Bachelorette Breakdown: From Chip & Dale to Clare & Dale

Warning: This article contains spoilers.

You’ve heard it before — it’s going to be the most dramatic season ever! With a suspected Bachelorette switch up from Clare Crawley, the season 16 lead, to Tayshia Adams, it might be the most dramatic season yet.

After a tumultuous season of Bachelor Peter Weber and a pandemic two days before Clare’s filming was set to begin, Chris Harrison opens up season 16 and brings viewers back to the — not quite — Bachelor Mansion.

Harrison takes us back in time to Feb. of 2020 when Clare found she became the Bachelorette, to the announcement of her as the lead, to the breaking news that COVID-19 had reached the U.S. The flashback also gives newcomers Clare’s history on Juan Pablo Gavavis’ season of the Bachelor and her two subsequent turns on Bachelor in Paradise.

It should be known that Clare was on Bachelor Winter Games and was engaged to Benoit Beauséjour-Savard, but the franchise chose to leave that out of the flashback.

While this flashback was a bit off-putting at first, and different for the franchise to do, it was needed given the pandemic’s impact and Clare’s history with the Bachelor franchise.

After flashing to the past, Chris Harrison takes us to the “start” of Clare’s season. Yet, this really did not feel like the start at all.

Instead of the infamous Bachelor Mansion, Clare and all 31 of the men stayed at the La Quinta Resort and Club, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, in Palm Springs, California during filming.

First, Clare arrives, quarantines and tests negative for COVID. The show then begins to introduce viewers to the men as they begin to arrive in Palm Springs, quarantine, and receive their tests as well.

During this process, the men documented their experiences of quarantining in the resort. While this did humanize the franchise and made it feel more like reality, it also read like a filler needed to add to the show. It felt as if the Bachelor franchise did not have as much footage given the circumstances and these video logs by the men were used to fill in the usual run time of the show.

After all the men tested negative, the show and competition were clear to officially start.

While the Bachelorette did have to address the ongoing pandemic, these COVID-19 pieces felt a bit too bounteous. It seemed ABC and the franchise wanted everyone to know that they took all proper precautions. Although this sentiment is appreciated , it did not have to take up almost an hour of the show. Viewers likely wanted to see more of the Bachelorette, and less of the pandemic.

While the show is meant to be an escape for many, it was hard to escape the reality of the ongoing pandemic when it was mentioned continuously almost throughout the first hour.

After the pandemic was discussed, the first night began. Chris Harrison meets Clare in front of the makeshift Bachelor Mansion and the two go and have a talk before Clare meets any of the men.

This talk between Harrison and Clare felt like an old school Bachelor-franchise season. Typically, Harrison does talk to the leads before the night begins, but this time the talk felt more intimate than the simple dating game pep talk he has given in the past to leads.

In this moment, Harrison and Clare began speaking about her past, on the show and personally. Clare opened up about domestic violence she experienced in a previous relationship before joining Juan Pablo’s season. She continued to speak about seeking therapy, her father passing away, and what he would say to her now.

This moment was intimately human, and refreshing to see within the franchise. It seems as if COVID-19 forced the Bachelor franchise to rethink their approach and talk about more pressing issues than just dating, humanizing the people behind the screen and that approach worked.

As the talk between Harrison and Clare ended, Clare begins her official journey as the Bachelorette as the limos of men pull into the driveway.

But, this is where the night becomes all about Dale.

While Clare met all of the 31 suitors on night one, the only one that seemingly made an ounce of an impression was Dale.

The second Dale stepped out of the limo, Clare was immediately infatuated with him. After introducing himself and walking away, Clare revealed that she just met her husband.

On that note, Chris Harrison returns, seemingly wondering whether he heard her right. He did. Clare told Harrison that when you know, you know, and she knew that Dale was her husband.

In a bit of a light hearted way, Harrison reminded Clare that there were other men in the mansion, and waiting to meet her, and she does have to meet them — she is the Bachelorette, and isn’t this what she signed up for?

But, while the show resumes after Clare falls in love and Clare meets the rest of the men, it was obvious that the show was pretty much over.

The producers attempted to fix this with drama in the house between Yosef and Tyler C. But, the drama felt like another added filler to meet the show’s run time, as the only real conflict stemmed from Yosef allegedly messaging a woman in Tyler C’s hometown before filming.

Instead, the real drama of the season occurs between Clare and Dale. As Clare and Dale held hands walking around the mansion, it was no surprise Dale received the first impression rose.

Other than Dale, the episode fell flat in comparison to what the Bachelor franchise can do. Nearing the end of the show, the producers tried to entice viewers into rooting for another man when Clare approached Blake about breaking the rules and messaging her before coming on the show. Clare spoke about how much his message meant to her and then the two of them kissed.

Even with Clare kissing Blake, it was obvious that Clare is head over heels for Dale. Seeing Clare attempt to create relationships with the other men felt like a waste of time when the viewers already have an idea of what will happen.

Overall, the first episode of Clare’s most dramatic season was subpar. The episode ended with the annual rose ceremony and a look at what drama is to come with Clare as the lead. But, the Bachelor franchise knows the drama is not the men on the season, or even between the men on the season, but instead the highly anticipated Bachelorette switch.

Clare’s first episode of the season receives a 3 out of 5. Clare was surprisingly a strong lead and the show was entertaining to watch, and let’s not lie, the Dale of it all made it more interesting. But, if you were to begin watching the season on episode two, you wouldn’t need to go back and watch this episode. The only name you need to know going forward is Dale.