Clayton Echard's messy, shark-jumping Bachelor season made the show good again

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemcneal/bachelor-clayton-echard-season-26-review

"With its 26th season, The Bachelor finally jumped the shark. But unexpectedly, I’m back in," says Stephanie McNeal, adding that with Echard's season, "we watched a well-intentioned but emotionally unintelligent himbo try to navigate three relationships at the same time and enjoyed what happened when it inevitably blew up in his face." Producers seemingly made a bad choice in picking Echard to be The Bachelor after he placed eighth on Michelle Young's Bachelorette season, says McNeal. He seemed "extremely unprepared for the shark tank of The Bachelor, with all its quirks and strange rituals." But his inexperience ended up highlighting the absurdity of the show. "Previous leads have had clear favorites from the beginning, or have at least been able to fake it enough to come out the other side with a successful match and an intact reputation, but this was too tall an order for Echard," says McNeal. "Confusion and terror appeared on his face in every one of the final episodes; he was being told that he had to give each relationship a fair shot, but also needed to choose just one woman in a matter of days. He seemed totally out of his depth, and thus, the mayhem began...By casting a lead who took the show completely off the rails, the producers have made the most entertaining iteration that they have in years...Maybe producers should just keep leaning into the mess. I thought I was done with this show and its tired antics, but this season I couldn’t get enough. If this is the future of The Bachelor, I’m all the way back in."