So tonight’s episode starts off with Michelle, her black eye and the craziness that ensues..........what else. LOL. Michelle stating that she will have a one on one date with Brad that day and he WILL kiss her eye and make it better..........are we five?
Chris shows up at the house and tells the women that again there will be three dates, 2 of them one on one and a group date. Chris leaves the date card on the table and escapes the room........
Lindsay leaps up, grabs the card and reads it out..........Chantal...How deep is your Love? As the camera pans to Michelle........if looks could only kill, Chantal would be six feet under.........LOL. In a PI, Michelle states that she is very different from Chantal so if Chantal comes home, she will be very surprised......As Chantal heads to the room to pack, she states in a PI of how excited she is.......
Brad shows up to pick up Chantal for their date, and after saying good morning to all the ladies, Michelle immediately pipes up saying that she woke up with a black eye.........As she tries to keep Brad’s attention, you can just feel the tension in the air. Then in a PI, we get Ashley S saying that she wishes that she had been the one to give Michelle her black eye..........somehow if that happened, I really don’t think the other women would of minded one bit.......LOL. As they are all still in the living room, Brad says that they are just waiting for their ride.......cue the heli coming in for a landing as everyone runs out to see. Brad comments that if that ain’t a cool way to pick up a date, he doesn’t know what is.......immediately Brad and Chantal are high fiving each other.......As the two of them take off in the heli, we get yet another PI from Michelle saying how upset she is that the two of them are together and how upset she is that they will likely have a makeout session at some point tonight........LOL.
Since they were picked up in a yellow and red heli and landed on Catalina in a black and grey heli, they obviously landed somewhere and switched heli’s. Both of them were sitting very close in the bird and enjoying the scenery as they headed to the island. As the two of them head down the warf to the water, they board a boat that takes them out to where their underwater walk will begin. In a PI, Chantal states how terrified she is of being underwater, but also wants to prove to him and herself that she can do it. In PI’s throughout the experience, Chantal lets us know how she feels about going under the water, then the experience of conquering one of her fears.......kind of like falling in love......now that she has conquered her fear of being under the water, she is open to love. It was really neat.........they had these helmets on with microphones in them so you could hear what they were saying.......kind of like a spacesuit......just underwater.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Michelle is milking her black eye for all it’s worth........she has a “icepack” and is using it on her eye when the date card arrives.........in a PI at that time, she is talking about her one on one date again.......geez whiz, give it a break already...........LOL. As Britt reads out the card, Ashley S, Stacey, Britt, Lindsay, Meghan, Alli, Lisa, Ashley H, Jackie..............Let’s put our love on the line........... After the date card is read out, we get yet another PI from Michelle stating that if she doesn’t get her one on one date this week, there is a good chance that Brad will get his own black eye..........Really??
As both Brad and Chantal arrive on the beach for their dinner........they find a really romantic setting waiting for them. As Brad pours the wine, we get a PI of Chantal talking of how scared she is and because of the long relationship she had with her ex, she is out of touch with the dating world. As they both continue with small talk of what they both want for the future.......the right person, the family / kids, the forever......In my opinion, you can see the fireworks going off with the amount of chemistry both of them have together.......as they spend some quality time talking, kissing and going over what each of them want in their future, you can see how much they connected.
Back at the mansion, Michelle and Ashley S are our talking..........Michelle is on her pitty parade and ragging on how she isn’t happy, how she doesn’t like Chantal.........Michelle states how head strong Chantal is and how focussed on Brad she is.........bottom line, if Chantal comes home, then they all need to watch out.
Back on the beach, Chantal says that she owes Brad an apology..........for slapping him the first night.......she feels that the slap came off harder than she wanted. Brad laughs and tells her that she has a solid right hook. During their time talking on the bed, Brad states in a PI of his feelings towards Chantal......he loves the playfulness between them, she calls him out, makes him laugh, puts him in check........it really is like having a girlfriend, and he is loving it. To Chantal, he states that today has any day in his everyday normal life.......like he has known her for years, he cares for her very much and with her, he feels that he could have a very real relationship happening with.........He tells Chantal that he felt like this is what it could be in real life and wants it to continue....then he presents her with the rose. As the rain started coming down, they headed into one of the shelters and settled in on the bed there for the night.............
Up Next...........group date with love line
As the ladies arrive at the studio, Brad is standing there waiting for them..........The ladies are ushered into the separate studio room where they can’t hear anything. Brad is brought into the actual studio and begins discussing things with Dr. Drew.
Back at the mansion, Michelle is now talking to Emily. Michelle is spilling how she is upset that she might not get a date, of how she might cry if she doesn’t get one.........Emily then talked of how her one on one date is when things changed for her and her perspective of the time spent in the house.
At the studio, the ladies are now being brought into the control room where Dr. Drew is able to talk to them. Brad mentions how he has never cheated on anyone but has been cheated on........Dr. Drew then asks the women if any of them have ever cheated............Stacey raises her hand, and admitted that she cheated when she was in College........a drunk and stupid thing to do. Brad then goes into a conversation and states that he isn’t looking for a specific type, but wants to find someone that he can be himself around.........a setup for what he said about Chantal in their date??...............In the studio, Ashley H comes out with the comment that she is scared, is worried that things won’t go the way she wants so is finding herself retracting from Brad........Brad pipes in with the comment then that during the last time doing this, he had too many walls up that he wasn’t willing to let down and then found himself with a lot of regrets........he tells Ashley that it is something that she doesn’t want to do........take his word for it. Britt chimes in with how interested in him that she is and is very nervous because she only gets the five or ten minute time frame with him and is so concerned about getting out all that she wants the way she wants to do it that she is worried that he has no idea who she really is. Bottom line, she just wants the chance to get to know him for real....... A big theme of the date was to try to get the women to open up to Brad..........
As they all head back to Brad’s after the session with Dr. Drew...........they all gathered in the hottub and talked some more. As one of the women takes Brad off for a chat, we get a PI from Ashley H talking about her frustrations with not having her alone time with Brad....... Meanwhile, Brad and Stacey head off for a chat and that’s when Stacey is complimenting him for opening up.......then Alli talks to Brad........They just sit down and Ashley S shows up and wants her time.......it is very obvious that Alli isn’t impressed and makes a comment that she has only been there for 20 seconds, of which Ashley says sorry but wants her time too.....
Okay, there is such a thing as being too open when all the ladies aren’t letting the other one have their time with Brad.......got a feeling that he is going to learn that lesson pretty quick.
Ashley S just sits down, when another lady comes in asking for her time......WOW, Brad, you are in a world of problems with the engaging ladies.........LOL. Meanwhile back in the hot tub, Ashley H begins to evaluate who has had their one on one time and then comes to the conclusion that she won’t get her time alone with him.........which of course puts her over the edge and in a PI, she states that she can’t figure out why it is only hard on her and no one else...........Hello??
Back at the mansion, the date card arrives..............As Emily heads out for the card......and comes back in.......Let’s hang out together..........for Michelle. As soon as her name is read out..........she jumps up.......you can tell that her doing that really isn’t impressing anyone.......LOL. Then we get a bragging Michelle in a PI of how she is the only one that matters and everyone else should pack their bags and leave as Brad is hers.......oh lordy, here we go. As Michelle re-reads the card and it says let’s hang out together, Chantal pipes up with saying that hasn’t all the other cards said something about love........This of course sends Michelle off on another tangent.........LOL.
As the ladies are discussing one on one times etc at the hot tub, Ashley H is definitely getting on the bad side of a lot of the women there.......saying that they don’t know how she feels, they aren’t having a hard time with this........grrrrr. Meanwhile, Brad takes Britt away for some quality time. During their time, they were just explaining to each other what they want to find out of this, how they want to find their best friends and whether they can connect, and towards the end of their conversation, Britt admits that she has a crush on Brad. This gets Brad and they find themselves kissing. Just as Ashley H rounds the hill and finds them on their bench alone kissing.............. As Britt leaves and Brad / Ashley sit down for their time, it is obvious that Brad is finally understanding that this is hard on Ashley as she mentions how everyone is coming home, talking about their dates and she is frustrated. When she finally admits that it is easier on her to just take a step back, he begs her to hang in there and don’t step back........As he reaches for the rose to hand out, in a PI, Brad states that he knows what he has to do as he feels he needs to reassure her and there is no chance in hell that he is going to give up on Ashley..............he walks out to the hot tub to hand out the rose, when Ashley H makes a comment of how she hates this..........this immediately takes Brad a back and he does an abrupt face on giving Ashley the rose and says he is going to change his plan a bit here, as he takes Britt aside, tells her that he believes that she is there for him, and gives her the rose instead.
Up next................Michelle’s day; or so she thinks
As Brad arrives at the house to pick up Michelle for their date, his first order of business is to take Ashley H aside to talk to her about the night before.........this of course ticks off Michelle to no end and she wasn’t afraid to say that in a PI in no uncertain terms. Michelle’s reaction upsets some of the ladies and Chantal mentions to her of how this is no different than what Brad did for Michelle on one of the earlier group dates when Michelle was upset, Brad took time to talk to her about it. Michelle then gets even more upset and says that it was different as it is happening to her............good grief!! Meanwhile outside, Brad and Ashley H are discussing what happened the night before and he wanted to reassure her that they were okay but also wanted the same reassurance from her as well.
Once their discussion was over, they headed back into the house and Brad and Michelle took off for their date. The first thing that Michelle talked about from the moment they left the house was her black eye........Then in a PI, Michelle had the gaull to still have a fit with Ashley H taking time out of her day.....and the last thing that Michelle said in her PI was that if Ashley H costs her the rose, she will come back and elbow Ashley H in the face...........shall we say she is acting like a five year old............
As the two of them head back to Brads, she still goes on about Ashley.........you can tell it is upsetting to Brad. Then as the two of them are at Brad’s, the heli arrives to take them to their destination. They land on the rooftop where they are going to rappel down the side of the building to the pool below. Once Michelle realizes what they are going to do, she has a panic session..........how much of it was made up, who knows.........I just found her whining and complaining about doing it to be very irritating after a while. As they get geared up and get ready to go down, Michelle is milking it for all it’s worth, between her PI’s and her comments made on camera to Brad. When they finally get to the bottom and get un-geared, Brad runs and jumps in the pool. Brad called the rappel an overwhelming bonding experience. After they are both in the pool, Michelle makes a silly request that Brad promises her that he will never rappel off another building with another woman.......good lordy.........Talk about something that is so silly to do, make someone make a promise like that in that situation.......who’s to say that they will end up together, and who’s to say that Brad won’t want to do that again one day...........give me a break.
Their date was kind of a re-do of Jillian’s/Ed’s and most recently Ali’s / Roberto’s. In a PI, Michelle states that no one in the house will ever be able to compare any of their dates to the excitement of this one.....rappelling off of a building.
The two of them have a dinner and are talking of a possible future.....and Brad states that if he doesn’t find a situation here where he can see making a daily life with someone forever, he will walk away again. Michelle then says that she doesn’t see him with any of the other women in the house.
Back at the mansion, Chantal and Stacey are outside talking about Michelle and how off the rocker she went that day when Brad took Ashley aside to talk to her before taking Michelle out on their date. Both of them were saying that they are scared of Michelle and are amazed with her aggressiveness. She literally grabbed Brad’s hand and yanked him out of the living room that morning when they took off for their date.......LOL. They both came to the conclusion that they will let her dig her own grave...........and if Brad wants her in the end, then he isn’t the one for either of them.
Meanwhile, back in the hottub, Brad and Michelle are talking about what they want to come out of this.......For what it’s worth, I am having trouble getting a read on Michelle with regards to whether she is actually playing the game and not really there for Brad but moreso for the attention..........anyhow, they are talking of how they want something real and long term to come out of this. Brad grabs the rose and extends it to Michelle..........Brad states in a PI that there wasn’t any question about Michelle getting the rose, him taking care of Brielle, them having more kids........In a PI at the end of the date, Michelle states that it is time for all the other girls to go home as he is hers!
Up next...........Brad has a chance to sit down with his therapist again
As the two of them sit down and chat, this session seems to be more for the reassurance to Brad that he is dealing with things in the right way for him.......Brad talks of how he is doing a lot more kissing with the women, how he is opening up to them more and in turn....they are opening up to him. It was the validation that Brad needed from his therapist that he is indeed handling his feelings and emotions in the right manner......so all’s well on the therapy front, and life carries on.
Up Next.............The cocktail party
When Brad enters the room, it is obvious that everyone is more tense than usual.........As Shawntel is the first woman to get some alone time, they head off for a chat and she tells him that she is feeling secure knowing that they seem to have something real between themselves. They seem quite playful together as well as they rein acted their time together during the film shoot when she jumped into his arms.
The next one for some quality time was Meghan...........As they are talking, Brad is finding out that Meghan still has her walls up and doesn’t know when or if she will drop them all.......she is worried to in one respect as that is when she will be too vulnerable.......then he tells her, take it from a guy that knows, walls aren’t a great thing to hold onto.
Next up for some quality time is Emily............he grabs a basket out that has the blanket, pillows, candles, and some wine.........they head out front where Brad tries to rein act their winery date. This seems to set the jealousy’s going with the women left in the house as in their PI’s they are obviously feeling the connection between Brad and Emily. As they head outside and Brad sets the scene, you can tell that it is impressing Emily. Brad states in a PI that he is really feeling it with Emily and since she didn’t have a date this week, he wanted to do something special for her so that they can re-connect. During their conversation, Emily admits to leaving a present for her daughter for every day that she would be gone. This seemed to impress Brad a lot. As they end their time, Chantal, Stacey, Shawntel, and Jackie are inside talking about the connection that Brad and Emily obviously have.......through the conversation, it is obviously affecting Chantal and she starts crying.
Chantal heads out to find Brad for their quality time and finds him with Ashley H. As Chantal opens up to Brad, she states that she is concerned because he is making connections with certain girls that are definitely emotionally unstable and this is concerning her as she is feeling really strongly for him and she needs the reassurance that they do have that connection. As Brad tries to reassure her that their connection is real, he states that he loves the fact that she isn’t needy, that she is independent, and keeps him on his toes. By the end of their conversation, it is obvious that Chantal feels a lot better and tells him that she is going to trust the fact that he is man enough to get this done and get to where he needs to be with this and trust the fact that the feelings are real on both sides of the fence for them. As they talk and are playful together, Brad remarks that he wants to be tough for her and she just won’t let him be.......they end up cuddling and having some kissing time together.
The roses go to:
Chantal: Single date rose 28, Executive Assistant, Mercer Island, WA
Britt: Group date rose 25, Food Writer, Woodinville, WA
Michelle: Single date rose 30, Hair Stylist, Salt Lake City, UT
Ashley S: 26, Nanny, Ellerbe, NC
Alli: 24, Apparel Merchant, Columbus, OH
Emily: 24, Events planner, Morganstown, WV
Shawntel: 25, Funeral Director, Chico, CA
Lisa M: 24, Marketing Coordinator, Ottawa, KS
Jackie: 27, Artist, Warwick, RI
Marissa: 26, Sports Publicist, Mesa, Ariz
Ashley H.: 26, Dentist, Madawaska, ME
What I noticed more this time around is:
- Chantal tonight was actually telling her love story........whether that is reciprocated by Brad, I’m not entirely sure yet. Chantal is also being shown as more of a friend to a lot of the women in the house. I am liking the Chantal that was shown tonight.
- Michelle was getting more and more irritating tonight.......getting really tired of her games.
- Ashley H was really showing her jealousy with the other women tonight and it was obviously getting on their nerves.
- Emily was shown tonight as a friend to the women in the house as well.......she talked to Michelle a bit and is definitely there for the women when approached about things.
- Emily – I am finding the connection hard to read in one aspect, but in others, you can tell that she is really starting to feel it with him and it is obvious that he is heads over heels with her.
I hope you all enjoyed my blog this time around. I know that I have gone into great extent of the connection that Brad and Chantal are having, and again during the group date with Dr. Drew.........I was thinking that this season seems to go more into depth of the openness of the connections between Brad and the ladies as well as the Psychological implications for them all. Is this a way of foretelling what might actually be the ending?? I’d love to know your impressions on this and what you all think of how feelings really seem to be the theme this season..............
