As many of you can probably relate, this time of the year is HECTIC for college students. Between work, zoom calls, and classes, my roommates and I are rarely ever all home at the same time. But there’s one thing that does bring us all together… The Bachelorette on Tuesday nights. If you’re a fan of the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise, I’m sure you’ve heard Chris Harrison famously state “this is the most dramatic season ever” for every. new. season. But now, for Clare Crawley’s season, I actually believe him. There have been so many rumors brewing and questions about what’s to come for this season of the Bachelorette, especially in the new normal we are all living in. So, what’s all the hype about? What drama has happened so far? Look no further – all the important details from the first two episodes are recapped here!
Clare Meets Her Husband
Her husband? Already? WHAT? Yes, that’s what she said. Give me a sec, I’ll explain. The first night of the Bachelorette is always a blur. There are so many men, so many names to remember, and usually, it goes by pretty smoothly. But night one for Clare was the furthest thing from normal. The limo entrances were underwhelming at best. I’ll be honest. Not many of them stood out to me. There were a few gimicks, as always, but I wasn’t impressed by anyone in particular. But the last man to come out of the limo surely left an impression on Clare’s heart. When Dale stepped out of the limo, you could see on Clare’s face that she was in awe. He didn’t say or do anything particularly special, but after he left to retreat to the hotel, Clare famously said “I think I just met my husband.” Chris Harrison even had to come check on her. Could it be love at first sight? I’m not so sure, but it’s obvious from the jump that Dale is a front-runner. And to no surprise – he gets the first impression rose.
Are You Here for the Right Reasons?
On the first night, someone already popped the infamous question: are you here for the right reasons? Surprisingly, it wasn’t Clare. So here’s what happened. Apparantly, Tyler C. (No, not THAT Tyler C. I wish.) heard that Yosef had been DMing a friend of a friend during quarantine. This made him question Yosef’s true intentions. Rather than talk to Clare about it, he confronted Yoself himself who claimed he didn’t remember doing it. To prevent his name from being slandered, Yosef brought this up to Clare, who decided that she should talk about it with the two boys at the same time. After asking the basic questions and finding out that the messages were nothing more than a “hey beautiful” at most, Clare left the men to talk it out amongst themselves so that she could go spend time with the other men. Power move. She ended up sending Tyler C. home and Yosef recieved a rose.
Group Date 1: Love Languages and Disappointment
Clare’s first group date was alll about expressing the five love languages. The men were asked to express words of affirmation, return to their rooms to find a perfect gift for Clare, and while blind-folded, show Clare some much-needed-post-quarantine physical touch. Of course, the entire time Clare talked about how excited she was to spend more time with Dale. But a few highlights from this date – Ben stood out with words of affirmation. Riley gave Clare the baseball from his last game ever played. And physical touch… well, Clare was loving her embrace with Dale. The most “exciting” part of this group date was actually during the cocktail party at the end of the night. After saying a toast, the men just sat with Clare in awkward silence and no one asked her to walk away and talk. Needless to say, Clare was UPSET. She confronted the men about it, saying that if they’d rather all hang out together, she can just go home and go to bed. Yosef offered to “speak for the group” which was shut down by Clare. Turns out, he wanted to tell Clare that she’s “crazy if (she) thinks they aren’t all there for her.” This guy just keeps taking L’s. Nonetheless, the men finally step up, and Riley gets the group date rose.
One-On-One: It Gets Deep
Clare chose Jason for her first one-on-one date. This date was really personal. They were tasked to write the negative things that people had said to them before in their life that they slowly began to believe. Among the things that Jason wrote were “manipulative, selfish, unable to love.” Clare wrote “hard to love” and “needy.” Afterwards, they destroyed the tablets that they wrote on in order to symbolize that they were letting go of those negative thoughts. Clare even burned the last dress she wore on Juan Pablo’s season when she was runner-up. The point of this date was to get really personal, and Clare really pushed Jason to let go of some of his personal demons. All in all, I think this date showed us a little more about Jason. He ended up with a rose.
Group Date 2: Strip Dodgeball
The second group date was interesting to say the least. To lighten things up a bit, the men on Clare’s second group date were challenged with a game of dodgeball. After each round, the losing team had to remove a clothing item until they were completely stripped – nothing but a jock-strap. And whichever team ended up stripped down first lost and had to go back to the hotel while the other team were able to spend the rest of the night with Clare. The men on the blue team lost, which included Blake Moynes, who decided to break the rules. Despite losing, he wanted more time with Clare so he showed back up to the cocktail party with Clare and the men on the winning team. The men on the winning team were obviously frustrated and Clare ended up rejecting Blake’s attempt to kiss her before he retrated back to the hotel like a sad puppy. After this fiasco, Brandon, one of the red team winners, spent time talking with Clare. He told her that he wanted to come on the show when he found out she would be the Bachelorette. She asked what he liked about her, and all he could say was that he thought she was beautiful but other than that, he didn’t know anything about her. He really put his foot in his mouth, and Clare was not having it. He was sent home on the spot. Chason ended up getting the group date rose.
Sneak Peek for Next Week
This episode ended at the cocktail party before the rose ceremony. At the very beginning, Clare pulls Blake Moynes aside to actually commend him for being brave enough to come see her although he lost on the group date. He received a rose during the cocktail party. As a teaser for next week’s show, we see Yosef talking with some of the guys about how Clare’s decision to play strip dodgeball for the second group date was “classless” and “left a bad taste in his mouth.” Again, Yosef just keeps taking L’s. We also see Clare getting pretty close with Dale in a clip of next week’s episode. As this week’s episode left us without seeing a rose ceremony, we are left wondering who goes home and what drama is left to come.
