinne and it’s the exact wrong way to approach the situation. Corinne is never going to respond to it and Taylor just makes herself look bad. Taylor confronting Corinne about her behavior doesn’t make herself look like a saint and Corinne like a sinner. It just makes Taylor look petty and far too focused on Corinne for her own good.
At the moment Taylor’s chances of finding love with Nick are as dismal as Corinne’s — virtually nonexistent. Taylor’s identity on the show is so wrapped up in Corinne being awful that Taylor’s only point of interest is Corinne. Taylor’s dislike of Corinne might be based in actual issues but in practice she acts just as single-minded and irritating as Corinne.
Taylor has fallen into a standard role on The Bachelor franchise as the person who most wants to get the villain off the show. While sometimes this person can be likable, such as whatever twin it was that tried her hardest to get Olivia out on Ben Higgins‘ season, Taylor is resembling someone like the mini-marine Alex from JoJo’s season of The Bachelorette. Alex was so focused on getting villain Chad off the show that he forgot to show us he had any discernible personality or a reason to root for him. Taylor is in the exact same boat. In fact, the two would probably be happy together.
So what do you think? Is Taylor just as annoying as Corinne? Are you rooting for either one of them? Who do you dislike more? Will Taylor be able to oust Corinne or will Nick keep Corinne over Taylor?
The Bachelor season 21 airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC. Want more news? Like our Bachelor Facebook page!
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
