(ABC/RICK ROWELL)
ABC treated us to yet another two hour episode of The Bachelorette. This week, two guys will get an individual date and then there will be one group date. Again, not all of the guys will get dates with Ali, so Chris suggests they make the most of the time when Ali pops in to the house. One of the bachelors takes that suggestion to the extreme, but more on that later.
By : CHAD KENNEDY
ABC treated us to yet another two hour episode of The Bachelorette. This week, two guys will get an individual date and then there will be one group date. Again, not all of the guys will get dates with Ali, so Chris suggests they make the most of the time when Ali pops in to the house. One of the bachelors takes that suggestion to the extreme, but more on that later.
Roberto, Ali’s clear favorite, is the first to score an individual date. Ali arrives at the house and, of course, all of the guys flock to her trying to make an impression. She doesn’t stick around long as she and Roberto head off on a scenic helicopter ride of Los Angeles. As we all know by now, Ali hates to fly, so she was clinging to Roberto for dear life. The flight ended atop a downtown LA skyscraper, but the adventure didn’t end there. A romantic dinner awaited them… on the roof of another skyscraper. So, how did they get there? A tight rope, of course. Ali said she wanted to see how Roberto would handle himself in a stressful situation. Let’s just say he came through like a champ. The two slowly walked across the tight rope holding hands until they got to the middle where Roberto told Ali he needed to give her something. He sweetly turned and they kissed. Does it get much more made-for-TV than this?
(ABC/RICK ROWELL)
Once Roberto and Ali made it to the other rooftop they cuddled and watched the sunset. As they enjoyed dinner Roberto told Ali that Spanish is his first language, which amazed her in itself, but he also speaks French and Italian. At this point it’s safe to say that Ali is in love. She confessed that being a cultured, world-traveler is incredibly sexy to her. The date ends with them cuddling again and, big surprise… Ali giving Roberto a rose. He admits to the cameras that he’s on cloud nine. The chemistry between these two is off the charts, could he be the one?
Back at the house, the guys find out it will be Kirk, John, Chris N, Jonathan, Craig, Justin, Jesse, Chris L., and Frank on the group date.
For the group date the guys not only get to see The Barenaked Ladies perform just for them, but they also get to star in their new music video! How cool is that?! The guys find out what scenes they will be doing with Ali and are giddy to start filming, well except one bachelor. Guess who! Jonathan, who is freaking out about his scene with Ali that calls for him to kiss her. It’s unclear whether he is panicked because he has to kiss Ali for the first time on camera or the fact that he has to kiss Ali, period.
Per usual, Frank gets to be the first, this time he’s the first to film his scene with Ali. In the scene he has to try to kiss Ali but things go wrong and she slaps him. They had to film the scene not once, not twice, but NINE times. So, to my enjoyment, we get to see Ali slap Frank nine times, and each time she slaps him harder. With each episode Frank is becoming more and more annoying, so it made me happy to see her slapping him so many times.
After a few other scenes, it’s now time for Jonathan to make his move. Before the cameras start rolling Jon, who is visibly shaking, whispers to Ali that they don’t have to kiss on camera if she’s not comfortable. Ali admits to the cameras that this only made the situation even more awkward. They go ahead with the scene but take after take goes horribly wrong. Jon isn’t leaning in to kiss Ali, showing no passion, and at one point even starts crying. The other guys stand watching and can’t but make fun of the obviously “painful” scene. Finally, Ali takes the intiative and goes in for a kiss. That’s a wrap on the scene, thankfully. Jon surprisingly thinks the scene ended up going well and seems to think he and Ali have a connection now. What is he thinking?
Kirk probably scores the best scene of the day. He gets to roll around in bed with Ali while they make out. What starts as just kissing for the cameras quickly turns into passionate kissing after the scene has wrapped. It’s obvious that these two have good chemistry. Frank is off to the side watching the two kiss and is starting to go crazy with jealousy. He definitely has some jealousy issues. Someone should alert him to the fact that he’s on The Bachelorette and how this show works!
After the video shoot, the group heads to dinner. Ali pulls Chris L. aside to talk. She asks him about a tattoo of his, which is of his mom’s signature. He got the tattoo after she died a little over a year ago. Ali finds it very sweet but it’s still a raw subject for him so they move on to other topics. Before long Jon asks to talk to Ali so that he can try to make up for blowing it at the video shoot. He whispers to her that he wants them to go somewhere private to have their real first kiss. Just as he whispers this though, Craig interrupts for his one-on-one time with Ali. I’m sure Jon was just heart broken.
Ali quickly moves on to the hot tub with Kirk who continue their make out session from earlier in the day. Things get so steamy, Kirk says she’s giving him chills in the hot tub. Who knew Kirk would be a contender? Frank watches them kiss until Ali and Kirk move to the pool, then Frank decides he better interrupt them before things get any more serious. Frank jumps in the pool and all the other guys follow after, except Justin who is still hobbling around on crutches unable to get his cast wet. He needs to get that thing off and soon! The group date comes to a close with the premiere of The Barenaked Ladies music video starring Ali and the guys, and the group rose goes to… Kirk! Take that, Frank!
The next day is another individual date and the winner of that is Hunter. But, it’s Justin who steals the spotlight by sneaking out of the house and hobbling on his crutches all the way up the mountain, several miles to Ali’s house. Justin even surprises the Bachelorette filming crew as he walks up in the background of a show segment with Ali talking about Hunter. Justin gives Ali a big, sweaty hug when he arrives. She’s shocked that he would trek all the way to her house. After some more ‘shock and awe’ the two make their way into Ali’s mansion. Because of his bold move Justin gets to be the first one to be in Ali’s house. Inside the house, Justin shows off some of his family pictures which leads to him telling her that his dad left after he and his mom split. He grew up always wanting to have a father figure and not having it. Eventually he realized he didn’t need him and shortly thereafter his dad died. Justin tells Ali that this is what makes him want to have a family and be a good father. Ali can’t believe Justin is opening up so much and she seems to be eating it up.
Ali takes Justin home but the other guys don’t notice, and Justin never does tell them that he snuck over there. When they ask where he has been all day, he just says that he was sleeping. Ali ends up being late for Hunter’s date, no doubt as a result of Justin’s impromptu visit. Hunter’s date is at Ali’s house and they will be grilling out and making smores. They seem to get along pretty well while they cook but when they jump in the hot tub together it’s abundantly clear that there is no romantic spark. As Ali points out, Hunter is a nice guy and they could be good friends but the connection is just not there. Ali ends up deciding not to give Hunter a rose, sending him packing with his bags. In the limo Hunter is disappointed and admits he ‘choked’. Kind of feel bad for the guy, but if the spark is not there then no use in prolonging the inevitable.
Back at the house, Justin is once again having to defend himself to the guys. He opens up to them and tells them that he’s genuinely there for Ali, all he wants out of life is a wife and best friend and a family, and he’d give up his pro-wrestling career for that, he even starts tearing up. The guys don’t buy his story or his tears and continue ganging up on him. He really does seem to come off as genuine to me, so I’m not sure why the guys in the house keep bashing him.
The next day is the cocktail party and rose ceremony. Chris L. manages to get some one-on-one time with Ali and they have a great conversation about their common love for seafood and flip-cup. Who doesn’t love a game of flip cup! Justin also gets some more time with Ali and explains the situation in the house. It’s getting old watching him whine to her week after week about the other guys, I’m sure she’s getting annoyed as well. Steve, who I thought in th
e first episode could be a potential winner, sets up his own date with Ali by having a quickie picnic with her. He can’t get the champagne bottle to open at first which is good for a few minutes of laughter but I’m not sure it’s enough to win over Ali.
Roberto also gets some more time with Ali, despite already having a rose. He tells her that he doesn’t like and can’t trust Justin. Ali mentions to him that Justin walked to her house the day before which is a total surprise to Roberto. Of course, Roberto runs back to the other guys and tells them about Justin’s visit to Ali. The guys immediately confront Justin about sneaking off to Ali’s house and with a very awkward pause, he finally admits that he did go to her house so that he could try to explain himself knowing that the guys were talking smack about him to her. At this point the guys have written off Justin, it doesn’t look like they are ever going to be friends, which Justin says he doesn’t understand because he’s never had a problem making friends in the past. I am beginning to wonder if the guys are just doing this to try to get reactions out of Justin and eventually get him to leave the show.
Onto the rose ceremony, where two of the guys will be going home. I was hoping for Frank and Jonathan to go home. Frank annoys me with his jealousy and control issues and Jonathan, well, I think I made my point about him last week and it only became more obvious this week. Unfortunately, neither of these two go home. Ali hands out roses to: Chris L., Jesse, Chris N., Ty, Kasey, Craig, Frank, Jonathan, and last but not least… Justin! Steve and John C. head home. Ultimately, I think Justin may have been on the chopping block had he not walked to Ali’s house, so good for him for having the courage to do so.
Next week, the voyage around the world begins for Ali and the bachelors. Their first stop will be NYC where they will get the chance to perform on stage as part of The Lion King Broadway show. It appears Kasey goes off the deep end for some reason and may have even harmed himself on purpose, or at least that’s what ABC’s promos want us to believe. Be sure to come back to Seat42F next week to find out!
