Archive | June 2016

The Bachelorette Season 12: A Review (Part 5)

Ok Day 5! Sorry I’m a bit late this week. But, we’re ready to go now! A review: Chad’s crazy. Let’s begin.

The boys are celebrating at the house that Chad’s finally gone (theoretically). They’re going pretty far with littler ceremonies, parties and even a funeral? I sense an ABC gimmick. Meanwhile, Chad’s creepily whistling through the woods…Annnddd he’s knocking on the front door of the house. Well damn. He walks in and trying to validate himself to the guys, which Jordan takes the opportunity to apologize to Chad for them not understanding him well enough and using it to maybe finally clear the air. You go Jordan! Instead, Chad decides to get more angry. He then points to Jordan’s skull saying he has “half a brain” and then gives him an overly tight handshake. Jordan tells Chad he’s sorry that Chad can’t come to the point to be man enough to apologize. Obviously, he turns to more insults. More creepy whistling… I feel like this isn’t the last we see of him.

Jojo and Alex are now kissing in front of a restaurant, and decide to go for a walk. He comes back to the house and the guys are literally carrying him on their shoulders.

We’re at the cocktail party now, and the guys are having their one-on-ones. Chase brings the little tackle bubbles to play around with Jojo. Robby’s next and he and Jojo make wishes in the pond. James F. is reading Jojo a poem, when Alex cuts in. Now Daniel’s talking to Jojo and Luke tries to cute in?

Evan points out the irony in Chad being gone is that the guys with roses have suddenly become mini-Chads. That doesn’t bode well. Luke comes up to Evan and says that if Evan hasn’t gotten his time with her, he better hurry up, because Luke is going to go for seconds. Evan’s not happy.

Jordan’s one-on-one is next, and he says that he doesn’t want to take up too much of her time; then pushes her up against a wall and just starts making out with her. That’s charisma?

Chris shows up (the host dude), and whisks Jojo away. I’m not entirely sure if all the other guys got a chance to see her?

Predictions on who leaves next: Vinny and Grant. Luke, Alex and Jordan already have roses.

Rose ceremony!

First Rose: Derek
Second Rose: Robby
Third Rose: Chase
Fourth Rose: Wells
Fifth Rose: Grant
Sixth Rose: Vinny
Seventh Rose: James T.
Eight Rose: Evan

That means James F. and Daniel are out.

Evan points out it’s been a month they’ve been pursuing her now. So basically every episode represents a week of real-world time. Just a fun fact to know.

Daniel points out that she obviously is looking for personality because his personality is shit. But if it was based off looks, he would be winning, but she picks guys like Wells and Evan. He has more experience than all the other guys combined. I’m really not sure what to do with this rant of his. But he’s gone, so whatever.

Jojo tells the guys they’re going to Uruguay for the rest of the trip! They’re very excited, needless to say.

Jordan gets the one-on-one that week. Chase points out that he feels like Jordan feels the most false to him, and there were 2 football dates geared specifically around him. The guys are super unhappy. On top of that, they find some trash magazines about Jojo’s ex-Chad and how they got back together after the last season of the Bachelor ended. They’re feeling incredibly insecure.

Luke, Derek, Chase, Evan, James, Vinny, Grant, Wells, and Alex all get the next group date.

Jordan tells Jojo that he’s falling in love with her, when Jojo brings up that she met an Ex of Jordan’s. Uh-oh. They have an actually productive and really enlightening conversation out of this. Jordan admits that he was just super immature in his last relationship and he should have done things differently, and although he didn’t cheat, he was definitely a jerk towards his ex. So Jojo ends up giving him a rose.

Jojo’s sitting down with the producers for her interview, talking about how confident she feels about her relationship with Jordan, when the producer comes up and shows her the magazine the guys found. Meanwhile, the guys tell Jordan about the article. They keep switching back and forth between the guys and Jojo’s interview, and she’s in complete tears at this point. She calls her Ex out for being a terrible person and just can’t allow other to be happy if he’s not. So Jojo goes proactive and goes over to the guys place to talk to them. Poor girl is really, really upset. I feel like she’s holding herself back from hysterics at this point.

Robby and Jordan are having a spa date, which is probably been the best part of this show, disregarding how gimmicky and set up it is. Robby predicts that the guys on the group date are going to take advantage of how upset Jojo was the night before.

On the date, the guys are going sand boarding and Evan predicts he’ll have another bloody nose. All of a sudden, it starts raining. Like, real rain. Not California rain.

Back at the hotel, Robby gets his own one-on-one date.

And then Luke swoops in on Jojo to take advantage of the article from yesterday, just like Robby predicted. Not saying he’s being malicious, just commenting. All the other guys seem to follow suit.

At the one-on-one’s, Derek’s having insane insecurity. He tells Jojo he’s having jealousy issues. Alex points out that he doesn’t like Derek either. He’s apparently jealous, insecure and calculated, which isn’t mostly wrong. Alex has his one-on-one too, but nothing pertinent was really said. So rose time, and Derek gets it. Alex is pissed and calls him an “insecure little bitch” and calls it a “pity rose”. Very harsh.

Robby’s date is the last date in Uruguay. I feel like the dude is fake, but I’m biased towards his name probably. He keeps using opportunities to speak a little bit of spanish, which is pretty adorable. He wants to say “I love you”, but is scared she won’t say it back. They then literally jump off a cliff together, and it’s apparently very romantic. Jojo says that for her, its a validation of how much she trusts Robby.

Back at the house, Chase and Alex aren’t happy with Derek and are semi-confronting him. It’ pretty petty and doesn’t really make a lot of sense.

Robby seems to be edging towards saying the magic words, but seems very hesitant. He tells a very heartfelt story about how his best friend dying last year made him realize he needs to do what makes him happy and be in the moment. He then tells her that he loves her, and of course, she doesn’t say it back. But he seems happy nonetheless. This makes him the first one to officially say “I love you!”

Time for the cocktail party, and everyone seems nervous. All of a sudden, Derek calls out Alex, Jordan, Chase and Robby to talk to them. I’m not entirely sure what he’s talking to them about and what they’re upset about, because no one really said anything concrete. Jordan sums it up that Derek feels like the guys have formed a clique and are exclusionary so Jordan asks the rest of the guys if anyone else feels like he’s excluded them. Wells defends Derek, but Chase jumps in to attack Derek again. None of this really makes sense. I can’t even parse this.

Chris comes in, and Jojo doesn’t want a cocktail party. They’re jumping into the rose ceremony and three of them will be going home tonight. Alex, still, is pissed.

Rose ceremony time! My suspicions for who is leaving: Vinny, Grant, and sadly Evan. I sense I’m going to be surprised again though.

First Rose: Luke
Second Rose: Chase
Third Rose: Alex
Fourth Rose: James
Fifth Rose: Wells

NOOOOO EVAN. So sad! His commentary was literally the best. But I hit it right on the head! Evan’s really upset that he didn’t take proper advantage of their time together and is disappointed in himself. Grant says that she made a mistake, but he’s really confused. Vinny seems the least upset at the beginning, but he quickly jumps to be incredibly upset.

 

RB’s Psych Corner

First off, I’m surprised the Chad caused as little trouble as he did. I honestly anticipated him coming back with a vengeance to hit someone. Not saying he wasn’t completely out of line, but less out of line than anticipated.

The main issue this week seems to have been that the majority of the guys were starting to form cliques and have pointless arguments. My feeling is when there is a constant bonding factor, such as a common enemy, and that factor is suddenly ripped away, a vacuum is immediately formed, and everyone subconsciously rushes to fill it with something else to bond about. There’s two ways to handle this. Either you find something else to bond over, or you continue to bring back patterns of the previous associations, all at the same level of intensity as before. Either way, you’re going to end up in a situation where everyone’s going to be acting very weird for a little bit of time. In this particular case, let’s take Alex. Alex arguably had the most hate for Chad, but with Chad gone, he needs something else to focus his energy one. Enter, Derek and Jordan. He doesn’t have particularly good reasons to hate either of them, but the intensity overall is probably amounting to a similar level as with Chad.

However, that being said, just because someone is over-reacting, doesn’t mean they aren’t necessarily right. Several of the guys have pointed out an issue with Jordan, either with him being fake or them feeling attacked. Now, with reality shows, there’s a lot of content and context they have to edit out for times sake. That means we may be missing pertinent information to psychoanalyze. But, if several of the guys have an issue with Jordan, and we don’t see it as the audience, it’s best to go with the opinion of those who are actually living through the situation. This makes me doubt my own belief in Jordan’s authenticity, though he seems to handle every situation with grace. Alex and Luke are also becoming rather haughty, which is most likely going to lead to problems if they don’t clean up their act fast.

I’d have to say the best part of this week is now that Chad’s gone, we finally get an opportunity to analyze everyone else! I’m personally crushed that Evan is gone, but it is indicative of the type that Jojo has. Though personality is her most important criteria, that personality seems to be balanced with body type. Instant chemistry and attraction are important to her, and she’s a visual person, so she gets a lot of that from looks. Basically, if a guy looks good, and treats her well, he’s a keeper; i.e. Robby, Chase, Jordan, Chad, etc. If it comes to a clash between looks and personality however, she’ll go with the personality, I suspect against her gut reaction, which is mainly towards “the bad boy” character. That being said, morals are the thing she’s most sensitive about, and the second she can’t trust them, she will dump them.

This brings us to Evan. One might think, “Evan had the personality! Why didn’t he stay?” The reasoning is simple: he didn’t “wow” her enough. Basically, she doesn’t do well with shy guys, and if it takes too much time for the charisma to come out, then she’s done with it. Evan, although witty on camera, had a tendency to be a bit more reserved and quiet around Jojo. So even though his kind personality shown through, the lack of desire to make-out with him in secret corners won out and she called it quits. Unfortunate, but ultimately for the best, because Evan needs a girl who is a bit more reserved, traditional and an intellectual equal. Anyone who participates on “The Bachelorette” is probably not that. And that’s a wrap!

See you next week!

 

FireDrums 2016

RB: Hi All! So as aforementioned, we’ve started a travel section to the blog. Our first entry is not a long one.

We went to FireDrums 2016, which was located at the Blue Mountain Event Center in Wilseyville, CA. The event took place from June 2-5, 2016.

We personally drove up to a friend’s house through Tuesday night, slept there Wednesday and were off for the location on Thursday morning! What is FireDrums, you may ask? For that, we should ask our fellow author, inspyred!

inspyred: Deep in the woods of Northern California, a mix of casual hobbyists, professional performers, students,and teachers gather to shed the standard mechanics of their normal lives, dust off the parts of our mind that we were told should be put away after childhood is over, and come out to play.

FireDrums is one of the biggest fire festivals on the U.S. West Coast, hosted by the Flow Arts Institute; 2016’s festival was from June 2nd to the 5th, and it was my fourth in a row. The primary focus of the festival is the learning, teaching, sharing, and celebration of Flow Arts. The flow arts which I personally practice are primarily ball and club juggling, poi, rope dart, and have recently assembled a pair of fire fans that are much harder to use than I had expected.

The daylight hours of the festival are filled with workshops featuring a huge variety of topics, from specific genres of prop manipulation to discussions of culture to group meditation sessions. I enjoy attending whatever prop manipulation workshops pique my fancy, though many people simply wander around sharing circus tricks, socializing, reading, writing, drawing, swimming in a nearby stream, exploring the forest, or whatever they may feel inclined to do at the moment. There are also a host of vendors of props for manipulation, as well as food, clothing, and various artistic creations. For me personally, the biggest draw of the event is the radically free social atmosphere.

At night, however, the main attraction shifts to the fire circle which is set up in a large clearing, surrounded by fire pits and volunteer fire-safeties holding fire blankets (a duvetyne cloth treated with fire retardant) focused on keeping everyone safe. The festival is largely free-spirited in terms of how you wish to enjoy it, but fire safety is one of few things taken extremely seriously. Any open fire outside of the designated areas are explicitly forbidden, and this policy is rigorously enforced, with the fuel dump of the fire circle being brightly illuminated and very plainly distinguished from the surroundings with bright orange partitions. Once their props are dipped, each spinner takes to the fire circle and joins in the collective celebration of fire, everyone deliberately dancing with the deep, primal instinct of aversion to fire, to the sound of various electronic music artists (as well as the Humboldt Drummers) played out of speakers with the bass often heavy enough to reverberate in my chest from anywhere in the campground.

Here’s a video taken of Nicky Evers (a.k.a. DJ Nevers) in the fire circle while Kevin Axtell announced the closing of the fuel depot on the final morning of this year’s Fire Drums. Many (myself included) stay up until sunrise on Saturday night.
I have found that, as much as I could develop my prop manipulation skills on that night with so many other incredibly skilled people (though I did spin some fire), my favorite way to spend it was walking around and simply striking up conversations with people, as well as keeping a notebook with me and writing whenever inspiration strikes… which tends to happen at fire festivals.
Most others seem to either alternate between spinning fire and watching everyone else spinning fire, or just simply hanging around, socializing, some painting, some writing, others simply dancing to the music… everyone so clearly happy to be there, in a very contagious way. I look forward to next time… hopefully next year for us.

RB: So over the duration of the trip, while inspyred was doing his workshops, I was exploring the area and lounging about with my book! Here are some photos:



By the time Day 3 (Saturday) came around, we were burned out (a good pun by the way), and decided to do some exploring! We went off the campsite, and hiked to a river, where we ended up jumping in with our clothes on! The water was frigid, but it was about 95 degrees Fahrenheit outside, so the cold was welcome. We explored the bugs in the area, learned about different kinds of larvae (dragonfly and mosquito), and then headed back to the campsite! All in all, a beautiful trip!

The Bachelorette Season 12: A Review (Part 4)

Day 2! Predictions for the day: I expect lots of nonsense, and Chad to get kicked out in some dramatic fashion. Let’s go!

So, Chad walks back into the house. If you remember, he’s supposed to apologize. He saunters in saying that he just wants everyone to be chill and he doesn’t have any problems with anyone. Evan says that’s not really any apology and he still needs a new shirt, to which Chad retorts that Evan tried to push him over. Wells pips up saying that the real issue here is that everyone feels uneasy, and Chad just keeps reiterating that they just need to all stop bothering him.

Jojo swings by the house and the pool party begins! The boys all do a PERFECT swan dive into the pool for Jojo and poor Evan comes out with a bloody nose! Hilariously, everyone immediately starts joking that Chad must be at fault. Jojo and Jordan and sneak off to make out. These two are a perfect couple. They really bond well together and they’re obviously really into each other.

Back to the festivities, Jojo mentions that “Even Chad seems to be having a good time.” That wording by itself is very indicative that Jojo obviously doesn’t have a very positive impression of him. She’s not very keen on touching him like she seems with the other guys, and she tells him straight up she was mad with him on the group date for attacking Evan. His argument is “We’re total opposites…It’s like trying to figure out what you want for dinner..ice cream or steak?” ….Terrible argument. This dude could use some time in a debate club. Evan comes over, however, and cuts their time short. Chad (again) is very upset that he got cut out, cause he’s never done that.

Everyone in their alone time is talking bad stuff about Chad. Derek even tells her that he moved rooms, while Chad is WATCHING THE CONVERSATION FROM BEHIND THE BUSHES. WHAT DUDE? How stalkerish can you get?? He notices Chad, and kisses Jojo right in front of her. HA. Good job bud. So, he gets upset and sulks away, refusing to talk to anyone. He calls Derek out to the foyer, and wants to confront him. He tells Derek “I don’t know who like me stole your girlfriend, but I’m not him.” Derek very pointedly remarks that the REASON they all have issues with Chad is because he starts off his sentences like that and attacking the guys. Dude should have his own psych corner!

Rose ceremony time! My guess is Ali, Christian and Chad, are out this week (I can only pray).

First Rose: Grant
Second Rose: Derek
Third Rose: Jordan
Fourth Rose: Luke
Fifth Rose: Robby
Sixth Rose: Wells
Seventh Rose: James F.
Eighth Rose: Vinny
Ninth Rose: Daniel
Tenth Rose: Alex
Eleventh Rose: Chad

WELL DAMN IT. COME ON DUDE. This means that Ali, Christian and Nick B. are all out. Poor Nick is actually crushed.

And Jojo drops a surprise – they’re going to a different location for the rest of the season! They’re in…Pennsylvania? I suppose that’s pretty far from LA, and pretty relaxing! That should be good!

Side note: the more I look, the more Jordan and Derek look like long-lost twins.

Luke gets the one on one date. And they go dog sledding! Complete with a cozy blanket and cuddles! They then move into a wood-fire-hot tub. She mentions again how she’s worried that things with Luke might be too good to be true. She for sure is psyching herself out.

Back at the house, the guys are predicting a two-on-one date. Alex mentions that the only thing worse than a two-on-one is a two-on-one with Chad.

Speaking of Chad, he mentions that the other guys need to not “poke the Chad-bear” and that he won’t “start things but he’ll definitely end them”…

Derek, James T., Daniel, Chase, Wells, Vinny, James F., Evan, Grant, Jordan, and Robby all get a group date. That means that Alex and Chad have a potential two-on-one. Poor Alex. And Alex mentions that he’s going to send Chad home. Jordan says sending Chad home is “for America”.

Dinner with Jojo and Luke is going great with Jojo using the word “sexy” about 15 times for Luke. I think she has some practiced lines as she’s used the same lines on most of the guys. Luke opens up about what it was like to be a platoon leader and Lieutenant in the army. His childhood friend Jason died on the battlefield and it seems like Luke’s having a real moment here – no producers involvement here! And apparently that comes across to Jojo and she gives him a rose. They move onto a theater where they get serenaded by a group called “Dan + Shay”.

Next day, it’s the group date! And they’re at a football stadium with Ben Roethlisberger! It’s one of those physical competition tests again. James T. ends up with a bloody eye, but shakes it off. What a trooper!

At the house, Chad’s starting a fight, no surprise. That’s about all I’m going to say on it.

Back at the stadium, Evan has a bloody nose again and he’s become the butt of every joke. He’s taking it in great stride though.

Alone time’s up and Robby’s first. They make out on a pool table. Super cliche, but thats basically the rest of their time together. All the other guys are up and then Jordan is having issues with her. She says that he still makes her nervous and that she can’t read him. This can’t be a good sign for my favorite pick.

So now Jojo has to pick someone to give the rose to. It’s Jordan! I got proved wrong so fast!

Time for the two-on-one! But before we get there, turns out Grant has a problem with Chad too. So after asking the stupid question of who there has a problem with him, Chad finds out everyone has a problem with him (shocker). So he decides he doesn’t want anyone to talk to him anymore. Alex mentions that they’re polar opposites, and Chad starts calling him a “whiny little bitch” to which Alex responds that  Chad is the “most insecure person I’ve ever met”. Alex points out that Chad has burned all his bridges as everyone in the world can see Chad on tv and see what he’s really like. Chad then challenges everyone to go outside. Good Lord.

The day for the date is finally here! Evan’s the only one thinking that Chad might be able to trick Jojo into letting him stay. While the rest of the guys are having a conversation, Chad’s weirdly eavesdropping again, and when they ask him to join, he once again picks a fight with Jordan. This time Chad starts on a rant about how when the show ends, he’s going to go out of his way to find Jordan’s house and beat him up. And that Jordan should be afraid of Chad. This guy would be in jail in a second in real life.

Jojo starts off saying she’s very nervous about the whole day because she doesn’t know what’s going to happen with Chad. They’re taking a hike today, so things could get interesting being that far out in the wilderness. Chad is spouting nonsense about how he’s doing the best in the house again. The three of them are just sitting talking, and things are SUPER awkward. So Jojo asks to spend some time alone with Alex. So he tells Jojo what’s going on with Chad in more detail. Hopefully that’s the push she needs. She talks to Chad now, and he basically admits that he’s threatening everyone but it’s their fault and he’s not doing anything wrong. Jojo is pretty upset and says she needs some alone time to think. TAKE HIM DOWN GIRLIE. After she leaves, Chad throws his cup into the river. At the very least, once he’s out of the show, we’ll miss these golden moments.

Jojo’s having doubts, but she says maybe he’s just having a hard time because of his past life experiences. At this point, Chad’s talking to the camera saying that he’s told Alex a million times to mind his own business, but at this point he “has no option left”. I’m genuinely scared for Alex’s life right now. I’m having actual anxiety and Chad’s serial murderer whistling through the woods isn’t helping.

He gets back to Alex and tells Alex he’s not “very happy with him”.  “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed..It’s just unfortunate that I can’t beat you up without getting in trouble.”

Jodi’s back from her alone-time walk, and she’s got a decision for sure. I’m betting she keeps Alex. I hope to god she’s not so dumb as to keep Chad. She point blank asks him if he’s threatened people in the house, which he DOESN’T EVEN DENY OR APOLOGIZE FOR. TAKE HIM JOJO. YES. SHE TOOK HIM DOWN. She laid it DOWN on him. And gives Alex the rose. Chad’s clearly unhappy. I’m not sure if he’s going to do something drastic though…

The guys in the house see Chad’s backpack being taken away, and they all start cheering. There’s confetti and drinks and basically a party happening.

Alone time with Chad and Jojo and Chad says he’s now going to “have to go find Alex”. Chad comes back to the house and the guys are SUPER confused (as would I be). Again, I’m concerned for everyone’s safety.

To be continued…

RB’s Psych Corner

Jordan’s my vote for winning this whole thing. Very clear to me that they both like each other more than they expected and are trying to stifle the feelings. It’s obvious that both of them have been hurt badly in the past (Jojo’s we witnessed on national television), and because of that, they’re both scared to open up to each other. However, Jojo’s still a little immature in thinking that although she isn’t really wanting to open up, all the guys should open up to her. Hopefully, she doesn’t act on those feelings. Derek’s coming up pretty hot as well, and I have a lot of faith in Alex and Evan. With Chad, she’s probably fighting herself to see the good in him. It seems like she’s the kind of girl who likes to “fix guys”. Hence her attraction to the bad boy type. She seems to be the type who spurns the good guys for this reason, and keeps telling herself that someone is good “deep down”. People, I’m gonna tell you right now. If you see even ONE red flag in a person, that is a very good reason to stop talking to that person. You have to have enough respect as an individual to respect YOUR time and know that you are a person of value. You, as a human being, deserve to be loved by someone amazing. If you are convincing either yourself or the other party of reasons that you should be together, there’s something wrong there. Especially, when the person is a crazy, violent, meat-head. She seems to have enough self-awareness to know that all of this is bad for her however, hence why she let Chad go. Problem being, the dude is crazy and the producers should’ve 1. had better security measures and 2. kicked him off the show WAY earlier.

We’ll see what happens next week, but I’ll be anxious for everyone’s safety the whole time! See you ten!

The Bachelorette Season 12: A Review (Part 3)

Ok! So we’ll have 2 episodes in 2 days! Other than that, let’s get rolling!

So everyone wakes up to a trashed house. No surprise with the antics that happened.

The bromance between Daniel and Chad continues to develop. I personally suggest they drop Jojo and just date each other. This isn’t a normal bromance either. It’s a BRO-mance. Working out all day son!

Once again, Chad is super confident that he’s awesome. I just want to see his tiny little dreams crushed at this point.

Chase gets the one-on-one with Jojo, but obviously Chad is confused. Dude has the insight of a snail, I swear.

So Chase didn’t have a date last week, so he gets a chance this week. That being said, if he doesn’t get a rose, IMMEDIATE elimination. And they end up at a Yoga studio. AND ONE OF MY PEOPLE IS THE INSTRUCTOR.

Back at the house, Chad and Daniel are working out. Totally unexpected. Evan, however, agrees with me that these two belong together.

Back at yoga, somehow a yoga pose turned into a sexy make-out session. Of course this situation was totally planned as Jojo ended up straddling him as a yoga pose. They have dinner afterwards and the sparks are real here. Honestly, Chase is such a down to earth guy. I’m a fan. He opens up and tells Jojo that he comes from a family of divorce. And the dude gets a rose! And they walk out onto the patio to a private concert and obviously more unfiltered making out. I honestly don’t know how she doesn’t feel weird about making out with several dudes at the same time.

Jordan, Grant, Wells, James F., Christian, Ali, Daniel, Vinny, Nick, Evan, Alex, Chad all get on the group date. Chad then declares he doesn’t want to go on a group date. And let the drama ensue. Evan offers to cross off Chad’s name on the card so “he doesn’t have to go” and Chad tells him to shut his mouth. Jordan then drops some gold and says that if they have to have teams, he hopes that the team Chad is on is a benchpress competition and not a spelling competition. I love this kid. Obviously this riles Chad up, and calls Jordan a “27-year-old failed football player who’s done nothing with his life except toss around a piece of leather”. Alex then says Chad went to far and that he’s a “piece of shit” and Chad retorts that Alex is a “25-year-old piece of shit right there”. The rest of the guys are soaking this up and just sipping on their drinks. I would be too honestly.

Derek, James, Luke and Robby all don’t get on the group date. Alex comments that he’s excited to go on a date with “10 guys, 1 douchebag, a beautiful girl and himself”. More golden lines. Grant comments that he thinks Chad is going to say some comment and Alex is going to jump down his throat, which honestly isn’t too far off from my own prediction. Either that or Evan somehow gets punched, just due to his amazing snakiness towards Chad. You go Evan!

The group date is at a theater. And lo and behold, it’s a performance! My kind of date! Never mind, it’s a show called “Sex Talks” that makes the guys talk about their sex stories. This is gonna be amazing. But Chad doesn’t want anything to do with it. Somehow, Daniel is on the “right side” and trying to convince Chad that if he likes Jojo, just do at least a 1 minute long story. Chad, however, is getting VERY defensive, even against his best bro. Evan has decided to just call out Chad for his story. I BELIEVE IN YOU EVAN.

Grant’s story: 16 years old, wants to have sex and 30 seconds into it, has a spotlight on him. The cops put him in jail but the best part was that he got sex! He was adorably excited about this story.

Nick’s story: 16 years old and the first time he had oral he didn’t know what to do so he drew out the alphabet with his tongue. Gold.

They skip over some of the stories but they seem hilarious.

And Evan’s up! Alex is super excited for this. He starts talking about “the dangers of using steroids” – irritability, withdrawal from people, saying things like “the girl I’m trying to date is nagging me”. So he’s basically implying that Chad is using steroids. When Evan comes back, he gives Jojo a hug and Chad just grabs him by the shirt collar and pulls him back sharp. (Here, we finally learn that Nick is an Electrical Engineer!). So Chad does go up, and he says he needs a volunteer, so he calls up Jojo. He tries to kiss her on stage and she just straight up turns away. YES. PROGRESS. Alex: “Crash and burn brother!” On their way out, Chad just punches the door. Evan and Alex are chest bumping. So cute! But Chad walks and in and grabs Evan by the throat and says “Dude, you’re going to die”. What the hell dude?? And Daniel’s standing up for Evan, what?? Daniel’s like a new man! Meanwhile, Chad’s knuckles are bleeding from hitting the door. Jordan calls him out for roid rage.

They’re at dinner now and Jordan and Jojo are having their alone time. He opens up about his previous relationship. Next up is Alex, Vinny, Wells, and Nick. Chad saunters in and asks for some time, but Jojo immediately says “he just sat down”. Good job girl! Chad starts talking about how he’s not mad at Evan because of his story, but some nonsense about how Chad wanted to pass by him and Evan just pushed him away. He then starts talking about how he doesn’t ever “start anything”. Sure dude. Evan asks for an apology, and Chad starts telling Evan that Evan is bullying Chad and that he wants Evan to stay away from him. This just keeps getting more and more nonsensical. I can’t imagine that this isn’t scripted. Immediately, all the guys get up and walk away from Chad and Evan. Chad says that “Evan had his chance at love. He has 3 kids”, as though that validates that Evan shouldn’t be there?

Back at the house, Luke is spot on in guessing the group date isn’t going well. James T. gets the next individual date.

Chad’s still complaining that a lot of the guys have “no chance at all” and they’re “a parade of losers”. That being said, Chad is just hovering around all the alone time dates and spends his time bashing the guys individually. He’s giving her “a breather” apparently. Sure dude, that’s definitely what you’re doing. Chad’s turn and he immediately tells Jojo he didn’t want to come on the group date. She (obviously) seems taken aback. Evan then cuts off their conversation, and Chad is upset about it (as though he’s never done that to any of the guys). He straight up calls Jojo out and says that if Chad stays, that he wants to leave. Bold move. You really don’t see that happen often, I feel. Jojo is unhappy hearing this.

Before she hands out the rose, she wants to talk to Evan alone. SUPER CRAZY TURN OF EVENTS: She gives Evan the rose! WHAT? I was so sure the producers wouldn’t have it!

What’s Chad’s reaction going to be? I assume not good (per usual). Chad is giving dagger eyes, and Jojo point blank asks if he’s ok in the middle of her speech. He says “Is this real? Are you joking?” Oh goodness. Hopefully, she drops him like a fly tonight. She immediately calls him out for being disrespectful. She just gets up and leaves, which is probably not a good sign. Chad says “no girl on planet earth chooses Evan”. He’s super pissed. He says he wants to punch another door. Honestly, I’m very concerned for the guy’s health.

The next morning, Derek says he no longer feels safe sleeping in the same room as Chad. Shocking. Fun fact: There’s now a security guard on the premises to keep Chad in line. That’s always a good sign. Honestly, shame on the producers for allowing him to stay in the first place. If he’s endangering your other contestants, I don’t care what kind of show it is, dude’s got to go.

James T. and Jojo are on a date where they’re dressed in 1950s clothing.They’re going dancing! They meet an adorable old woman, that met her husband through dancing.

At the house, Daniel’s still being very sensible. Very weird. But good on you man! You’re changing my opinion! Please don’t mess it up. And OH MY GOODNESS, Daniel just called out Chad for being out of control! Dude’s on a roll! Good job buddy! I’m thoroughly impressed. And he just compared Chad to Hitler, Mussolini, Trump and W. Bush. Fantastic!

Back on the date, things are going well! But then Jojo’s being dumb and saying she doesn’t know if there’s any chemistry. Come on dude. Going for the bad boys is not the right thing to do. James opens up about being made fun of as a kid and how he defaults to setting girls he likes up with his best friend. That’s actually super endearing. GIRLS: Look for a dude who always looks out for you before himself! This kid is an absolute sweetheart.

At the house the next day, Chad is working out hard core. Nothing new. The rose ceremony is tonight and the guys are nervous. And Jojo decides that she doesn’t want a cocktail party tonight and go straight into the rose ceremony. The trade off is that she’s wanting an all day pool party. Personally, I feel like this wasn’t “Jojo’s decision”, but the “producer’s want ratings” decision. Chad is feeling jealous that the other guys get to see her in a bathing suit. “I can tell what she probably looks like in a bathing suit through her dress”. Not creepy at all… Evan immediately follows Chris (the host) out the door, and starts telling Chris about the issues with Chad. Chris pulls Chad aside afterwards, but Chad says none of the incidents have been his fault. Chris tells Chad he has to apologize, and Chad doesn’t take it well. Literally after that talk, he tells the camera that he’s willing to beat someone up if he needs to.

And of course, we end on that note! We’ll do “RB’s Psych Corner” and continue the drama tomorrow!