It seemed like no matter what the drama during week five of The Bachelor, it was either centered around water or baseball bats. I was thinking back to when this show started airing and why I watched, why it appealed to me. I wanted to watch because I wanted to see optimistic people in search of love, the beginnings of love, what attracts one stranger to another. I think the show has lost some of what made me want to watch at first.
There are people on this season of The Bachelor who clearly have no problem making a spectacle of themselves. Drama is their middle name. There is nothing about them that is kind or empathetic. I lost respect for several people this week, most notably, the bachelor himself. I am hoping in coming weeks he will earn back my respect, or I will understand why he has made some of the choices he has made. One woman in particular remains nonredeemable in my eyes; she could pledge to work for world peace for the rest of her life, and I don't think I would believe her.
Some of you may be wondering, why do I care so much? Why do I care about who these people are or how they live their lives? The truth is, it's not that I care about them personally, I care about what they represent. The women on the show represent my gender, the people on the show represent my culture and our society. Their interactions say a lot about who is out there in the world today, they are potentially the people or the type of people you and I could interact with.
Nicki received the first one on one date in Vieques, and just at they started sight seeing around the city, it started raining. It rained so much that Ben and Nicki stopped at a store to buy some authentic Puerto Rican clothes. Once the rain let up, they began their tour again and came upon a church where a couple just happened to be getting married. Ben praised Nicki's attitude, personality, optimism, and her smile. The two discussed marriage and how hers failed, but how she remains hopeful about finding love again. The two later sat down for dinner and drinks at the hotel with a view of the beach, and it was then that Ben decided to give Nicki a rose.
The group date was a good old fashioned game of baseball complete with two teams competing for all the marbles, in this case more time with Ben. Lindzi was chosen by Ben as the MVP meaning she played on both teams and guaranteed time with Ben. Courtney and Blakeley were made teams captains, and the teams were as follows:
The devil incarnate, aka Courtney's team was: Casey S., Jamie, and Kacie B.; Blakeley's team was: Emily, Jennifer, and Rachel. This game got intense with the ladies battling back and forth, but in the end, Courtney's team won extra time with Ben. Props to Blakeley, she played hard, and was surprisingly quite athletic! Courtney rudely remarks, "who knew a stripper could play baseball," about Blakeley. Thankfully, the evening isn't a complete waste as Kacie B. receives the group date rose, and not Courtney. Hey Courtney.... winning! Although, the first losing moment of this episode came when Courtney brought up skinny dipping on her one on one time with Ben. She planted the evil seed, and believe me this is not the first we will hear about this.
Elyse receives the final one on one date of the week, and unfortunately they might as well be on a sinking ship because this date goes bad fast. Initially, things seem to be going well when they spend the day on a boat and frolicking in the water. We then cut to Courtney who says she is not worried about Elyse. Who asked her? Does anyone care about her opinion any way with the exception of poor convoluted Ben? It's at dinner that night that Ben realizes that he and Elyse are not going to have the connection that he has with some of the other ladies already, and he sends her home.
Elyse is devastated and cries on the beach asking Ben what she did wrong. Elyse, you did nothing wrong, Ben just isn't thinking with his brain! This is the point where I started losing some respect for Ben.
Courtney is back at the hotel pondering her next move as Ben's date with Elyse ends, several rude comments fall out of her mouth:
"Maybe Elyse drank too much and the Jersey shore came out".
"I wonder if Ben's ever skinny dipped with a model before".
Elyse going home is bittersweet, "bitter for her and sweet for me".
Meanwhile Ben arrives back at his room, only to find Courtney waiting for him outside with a bath robe on, and a bottle of wine with two glasses. Somehow they begin talking and making their way down to the beach, and the way it is edited things really seem to rapidly escalate because before I knew it they were removing all their clothes. Once they are in the water, Courtney is talking about how the other girls are going to hate her forever, but she isn't there for them. However, she doesn't say she is there for Ben either. It would be great to know what this girl is actually here for, obviously it isn't to promote herself as a model because she isn't particularly attractive. This is the point when I lost any shred of respect I may have had for Courtney.
The next day at the cocktail party, Ben says he feels "crappy about what happened with Courtney". He should feel bad. Meanwhile, Blakeley is pouring her heart out to Ben and tells him that she writes every day about him and something that she likes about him. She says he has made her realize that she deserves someone good. At this point, Ben should run out to the beach and stick his head in sand, but alas, he doesn't. Emily once again jeopardizes her time with Ben by once again trying to warn him about Courtney. He tells her in no uncertain terms to stay out of his relationship with
Courtney.
The party ends and at the end of the night he sends Jennifer home, so Elyse and Jennifer are eliminated week five. I was shocked about Jen's elimination, especially after their date on last week's show.
Nicki, Kacie B., Lindzi, Jamie, Rachel, Courtney, Casey S., Blakeley, and Emily are moving onto Panama City, Panama.
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