This is my Bennifer
Rory and Jess round two please.
In this week’s handle with care, BLACKPINK is baaaaack. Plus a Bachelorette recap.
When I watched Gilmore Girls for the first time, I had just started college. Fall 2016 Chelsea was very much into getting coffee on campus, cable knit sweaters, and trying to track down Rory Gilmore’s (played by Alexis Bledel) yellow Eddie Bauer backpack (or at least finding one with a similar vibe). And then I rewatched the series again in the spring, and Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) just hit different for me! Maybe it’s because I started This Is Us around the same time, and could really appreciate how well he had aged.
Mad Men actor Vincent Kartheiser filed for divorce this week from Bledel after eight years of marriage. And you know who’s been consistently single? Milo Ventimiglia! And you know who’s previously dated for four years in the early to mid aughts? Alexis Bledel and Milo Ventimiglia!!!
If there’s anything a good Rory and Jess edit set to “The Way I Loved You” by Taylor Swift has taught me, it’s that they had a natural chemistry together. I’m selfishly going to manifest/cast a spell/make a vision board so they magically start dating again. If it worked for Bennifer, it can work for them!!!
Nepotism and white privilege is failing
New York Times film critic Lena Wilson publicly shared an Instagram DM from Bodies Bodies Bodies star Amandla Stenberg, after her review of the film was published. Stenberg’s DM read: “ur review was great, maybe if you had gotten ur eyes off my tits you could’ve watched the movie!” Wilson wrote in the review that the film doubled “as a 95-minute advertisement for cleavage and Charli XCX’s latest single.” (Mind you, “Hot Girl” is good!)
Wilson is essentially trying to make Stenberg look like a homophobe for accusing her of looking at her breasts, but Stenberg is defending herself on TikTok, saying that since they were both gay, she would’ve thought her message was funny. Basically, Wilson is weaponizing her identity as a white queer woman, against Stenberg who is a Black queer woman. And it didn’t work because Lena Wilson’s Twitter account is now private, and people found out that her dad worked as an editor at the famed newspaper.
Mey Rude wrote this piece in Out Magazine talking about the situation from her point of view as an LGBTQ+ person, and I recommend reading it.
Don’t smile challenge
Florence Pugh revealed that she and Zach Braff quietly broke up earlier this year in the September issue of Harper’s Bazaar:
“We’ve been trying to do this separation without the world knowing, because it’s been a relationship that everybody has an opinion on. We just felt something like this would really do us the benefit of not having millions of people telling us how happy they are that we’re not together. So we’ve done that. I automatically get a lumpy throat when I talk about it.”
BLACKPINK in their rep era
The Korean girl group released their comeback single “Pink Venom” this week.
A second teaser trailer of The Weeknd and Sam Levinson’s upcoming HBO show, The Idol, dropped during the singer’s concert in Las Vegas last night. The show stars Lily-Rose Depp, Troye Sivan, and thee Jennie from BLACKPINK.
The Bachelorette Week 6 Recap
This week we are in Amsterdam, as Gabby and Rachel have a heart to heart with a view of the canals. Jesse Palmer joins them and gives them the rundown for the week. Gabby expresses worries about potentially becoming a stepmom to Nate’s daughter… foreshadowing!!!! Because Team Gabby’s very own Nate gets a second one-on-one date. They meet in the city, while Logan and Johnny are talking about Nate’s odds of coming back with a rose. Johnny notably says that Nate talks about his daughter “all the time,” which is interesting given the alleged infidelity and hiding-his-daughter rumors that just came out.
Anyway, Nate and Gabby walk around for a little bit before sitting down on a public bench, and she immediately starts crying. And Nate knows what’s about to happen. “I think we’re just in two different places in life,” Gabby says. “It’s not you, it’s me.” A classic dumping!! There was also sooooo much time spent on the aftermath of this breakup, it makes me think he is absolutely a Bachelor frontrunner. It would all really depend on how these allegations are spun, but more importantly if the show wants to dish out a giant paycheck to Tyler Cameron to get him as the lead. Or another option we will discuss later!
Rachel opted for a second one-on-one date this week with Zach, in a tulip field. They ride cute bikes with baskets, try Dutch cheese, try on clogs, and they buy lemonade from children. Their last pit stop before dinner was the hot tub in the middle of the field. Zach says he’s sure about Rachel and wants her to meet his family. Later, they have dinner at Rijksmuseum where he tells her about the effect his last breakup had on him, and how he gained 85 pounds. That led him to start therapy, which Rachel bonded with him over. Zach also told her that he’s falling in love with her, and Rachel gives him the date rose. They celebrate by dancing to a small orchestra outside.
Back to Gabby’s ~journey~, she tells her men about her date with Nate, and they do a pretty good job of comforting her. The next day, Erich, Jason, Johnny, Logan, and Spencer have their group date in a warehouse, and it’s led by a leather-clad sex coach. She asks Gabby’s men intrusive questions about sex and dating. I’m having PTSD from Katie’s season, I fear. After the group date, Jesse tells Gabby that Logan tested positive for COVID, and they have to cancel the afterparty. Jesse telling Gabby this in-person, when she was just with Logan just… really makes you think! It sounds like a ruse to me because certainly they would have to stop production and quarantine, right? Logan was actually disqualified, which is bananas because they focused a whole episode on his switch from Team Rachel to Team Gabby.
Rachel’s group date with Aven, Ethan, Tino, and Tyler takes place at a cheese festival. And her men are making a real effort at pulling Rachel aside to spend time with her. In fact, not everyone gets a chance to do so, because we have to get to the activity: a cheese-themed strength competition! The men go shirtless and carry wood planks on their backs, while cheese wheels are placed beside them on attached hanging boards. Tyler is the first to forfeit, quickly followed by Aven, then Ethan, and Tino is declared the winner.
Afterparty time!! Tyler wants to redeem himself after losing the strength competition, and he talks to Rachel about wanting her to meet his family. He also tells her he’s falling for her. Aven talks about his parents and his past meet-the-families that haven’t gone as planned. Ethan expresses to Rachel how much he wants to introduce her to his family. Tino also lets her know that he’s ready for her to meet his family, and that he hasn’t had a doubt about it in weeks. Meanwhile, Aven and Ethan are talking about Tino being the frontrunner. Tino really wants this rose, but Tyler is the one that gets it. Tino is so upset that he excuses himself, and leaves the room to talk to a producer about how the rose should’ve been his because he won the competition earlier. Aven, Ethan, and Tyler are disappointed in his reaction, which prompts Ethan to say Tino is acting like a “baby back bitch.” The next morning, Ethan lets Tino know how he and the rest of the men felt about his reaction.
The rose ceremony starts and Gabby decides to pick only three men for hometowns instead of four. The roses go to Erich, Jason, and Johnny, meaning Spencer is sent home. Isn’t it crazy how Spencer got to fourth place and we barely saw him? Anyway, Rachel is taking two more men to hometowns along with Zach and Tyler, who received roses earlier in the week. Aven and Tino get roses, and Ethan is sent home. He tells Rachel she lights up every room she’s in before leaving. Thus, I am joining the Ethan for Bachelor campaign. I would like to finally see the first Asian Bachelor!! Was I not onto something when I said I would give him my first impression rose based solely on the cast bios?
Hello!! Thanks for reading! I am still reeling from The Rehearsal’s finale on Friday night, but I’m so happy it’s getting a second season! I hope everyone’s having a good weekend!
