Backstabbing in the Bahamas
Things pick up where we left off last week – with Ben talking to Olivia before the rose ceremony begins about the comments made to him about her by some of the girls. She expertly switches into victim mode and paints a fantastical picture of herself, saying things like, “I like reading books in my room and thinking,” and “I want to talk smart things.” This kind of superiority complex never plays well.
Olivia explains to Ben that it’s just her confidence that’s off-putting to everyone. Being confident is such a curse.
Ben keeps Olivia around and Emily twin visibly fumes.
The girls can’t believe how dumb Ben is when it comes to Olivia.
Olivia, aware of the attack on her, sends her haters a message, “Come at me bro,
and “I’m not going anywhere, everyone else can suck it.”
Ben begins handing out the roses to all the usual suspects with the last rose coming down to between Emily twin and tall Jen, this honestly could have gone either way as both these girls are going home eventually but Emily twin is the winner tonight.
Next stop – hurricane season in the Bahamas. Never have the Bahamas looked so uninviting.
Caila gets the first one-on-one date, her second, and Leah, who hasn’t had any quality alone time with Bachelor Ben yet, starts to freak out. Some people just aren’t good at playing this game and Leah is that person.
Ben really wants to be into dull Caila but is worried she might be a bit shallow. Valid concern I’d say. Over dinner, Caila reveals that making sense while speaking is not one of her talents. The girl is just not bright enough to connect her feelings with words and just keeps talking nonsense until Ben has gone through the gamut of emotions – confused and ready to say goodbye to her all the way back to smitten again. It was exhausting to watch and we are left wondering what she was even talking about.
The group date card arrives and the focus is back on Leah. When her name is read and she realizes that, again, she’s not getting special time with Ben a switch is flicked and there’s no turning back.
The infamous two-on-one date is going to be between arch rivals Olivia and Emily twin. This is previewed on the show as if it’s a fight to the death.
The group date seems like a nightmare, the weather’s crappy and tensions are running high. We finally see the girls in their bikinis and I think I speak for everyone here when I say I was shocked at the absence of implants. Shocked.
They arrive at their destination, an island overrun with pigs, where Ben announces that, “the unpredictability of life has came upon us.” Oh boy.
They swim and frolic with the pigs who seem a bit aggressive to be honest, with JoJo being all but mauled by two hungry pigs, eliciting the comment, “This is like a bar in Dallas, pigs everywhere.”
This is by far the most awkward group date, there’s nowhere private to go with any of the girls and hungry pigs are everywhere. No one’s feeling it, least of all Leah who is as awkward with Ben as she possibly could be and then proceeds to whinge and cry to him about not having had any time with him. Guys LOVE this.
Back at the hotel, the two-on-one date card arrives and Olivia announces that, “Emily and I are the same age but I’m going to feel like her mom babysitting her tomorrow.” Because she’s so mature?
Drama ensues on the group date that evening when Leah takes Ben aside and, in desperation, tells him that there is someone in the house that’s not being real with him and that someone is the person he has the most chemistry with. Then she NAMES NAMES and throws Lauren B. under the bus and just like that, a new villain is born.
Ben, not able to see through Leah’s desperate bid to get rid of her biggest rival, brings this up with Lauren B. who can’t believe someone would say that about her and wasn’t at all prepared to defend herself. She just sits there shell shocked.
Lauren B. falls into tears back on the couch with her girls and Leah does a not-very-convincing job of claiming she wasn’t the one who was shit-talking to Ben. She looks about as guilty as she possibly could.
Ben gives Amanda, who may have the least personality of them all, the group date rose.
Back at the hotel, Lauren B., Amanda and Emily twin surmise that it was Leah who told Ben Lauren B. was being fake, AKA not there for the right reasons.
Leah, meanwhile, is getting dolled up to visit Ben in his hotel room in a last ditch effort really drive her point home about Lauren B. This tactic is so backwards and obviously doesn’t have the desired effect. Instead, Ben tells Leah that something doesn’t feel right between them and he thinks it’s best to say goodbye.
Leah’s only regret is that she looks like an idiot, not what a huge bitch she was to someone for no other reason than to win a game.
The next day is the two-on-one, loser goes home, date with Olivia and Emily vying for Ben.
I just want to say fuck that about this date in general. It’s another overcast, windy day and after a boat ride from hell to get to some sad excuse for an island, Ben and Olivia go off to talk.
She proceeds to earbash him about how great she is, how she’s an introvert who’s grounded and at peace with herself and that she loves herself. She is a maniac. Olivia goes on to say that, “deep intellectual things are just my jam,” then blurts out that she’s in love with Ben. At this point it’s so obvious that Ben is not feeling it but Olivia, in her delusional mania, has no idea.
Emily twin’s approach was desperate in a different way, it’s just so uncomfortable watching these women continuously having to pitch themselves to this guy every chance they get like he’s some amazing prize. The chemistry between these two is so forced.
This is the worst date I’ve ever seen, with the wind blowing Emily’s hair in her face and the spray from the ocean all over everyone. All I could think of was can someone give the girl a hair tie? It’s the opposite of romantic.
Ben takes the rose, the symbol of his heart, and asks Olivia to take a walk with him. When they’re at the far end of the strip of sand and rocks they’ve landed on, Ben breaks the news to her that she’s not going any further on this journey.
Olivia looks more blindsided than anyone has ever been in the history of The Bachelor. This might be the worst thing that’s ever happened to Olivia in her life. No one is that oblivious to losing has ever experienced not getting their way the majority of their 23 years.
This level of humiliation is very uncomfortable to watch but is also the reason this show is so popular. To add insult to injury, Ben and Emily leave on one boat, leaving Olivia standing on the windy beach alone.
The girls get gypped when Chris Harrison, the Ricardo Montalban of this Nightmare Island, arrives on the scene to tell the girls that Ben has canceled the cocktail party and wants to go straight to the rose ceremony. Gasps!
Ben reads the girl’s names out one by one – Becca, JoJo and the final rose is between the two Laurens with Lauren B. beating out Lauren H. No surprises here really.
Lauren H. reveals her cry face in the car driving away and everything makes sense.
Next week is hometown dates. Buckle up!