The REAL Villain of Matt James' Season of The Bachelor - Grading Season 25 

Release The Bachelor Snyder Cut.

it almost feels like tayshia's season and matt's season had entirely different production teams

Production deserves an F minus for this season

To me, watching this season feels like a complete waste! It’s like drinking a disgusting drink and not even getting a buzz, only a hangover 🤢

The only good things to come out of this season are the next two bachelorettes, Katie and Michelle!

This was Victoria's season and after that it became "Rachel's really gonna make it all the way to the end, huh?". Matt just didn't exist.

The only thing I liked about Matt’s Bachelor is at times he seemed genuinely interested in making sure he made the girls feel comfortable and seen/heard.

Tinfoil hat here: what if these seasons (Matt and Taiysha) were some sort of experiment. One full of romance, the other full of drama, both extremes. They see which get rated better/bigger reaction/make more money. Not sure if that's the case, but it would explain why we went from the best season ever to the worst season ever

Even if you take away the racism saga, overall the season was very disappointing. There was no development of any of the relationships or the woman on the show. I knew nothing about the woman by the time the final 4 came through. I had no idea what the ladies were like. I had no insight of who Matt was as a person. It made me not care about what happened or how the show would end. Even if Matt didnt pick anyone, the editors didn't help me understand him enough as a person to see how he got to that decision. I remember seeing the moment with Sarah and Katie and thinking wow, this is such a beautiful and vulnerable moment. And we never had any of those. Ugh it was so frustrating. It was just a shame. Such a let down of a season.

I’m just glad we have a long break from The Bachelor and instead we have Katie and Michelle getting their own seasons. If they want to they can even give Abigail a season I would love that

It took them 20 years to have a black bachelor and then they miserably failed Matt. The truth is they should have picked Mike J. last season instead of Peter. Mike was actually ready for an engagement.

At least this season gave us Katie and Michelle. Peter’s season gave us nothing.

It seems like, routinely, any new Bachelor season is one of the worst and any new Bachelorette season feels like one of the best.

Im mad that they didn’t show Matt personality because his tik tok are so funny and that they focused on “drama” I need production to learn from this because Victoria was on there way to long

I honestly feel bad for matt. Producers screwed him so hard. He should have just been on Claire’s/Tayshia season as a contestant.

I hope the Bachelor producers watch your videos with a notebook and pencil in hand

Personally, I’m ready for year round bachelorette seasons. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have bachelor seasons, but like maybe we just don’t need to see them? Ok yeah I guess I’m saying we shouldn’t have bachelor seasons anymore if this is how it’s gonna be from now on LOL

Ten bucks says Victoria's going to bip. Ten more dollars says Victoria from Matt's season and Victoria from Peter's season are both going to bip and are going to fight.

Bachelor, release the footage of Abigail and Magi, or I walk.

I think The Bachelor may need an additional web series à la Drag Race’s Untucked where we get to see the people at the mansion have their side adventures. We could see friendships grow, how the cast talks about the lead without them around, and just general humanization.

"What is are the words you think of, when you think of this seaso-" "Thank you for sharing."

And I had such high hopes for Matt's season!

Forgot to mention that we didn’t know Matt because showrunners panic chose him at the height of BLM protests last summer. Which the show or Chris Harrison never addressed either.

I don't necessarily think it can be considered the worst season, because we got Katie and Michelle out of it - 2 bachelorette seasons that sound very promising. There were other girls that people genuinely liked and were rooting for, as well (particularly Bri and Abigail). Pilot Pete not only had a terrible season in terms of romance/drama, but we were essentially left with NO ONE to root for out of the women.

The only grade I disagree with is Matt's. He wasn't perfect, but he was good considering the circumstances, the production, and the post-season drama. If they had focused on telling the stories of Matt and the women, I think we'd be considering him one of the best bachelors. He was so kind to the women, open to sharing his feelings, didn't put up with drama once it was brought to him, and he was really open to the process. He wasn't ready for marriage, but he didn't figure that out until very late in the season. Matt is a good guy. And, most of the women seemed great too. They were all done wrong by production.

I hope the producers are watching this so they can learn about what they viewers really want

The producers did matt so dirty, i went over to his tiktok and hes actually funny as hell. I swear, those 1 min videos had more of his personality than the entire season

I started watching The Bachelor last year with Peter and then Matt, so I feel like I'm shooting 0/2 right now compared to Tayshia's season being so good

I don’t think Matt was the biggest problem. The producers control the show.

This video is spot on. Before you mentioned Elan’s exit I was thinking about how Colton’s season was the one that started the sort of a domino effect of negativity and unconventional finales. I didn’t realize that that was when Elan left. For Matt being new to the franchise, it is definitely unfortunate that really the only thing we learned about him was that he has his own inner demons stemming from his home life (his parents) that clearly can and will affect any romantic relationships he has. There may have been a bit of lightheartedness and joking tone to Matt’s tweet about finding a therapist but I imagine this experience was the catalyst for everything he’s gone through. To me that takes precedence over the drama and the women themselves and their backgrounds precisely because Matt was the lead. So yeah I definitely agree that production is to blame for that.

Aside from a few pieces of background (for example, Sarah's father's illness) we learned little of the contestants outside of the drama on the show. These are real people with jobs, friends, etc. that we know nothing about. Michelle was an exception--she is a teacher and her students were on, showing us how she interacted with them. That right there made her the most endearing contestant for me. We need more of the "whole" person to get invested in the outcome.

we knew production was the villian when they didnt give us a Zayshia ATFR and instead abruptly ended her season with a three minute drama packed preview of Matt's season

I feel like I need a deep analysis of the difference between the bachelor and the bachelorette because at this point I am consistently enjoying the bachelorette and hating the bachelor. Is there some sexism happening in production where they are only seeing female contestants as valuable for the “drama” they can bring? And therefore casting more and worse dramatic women and also focusing all the editing on the drama.

Let's not forget when the show began in 2002, and it its earliest seasons, most of the men had not been a "contestant" on The Bachelorette (now they all are). However, and interestingly, ALL of the women chosen for the lead Bachelorette had been a contestant on The Bachelor. Furthermore, the earliest seasons didn't have a designated "villian." That became a formula for the show later.

Honestly I blame production. I need something like Tayshia’s season again. 🤷🏻‍♀️😒✨

I really do want a “most romantic season ever ” versus “most dramatic season ever” !!!

Just FYI, being a mean catty girl ain't cute. Don't follow their footsteps, ladies!

What words? “Thank you for sharing that”

I appreciate that Bach Fantake isn’t even from the US and yet he’s familiar with the raunchiness of our founding fathers. I suppose we can thank “The Office” for that historical lesson, though.

Matt was a great and respectful lead. Lots of drama but that's the show. He is happy now and that's all what matters. It's about finding love and i think he did that.

The fact that Katie was so popular just shows that the audience is craving more maturity and less drama.

If Matt picked anyone but Rachael, this season would have been so different.

I really disliked this season, it was boring, unpleasant to watch. Your recaps were the only fun part🌹

The Ron Swanson, the Synder vs Whedon, and Benjamin office?! References are on POINT in this video!I’m dying here 😂💀

I think it’s really interesting how Victoria had a ton of screen time and she doesn’t have a following on Instagram. Completely unlike any other major cast member

Your editing is outstanding! Looking forward to the bachelorette for the actual romance. I don't think Katie or Michelle will stand for drama

As a bw, I personally would not be w someone w a recent racist past. But... I don't judge if the person is willing to do the work. Racism is painful so I don't blame anyone who doesn't want to be apart of that journey. How can we grow as a society if we don't forgive people who have truly learned from their past mistakes? This season was a disappointment. I think ABC used this season as a way to go off air for a while to figure out why its not working. I feel like that's why they are giving more bachelorette seasons with incredible women. But at the end of the day, ABC used Matt James, a bm. They used him as a diversity card and didn't treat him with care. And it just feels dirty. Yet I just have a feeling these next two seasons with be amazing. The cast is a bit older and the leads are incredible.

My grades Matt: C (first two weeks was an A +) The cast: F The cast without Victoria: B+ Romance: D Production: F - - - - -

Not a spoiler but ran into a lady and her son was scouted to be on Katie’s season. So it’s definitely true that the producers look for a “fit”. Hope he goes far his name is Josh

Not vetting contestants explains why we got a failed engagement in Hannah Brown's season where she picked the one guy who had a girlfriend and didn't tell anybody and where the drama was also very present with Luke P

Thank you for sharing that with me, Bachelor Fantake. Production needs to watch this video and take notes.

It was an awful season, so many issues... First I'd say production seems to hold the Bachelors to a lot lower standard that the Bachelorettes. Their "formula" has been way off for some time, making it about women hating on other women and getting too young of contestants, etc. Add to that their huge blind spot about diversity and this hot mess was just WAITING to happen. Last, as you say they cast a lead who had no clue about the show and really not ready for commitment, and BOOM, dumpster fire of a season... 🙄

I'm so glad we get a break this toxic season so that we can see Katie and Michelle season and journey unfold 🤗 that was the best part of his season.

Haven’t even watched but if the answer to the question isn’t the editors then I’m gonna be shocked. Like the edit was rough I feel like the editors still have the sexist view of women and how we want to see women behave on television and this isn’t it.

Thank you for bringing up Elan! I completely forgot about this and now it makes so much sense🤦‍♀️

The word that comes to my mind is manipulation, agendas… The season didn’t have to go the way it did but I feel that production manipulated us, and the agendas of certain people pushed stuff onto Matt that he shouldn’t have to worry about and the rest of the season went downhill after that. Looks like there was a lot of good footage that could have been aired that would’ve made the season look much different but producers chose not to

Jimmy Kimmel Live! had the most accurate take on this season with "The Bachelor Toddlers"... dubbing their voices with children's voices. It was EXACTLY right!!!

You, Mr Bachelor Fantake, hit the nail exactly on the head! Well done!

The Bachelor should just hire you. I stopped watching entirely midway through Colton's season but I watch ALL of your recaps because you still manage to make it compelling.

Their were some amazing woman from matt season that wasn't involved in drama and that they didn't get enough screen time because of the drama and Victoria petty childish behavior she was so toxic to watch the producer did the matt dirty and cast that drama alot of the season 🥴.

Am I the only one who thinks that it’s pretty obvious that every single one of these people just want fame so they can be IG influencers?

I’m not gonna lie, this franchise has been a saving grace for me in the past two years and I made it through 3 episodes this season before I just gave up and only watched your recaps. Not having enough of a connection to Matt, the trash casting and vetting, the choppy editing not including dates and romance, and the amount of screen time absolutely terrible people got makes my blood boil. I’m so upset that some of these girls got to be showcased on tv and now have a decent Instagram following. The entire franchise has lost its way. I’m interested in Katie and Michelle’s turns, but I haven’t been invested fully since Hannah brown. :(

All this when we could have had Mike

His use of clips from other shows KILL ME!!!!!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Totally AGREE. Production failed us this season and like you said after getting such a great season in Tayshia. Matt seems to have such a great personality but it was not shown all season. He needed to get to know him more or better. I remember before Juan Pablo's season we got a whole special telling us about him - though I still wasn't interested. I think they should have done the same with Matt but I think they took for granted that people "knew" Matt because he's friends with Tyler Cameron. Not everyone watched The Quarantine Crew videos. They should have at lease showed us the connection between Matt & Rachael. We certainly missed that. There seemed to be more chemistry with Matt & Michelle, at least from what they showed us. If they show more of the connection between between Matt & Rachael, maybe we could have understood more how heartbreaking it was for the both of them when the controversy came out about her antebellum photos. Also for all we know, production may have even told her not to speak all those weeks too, which was a really BAD mistake and then put Chris Harrison out there to "defend" her just made things worse. I personally believe that Chris's intentions were to get internet trolls off Rachael's back but that totally backfired when he went on his own weird and crazy rant. What an overall disappointment. I have been watching since Alex Michel was the Bachelor - the very first season and this is unfortunately, one of the worse if not the worse season in the franchise. Before this I would have most definitely said Juan Pablo's because I didn't even bother to finish watching that season. I was really looking forward to Matt's season, with him being the first Black Bachelor and me being a Black person who has been a fan of this show, who I am very aware did not cast many Black people through the years. I still watched most every season. I was so excited to see Black male lead and I was interested in seeing what Matt would bring. I hope this show can be better. I was so hopeful after seeing Tayshia's season and the cast of men on that show and the best proposal EVER in Bachelor history with Tayshia and Zac. I will say that I am hopeful for Katie and Michelle's Bachelorette's seasons though. Even the next BIP, with so many cast members to choose from. I hope the diversity in casting continues and I hope cast members stories are highlighted more going forward and they have learned their lesson. We like drama but the show is ultimately about people finding love. This is why some people I know like BIP better anyhow, more love stories and usually more lasting love stories. Thank you for the recaps. I really enjoy them and your commentary!

I completely agree with all that was said. I was over it once the 2nd episode hit because it all turned wrong. Especially the episode when new women came in and the rumors spread I was incredibly mad at production because of how much they have damaged the show the lead and contestants. Very upsetting but I only hope things get better in the following seasons.

Anna saying "I heard she's entertaining men for money" with THAT facial expression lives rent free in my head

Thank you so much for saying and posting what we were all thinking 🙌

the word that comes to my head for the season is "victoria" 😭🖐️

How can production not find these controversies like with Rachel and Jed during casting when people on the internet and 5 minutes to spare can find it relatively quickly

Fantake, I heckin' love you, dude. THAT EDIT WITH THE SCIENCE CHANNEL MADE MY WHOLE DAY 🤣

I really enjoy your channel! You really made this so much more enjoyable for me. I am so excited for you to cover the new seasons of the Bachelorette and hopefully Paradise!

Matt got engaged to racism instead of a lovely girl who gave him her heart, oh the irony.

Mat did a great job. He is clearly a good person who above all else concerns himself with the feelings of the people around him, but to the detriment of himself. I think he is always so concerned about not hurting the women, or upsetting viewers, I don’t think he ever stopped to think about what he wanted. And from watching him and his mom together it seems like that instinct came from the trauma she went through when his dad left. I think when it came time to actually propose he finally thought about his own feelings, and that mixed with the doubts and fears his mom caused (I think she is the one that needs therapy) made him want to take a beat before moving forward. The issues I have with the season have everything to do with production; casting picked immature, catty women who would start drama, and women who had boyfriends (Sarah) and women with racist pasts, editing focused on the white women drama, and not the stories of the WOC Matt was having connections with, and those on site spread rumors and encouraged people like Anna and Victoria to stir the pot, pulling away from the central focus. The women were a mix bag, I liked a lot of them, but some of them were the worst the show has ever seen.

You do the best reviews! I haven't gotten to see the actual show because I work and go to school but your recaps are legit waaaay better than the actual show. Please never stop!!!!

The production value on this video was *chefs kiss*. Keep up the good work, Fantake!

Three points where, in spite of everything, I think this season was still better than Peter's: - Even with the scarce screentime where it was due, this cast had several women that people rooted to become Bachelorette (Michelle, Katie, Bri, Abigail, Serena P.), whereas in Peter's season we didn't care that much for any of the women. - Matt at least had the sense of not making a proposal he wasn't truly invested in. - Not that it excuses their terrible behaviour, but at least Matt's cast was stuck in a bubble with little distraction, and it's more understandable (though not excusable) that they would obsess over petty stuff and/or became freaked out about things they normally wouldn't. Peter's women got to travel a lot (Cleveland, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru) and still caused petty unnecessary drama.

I feel they did Matt so wrong!! He’s a nice decent guy who wasn’t ready for all this in the first place, but they figured since everyone loves Tyler C we will love Matt. Which is true, we love him, but we can all see how unprepared for this he was and then they gave him a horribly edited season as well. Bound to fail really😔😔

I literally always look forward to these videos each season

So excited to see your new episode tomorrow! 🎉🎉🎉

"When you stop, close your eyes, and think of the words you associate with the season, what are those words?" Me: shit show

Just when you think it cant get worse than Peter's season lol

This is your best video by far as of yet! I am overjoyed and overtly amused by your references 😂

This is why I love watching your videos. I 100% agree with you!!!!! And I love that you’re also Canadian. 🇨🇦 Keep up the fantastic work!!!!

It is 100000% noticeable that Elan left the show. Seasons of the bachelor have always been meh, but after he left they got horrible. He was definitely keeping many aspects of the show afloat

Weirdly I think one of the main issues that I can deduce about the Bachelor seasons vs Bachelorette seasons honestly might come down to misogyny. The producers haven't figured out that just because they have over 20 women filming together that this show does not have to be Real Housewives of Nemacolin. Focusing so much on drama in the house not only takes away from the lead's love story but it also means we don't end up getting to know enough of the contestants that make it far so we don't end up caring. Sure, there's some toxic masculinity issues with the types of dates they choose on Bachelorette seasons but it doesn't seem quite as prevalent as the producer provoked "cattiness" that we get on the seasons with so many women. And the Bachelorettes tend to be praised for getting rid of anyone making trouble amongst the guys so once you get further into a season we have time to get to know people who matter before we get to the final two. The editing is the other major issue for me that reflects the show's gender role issues but that's a whole other convo.

Excellent review, bravo !!!

You are so right on every aspect of Matt's show. And especially after an incredible Tayshia/Zac season. Thanks for your insight. Where oh where is Elan!?

This was great! I'm crossing my fingers that Bachelorette with Katie and with Michelle are both better. I typically enjoy Bachelorette more, and Tayshia's season was my absolute favorite season of the show I've seen - Bachelor or Bachelorette. I do wish that, across the board, the lead, the contestants, and the people pulling the strings - the producersss - start to honestly pursue love again. I'm done with the drama. A little drama is fun, but a lot of it is boring. I felt like I had outgrown this show mid-season. Again, hoping for something more genuinely gripping next season.

He tried his best. Production screwed him and unfortunately he fell in love with someone and didn’t know all the stuff that came out when he fell in love. Cut the man some slack please

I couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks got all you do, Chris!

You nailed that review! Spot on!

Matt was a nice, caring Bachelor. Something the show has been lacking for seasons. Yes, he was boring 😂 but he didn’t manipulate or sleep with multiple ladies on the show. It’s minimal expectations, but he’s better than others we’ve seen.

I honestly blame where we’ve gotten with the show on when they casted Colton as the lead. That brought the average age way down and led to more drama etc. I still wish they would have casted Jason Tartick instead, while I’m glad he’s happy with Kaitlyn that would have kept the age range a little higher since he’s in his 30s and we probably wouldn’t have these crap seasons they’ve been giving us.

these pop culture references Fantake! you are amazing, well done!

The production of this video is/gets an A++ All my feelings about this season are expressed on this vid. PS. The Snyder's Cut reference and similarity gets a mega chef's kiss.

In conclusion, Matt's season was a s*** show and a waste of everybody's time...

This season was such a mess😭😭

Your comment about the vetting either not being adequate or production not caring enough is something I've been super frustrated about since it became abundantly clear who he was going to end up with. Its beyond appalling. So ready to move forward with the bachelorettes!

this editing and intro is cracking me up lmao. I needed to pause the video to laugh.