Bachelor In Paradise went full Survivor on Tuesday after Chris betrayed Jessenia with newcomer Alana — making out RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER at the "Tit-ass" VIP Party. It was, admittedly, a shitty thing to do, but did the punishment really fit the crime, or were Chris and Alana bullied of BiP?
It's one thing for Jessenia to be upset and want Chris "voted off the island" after he effectively broke off their relationship by hooking up with Alana without warning. (There's a protocol to these things, Chris, you gotta have the conversation about "exploring other connections" first.) But Joe and Riley really took things to another level when they went after Chris on the beach and told him he had to pack his bags and leave.
As much as I want to say that Chris deserved to leave the beach (to quote Aaron, I am also "on some gang shit with Jessenia"), after seeing Blake Horstmann call out the beach of "mob mentality bullying" on his Instagram story and watching it back, I'm not so sure. What he did was incredibly shitty, but well-within the bounds of any normal BiP betrayal. Joe and Riley accused Chris of having a relationship with Alana prior to BiP, but both they — and even Tammy — have denied it. While it was obvious they had a prior connection — maybe a hookup or some flirty DMs — it doesn't seem like they were full on dating, especially considering she wouldn't commit to leaving Paradise with him. It was, in other words, absolutely not Brendan-Pieper level scheming.
So why did Joe and Riley go so hard at Chris for just being a regular asshole and say nothing at Brendan's obvious manipulation of Natasha? Well, I have a few theories. My first thought was that there was something more to the Chris-Jessenia relationship that we didn't see. Joe seemed pissed because Chris had told everyone he and Jessenia were one of the strongest couples there, and also expressed concerns that he was just there to boost his followers on social media. But even that doesn't seem like enough to tell him to leave Mexico. It really feels like we're missing something else Chris might have done to make the betrayal even more horrendous.
Then there's the fact that, well, people like Jessenia, and Chris' hurtful acons were so unnecessarily public, it just rubbed people the wrong way. In Mexico, loyalty goes a long way, and a lot of the confrontational guys on the beach were Team Jessenia without even having to think about it. Chris, on the other hand, had no allies (RIP Smoke Bro Chasen). He was an easy target for Joe and Riley. Ultimately, I have to say that while what Chris did was wrong, but he was bullied off the beach.
More egregious, though, was Alana, who was guilty only of making a move on a guy who could have definitely rejected her if he wanted to, being forced to leave without even spending one night in Paradise. It's a huge contrast to Pieper, who similarly arrived with a date card and swooped up a guy who was already forming a connection, but has been allowed to remain on the beach. Granted, Jessenia and Chris seemed way more of a couple than Natasha and Brendan. But, it's basically the same situation, except... unlike Pieper and Brendan, Chris and Alana didn't have any friends on the beach. And that's pretty shitty, too.
Alana left because she knew that her choice was either to leave or stay with a ton of people that hate her. Pieper doesn't have to make that choice because she's friends with half the women on the beach. Just like Brendan is probably friends with a lot of the guys on the beach. Plus, as fan @Jamzed noted in a message retweeted by Jessenia, Chris and Alana were more "blatant" with their intentions, and Brendan and Pieper's date and convo on the day bed weren't public knowledge until the episode aired, so Joe and Riley didn't know for sure just how planned their Paradise reunion was.
Based on the promo, it does look like Brendan and Pieper will be confronted by at least some of the group next week, and that's a good thing. I don't think that Chris and Alana deserved to be bullied off the beach, but... I cannot say the same for Brendan and Pieper. If she can visit him in Boston, then clearly they have the means and accessibility to date outside of Mexico. Goodbye, and good luck!
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