It’s here. It’s time for the much hyped reveal of the two women America’s Bachelor fell in love with this season. The episode promised more helicopter rides, lots of fireworks (in the water and behind closed doors) and a revelation that rocked the show.
This week, The Bachelor crew traveled to Jamaica! Let’s hope this tropical island brings less drama and more personal connections between the girls and their beau. After all, it’s Fantasy Suites Week!
“It’s time for overnight dates, which gives us a chance to get away from everything,” Ben announces at the start of the episode. This makes sense, after Andrew Firestone admitted that the benefit of the overnight dates is that this is their only real chance at downtime with each other during the show’s filming.
"It wasn't romantic so much as it was a breath of freedom.” Well, considering that every contestant left on this show has stressed their desire for more personal one-on-one time with Ben, let’s get down to business.
Rafting Down the River
Reminiscing, we start with Caila. Ben reflects on her beauty, her charisma and her happiness, but he goes back to his concern that she may not be able to express herself truly or openly. Her fear that she can’t love someone is worrying him, even as he recognizes she’s opened up with him.
“I do feel like I have a big heart and I do want to share it with Ben,” Caila says. Her fear? She’s worried about the other two girls and the possible rejection that could come with the competition. She’s finally realized that she’s not the only one having a connection with Ben and he’s having connections with them, too.
Caila gets the first date of the week in Jamaica, when Ben admits that he thinks their relationship could be the deepest at the moment. They take a scenic tour down a river and it’s…so awkward. They make weird small talk and there are no words. As in, literally, they’re so quiet. Caila’s voice-over confirms that she’s anxious as she’s obsessing over the fact that there are two other women still there with them. Ben can tell something’s wrong and isn’t sure what’s caused her behavior.
They stop at a little hut on the river serving food and do the tourist thing, drinking out of coconuts and not eating the local food. He encourages her to open up to him, but she can’t seem to get past her anxiety.
He doesn’t want to push her, but it’s Fantasy Suites Night and he wants her to be comfortable. She comes into the night date feeling a lot more comfortable, ready to admit she’s in love with him. Ben brings up her attitude from earlier in the day, and she finally tells him that it’s just hitting her that she’s there with other girls who are most likely feeling the same things she is. She finally lets her walls down and says those three little words. He kisses her back, but there’s no admission of love on his end, which is foreboding.
He does, however, give her the fantasy suite card. So, they make out in the water while fireworks crash above them and it’s all very fairy tale-like. Including the breakfast in bed, coffee on the balcony and morning kisses goodbye. Despite no admission of love from Ben, Caila’s feeling very confident in their relationship, knowing he feels the same. I really want her to be right.
"Oh my gosh, turtles!” - Lauren, probably
“Seeing Lauren for the first time is the closest thing I’ve ever felt to love at first sight,” Ben says, surprising no one. His worry with her, however, is that she’s too closed off, too afraid to open up. However, he really doesn’t want her to leave, admitting that his biggest fear is that she’ll decide she’s done with him. He doesn’t need to worry, though, as Lauren’s worried about being vulnerable but she’s ready to share.
Even knowing he can’t say those words back to her, she wants to. Ben feels weird having just left Caila to hang out with Lauren, but he's excited to get to spend some time with her. Their date is spending the day helping newborn baby turtles get bathed and be cared for, which Lauren legitimately gets emotional about in her video diary.
After setting the turtles free in the ocean, they finally get a chance to hang out and talk. Ben shares how much her family date meant to him, including the fact that he started crying when he was talking to her sister. It’s exactly what Lauren wanted to hear, because she’s felt the same way about him. They wade in the water while a double rainbow shines over them, and this episode is now the perfect “Visit Jamaica” ad.
That night, they explore the nightlife and Lauren pulls a reverse Caila, feeling more anxious at their dinner date with the idea of the fantasy suite creeping up. She’s not sure she can do the overnight part with the idea of the other two relationships playing on her mind. In a quiet corner of the restaurant, they talk about hometown dates and she begins opening up, telling him how it was the hardest week for her, having spent the week so far away from him. He’s worried he did something wrong, but she corrects him and tells him it’s the opposite, that he’s perfect.
Ben hands Lauren the card propositioning her for the fantasy suite and she hesitates. Ultimately, she decides to go with him, eager to get away from all the distractions (read: cameras). The fantasy suite is gorgeous, and I could’ve spent more time touring this place instead of watching them hold hands on the couch for the second week in a row.
With a little liquid courage, she finally admits she’s in love with him and, to no one’s surprise, she’s his first admission of love of the night (the one he’s been “in love with for a while,” in case you hadn’t guessed it from the promos). They spend the next bit of the night making out on the couch and giggling “I love you” back and forth.
The best part of their morning montage is finding out that Ben is totally the guy who folds his clothes before getting into bed instead of crumpling them on the floor.
Jojo in the Jungle
Finally, we have Jojo. Ben likes that they can smile and joke around: “When I’m with Jojo, I really feel like I can be myself.” He’s not quite sure where things are after their hometown date in Dallas (and after telling Lauren he loves her).
Elsewhere, Jojo agrees. “I know when someone’s planning a future, family plays a big role.” She’s hoping they can just focus on their growing relationship.
Doubts aside, the two are excited to spend the day together, Jojo jumping him like normal and Ben taking her on a second helicopter date. They spend the day near a small rapid that ends in a gorgeous waterfall, splash around a little and then perch on a rock to talk. I love Jojo, but she’s my front runner to be the next Bachelorette because she and Ben feel more like best friends than a romantic couple.
Despite my feelings about them, though, I do think Jojo brings out a side of Ben that makes him better, makes him comfortable, happy and open. Lauren’s cute but reserved, while Jojo is carefree and enthusiastic about life. If she doesn’t get to be the next Bachelorette, I hope it’s because she and Ben end up together.
On the rock, Jojo takes the plunge romantically, deciding to just tell him she’s in love with him. Her nerves were for naught, as he reciprocates those feelings.
Unlike the other two dates, the duo is less anxious. Or, well, she is -- Ben keeps thinking about how he told Lauren the same thing 24 hours ago. They have a candlelit dinner on the shore and Jojo’s feeling so secure in their relationship now, certain he’s going to be her husband.
But they finally get a chance to talk about that hometown date. He admits that he feels like he didn’t actually get to know her family, especially with the way her family acted. “I know my brothers will love you, they’re just...nervous,” she tells him about their fear of her coming home heartbroken--and Ben is clearly nervous about that, too.
It doesn’t stop him from handing her the overnight card, though. The running theme of this episode is being excited about “not having to say goodbye to him at the end of the night,” as all three women have said the exact same thing about their reaction to getting the fantasy suite invite.
Jojo and Ben spend the morning cuddled up in bed, exchanging “you’re so cute!!!” back and forth. It’s equal parts really sweet and sad, knowing what she doesn’t.
Not-So-Fun Surprises
Ben goes to explore the island on his own for a bit, walking around the resort grounds. He’s not sure why he wasn’t able to say the words back to Caila like he was with Lauren and Jojo, but he knows who he’s sending home now.
Naturally, Caila decides to surprise Ben this morning, having missed him the previous night. Noticing how excited she is to see him and how not happy Ben is with his decision to have to say goodbye to her...it’s disheartening. She walks around the room, Ben sensing he’s about to have some company before being ambushed by Caila.
Keeping with his dedication to being honest, he doesn’t want to lead her on. He sits her down to talk and she immediately senses something’s wrong, realizing he’s saying goodbye to her. Ben keeps stalling but ultimately confesses he’s in love with two women...and she’s not one of them.
Caila brushes him off when he tries to be nice to her, asking him to not give her a line. She lets him walk her to the car and they hug for a few minutes before she breaks down and gets into the car. She sits in the car for approximately three seconds before she jumps back out, wanting to take full advantage of the time she has left and confronting Ben about his feelings. She wants to know if he knew how he felt before they spent the night together. He gives her a long-winded answer before finally explaining that he wouldn’t have gone through with the overnight if he knew he felt that way.
This time, she gets in the car and stays, hiding from the cameras behind her curtain of hair. Her car ride diary is a tearful confession that she didn’t see this coming, that she was certain she would be getting engaged in a week instead of being sent home. The camera pans to both Caila and Ben sitting with their heads in their hands, realizing it’s the end for both of them.
Still Time for a Rose Ceremony
Ben realizes he’s in trouble after having admitted he’s in love with both women. Chris Harrison walks the ladies down to the rose ceremony, keeping the perfect poker face when they both share Ben said those three little words to them both.
The girls make small talk at the ceremony and it becomes clear they didn’t know Caila was already sent home. Ben comes out and starts a pretty anticlimactic rose ceremony. He tells the girls he’d already sent Caila home, but he’s feeling pretty confident in what he’s got going on. He gives Jojo the rose first but, as Caila was already sent home, Lauren gets the final one.
Ben, I love you, but I’m glad you’re feeling confident because I am actually thrown for a loop here. I was feeling pretty confident about who you would end up with, but now I don’t know. What I do know is that these girls are not going to be playing friends when they meet his parents. They’re both pretty sure Ben said the same thing to the other girl and they don’t want to lose.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a couple weeks to see who Ben ends up with -- next week brings The Bachelor special “The Women Tell All” and I, for one, cannot wait to see Ben reunite with these women. And also find out who punched Leah. You can’t just tease us with that at the start of the season and not deliver.
The Bachelor: Women Tell All airs next Monday at 8/7c and the finale of Ben’s season airs March 14 on ABC.