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If I had to sum up this season of The Bachelorette with one word, it would be 'meh'. 

It's the reality TV show equivalent of a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. 

It's an hour of this GIF, two times a week for six weeks: 

via GIPHY

It's my job to recap The Bachelorette and even I'm struggling to get through the episodes. It feels like a hard slog with no guarantee of a reward at the end. 

There's no single reason why this season of The Bachelorette has been such an underwhelming viewing experience. 

On the surface, it seems to have all the right ingredients for a killer season of reality TV. Not one, but two, attractive bachelorettes. A bunch of 20-and 30-somethings willing to give up several months of their lives for the slim chance of their 15 minutes of fame, and an even slimmer chance of a lasting relationship. 

It's had all the same elements of the successful seasons before it - the kooky red carpet entrances, the handsome suitors, the high adrenaline single dates, the drama-inducing group dates, and the race to get time with the Bachelorettes during the cocktail parties. 

But what this season is missing is its spark. It's lost a bit of its magic. 

Watch the trailer for this season of The Bachelorette. Post continues after video.

And there's several reasons for this. 

Firstly, in a year where we're screaming out for more diversity on our TV screens, the franchise decided to give us not one, but two, blonde, white women as the bachelorettes. 

Elly and Becky Miles are down-to-earth, relatable Aussie women, but they're something we've seen on TV so many times before. Four years ago, Sophie Monk was incredibly entertaining as the Bachelorette, but in 2020, these women have just fallen a bit flat. As an audience we've struggled to invest in their story. 

In 2020, we needed a Bachelorette who would make us put down our phones and actively follow their journey. A Brooke Blurton or a Casey Donovan, someone who would make us think 'oh I haven't seen this before'. 

Secondly, we knew from the start that neither of the bachelorettes were "in love". 

LISTEN: Elly and Becky Miles on how The Bachelorette ends. Post continues below. 

In Australia, we have a track record of our Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants finding true love on the franchise and we have the Bachie babies to prove it. As an audience we're yet to become completely disillusioned by the concept of finding love on TV, and underneath all the juicy gossip and shareable memes, we're still ready to believe in the fairytale. 

So knowing we weren't going to get the fairytale at the end, has made it increasingly hard to tune in week after week. 

Finally, we know everything that's going to happen before it happens. 

This year, a combination of pap photos, an increasingly popular gossip podcast, and the contestants themselves openly talking about their experiences on social media, has resulted in more spoilers than ever before. 

Nothing happens on The Bachelorette without us knowing about it beforehand. It's completely lost its element of surprise. Our appetite for drama and gossip has killed what we loved about the show in the first place. 

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What sends Becky over the edge? 👀 Find out, 7.30 tonight on 10. #BacheloretteAU

A post shared by  The Bachelorette Australia (@bacheloretteau) on Oct 14, 2020 at 4:00pm PDT

It's no longer a collective viewing experience, something we tweet about and discuss in our group chats, it's something we consume in small snippets of gossip throughout our work days. 

There's no doubt it would have been difficult to produce a reality TV show in the middle of a pandemic and going in we knew this season was going to look a little different. 

But somewhere between Channel Ten trying to trick us by serving us up a double serve of exactly what we've seen so many times before, and the never-ending gossip mill, The Bachelorette has lost a bit of its magic and spark. 

Let's hope next year the franchise will give us a story we can really invest in, and a reason to put down our goddamn phones and actually watch our TVs. 

Otherwise... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.