Hey guys? Here’s something you should always want to do when dating a girl. IMPRESS HER FRIENDS. Y’all know I’ve been a Jeremiah fan pretty much since this season of Sweet Home Alabama began, but during Friday night’s episode he kind of lost me. Click through to read my review of the penultimate episode, in which the guys met Paige’s friends and she went from four boyfriends to two.
Boyfriends, Meet The Girlfriends
After sending Landon home last week (though he won’t be absent from our TV screens for long), Paige brought in her two best gal pals to meet the final four guys and give their thoughts. Brynn and Monica took the guys out to a local bar to hang out.
Any guy with half a brain should have known a few things about that situation. 1) Don’t get drunk. 2) Stay focused – make sure Paige’s pals know why you like Paige, and ask them questions about Paige to show you’re interested. 3) Get on their good sides!
The girls spent a bunch of time with all four guys, and then took them aside one by one for some more serious conversations. And Bubba, Little Shaun and Big Shaun all did great – although from the amount of “Awwww”s and “He’s adorable!” comments they made, it was pretty clear Little Shaun was more like a new puppy to them than a long-term boyfriend for Paige.
And then there was Jeremiah. Yikes. Look, I know some of you guys are going to get super passionate and tell me that Jeremiah got a bad edit here, but…seriously? You can’t fake that. First of all, he was drunk. They were all drunk, but it was worse with Jeremiah. He could barely have a conversation with Brynn and Monica. Second of all, he made ZERO effort, which is what really bothered me.
Jeremiah knew Paige’s friends didn’t really like him too, but he was either incredibly defensive about it (which is childish) or he legitimately didn’t care. I mean, saying how you’re not trying to date them? We know that, Jeremiah. But Paige wouldn’t have invited her friends to come down to Alabama to meet the guys if she didn’t value their opinions. Girls want their friends to like their guy! And if I guy can’t put in a little effort to be nice to his girlfriend’s friends and help them get to know him, then that’s a red flag. It was a very disappointing display.
I will say, I thought Paige’s friends were overreacting when they started to question Jeremiah’s reasons for doing the show. I think for viewers, it’s been pretty clear all along that he is not cut out for this kind of show. He can’t handle it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And the fact that his sister convinced him to do the show even though he wasn’t really into it? I don’t think that’s a bad thing. A guy who was only there to pursue fame and a music career would have jumped at the chance to be on TV. So I think Paige’s friends got the wrong impression there, but unfortunately it was Jeremiah’s fault. They asked him why he did the show twice, and he barely answered. He did such a lousy job of letting them get to know him that it’s no surprise they questioned his integrity.
Girl Talk
The next day, Paige met up with Brynn and Monica to get their impressions of the guys. They told her they liked them, but obviously they didn’t have a glowing review for Jeremiah. He’d been nice at the beginning of the evening, but by the end of the night he was rubbing them the wrong way. Obviously, Paige is still really smitten with Jeremiah because she was crushed to hear that her friends didn’t like him. And as the episode went on, it became pretty clear that Paige wants to choose Jeremiah but still questions if he’s good for her. And really, can you blame her?
Four Dates
Before elimination, Paige had mini-dates with each of the remaining guys. First up? Little Shaun. Poor Little Shaun. I like the kid, but he just didn’t stand a chance at this point. He’s very cute and sweet and funny, but so young. Can someone please introduce him to Courtney from last season? She always struck me as very young, maybe they’d get along.
Next Paige met with Jeremiah, and their conversation was emotional and tense. I don’t question Jeremiah’s feelings at all for Paige. He obviously really, really cares about her. If they hadn’t met in the context of the show, I’d like to think that he’d have a much easier time opening up to her. But damn, getting that guy to talk about his feelings is like pulling teeth. Jeremiah did an OK job of letting Paige know how he feels about her, but she obviously still has questions. I feel like I just want to Cyrano de Bergerac the situation and feed Jeremiah lines while he talks to Paige.
“I’m falling in love with you, and it’s killing me to know that there are still three other guys here. It would break my heart if you chose one of them instead of me, because I can really picture sharing my life with you. You’re all I think about and if I ever seem distant it’s just because I have a really hard time thinking about you being with someone else.”
THAT’S what he should have told her. Quick, can someone hook me and Jeremiah up with a mic and earpiece?
Contrast that chat to Paige’s conversation with Bubba, who told her he’d clean out his closet for her. A closet?! That’s like the holy grail for women. You know a guy is committed and generous and wonderful when he offers you closet space. He said he’d keep his stuff upstairs! I don’t even know what that means exactly, but what a guy!
Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t think Paige will choose Bubba. Bubba is a fantastic person, but that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily the right guy for Paige. He’s still kind of vanilla and I find him a tad overconfident, but I really like Bubba and would like to see him as the next star on SHA. And you’ve got to admit, after suffering through watching Jeremiah try to stammer out some of his feelings for Paige, it was nice to see a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve.
Finally, Paige had a mini-date with Big Shaun. It was pretty hilarious, and I love how Shaun doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He straight up told Paige that he doesn’t love her because it really hasn’t been that long (he’s right, it hasn’t!), that he’s not ready for marriage or kids yet, but that he likes her and would treat her well. Big Shaun was so rude when he first came on the show, but I really ended up enjoying him.
Sorry, Team Shaun
I was pretty sure it would be a double Shaun elimination, and there were no surprises. Paige’s connections with the Shauns weren’t as strong as with the other two guys. Both Shauns, Big and Little, took the breakups like champs.
Now Paige is down to just two guys, Bubba and Jeremiah. Did anyone else notice how the voiceover called Jeremiah a “farmboy”? They’re definitely selling this as Big Strong Rugged Cowboy vs. Common Farmhand. I’m pretty sure Paige will choose Jeremiah, but I’m no so sure she should anymore. More than once in last night’s episode, Paige told Jeremiah “Bubba says this” or “Bubba does this”. She wants to choose Jeremiah, but she knows she should choose Bubba. It’s like she wants Jeremiah to do or say the things Bubba does so that she doesn’t have to be nervous about her decision. It’s almost as though she’s saying “Come on Jeremiah, give me what I need – don’t make me choose Bubba!”
It’s not that I don’t think Paige likes Bubba, I’m sure she does. But it just seems like there isn’t much of a spark between then. Not as much chemistry as she has with Jeremiah, or even had with Big Shaun. There’s a good foundation for a mature, solid relationship but sometimes you need more than that.
That said, you can’t build a relationship purely on spark. I used to think Jeremiah was having a hard time expressing his feelings just within the context of the show, but now I wonder if that’s true. I didn’t like that Jeremiah ignored the importance of Paige’s friends’ impression of him, and I think at this point he needs to man up and express his feelings to Paige.
OK guys, I know you’ll all have opinions on this episode and what we can expect from the finale, so head to the comments and tell me what you think!
