Bachelor Blog: Mexico City Dramatics (Week 5)

So I'm from Iowa and due to caucus business last night (and the excessive local TV coverage), The Bachelor aired in the middle of the night here. I caught up this morning and it was glorious. So much to cover so I'm going to jump right in.

"Let's put our eggs in one basket"

Date: Amanda

Olivia was pretty confident that she was going to get a one-on-one date so her reactions this week when finding out that she didn't were pretty amazing. The fake, ridiculous smile that she plastered on her face every time she made eye contact with Amanda was nothing short of terrifying.

Ben & Amanda's date began at 5:30 in the morning, so naturally he surprised everyone at their hotel while they were sleeping. And wouldn't you know it, Amanda wakes up a like a freak'n Disney Princess. She was cute and made up while everyone else (in particular Lauren H. who was wearing a retainer) looked real rough. It makes me think that she probably had a little heads up about this, or (like Britt from last season) goes to bed every night with full make up in case of this very situation.

The reason it was such an early date was because the couple got to take sunrise hot air balloon ride. I have to say, I really like Amanda. She has been through a lot and she's a sweet and really beautiful person. That being said, this date was so boring. I don't see much of a spark there with Ben but he definitely respects her and likes her so she got the date rose.

"This way to a mans heart"

Group date: Jubilee, Becca, JoJo, Caila, Lauren B., Emily, Jennifer, Leah and Olivia

This date started off with a couple classes! The real date was a cooking class but in order to get the girls ready for reading their recipes in Spanish, they took a quick ESL (Espanol second language) class. I'm not sure how learning to say "I want to kiss you" and "Will you marry me?" would help them read recipes, but whatever. It was during the ESL class that Jubilee's attitude began to take a dive. She is super jealous of the other girls and deals with it really badly. Her time speaking Spanish with Ben was super tense.

For the cooking class they had to split into pairs. Olivia immediately tried to snatch up Ben as her partner. Jubilee wasn't about to let that happen so she tried to take him as well. Neither of them wanted to back down. Ben should have just made them be partners with each other and partnered up with Lauren B. who ended up having to work with Jubilee. That's right, Olivia won out. Because she always does.

One of the best parts of the date was when Emily theorized about Olivia's bad breath and how Ben took her to get fresh mint to try to combat the stink. Emily is starting to become one of my favorites to watch. She wont win, but she's funny and has amazing commentary.

During the cooking, Ben noticed that all the girls except Jubilee were having a good time and making the most of the day. Jubilee was a big fat pouty baby. Which spilled over into the evening date.

Once again, Olivia grabs Ben first. He should have said "You know what? We spent all day together, let me catch up with some of the other ladies and I'll touch base with you later." But instead, he went with her and the other girls were pissed. Then Lauren B. got a little extra quality time, the other girls noticed that she and Ben were gone for a long time. They took a walk around the neighborhood and made out everywhere they went. During that time, Jubilee had stewed on her feelings and got progressively more upset.

Finally, Ben asked Jubilee to have some alone time and she refuses to hold his hand. Awkward as always. I honestly think this was the moment that Ben decided to let her go. He confronted her and asked her how he was supposed to feel when she acts that way, and she tried to convince him that she wasn't pulling away and not to give up on her. But in the end, he knew that he couldn't see a future with her and asked her to go home.

So all that happened in the MIDDLE of the date, there was date time left over and the girls left had to overcome that bit of awkwardness. Lucky for Ben, JoJo stole him away to make him feel better. In all honesty she should have gotten the date rose but SOMEHOW Olivia got the GD rose! Not cool.

"Let's design a life together"

Date: Lauren H.

For their date, Ben took Lauren to a fashion designer and they got to be special guests at Mexican Fashion Week. My favorite was the super snooty woman managing their runway show who after declaring that Ben and Lauren would be models on the runway, critiqued Lauren to no end about her walk. Lauren was feeling a little intimidated by all the beautiful models and Ben is pretty much amazing and reassured her saying she was the most beautiful and confident woman there. He's the bees knees.

Am I the only person who thinks of farts when anyone says "slow burn"? That is not the most ideal way to describe a relationship but that's how Ben describes his with Lauren.  It seems like these two are more friends than anything else but she really opened up to him and is a super positive person who has overcome heartbreak. Learning this about Lauren made Ben more confident in her and set the foundation for building a relationship. So, she got a rose.

Cocktail Party Notes

The cocktail party started off really well with JoJo and Lauren B.. Ben told JoJo that she doesn't need to worry about being blindsided (then they high fived which is my favorite kind of PDA). Lauren B. told Ben that she sees a life life with him beyond just getting married.

While all this cuteness was happening, Olivia straight up offended Amanda by saying that her life sounded like an episode of Teen Mom. Finally, Amanda shows some feisty personality because her life is not like Teen Mom. She was married to the father of her kids, was not a teen when she had them and totally has her shit together. So yeah, this made stuff kind of hit the fan.

This is how Emily feels about Olivia.

Emily decided she needed to tell Ben about Olivia being a bully and a phony. Ben is wonderful and of course took her words to heart but right in the middle of trying to find out some concrete examples of what Olivia is doing to alienate the other girls, Olivia interrupted because she knew what was going down. She seemingly smoothed things over. Then after their time together, both Amanda and Jennifer told Ben similar stories of the horror that is Olivia. Turns out Ben was trying to figure her out and was actually asking the ladies so it's not like these girls were just bad mouthing her out of nowhere.

Just before the rose ceremony, Ben asks Olivia to have a chat outside. And that's where it ends. We got our first To Be Continued of the season. But if the previews are any indication, Olivia will stay and the other girls are about to lose their shit. So yeah, next week is going to be awesome.

Out this week - Jubilee, we'll see next week who else is gone

Front runners remain the same - Lauren B., JoJo, Becca, Caila

Until next week!