Quarantine Tayshia: Week 6

In case you were wondering, it looks like the toxic masculinity is in full force this episode.   I am here for it.  The timing is a little strange, because it's the second group date since Tayshia arrived, but it kicks off this week's episode.  That's neither here nor there.  

Grown Man Challenge

Ugh, Ashley and Jared are the hosts of this date.  At the end of the day, one guy will be crowned a "grown ass man" and another will get the "man-child" title.  I can't wait!  My guess is Chasen will get the "man child" title.  Thankfully, Bennett is on this date and it's nice to have him back.  Scratch that--Bennett, might get the man-child title because he's acting super weird.  He's also proof that he got into Harvard because of his money and connections and not because he's brilliant.  I find it strange that he seems to be getting a bad edit on this episode.  

The next challenge is sort of a reverse tug of war.  It's very Titan Games-esque.  The only reason Ed has made it this far into the season is because of the Clare shenanigans.  Bennett claims he can't compete because of an old polo sailing equestrian lacrosse football injury.  Sure, B, sure.

Next the guys have to make breakfast in bed for Tayshia.  It's lame.  Here are the highlights:

1. Another guy whose name I still can't remember seems to think Scottsdale started "Sunday Fundays."  
2. Ed does the lame, "sit on my back while I do push ups" move.
3. Bennett, in his bathrobe and clearly with no shirt on, complains about Chasen taking his shirt off.  Bennett--who did you piss off?  Is he the new villain now that Dale is gone?  

Ed gets the man child award and Bennett gets the Grown Man Award, demonstrating that there was no rhyme or reason to this entire date.  Bennett thanks Tayshia by shoving his tongue down Tayshia's mouth.  I'm so confused by this date but unfortunately it's not quite over.

Bennett still has his robe on at the after party and it's very cringey.  I'm dismayed that Chasen also says "cringey" to describe Bennett's behavior.  Of course Chasen starts complaining about Bennett winning.  Guys--this was a move by producers to stir the pot.  It's so obvious.  They gave it to the guy who clearly didn't "earn" it so you guys will be pissed and start bullying him.  You're all falling for it!  It doesn't matter!  

Tayshia arrives and gives Bennett a funny look.  He immediately tries to pull her aside but Tayshia says she wants to say hi to the other guys, to which he smarmily sneers, "whatever the girl wants." WTF is happening right now?  This is a fascinating study in how the producers can show two completely personas of a single person in this show.  Chasen asks if he can pull Tayshia away and she's extremely grateful that she doesn't have to talk to Bennett.  

Ugh, Bennett tells Chasen he's not excited enough for Tayshia.  Leave poor, simple Chasen alone, if only because his nickname is Wolverine, which is confusing.  This episode is so bad in it's chest puffing.  Ed spends his time with Tayshia throwing Chasen under the bus which is such a quick way to get yourself booted.  Tayshia, who when was asked by one of the guys what her career was, vaguely alluded to the fact that her job title is "Influencer", is annoyed that Chasen says he also wants to be an Influencer.  I mean, obviously, that's what they all want, but you just don't say it, you know?  It's so new money to talk about your Influencer ambitions.  

Tayshia for some reason decides to waste time clearing things up with Chasen and of course Chasen smooths things over with Tayshia.  Chasen goes to confront Ed and it feels like a terribly acted soap opera.  It's bizarre and lame and as Tayshia is on her way back to rejoin the guys, Ed shushes Chasen, who, to his credit, refuses to be shushed.  There's lots of throwing around the term "grown-ass man" and what determines what a man is.  Fortunately, Ben the Army vet tells us what a true man is (thank you Ben!):

1. Grown ass men DON'T argue.  So...they're just "yes men"?
2. They ARE kind.
3. They ARE humble.
4. They protect those who can't protect themselves (women and children, presumably.  Also, baby deer.  No wait, he probably hunts deer.  Ummm...puppies and kittens).
5. They don't **** on national TV about some stuff. (Didn't follow this one but obviously he's right because he's BEN and has white male privilege).

For all of the attempts that this show has made to increase diversity, have you noticed that the only dudes that have gotten ANY screen time on this date are the white guys?  Ivan's gotten some time (and he gets the rose), but the Joe (the doctor) hasn't gotten anything, nor have the other two black guys on this date.  Do you know why I don't know their names?  Because they haven't gotten any screen time!  So frustrating. Ben is also frustrated that he didn't get the rose especially since he so clearly defined manhood for us.  Chin up, Ben.

Cocktail Party

Apparently they're having the Rose Ceremony smack dab in the middle of this episode.  I always get a little out of sorts when they do this, especially in this challenging year, but I'm resilient so I should be fine.  Anyhoo, Chasen makes a speech about people questioning his character.  Boy Band Manager has again forgotten to button his shirt up all the way.  Who has time for such things when you're practicing your looks of shock at what people say?  Thankfully, Bennett has changed back into clothes.  Chasen calls out Ed, who stands by what he said.  Chasen--chill out.  Ed will go home soon enough. 

The thing that I didn't articulate before about Ed and Chasen's bickering is that it was a result of Chasen having the gall to describe Clare and Tayshia using the same adjectives.  Fortunately, Chasen has come up with a new adjective for Tayshia--smoke show. I don't think smoke show is an adjective, it seems more like a noun. The men openly snicker and Chasen looks genuinely hurt and confused by this reaction.  Another fun fact we learn from Bennett--Ed got a perfect score on his math SATs.  This is how I imagine this revealing itself when they met:

Bennett: My name is Bennett and I went to Harvard.  

Ed:  Oh yeah?  I'm Ed and I look like a Neanderthal because of my heavy forehead and beady eyes. But I got a perfect score on my Math SATs so I'm really smart.

Bennett:  That's great!  I didn't have to do well on the SATs because I went to a prep school and my dad bought a building at Harvard.  Also, how old are you?  Why are you still talking about your SAT scores now that you're in your early to mid-30s?  I can brag about Harvard for the rest of my life but you bragging about your SATs is odd.

Ed: I do it because I'm insecure.  Just so you know, I totally could have gotten into Harvard but I didn't want to.  In high school I had this girlfriend who was a model and she lived in Canada.  For immigration reasons she couldn't go to Massachusetts, so if she couldn't visit me there, I didn't want to go to school there, you know?  

Bennett:  Oh yeah, bro.  I totally get it.  I mean, I don't, because I had an actual girlfriend in high school who went to the sister school from my male prep school, but yeah. 

Ben pulls Tayshia aside and shovels horse s*** about how he loves that she wants somebody to be their authentic self and that, like, totally resonates with him?  For some reason Tayshia seems smitten. 

Ed and Bennett continue to mock Chasen, especially the fact that Chasen thinks smoke show is an adjective.  The other guys sitting nearby laugh and smile awkwardly because they also weren't aware that "smoke show" was a noun and not an adjective.

Ed again talks about Chasen to Tayshia and you can tell by her face that like us, she doesn't care about this.  Please stop talking Ed.  I hoped that I would like Ed if we got to know him and his beady eyes a bit more, but the more he talks the more I want him gone.  

Ed tells Tayshia that Chasen intimidated him last night (did they show this? If so, I totally missed it).  Tayshia pulls Chasen aside, Chasen admits he did intimidate Ed to Tayshia, which she's unhappy about.  Then Chasen pulls a, "I'm sorry if you felt threatened by me last night", again, not an apology and Bennett and Boy Band the busy bodies insert themselves into Chasen and Ed's conversation.  These guys are all such drama queens.

Rose Ceremony

Ben is the guy version of the woman that cries throughout her ITM that she's not sure if she's getting a rose.  It's exhausting.  Demar was the other guy that wasn't on the date.  I've also noticed that we've seen nothing of Eazy, so it's unclear if he's been edited out because of the allegations I mentioned last week or if the producers think that because they have a Black and Mexican lead, that they can ignore pretty much all of the other guys of color on this episode, as they already have.  Ed miraculously makes it another week as does Chasen.  

The two new guys from Massachusetts get sent home as does Straitjacket guy.  Chaesen is really focused on his new noun adjective.  Even if the guys weren't impressed, he's clearly very proud and he's sticking with it.

New Day, New Group Date

This is the cage match date they've been promoting all episode.  Forget what I said about Eazy, he's back.  I know Bennett's getting an odd edit overall, but he increasingly reminds me of Jared Kushner and I hate looking at him.  The guys meet Tayshia at the date and Tayshia is joined by two badass women.  I'm really glad to see that Joe is getting some more screen time because he's adorable and funny.  I hope this doesn't mean he's going home soon.

Chris tells the guys that they're going to be wrestling in front of a "live" audience and by "live" I assume he means the other guys.  

Sure enough, the spectators are the other guys.  Wells Adams is auditioning for the role of co-announcer this week.  It appears they've converted an indoor basketball court as the scene for tonight's event.  Tayshia paints oil onto the guys.  It's icky.  

It's unclear what the rules are but instead of mud wrestling, it's oiled-up men wrestling.  Everyone is too slippery to take down.  I won't bore you with the details because nothing really happened. As you'd expect, Chasen and Ed are matched up against each other and I'm expecting Ed to get his ass kicked.  Wait, Ed waits until now to slink over to Chris and tell him he has bad shoulders that "chronically dislocate" so, you know, he's super bummed, but he can't compete.  It's unclear why this was edited the way it was.  It's like Ed told the producers he didn't want to do it and they said, "that's fine, let Tayshia oil you up anyway, it's not a big deal."  And then he got matched up and he had to go over to Chris and say, "I told the producers I couldn't do this but I guess they didn't tell you?"

Again, the coming attractions have misled us.  Since Ed pussied out, Chris asks if anyone wants to "fight for Tayshia's heart" and THAT's the reason Mustache jumps in the ring.  I mean, he still shows off by jumping the fence, but he didn't jump unprodded as we were led to believe.  Anyway, Chasen faces off against Noah, and Chasen wins the match and apparently the entire event.  Again, this whole "competition" doesn't appear to have any real rules.  Which is fine because I'm ready to move on from this date.  There's still an after party and Tayshia invites Noah along and the other guys are pissed at Noah but dare I say, this blame is misdirected.  Chris asked if anybody wanted to step in and if Noah didn't volunteer, I guarantee somebody else would have, so as much as I hate to defend him, I don't think Noah's in the wrong here.  

It looks like the guys were allowed to shower off that disgusting oil.  Of course Noah pulls Tayshia away first so the guys are further pissed.  Noah and Tayshia make out and it's gross but she asks him to shave off his mustache and to his credit, he goes to shave it off.  Ben is gunning for the Group Date rose and I can tell you now his plan is going to backfire.  He wants to be the last one to talk to her and it's clear he's not going to get a chance to talk to her.  Even if he does get his chance, I think Noah is getting the rose if he does shave off the mustache.    

Tayshia shaves off Noah's mustache and they make out more and I lose my appetite again.  Noah looked 15 before and now looks 12.  Tayshia sits down with the guys to give out the rose and it's clear that Ben has lost his chance.  Ben asks if he can talk to her and Tayshia says, "Ben...the night is over."  OUCH.  Of course Tayshia gives the rose to Noah and the guys are, of course, pissed.   

Credits

In the credits, we see Brendan showing Tayshia how to ride a different kind of horse and it is so funny and endearing, this sentence doesn't do it justice but I am totally rooting for Brendan and I'm really glad he's emerging as a front runner.

Closing Thoughts

These are the things I've been thinking about:

1. I listen to a few Bachelor-related podcasts and none of the podcast hosts had the same reaction I did to Bennett and his robe.  Am I the only one that read his robe as creepy?
2. You know how hotels and resorts give their conference rooms names that revolve around a theme?  What theme do you think La Quinta uses?  Maybe desert birds?  Cactus names?
3. I was stalking Ed's IG to see if he's better looking there I could gain a better understanding of him and I found this:

Is that guy on the far right Ed?  If so, what happened?  At least in this picture he's generically good looking in a 90s boy band way but he looks like a different person.  Based on the comments, this picture was taken years ago.

Quarantine Tayshia: Week 1/5?

I don't know what to call show anymore.  Clayshia week 5?  Tayshia, Week 1?  It doesn't really matter.  In case you were hiding for some reason (seriously, no judgement), Clare ran off into the sunset with Dale last week and Tayshia is now the Bachelorette.  Now you're all caught up.

Clare who?

Most of the guys are psyched when Tayshia walks in.  Remember when Clare met Dale and got heart eyes?  It's the flip in that most of the guys now have heart eyes for Tayshia.  As they should because I've always really liked her (at least as far as I remember). No surprise, a lot of the guys start back pedaling and insist this is all working out for the best because Tayshia is more their type than Clare ever was.  Within the first few interactions that Tayshia has, we learn more about these guys than we ever learned when Clare was on. For example, Riley is a medical malpractice attorney.  I forgot he was an attorney (if I ever knew).  He also said he did personal injury, which gives off Ambulance Chaser vibes, but I'm going to push that aside.

Tayshia is talking to Brendan (not) from Menden when Chris pulls her away (already?).  The guys are alarmed, as they should be.  They have a bit of PTSD.  Chris tells her there are more guys coming in for her.  Fresh blood!  

New Meat

Kenny/Boy Band Manager needs to go.  To be honest, I don't pay too much attention to the new crop of guys, although Montel stands out because he's from Boston and is wearing...a salmon colored coat.  The guys are not welcoming to the new guys, it is quite awkward.  Wait, there's also Peter from FRAMINGHAM?!  I don't know Peter from Framingham, but I live right next door to him.  Noah seems like a POS but it could be the weird mustache.

Spencer, one of the new guyw, steals Tayshia away and of course the veterans hate him. Clearly he doesn't know his place.  Spencer gets the First Impression Rose and I think the veterans are going to smother him in his sleep.  Spencer gives me Derek vibes (who I think was on JoJo's season, but better known for his time on BIP).  Tayshia cancels the Rose Ceremony and all of the guys breathe a huge sigh of relief.

UGH, A Break in the Action

Chris mistakenly seems to think that we still care about Clare and Dale.  So he interrupts the regularly scheduled programming to sit down with them.  It's what you'd expect and it's a complete waste of time.  The weirdest moment is when Chris asks them what's next. Clare gleefully shouts "babies" and Dale's heart stops pretends he didn't hear her.  Poor guy.

First Group Date

Since the strip Dodgeball game went so well, for the first group date withTayshia, the guys are put in Speedos for some bizarre pool game.  Sigh.  Again, Fred Willard, RIP.  The guys play water basketball.  It's intense.  Blake still has PTSD from dodgeball game and he's determined he's not going back to the villa.  Kenny already has a nickname for her--T.   Spencer gets elbowed in the mouth but he's fine.  Blue Team wins.  As it happens, this is NOT the team that Blake is on and he's really pissed.  No matter, because we don't really see any scenes from the winner's BBQ and before we know it, all of the group date guys are back together again for the cocktail party.

The green team rejoins the winners and again, we learn way more about these guys than we did in the first few weeks.  For some inexplicable reason, Tayshia seems to like Kenny, despite the fact that he either can't button his shirts or refuses to.  I can't decide which is worst--probably the latter.  But he does call Spencer a dick and Riley calls Spencer "lunch meat".  I'm going to put this out there--I'm not sure Spencer is here for the right reasons.  Thankfully, Eazy finally gets a group date rose.  Tayshia does a good job of going around and saying nice things about a handful of guys and then giving the rose to one of them.  And yes, I have heard about the allegations against Eazy, which is disappointing.  It doesn't appear that Eazy's screen time has been cut since Reality Steve shared his news.

Jason Can't Get Over Himself

Jason for some bizarre reason can't get over Clare so he decides to leave.  I think what he really needs is a good therapist but I'm afraid he'd probably just fall in love with his therapist.  He goes to tell Tayshia goodbye.  Tayshia tells him that he's delusional if he thinks he's in love with Clare it's fine. Tayshia seems mildly disappointed but I think Tayshia dodged a bullet because we know from his one-on-one date with Clare that Jason has a lot of issues that he needs to work through.

Brendan from Not Mendon's One-on-One

In what might be one of the strangest dates we've seen, Tayshia and Brendan ride horses around the La Quinta resort.  Chris appears out of a mirage to offer them margaritas while they ride their horses.  Then he offers them ice cream, then cold coconuts(?).  Brendan accuses Chris of cock-blocking him.  He's complaining about not being able to kiss Tayshia but I think the horses are the real blockers here--how can you kiss somebody when you're riding horses?  They finally get a chance to make out in teh pool.  

Evening Portion

We haven't had enough opportunities to play the game I've been wanting to play all season long--the Big Reveal Game.  What deep dark secret is Brendan going to reveal to Tayshia?  Here are some guesses:

1. Parents are divorced so he's never seen a "good" example of a marriage.
2. He was a fat kid and was bullied (although I think Chasen already used this one).
3. He used to have glasses and was bullied.
4. His cousin died of an overdose.

Wrong!  His deep dark secret is HE'S divorced.  I know he's worried but Tayshia is also divorced, which he may have forgotten, so the good news for Brendan is he'll be fine.  

Brendan didn't do it for me initially, but he's cuter now that the camera is staying on him for longer than a split second.  He says him and his ex did "a counseling", which I assume means they went to counseling once but didn't like it.  He also says that his ex wasn't sure if kids were in her future, which could either mean two things--either she wasn't sure she wanted children (or she didn't want children with HIM), or she couldn't have children and he dumped her, which would be super-douchy of him.

Nevertheless, Brendan is relieved that they have so much in common.  Tayshia wants five kids(!).  Good Lord.  She might think she does, but that's a lot of kids.  I originally thought that Brendan was wearing a t-shirt, but it's some kind of patterned knit shirt(?).  And of course La Quinta sets off fireworks for them.  There's no sign of a musical act.  A few guys see the fireworks over the villas.  Tayshia is ready to marry Brendan, but clearly not in a Clare way.  She's still wants to assess the other options.

Next Week

The testosterone is in full effect next week and I'm here for it.  The closing credits show Ed (?) and Bennett (who's screen time has plummeted) talking about weirdo Noah's weirdo mustache.  It's unclear to me why Ed hasn't been sent home yet, even with all of the Clare drama.  Unlike Brendan, I don't think my perception of Ed is going to change with him getting more screen time.

Quarantine Clare: Week 4

 Wow.  What a week.  If there was a time that I needed this show as a distraction, it was this week.  As usual, I have no idea what to expect in this episode. I'm hoping the tone is more positive than it was last week but we'll see.

The episode opens with some of the guys going on and on about the previous night's lack of a date rose.  It's lame and not worth recapping.  Then we see Clare playing MASH writing in her journal.  Chris arrives on her doorstep for an intervention.  I don't remember seeing Chris swear before, and it's not mad swearing, it's "he's looking for honesty from Clare" swearing.  I sincerely hope that Clare doesn't get s*** from people about her checking her guys out pre-production because anybody that claims s/he wouldn't do that is a total liar.  Clare swears on her father's grave that her and Dale weren't in contact prior to production. Chris' expression is hard to read--it's unclear if he's pissed or happy.  He fake wipes a tear away as she gushes about how much she's in love with Dale and guilt trips her with the "congratulations, you've officially blown up the Bachelorette" line.  Chris, shut up.  

Chris Breaks the News

The guys are all sitting on the couch and I am blown away by the range of wardrobe choices.  Boy Band Manager is constantly in the same tank top while Anesthesiologist looks handsome in his crisp white button down.  Brendan from Mendon is wearing a mock turtleneck, which seems like an odd choice for Palm Springs IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER.  Though it is a dry heat, so I could see if he's used to humidity, it might feel chilly.  Okay, Brendan, I'll give it a pass  Dale sits awkwardly on his chair avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Chris walks in and tells the guys there won't be a cocktail OR Rose Ceremony tonight.  They are justifiably confused and Chris says he'll see the guys tomorrow and asks to speak to Dale outside, which increases the awkwardness.  Chris tells Dale to go get his woman and in his ITMs, Dale looks like the cat that got the canary.

Lady in Red

Clare is wearing her best pushup bra and might be in the dress she was planning on wearing for her final rose.  Listen, I love red dresses, but this dress is a LOT.  It's a weird look for a dinner date. It looks like it has flowers on it, but they look like sequin-y flowers.  It has a very Jessica Rabbit meets Black Swan feel.

Dale arrives and seems nervous.  Clare pours her heart out and again, it's a lot.  Dale is very hard to read during this, he has more of a poker face than I'll ever have.  We hear about how Clare's parents met and it's a weird yet kind of cute story, and Dale's parents met in a similar way.  Dale talks about his mom's death and how that changed him.  It's a very realistic and open conversation, way more honest than we usually see on this show.  

Oh Right, the Other Guys are Still There

I had forgotten about the other guys.  It's interesting how production is clearly screwing with them and telling them nothing.  Jason is getting on his soapbox about disrespect, Blake's eyes are in full crazy intense mode.  There is bizarre night vision footage of Blake and Boy Band talking.  Blake refuses to accept that Clare has chosen Dale.

Thankfully we're quickly back to Clare and Dale.  Clare pours her heart out and I give her a ton of credit because that took guts.  Clare has very strange facial expressions.  Dale says he's falling in love with Clare.  I don't understand what he sees in her but I'm not the one that has to be with her.  She is exhausting, I don't know how he deals with it.  She clearly wants to rip his clothes off.

Musical Guest!

Remember when we all swore we weren't going to watch "Listen to Your Heart" but we watched it anyways because it was in the early COVID days?  Well, the winners, Chris and Bri, obviously have it written in their contract that they have to appear as musical guests and here they are.  I can't believe these two are still together.  I'm sure it wasn't that hard to convince them to show up.  What else could they have been doing in the summer?

Morning After

So, spoiler alert, Clare and Dale had sex.  Dale is seemingly starting to realize what he's done.  They both swear up and down they didn't talk beforehand.  Dale doesn't seem to realize that production is shutting down.  Obviously the guys know that Dale has been gone for 18 hours, though who's counting?  Chasen (I have no idea why I remember his name) assures Crazy Eyes Blake and Eazy that Clare isn't that kind of girl to have an overnight date with Dale.  It's one thing to have sex with three guys in a row once you've known them two months.  Having sex with a guy that you just met two weeks ago is totally different.

Chris visits Clare and she is glowing.  Chris' facial expressions are odd.  Again, it's hard to read what he's thinking but he clearly doesn't seem convinced that Dale really loves her.  Chris knows how to call Dale's bluff though--he's going to tell Dale that the next natural step is to propose.  Immediately.  Clare is of course on board, even when Chris tells her that Dale is going to propose TONIGHT.  Clare's teeth seem to get larger with each episode.  She has giant teeth.  Not like a horse, I'm not trying to be mean, but she has a lot of big teeth.

Clare goes to break up with the rest of the guys.  They assure us they're going to demand answers.  Clare stammers out her explanation and the guys are speechless, except for Blake, who knows what she needs and knows that it's not Dale and is generally extremely condescending and I hope Tayshia cuts him quick.  Because they're guys, someone (it's unclear to me who because they don't show it, which is super odd, but it might be Boy Band?) asks her to apologize to the group.  Clare asks him what she's apologizing for.  Good for you, Clare.  F*** that guy.  Every single lead, whether it's Bachelor or Bachelorette, wastes all of the contestants' time.  There's only one "winner".  Furthermore, nobody who appears on this show wastes their time when they know that they next path is an appearance on BIP or additional Instagram followers so that's total BS.  After leaving Boy Band out to dry, a lot of the guys voice their support for Clare because they're not idiots.  

Jason is more fragile than I ever thought because he said he hit bottom when he gave his last hug to Clare but at least he didn't say, "I literally hit bottom", so there's that. That's what makes you hit bottom?  Poor, fragile Jason.  We do see that some of the previewed crying was as a result of letting the guys go and not because of Dale.  

Blake--f*** that guy too.  He seems to think that Clare owes him because he made the choice to research dementia and Alzheimer's.  Nobody asked you to do that.  He's convinced that she doesn't know what she wants, but he clearly does.  What an ass.

Dale Freaks Out

Poor Dale, he has no idea that he's now expected to propose to Clare.  Because once you blow up the Bachelorette, you need to put your money where your mouth is and they need to ride off into the sunset together and be deliriously happy for the rest of their lives.  Chris arrives to give Dale the good news.  Dang, Dale's villa is really nice.  

Anyway, Dale shares his feelings with Chris and Chris feigns interest but can't wait to tell him that Clare broke up with all of the other guys and is expecting a proposal.  Poor Dale, he looks shook.  

Now the guys are laughing at Dale and are relieved at the bullet they've just dodged.  Meanwhile, Clare is starting to freak out that Dale might not want to marry her, which is completely normal and I'm relieved that Clare isn't so out of touch that she doesn't realize this.  The production crew is perhaps nervous they have pushed things too far and ask Chris to step in AGAIN and feel Clare out.  Clare is so pretty without makeup. Chris tries to "reassure" her that of course Dale is going to show up.  Of course he is.  We see Dale holding the ring and he does not look happy.  That kind of stinks that they just give Dale whatever ring that Neil felt like giving him.  Of course, I'm sure Neal is pissed that for two seasons now he hasn't gotten any screen time.  

The Proposal?

Clare waits for Dale to show up. Chris emerges from the La Quinta Conference Center and forebodingly tells her he needs to tell her something.  Ugh, we see Crazy Eyes and Boy Band AGAIN laughing at Dale and playing both sides of how Clare doesn't know what she wants but she obviously expects a proposal. No.  Production wants a proposal.  

Chris is such an a**hole.  Production continues to f*** with Clare and Chris says he came out to tell her that they're all so proud of her.  Dude, f*** you.  Am I coming across as really angry?  I don't need to remind you guys what a rough week it's been.  I'm cautiously optimistic, but until I see that ring on Biden's Clare's finger, I'm not going to relax.  Even then--what if Biden wins Clare gets engaged and...I can't let my mind go there.  

Just like Clare, Dale shows up.  I knew production was just screwing with us.  He indeed proposes and Clare swoons.  She got what she always wanted and I'm super happy for her.  He tries to get up without putting the ring on her and she physically pushes him down and makes him put the ring on.  She clearly wants to take him straight back to her suite and screw him again.  It's clear that he's not as excited as her and I feel bad that there was clearly pressure for him to propose.

Mopey Mopes

Every time I see guys wearing different necklaces throughout this show I think, "they made an effort to pack more than one necklace".  Call me old fashioned.  I'm wondering if Chasen is going to be a front runner for Tayshia because he seems to be getting a lot of screen time this episode.  I don't see the appeal.  Chris shows up and apologizes and Blake appreciates his apology.  Finally, somebody is willing to apologize.  Boy Band throws Clare under the bus again about potentially reaching out to Dale before the show and Chris says it didn't happen.  Can I remind everyone that Blake admitted he'd reached out to Clare but there's been no discussion of that?

Chris reminds the guys that this show was about Clare and not them but gives them the good news that their journey is not over but doesn't provide further explanation.  While I'm psyched for Tayshia, this would have been a perfectly good time to launch BIP right there and then.  Chris tells the guys that they need to evaluate their "feelings" for Clare and whether they can heal in 24 hours or so.  My guess is that all of the guys will find the strength to move on.  Just a guess though.  As it turns out, they have mere hours to decide if they want to stay. Jason is still pissed that he shared so much.  Dude, move on.  With any luck Crazy Eyes will leave.

No shocker, everyone decides to stay but Blake and Jason are still bitter.  Chris shows up and tells the guys the new Bachelorette is arriving and the guys all beam ear to ear.  Brenden puts his hands on Anesthesiologist's (I'm going to start calling his Dr. because that's getting tedious to type out) shoulders and Doctor squeezes Brendan's knee.  Chris goes to get Tayshia.  

Tayshia Arrives

Boy Band is glad for the "clean slate" because obviously Tayshia is purer than Clare and didn't taint herself by cyberstalking the guys.  Uh-huh.  Tayshia looks amazing.  Tayshia is one of the most beautiful women that's ever been on this show.  I'm not sure how I feel about the dress but she still looks great in it.

The Drama Continues

Obviously it cuts off right as Tayshia opens the door to go in.  Next week is an early ATFR with just Clare and Dale.  I'm hoping this is only an hour long.  Meanwhile, more drama is promised as Tayshia meets all of the guys.  Stay tuned!