Guilty Pleasure: The Bachelor – Season 19, Episode 5 Recap
Monday brought a dreadful mix of snow, ice and a deep freeze outside, but inside it was heating up for Chris and the girls on Season 19, Episode 5 of The Bachelor.
The setting switched to Santa Fe, New Mexico. This week the show will consist of two one-on-one dates and one group date.
Carly, the bubbly, petite blonde, lucked out for the first one-on-one. The voiceover has our bachelor questioning his chemistry with her, so he is anxious to see if sparks fly. This winds up being a rather awkward “first date” as they go to a love and intimacy mentor. They walk into her studio to find the woman sitting cross-legged on a blanket in a meditative state. Chris’ voiceover continues, saying, “If this expert can’t get the chemistry going between us, then she isn’t the girl for me.”
Things progress and get a little hot and heavy when Carly is asked to blindfold Chris and explore him. She is directed to appeal to Chris’ senses of touch, taste and smell by feeding him an assortment of fruits.
The next directive asks both of them to de-mask themselves by shedding clothing. Come on! This is ABC not the Playboy Channel!
Carly says, “This is really uncomfortable, especially for a first date.” Duh. As it turned out, our bachelor was also uncomfortable, so they decided not to go any further.
The love guru asks both to reveal their innermost fear. Chris’ response, “I fear I can’t find love.” Carly’s response, “I fear I’m not worthy.” Carly confided that her last relationship lasted for two years and he never wanted to touch her. What’s with that? Carly, you just wasted two years with the wrong guy!
Our bachelor got real cozy with Carly, he kissed her and let her know he would like to take it to the next level when he offered her a rose.
Meanwhile, back at the girls’ suite, the next date card arrived with the clue to where the date would take place, “I am rapidly falling in love.” Attached is the list of girls going on the group date.
Drama. Kelsey’s fangs start to come out as she admits that being included in this group date is unacceptable. She was hoping for the next one-on-one to have alone time with Chris.
The girls find themselves at a white water rafting site. The counselor starts out with a cautionary instruction, “Don’t stand up in the rapids. Your foot may get caught under a rock and you could get dragged down.” Anyone who has white water rafted knows that counselor wasn’t just trying to frighten the girls.
One girl, Jade, did fall out of the raft. Chris immediately and gallantly pulled her back inside the raft. Once back on dry land, Chris proceeded to rub Jade’s feet and hands. It seems Jade has a condition where cold causes her hands and feet to go numb. Of all the girls to fall into the water, Jade had some bad luck. But Chris’ gallantry caused the other girls to get jealous of her.
More drama ensues that night. The group of girls were about to enjoy an evening with Chris as their centerpiece when suddenly he goes missing. It turns out that Jordan, a girl Chris had let go a few weeks ago shows up asking for a second chance. She appealed to Chris’ kind nature. He had let her go originally because she was drinking way too much and didn’t seem to be there for the right reason. After a heart-to-heart, Chris gives in and Jordan gets her second chance. Chris escorts her into the living room where the other girls have been waiting for him and all smiles turn to frowns. Some of the girls are down-right angry, and jealousy rears its ugly head once again.
The pressure becomes too much for Chris, so he pulls Jordan aside and tells her he made a mistake in agreeing to give her the second chance. She’s out once more. Chris’ final action that night was to hand the rose of the evening to Whitney. That ensures Whitney will return next week and, once again, jealousy reigns with the other girls.
At dawn, Chris is at Britt’s bedside waking her for their one-on-one special date. She turns over and sleepily peers out through her eyelashes. It seems Britt sleeps in total make-up from glittery eye shadow framing those lashes, to rose blush, to glowing lip gloss.
Chris steals her away, surprising her with an adventure—they are going for a ride in a hot air balloon. Britt is beside herself with joy.
After the romantic ride, things heat up even more behind closed doors. The viewers are left to their own imagination as to what actually happened. Britt later brags to the girls that they took a two-hour nap together. This infuriates Kelsey who makes her move. She disappears from the other girls and winds up knocking on Chris’ door. He is surprised by this visit. She takes this opportunity to disclose her sad history. It seems she had been married to her “soul mate,” but he died suddenly from a massive heart attack. Now this girl is a pretty good actress. Tears well up in her eyes as she discloses her heartbreaking story. She goes on to dramatically add, “Every day is a gift. Life is precious and I don’t want to waste a minute.” Chris comforts her. He puts an arm around her, and that’s Kelsey’s cue to manipulate a kiss out of him. They wind up oh-so cozy, kissing several times.
Cut to next scene. Kelsey is talking to the camera. She smirks and says, “Isn’t my story amazing? It’s tragic, but amazing. I love my story. I’m picking up the pieces. So glad for the first kiss written in the story books.” She adds with assurance, “I will be getting a rose tonight. Stay tuned, Monday night at 8.”
The other girls filter into the cocktail party, but tension hangs in the air ever since Britt boasted about her “nap” with Chris.
To make matters worse, the host, Chris Harrison, tells the girls there will be no cocktail party. Our bachelor needs some time alone. The girls find out that Kelsey visited Chris and relayed her “tragic” story. Once again, the rest of the girls feel cheated—this time by Kelsey.
Final drama—when Kelsey learns the cocktail party has been canceled, she panics. Next scene, she is writhing on the bathroom floor in hysterics.
No cocktail party and for the first time that I can recall—”No Rose Ceremony” is splashed across the screen! (Is this because Jordan was expected to bolster the numbers?)
Stay tuned…
The Bachelor airs on ABC every Monday at 8 p.m.
Barbara Anne Kirshner is the author of Madison Weatherbee-The Different Dachshund.