Paul Hebert
If you're not caught up on The Bachelorette, we're about to spoil some things.
It’s been a few weeks now since we last checked in on Peter Kraus, the handsome Madison fella currently in the running as a suitor on ABC’s romance reality show The Bachelorette. A lot has happened, including about half of Peter’s competition being cut loose by this season’s female lead, Rachel Lindsay. A Dallas-based trial lawyer who notably earned her degree from Milwaukee’s Marquette Law School, Rachel is the first African American to ever anchor any of The Bachelor’s family of shows.
A few weeks ago, we poked around in the cast profiles, seeing how Peter stacked up against the other men gunning for Rachel’s affections. But now that we’ve had some time to get to know Peter, it’s high time we brought everyone up to speed on how our guy’s doing.
Right out of the gate, Peter, a local personal trainer, has notched a lot of firsts on the show. He was the first one out of the limo in the premier episode, noting that Rachel (who was snubbed last season by fellow Wisconsinite Nick Viall) “hasn’t had much luck with Wisconsin dudes.” Peter went on to receive the first rose at that night’s ceremony, and he was the first to go on a one-on-one date with Rachel in the second episode, which we’ll get to in a little bit.
In the four episodes that have aired so far, Peter has showed a level of class and maturity the likes of which is, sadly, in short supply among cast members. While the other mansion dwellers seem more than happy to fight amongst themselves, tattling on each other to Rachel about who is and isn’t there “for the right reasons,” Peter has flown above it all to wring as much as he can from the fleeting moments he spends privately with Rachel. There’s still quite a bit to go in the series, but you can’t look at this guy without thinking “front-runner,” even two months out from the finale.
Wasting no time once all the guys bounded (and, in the case of the suitor who showed up in a penguin suit, waddled) out of their limos, Peter plied Rachel with a box of confections brought all the way to L.A. from Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier. Lucas, the early heel whose “WHABOOM!” catchphrase will forever live in infamy, did some deeply irritating play-by-play on a megaphone while Peter and Rachel canoodled on the patio. But that annoyance was trumped when — I kid you not — Rachel spotted a shooting star (and presumably made a wish that Lucas would leave them the hell alone).
For the second episode, Peter lands the first solo date with Rachel: A trip to “BarkFest” with her adorable doggo, Copper, where puppers roam free rockin’ shades and Hawaiian shirts like Spuds MacKenzie! Copper, sporting an impossibly adorable cast on one of his forepaws, develops a comfy rapport with Peter almost immediately. At dinner afterward (where no one actually eats) Peter casually points out that both he and Rachel have prominent gaps between their teeth. It’s a moment that might have been awkward coming from anyone else, but between the two of them it plays like a legitimate moment of sincere intimacy. Rachel pointedly asks Peter about his previous relationships, which prompts a refreshing reveal that he’s gotten a whole lot out of therapy and relationship counseling — yet another thing that he and Rachel discover that they have in common. Peter gets the date rose and the two smooch while literal fireworks illuminate the sky above.
In episode three, Peter joins a handful of other suitors on a group date to appear on Ellen. The men all take their shirts off to grind on overjoyed audience members before sitting down on the couch for a game of Never Have I Ever, which bears exactly zero resemblance to any date I’ve ever been on. There, we learn that Peter is in the minority of guys who have apparently not contemplated, shall we say, “making whoopee” with Rachel. All but two of the suitors turn their paddles to admit that they have thought about getting it on, in a surprising bit of honesty. Call me naive, but — I truly do believe that Peter’s mind really hasn’t gone there yet.
One reason why I believe Peter when he says he hasn’t contemplated coitus with Rachel? Partly because he can’t spell it. As we saw in the most recent episode’s spelling challenge (who says this show ain’t smart?!), Peter gets bounced on C-O-I-T-U-S (don’t worry, the pre-teen judges were instructed to put on earmuffs for this one). The winner, Josiah, sticks the landing on P-O-L-Y-A-M-O-R-O-U-S, securing an oversized trophy he spends the rest of the episode drinking from. Also in this episode, Peter notably jumps into a rap battle and drops some dope bars, rhyming “heart” with “fart.” How can you not like this guy?! Later on, in a private moment with Rachel, the two are already casually chatting about whether they’d be willing to move to the other’s respective city — and Rachel mentions that she is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin.
After the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week that brought Bachelor in Paradise to a temporary standstill, it’s worth pointing out that some other writers have done excellent jobs breaking down the problematic potholes that ABC is stumbling through with this season of Bachelorette. None of that has yet to stick to Peter, though, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. As a perpetual cynic about these sorts of shows, I have to say that the romance brewing between Rachel and Peter is downright heartwarming, and will hopefully balance out the midseason slog of manufactured drama we have to wade through in order to find out how Peter fares.
