If “The Golden Bachelor” raises the stakes on romantic gameplay, “FBoy Island” lowers it like a hoverstick. One contestant, Vince, jokes with one of the women that they have “a shared trauma” because they both had unhappy engagements on previous reality shows. But “FBoy Island” is wise in its own way, and one of its insights is that being a nice guy isn’t everything. Many men are excluded from the show not because the women suspect them of being f-boys, but because they simply don’t like them.
And then there’s Gerry. In “The Golden Bachelor,” he plays the perfectly nice guy — a father to daughters, a grandfather to granddaughters. As he jumps from date to date, he does the work of meeting women. He holds their hands, compliments their outfits and listens to stories about their dead husbands. He kisses them and brings them flowers. But he’s not there to make friends. If “The Golden Bachelor” believes that women over 60 deserve love, he also believes that some deserve it more than others.
After Joan leaves, drama brews between Theresa and Kathy, 70. Theresa tells a group of women that she and Gerry had a wonderful date and a strong connection and that he talked about a possible future with her. This unsettles Kathy, who resents Theresa Gerry and accuses her of gloating.
In the real world, a woman tells her friends about her exciting date with a new boyfriend. But in the villa, her friends are also her rivals, and her boyfriend is also her friend. When natural social laws are suspended, producers can intervene at will. Nice Gerry sounds creepy as he parrots a long-standing “Bachelor” catchphrase: Given the drama in the house, he tells the camera, “That’s not what I’m here for.”
“The Golden Bachelor” is still “The Bachelor”. The cast of older women manages to make the most contrived of shows seem deep and real, but it also makes it difficult to watch. Gerry comforts Kathy and punishes Theresa. At the rose ceremony that evening, he leaves Theresa shaking in a little dress waiting for a rose before finally saving her from elimination. For the crime of agitation, she is reminded that Gerry has the power to make her disappear.