One to Watch

Powered through in a matter of two days - couldn't help happily escaping into this romantic fantasy where eligible men vie for Bea's hand and heart through elaborate dates, where Bea is draped in couture and drama is both manufactured and painfully real, but real people with real complications abound. I liked the format, filled with the internet detritus that make up an (online) life - articles about Bea's blog and stint on Main Squeeze, group chats and betting pools, podcast transcripts, all interspersed with her own perspective on the things that were happening on the show.

Bea is a lovely character to be around - she's funny and loves her family, she doesn't shy away from setting boundaries with the producers (and men) where she needs to, and doesn't let people walk all over her, but she's still human and has doubts and falls apart, especially when people are cruel assholes.

I loved several of the men that were picked for her - some of them were genuinely wonderful guys even if she wasn't meant to have a relationship with all of them. There were lots of surprising twists because reality TV, but I liked that at the end of it all, Bea is the one with a happy ending and is the one who ends up the hero of her own story.

CW: fatphobia related to internet comments and fetishization