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Thursday, April 5, 2018

'Beach Blanket Bachelorette' Recap

Bringing UP Bates "Beach Blanket Bachelorette"
  • A few weeks before Tori’s wedding, Kelly and her daughters (minus Whitney, who isn’t able to make it) check into a vacation rental on an island on the Gulf. Carson joins the ladies as the only guy. “I just could not stand to leave Carson behind,” says Erin. “Me and him are like inseparable. We do everything together.”
  • During their first excursion, a boat ride, the Bates are thrilled (literally jumping for joy) to see dolphins.
  • Later, they go for a walk on the beach. After seeing tons of jellyfish lying in the sand, no one wants to go swimming. The adults sit on blankets so the kids can play. The married daughters offer up marriage advice for Tori. “It’s survival of the fittest,” says Alyssa. “There is no advice. It’s, do your best to survive.”
  • Tori shares the details of her apartment, which is two bedrooms and almost 1,000 square feet. Kelly considers that to be huge, given that she and Gil lived in an 800-square-foot house with eight kids. When they were first married, Gil and Kelly could fit all their things in a small closet.
  • Next on the agenda is painting sand dollar ornaments at a local boutique. Tori, who says she isn’t artsy, sits this one out. “One thing I’m learning from this is that art was not my talent,” says Kelly. Josie paints a Volkswagen hippie van on her sand dollar. 
  • After their art project, the ladies get ice cream. “Everybody in the family knows, Katie’s biggest love is ice cream,” says Kelly. “She tells her sisters, ‘Y’all get your boyfriends. I’m going to stick with ice cream.’”
  • That evening, everyone gathers back at the beach house to give Tori some personal care items, including plenty of lotion and perfume, with which the sisters say Tori is obsessed. 
  • Back in Tennessee, the younger guys help Bobby move his belongings from the camper into the apartment that he and Tori will share once they are married. “Man Bobby, you have a lot of stuff,” remarks Judson.
  • Gil, Lawson, Nathan, Bobby, and Kelton spend an evening at Veloce indoor go-kart speedway. The go-karts are able to reach speeds of up to 50 miles-per-hour!
  • Kelton ends up winning. “The plumbing man brought home the trophy,” says Nathan. “Kelton drives a plumbing van every day from house to house doing service calls. Unbelievable.”
  • During the commercial breaks, viewers go behind the scenes with the Bates. Gil and Kelly introduce everyone to executive producer Matthew Hightower, as well as the rest of the crew.
  • Matt interviews the family about the show:
  • “I never though it would make it through the first season, much less, here we are looking at shooting the eighth season,” admits Gil.
  • “When we heard that [UP’s] goal was to be uplifting and encouraging to other families, we said, ‘That’s something we can support,’” says Kelly. Matt reads comments from viewers about how much the show means to them, and the Bates are touched.
  • Matt asks Chad, Whitney, and Bobby what it was like to marry into the Bates family and become a part of the show. “I still…don’t think I’m comfortable around cameras, but it’s definitely an experience, and we’ve had a lot of fun doing it,” says Chad.
  • Matt sits down with Lawson, Carlin, Josie, and Katie and talks about what they think of filming relationships that may or may not end in marriage. The kids say they knew when they agreed to do the show that all of that would be fair game. 
  • “If y’all are down for 100 more episodes, so are we!” says Lawson. “That’s up to the viewers.”

53 comments:

  1. “It’s survival of the fittest,” says Alyssa. “There is no advice. It’s, do your best to survive.”

    Does this strike anyone else as strange advice?

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    1. For sure. I hope it was said jokingly, and that that isn't her true view of marriage.

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    2. I was confused by this so-called advice!

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    3. Nope. Not at all. Alyssa is truthful.

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    4. Yes, but not really surprised.

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    5. Wow, did she really say that? What was the context of her other words? I haven't watched the episode yet.

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    6. I was shocked about this comment as well. Yes marriage is hard and takes a lot of work but it is not exactly advice to give to a soon to be newlywed. Hopefully is was a joke and Alyssa actually sits down with Tori (when cameras are not present) to have a heart to heart conversation about marriage tips.

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    7. Yes, I noticed. I think Alyssa is stretched a bit thin in life right now.

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    8. Yes! Pretty odd

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    9. Agree, very unusual response. I'm thinking it was just a lack of any advise so she was trying to say something funny.

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    10. Yes, I noticed that too. It seems an odd way to describe your marriage.

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    11. Alyssa married young and went directly from her parents house to that of her husband many miles away. Not long after that she became a parent herself. I am sure that was a major adjustment for her and rather stressful. In general I get the sense Alyssa isn't afraid to be honest about how the Bates lifestyle is NOT always easy to live, such as her comment about being surprised she was pregnant.

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    12. Alyssa does seem stretched thin. It's a lot to get married, move, have so many littles in such a small period of time, help hubby run a business, and try to follow along with all the things the rest of the world are doing. Hopefully she can focus, prioritize, and has lots of help.

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    13. I don't have too much sympathy for Alyssa and her "surprise" pregnancy. As my mom used to say, they know what causes that!

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  2. I love the way the family and tech people are celebrating 100th episode! It's very unique and special. I love the whole family! Congrats to the new babies!

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  3. immediately after the show, i went to the up website and thanked them for the first 100 shows. (you've got to admit, they've done a great job) i am so happy there will be more to come! i always like to make a positive comment whenever possible so they (uptv) realizes how much we appreciate the bates letting us into their lives

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  4. The behind the scenes stuff was interesting but the interview questions about relationships did make me wonder something. If a young man asked to court Josie or another Bates, but he didn't want to be on camera, would that be a deal breaker? If so, something disturbs me about that. I guess it just seems too worldy a concern.

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    1. Doubt anyone would refuse the $$. They are young and need all they can get for the dates, wedding and honeymoon.

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    2. It is part of dating a bates. They have to be on the show. And know that.

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    3. I'm not referring to weddings and honeymoons, but relationships that may or may not actually end in marriage.

      While the Bates are much less controversial than the Duggars, I'm sure some people wouldn't want to go on TV, have the relationship not work out, and be known forever as "___ Bates' ex".

      Indeed, in practice it seems no boyfriends or girlfriends get shown on TV anyway until the relationship is very serious. That actually seems prudent on the Bates' part as well, to deter suitors who only want the money and fame.

      And at least it doesn't seem any of the Bates feel pressured to marry for the sake of the TV show. I know many people have questioned on the Duggar blog, whether they feel pressured to rush to the altar just for the sake of providing show material.

      I wonder if that's one reason the Bates show producers asked that question, to get on record that the older "kids" are comfortable with having relationships on the show that may not end in marriage. As we know happened with Nathan and Ashley.

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  5. It's interesting to me to see how much emphasis there is on Kelton being a plumber and nothing is said about his degree in accounting. He works in the office as well and I'm assuming that he does the books. Plumbing is great but being an accountant is exceptional. Such a fine young man!

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    1. Maybe they are a bit jealous since none of them have a wage earning degree like that.

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    2. They talked about plumbing when the sink was leaking in motor home that Bobby was staying in. Kelton was also joking about having to hurry driving to houses when there is a plumbing emergency. Talking about accounting wouldn’t fit in those instances.

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    3. It's not very nice to say an accountant is better than a plumber. Both are needed and make a good living. As long as a man is providing for his family, what difference does it make what he does?

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    4. You missed the point- why is one always mentioned and the other is not? It always seems like a college degree is down-played on these shows. I said a Plumber is great- no disrespect to plumbers. But there is a lot of hard work that goes into a accounting degree as well. A college degree should never be ignored.

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    5. I noticed that but of classism too. A white collar job like accounting is not inherently Superior to a blue collar job like plumbing. Yes one may need more education but education is not the same as intelligence.

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    6. One of the most intelligent boyfriends I had was an electrician. (And another was an electrical engineer.) Being blue collar doesn't mean you're not smart.

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    7. Maybe he cant talk about his accounting job. some companies dont like to be mentioned on reality tv. It doesn't always have to be a million reasons behind every decision. plus that's only 20 mins of edited tv you see, and I'm sure they spend hours filming. who knows what's left in the floor??

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  6. I hope this episode will be shown again at some time! I missed it.

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    1. It will! Saturday and next Thursday. Here are the details: https://www.batesfamilyblog.com/p/showtimes.html

      Lily and Ellie

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  7. I so look forward to Thursday’s and UP TV’s, Bringing Up Bates!
    It is my #1 favorite show on tv! Up does a great job and so do the Bates.
    They’re a good match up. Then to top it all off, we have this blog to go to each day for updates. It’s just a great combination all around. I thank everyone involved for their dedication , and hard work. This show in one in a million!

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  8. I get all the weekly Bringing Up Bates shows on Demand. New shows take a week to get posted though. Go to TVShows, then Network, then scroll down to UP , then select which show you want to watch in seasonn 7. Hope I wrote that correctly!

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    1. I forgot to add to the above. On Demand, you can also go to the Search window and type in Bringing Up Bates and you can choose which show you want to watch. They up date usually Wednesday or Thursdays.

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  9. I would love to see 1,000 new episodes of the bates Up tv show Bringing up Bates. It is one of the few shows that has Christ in the center of it all and shows the world there are lots of nice happy caring people out there in the world. That to me I'd what I'd like to see in every home in the world. It's there in most but this show brings out more of its spirit and laughter too.

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    1. The Bates seem like nice, happy, caring people but I'm not sure where Christ is seen in this show?

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    2. Well, Gil Bates is a pastor who has his own church and congregation. Bobby is aspiring to be a pastor himself. The Bates's church has been featured in some of the episodes.

      That being said I have noticed that the Bates don't make as much of a point of mentioning God in their interviews as the Duggars do.

      On the other hand the Roloffs are supposedly Christian per some fans, but I don't recall this ever being mentioned on their show. And certainly the divorce drama between the parents was far from what most would consider Christian. I haven't watched that show since the twins got married.

      So while I'm not sure I'd say the Bates show has "Christ in the center", not that many TV shows these days, even "family friendly" ones, even have Christ in the corner. That's not the case for the Bates.

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    3. Also the Bateses could have a PR team working with them. Remember how the Duggars went from the jumpers to how they dress now? And who gets the collection plate at this church?

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  10. Wow you have to bring Carson, but you are okay with leaving Brooklyn behind? That won't go well in the long-term.

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    1. Maybe Brooklyn is a daddy’s girl and Carson is a mommy’s boy. Some kids have preferences. My youngest son always wanted to be with me. My other children would be happy with me or their dad. The dynamics will change soon anyway with a new baby in the house.

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    2. Not the best for Carson in the long run, either, to have a helicopter mother. Or for the future Mrs. Carson. But this clip was filmed before Everlys birth. Maybe having more children will result in her taking a more balanced approach.

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    3. This surprised me, too!

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    4. This is not good for childeren. She should leave him with his dad.this was for Tori and not for childeren.

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    5. Yes, I was surprised too. Being a mother of two sons, I would think that a weekend with just the girls would be a nice break. Mom's are on call 24/7. I would either take both children or leave them with family at home. To each his own I guess.

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    6. Dads are on call too ya know

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  11. There's always been hints that Erin favors Carson over Brooklyn but it seems pretty obvious now in this episode, after saying she couldn't bear to be separated from him but no mention of it being hard to leave her daughter (for a GIRLS' weekend, no less). Maybe it's because he was her miracle baby after her miscarriages? I hope Brooklyn doesn't sense any favoritism as she grows up. Kids pick up on a lot!

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  12. Two things....
    First, Tori continues to be uninterested in planning her own wedding. She wouldn't participate in the discussion on the boat. She and Bobby should have eloped.
    Second, I thought Kelton was too cute when he won the "go-cart" race, explaining he had to drive fast to his customer's emergency plumbing situations.

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    1. Kelton was so funny! He was so excited to go to that racetrack! I looked up from my computer when the guys came on and enjoyed that part to the show!

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  13. Tori just makes me sigh. I guess she's just being honest but she's not even going through the motions. I get a feeling she might indeed have eloped if not for the show.

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  14. I’m not too sure why Tori even wanted to get married... she comes across as very disinterested, unappreciative, and kind of rude at times. :( There is just not a sweetness... it seems more like an entitlement kind of of thing. I don’t know her personally obviously, but watching her attitude throughout her courtship and engagement have made me cringe. The engagement episode and the shower were probably the worst. :(

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    1. What???? Yes Tori can be a bit childish at times but she loves Bobby and the engagement episode was the best episode i have ever seen. Tori and Bobby are a great couple and if Tori did not think that she was ready for marriage she would have said no.

      PS this is Katie Bates

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    2. What! OMG! Katie? I am such a huge fan!!!!!!!!!!

      Love you heaps!
      Ollie age 17

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  15. This was a fun episode. I just don’t know why the females stick with wearing skirts on the beach. At least wear bike shorts/swim shorts & swim shirts which are modest. Skirts could be dangerous in water by weighing someone down or getting tangled.

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  16. Right after the wedding when the first pictures emerged on this blog, I felt that Tori's dress reminded me of a snowflake. This was the comment that Kelly made when she saw her daughter for the first time dressed in this gown during the fitting. When the girls emerged with there dusty purple gowns I saw Sugar Plums. Tori, you are a woman after my own heart....your selections were right on with the "Winter Wonderland" theme.

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