Inside NU Bachelorette recap, Episode 4: Anthony gets robbed in the spelling bee

Anthony Battle’s journey on The Bachelorette has officially been derailed by the ABC producers.

The beginning of the episode was rather anti-climactic for Northwestern fans. Anthony had already progressed to the next week after a stellar performance in his 1-on-1 date with Rachel. Somehow, Rachel gave a rose to Lee, the annoying, racist, and completely infuriating snake of the group who tries to start as much drama as possible. Of course she gave a Rose to Lee. Diggy would’ve been a far more deserving candidate (even though he is a Fighting Illini). The producers/showrunners already have some explaining to do.

Next, Rachel had a date with Dean, who is all of 25 years old. That was fine, actually, and their date went really well. There was a blimp ride, a country music concert, and a highly emotional moment concerning Dean’s late mother included.

Then, Anthony got invited on the group date. This was his opportunity to solidify the gains he had made on the previous episode. The group date was on a cruise ship, but Anthony declined the chance to take off his shirt. Showing off isn’t the Wildcat Way. He did not make a fool himself in the rap game like Peter, and he did not put a step wrong on the ship.

Again, Anthony was rather inconspicuous for this group date. That’s a bit concerning, as his personality just doesn’t seem quite as engaging as Josiah, Kenny, Eric and Peter. This low-key demeanor may be why the ABC producers set him up for a complete travesty.

The group then went to shore for a “Bachelorette Nation Spelling Bee”. First off, this seemed like a great idea. A spelling contest is an easy way to weed out the contestants who don’t pay attention to detail. Intelligence is the key to victory. In addition, Anthony and his degree in English from Northwestern University (!) should have been a shoo-in to top the Spelling Bee.

“Anthony's just, like, a secret genius,” one contestant uttered. It was his chance to shine. Predictably, he knocked aside the competition. While other contestants fell to words like “facade” and “champagne”...

...Anthony made it to the final three contestants before things were SCANDALOUSLY turned against him. Anthony had to spell the word “boutonnière”, you know, the flower a woman pins on a man’s dress, usually during prom. That’s a hard word, and the Americans often spell it (incorrectly) as “boutineer”. Anthony wasn’t even close, understandably, and got sent home (no, he did not get sent off the show entirely for losing a spelling bee, he just lost).

However, Josiah’s word to spell was “S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G”. What person over the age of 14 doesn’t know how to spell “stunning”?

It’s like running but with “stun” at the beginning. Anthony was given a much harder word so that the flashier and more camera-friendly Josiah would win the trophy. Even worse, Josiah’s word to win the championship was “polyamorous”. Really? Anthony could’ve spelled that in his sleep.

We need a full investigation into the show for this. Anthony’s shot at glory was spoiled by the network. Even if he had spelled boutonnière correctly, he would have been given a crazy German word like “scherenschnitte” or “gesellschaft” until Josiah would’ve won.

The end of the episode centered around Lee and Iggy continuously trying to undermine the other contestants, particularly Kenny. It was some high school drama. It was bad. Rachel really doesn’t deserve this. But Rachel does deserve a better spelling bee champion.

NEVER FORGET!

Fantasy League Update:

Somehow, jt12305 landed Eric, Bryan, and Kenny, and is currently leading with 212 points. Our co-EIC Will Ragatz is somehow 12 points behind and sitting in second place. Another Inside NU contributor, Martin Oppegaard, is third. Maybe they should do that full time instead of writing for this site.