Bachelorette Blog - Des Week 4

Week 4 and the travels have begun! This week Des took the men to Atlantic City (don't worry the traveling gets more exciting starting next episode). Also this week, we're back to the traditional 2 one-on-one dates and one group date. No surprise the two guys who stood out most last week (Brad and James) each got one-on-one dates on Monday night!

So long, Brad.

Brad's date - Atlantic City

For this date, Des and Brad played around on the pier riding the rides and having a fun-filled day! Brad is definitely more reserved than some of the other guys but they had a lot of fun just playing around and being care-free. Which is why the second part of the date was so weird. The conversation didn't flow easily... or really at all, and they seemed pretty uncomfortable throughout dinner. Des could tell that Brad is a great guy and very family oriented. She respects that he's a single dad but ultimately there was no real spark between them and she sent him packing. Des is obviously trying to be fair to the guys and didn't want to keep him away from his son when she didn't see things moving forward with their relationship. I think she's really good at letting guys down easy so far and is clearly maintaining her "America's Sweetheart" persona.

Group date - Mr. America Contest

This was a really funny date idea and the guys had it 100% right, Des was most likely looking for the guys to go with the flow and have a good time with it which they did! Chris in his high heals was probably my favorite thing and I'm sad he didn't win Mr. America. The guys had to prepare for difficult interview questions, a talent portion and of course the dreaded swim suit competition (in which poor Drew, Juan Pablo and Zak W were assigned speedos). For the talent portion the guys who stood out to me were:

Brooks with his funny song and horrible ukelele playing
Chris with his high heals and hula hooping (I like this because I always say hula hooping would be my talent in the Miss Universe competition. Yes, I'm jumping right to Miss Universe.)
Zak W who was the only one who had legitimate talent and performed a song that he wrote for Des

The swimsuit competition, as you might have guessed, was a crack up and in the end the standings were:
2nd runner up - Brooks
1st runner up - Zak W
Mr. America - Casey (he was good all around with his answers and tap dancing talent)

I think it's funny how the guys are playing the game so textbook, it seems like a lot of them have watched the show before and know exactly when to be fun-loving and when they need to turn on their serious sides. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or if it's way too calculated? Anyway, at the after party the guys knew that this was their opportunity to get alone time with Des and turn on the seriousness and romance her. Chris was all fun and games at Mr. America but when it came to his alone time he was serious, reciting poetry for Des... this is what I mean by calculated. I can't put my finger on Chris....

I also really like that in the group situations the guys are so gossipy. I've read that the guys and girls vying for the Bachelor/Bachelorette's love are encouraged to only talk about the things happening at the house and how much they like the Bachelor/Bachelorette. I know, it makes for some caddy conversations but that's why you never hear the guys (or girls) talking about anything that is happening out in the real world. In Ali's blog she said that one time the girls were talking about some generic pop culture stuff you might read in People magazine and the producers were like "why don't you talk about how hot Jake is?" Awkward. But anyway, it's really funny to hear the guys gossiping like a bunch of girls and they didn't disappoint. We heard yet again about how Ben never talks about his son but often talks about his bar. I still don't like that guy and one of my favorite parts of the episode was when Bryden was talking about how much he hates Ben. I just thought it was really funny because Bryden seems so easy going and if even he "hates" Ben, Ben must be a huge douche nozzle.

You can't tell me this guy isn't creepy.

One other thing from the group date, I think Zak W is really weird. He's already very in to Des and he hasn't even had a one-on-one date yet. At the after party he sang her the rest of the song he wrote for the pageant which should have been cute, I guess girls like to get serenaded but probably not by creepy dudes. His smile just really gives me the heebie jeebies. Obviously Des doesn't find him as creepy as I do because he got the group date rose.

James' Date - Jersey Shore/Hurricane Sandy

For the second one-on-one date Des took James. Remember him from last week? He's the one with the dad who is sick. This was a really depressing date at first. They rode around in a helicopter and got a overhead shot of all the destruction from Hurricane Sandy. I kept wondering where this was going. I understood why the show would want to do this because it's a nice tie in to be able to get people to donate to the Red Cross but I couldn't understand what the point of them just riding around looking at the destruction was in regards to building their relationship. Then they went to meet an older Jersey couple who's house had been destroyed in the hurricane and it all made sense.

Des and James were really sweet to give that couple their date and that little old couple was so cute! If I was watching this alone from the comfort of my couch I would have been a sobbing mess over these people. The best part was when they were given a replica of their wedding album which had been damaged and now restored. What an amazing gift, I just loved it!

While the Jersey couple was on Des and Jame's date, Des and James went out for a bite to eat before meeting up with the other couple for a Darius Rucker concert (jealous!). At dinner James decided he needed to be completely honest with Des and told her about some mistakes he had made in a previous relationship. Basically, he cheated on his ex-girlfriend. This could have been a really bad move. No one wants to date a cheater but he did a good job of convincing Des that it was a life changing experience for him and that he would never do something like that again. She seems to believe him for now so that's good for him.

The Jersey couple (who have been together for 38 years) put their stamp of approval on Des and James as a couple and Des gave James the rose so he's sticking around for now!

As you can tell, this episode was pretty much drama free. Even the drama that they tried to build up through "coming up" clips throughout the night of Bryden suggesting he may leave turned out to be pretty anticlimactic (he didn't leave). All I have to say about that is that I really hope Bryden doesn't leave before Des is ready for him to go, he's one of my favorites so far so hopefully Des gives him a little more alone time next week. It's a little too early for repeat one-on-ones but at least make time for him on their group date. This week she didn't really spend any time with him. I think she thought that was probably fine because she likes him and feels a connection so she doesn't need to spend as much time vetting him but he's starting to feel neglected, clearly.

So, no major drama this week but looks like next week will be chalked full of it in Germany! I can't wait!

Leaving us this week: Brad and Zak.... Not creepy Zak W but the other one who we've hardly ever seen. Surprised? I didn't think so.
Stand outs of the week: No one really stood out to me more this week...
Overall favorites: Remain the same (Brooks & Bryden)