Bachelor Australia - Season 11 - Wesley - Luke - Ben - Episodes - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

Discuss episodes here.

Episode 1: Part A

Lookin' good, Melbs.  New camera crew?  Some nicely framed shots.





Alright, Ch 10 you've reeled me back in.  I'm on board.  Let's gooooo.





Ben

Ben is a model who lived in New York for 12 years and has returned to Australia to invest in renewable energy technologies. He'd probably have a better shot at that if Australian climate policies weren't woefully unambitious, but Ben is pretty and optimistic and who am I to shatter his dreams.





Wesley

Wesley is from Brazil and very much into Jesus.  He's 33 and has never had a girlfriend. Why are TPTB recruiting so many religious Leads I wonder?  Jed was extremely religious as well.  Producer links to Hillsong?  Seems an odd direction to take when Australia as a whole is becoming more secular.





Luke

Luke is a softly spoken Aussie lad who drinks beer and chops wood shirtless.  He is emotionally intelligent and cries on camera within the first five minutes.  A producers' dream.  He's romantic and looking for a Shiela to laugh with.  Has previously been engaged (presumably to the horsey girl).

Night 1





This clearly is not the suburban pad DM eXcLuSivElY revealed as the filming location for the season, so either they're only here for the first night and will be moving off out to the 'burbs after that, or DM doesn't know what they're talking about (highly likely). Anyway, it's all very Bridgerton isn't it.





So the boys are here and ready to roll.  Now all we need is some girls.

Episode 1: Part B

Aarthi is first to arrive and explores the foyer with eyes as wide as a child on Christmas morning. She's a hopeless romantic and likes it when partners do little things for her.  Now where have we heard that before?  Ah yes, Luke's intro, conveniently still fresh in our minds.




Ramming home the point, Osher is at this moment upstairs asking Luke if he's romantic.  "Yeah, big romantic, yeah".  Got it guys?  Aarthi - romantic.  Luke - big romantic.  Perfect right?  As if it would be so simple.  While he waxes lyrical more girls arrive, including Ellie.





Brea gets a special intro and not one but two talking head segments.  Expect to see plenty more of this girl as narrator throughout the season. She contrasts perfectly with Lisa vit ze accent. In case you can't tell from the red lips and vampy outfit, she's ze villain, dahlinks.





As Osher waffles, the camera picks Angela, Caitlin and Lana out of the crowd. As each boy is introduced, our attention is directed to the girls the producers want us to notice at this stage. Ben - Maddison, Amelia.  Luke - Ellie, Aarthi, McKenna. Wes - Nella, Jade, Lisa.  





Lisa's running commentary to herself was pretty funny  If you're going to take on the villain role might as well fully commit to it.  Surprised she didn't bring along a few dalmations to make a coat out of for good measure.  She'll annoy me in time but tonight I enjoyed it.



All the boys are into McKenna.  Luke kisses Ellie on the balcony.  Angela comes to take Ben away for a chat and hark, it's our old friend the twinkly music.  Not the classic F1 riff but enough to get my attention, especially since I already had her pegged as one of his final 2.





First dances: Luke/Ellie, Wes/Holly, Ben/Angela.  Move over First Impression Rose Curse, do we now have First Dance Curse?  Time will tell but I doubt they'd make any F1s so visible this early.  Oh and Yasemin legged it, claiming she's too "conservative" for this show.  Huh?  Yes, this Yasemin.




Rose Ceremony

Roses:

Ben - McKenna, Amelia, Evie, Angela, Natalie, Maddison, Anastasia
Luke - Ellie, Aarthi, Dana, Tabitha, Lana, Nella
Wes - Holly, Brea, Jade, Caitlin, Angie, Lisa, Mel



Leaving us tonight: Chrystal, Carla and Kristen.  Pretty sure that's the only time we heard their names all night.  Fare thee well, ladies.  Overall not a bad episode. A little over-produced but some nice cinematography. Very glad they ditched the "speed dating" from last season.



Appending these screenshots because although they were only shown together briefly I still think Aarthi is in Luke's top 2 and potential F1. His other finalist is probably the blonde in the boat/fire pit SCs. Wood chopping suggests late game. Probably Ellie, but could also be Brea?







I'm not seeing any real interest from Ben towards any of the girls. His final 2 will need to be a contrast of physical/surface vs emotional/deep ("old Ben vs new Ben" so final 2 will probably be Angela v Holly who both got couch chats which editors can conveniently flash back to.




Also didn't see much genuine interest from the girls towards Wes to be honest. Suspect his final two might just be whoever stuck round that long. Jade?  Nella? He mentioned in the preview "breaking the rules". Did TPTB need to bring back an eliminated contestant? A ring in?

Time will tell.  

Source: Tenplay Episode 1

@Bobette thanks for the recap and s/caps to go along with it!

Thanks @Bobette! How are you watching live, I though you were in my silly half hour behind time zone? I’ve only just seen Lisa the Villain (TM) arrive

@Dirty Street Pie Yes I'm still in the same time zone as you!  I cheated by watching it last night; it went up on Tenplay a day early.  

Not a fan of that platform though so will watch the rest of the eps on SHV like I usually do.  
Season 11 eps will all be posted here: https://shvideos.net/tag/the-bachelor-au-season-11/

What are your thoughts on the first episode?  It dragged on a bit but I found it visually appealing.  Suspect new Vic camera crew.

I like the production and styling a lot, although I really didn’t watch last season as I didn’t really like any of last years leads, and wasn’t a massive fan of the triple Bach concept. I probably would prefer this concept and styling with one lead, but with one lead I guess we would have just gotten Ben?
Casting is more diverse, which I like, while still having our usual collection of large lipped wannabe influencers, kooky girls, down to earth girls and a whopping plant of a villain in Lisa who surely is not a real person
Can see a bit of competition coming between Ben and Luke for their preferred girls while I feel Wesley’s contribution to the show will be to bore me whenever he’s on the screen. IMO, 3 Bachies is 1 or 2 too many to get a good story that you can get invested in. And with multiple leads you don’t get truely unhinged and great moments like
Dogc*nt-gate because the women aren’t as invested.

Episode 2: Part A

We open with our three dashing heroes at a local tavern enjoying a frosty pint of ale.  No, wait, it's actually two watery-looking draughts and a small glass of what I fear may be a low alcohol pale ale or similar.  Not a manly, hairy-chested Guinness drinker among them.  Figures.




*CLINK*




The boys reveal their favourite girls and I feel like I should be sitting here with my mouth open to receive the obvious plotpoints the producers are spoon-feeding us. Ben - Angela, Wes - Brea/Holly, Luke - Ellie. By a remarkable coincidence they were all captured in this one flashback.




[Aside: As I said before there is no way Brea was cast for Wes IMO.  She was 100% cast as a potential wifey for Luke, and as a narrator.  But they've allocated Ellie to him for now and he can't have two blondes to she's been shunted to Wes. I see zero connection between them.]




Next we're taken to the girl's mansion which is, once again, not the house DM claimed this season was being filmed in. Just as I'm starting to think DM's "exclusive" was nothing more than some real estate agent's marketing stunt or an opportunistic ad for Air B&B, I spot this window...




... which IS from the property at 43 Middle Crescent Brighton  So I assume the BOYS will be staying in Brighton, and some editor was not paying attention when they edited this window into the footage of the girls nattering at a completely different address.  Tsk tsk.  Sloppy.




Anyway, at the REAL mansion we are greeted by Aarthi, Brea and Angela.  Gotta give the main players our attention early.  They emphasise they want to get to know ALL the boys and are glad there's three to choose from. The producers encouraged switcheroos this season, IMO.




Luke's First Date: Ellie

So the screenshots of the boat and fire pit arrive way earlier than I expected but are confirmed to be Ellie so tick those off. Luke says he "loves a woman who can hold an axe" and hello have you met this girl called Brea? They kiss again and I don't know guys it's all a *bit much* don't you think?





Ben's First Date: Caitlin

Caitlin gets a helicopter ride to the Yarra Valley. Tick off another couple of screenshots. We're going to get another mid-season trailer for sure.  Ben is very nervous and has trouble making conversation.  The editors have thrown him under the bus here and could have made it look a lot less painful.





Wes' First Date: Jade

Jade is confirmed as the hand holding SC. I watch her feet and am increasingly confident that's her feet stepping out of the car at the FRC.  This was a good date and they seemed to get along well.  Yep, I could easily see her making it to his final two, but probs not F1 due to the First Date Curse.





Source: Tenplay Episode 2

Episode 2: Part B

Group Date

Goodness me there's a lot going on with these outfits.  It looks like the theme of today's date might be Drag Queens and Hookers.




Oh, nope, but close.  It's an underwater photoshoot and the boys are very sparkly.  The photos turn out terribly and are not worth posting.






Three girls get invited back to the Bach Pad (which I'm expecting to be the Brighton property). Ben - Ellie, Luke - Aarthi, Wes - Brea.  OK OK OK hold up.  NONE of these pads are the Brighton property  Even more curious now why there was a random shot of the Middle Cres window...






Anyway, Aarthi talks about how "brown girls" don't come on these types of shows very often and how her mum and grandma are not happy about it. Luke calls her Darl and kisses her inside and outside (err... literally speaking, not metaphorically) and it certainly seems she's getting a final 2 edit.





Ben's date does not go well.  He's nervous again and sweating in the pure wool jumper he is apparently not allowed to take off? Ellie exits stage left as soon as possible.  I have to admit I don't know why the boys are fighting over her; she doesn't stand out to me, but maybe I'm missing something.





Brea said she's previously dated one "person". I note her avoidance of using he/she pronouns and wonder if there might be a reveal later in the season about said "person". And then, BAM! we get confirmation Wes is a virgin. Brea struggles to conceal her shock and the date ends with a PG-rated hug.





Rose Ceremony

Ben - Ellie, Angela, Anastasia, Natalie,
Luke - Aarthi, McKenna, Lisa, Maddison
Wes - Jade, Brea, Holly

Holly takes Wes' rose even though she doesn't like him. Angie, who's religious and *does* like him, gets the boot. Hmmm... I wonder if she comes back. Is that the "rule breaking" Wes refers to at the FRC? It would fit. I wonder also if that's why Sporstbet haven't opened their market yet...



Source: Tenplay Episode 2

Episode the Third

Holly reveals that at last night's RC, Wes slipped her a note.  It's written in very flowery prose but the upshot is he enjoyed their chat on the first night and wanted to talk to her for hours longer about how they can "change the world together".  





Holly's face says it all as it becomes clearer why Wes has never had a girlfriend.  Cool your JETS, son.  At the girls' mansion he asks her if she got the note and if you looked up "awkward exchange" in a visual dictionary it would closely resemble this:





Meanwhile Luke is taking blonde Tabitha on a horse riding date and this of course has nothing at all to do with the fact that his ex-fiance is a blonde jockey.  A complete coincidence with no deeper meaning which raises zero red flags I'm sure we can all agree.





Ben takes McKenna to Luna Park where they manage not to vomit on various rides.  Afterwards they go for a drink to discuss past relationships, having walls up, feeling lonely, parents' occupations, childhood experiences... and then don't kiss.  BORING!





Wes invites Holly on a dance date and while there she decides to skewer him through the heart by saying she's not that into him.  Wes thanks her for her honesty and vows to plow forward and redirect his OTT love-bombing onto a new target.  Sigh.





Group Date

Three guesses what the theme of today's date is.  Lolita cosplay?  K-pop girl band flash mob?  Live action adaptation of Shomin Sample manga?  Sadly no, it's just tennis.  They knock a few balls around then Luke and Lana bond over a love of banoffee pie.





Holly wants to talk to Ben but he's distracted by Amelia's... umm.... conversation.  Brea breaks it to Wes that she doesn't just like sex, she f***ing LOVES sex.  Wes says it's no problem, he talks about sex a LOT which frankly just makes things even weirder.





Fortunately Nella saves the day by mentioning she thinks everything happens "in god's timing" which instantly perks Wes up.  They chat about faith and afterwards Wes thanks Jesus for Nella but I think the credit should probably go to the casting department.





Rose Ceremony

Ew ew EW.  Particularly hideous dresses tonight.  Pretty sure I saw mannequins in the front window of Sexyland in this exact shade of hypercolour pink-orange. [Fully expecting someone will now advise this is the latest trend and I have no fashion sense as per usual]




Luke - Lana, Aarthi, Natalie, Dana,
Ben - Amelia, Mel, Evie, Maddison
Wes - Brea, Nella, Jade

No rose for Holly.  Hmmmm that's weird.  I was sure there were a couple of other SCs with her in.  Guess it must be Maddison upside down then?  I should go back and check but I can't be bothered so I'll just say farewell Holly and thanks for all the facial expressions.




p.s. Waiting impatiently for Sportsbet to release their odds so I can find out if these two are together.  Hopefully so because just look at them.  If two people who make pinky swears to affirm their love of country music can't make it work what hope is there for any of us.




Source: Tenplay Episode 3

Tonight’s episode is literally a Visit Victoria infomercial

Ben and a blonde go to South Melbourne markets and do market things, Wes and Brea go indoor surfing and Luke and Arthi go to a musical. I wonder how much money the Victorian government slung at them to move production there.

Also, Madison makes a sneaky Bach pad visit to Ben to throw Brea under the bus for not being interested in Wes, and just taking roses from him to hang around and get with Luke

At the cocktail party Wes confronts Brea and she cries about the girls talking sh!t about her behind her back, but never actually denies the allegation.
Meanwhile, Ellie decides to tell Ben that she’s going all in on Luke, so now I’m calling an Arthi/Ellie F2, where Lukes’s MTP with Arthi’s family will be a dumpster fire so large it could be seen from the moon, yet he will still choose her.