ABC27 WHTM Villain To Victim And Back Again

Things were a bit busy at work, so I didn't get a chance to poll my coworkers and get their take on this week's The Bachelor.   Going into the show, I would have bet on Nicki and Rachel going home because they are the two women who don't seem to be making much of an impression.

I was half right.

This week finds Bachelor Ben and his six ladies in Belize for three 1-on-1 dates and a group date.

Like last week's deserted island date with Kacie B., this week's 1-on-1 date with Lindzie was raced through by the producers.  There was not enough drama to make it worth more than 10 minutes of airtime in a two hour show.

Ben and Lindzie flew by helicopter to The Blue Hole, a 500 foot deep sinkhole surrounded by The Lighthouse reef.  At first, Lindzie, who is deathly afraid of heights, didn't think she could jump from the chopper into the water. 

But then Ben gave her a magic kiss that cured her fears and they had a romantic day of swimming and yacht riding.  At least, I think that's what happened since that's all we saw. 

The date ended with the two of them lounging on a pile of pillows, sipping wine and writing their fairy tale to put into a bottle and throwing into the sea.  The whole thing made me think of Once Upon A Time on ABC, Sunday Nights at 8pm.

Whoa, that's some powerful cross-promotion.

Back at the house, the date card arrives and it's a 1-on-1 date with Emily.  This causes newly sensitive Courtney to cry as she proclaims this her "worst nightmare".  She has quickly turned from villain to whiny victim.

Emily's date involved bike riding, walking and shopping, all followed by diving for lobsters.

I never knew lobsters moved so fast.  That was the most interesting thing I saw in this otherwise blah episode.

While Ben and Emily dance and eat lobsters, Courtney is back at the resort issuing ultimatums.  She curls up in bed, whining, crying, chewing on her lip and writing in her diary.  If Ben doesn't give her a 1-on-1 date then she isn't sure she'll invite him home to meet her family. 

Hey!  Guess What!

Courtney got the last 1-on-1 date!

They end up going to a Mayan Temple where they have a little picnic and climb to the top.  Courtney claims she has lost the spark as she becomes whiny and needy in her obnoxious baby voice.

Ben wants a woman who is "a little weird" and he finds Courtney "unique".

Hey look, the spark is back as they climb to the top of the Temple.

Dramatic Hollywood music swells as the camera crew in the helicopter circles and we see Ben and Courtney atop the Temple. 

At dinner that evening, Ben is pleased to learn that spending time with Courtney has "relit the spark".

That magnificent, manipulative minx!  She did it. 

And then Courtney starts to show her true colors.  "Do you know what my job is like? I'm the talent and I have to make everyone happy I'm really well rounded and I can adapt to anything.  I'm not impressed with these girls; I don't even think they're women."

You weren't adapting too well when you were getting all whiny and teary earlier.  And, generally, everyone else has to worry about making the talent happy, not the other way around.

And where can we see this talent she has to use to please everyone?  What has she modeled?  Has anyone ever seen her in anything?  Vogue?  Cosmo?  Sears catalog?

The next day's group date with Nicki, Rachel, and Kacie B. starts bright and early as Ben sneaks in to their bedrooms and wakes the girls at 5am. 

"Glad I slept with a shirt on, that could've been awkward."  Yes, Lindzie, but you still wouldn't have shown him as much as Courtney already has.

Does anyone need to see 3 women speed shaving?

NO! 

The four of them get on a catamaran where Ben announces they're going shark diving.  Nicki and Kacie B. are thrilled, Rachel…not so much.

Girl Rule #1: To get a guy to notice you, act scared.

Rachel hits that one out of the park.

Kacie B. had the best reaction: "In the water, it was amazing, we see sharks and stingrays and, actually, none of that scares me. I'm more scared of the way Rachel is monopolizing Ben."

In the end, Ben gives Kacie B. the first rose because she opened up to him.

Rachel is devastated.  If acting terrified and clinging to him didn't work, she knew nothing would.  Maybe if she talked in a baby voice like Courtney does whenever she's around him, it would've been different.

Courtney comes out on the balcony like a queen surveying her land where she sees who got the rose.  But, she's not threatened by Kacie B., because Kacie B.  is "a little girl in, like, a little boy's body."  And then she calls out all the other women as "catty girls" because, you know, Courtney is being so mature and non-catty.

Looks like the victim of the day before is back in full villain mode…just as we like her.

Nicki brings up Courtney and warns Ben to tread lightly.  Of course the warning falls on deaf ears and all the build up to her and Kacie B. confronting him about Courtney was a major letdown.

That night the women gather for the cocktail party.  While the other women talk about how important this rose ceremony is because it means Ben will choose whose parents he'll meet, Courtney sips her Pina Colada and assures the other women there that Ben isn't the only man in the world and there are other opportunities for love.

Then she plays with the umbrella and cherry from her drink like a drunken teenager as she makes weird faces and talks in her baby voice.

Chris Harrison arrives, which always signals something is off.  He announces that Ben has made up his mind and they're going to skip the cocktail party and go straight to the rose ceremony.

As soon as the ladies gather, Ben asks to speak to Courtney alone.

You can't tell me this wasn't a ploy by the producers for the sole purpose of riling up the other women.

Ben asks Courtney if she is really here for him. Why would he ask her that now?  Before we even get an answer out of her, they cut back to the other women who are all worked up into a tizzy.

*slow clap*  Well done, Bachelor producers, well done.

Ben is convinced Courtney is there for the right reasons and they return back to the rose ceremony where Courtney skips back into line because, as we all know, she's mentally 8 years old.

The first rose is given to Nicki (what?).

The second rose is given to Lindzie (not surprised by that at all).

And the third rose is given to Courtney.

On one hand, I'm glad Courtney got the rose because I want to meet her family.  Let's see the people who raised this bundle of insecurity and neediness that projects itself into a catty villain of Snow White Evil Queen proportions.

On the other hand, I had grown to like Emily and I was rooting for her.

Next week is the ever popular episode full of overprotective fathers, quirky siblings, and crazy grandmas!

******

Some post show observations:

1.  Well, I was half right.  I thought Nicki and Rachel would be going home, but it was Rachel and Emily who were roseless.  I'm starting to think Nicki could win this thing.  There have been many times in the past when the winner is someone who seems to fade into the background and then comes out of nowhere to win the whole thing.
2. Kacie B. is still my favorite and I'd like to see her win it all.  She was more feisty and snarky this episode than in the past.  My prediction is that the final two will either be Kacie B. and Lindzie or Nicki.
3. Overall, this episode was kind of "meh".  Nothing too exciting and very little drama, but I did enjoy the way Courtney was all over the emotional map, making her seem even more psycho.
4. Courtney is obviously special to Ben.  For the first time this season, it looked as though he had actually washed his hair before going on the Mayan Temple date with her.
5. Did you see the sinks in the bathroom when Lindzie was preparing for her date?  They're big stone bowls and absolutely gorgeous.  I want those sinks.