The Men Are Running The Bachelorette House

For the second time this season, the men in the Bachelorette house have decided by consensus that one of their own must be put out to pasture. This week’s victim is Thomas—or, as he’s been dubbed by the Bachelor Nation Twittersphere, Thom-mess. While it truly does not matter who goes home at this point because Katie doesn’t seem to be attracted to any of her options, the men are wielding a little too much power for a show called The Bachelorette, not The Bachelorette’s Suitors.

As with last week’s elimination, the men all seized on a single weak link in the house, Thomas, who stupidly told everyone he had initially come onto the show because he’d considered becoming the next Bachelor. Fat chance, buddy! While his admission seemed to be the final straw, it was the fact that he’d spent four episodes manipulating everyone in the house that alienated and infuriated his fellow contestants, none more so than Tre.

As all the men gathered in corners to gossip, they painted a clearer picture of how many times Thomas had lied to them about his intentions and who he was as a person, picking apart his story one conversation at a time. Under the guise of extreme honesty, a theme Katie has been repeating throughout the season, Tre used his group date time to turn snitch and share with Katie everything going on in the house behind her back. This is a classic tactic in the Bachelorverse, which almost always backfires on the snitches themselves. (Katie was a snitch during her season and was ostracized by the group shortly after.) Tre hasn’t been bitten in the ass by his decision yet, but the lingering anger from Andrew S., who argued that it wasn’t anyone’s place to tell Katie what was going on in the house, will surely make an appearance soon. Hopefully, when it does, meathead Aaron will be close by to share the words of wisdom he uttered this week: “Don’t yell at me, bro. Have some respect.”

Tre’s admission was rewarded and, as a result, the other men looked to get onto the snitch bandwagon. At some point, one of the nondescript white men in the house looked Katie straight in the eye and said, “We know we’ve all got to come together as a house and protect you.” This was supposed to be an excuse for all the men wasting their time talking about how shitty Thomas is, but they weren’t just mad that Thomas had lied to Katie; they were angry that they’d been manipulated as well and decided to do something about it. They weren’t protecting Katie so much as they were protecting their own pseudo frat house.

The houses are almost always poisonous snake pits, but this is the first time such a consistent and concerted effort has been made to root out the toxic elements and get them sent home under the guise that they simply weren’t there for the “right” reasons. This is fine and good for the men living in the house, but Katie is supposed to be calling the shots. If she wants to pull a Matt James and keep a bully in the house, that’s her prerogative. Unfortunately, most of her decisions have been made by the men in the house, with Katie claiming she simply wants to respect them and respect the process they’re going through. Katie’s girl power speech as she sent Thomas packing was very cute, but not enough to take away from the fact Katie has lost control of the house and isn’t calling the shots.

Besides, if the men get rid of all the villains, how exactly do they intend to make themselves look better?