The first trailer for Bachelor in Paradise Season 4 is here, and wow, it’s really something. Like, it’s something in the sense that it’s absolutely trying very hard to make you forget the fact that it was almost canceled and that there were very serious allegations of sexual misconduct made while filming. Basically, it misses the whole damn point.
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The trailer appears to be focusing hard on the drama of the show almost being canceled without commenting on why it was almost canceled. There are probably a plethora of reasons the trailer eschews full facts in favor of glibness. This includes various legal issues and the fact that it’s probably a bad look for ABC to just throw in that there were allegations of sexual misconduct. I get it, but whatever the creative team went with here is just a bit… off-putting, especially if you’ve been closely following the events of the show’s ill-fated production.
Using B-roll footage of a beach front in the middle of a violent storm, the trailer shows captions of real tweets that were sent out when the news of BIP‘s possible cancellation came out. The tweets range from one Twitter user reportedly writing, “Honestly very upset,” to another tweet stating, “My whole summer is ruined,” with a crying emoji face. It totally downplays the very real and troubling nature of the circumstance behind that possible cancellation. Also, posting these tweets, which really make the drama look superficial instead of a very real problem, is not exactly the most tactful thing to do. Then again, the dramatic voice-over doesn’t really help either. It goes a little something like this: “The sun had almost set. Summer was almost ruined. Paradise was almost lost… until it wasn’t.”
Uh, BIP, things were almost “ruined” because serious allegations were made on set, not because an unforeseen hurricane kicked up in the beginning of production and caused crabs to fall out of margarita glasses (that’s another super-weird visual in the trailer).
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Then the trailer cuts to this happier, more chipper tone where cast members are looking pretty stoked that BIP is back. We are left with a happy-looking Robby in the confessional booth and a premiere date. Y’all, this is very odd and very uncomfortable.
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Listen, I get that the show has to be promoted. I get that there are viewers to please and money to be made and ratings to be had. But if you wanted to go for that, why not focus on what you filmed after you resumed filming, which began once Warner Bros. had completed their investigation of those allegations of sexual misconduct? Why bring the whole timeline together into one trailer and make it look like a PR stunt that you pulled for dramatic effect?
This trailer is a very out-of-touch entry into this BIP Season 4 narrative and honestly? It’s very uncomfortable too.
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