As episode 2 of The Bachelor opens, Ben and the eighteen remaining women head to Ben’s hometown of Sonoma.
Two private dates and one wacky group date with a dozen women
Southern belle Kacie B., an administrative assistant from Tennessee, is invited on the first coveted one-on-one date. The date features an impromptu baton twirling lesson, a romantic dinner, and a private showing of home movies from Kacie’s and Ben’s childhoods at a local theatre. Ben fights back tears as clips of his deceased father are shown. Kacie and Ben share some kisses, Kacie gets a rose, and she optimistically concludes: “I have found what could be a lifetime of love with Ben.”
On Ben’s second date, a group date with twelve of the remaining contestants, the women must audition for a play written by some local children. At the auditions, many of the women are asked to make animal noises, while busty “VIP” cocktail waitress Blakeley is asked to run in slow motion. Not surprisingly, one of the pre-adolescent boys concludes that Blakeley “did good”, whereas, in what turns out to be an act of foreshadowing, one of the young girls says she’s “not a fan”. Still, the performance of “Prince Pinot of Bachelor Ville” is well received among the Sonoma audience and the women are happy that it includes a scene in which they get a closer peek at Ben’s body.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, tension builds between Courtney and Lindzi after Courtney implies that Lindzi only got the first impression rose because of her grand entrance on horseback. Her mean-girl persona and mind games lead Erika to conclude: “There’s something a little off about Courtney.” Courtney also irritates Kacie B. after she gets the second individual date card and delights in rubbing Kacie’s nose in it.
Back on the group date, Ben and Jennifer share some alone time and kisses, which she describes as “dreamy”. However, Ben quickly moves on to a make-out session with Blakeley, who is rapidly falling out of favour with the other women. Ben seems oblivious to this and in a major power of observation fail tells Blakeley: “I feel like everyone likes you”. Much to the disgust of the others, Blakeley ends up getting the rose for the evening. According to Ben, it’s because Blakeley made the most of her conversational opportunities with him, so perhaps they had some great talks when her tongue wasn’t down his throat.
Ben and Courtney head out on a private date featuring a walk in the woods and a picnic by the water. Ben brings his dog and already seems besotted with Courtney. He describes her as beautiful, smart, and witty (her witticisms must have been edited out), but questions whether she’s too good to be true. Ben talks about how being on The Bachelorette opened him up to the possibility of love, describing it as an “aha momement” (thanks, Oprah). Courtney, for her part, talks about her difficulty meeting men in Los Angeles and cops to having trust issues. Courtney gets her rose and, of course, she and Ben share some kisses of their own.
Drama on rose ceremony night
On rose ceremony night, Ben tries to spend time with some of the women he hasn’t been on dates with over the week, including Lindzi, who, according to Ben, didn’t get a date because she already made such a good first impression. Many of the women get irritated with Blakeley, who keeps interrupting Ben’s time with other women, in spite of the fact that she already has a rose. Things get quite nasty as a group of the women call Blakeley names like “slut” and “horse-face”. Blakeley, finally sensing the hostility, ends up escaping to the luggage room for a cry.
True to form, blogger Jenna is a “nervous wreck” the entire evening. During her awkward alone time with Ben, she tells him, “I feel like I’m a guy.” She follows-up with, “I’m not, like, a girl, if that makes any sense.” (Um, no, not really.)
Before the rose ceremony, Ben finds both Blakeley and Jenna in tears and is surprised that the drama has already escalated to this level. (What, has he never seen the show?)
At the rose ceremony, Jenna is sent home. During her interview, she tearfully asks, “Are you kidding me?” Repeatedly. Also given the boot is Shawn, whose most distinctive feature seemed to her two-tone hair.
Next up
Sixteen women remain and teasers for future episodes suggest lots more drama and the arrival of one of Ben’s exes, a development sure to put the other women in a tizzy.
Karen Gilmore - Karen Gilmore is a researcher and writer with degrees in Sociology and Public Administration.
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