The Bachelor: Should Merissa have said that to Peter?

Should Peter Weber’s ex have come forward on The Bachelor’s latest episode?

The Bachelor gave us perhaps one of its most frustrating episodes of the season this week with the whole Victoria F. debacle. We were angry at Peter for how he handled the situation, and even angrier at Victoria F.’s response to all of it.

During their hometown date in Virginia Beach, Weber was confronted by his ex, Merissa, who warned him about Victoria F.’s apparently horrible reputation. It threw a wrench in her hometown date and resulted in not only the two of them fighting, but Peter never meeting her family (was that even them, though?).

FanSided Entertainment’s “Can I Steal You For A Second Podcast” dissected this entire situation with co-hosts Shea, Ashley, and Bachelor Nation alum, Dustin Kendrick. Earlier this week, they were joined by Clay Harbor, another alum, to talk about the week’s hot mess of an episode.

During their conversation, they discussed whether or not Peter’s ex, Merissa, should have come forward. Naturally, it’s a very gray area and knowing it’s right or wrong is difficult to ascertain. I think if you’re looking at it through the lens of drama on the episode, then sure, her coming forward made things very dramatic.

But if you step back and look at it from a real-life perspective, it makes it a bit more difficult. Harbor gave an example of a similar situation he was in with one of his college friends. As Clay learned, the friend’s fiance was hooking up with another friend while dating her future husband in college.

Ultimately, Clay did not say anything (unless he just spilled the beans on this podcast and they were listening, uh oh), but it did spark the conversation of something that’s happened recently versus not.

Dustin commented that if it’s something relevant right now, then maybe say something. Others would say it’s best to say something, just as Merissa did when it’s in the earlier stages. I think we can debate whether or not this was an “early stage” for Peter, considering he was juggling his final four women. But it’s definitely before he made any major decisions.

Although, he did keep Victoria F. around, so there’s that.

During the podcast episode, I did like that Peter’s state of mind was discussed. If this was happening in real-life sans cameras and The Bachelor, would he have perceived it differently? I mean, the franchise is infamously known for meddling and editing to their heart’s content.

That would certainly put doubt in Peter’s mind about whether or not Merissa confronting him is genuine or just something the producers concocted to make things more dramatic. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine being in that position, so kudos to you Pilot Pete.

I think we can all agree that whether it was right or wrong of Merissa to say something to Peter, the way Victoria F. handled it was horrendous. *Please listen to the insanely hilarious impersonation of Victoria F. and Peter during the podcast episode.*

She completely avoided the topic, and despite Peter trying to do the best he could to handle it (the best he’s probably handled anything all season of The Bachelor, to be honest), Victoria F. was just unreasonable to deal with.

…And she still made it into the top three. Sigh.

Do you think Merissa should have come up to Peter? Tell us your thoughts below!