Last night’s episode of The Bachelor may have gone down as one of my favorite 5 episodes of all time. It’s up there with episodes like when Trista finally told Ryan that she loved him and saw “babies, etc.” in the finale of her monumental season as the first Bachelorette. It’s up there with episodes like when Shannon started crying, her nose started running, and she thought it would be a great time to go in for a kiss with Bachelor Jason. It’s up there with moments like when Natalie on the same season of the Bachelor started talking about how she likes bears on her one on one date with Jason in Las Vegas. Ahh, but that is in the past. We’re only on episode 2 of Jake’s season and already things are heating up.There were moments of pure genius last night. I think there was an all time high record for the amount of ladies who cried in one show. It was the perfect blend of a horror movie (think Michelle), comedy (Christina’s comments while on the set of the In Style photo shoot), drama (Rozlyn’s face as Chris is saying things like, “A line was crossed” and her staring at him, with her speechless but beautiful face (would she not make a wonderful vampire in the Twilight Series?), tragedy (Vienna’s sob story about a rash decision to get married at age 18 and losing her daddy’s respect), Adventure (group date to Six Flags!) and Romance (Jake and Ali flying together and getting their own private concert on a huge field, slow dancing to Chicago’s “You’re the Inspiration” – one of the most steamy songs any of me or my sixth grade friends could hope to dance to back in the day. Yes, if they were handing out Oscars for best performances, last night’s show would have cleaned up.
Alright, so again – no recaps from me – they will be all over the Internet by the time I post this later tonight (it’s 7:20 AM and I’m en route to work again). I’m more interested in discussing some of the key moments from last night’s show and then hearing what your thoughts. Here we go:Let’s stick Michelle in a padded room for 24 hours and see what happens. Is anybody else completely freaked out by her? ABC couldn’t have hired a better actress to “play” the part of the complete and utter psychotic pining girlfriend. I’d write more scary things about her except I’m worried she’s reading this and will come after me. I can already see her in the Women Tell All episode pleading her case. Talking about how intense the process was, how she really did fall for Jake, and that she was there with “honest” feelings for him. I can see her pale blue eyes flash and the tears welling up in her eyes as she says this – clearly she will be rejected soon. One of my favorite moments last night was when Vienna started impersonating Michelle. She said that Michelle was this complete lunatic during the day, threatening to leave, packing her bags, tearing up for not getting a date, etc. Then when Jake comes around, Michelle turns into this fun, outgoing, I’m-so-happy-to-be-here and I’m light hearted and care free. It was hysterical – and so dead on. If Vienna wasn’t dressed like a nurse from the 1700s at the rose ceremony party, I think she’d be one of my favorite girls right now.
But back to Michelle. She got angry at Jake for not wanting to spend time with her (uh, did she think this was a one on one dating show?) She should have also looked at who else Jake didn’t choose to go on a date with. There was Tenley (who got the first impression rose) too and Ella, the boxer mom who gives her kid’s favorite toys to strangers. The Bachelor usually chooses ladies that he is confident about as the ones he excludes from the first week’s dates. She should have been flattered. Clearly she has not seen this show before. Jake even tells Michelle when they get some alone time before the rose ceremony that he loved her “honesty” and even found the fact that she teared up endearing. Oh, Jake, now we know why you are single. You pick the wrong girls. You were ready to head to the altar with Rozzy after some cheap kisses on the rooftop of the LA Hotel just because you got swept up in making out with a supermodel despite the fact that she was having her own little fling in the off hours. Roz did not come on this show to fall in love. She came on the show to launch her modeling career and let’s face it, after last night’s episode – she’ll have a deal with Maxim in less than a month.
But let’s talk some more about Michelle. Didn’t you love that when Jake and Chris tell the ladies about the situation with Roz, Michelle is the first to blurt out that she “feels really sorry for him” in front of Jake? She plays the calm, sympathetic girl in daylight and the CRAZY I NEED TO BE MEDICATED GIRL when Jake is not around. I love the contrast. I also thought she was going to walk away with that diamond necklace when it showed up and she put it on, announcing that whoever puts the necklace on, gets the first date (ummm, yeah, nice try, Michelle). Did you see the glee on her face when she went running for the door any time the doorbell rang with a new clue? And did you see the immediate shift to NUTS when she found out that each date did not include her? She’s my favorite person to watch. I’m literally frightened for Jake every time she opens her mouth. If none of the girls knew about Roz’s fling (which definitely took place in the middle of the night), who knows what Michelle is up to when nobody is looking?!Ali’s date with Jake. I love this girl. As Jake says, Ali is “the full package.” She’s cute, she couldn’t be happier to be on the show (Ok, it was kind of strange that she started crying when she found out that she got the one on one date, but I’ll just blame that on too much alcohol and having to listen to the crazies in the house go on and on about Jake. The anticipation must have gotten to her). “Come fly with me, Ali” – how romantic! Jake knew that she had a fear of flying and immediately decided that she would be the perfect person to take along for his first flying date (we knew it was just a matter of time before aviator Jake had a chance to woo the ladies
with his jet skills). Ali comes out for the date, wearing the gorgeous Neil Lane diamond necklace (does she get to keep it? And how come her and Jake do not speak about it at all – is it a gift? A loaner? An accessory one usually wears when flying on airplanes? I’m a bit confused about it, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t wear it in a similar situation). Ali’s also a fan of the yellow dress – she wore a gorgeous chiffon canary yellow dress on opening night and last night, she’s in the same color – this time a satin, strapless, knee length dress with gold high heeled sandals. Her hair is loosely pulled back into a casual hair do, and you can see from the look on her face that she is thrilled beyond belief. I liked seeing one of Jake’s dates so completely elated to be with him. I never felt that kind of pure joy from Rozlyn or even hot nanny Elizabeth. Those two seem to be up to something at all times. 
Anyhow, Ali seems innocent, honest – and happy to be there. Another roll of the eyes moment – they are sailing above the city in the plane and first the music from Superman comes on followed by that damn song, “On the Wings of Love…” this time the non-instrumental version (which played last week) and you hear Ali say, “Just as the plane took off, so did our relationship.” Alright, cue the cheesy music. Don’t they have any other song about flying or love to play? How about Tom Petty’s, “Learning to Fly …” or “I Believe I Can Fly…” just something other than the cheeseball song (and playing it on 2 for 2 episodes doesn’t make it any more appealing).
As for their actual date – looks like fireworks are sparking up between these two. Ali is smitten. Jake is into her. It’s a good match. Their conversation didn’t seem too deep as the only thing we get to hear is how the name of every guy that Ali has ever dated starts with the letter “J.” But then there they are, after having driven through an open field in an old fashioned car with no roof, eating dinner outside when all of a sudden, they hear live music. And it’s Chicago!! I haven’t heard Chicago since 1989, when my cassette tape collection consisted of them, Vanilla Ice, Whitney Houston and Guns and Roses (when I liked a rebellious boy who wore their tshirts) but they are definitely a classic band. I loved when Ali and him go running up to the 
stage together – like kids. Did anybody else have flashbacks of Jake’s first date with Jillian – where they had their own private concert from a country music band? That was also an incredible first date – where Jake seemed like a shoe-in for the final 2. There was tons of chemistry between him and Jillian, and yet – that connection never seemed to grow. And each time Jake saw Jillian after that first date, he kept telling her how much fun he had on the first date, but really there was nothing for them to talk about after that. I really hope that is not the case here. Jake says that he, “has never felt this away before on a date.” Well, yeah, except maybe on his first date with Jillian.
Let’s talk about the In Style photo shoot group date. Did anyone else find this completely obnoxious? I mean – what happened to old fashioned getting to know someone over bowling and beer or ping pong and darts? Nope, we’re going to go to a place where Jake can take his shirt off multiple times during wardrobe changes and stare down each and every one of the girls as she shows off her physical attributes for all to see. What if one of these girls didn’t want to be in a photo shoot? Oh wait, that’s right, they’re all models. This is why I loved Christina – she acted like I would have on the set. I mean – compared to Rozlyn, Ashleigh from North Potomac and Gia, it’s impossible to feel secure. I loved Christina’s remarks throughout the day, “Can you make me taller with really big boobs?” she asks the camera person. Too bad her conversation with Jake later on didn’t go so well. Mostly because she was drunk. We all kind of knew in that moment, based on Jake’s comments about how he wished Christina wouldn’t have had so much to drink, that she was history. Too bad. She would have had some 
other really funny things to say. Some of my favorite moments from that date: (1) When Gia is trying to have a deep conversation with Jake alone, Ashleigh comes prancing out in nothing but a tiny black bikini and steals Jake away. She has absolutely nothing of substance to say to Jake, but he doesn’t seem to need conversation at this point. I felt there were multiple moments on last night’s episode where a lady would come over far before the conversation seemed ready to end with whoever Jake was speaking to at the moment. There must be some rule that if a girl comes over to speak to Jake, he must agree to it. You didn’t hear anybody asking for “1 more minute.” Even when Vienna was knee deep in her heartbreak story with tears in her eyes, she still got the boot. But back to the modeling date. I was glad to see the soap opera set date has made its disappearance (hooray!), but the photo model shoot was so ridiculous. It highlighted the girls who felt comfortable (Rozlyn, Gia, etc.) and left the more down to earth girls (Corrie, Christina) feeling kind of glum.
Can we take a moment to discuss Elizabeth the Nanny? I don’t know what to make of her. I cringed when she read that note to Jake. The Fiance says, “Why is she reading him an email face to face?” So she makes this big fuss about not wanting Jake to kiss her until he knows that she’s his wife. Which of course makes Jake want to kiss her because she’s Courtney Cox. But even though he can’t kiss her, we learn almost nothing about her. Why is she a nanny? Why did she move to LA from Nebraska to be a nanny? Would any woman in her right mind allow a nanny this hot in her home with her hubby and kids? So then we’re led to believe that Hot Nanny is a prude, until of course Jake gives her the rose on the group date, and then we see her tease him. “Do you want to kiss me?” she purrs at him. Uhhh, of course he does! But he kisses her forehead instead and she seems to like this. So what’s the deal here? We hear Elizabeth’s thinking at this point – she wants to control the situation. She wants Jake to pursue her. Is she playing a game? Is she a virgin? Does she have strong religious beliefs? Is she wearing a chastity belt? Her little teasing of Jake after she gets the rose seems at contrast with her innocent email. She was confusing, not intriguing. The other girls seemed very jealous. It was funny to see the girls that weren’t chosen back in the limo as fireworks were going off for Jake and Nanny. Nan’s comment to Vienna about how she didn’t use her time wisely was kind of mean. Not sure we’ve seen the true colors of this one. We need a nanny cam at all times!
The teacher, Ashley, who dressed up as a copilot last week and pranced around, was pretty intense this week. Her eyes bugged out every time she spoke about Jake. It didn’t seem like Jake was into her. She wins an A+ for most enthusiastic though.Ok, now let’s talk about the main event. Rozlyn. She is still denying all over the place that she ever had a sexual relationship with the Bachelor staffer. But it’s not like she denied that anything happened when Chris confronted her. Chris, by the way, had his shining moment last night in confronting Roz. His speech to her was some of the best performing he has done in the history of this show. The Fiance and I were blown away. He was so calm and collected.
Even when Rozlyn stared at him coldly, wondering what to say or do, Chris was polite, firm and to the point. And then of course, her only affirmative statement was that her “Personal life was nobody’s business.” Yes, Roz, that is usually the case. Except when you sign all those waivers to be on a reality tv show about a man searching for true love amongst 25 women. ABC owns your personal life. I wonder how they actually discovered that something occurred between Roz and crew member guy. Did the cameras spot them? Did somebody catch them? The girls in the house all seemed so shock and they had only been in the house for a week when this happened, so clearly she works quickly. Roz seems to be more upset about the fact that her 7 year old son would think poorly of her once he was old enough to hear about this. Don’t worry, Roz, there’s always Tiger Woods. And really, it’s not like you can blame poor Roz. She’s drop dead gorgeous, she’s locked up a house with all of these crazy ladies and at best – she’s lukewarm interested in Jake. Plus if he’s going around kissing all these other women, is there a rule that she can’t do the same? Her argument back to Chris was that some of the other women in the house were dating people at home or had love interests before their time on the show. Chris responds that yes, but that didn’t occur once they met Jake and fell in love. Ok, well then why didn’t Ed get kicked off the show? Wasn’t he sending sex text messages to ladies while he was on the show? It’s kind of confusing. But ultimately, perhaps Jake was really falling for Roz and ABC didn’t want to have their viewers disappointed with a romance gone awry. I really hope this train gets back on track. Another thing I just can’t get my mind around is why these ladies were all crying once Chris broke the news to them? I mean seriously – cry for joy – because one of your biggest competitors is gone, don’t cry for Jake. Tenley nearly lost it. I would be jumping for joy. It was interesting to see Roz’s reaction to all this. She was 
stone faced. She just packed up, no emotion, no talking, no nothing. They didn’t even let Jake confront her and have it out. I would have loved to see that! And they didn’t let us see Jake as he was getting himself together once Chris broke the news to him. What did he do? Did he cry? Lean over a railing? Go fly a plane? Take a motorcycle ride through the dessert to blow off steam? They should have shown us some more ab shots! Jake crying with his shirt off. We didn’t get any of this. By the way, did anybody else catch the evil music playing every time Rozlyn was in a scene? It’s like the producers were giving us some foreshadowing that Roz = evil seductress. Ahh, whatever, I wouldn’t feel too bad for her – she got what she wanted. A little smoochin’ with the Bachelor, a little smoochin’ with a TV staffer and the launch of her modeling career. Not bad for a week’s worth of work!The Roz Gate Scandal is stimulating conversation amongst some of the most educated and well respected professionals that I know. A group of female lawyers in the Washington, DC area that I used to work with had some interesting things to say about this matter. Here were some of their reactions:
From Kim O (in response to Anna M): "Anna, you're forgetting that they are all supposed to be in love with him. He's allowed to be in love with all 20 at once, but they are all supposed to be in a commited relationship with him from Day 1. (Don't worry, though, about gender discrimination - the reverse is also true on the Bachelorette - (Stacey B says: Great point, Kim!)). So the reason that all the other girls cried at this news was that they were terribly hurt by the prospect of an adulterer in their midst."
From Melissa M (also in response to Anna M): "They kicked her off because they said that she was not really available for Jake since she was having a relationship with a staffer. I think you're right about the double standard, but I also thought it was pretty slutty to hook up with some staffer on the show..."
From Anna M (in response to Melissa M): "Ok, now I'm mad at Melissa. She's not a slut because she made out with a guy who is not a bachelor. She's single and there to pretend to find love (who cares who it is!). I'm all for it. I hope they do fall in love, get married and have lots of babies (Stacey B adds: which would certainly be beautiful babies). That will make what? Two successful marriages courtesy of the show. I think ABC should be encouraging this!"
And there you have it. Commentary from some of the smartest people I know. This is like the Wolf Blitzer/CNN analysis of Bachelor talk, folks. You won't find intellectual, in depth discussions like this on any other website (or news show). Thanks for sharing your opinions, Ladies!
If you haven’t seen it already, you should definitely check out Chris the Host’s blog on EW. He explains in depth basically exactly what happened between Roz and the crew member. Basically, there was physical contact, other girls in the house saw it, the crew member himself came forward and confessed and apparently – Roz continued this relationship after she got the boot. So good for them. Maybe this is a good thing. Jake’s blog from last night’s show indicates that he feels “cheated on.” Yes, kind of absurd, but already in this little bubble of a Bachelor environment, you can see that there are some crazy feelings developing and Jake already had it bad for Roz. Chris wishes Roz well, and really, what is there to be mad about? For ABC it’s built up ratings. For the girls, it’s one less lady (and a very hot one) to compete against . Jake may be temporarily upset, but he’s still got some pretty solid options left.
And as a direct result of Rozlyn being kicked out (with no sad limousine commentary – she was probably dialing her crew member man from the road), one extra girl gets the rose. For now, that appears to be Kathryn, the cute blonde that we didn’t see too much of (except when she interrupted Michelle’s one on one time with Jake at the rose ceremony party). I liked Kathryn, but based on how little we’ve seen from her, not sure she’s going to make the next cut unless she steps it up a bit. Jake likes a little bit of crazy, and Kathryn seems way too normal.
Tenley also did not get a date this week, as we mentioned above. For some reason, I thought she looked much better this episode than last. Her baby voice is still kind of killing me, but she may actually be a very good match for Jake. Her and Ali are going to the end.We didn’t see much of Valishia and Corrie this episode and yet both got roses. Perhaps between the two of them and Kathryn, one will get a single date with Jake and we’ll finally get to know a little more about them.
Random comments from throughout the second episodes:
I loved how all the girls stood around in their bikinis when Jake came to pick up a few of the girls for the second group date. Especially Christina – she just stood there like, “Hey check me out.”
Quote from Christina on finding out they are doing a photo shoot, “Rozlyn and Gia are professional models. I’d rather be taking a math test.”Did Valishia say that she teaches Women’s Bible Studies at home? How did that come up?
Ella got the chance to bond with Jake during the one on one time. She’s another one that didn’t get to go on a date with Jake and yet she seemed pretty secure about it. I liked that he brought her a cupcake for her birthday, and yet for her actual birthday – he celebrated by not choosing her for a date.
Christina taking Jake aside during the nighttime pool party on their date and singing the Jaws theme because she was drunk.
I am not sure that there was a single girl in the house besides Rozlyn and Nanny that did not cry at some point during last night’s episode.
Michelle packing to leave because after realizing she will not have a date with jake, she labels herself the “nice girl that everybody hates.” Um, more like the crazy girl who spends more time crying than breathing.
Ashley saying that her and Jake have “being cheesy” in common.
Nanny telling Jake that she doesn’t want him to kiss her unless she’s the ONE. Then getting the rose and telling Jake that she’s a good kisser. Player!
Chris’s speech to Rozlyn: “You have entered into an inappropriate relationship with one of our staffers. That staffer is no longer with us…this is something that is taken very seriously. We feel that because of what’s happened it’s impossible for you to continue on the show.” Roz’s response? “She respects that.” Doesn’t sound like she’s denying anything!
Roses go to: Vienna, Gia, Tenley, Ella, Valishia, Corrie, Jessie (was she in this episode?), Ashleigh H, Michelle and Kathyrn. Christina cries again when she leaves.Next week – Vienna gets a on one one and a blonde leaves.
Ok, I tried counting how many times crazy things happened, and it was an impossible task. Therefore, going forward, I’m just going to grade this episode.
I give tonight’s episode an A. No A+ because we didn’t see any commentary from Roz once she got the boot and there was no confrontation between Jake and her. I LOVED Chris’s speech to her, the girls’ reactions and the drama of course.
Now let’s hear what you thought!!
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