More Drama, Less Respect: Bachelor Week 3
After two weeks of no drama, Zach is still feeling stressed about his journey®, talking to his new bestie former-Bachelor Sean Lowe again about the struggles of having 30+ women fawning over you. Oh, the horror!
When KAITY gets announced as the first 1-on-1, CHRISTINA expresses she feels “weirded out” by the thought of him being with someone else. Zach walks in, ready for his date with KAITY, all dressed to pick her up, but decided to chill with the women on the couch for a few minutes, showing some PDA with KAITY. It’s a questionable move from Zach. I’m sure he means no harm, but the jealousy among the women definitely sets the tone for the episode.
KAITY and Zach go to the National History museum after hours. She talks about her ex, whom she was on and off with for 7 years(!). He admits he thought of her immediately for the date. She wants to feel safe and he makes her feel that way, her giving him butterflies. I don’t see much deepness to their relationship, but I can tell they’re having more emotions off-camera. He’s almost trying to keep her private. I think she’s going to stay for a while.
And then the most dramatic part of the whole episode: he asks her to stay the night in the museum with him! Like an overnight! Very Kaitlyn Bristow of him.
They put on pjs, race around the museum, take pictures goofing around, and sleep in a tent. When KAITY gets back, half asleep, the women are definitely jealous.
For the big group date, the women play football for more time. Zach says he used to play football in college, so it’s a natural fit—unlike the dozens of NFL contestants over the years? I could tell it was about to get ugly before it event started.
The teams are the “Shall-Crushers” and “Ball-Zachs.” Who came up with these? There’s no denying the show understands the innuendo, host Hannah Storm saying the team’s color is blue, “hence the name.”
There’s an injury before kickoff even starts, the women playing around and wrestling. They have no idea what they’re doing—except ANASTASIA, who gets to chill out for the game next to Zach. GABI got tackled by surprise and peed her pants. It’s a mess. The Blue Team wins, CHRISTINA body tackling like an NFL veteran, spraying Champagne on each other around the field to celebrate.
During the afterparty, CHRISTINA feels insecure about her relationship with Zach and shares her experience and reassurance with the other women, but it makes them uncomfortable. It was obviously a catalyst for future drama, but I don’t see any malice. She’s used to sharing so much of her life online, and I’m sure producers are forcing them all into these conversations. BROOKLYN confronts her about talking too much about her connection and her 1-on-1. At this point, not much has happened. What else is she supposed to talk about? The women are stressed and insecure already? IT’S ONLY BEEN ONE WEEK!!
When BAILEY confronts him about their connection, seeking validation, Zach admits he feels the same and dumps her. I feel like the women are shooting themselves in the foot, worrying about their connections and trying to manipulate Zach into validation. It’s not working with him. He’s not playing games. The rose goes to CHARITY even though we didn’t even see them speak. When CHRISTINA voices her confusion, probably thinking she would get the rose after her conversation with Zach, the women gang up on her, calling her selfish and manipulative. CHARITY cries. The whole night goes downhill fast. It’s evident when KATHERINE says “our friend just went home,” urging CHRISTINA not to make it all about her, that CHRISTINA doesn’t feel the same way. She doesn’t have a connection with any of the women there. She’s not friends with any of them. Though I don’t think she meant anything by her comments, but having no real connections within the house is a red flag.
ALI gets sent a wedding jumpsuit for her 1-on-1 date, but it turns out she and Zach are jumping out of a plane instead of walking down the aisle. Hasn’t the Bachelor learned from Matt James’ season? They both land okay, sharing a classic Bachelor hot tub in a vineyard. She shares about wanting to be able to feel safe and selfish in a relationship, putting herself first, and they slow-dance featuring a country star we’ve never heard of before. It’s an overall classic Bachelor date.
Back at the mansion, our traditional cocktail party is traded in for a pool party. By the end of the day, Zach’s looking a little red—both flustered and sunburnt. BRIANNA isn’t feeling it with Zach anymore, feeling neglected and bored, but she doesn’t leave without placing a bee in Zach’s bonnet about CHRISTINA. He confronts her immediately, discussing his opinion with the other women as well, but we don’t really get his answer until the rose ceremony.
ROSES: Kaity, Charity, Ali, Jess, Gabi, Ariel, Genevie, Greer, Katherine, Kylee, Davia, Anastasia, Brooklyn, and Mercedes.
CHRISTINA is the ONLY ONE to go home without a rose. Kaitlyn Bristow has criticized Chris Soules for this during her own send-home from his season. If a lead is only sending one person home, do it privately. Putting on a show sends a bad vibe to viewers that the lead is playing more into the theatrics of the show than actual relationships. Do I think Zach made the “wrong choice” by sending CHRISTINA home? No. If he liked her more, he would have made excuses and she would have stayed. But this rose ceremony gave me bad vibes about Zach. So many of his relationships appear very surface-level yet remained. I wonder if he’ll find love at all, too concerned about being a “good Bachelor.” Only time will tell.
