Hello! As usual I'm behind the ball this week. I appreciate y'alls patience. There were two episodes this week. I even enjoyed seeing Men Tell All although as usual it was unsatisfying. But that's okay. I've combined both episodes into this post because the first episode is only an hour. Then I'll give a few sentence summary on MTA and then we'll head to Hometowns. Or in this case, Hometowns will head to us.
Chris is back!
Chris is back. I loved seeing Jo Jo but she felt underutilized. I wish they'd used her more. I was always startled when she appeared. Clearly Chris didn't do any quarantining before coming back. Chris and Tayshia catch up and Chris pretends to know nothing that has happened since he's gone.
Blake Gets a One-on-One
Blake, who as we know had a larger presence when Clare was still here (remember her?), has hardly gotten any screen time since Tayshia arrived yet is inexplicably still here. It's clear he's not getting the rose, right? We see Blake assuring the guys that he's here for the right reasons and is, like, totally into Tayshia. The guys seem disinterested.
The date is with one of the crackpots that we see a few of each season, but we haven't had the joy of seeing this season because of COVID. Her name is Gita and she's a reiki and crystal master. This should be fun. Tayshia and Ben crack geodes, pick crystals, and get their chakras analyzed. What fun. Clearly neither Blake nor Tayshia are into this, though Blake tries to assure us how meaningful it is. Tayshia realizes that this is BS and that Blake needs to go. Blake continues to make his pitch but it's for naught. Tayshia is inexplicably sobbing about saying good-bye to Blake. I'm going to chalk this up to her being tired or they had moments that we didn't see. Blake is also stunned, but again, why? I'll assume it's because he's an entitled white guy and why wouldn't Tayshia want to be with him.
After sending Blake home, Tayshia goes to see the guys and pulls poor Riley aside. Oh, Riley. I'm sorry, dude. I really liked Riley. Riley is not happy. Tayshia's meltdown this time seems a lot more genuine, as it should. Riley, I hope you get to Paradise because I'd love to see you again. But I'm okay if you want to go back to your successful career.
And Then Were Four
As the guys head into the Rose Ceremony, we see all of the guys stressing but I think it's clear that Brendan, Zac and Ivan are the ones getting the roses tonight. There's no way that Noah and Bennett are staying. Speaking of Bennett, he walks in and looks like smug as ever. Needless to say the guys aren't happy to see him and Zac even says, "what are you putting your hand on me for" when Bennett grabs his shoulder. Zac, settle down, you're going to be fine. Bennett's suit is great thoughy. Ben, meanwhile, looks like he's getting ready for his First Communion in his navy sport jacket and tan slacks. Noah's subtle eye roll while Bennett explains why he's still in Palm Springs is priceless.
I really like Tayshia's dress tonight but it's one of those dresses that few women would look good in. Chris walks in to tell the guys that there's no cocktail party and they're heading straight to the Rose Ceremony. UGH, neither Zac and Bennett are wearing socks and it's gross. Bennett continues to give me Jared Kushner vibes. Bennett is convinced that his plan to completely disregard Tayshia's decision to send him home and scam his way back is going to pay off in dividends. Side note: did you know that Bennett's a recruiter? I don't see him as a recruiter.
They build the suspense up quite a bit but the results are unsurprising: sure enough, Zac, Brenden and Ivan are going to Hometowns.
Men Tell All
This is always a waste of time and this year was no different. Thankfully, it was only an hour long. The biggest revelation (not sure if that's the right word) is that Yosef is still a total DB. He doubled-down on what he said to Clare and would have no problem if a man spoke to his daughter the way he spoke to Clare. Awesome. I'd love to know more about Yosef's ex and how you co-parent with such a DB. Meanwhile, it was great to see Jason. I'd like to see him in Paradise.
COVID Hometowns
I usually love Hometowns if nothing more because I love to see the families and try to guess all the weird s*** that is happening in the background. Unfortunately, this is COVID Hometowns so things are going to be a little different.
Chris joins the final four and tells them who will be coming to the compound. Chris tells the guys they need to plan a date that represents their hometowns. Here's who's coming for each of the guys:
- Zac: mom, dad, a brother (I think he has multiple siblings)
- Ivan: his parents
- Ben: sister. This is in red and bold because Ben as a person is a red flag and I want to know more about why he won't talk about his parents when he's already shared so many personal things. Ben says he doesn't know how to cry but the closest he gets to crying is when he thinks about his sister. THIS IS PROBLEMATIC. RUN, TAYSHIA, RUN.
- Brenden: one of his brothers and the wife and his niece. Brenden shows that he can cry because he starts crying when he starts talking about his brother and how important he is. Take a note, Ben. Take a note.
Tayshia meet's Brendan's brother and his family. It's very sweet to see Brendan and his brother talking. The brother doesn't grill Tayshia, in fact, he's very kind to her. I wish Brendan would get the final rose but I don't think he will. Hopefully this is the most normal one because I need to see some family train wrecks.
Zac's Hometown
Zac's date is Manhattan-themed. They "hail" a taxi. Do people still ride taxis in Manhattan? They get bagels. Tayshia apparently eats blueberry bagels which might be a deal breaker. Blueberry bagel? WTF? I'm not a huge bagel fan so my reaction isn't as strong as some others I've seen out there, but even I know blueberry bagels aren't a New York thing. Zac is clearly freaked out by the blueberry thing and that's valid. Next they eat pizza. and go to a park which Tayshia thinks is Central Park but apparently it isn't (I heard this on a podcast but it's unclear what park it's supposed to be because I don't know Manhattan that well). Anyway, Zac is sweating profusely and it's a little icky but then they lie down in the fountain and make-out. Usually this would gross me out but I'm assuming that because they've been the only in the resort for months that the fountain is pretty clean.
Tayshia meets Zac's family and they're nothing like what I expected. The brother pulls Tayshia aside first and he lets us know he's skeptical. He asks Tayshia where Zac is at as compared to the rest of the guys and of course Tayshia doesn't tell him because she can't. He was either told by a producer to ask this or he has no idea how this show works. Next up is Dad and Tayshia. Dad admits this whole situation is weird. He tells Tayshia he hasn't seen Zac smile this much in a long time, which could be concerning, but has anyone smiled a lot this year? Zac has definitely been through a lot and he certainly seems more serious and intense than the other guys. Also, the work he does has to be hard and draining. So I don't know what to do with that info. Mom tells Zac he seems really happy and he says he is. Mom is really nice to Tayshia. Another swing and miss on the weirdness, although iI think Zac's family is more loaded than I previously thought (I hadn't really thought of it, but in hindsight, if Zac spent more than three months in rehab, that's rarely fully covered by insurance, so it makes more sense now).
Ivan's Hometown
Ivan is obviously the only person of color left but these two just don't seem to have the same chemistry that she has with Zac and Brendan. Anyway, Ivan shows how smart he is and plans an indoor date where I assume there's air conditioning. They watch a video of his little niece telling them how to make a Filipino dish and of course it's adorable. Ivan and Tayshia cook what looks like Filipino egg rolls. They look really good but maybe they're not? Oh well.
Ivan's talked about how his dad is older and is health history is a little alarming. Ivan says that if his dad got COVID he'd probably die. So how about Dad stays home? Because you know what? Zoom the guy in! He doesn't need to risk his life to be on this show. Although I think Ivan might be from SoCal so they could probably drive to Palm Springs. But still.
Mom pulls Tayshia aside first and tries to be hard on Tayshia but she's really not. Dad seems super uncomfortable on camera. Tayshia and Dad both talk about getting married too young but he says he was impressed by her. Ivan tells his mom he's not ready to propose yet and his mom checks him and tells him she has to keep him around first. Ivan laments that his brother isn't there but who walks in? His brother! I didn't expect that. These two guys could not look more different from each other, it's almost comical. The brother is covered in tattoos and Ivan could not be more straight-laced. His brother even has tattoos on his eyelids. I can't imagine how that felt.
Ben's Hometown
I'm hoping this is the s***show that we need. Ben grew up in Indiana but he feels most at home in Venice Beach which means that Ben is so emotionally stunted he couldn't come up with anything so the producers had to plan this date. Fun fact--Ben is a rollerblader. They drink some disgusting wellness shots. Ben's sister will be joined by some random family friend. Ben claims that his parents can't make it because his dad's a doctor and COVID. That's not an explanation but okay.
Tayshia asks Ben if his parents think he's ready for marriage and without missing a beat he says 'yes' which means 'no'. He says his parents have never seen him this happy and this is the happiest he's ever been in his life. One, his parents haven't actually seen him and two, if this is the happiest you've ever been then see the above words in red.
Ben's sister is lovely and definitely makes me feel a little better about Ben, but not much. That's not her fault, there are just too many red flags and she can only do so much. Meanwhile, Ben talks to the family friend and while he's never felt this way before he's not sure it's love.
So I found out afterward that this Antonia woman is from Top Chef. Clearly I don't watch Top Chef but it starts to make more sense of how Ben ended up on this show. The friend insists to Ben that he's in love, but again, every word that comes out of Ben's mouth is alarming and Ben seems like an exhausting partner because he's so closed off and unemotional. But then he admits he's in love with Tayshia but he doesn't know how to say it. "I didn't know it was love until Antonia called me out on it." Direct quote. Yikes.
Ben is giddy but still can't use his words with Tayshia. She's clearly expecting him to say the L word but he can't. She's obviously disappointed. If Ben doesn't get the rose it will be his own damn fault.
Other than Ben, and his lack of explanation about his parents, there were no red flags. All of the families seem normal and even with Ben's issues, this is the best top four we've seen in a really long time. Remember Hannah's top four? That's what you get when you bring in an older Bachelorette (ahem, Clare aside, although you could argue that Clare was successful too).
Rose Ceremony
Tayshia looks amazing AGAIN of course. Brendan is in his turtleneck AGAIN of course. Ben tells Chris he's in love with Tayshia even though he couldn't tell her. Ben is waiting to tell Tayshia after he gets the rose. By then it will be too late Ben, by then it will be too late. With almost 12 minutes left this is going to be a long and drawn out ceremony. Ivan gets the first rose. I didn't see that coming. I think Zac will get the next rose and sure enough he does.
It's down to Brendan and Ben. I'm not ready to say goodbye to Brendan and thankfully neither is Tayshia because he gets the last rose. You blew it, Ben.
Ben looks disappointed. I've given him a hard time but he's obviously been through a lot. He's shared many personal things on this show but the fact that he could share his suicide attempts but not his feelings to Tayshia shows he has more work to do. Which is okay. But I'm a little worried about Ben long-term.
Tayshia walks Ben out. He again can't really use his words and says, "it is what it is." Tayshia tells him not to shut down. She genuinely seems frustrated and I do think it's for the best that she cut him. Ben clearly needs a few more years of therapy. Tayshia says she's frustrated by how emotionless he was during the dumping. Ben seems lost and can say more to his producer than he can to her and that is problematic. Tayshia knows how difficult it is to deal with Ben and I feel for her but she still has three great guys. If there were only DBs left it would be different. Ben says, "maybe she loved me and she thought I didn't love her back. In which case I f***ing blew it." Uh, you think?
Closing credits
In the closing reel we see Zac's mom talking about how much she wanted to meet Chris Harrison, who then walks in. She's thrilled and as much as I can't stand Chris, let's be honest, I'd be thrilled too. Then Chris messes with them by telling them that he has news for them that's going to change everything. Then he says he's just messing with them. Hahahaha.
Next week
Guys--next week is the finale! And thankfully we have another two-nighter. I'm so happy. I don't know what I'm going to do for the few weeks when we'll have to wait for Matt James' season but I'm sure I'll fill it somehow. Some closing questions:
- Do you think Ben will come back and declare his love for Tayshia? I think he might because we need more drama.
- If he does, what do you think Tayshia will do? Great question, Rach, great question.
- Who do you think Tayshia will end up with? My money is on Zac but I wish she'd choose Brendan.
- Has anybody looked into Matt James' women? Admittedly I'm not that interested in Matt James but unlike last years when I've said I wouldn't watch (ahem, Colton), I will obviously watch. Because I can't not watch.
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