Week 7 Story: Episode 8 of the Bachelorette Breakdown
Author's note: Hey guys! So this is a Bachelorette inspired story. The two stories I used to create this were: Draupadi's Swayamwara and Arjuna and Ulupi. I took the idea of Draupadi being won at a swayamwara, and changed the swayamwara to the Bachelorette.
If you are unfamiliar with the Bachelorette READ THIS, if you are familiar feel free to skip: Male contestants compete to find love with one woman. Guys get eliminated each week and the last one left typically proposes. The woman, or Bachelorette, will take the guys on dates. Some are group dates with multiple guys, some are three-on-ones where the woman has a date with three guys at once, and some are one-on-ones where it is a typically date between two people. In this story you will also need to know that a fantasy suite date is the overnight date without cameras.
In the swayamwara, Draupadi is won by Arjuna. All five of the Pandavas brothers end up marrying her. After they are married, Arjuna is exiled for cutting into his brother's (Yudhishthira) time with Draupadi. In my story, I combined these two events (the swayamwara and Arjuna's exile) into one story. I kept all the characters the same and even put in some special touches from the original story. Karna is involved in the swayamwara but is asked to leave in the original story, and the swayamwara involves archery which I mention in my story. Sorry the story is so long, but I hope you guys like it!
If you are unfamiliar with the Bachelorette READ THIS, if you are familiar feel free to skip: Male contestants compete to find love with one woman. Guys get eliminated each week and the last one left typically proposes. The woman, or Bachelorette, will take the guys on dates. Some are group dates with multiple guys, some are three-on-ones where the woman has a date with three guys at once, and some are one-on-ones where it is a typically date between two people. In this story you will also need to know that a fantasy suite date is the overnight date without cameras.
In the swayamwara, Draupadi is won by Arjuna. All five of the Pandavas brothers end up marrying her. After they are married, Arjuna is exiled for cutting into his brother's (Yudhishthira) time with Draupadi. In my story, I combined these two events (the swayamwara and Arjuna's exile) into one story. I kept all the characters the same and even put in some special touches from the original story. Karna is involved in the swayamwara but is asked to leave in the original story, and the swayamwara involves archery which I mention in my story. Sorry the story is so long, but I hope you guys like it!
Draupadi and Bhima talking, picture from Wiki Commons
Draupadi has honestly done super well this season as the Bachelorette. Draupadi is really making some good TV and also good connections. She has really made an effort to talk to every guy....which wasn't the case last season with Sita (Sita ended the show week 7, skipping fantasy suites all together, to be with Rama).
QUICK FLASH BACK:
If you remember a couple weeks ago, Sahadeva was sent home. This was no surprise. He had no TV time and really failed to try to make any connection with Draupadi.
Last week Karna was sent packing. NOW THIS ONE WAS A TOTAL SHOCK. Karna had been my front runner all season. He had two big dates. The Pandava brothers really did not like him and I guess Draupadi believed every bit of gossip they told her about Karna.
So Karna is gone and that leaves Arjuna, Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Nakula for week 8.
Draupadi also decided to skip hometown dates all together this week, something never done on the show before. I can totally understand why. Reason one, all they guys that are left are brothers. Reason two, more opportunity for drama and good TV.
EPISODE 8:
The dates were split into 1 one-on-one and then 1 three-on-one. The date card arrived to the guy's hotel and it was the three-on-one card. No guy wanted to be on that card, but Bhima went ahead and read the three guys going. The names were Arjuna, Bhima, and Nakula. Yudhishthira gets the alone time with Draupadi this week.
So the three-on-one date is first and it is an archery date. Seems kinda dangerous to have three guys filled with testosterone shooting arrows, but I guess that is Draupadi's cup of tea. The guys all compete to see who is the most accurate shot and Arjuna wins. This is a big win for him right now. He is a front runner, but after Karna was sent home last week, there is no telling what Draupadi is looking for. This win really secured his spot in the final three in my opinion, but we will get into that in a bit.
The guys enjoy cocktail hour and Arjuna really pulls out all the stops. Arjuna and Draupadi share a kiss, but Arjuna misses a good opportunity to tell Draupadi how he feels about their relationship. Either way, they end on a really good note.
Bhima got a good bit of time with Draupadi too. They shared a kiss and he dropped the "I am in love with you." Which was such a good move on his part. Draupadi instantly says how she is falling in love with him too and the two kiss again. Bhima will definitely move into fanstasy suite week after this.
Nakula has a decent talk with Draupadi, but I just don't see any chemistry between them. They have been friends all season and I feel like Draupadi has only kept him because she trusts his opinion. After this week she no longer needs a friend. In my eyes, there was no way Nakula would stay after how awesome the talks with Bhima and Arjuna went.
Well.....if you watched this week's episode already.....you will know my eyes deceived me....
On Yudhishthira's one-on-one the two go on a super fun date, cliff jumping. The two kiss and take their relationship to new heights. They have a ton of chemistry and he really used this time to lock in a spot in the final three. They move on to the dinner portion of the date.....and this is where it goes down.
Arjuna walks in. I cannot make this up.
Arjuna goes in and asks Draupadi if he can have a word. Draupadi is furious and so is Yudhishthira.
Like dude.......you were going to fantasy suites.......it could have waited......
But....Arjuna confesses how much he loves Draupadi and how much he cares for her. He also mentions that he does not trust his brothers with her purity in fantasy suite week. He tells her to consider ending the show early like Sita and getting married to him.
THEN HE GETS DOWN ON ONE KNEE AND PROPOSES.
Keep in mind, Yudhishthira is in the other room.
Draupadi breaks down into tears and leaves the room entirely. We get some clips of her crying and Arjuna explaining his thought process to the producers..... which I will save you some time because it is dumb....really really dumb....
Yudhishthira is still chilling in a separate room with zero idea his date just went to hell.
Draupadi walks back to Arjuna and SENDS HIM HOME.
She tells him he needs to respect her and trust her decisions, not make decisions for her.
She is a complete mess and runs into the room with Yudhishthira. He gives her a hug and she gives him a rose, securing his spot in the final three.
And thats the end of the episode. No rose ceremony or anything.
With Karna and Arjuna gone, Bhima is my new front runner. Bhima and Draupadi have a lot of physical and emotional chemistry that I can only see getting stronger next week.
Anyways, thanks for reading my week 8 break down! Check in next week to see who will make it into the final two!
Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata by Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore. link here
Hey Camille,
ReplyDeleteI really found your style of writing really interesting! I liked your descriptive vocabulary a lot, as it helped to set the scene really well. I liked the spacing between your paragraphs, too, as it helped it look less cluttered, and you did it in a way that was really effective, as it helped between scene changes and character references. I enjoyed the humor in your writing and informal writing such as "dude," as it made the piece seem much more lighthearted and casual, which really made it stand out from other pieces I have read! I felt really comfortable reading it, as it seemed like you were telling me a story first-hand rather than me reading it on a blog! Good job.
Hey Camille,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you formatted the story! I do watch the Bachelorette, but I thought it was a great idea to include a little description. It makes the story work for a wider audience. I also liked the language you used in the story. You wrote like someone was talking and it made the story entertaining and realistic. The "QUICK FLASHBACK" was also genius- it makes your writing model the TV show layout. Thanks for the fun story!
Camille,
ReplyDeleteThis was so fun to read! My wife loves watching this show and I end up watching it with her a lot. I like how you formatted as the perspective of a broadcaster/narrator, and really made it seem like I was reading the subtitles to the show. You even included "flashback" section which truly gave it a TV feeling. Also, great job on explaining what the show actually was so people could understand what connection you were making even if they haven't seen the show!
Hi Camille! Earlier in this class, I wrote about the Bachelorette with Sita as the lead. It's fun to think we could probably combine our stories and make a series out of it. I think you did a lot better job than I did trying to explain the show. I also liked how you did this in a podcast/fanblog style format. I think that fits the show really well
ReplyDeleteHey Camille! I loved that you used the Bachelorette as the setting for this story! I think it was fitting since Draupadi was married to each of the Pandavas, so it definitely felt like a Bachelorette episode. You made the story super funny too and it made it more enjoyable to read. I liked the comment about the arrows and the testosterone. It was sassy, but true. You also captured the drama of the show really well and the quick recap was also super helpful!
ReplyDeleteThis was so fun to read! Not only is it current with the Bachelor series always putting out new seasons, but the way you told Draupadi's story with the Pandava brother is so brilliant. It shows the personalities of Draupadi and the brothers along with their personal relationships with Draupadi. When reading the original story, it was not as clear as to which brother Draupadi felt closest to or loved the most so writing a story like this provides readers with that sort of understanding.
ReplyDelete