Although the start of the international travels with Bermuda was a pleasant surprise, the rise of tensions between the remaining 12 bachelors was, well, not so pleasant.
The boys zoom to Tucker's Point, Bermuda on fancy white scooters. Doug, dad on loan from Seattle, is the lucky guy this week and scores a date with Emily (Maynard). But he gets a little too nervous and the mature gentlemen that appear before Emily disappear. The group turns childish as they poke fun at Doug. Animosity stirs inside Doug towards the rest of the guys. Emily walks in just as Arie takes it a little too far for Doug's patience. We'll never know what could have happened.
Regardless of what the other bachelors say, in Emily's eyes Doug is the winner of the First Impression Rose, given during the premiere. "Doug is the perfect guy for this date," Emily says as she takes him around town shopping. In her mind, it's what she'd be doing with her husband-entertaining each other and doing some low key shopping. Emily adds, "We understand each other, we're both parents." Doug tells Emily that in trying to prove to his son, Austin, that one person could change the world he founded a charity. In response to Austin's letter to Emily, they write a postcard for the boy-a touching moment for Doug. "My heart melted," he says.
Emily is further impressed by Doug's sad story and baffled by his unrelenting positive attitude. But at dinner feels like he may be hiding something from her. "He always gives me the perfect answer. He's like how I felt with Brad. If he doesn't open up with me, I'm going to have a hard time giving him a rose." Fortunately, a momentary role reversal that puts Emily in the hot seat makes her see that "maybe just maybe Doug is that perfect of a person." That was a close call! Emily offers Doug the rose. "I will remember today and tonight forever," Doug says. No kiss, though. He says he learned from his grandfather that "if Emily wants a kiss from Doug, she'll let Doug know she wants a kiss." By the expression her face, it seems like she expected him to kiss her. Doug, honey, maybe you need to read her expressions better…
Related The Bachelorette's Chris Harrison: I'm Amazed at How Idiotic Alessandro and Ryan Were
The group date turns into a very manly competition as the boys are divided into two teams and are told to race by sailboat. The winning team gets to spend the evening with Emily. Kalon feels like he's "in his element" and Ryan confesses he doesn't know jack squat about sailing. The race begins and everyone's hard at work at their posts at which point Emily admits "I hate watching guys compete. But I think it'll be better to have a smaller group tonight so I can have more one-on-one time." Poor Jef cuts up his fingers, but it's worth the pain: he wins, along with Ryan, Kalon, and Arie.
Kalon seems to have settled down since last week's episode. His only comments are about Ryan: "I don't think Ryan cares about Emily's happiness." Thanks Captain Obvious, as if Ryan's arrogant and ego-stroking attitude wasn't enough to tell. Ryan claims that he's a "good catch" and no wonder the others are lashing out at him. He feels confident he's got a special connection with Emily.
Finally Arie and Emily catch some one-on-one time. He admits there's a pull he can't resist and that he can't wait to spend more time with her. Her response? To be patient. This seems a little foreshadowing. They spend more time kissing passionately than they do actually speaking.
Jef starts to open up with Emily and concludes that when he thinks about her, he's decided he likes her. This is reassuring to Emily who just couldn't figure him out. My comment: Jef you're weird, and I'm not sure whether it's in a good or bad way. Emily was hoping for a kiss from Jef but sadly he doesn't seem to get the hint. Maybe he could ask Doug for some help?
Ryan's opening statement to Emily: "I'm not here to impress you but to make an impression on you." Wow. Emily confronts him. "Some of the things you say I just don't know where they come from." Ryan doesn't want to answer her confrontation or the "you'd better not get fat" comments he'd made to her in the previous week's episode. But let's be real here. Ryan isn't here to talk to Emily about herself; he just wants to tell her she's not making the most of her opportunity as Bachelorette. Clearly, it's understandable why Ryan's on the show-he has "media connections back home" and could probably become the next bachelor for the show if things don't work out with Emily. He sees potential in Emily but to be honest, he says, "I feel like I'm called to something greater." Shocker, Ryan is an overly-confident sleaze ball.
"He seems to feel that they have a strong connection. But he's confident about everything so I really feel it's a load of crap," Arie comments on Ryan's attitude.
When Ryan brings up his feelings about the Arie-smooching scene from last week, Emily responds (not to his face) with "if this were The Bachelor no one would even bat an eye. I just feel like he's judging me." Looks like Emily knows that Ryan's up to something. She even admits it to Chris Harrison, the host, before the Rose Ceremony, "He's a little manipulative."
Jef wins himself the rose for the group date, his second to date. "I felt so shocked," the giddy Jef says and completely didn't expect it. Ryan is convinced that Emily was just playing it safe, adding that if the rose had gone to Arie it would have been a direct attack towards him. Arie, not knowing Ryan is his arch-enemy, is somewhat confused as to why he didn't get the rose.
Emily moves on to an overwhelmingly awkward two-on-one date with Nate, a 25-year-old accountant from Arizona, and John (otherwise known as Wolf-this nickname still baffles me). "This is going to be the worst date of my life," Emily, who's been dreading it, says. The boys do get the luxury of seeing Emily in her bikini as they cliff jump. John says its "do or die" on this date. He gets the nod and Nate gets the boot. Emily just wouldn't be being honest if she kept him around. She doesn't see herself with Nate for the rest of her life.
Back at the house, the weight of becoming a father and husband all at once is starting to make the boys think. Doug and Chris get into an altercation about age. It's a touchy subject for Chris who's 25 and who, in 33-year-old Doug's opinion, is not ready to be a father. The boys have concluded that age definitely matters when it comes to maturity and Chris is not a fan of the way Doug seems to be the connoisseur. Chris finds Doug before the Rose Ceremony for round 2 and the rest of the gang lines up to watch them battle it out. The conclusion is that Chris is "so insecure" and "immature". Doug is "always over powering over the entire group" and "over the top humble".
Chris feels the need to defend Doug's claims against him to Emily. He explains that he is very ready to be a husband and father figure. "I don't think it's about how many experiences you have but what you take out of the experiences," he says.
Alejandro is beginning to notice that the other guys have formed connections with Emily. He admits to being very nervous for this Rose Ceremony. Desperately, he begs Emily to keep him around so that he can start opening up to her.
Sean gets some significant lip-to-lip time once again, and some visible tongue. He just knows how to hit the spot with Emily. His trick? Asking Emily about how her daughter will react to a new marriage. "Each time we kiss it's something that I want to do all the time and I think she feels the same way," Sean bashfully admits.
It's time for the Rose Ceremony. With a pep talk from Chris Harrison, Emily recognizes that Ryan may be up to no good, Alejandro might not be ready to become a father, and she can't seem to get a kiss out of Jef but then can't stop kissing Arie. But most of all, it's just plain sad and hard to send these guys home. "This is easy compared to what is coming," Chris Harrison says. I can see he's trying to help, but it's not really working.
Jef, Doug and John are all safe. Nate is gone. That leaves eight bachelors anxious for the six available roses. Michael, the musician with the ponytail, and Charlie, the cutie who suffered a tragic accident, are sent home. Bad boy Ryan is still here to make himself look good.
"I came here to see if Emily was the one for me and it turns out she's not," Michael said.
But if Michael isn't the one for Emily, then who is?
Who's your favorite guy for the sweet southern mama?
More from GalTime
Demi Lovato Seeks Boyfriend Advice from Simon Cowell
Local Businesses