People in the Twitterverse are complaining that Ben, is bland but I think he is suffering from a major case of Being Aware That the Camera is Always On. Remember America, it could always be worse.
The Bachgaggle descends on Mexico. They frolic thru Mexico City with the carefree innocence of people who don’t read the news and have never heard of El Chapo. These broads feel more excited about a hotel room with some queen size beds and a bidet than I’ve felt about anything in my life. And I’ve seen Beyonce thrice.
Amanda gets the first one-on-one. Ben sneaks into the hotel and wakes up the ladies at 3 a.m. Lauren H. is wearing a retainer that she not-so-subtly pulls out when the camera is pushed into her face. (I mean, good for her. Teeth shift as you age and braces are expensive. If Ben’s into frugality, maybe she’ll earn some marks.)
To be honest, I don’t like the mandatory “Sneak in and wake up the ladies early to catch them without makeup!” routine that the Bachelor always does. It feels very, “Let’s look under the hood of this Ferrari and see what we’re REALLY dealing with!”
And you’re kind of screwed either way, right? Either you wear full stage makeup and hair to bed and you look like a tryhard Disney princess, or you go to bed with a washed face like a normal person and Men’s Rights Activists (lollll) explode with glee on Twitter that “HA WE KNEW IT YOU’RE A NORMAL GIRL and women alwayz be trapping men this way!”
Regardless, Amanda is in full makeup. I saw LIPGLOSS. Either a producer tipped her off or she goes to bed camera-ready every night while on The Bachelor. It makes me feel sad.
They go up in a hot air balloon. Amanda talks about her deadbeat ex, who preferred to go out and party in SoCal rather than stay at home with his wife and two young daughters. Not excusing his behavior in any way (don’t have kids if you’re not prepared to be a dad), but he was probably 23 when this all went down. At 23, I could barely keep a houseplant alive let alone a marriage. This is a case of Too Much Too Soon.
The group date heads to a Spanish lesson and then onto a cooking class. “Who doesn’t like to eat food on dates?” asks Ben, to which I answer, “Every contestant on this show, but thanks for trying.”
Olivia is a pariah who does everything short of curb-stomping Jubilee to claim Ben as her cooking partner. She asserts to the camera that she loves Ben and that they have a secret love language all their own. Love is a two-way street and Olivia is hitchhiking all by herself along the side of Higgins Highway.
The contestants pair off and cook a gourmet meal that will be judged by this cute pair of Mexican chefs who sass the contestants a bit. (“This looks like dog food,” said the female chef, in reference to Olivia and Ben’s creation.) The female chef has the most personality of anyone on this show, and now I want her to be the next Bachelorette.
JoJo prepared a taco dish AND a lengthy monologue positively riddled with innuendo. “My taco is amazing. Ben already tasted my taco and he loved it,” she says with a completely straight face.
Jubilee is in a funk the entire date, which is often the kiss of death. Never brood on the Bach. Ya gotta be on. You have 6.5 days a week to be “off” and a couple of hours mandatory to be “on.” You have to be the Grand Marshal of the Pollyanna parade. It sucks, because it’s not how it is in real life, but them’s the breaks. Accordingly, Jubes is sent home early. Fare thee well, my dear.
In a strange twist, Olivia gets the group date rose. “You don’t even have to say congrats, you don’t even have to say it,” she assures the other contestants, with less self-awareness than my dog.
Lauren H., the low-key racist, gets the next one-on-one. They casually pop into a Mexican boutique and, before we know it, they are invited to participate in Mexican Fashion Week. It’s almost like it was planned.
Though she is sweet, I’m not sure Lauren H. has emotionally graduated from college. She could still easily pass as the vice president of any sorority, anywhere.
Ben: “Have you ever modeled?”
Lauren: “Well, I can’t keep a straight face”
That’s not answering the question. No, Lauren H. from Michigan, you have never modeled. Like, just say it, it’s okay. Most of us haven’t either.
“There’s no one here who looks as beautiful as you,” monotones Ben. She wobbles down the catwalk, blinking rapidly but holding her own. From where I stand, the key to modeling (other than letting your hips enter the room about three seconds before the rest of your body) is to give zero fucks. ZERO. You’re so bored. You’re so hot that these unwashed masses are LUCKY that they’re paying to see you strut in front of them.
Ben served up some Blue Steel realness and he tapped into that slightly cocky, I know I’m hot model face. LET’S DIP INTO THAT WELL MORE, SHALL WE?
Lauren H. shares a “sob story” about some frat bro who cheated on her when she was 19. (So last year…) She gets the rose but she isn’t long for this world.
The cocktail party is a little tense. Olivia keeps rubbing her face with her rose and the girls are not about it. To try and build some goodwill, Olivia responds to Amanda talking about her children by commenting that “it’s like Teen Mom.”
When Amanda is appropriately offended by this, Olivia backtracks, clarifying that she was talking about the show. Yeah. We got that.
This is the last straw for Emily. She tells Ben that Olivia sucks and Ben is happy because this means they’ve finally reached the point in the season where he is legally allowed to kick Olivia off the show. As the rose ceremony starts, Ben asks if he can speak to Olivia, and the episode ends. The previews from next week tell us we’re going to handing out A LOT of crying points.
