WARNING! Spoilers ahead.
Intro: Monday night’s episode of “The Bachelor” was full of drama to say the least. The episode began with a flashforward of Joey talking to the women at the evening cocktail party, speaking about how it seems like there’s a bully in the house, how he’s trying to find love, and how he does not want women to feel uncomfortable or bullied in the house. After watching that, I knew that this episode was going to be crazy, and I was wondering who told Joey about the whole Sydney-Maria-Madina age argument.
Mrs. Right: The camera then jumps back to the mansion as a group date is announced. One of this week’s group dates was a pageant called Mrs. Right, hosted by some of the women from “The Golden Bachelor,” and there was a live studio audience. “The Golden Bachelor” is the same premise as “The Bachelor,” but instead of the women being in their 20s-30s they are all senior citizens. Right away Sydney felt very confident that she was going to win because she did pageants in high school, and she did not let anyone forget it. The women first did a runway walk wearing their best loungewear, some in robes, t-shirts, and hoodies. Afterward, there was a Q&A session followed by a talent show, where Sydney was a standout
Sydney was very eager for this group date, yet it did not go her way. After parading around the whole group date saying that she was going to win, it was Sydney’s turn to perform. Sydney did a weird cheer routine where she was just stomping while chanting bad rhythms involving love and Joey. There was no music in the background, and you could see all of the other contestants in the back looking confused. It was very uncomfortable to watch, and got no applause, but she thought that she killed it.
Start of the Drama: Once the “Mrs. Right” pageant ended, the women got to the afterparty where Madina pulled Joey aside to talk to him. Joey asked how she was feeling, and Madina responded that she felt like she was bullied by some women in the house but wouldn’t say who. You could tell on his face that Joey was immediately taken aback by the word “bully.” It was very dumb for Madina to tell Joey about the drama going on in the house, though, because contestants who always tell the Bachelor about drama in the house never end up going far. Also, contestants only get around 10 minutes alone with Joey per afterparty, so I don’t understand why she wasted her time telling Joey about drama instead of building a connection. Joey then came to the women, and we see the flashforward that we saw at the beginning of this episode. Once Joey leaves, Madina then shares what she told Joey. Maria got mad because Madina was talking about how she felt bullied, even though she kept her bully anonymous. Maria and Madina started arguing, and Sydney jumped in and shared how she, too, felt bullied by Maria, then just left the whole afterparty. I don’t know why Sydney felt the need to jump in, and between her bad pageant routine and her unprovoked jump into the drama, she is now my least favorite contestant on the show, and I hope she goes home soon.
One-on-One: This week, Joey chose Jenn to go on a surfing beach date. I liked Jenn’s limo exit in the first episode, so I was excited when I saw that she was going on a one-on-one. They went surfing and spent time on the beach, and you could tell they had a spark. They then went for dinner where Jenn shared about how she feels unwanted by her father and didn’t grow up in a great environment, but she’s now ready to be in a loving relationship. Joey is happy to hear the news and gives her a rose, making her safe for the week. I really liked this date because it felt really wholesome and the audience got to learn a lot about Jenn. After watching this date it’s very obvious that Joey is very into Jenn and she’s someone to look out for.
Bachelor Open: For the first time in “The Bachelor” history was the “Bachelor Open.” Usually, this group date is “The Bachelor Bowl,” where all of the women play football, but because Joey is a professional tennis player, they play tennis instead. The date was hosted by tennis stars James Blake and Pam Shriver, and it was very obvious that none of the women knew who these two were. The women had to dress up in silly costumes while playing tennis doubles. This group date was perfect; it was lighthearted and drama-free, the complete opposite of the “Mrs. Right” pageant. Kelsey T. and Evalin ended up winning the doubles tournament dressed up as a lobster and butter. I thought this date was really funny to watch because it was obvious none of the women had ever played tennis before, and I thought this date was really creative and special to Joey’s tennis hobby.
Pool Party Drama: Instead of a cocktail party, Joey decided to have a pool party that was obviously sponsored by KFC because of the abundance of KFC pool floats and KFC wings everywhere. The party was going well until Sydney pulled Joey aside to talk more about the previous drama. By this point of the episode, I was done with the pointless argument because now it had nothing to do with age, which is what it started with. Sydney shared how she feels bullied and attacked by Maria, and then Joey talked to Maria and she defended herself, saying how she used to be bullied and that she would never want to make anyone feel that way. Joey is also obviously confused by the overload of information from Sydney and Maria and at this point, the whole pool party is consumed by this drama to the point where no one else is having fun. By now I just hoped Sydney would go home or Sydney and Maria both go home because I was completely tired of hearing about this.
Eliminations: After week three, Joey decided to say goodbye to three women: Chrissa, Evalin, and Starr. Based on the previews, it looks like the cast is going to Malta in the next episode with the remaining 15 women, and I’m excited to see the drama that ensues next Monday!
“The Bachelor” airs on Monday nights at 8:00 pm EST on ABC.
