Week 7 ~ The Blindside

Week 7 - and it's off to Warsaw, Indiana, Ben's hometown.

To begin this week off Ben meets up with his parents and gives them the lowdown on the women.

The chat Ben has with his parents about the remaining women is very telling. 

"There's just something about her."

"She's an identical twin."

Uh, yah... something tells me Emily isn't going to make it too far.

The definite frontrunners are Lauren and JoJo based on the description he gave to his parents and possibly Amanda but...

I am definitely worried for Amanda when Ben admitted he has given no thought to the whole fact that she is a mom, with two little girls. That is huge! 

Back at the ladies' house, Ben asks Lauren to go on a date directly in front of the other women, that validation really strikes some serious pain among the remaining women.

That face says it all.

Ben shows off his hometown to Lauren and we take some time to learn just how great Ben really is.  He was super cute with those kids.  Heart. Melting. Ovaries. Exploding.



Ok, moving on... Lauren and Ben have a great date, talk things out and he's basically in love with her - we can all see it.  She admits she's in love, to the camera, not to him... it's all with the warm and fuzzies.

On to JoJo and Ben's one-on-one at Wrigley field in Chicago.  Cue the romantic, heartfelt music while they play and "eat" on the field - swoon... 

Mrs Higgins & Mr Higgins 

At the house the women discuss how feelings are now developing and it's all "shoot, dang, he's going out with someone else".  Quoting Becca, the virgin.  Because only a 26yr old virgin could talk that way. 

We then spend a lot of time working out JoJo's emotional dilemma.  She wants to open up... but she can't... but she's trying... but she's scared.  And in the midst of it all so much romantical music... gushing, just gushing...

How awesome is this?

    Group date time, limo ride looks fun and not at all uncomfortable.

They show up to a farm, all wearing heels, because apparently no one gave them a heads up. 

The girls all acknowledge how awkward the group date is at this point and not one of them wants to be on it, luckily for the girls 2 were set to go, 1 would stay.





Ben leans over Becca to hand the group date rose to Amanda - which also means he's going to meet her family, which is a big deal considering Amanda has children and really deserves this extra time with him to figure out if he should meet them or not.



However, the one-on-one time took Ben and Amanda at McD's - so perk up Becca, because umm, not really the most magical date. 

If I'm going on The Bachelor I expect helicopters, fireworks and hot tubs... not paper cups and Egg McMuffins.  Am I right?

Emily meets Ben's parents on her one-on-one and the poor girl was so nervous she just went on and on and on... keep in mind she IS only 23!  Is she really ready for marriage at 23?

It was kinda painful to watch because I like this twin, but Emily rambled... and overshared, really overshared. 

Apparently she never sees ducks, doesn't like vegetables and really dreams of being an NFL cheerleader - go Denver Broncos!  Huh, good to know. 

And after Ben's mom chatted with him I think it's safe to say where she stands on his future with this identical twin.

"She just really young.. so young.. very young..." 







Bye bye Emily... I have to say, I was surprised to see all the women tearing up over her departure, but I'm glad he let her go before the rose ceremony. 

 

Becca is let go at the rose ceremony, but I don't think it was a huge surprise for her, even though she claimed to be blindsided... really? 

Here are the final four:

Lauren, Amanda, JoJo and Caila move onto hometown dates.

Hope you're as excited as I am!

I'm just going to take a moment and say my goodbyes...

Until next week ~xo KP

Ben started off the season with 26 lovely, sometimes crazy, ladies and "unexpectedly" 2 more join the group... enter Becca and Amber, both from previous seasons. Becca, best known for being a 26yr old virgin, and Amber, who did not succeed in finding love on either The Bachelor or Bachelor in Paradise. Might be time to hang up her hopes... just sayin'.

The first night proved interesting, as usual, complete with a rose hat, twins, Spanish-speaking beautys, a pony and a dental check up. Never a dull moment. 

I'm going to take this moment to mention, if you're not staying tuned long enough for the credits, you're really missing out on some fantastic moments. The credits are, sometimes, my favourite part of the episode. The clips shown are even better than the blooper reel they always show at the finale.

Ok, back to the recap (because let's face it, I have a lot to cover).

Lace went right for it, giving Ben the very first kiss of the season. Olivia scored the first impression rose and Lauren R. confessed to being a Bachelor-stalker... always attractive to a man.

During the rose ceremony Lace was quite upset Ben wasn't making eye contact with her. She DID get a rose however, along with 21 other hopefuls.

During week 2 the girls went Back To School. How much did you love Chris Harrison in spectacles?

Lace now angered the women by trying to work in as much time with Ben as possible, always using her time wisely (please note my sarcasm, because this is "lace-d with it). I predicted her departure, I was pretty shocked that she chose to leave, not how I saw this going.

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube create a hilarious date between Caila and Ben, turning their one-on-one into a foursome.

We go to a science lab and find out Samantha stinks and Olivia and Ben have the best chemistry. Not for long, as we'll find out later on in one of the most memorable departures (or lack thereof).

In the next episode we can easily see the infatuation building between Lauren B and Ben. The group date is a soccer game with the women really showing their "ah-em" skills.

Jubilee gets a one-on-one and we finally get a glimpse into what makes her tick. Turns out she's just like most of us and doesn't do well trying to fight with multiple other women for time with her man. I doubt many women could do well under these circumstances. I mean, really, think about it. How much time do you figure each woman really gets with Ben? 20 minutes? 30? A week... yikes.

I feel like Amber really sealed her fate in this episode but Ben had already gifted her with the group date rose so she made it through another week.

Week 4 we head to Vegas baby where Ben says goodbye to one of the twins, Haley. Emily is staying on with her sister's blessing and with one twin gone I really hope we finally get to see more of Emily's personality. I feel she's a real spitfire with loads of great commentary to come.

On the group date the women need to showcase their special talents for a Las Vegas show, JoJo gets a one-on-one and a rose and Becca and Ben share a cute date marrying other couples. Becca also receives a rose.

Olivia's "talent"

In week 5 the girls head to Mexico City and a cooking class where Jubilee really starts to self destruct. Her departure becomes inevitable at this point and I'm sad for it because I feel like she could have really been a frontrunner. If only she could get out of her own head.

Ben takes Amanda off (at 4:30 in the morning) in a hot air balloon, she gets a rose. Lauren H and Ben model, she gets a rose and showcases her unbelievable horrible taste in fashion. That is, if she actually meant it when she claimed to think Ben looked "really hot" in that shirt.

It's during this episode that Emily tells Ben about Olivia's bad behaviour... usually sealing one's own fate, but Ben gives both another chance... and a rose. The seed is planted in his head now though that all might not be as it appears with his first impression winner.



Week 6... and it's off to the Bahamas! Yay for some fun in the sun.

... or not.



The girls open up about their hate-on for Olivia and her confident "Ben is MY husband" attitude and on the two-on-one date with Emily and Olivia, Olivia is shockingly sent home. But first she is left alone on a seemingly deserted island... left to watch Ben and Emily enjoying their time only feet away. It was awesome.

My pick for the obvious front runners at this point are:
1) Lauren B (even the other women are commenting about her and Ben's connection)
2) JoJo - I worry they may venture into the friends only circle and stay there though
3) Amanda - while she's super sweet and Ben seems to like her, I doubt he wants a ready-made family
4) Becca - they have a great connection, but I think her virginity might prove to be too much for Ben to handle

Only 6 women remain as we head into week 7... it's getting good!

Ok, now that we are all caught up I will dive into each remaining episode in more detail. 

I will miss Olivia and these magical moments...

I'm just going to take a moment and say my goodbyes...

Until next week ~xo KP