Episode 3, The Lie to Spare Feelings (Des)

When Des unceremoniously escorted Brandon out (following his quite ceremonious rejection), she said, "You're a great guy, but not for me," and then spouted some canned nonsense about chemistry and how "when you know, you know." This was nice of her, but not particularly honest, given what she should have said was: "Remember that butterfly metaphor you made last week? Well, you smothered the butterfly. In fact, you ground it into oblivion with the heel of your hand. So I have no clue why you're now asking me about the mess." On the one hand honesty, even at the end of relationships, can be important to help the other person learn and grow so that they can realize future romanti
c success. On the other hand, they've known each other for two weeks and this is a reality show. No one really signed up for the truth.

Des' considerate untruth would have been completely acceptable in isolation, but this week, she also chose to deploy one of Ben's favorite "Lies to spare others' feelings": The False Promise Kiss. It seemed like every week Ben was making out with some girl, wordlessly reassuring her that she was safe for another week, only to send her packing in the very next scene. Now, I don't think that Des meant to use her lips as a lovely parting gift (though they're certainly better than a Looney Tunes watch or some banana-flavored Nestle's Quik), so much as she just. wanted. the awkwardness. to stop. But she made out with Kasey earlier in the episode just because she felt guilty that she was only keeping him around because he put up with that disaster of a date (or perhaps to reward him for not using a single hashtag!), and she certainly didn't pucker up for Brandon just because she was impressed with his manly charms.

I don't have a problem with Desiree making out with any guy that she wants - she's The Bachelorette, not the president of the Junior League - but I do think she needs to use her powers for good, not to avoid momentary guilt. Because a few minutes spent staring into pathetic puppy dog eyes can't possibly hold a candle to the awkwardness of walking your intended through the video footage of the exact moment you contracted a horrible lip disease.