One Less Lonely Boy: Fantasy Week, Part 2

At the top of the episode, we’re reminded again of Gabby and ERICH’s fight about unnecessarily bringing more of their relationship on camera. Gabby walks back down the resort to him for a hug, a bit cooled off from her dramatic exit yesterday. ERICH has realized how much he hurt he, terrified of how he disturbed her certainty in their relationship.

“I think your heart is in the right place,” Gabby says, “but I have worked my ass off for there to be no questions about making good decisions.” It looks like her head is somewhere else.

But with sunrise, we are reborn again. Gabby tries her hand at tennis with JASON for the day-portion of their date, sharing his passion, him smiling that “she’s a natural.” The couple also feels very natural, playing and joking around together, acting as one normally would in an off-screen relationship. No helicopters or random hot tubs needed.

“Every time I see you, it’s like no time has passed,” Gabby gushes, watching herself falling in love with JASON. 

ERICH is having a TINO moment, slowly unraveling about Gabby’s date with JASON, knowing that she’s spending time with other guys when he’s alone. 

For the night-portion of the date, JASON can barely stop talking about his parents enough to focus on Gabby, feeling “teased” by seeing them. I do feel that JASON is a good and genuine guy. Her face visibly falls when he admits he’s not ready for an engagement. It might not have been what she wanted walking into this experience but it is something she sees for herself now. He can’t even see a future with her at all, unable to make a commitment without knowing the future. News flash! Even outside of reality tv, that’s not how it works. You need to take the jump first. See how it goes. Unless there’s a crystal ball I’m unaware of.

He tries to make up for it, saying he was feeling insecure but stayed because he likes her, but I don’t he realizes that everyone does at this point. At this stage in the game, everyone in fact feels MORE invested in Gabby than you. You are the outlier. Him saying “I kind of like you. I think you’re special” isn’t going to sign the deal. She would have to give up on a sure thing, someone in love with her and whom she is also falling in love with to pursue a maybe. Stranger things have happened but it really shows that he hasn’t seen the show before.

They decide to take the overnight portion to figure out their relationship off-camera. It’s giving Shannon Oliver from Alex Michael’s season (Bachelor #1). Shannon refused to let him kiss her because she hadn’t known him off-screen. Ultimately, after running in circles all night in the fantasy suite, JASON left.

“I’ve tried so hard not to be reckless with other people and he was reckless with me,” Gabby sobs in interviews, and my heart goes out to her. I think that much of Bachelor Nation, including Chatty Broads, was similarly fooled by JASON. “It’s not even that he didn’t want an engagement. He didn’t want me.”

With Rachel, ZACK shows up for her final date of the week, kissing tequila and making small talk about his parents. They eat crickets and wander around town. Their relationship feels the most normal, laughing and enjoying each other’s company, but she says there’s not the same *spark* as with TINO and AVEN (not that I personally see it with AVEN). I think love just means different things to both of them, which might make them incompatible. 

In the morning, it looks like they had a huge conversation. ZACK is visibly shaken. Their chemistry is all off, clipping at each other over coffee. He breaks down in front of Jesse, scared that Rachel’s doubt of his commitment is actually coming from her. I really like that they’ve moved the contestants back into separate living spaces, a policy instituted during Peter Weber’s season. Not only does it give them more privacy to process their emotions, it lets the men connect with the host more in a traditional way. Do I wish it were Kaitlyn and Tayshia? Yes. I have always felt they come off as more genuine than Jesse. But it’s still nice to not only hear the behind-the-scenes thoughts of contestants but give them someone “safe” to talk to. 

Speaking of lonely men, Gabby visits ERICH to tell him she loves him, that she’s broken up with JASON. It feels better than Katie Thurston’s season, almost settling for Blake, because it’s actually Gabby making all of the final decisions with her men. To leave JOHNNY. To not settle for JASON’s maybe. And good thing we got some kind of closure because we’ve had two episodes this week and we STILL no rose ceremony. 

One thing is for certain. After last week’s ad episode and this week’s missing rose ceremonies, America is going to be pissed.