The Bachelorette 8 (Emily) Weekly Rundown *Comments Accepted*

[Arielflies]

Episode 1 (Premiere)

The production company has changed up the venue this season to satisfy the needs of its long sought after Bachelorette, Emily Maynard (the last one standing with Bachelor Brad.) As part of her deal, they will begin filming the episodes in her resident city, Charlotte, NC. This allows her to use her own residence during this portion of the filming and to maintain contact with her daughter, six year old Ricki.

The Bachelor Mansion is a large home in a gated community that will be used as a residence and the scene of the cocktail parties and rose ceremonies.

Highlighted Bachelors

Kalon – from Houston, TX, says he is a young, fun loving guy with a few dollars in his pocket.

Ryan – from Augusta, GA is a former professional football player who now owns a sports training facility and is shown working with children.

Tony – from Beaverton, OR buys and sells lumber and plywood and shares his home with his five year old son, Taylor.

Lerone - from Los Angeles does full service real estate work. He is ready for a family, right now.

David – from New York City is a singer/songwriter. He showcases a song that has a lot of Emily in it.

Charlie – from Nashville, TN has a broken head, but a big heart.

Jef – from Salt Lake City, UT is CEO for a water bottling company that donates a portion of profit off each bottle sold to build clean water wells around the world. He skateboards and likes being underestimated.

Arie – from Scottsdale, AZ has been involved in Indie Car racing practically his whole life. He worries that Emily’s connection with that world will sour her on him.

Emily’s Introduction

In scenes from her home life, we see Ricki trotting in her mom’s high heels to the bathroom to watch some of Emily’s preparation for greeting the Bachelors. After a camera introduction from Chis at the Mansion, she exits the limo and sits down for the initial interview where she states she is ready after two heartbreaks to meet the man who will love her and fill a station wagon with kids.

Out of the Limo

Sean - Austin, TX
David – NYC
Doug – Seattle, WA (mentions his almost 12 year old son)
Jackson – Lockport, IL
Joe – Los Angeles, CA (displays high energy out of the limo)
Arie – Scottsdale, AZ
Kyle – Long Beach, CA
Chris – Chicago, IL
Aaron – Long Beach, CA
Alessandro – St. Paul, MN (by way of Brazil; speaks to her in Portuguese)
Jef – Salt Lake City, UT (enters by skateboard pulled by the limo)
Lerone – Los Angeles, CA
Stevie – Monroe Township, NJ (dances his way in, boom box booming)
Charlie – Nashville, TN
Tony – Beaverton, OR (presents a glass slipper ala Prince Charming)
Randy – Hermosa Beach, CA (made a play on last season’s “Grandma” by wearing costume)
Nate – Los Angeles, CA
Brent – Fresno, CA (slaps on a name tag)
John “Wolf” – St. Louis, MO
Travis – Madison, MS (carries and cradles an ostrich egg to symbolize caring for family)
Michael – Austin, TX
Jean-Paul – Seattle, WA
Alejandro – San Francisco, CA (speaks to her in Spanish)
Ryan – Augusta, GA (displays a piece of paper with a message on each side.)
Kalon – Houston, TX (arrives by helicopter)

The Individual Sit Downs

Charlie tells her about his titanium skull.

Brent shows her pictures of his six kids.

Chris presents bobble heads of himself and Emily. They play Ken and Barbie.

Jef gives her a glass of champagne and Emily thinks he has a cool vibe and hopes he thinks she is cool, too.

Doug presents a letter written by his son and Emily reads it out loud.

Arie brings up his racing background and is pleased when Emily doesn’t hate it.

Doug receives the First Impression Rose because Emily says he made her feel comfortable and like she deserves to be there.

Drama

Stevie doesn’t like Kalon, thinks he is fake. Kalon overhears his comments, but shrugs them off. Stevie doesn’t back down or apologize. When Kalon has alone time with Emily, Sean approaches to steal her, and while Kalon says, “Of course, I object…” Stevie, from afar, thinks Kalon is dissing Sean and becomes vocal about it.

The Rose Ceremony

Doug (First Impression Rose)
Chris
Ryan
Kalon
Arie
Charlie
Jef
Nate
Sean
Joe
Kyle
Aaron
Alejandro
John
Alessandro
Michael
Stevie
Tony
Travis (still holding the ostrich egg)

Highlighted rose-less Bachelors

Jean-Paul, who feels that his heart was trampled upon, is sad.

Brent, with the six kids, doesn’t know how he is going to find a mom for them now. He feels hopeless.


This episode gives the preview for the season. It shows the travel countries and the drama we might expect down the road.

Below is a Behind the Scenes raw footage from the Premiere Show.

The Bachelorette Emily -- Behind the Scenes - YouTube

[Arielflies]

EPISODE 2

Scott Wickersham from Channel 9 News narrates the news copy about The Bachelorette being filmed in Charlotte featuring local girl, Emily. The news copter flies over the Bachelor mansion tucked away in a gated community as other shots show Emily walking with Ricki near their home. It seems all of Charlotte knows that the show is filming there; so much for traditional secrecy.

The Traditional Opening

However, some tradition remains in the form of Chris Harrison greeting the 19 remaining bachelors with his first morning after the night before set of rules and expectations. There will be group dates, individual dates, roses awarded or not awarded, suitcases packed, have fun, “Here’s the first date card.”

The Non-Traditional First Date of the Season

That card goes to Ryan. Ryan, of the athletic training center, is up for any adventure but soon discovers that he will be trailing after soccer mom, Emily, who is also snack mom for this day’s practice. Uncomfortable in the kitchen, he dons an apron and tries to be gracious while stirring chocolate chips in cookie batter. His day gets better when they drive to the practice field to deliver the cookies and he gets to see Ricki from afar. Emily, apparently, will allow the potentials to see Ricki, but not make contact with her. After sipping from left over juice boxes, they repair to lodgings to get ready for the evening portion of the date.

Emily is skittish about Ryan – he is too handsome and too perfect like Brad was and, “Look what happened there.”

After walking a roped red carpet lined with photo taking fans, they enjoy a quiet meal in the empty restaurant, Osso, and after pointed questions from Emily about how he plays the dating game, he passes and Emily pins the rose on his lapel. But, the evening is not over as they walk into a courtyard filled with both music and Bachelorette fans to listen to one of Emily’s favorite bands, Gloriana. The red carpet extends to a raised platform where they are on display and dance to the music, ending with a dip.

The Group Date

Alejandro, Nate, Alessandro, Tony, Michael, John, Jef, Charlie, Kyle, Chris, Aaron, Stevie, Kalon receive the invitation to “Let’s Set the Stage for Love.”

They hit a theater stage to raise money for The Ricky Hendrick Center for Intensive Care/The Levine Children’s Hospital, a cause close to Emily’s heart. But, before they can perform at this benefit, they must meet with their coaches, The Muppets – Kermit, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear. Intertwined with coaching singing, dancing and comedy, there are many comedy bits centered on Miss Piggy being jealous of the attention Emily receives from Kermit. Miss Piggy goes through more glamorous costume changes than Emily. In the critic’s corner, Chris plays the part of Waldorf trading barbs with Statler. While the guys stand in the wings, Emily calls Ricki up on stage to sing “Rainbow Connection” with Kermit and Miss Piggy. Again, it is like she wants them to truly understand the twofer, but not to interact with Ricki.

After Party Sit Downs

Chris feels very comfortable and thinks they have a connection. Emily does, too, liking that his good looks are understated with his personality.

Emily wonders if Jef is playing hard to get or just not into her. He tells her that he does notice her looking at him, but it is awkward because she also gives that same look to other guys.

Stevie pulls her into dancing with him using a cheesy set-up about how she would dance at her prom.

Kalon tells Emily that he has never had to compete for the attention of a beautiful woman before.

Jeff gets the date rose because he reminded Emily of how glad she is everyone is there.

The Romantic Second Date of the Season

Joe receives a date card that says, “Come Close to my Heart.” He receives the type of date (almost) that Ryan thought he would receive as it includes a ride on a private jet. They are conveyed to their destination, The Greenbrier, in Emily’s home state of West Virginia by a vintage Rolls Royce. The date reads elegance and class all the way. It should also read romance, and Emily is trying – from sharing family memories to jumping in a swimming pool to dressing for dinner. She even tries leaving a message in the Love Clock, but it doesn’t work. While Joe is fun, there isn’t a romantic connection with him and she lets him go. Sad at having to cut someone, she watches the fireworks standing alone on a balcony.

Drama

As the bachelors show off their chests at the pool, Kalon observes that being in the house is interesting, “It is like the frat party from hell.” At the after party, he observes that a lot of the guys seem to like hanging out together instead of focusing on Emily. The chest baring pool lounging also brings Doug into conflict with Kalon when Kalon unintentionally pushes the bad dad button. Kalon truly doesn’t understand why his saying Doug put being a dad on hold to do the show brings about this kind of angry response. Sean says in a PI that Kalon speaks before he thinks, sometimes.

At the rehearsal for the Benefit show, Charlie develops extreme nerves when thinking about performing a stand-up comedy piece. After his fall and head bashing, it has taken a lot of therapy, including speech therapy, to get where he is at this time. Speaking in public terrifies him. After telling Emily his problem, he is shifted into the singing group, but then gets called on stage to be one of three interviews conducted by Miss Piggy on “Miss Piggy Live!” He survives.

Stevie is annoyed at the after party when Kalon “chopper” cuts in on his dance with Emily. Kalon complains that Aaron cut off his time with Emily and Stevie pops in with his complaint about Kalon popping in on his time. Stevie says, “I don’t like you.” Kalon retorts, “I wouldn’t like me either if I were you, bro.”

At the Rose Ceremony party a few other guys tell us that Kalon is a dude with Louis Vuitton luggage and Sean comments that if he keeps going down the path of staying aloof and using words as put downs, he will have a hard time in the house and more enemies than friends.

The Rose Ceremony

Arie (dateless) speaks to his home in Scottsdale and reveals that he dated a woman with two children so he understands the constraints. He loves kids. He makes her nervous.

Ryan (with a date rose) brings out the jealousy in the guys when he sits down. He presents Emily with a seven page letter of musings. Tony trying to make sure he is next slips inside the room and must quietly stand near the door while Emily reads all the pages. The others peek in the windowed room and wonder at Ryan’s audacity. While Emily likes the idea of the letter, she tells us he could have picked a better time to present it.

Tony jokes with Emily, after she apologizes for the wait, that he told Ryan to write all that. He tells her of five year old Taylor at home and bonds with her over the difficulty of leaving a child for a length of time.

Kalon needs a few minutes with Emily because the other guys have painted him the outcast. He tells her he is the youngest at 26, but he doesn’t always relate to girls that age because of different interests. He tries stumbling eloquence to say he is interested and Emily seems to pick it up. Sean in a PI once again tries to explain Kalon in that he uses words in a way to try to dominate the household.

Rose Order

Ryan (date rose)
Jef (date rose)
Kalon
Arie
Michael
Nate
Sean
Chris
Doug
Travis
Tony
John
Alessandro
Charlie
Alejandro
Stevie

The Rose-less

Aaron says he is disappointed it didn’t work out.
Kyle is ready to find somebody and fall in love but it wasn’t with Emily.

Previews: a theme park with Dolly Parton and Arie, dancing with Chris and a shattered egg.

The crawl: Miss Piggy karate chops a bouquet of flowers from Kermit to Emily.

[Arielflies]

EPISODE 3

This episode is such a roller coaster both figuratively and literally. There are also so many great lines, but this format is too short to include them all.

Date #1: “There ain’t no elevators, honey.”

Against a night time backdrop of lightning and thunder, Chris and Emily scale a downtown high rise (a museum) by rope. Emily is frightened, but Chris stays by her side and encourages her all the way to the top of the building. There they dine and Emily discovers Chris is “only” 25 years old and worries, but then decides he shows a maturity beyond his youth and gives him the rose.

After dinner, they stroll along the streets and end up at a blocked off intersection where Luke Bryan and his band put on a concert for them. They dance through a song and at the end of it, Chris asks permission to kiss her. She grants his request and they kiss in front of the crowds of people held at bay. At the start of the second song, a signal is given and the crowd joins in the concert celebration, engulfing Chris and Emily in its center.

Group Date: “I would still love you; I might just not love on you as much.”

The names on the date card reading, “let’s play,” are: Charlie, Alejandro, Stevie, Ryan, Alessandro, Sean, John, Michael, Doug, Jef, Tony and Travis.

Emily greets the guys at a park, and after catching the football she throws, Ryan shows confidence in his relationship with Emily through a PI and by crowding her in front of the others. She leaves them while they toss the ball around and they wonder what they are doing that date. Soon answered when Emily guides them to where her girlfriends are seated. The first part of the date is to interact (actually to be grilled) with her friends. She is looking for feedback.

We learn that:

Jef’s last girlfriend had two children.

Doug doesn’t think a lot of the guys get what it means to be a dad.

Travis brings “Shelly” the egg to meet the girlfriends.

John tells them that his girlfriend told him he should be on The Bachelorette. That raised eyebrows until he amended it to a girl who is a friend.

Stevie demonstrates his dance moves.

Sean scores points speaking to family and faith. Wendy thinks he is a genetic gift to the world.

After the interrogation session, Emily blows a whistle and a gang of young children jump out of cars and screams their way to Emily and her guys. The point of this exercise is to see how the men interact with the children and whether they are truly good candidates to be a dad.

According to Emily, the two dads did just fine, Jef had fun and Sean was just so sweet with them. Ryan breaks away and joins her and her friends who have been watching. He bumbles his way through married life bringing on a fuller waistline by saying he would have a problem if she got lazy and didn’t take care of herself. The controversial line of the night: “I would still love you; I might just not love on you as much.”

The girlfriends give a split verdict – Sean or Doug with one renegade saying Ryan.

The After Party Sit Downs

Sean prefers the word selective when choosing who to date, while Emily prefers picky. He hasn’t dated anyone in over a year. He wants someone who is confident, yet someone he can lead. He wants what his parents have.

Doug tells her that her girlfriends remind him of all his buddy’s wives. He imparts his childhood story of a single father who died and he and his sister being placed in the foster care system. Emily becomes emotional and he stops, offering to change the subject. She is so impressed that he came out of that without anger issues.

Jef reveals he has a major crush on her, that he likes hanging out with her.

Much to Ryan’s over confident chagrin, the date rose goes to Sean.

Tony’s Arc

At the cut-away for the reading of the group date card, the first scene is Tony in his bedroom using a phone to talk to his five year old son. Tony, as a dad, was in the opening meet the Bachelors clips, not Doug, so you would think he had some staying power; but already, in this scene, the producers are preparing the audience for his meltdown. He really wants to stay, but…he had fun with the kids at the park, but… During the group date after party, he is seen talking with Doug about missing his son, then another phone call with his son puts him over the emotional edge. Emily finds him, tells him she understands the hardship of being away from a child and gently sends him home.

Date #2: Hooray for Dollywood

Again with this episode, a private jet takes Emily and her date out of state. This time Arie accompanies her to Dollywood (theme park) in Tennessee. Like the visit to the hotel/resort in West Virginia, this place also holds happy childhood memories for Emily. Once again, a fearful Emily takes on a challenge – this time riding a roller coaster. She and Arie play at the prize booths then go into the theater where Dolly Parton performs.

On the stage waiting for them is paper and pens along with instructions to write a love song. A few minutes later, the curtain opens and Dolly appears. Sitting on a stool with guitar, she sings to them a song she wrote specially for the occasion – “True Love Finds a Way”. Emily idolizes Dolly and is in raptures, “OMG, it’s Dolly friggin Parton.” As they dance, she sings a song she wrote about her relationship with her husband of 46 years, “From Here to the Moon and Back,” and offers encouragement to Emily, who is still star struck. Dolly thinks Emily and Arie look good together.

Emily tells us that she has fallen in love with Arie’s personality; that they have such fun and she can be herself. But, she wants to make sure they are compatible on life issues. They have a sit down dinner in a barn at the theme park and he tells her of the tough breakup about a year ago with a woman who had two kids. He says it was harder breaking up with the kids than the woman as the bone of contention was that he wanted more children and she didn’t. When presenting the date rose, Emily tries to mess with Arie making him think she is refusing him (a trick we see at least once every season) but she is terrible at it and breaks off halfway through and pins the rose on his lapel. She did have him going, though, for a few seconds. They share their first kiss on the Carousel and Arie tells us that this could be it, that he could possibly see himself getting down on one knee someday. Emily feels like she’s found something good and she doesn’t want to screw it up.

Rose Party Sit Downs and a Tribute

Kalon (in glasses) tells her he really took it personally when he didn’t get a date this week. His monologue continues about what a great guy he is even though he had always planned that his first child would be his own. When she tries to comment, he politely tells her he loves when she talks, then more harshly says he would like her to let him finish. Emily’s facial contortions at that point should have given a clue to the clueless that he is toast. She says, “I do like tall, skinny and funny, but I don’t like tall, skinny and condescending.”

The friends, Anitha and Wendy, told Travis that he needed to get rid of “Shelly” the ostrich egg, so he takes Emily out on the front steps to do the deed. Emily tosses Shelly from the steps to the pavers and smasharoo, the huge egg splatters everywhere.

A few of the guys watch the shattering and gather with the others to pour a bit of their drinks into the roaring fire pit in a tribute to the now deceased Shelly. She was a good egg.

Alessandro says coming on the show with the possibility of becoming a ready dad is a compromise for him. Emily doesn’t understand. In fact, that type of talk makes her very uncomfortable and she doesn’t view him as a future husband. She doesn’t wait for the Rose Ceremony, but escorts him out to the waiting limo immediately. So long, Alessandro.

Emily questions herself about the others and right reasons, etc. Her gut tells her to run away, but Arie catches her in the hallway and provides comfort in the form of snuggles and kisses. Ryan is shocked they were kissing because he has never seen himself competing against a guy like Arie.

Sean says the sweet words she needs to hear during a bad night and assures her that if they were to get married, Ricki would be his daughter. Emily can’t thank him enough and they share a kiss.

Emily tells us that this time it might just work for her.

Rose Ceremony

Chris (date rose)
Sean (date rose)
Arie (date rose)
Jef
Charlie
Doug
Michael
Travis
Alejandro
Ryan
John
Kalon
Nate

The rose-less Stevie says his dismissal sucks.

Preview: Emily takes her baker’s dozen to Bermuda where the group date divides into two racing boats each vying for an after party with Emily. There appears to be the dreaded 2:1 date also.

Credit Roll: Alessandro discloses to Wendy and Anitha that he had been in a really long relationship with his 3rd cousin, but she got married last fall. He admits he has cheated on a girl and has had one night stands. They appreciate his honesty with open mouth wows, but then he tells them he is a Gypsy with no compromise, he doesn’t even have a pet as he is free in the wind sort of thing. No wows.

[Arielflies]

Episode 4

Phrase of the Episode: “It sucks.”

Ricki runs on the sandy beach in Bermuda, but it isn’t all fun and games for this six year old. School work follows her wherever she goes. Between her Mommy and Nanny, she WILL study her vocabulary lists. While Ricki settles in, her mommy’s suitors arrive on island and take smoking motor scooters up a hill to their residence, Rosewood Tuckers Point Hotel.

Doug Date (The wind has kicked up and the clouds have rolled in)

“Let our Senses Lead the Way.” Emily and Doug take a tour of Georgetown, ducking into tourist shops and making their own perfume at a perfumery. Emily thinks she and Doug get each other, both being parents and having gone through a lot. She considers this a regular couples date where they converse and are easy with each other. He tells her that when she walked into the room to pick him up, he was scolding the boys and she appreciates that he can talk of those kinds of things to her. She produces a post card on which to write a message to his son, Austin, from both his dad and her.

Like with the wishing clock in West Virginia, Emily takes advantage of the Moon Gate in Bermuda. Once they have walked through it, she tells us her wish is that she won’t be single forever.

Thunder rolls and rain pours as Emily and Doug sit down for a meal in a wine closet. Doug is quite happy with the date, but then Emily trots out the tough questions. “Pretend like I brought your ex-girlfriend here, like what would she say her biggest complaint was.” He gives safe answers regarding time with his son and not washing her car. This does not satisfy Emily as she thinks he may be hiding something, and she tries again only to have the “biggest faults” question turned on her. She tries again and his I’m just a guy statement wins him the rose, or as she says, maybe, just maybe Doug is that perfect a person. Doug wants to kiss Emily (shown licking his lips) but he moves pretty slow and is waiting for a signal from her. He says, “If Emily wants a kiss from Doug, she’ll let Doug know she wants a kiss.” She doesn’t.

Sailing Group Date (Trade winds blow fair catching the billowing sails of the racing sloops as the mains are winched to and fro.)

“Let’s Set Sail on the Sea of Love.” Charlie, Ryan, Chris, Jef, Sean, Arie, Travis and Kalon are the lucky eight who do not have to go on the 2:1 date.

Instructors train them in the parts of the boat – the jib and mainsail – and, of course the all-important boom, which, when it swings across, may hit your head and you go boom, boom. Once they gain a bit of confidence, they are split into two boats: the red team, Charlie, Chris, Sean and Travis versus the yellow team, Ryan, Jef, Arie and Kalon.

With an instructor at the helm, they ease out to the first buoy and, with the air horn signal, catch the wind and race a course around buoys that leads back to the starting point. It isn’t the America’s Cup, and it is a short course, but these non-sailors find their rhythm, whipping around the course. On the first turn, Jef on the main sail wench winch, hurts his finger, but the yellow team, with a bit of cutting strategy, crosses the finish point first and wins the evening portion of the date with Emily. The red team (especially Charlie) hangs their heads and mutters, “It sucks.”

After Party Sit Downs (Cold wind whips across the beach.)

With the group of four (Ryan, Arie, Jef and Kalon) seated and toasting, Ryan lifts his glass to a possible trophy…wife. After that awkward moment, Arie pulls her away for some quality time on the beach.

Wrapped in a fluffy blanket to ward off the cold wind, Arie tells her that after one date he feels a pull toward her. Then they each say they missed the other and kiss, mumble a bit, and kiss some more set to the soft guitar music that has been playing background with all the kisses this season. Arie, “I’m so confident in what we have, that I’m not threatened by anybody in the house.”

Jef, the blanket and Emily also head for the beach. Jef, the master of group dates, had fun sailing and learned a lot. He wants his time with Emily to matter, to let her know that he is not just another of the guys. He tells her he really likes her; he likes the vibe they have when they are together. Emily feels like he is beginning to open up to her and would really like a kiss from him, but has to settle for kissing his hurt finger all better.

Barely there Kalon sets up the competitive and over confident Ryan by confirming to Emily that, yes, the boys are competitive, especially when it comes to a beautiful woman like you.

Ryan wants to flirt a little bit with Emily and build up some excitement. They stay inside, under cover, and sit on a settee rather than sand, and Ryan begins. After attempts at over-bearing flirtation, which Emily finds kind of funny, he starts again by lecturing her on her responsibility to be a role model as The Bachelorette, which was not up to standard when he saw her kissing Arie in the hallway at the last Rose Ceremony. After working out her thoughts about this during a PI, Emily concludes that she feels Ryan is judging her.

To the surprise of Ryan and Arie, Emily pins the rose on a flabbergasted Jef. He tells us that he feels what they share is really valuable to her and that he is beginning to fall for her. Fireworks finish off the date with a slightly off guard Arie noting that Jef has his arm around Emily for the show. Ryan thinks giving Jef the rose rather than Arie is a safe move, because it shows she is trying to sooth him over her indiscretion with Arie.

2:1 Date (Mostly sunny skies with fluffy clouds)

“Let’s Explore this Bermuda Love Triangle” reads the date card for John “Wolf” and Nate “Who?”

Alejandro and Travis remain dateless this week and are not regretting it.

A motor launch ferries the two out to a yacht where Emily waits for them. They travel to Diving Board Island where, Emily informs them, they will be diving off some cliffs.

John, with the cheesy line of the episode as they prepare to jump off a cliff, “This could be a jumping off point for the both of us.”

For the evening meal and the BIG decision, Emily takes them inside a cave that deepens into many layers of pathways. The meal, as expected is awkward for all three of them. Emily takes Nate aside first, then John. After stressing and a pretty speech, she gives the rose to John and walks Nate (who?) up and out of the cave. At 24, she didn’t feel that Nate had enough life experience. Emily is just happy to be done with the emotionally draining date.

Drama

Arie does not want Doug to get a rose on his date. He wants the football team to disband and the bromance to be over. Therefore, he niggles at Doug’s easily pushed buttons, trying to rattle him. When Doug becomes defensive, the others join in making jokes until Doug is ready to fight. Happily, as he rises to approach Arie, Emily walks in to grab him for his date.

Arie: Doug angry; Doug smash; Doug sad.

During John and Nate’s date, the group thinks John will return because he is older and the ageism fight is on. Chris, one of the younger ones posits that it isn’t age, but experience in life that determines maturity. Chris thinks Doug hides behind his age, that because he is 33, he must be mature. Doug thinks that every five years makes a difference, but Chris is tired of the same old argument that has been going on over the past two days. This leads eventually to a Rose Party confrontation where Chris tries to call out an incredulous Doug, saying Doug is hiding something. Chris also carries his angst into his time with Emily telling her that Doug is one who is at the center of confrontations.

At the Rose Party, Doug makes it clear in a PI that he thinks Chris is too young, that he is not ready to be a father. However, Chris thinks that Ryan and Doug are jealous of him because he is younger.

When Arie takes Emily away at the Rose Party, Ryan says he guesses the others see him as head of the pack and the one to beat out. He says that sometimes he actually feels sorry for them because they feel the need to lash out at him. He thinks he is a really good catch and that the other guys see that.

Arie steals Emily away as he really doesn’t care for Ryan, plus he feels the narcissistic Ryan doesn’t care for Emily.

Ryan just keeps giving of himself: when talking with Michael, he ruminates that while Emily has potential, he thinks he is called to something bigger. OMG, is he going to give all his worldly goods to the poor? Is he going to roam the alleys of Calcutta as the new Mother Theresa? No, his sights are set on being the Bachelor and all the goodies he can give to the lovelies fortunate enough to parade before him. He ends with, “I think God smiles on the man who chases his passions and lives his dreams.”

Rose Party Sit Downs (Cold wind gusts and torrential downpours.)

When the men have gathered and talk about being on the bubble for elimination, Ryan says he is confident because of the great conversation they had during the group date. (Love the editors going for irony.)

Alejandro promises that if he stays around, he will absolutely let go and show her who he is.

Ryan talks about risk taking, but appreciates when she removes her hand from his leg. He tells her that he also appreciates that she told them in the beginning they could ask questions because being the center of attention doesn’t automatically make you worthy. He’s doing his due diligence with Emily because he’s been blessed and doesn’t want to fall in love with the wrong person.

Arie asks Emily what she thinks of himself and she tells him that she has fun with him and thinks of him even when sitting on the porch alone, which makes Arie’s eyes go all seductive.

After trading compliments, Sean asks Emily how Ricki would handle her being married. Emily tells him she thinks Ricki would be happy. That is one of the prime motivations for doing the show, and she wants that for her. She also tells him she wants more children and chaos all the time. Sean says he could do chaos. He is open for anything and they lean in for a sweet kiss.

The Deliberation Room

For the first time this season, we see Emily study the framed photos of the remaining bachelors, and contemplating who should stay and who should go. To help talk her through, Chris arrives and they take seats for their convo. Emily says she does recognize Ryan and Doug seem to be at the center of any controversy. Chris points out that Jef has received two group date roses. “Any romance? Emily, “I like to think so. Two beaches and I thought… but nothing.” Chris teases her that they go from Jef who she can’t kiss to Arie who she can’t stop kissing.

Chris: Look at you you’re giddy as a schoolgirl.

Emily: I like Arie a lot.

Rose Ceremony

Doug (date rose)
Jef (group date rose)
John (2:1 date rose)
Sean
Arie
Travis
Chris
Ryan
Kalon
Alejandro

The Rose-less

Michael who is disappointed states he has never been in love before and hopes to find it.

Charlie says it sucks to not be able to continue the beautiful journey, but he’ll be more open now.

Previews: LONDON! so appropriate after watching the Queen’s Jubilee celebration on TV this past week. Sean gets a city tour while Jef also takes in the views. The group date appears to be at a Shakespearean theater along the Thames as the chiseled one, Ryan, is wearing fancy costume. We also see that a hoarse Emily gets to say her now famous line during the Rose Party.

Credit Roll: Chris asks Emily to teach him to dance as she could see during their Charlotte date that he sucked. They try out some swim moves, and his aren’t too horrific.

[Arielflies]

I'm opening up this thread for comments if any wish to post. Thanks.

[tbamom]

Thanks for doing the work. What made you decide to open up the comments and what type of comments won't violate rules?

[Arielflies]

It got to the point where I wanted to know if I was telling the story that most people have seen.

The only thing that would be inappropriate is to take ongoing discussions or arguments that belong in other thread and post them here. It's not a matter of violating rules so much as keeping to the thread.

[sweetpea]

Great job! Thanks for taking the time to do this, Arielflies. Much, much appreciated by everyone I know.

[ilja]

I enjoy reading your synopsis. I did not realize that Chris had told Emily that it was Doug who upset him. I tried to rewatch it last night but fell asleep before it got to the end.

I've also been thinking that Emily has lost some of her enthusiasm for Arie but also did not remember her telling Chris that she liked Arie a lot so I could be just imagining things.

[Arielflies]

Episode 5

Line of the episode: “I wanna go West Virginia hood-rat backwoods on his ass.” – Emily.

Emily developed a chill after her dive off the rocks and swim back to the yacht in Bermuda. She brings a stuffy nose that deepens into laryngitis to SUNNY! London. The use of closed captioning is highly recommended. The opening scene treats us, of course, to the “Rule Britannia” theme music, which is not only safer to play than “God Save The Queen” for an American audience, but iconic.

Upon Emily’s arrival, she and Ricki take a tour of the city on a double decker bus and take pictures from the courtyard of Buckingham Palace. Later Emily asks Ricki who lives there and Ricki replies, “The King and the Dragon.” Emily corrects her saying the Queen lives there. Ricki shoots back, “And the Dragon!” Ah, the delight of a child’s view.

Chris greets ten suitors in the middle of Trafalgar Square, telling them there will be two 1:1 dates and a group date with roses up for grabs. He then points them to the Mayfair Hotel where they will stay in the modern Amarillo suite. After oohing and awing over the view of the street, John reads the first 1:1 date card; Sean, “Love Takes No Prisoners.”

Kerfuffle Act I

Kalon is extremely frustrated because he is not in control and things aren’t going as he would have planned.
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Sean’s Date: from the heart at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park

A spruced up and packed up Sean says, “She’s the ideal woman for me and I’m excited to see where it goes next.” Later, “It’s safe to say I’m falling for this girl.” Emily just wants to see what develops with this sweet guy.

As part of their tour of London (similar to the tour Emily took with Ricki the day before) they walk through Hyde Park to Speakers Corner. Sean manages to keep his head when pulled up on the small outdoor stage by the small crowd of men. They poke at him to comment on freedom of speech and he feels free to create an ode to Emily; which, of course, she adores. He also takes advantage of a lip lock in front of the gates to Buckingham Palace, trying to frame the famous Royal Balcony in the background through the iron fence rails. Emily likes that Sean is showing his silly side, and that seeing him so carefree, makes her want to be around him even more.

Kerfuffle Act II

Kalon to Jef, the master of group dates, “You’ve got to realize that if you become part of her life, pretty much any date is going to be a group date – you, her and Ricki.” Jef thinks it is uncalled for anyone to criticize how Emily raises Ricki and tells Kalon that if he feels that way, he should go home. Arie, seated next to Jef at the table, looks solemn.
**********************

The evening portion of the date finds Sean and Emily up in the Tower of London on the Thames River. Greeted by a Warder Yeoman, they follow him and his lantern up steep stairs of the medieval prison to a room where a table is dressed with a meal and a rose. During the meal, Emily gives Sean her version of tower history during the reign of Henry VIII, but this forum hosts a history lover and below is a quote from one of her posts in the 6/11/12 show thread.

Babbred :
…. dear old Henry VIII, two of his wives outlived him. Number 4 was more than happy to accept a divorce settlement and skip off to her estate (probably thought she'd gotten the better end of the deal). Number 6 was still alive when he passed away and promptly turned around and married her secret lover. Only two of his wives went to the Tower. I sure wouldn't want to eat there. Those two wives are buried in the Tower grounds, minus their heads. Oh my gosh, there would be no way I could stop thinking about that, or the fact that underneath my feet was the dungeon where Lord knows what torture was inflicted upon hapless souls, or the fact that one of the wives supposedly haunts the Tower. Either those Beefeaters didn't tell Emily and Sean all this or they sure have stronger stomachs than I do.

If you want to be really nitpicky, number 3 died in childbirth, and number 1 died a natural death, albeit while packed away in a convent where she had gone kicking and screaming since she refused to divorce the king.

For more information on the Tower, you can visit their website.

Find Out About The Tower of London, Official Site

Emily and Sean drink from pewter cups; she asks her questions, states her desire for more children and he passes with a smile. A very pleased Emily presents the rose to him. They end the evening with kisses on a parapet overlooking the Tower Bridge.

The Group Date: "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun" – William Shakespeare

Ryan reads the card with the message, “A Rose by any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet” then calls out the names: Chris, Arie, Ryan, Doug, Travis, Alejandro, John and Kalon.

Kalon is NOT pleased as he thought a London single date would go to him and he is definitely NOT enjoying himself. He doesn’t see the group date smelling sweet at all, to him it smells like S***.

Emily greets them at allegedly Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-Upon-Avon. There is controversy whether or not Shakespeare even existed as an actual person, thus the alleged part of his birthplace. But, we will suspend belief and enjoy (unlike Kalon) this beautiful setting along the banks of the River Avon.

When the eight arrive they learn they are to take part in scenes from Romeo and Juliet, with Emily as Juliet. There will also be four Romeos and various other players including two women’s roles traditionally played by men in that era. Emily wants to see their playful, silly sides, but Arie is groaning in despair. He tells us that he hates acting and it is killing him to do this. Then he learns he will play the part of the Nurse in one of the scenes. Oh, the horror!

Kalon, on the other hand, thinks that acting the part of Romeo is right up his alley and won’t suffer anyone to interrupt his rehearsal with the provided instructors from the foundation including Emily. In so many words, he tells her to shove off. Emily is pissed.

Alejandro, Travis and Chris enjoy learning to sword fight (well, mock sword fight, anyway) and Doug is going to embrace playing a woman with all his heart if it pleases Emily. The scenes play out before a local small audience and go well with each actor clutching his scripted lines in death grips. Arie goes for it using melodramatic gestures to put across his character’s lines. In the end, he really is able to find the silly. Emily finds that makes him way more attractive to her.

The dying kiss scene is played out between Emily and Ryan. Aw, Ryan…he is so eager for this first kiss with Emily that he makes it more real than the scene would have called for (twice). Of course, the editors really like the kiss, too, and play it over and over. Emily enjoyed it though, and tells him he is a great kisser. The rivalry between Arie and Ryan is duly noted throughout the date, but Arie sums it up in Shakespeare form, “Thou suckest.”

After Party Sit Downs

At the local pub, Emily toasts them with a pint of beer and says that she was so impressed with them they deserve a fun night.

Arie hopes she appreciates what a hard time he had with the acting. She does. He tells her he missed her and, as they kiss, says if she would kiss him in every city in the world, he would be a happy man.

Ryan closes the curtains to an alcove to make it harder for someone to interrupt them. He digs into a pocket, pulls out a jewelry box and presents her with a lovely necklace that she tells him is a favorite style and color of hers. Vying for that rose, Ryan? She thinks he is thoughtful.

Kerfuffle Act III

When Chris asks if he is looking forward to his time with Emily, Kalon sarcastically replies, “Sure…with an exhausted, sick mother who has a child waiting for her.” Change scene to Chris telling this to Arie plus what Kalon had said previously that Emily had a lot of baggage. He then tells us that over the past couple of days, Kalon said some words that were pretty insulting to Emily. Arie says to Chris that he is pissed off and takes advantage of the bleep machine to express this. Arie and Chris then take Kalon’s words to the group where Doug’s father buttons are pushed. He confronts Kalon to confirm it and Kalon says, “Yeah, and I’m not going to apologize for it.” He tries to mitigate it from baggage to responsibility, but that doesn’t fly with Daddy Doug.

Doug goes into his sit down with Emily with a preface about how a good guy shouldn’t go home when there is someone there who referred to Ricki as baggage.

Emily: Who?

Doug: Kalon

Emily’s heart rate goes up and the anger comes out. Doug reminds her that the first knee jerk reaction with anger is not the way to go, and while she wants to think of the most ladylike way to handle this, she is beyond that point.

Emily: I want to go out there and rip his limbs off and beat him with them. I wanna go West Virginia hood-rat backwoods on his ass. (I wonder if perhaps she took her time in the Tower of London a little too literally; but, she then tells us loyalty to her children, her husband and her family is all to her.)

Doug calls the group together and tells Kalon he is on the spot. When asked if he called Ricki baggage, he again tries to mitigate it with responsibility and blathers on interrupting Emily’s expression of outrage and she throws back an earlier insult of his with, “Let me talk.” She closes out from the heart and asks him if there is any way he can say that he didn’t say that, he replies, “No, not at all.” Thus the much hyped line of the season is brought forth when she tells him to Get the F*** Out! However, Kalon isn’t done with his blathering so she finally has to throw her hands up to stop him, saying that the conversation is so inappropriate and so insulting that she isn’t even going to have it. She rises and leaves the room. Kalon also leaves but, rather than going to a room to cool off, he gets a ride to the airport.

No Rose this night; poor Ryan. Poor Emily now worried about her judgment. She wants one of the guys to stand up for her, show her respect by telling her earlier when it was first known. The guys hang their heads with admissions of lost opportunity, but with an assurance by Arie that he thought she would figure it out. Oh, Arie…not what she wants to hear at this point.
************************

Jef’s Date: “I WILL have order!” – Dolores Umbridge

After an emotional night, Emily has trust issues, but looks forward to her date with Jef because he always calms her. Jef just wants to let Emily know that he is there for her and cares about her. This master of group dates is so excited to spend the day with her.

Cue up “Rule Britannia”! We are off to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

They meet at the pea gravel courtyard of Chiswick house for a traditional afternoon tea. There they are met by the “oh, so proper” instructress of etiquette, Jean Broke-Smith. She leads them into a formal dining room where all the accoutrements of an English Tea are laid out. Jef is named Boss of the Tea much to his chagrin at realizing his 1:1 date has now become a 2:1 date with Emily and Jean. Seated side by side, Jef in sports jacket and tie and Emily in pretty afternoon dress, they try to learn the basics of the order of service – from tea pouring to scones, cakes and two bite sandwiches under Ms. Broke-Smiths’ eagle eye.

Jef: You know Jean is great, but I just wish Jean would give us a little bit of space.

When Jean leaves to allow them to have a little chat with the admonition to “Carry on you two,” Emily, who would rather have a pb&j, sticks a cake in her pocket book and they roll out to find proper eats and drinks.

At a pub, Jef orders two pints and fish and chips. When asked if she minds that he ordered, Emily assures him that she would have done the same. Jef wants to have fun, but take the conversation deeper. He wants to let Emily know that he thinks she is raising an amazing daughter and to that end, he tells her of his part at the beginning of the kerfuffle. He lets her know that he did stand up for her and he always would stand up for her. (See Kerfuffle Act I.) Jef turns the word baggage into an acceptable and expensive metaphor where Kalon could not. Emily feels better – Cheers!

For Emily, the physical attraction is there, but she can’t read Jef and wonders if he is that into her.

Their evening stroll takes them to dessert laid out for them in a gondola at the London Eye. They marvel at London at night and settle down to talk. Emily tells him her dream of coming out of this with a boyfriend, a fiance or husband and Jef clinks her glass to not being a single girl forever. (Hmm – remember her wish under the gate in Bermuda?) To help bolster her confidence after the Kalon Kerfuffle, he tells her that he may joke around, but he will never lie to her. She thanks him for that.

Jef: I feel like Emily and I have chemistry, a connection and I want Emily to know that I’m here because I like her; I’m beginning to like her a lot. I think she’s one of the most amazing women I’ve ever met.

Jef is looking for unconditional love, that best friend. He wants someone he can completely trust and thinks they could have something really great. Emily connects with him on those ideals. More than the rose (which he receives) he wants Emily. However, Jef chokes on kissing her while in the gondola and the pressure builds for the most anticipated kiss of his life. As they lean against a short wall looking out over the river, he gives a little speech about regretting not kissing her in Bermuda and would be bummed if he didn’t kiss her in London. Well, hey, man…get on with it. FINALLY! Sweet kisses to music take us to a fade out of the date. Jef is in fairytale land with Emily. I wonder if he realizes Ricki dreams of dragons.

Rose Party Sit Downs

Emily starts Travis off with a stand by your girlfriend question. He says he would stand up to the plate. Travis feels like he is on the hot seat and what they talked about was a lot more serious than the Kalon situation.

John feels bad because he will always tell her the truth whether she likes it or not. He feels that he kind of cheated her the other day because he didn’t tell her. Emily tells him that is why she was so bummed out the other night.

She tells Arie that the other night has kind of shaken her confidence in everything. She goes on to say that she can fight her own battles, but she likes to know that someone has her back. She feels let down by Arie because in that moment because of their closeness, she expected more from him. A stuttering Arie says that he gets so caught up in “them” that he tries to stay out of what other people say. Arie comes away from their conversation shaken. Her tough questions about his loyalty put him on guard. When he sits down with the guys, Jef tells him that in this situation it is not trash talking about someone; it is actually warning her about a bad person.

Ryan lightens up Emily’s mood by re-enacting the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. While she stands on a balcony, he runs down some stairs and emotes while gazing up at her. When he runs back up the stairs, they kiss. Emily shrugs in a PI wondering where she turned the corner with Ryan, but she likes him more and more. She tells us, “He is so smooth…and I’m falling for it. I’ve got to keep an eye on it.”

Sean tells her that he won’t tell her anything that he doesn’t mean 100%. With mutual “missed you” words, they kiss. She feels like Sean would protect and take care of her. She tells us that she gets butterflies in her heart with Sean and that has never happened to her before, even if that does sound cheesy. Well yes, but sweet. With a wondrous smile, she finds she likes Sean.

Rose Ceremony

Sean (date rose)
Jef (date rose)
Doug
Ryan
Chris
John
Travis
Arie

Rose-less

Alejandro is ready to share love; unfortunately it is not with Emily. He hurts.

Preview

Eight jump through space (and time) to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Drama picks up next week when Jef and Arie have concerns about ??? and Arie knows he has to be the snitch this time around. How will all of this play out? Once again, Emily is shown having doubts about the remaining men.

They included a “later this season” preview as well, but you can watch that for yourself as it may contain some spoilers as to who continues beyond next week.

Credit Roll

While seated in the alcove at the group date after party, Ryan takes a shot at writing modern lines for Shakespeare. “Hey, girl.”

Thanks to Babbred for the use of her words. Speaking of words, I love the word, Kerfufffle!