Courtney Reels a Rose From Ben: Manipulation in Park City

Shaggy nerd turn Bachelor?

Is Courtney good or evil? She’s certainly painted as this season’s Bentley and Wes and even Michelle Money, although she hasn’t actually come right out and declared that she’s not interested in Ben. Michelle claimed to have been "misunderstood."  And as she was driving the other girls nuts with her dramatic antics, she insisted that she was falling in love with Brad.  So perhaps Courtney is like Michelle Money, minus the interest in the Bachelor.  Nothing was a clearer example of Courtney's keen skill at playing this Bachelor game as when she snagged a rose away on the group date just as it was about to fall into Kacie's lap.  As manipulative and mean as Courtney seems to be, it’s obvious that Ben has chosen to look the other way for now. He has ignored all of the warning signs.  Most guys that I have polled about Courtney don’t see what’s so bad about her. Yes she bites her lower lip in a pouty kind of way. They find that endearing. So does Ben probably. They like her soft spoken, seemingly laid back persona even if it isn’t real. You’d expect her to come galloping out of a Ralph Lauren ad or something. But who cares whether she’s good or evil – the important question is whether Ben will be able to see through it all. I have this theory that Ben was very nerdy as a teenager and now that he’s blossomed into “The Bachelor,” and has access to date a model like Courtney – it’s like a kid in a candy shop. I think his inner nerd is being blinded by Courtney’s master mindedness. She even says throughout the episode – she’s had many boyfriends, she's used to being around guys.  This girl needs no help finding love.  This is all about publicity for her modeling career.  Getting Ben is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

Court and Jesse Metcalfe attend Emmys

Side note: My Scottish work friend told me that Courtney briefly dated Jesse Metcalfe, the underage, but sexy lawn guy of Eva Longoria's character on Desperate Housewives back in 2005.  Jesse took Court as his date to the EMMY awards that year.  Hate her all you want, but she's pretty stunning in these photos. If you google this story, you'll find all sorts of stuff about their very quick romance.  Apparently it did not end well.  There are also rumors that Courtney dumped her long term boyfriend to be on the show.  Courtney does have a legitimate modeling career.  She was on the cover of the April 2011 Fitness Magazine.

Favorite parts of the night:

• I liked Kacie B once she got over the whole “first date syndrome” meltdown. It’s about this time we expect the person who has had the first one on one date to have a complete and utter panic attack once the Bachelor starts taking out other girls and first date girl realizes that, yes, OMG, he may have feelings for other people. She seems very genuine, real and sweet. I can now slightly tell her apart from Nicki. Her kinky hair is progressing with each location they go to, but hopefully as long as Blakeley is around, she’ll get some help in that department. Ben seems to seek out Kacie B amongst the group of women – and I liked that he took her back to his hotel room. Nice move, Ben! And I also like that he says he’s in trouble with Kacie B. Yes, we’ve heard other Bachelors declare this early on, and it usually doesn't work out.  But I liked hearing that he thinks Kacie is a person he may end up with. It’s a positive sign, but let’s not get our hopes up yet. First we have to get rid of you-know-who.
• Courtney’s remarks. The Husband calls her the “Queen of one liners.” I’d call her something else. But she does have quite a few last night that are noteworthy:
• This is my first group date…
• About Lindzi when she saw Courtney caught a fish: “Her head nearly popped off and spinned around…she could have used her teeth to catch a fish”
• Catching a fish is not that much harder than catching a mam
• Ben is sending home people for both of us.
• I don’t start fights, I finish them.
• I want to verbally assault her...She should watch herself. I might shave off one of her eyebrows in her sleep.
• Could not stop laughing when Ben crossed the river on his horse and almost went flying off of it. Even better was that the girls found him even more attractive for almost diving head first into the water.
• This was our first helicopter date all season!  By now on Ashley's season there had been about 16 helicopter rides. Thanks for keeping it special!
• Jennifer. Despite her odd maroonish pink hair dye job, I like Jennifer. She’s cute and just a chill girl. I think her personality matches up well with Ben and that she could make him happy. Chris Harrison noted in his blog today that Ben was not that into Jennifer before the date, and didn't think she'd be staying.  Guess sweet Jen changed his mind, but it leads me to believe that maybe he's not over the top attracted to her? She’s not into the drama of the house. I liked that one girl said, “It’s hard not to like Jennifer.” Even Courtney couldn’t think of anything too bad to say about her. That’s a good sign in terms of Jennifer being a solid person. I hope she continues to open up more to Ben as I’m not sure they’re quite at the same point as some of the other relationships Ben’s formed. The crater descent reminded me of some horror movie. Did anyone else kind of hope that there would be snakes or eels or rodents of unusual size in the crater pond thing? Or Jenna coming out with snorkeling gear?

• The Clay Walker concert. Clay was awesome! I may be a New Yorker, but I love me some country music!  And so did all of the blonde ladies checking out Ben in the audience. I thought one woman looked like Samantha in the background. Figured maybe since she got sent home already, she decided to go to the concert before her flight. Jennifer says that the concert and the entire experience was a little piece of him that she could take with her. 
• I LOVED watching The Husband watch Jennifer and Ben’s interaction at the Clay Walker concert. He was grinning from ear to ear which is a good meter for watching love unfold. He then says to me, “She could totally be his wife or girlfriend. I could definitely see it.” Ah, The Husband – he has been so cutely sucked in to yet another season of this madness.
• Ben lecturing Samantha like a parent scolding a naughty child for cheating on a math test. Given, she had the unfortunate timing of speaking to him right after Nicki declared her eternal appreciation for going on group dates. But Ben was kind of harsh on her. Telling her she was too emotional. And he doubted why she had come on the show. I didn’t think these two had anything in common and I’m pretty sure once the alcohol was taken away, Samantha would probably admit that she really didn’t have strong feelings for Ben (despite her insisting she has “crazy feelings” and wondering why there wasn’t a ring on her finger already. WTF??). She just got sucked into the Bachelor mind fudge den of hell.
• Ben announcing that his wife was in fact in that room. Oh please.  I'm thinking Ali Fedotowsky might be a nice match for him once all of these shenanigans are finished.  She used to be outdoorsy and down to earth, I'm sure Ben could get her back there again.  And they are both San Fran-ers.  They can commiserate over the '49ers loss together.
• Random thought about Monica - did the limo driver take her directly to her home in Salt Lake since they were in Deer Valley for the rose ceremony?  If so, at what point does the camera person get out of the car?

Things that kept me up last night:

• Since when has Blakeley become “one of the girls?” Didn’t they hate her about two weeks ago? Now they are doing each other’s hair? There’s major trust involved with getting blonde highlights from someone and Emily is no fool. She must really have changed her opinion of Blakeley. And did Blakeley just happen to bring blonde highlighting products with her to Park City?  Isn't that stuff expensive and do they just have it lying around hotel rooms that the bachelorettes stay at?  This made no sense to me.  Nor did the girls' new found love of Blakeley and Monica.  Of course nothing secures a friendship quite like having a common enemy. Courtney could solve the Middle Eastern crisis at this rate.

• Rachel is the quintessential blonde beauty and seems very sweet. But I’m not sure this sort of process will work for Rachel because falling in love when Ben blinks is a requirement. Rachel seems a bit more reserved when it comes to love, which is NORMAL. Their date felt awkward. So awkward, that I was cracking knuckles during their date, hoping it would get better. And while the scenery was breath taking, it was kind of a lame date.  When Ben says that they have a “slow burn” kind of relationship and he’s hoping that it will continue to grow, I think he means that she’s too hot to send home right now.

• So Nicki is finally off the bench. I don’t think she knew she was getting into such a deep conversation about death and living life to the fullest when she approached Ben at the pre rose ceremony. But when Ben tells her that he “think she thrives on the group date,” is that not a little condescending? Yes, he’s trying to give her encouragement to stick around a little longer. But I’d go back with a big, “F you, Ben. I’m not here to thrive in a group date. I’m here to manipulate you into giving me a rose.” 
• Casey S is a snitch! Of course Emily should have been very careful about who she chooses to reveal her inner Courtney hatred too. And I love that all of a sudden Courtney is declaring Casey as her “best friend in the house.” I can’t stand when the girls do that. Best friends who are vying to have sex with the same man. Really? It doesn’t work.
• Why was Monica crying in the limo on the way home? Didn’t she declare on night 1 that she had no interest in Ben? What exactly goes on during this show? Are the women taken into a private room and brainwashed with images of a shirtless Ben combined with roses? Are they conditioned to salivate when Ben appears in any room? I just don’t get. She was so anti, and now she’s in love? Or is this just a pity party? On the bright side, I picked Monica as the extra bonus lady in my Bachelor fantasy pool as someone Ben would send home. WINNING!



Courtney on cover of Fitness Mag - April 2011

• Courtney’s little insecurity acting skills pay off. “When I’m not with you…it’s bringing me down…I’ve lost sight of everything” (lower lip bite). And after such a magic moment between Ben and Kacie B, he runs out to save the heart girl’s feelings. Ah, so he knows how into him Kacie is. He even admits he was going to give the rose to someone else and it seems like it was Kacie. But Ben is tricked into thinking that Courtney needs it more. I wonder what his reaction is to watching this all unfold on TV.
• Has Courtney swallowed Charlie Sheen and started spitting out his expressions? Isn’t the whole “WINNING!” thing a bit dated?  I liked the Jersey's Shore version of this expression.  When Mike "The Situation" took home twins from the bar to make out with, he called it "TWINNING."  Much more creative.
• Is Ben’s hair flat ironed at the rose ceremony? 
• I felt horrible for Emily after she tried to confront Ben about Courtney. Yes, she should focus on her own relationship with Ben, but when there’s one master manipulator creeping around, it’s hard to keep your eye on the prize. Emily is way too smart for this crowd. I just hope she can keep it together and find a way to avoid Courtney, because Court is not going to turn the other cheek on this one.
• It’s amazing how we have heard absolutely nothing from Elyse and Jamie yet. Jamie had such a high potential, and I fear Ben has missed the boat on this lady.
• Casey S is also beautiful, but she doesn’t really seem like the outdoorsy type either. I think her job at this point is to be the mole for Courtney.

I want to kiss you, Kacie, but we're being watched.

So we’re off to Puerto Rico next week!!! How exciting for Courtney, since she kindly revealed that she had just been there. Probably on a model shoot.  PR is where The Husband and I got married, so I couldn’t be more excited. Vieques is a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico. It’s made up of mostly little laid back inns in addition to the incredible W Hotel that has its own landing strip for planes.

As of now – my top choices for Ben are Kacie B, Jennifer and Emily (if she can hold it together). Lindzi seems like a little kid sister to Ben. I didn’t see him pay her any special attention this week and not sure she can get things back on track. I was surprised at how little she stood out considering she's the horse girl and they went on a horse date.  Why didn't she just gallop up to Ben and steal him and his horse away? I still like Jamie, but think she may be too far behind the others at this point. Who are your favorites? Do you think Ben has a chance of getting engaged at the end of this? Is Courtney good or evil? Do you buy that she’s interested in Ben or is it one big act? If you were Emily, how would you redeem yourself??