She probably wasn't intended as a long term character and decided to expand the role. Her Inhuman arc likely wasn't considered until they were outlining season 2 and was an attempt to link storylines. They may have been leading up to something better for her before she was cast on Preacher, though.

In the south, we would say "bless their hearts."

It wasn't punching down at bisexuals, though. The joke was that his idea of bisexual includes bigamy.

She's still a rookie showrunner so she doesn't have a lot of power yet. She probably didn't think that was a battle worth fighting, especially because it seems like he doesn't HAVE to be Rachel's love interest, only back for the season.

I think that's why they'd do it, though. It would give them a way to mix up the show a little bit and they'd have another character who could actually come back next season.

She seems smart so I think she'll be pretty good. Apparently the real Bachelor/Bachelorette usually (often?) features the runner-up as the next Suitor on the other show. I'm thinking Hot Rachel is going looking for her own show and UnReal may switch to the Bachelorette next season to mix things up some.

But only one of them is a contestant…

One if they're lucky.

She had a few scenes on AoS when I thought she was rather charismatic and magnetic (mostly early on when she was just mysterious and somewhat flirtatious). I think that was just an increasingly poorly written role and/or the directors gave her terrible notes. It's disappointing to know just how much she could've added…

Keep on moving those goalposts…

You said you wanted to see "how R/Q deal with a Suitor who isn't in repair image mode and they lack leverage." A Bachelorette who has her own goals and agenda is exactly that kind of situation.

Are you shitting me? You realize that women can have ulterior motives, too, right? Like building a brand? Hot Rachel isn't here for love, she's here to create a brand. Maybe she wants to be a designer. Or a tv personality. Or have a cable reality show. This is her ticket to building a fan base that can support…

Its Gus Fring is patriarchy but I understand what you're saying (the big bad needs to be an actual character). If it's frustrating that they're clashing with such an ineffective villain, that's the point. That's sexism.

Wouldn't that be the case if they were filming The Bachelorette, especially if it's Hot Rachel? I can't imagine the image rehabbing applied for both sexes, anyway. For men, it's "love" bringing out the "good" in the bad boy. For women, it's just the bitch getting what she wants and probably doesn't "deserve."

Sadly, I'm pretty sure that would happen on most networks…

It's what keeps institutional and systemic racism chugging along!

At least half a dozen network meetings THIS YEAR.

In a New Yorker profile, Shapiro says Jeremy was only supposed to be a single season character but the network wanted him back as Rachel's "Mr. Big" (literally). It sounds like she decided to play nice and keep him around but I don't think it's going to be an on-again off-again thing. Hopefully.

True. Even with media training they often sound clunky and unnatural.

Always here for Ellen Barkin.