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Rachel Lindsay arrives at the T-Mobile Presents Derby After Dark at Faena Forum on uly 10, 2017 in Miami Beach, Florida. Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images
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The only reason Eric’s still around is because he’s black

Classic case of dating game affirmative action

@yerraaa
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The Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay All Day

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    10:52 AMProps are due for the people working behind the scenes on The Bachelorette. They can craft a teaser like nobody’s business and have millions of people running full-speed to their TVs at 7:59 p.m., tripping over LEGO bricks and last week’s laundry to get a sneak peek at the drama about to unfold. Thing is, the teasers rarely deliver, and Monday night was no exception to the glaring disconnect between the teasers’ A-plus editing and the downright confusing editing of the show itself.

    Case in point:

    OK, maybe that’s what the show was going for when it duped us into thinking Peter, aka gap-tooth bae, had Rachel crying her eyes out. Who would have guessed that he was just telling a weirdly vague story about the time he broke a girl’s heart? But here’s what I’m really getting at:

    The running joke all season has been the success of Matt and Adam, the shadows of the competition. For real, who are these guys? Every week Rachel has given each of these two men a rose, and every week we’re left wondering what she could possibly see in these men with whom she’s spent a total of two on-screen minutes. But then this oh-so predictable episode aired, and both men were sent home. Good riddance, right? Except, not so fast.

    Our girl Rach, knowing what was to come, seemed visibly upset as both Adam and Matt brought up sweet memories of them together that we have never seen. Like, legitimately cute moments. Matt actually seemed like a cool guy, and Bachelor nation wept as he got into the limo (with the champagne flute, what a legend), but we didn’t know why we were weeping! We don’t know this man! If the editors on this show are going to include crazy heartfelt moments like that, they need to give us the backstory, full stop. Do better, ABC.

    At the end of this (again, insanely predictable) episode, Bryan, Peter, Dean and Eric are the last men standing. The first three make sense. Eric, though? Rachel is as annoyed by him as she was with Josiah (remember him?), but he stays. After Bryan, Peter and Dean got their one-on-one roses, I’m sure Rachel could have just ended right there, but she had to give one more out to one of three equally unappealing prospects. Heck, why not pick the black guy? Keeps the dream alive for everyone hoping a brotha wins.

    Highly doubt that will happen though. Can’t wait for these hometown dates.

    Tierra R. Wilkins is an associate editor for The Undefeated. She likes to eat fries with her ketchup.