-We’re still at the cocktail party of the group date in South Carolina when we start off this episode, and there are two things that are happening. 1) Kenny and Lee are having their little chit chat. 2) The attack of Bryan’s tongue is playing in Rachel’s mouth. Again. We’re 5 episodes in, and every single episode they’ve made sure to show you Rachel’s alone time with Bryan on every group date after party or rose ceremony cocktail party. That doesn’t go unnoticed. Granted, what they show during the 11 weeks the show airs has absolutely nothing to do with what happened on the day of the engagement. Because they’ve shown plenty of Peter’s time with Rachel as well. I mean, a novice of this show can see this is a two man race. Peter and Bryan’s relationship is so far ahead of everyone else’s, it’s not even close. You’d think they’d at least give people SOME suspense, no? Apparently not. And oh yeah, Bryan’s tongue has been working over Rachel’s this whole time and doesn’t let up.
-Back to the Kenny and Lee drama. Honestly, I know that Kenny is fed up with Lee, and Lee is fed up that Kenny is fed up with him, but every time they’ve had an argument up to this point, I get confused as to why. Is it because Lee is a snake and a bitch, since Kenny has already told us that 17 times this episode and we’re about 5 minutes in? Or is it just because Lee is an instigator and Kenny knows what he’s up to? Because their talks always seem to go nowhere. Lee doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong and tells Kenny to his face, then sits in an ITM and says he loves stirring the pot and making sure he gets under Kenny’s skin. Which is clearly working. If Lee didn’t have those tweets in his past, he might actually be a more likable villain. But this is one of those times where we can combine real life with reality TV. He can’t escape what he wrote, so we know the guy is pretty much garbage. Not to mention has zero interest in Rachel whatsoever and was cast on this show strictly to do what he’s been doing. Plain and simple. I’d say he’s an 80’s teen villain, but usually they were taller than 5’1”.
-Jack Stone got a 1-on-1 date this episode. And to say it went horribly would be an understatement. He first arrived seeing Rachel with his sh** eating grin and you knew it was all downhill from there. Jack gives off this vibe that he high fives women after sex. Almost like thanking them for doing his job for him. I don’t know. But there was definitely something off about the whole date. Rachel even said it herself – they’re both early 30’s, they’re both lawyers, and they both live in Dallas. Yet, that’s about the only thing these two had in common. From their horse carriage ride, they went Shuckin’ & Shagging, which was totally ironic since Jack wouldn’t be doing any Shuckin’ or Shagging with Rachel the second the dancing was over. If anything, Rachel would’ve preferred if someone threw Jack’s ass back in the ocean with the rest of the oysters.
-Yet, Jack remained completely clueless because he tried/attempted/was successful at kissing Rachel after their date, and she was laughing during it. Her way of basically saying, “No dice, Jack Stone. Go try and shag someone on Paradise. This ain’t working between us. Jack on the other hand, was over the moon. “I’m shocked at how much feelings can develop in such a short period of time…I definitely see myself falling for Rachel.” One major thing Jack has working against him right now is the creepy stare. I mean, we all saw it, didn’t we? It was pretty impossible not to. Does he realize he’s doing this? Is he doing it on purpose? Does he think it’s endearing? Charming? Mesmerizing? Oh it was mesmerizing all right. Almost like the look a stranger gives to kids before he hands them candy and tells them he’ll give them a ride home. We’re all freaked out at this point. And then when he followed up at dinner by telling her if he got Rachel alone, he’d start by locking all the doors, basically security should’ve bum rushed this date and taken him away. None of it was appealing to anyone. I’m really curious to see who in Paradise gets sucked into the Jack Vortex of Stare. It’s not going to be pretty.
-Rachel cancelled the cocktail party at the rose ceremony because, well, the ghost of Jack Stone was still haunting her. As it probably did all of you in your sleep last night, right? That’s what I thought. Dean & Bryan are safe with roses. Oh yeah, Bryan got the group date rose on the Spelling Bee date because Rachel wants his babies. Rachel: “My decision to cancel the cocktail party was a surprise…each date I know exactly what I needed to do…the men I’m saying goodbye to, you certainly have left a lasting impression on me…except the Tickler. Don’t you dare try that on me as you leave this place…Dammit!!!!”
Eric: He’s still in his own head and seems to fall further and further behind.
Peter: Well, at least he’s starting a “Fitness Tour” soon…whatever that is. The next Cody Sattler?
Adam: Adam Jr. still is more interesting.
Will: I have nothing positive or negative to say about Will. He’s just there.
Matt: Maybe he should’ve just worn the penguin suit all season.
Alex: He actually got a group date rose this season somehow.
Josiah: Have you noticed that every guy that’s “won” a group date never ended up getting the group date rose? Add Josiah to the list after this Spelling Bee date. So much for impressing Rachel.
Anthony: For a guy who got an early 1-on-1, he’s given us nothing since.
Kenny: I wish somehow Kenny and Lee could wrestle. Like, for real. Lee might have his head severed from his body.
“Rachel, gentleman, it’s the final rose tonight. When you’re ready. I’m so happy Paradise is back on so I don’t miss out on another ridiculous amount of money they pay me to do nothing on a beach down in Mexico. Well, except get yelled at by Chad last season.”
Lee: Pocket sized men don’t belong on this show.
Iggy and Tickle Monster are sent home, and on cue, the Monster couldn’t help himself and violated Rachel in every way on his way out the door. Oh sure, the guys clapped for it. I’m sure Rachel was mortified getting felt up again by this dude.
rob22
June 27, 2017 at 9:06 AM
It’s probably just me, but I’m getting a “Jef Holm” feel from Bryan. Rachel thinks he’s so smooth, but it just feels like a con from a smooth operator. I don’t know if he’s pulling his lines off the internet like Jef did, but Bryan looks to me like a guy playing the part of a guy who’s interested in Rachel. He says exactly what he knows he needs to say. Is he interested in some shagging? Of course. Beyond that, I see this as something very short-lived. Then Bryan will go on a victory tour and see how many Bachelorette alums he can nail. Hey, I’m probably WAY out there, but that’s what I’m seeing and feeling.
crushonspivey
June 27, 2017 at 9:18 AM
This show just keeps getting worse, and seems to want to push it more and more. Shamelessly. Fleiss, Elan and ABC have created a mess, a race-baiting mess. And Rachel has deserved much better than they are giving her.
ABC is taking the heat, but Fleiss and Elan need to get called out personally for this abomination and they are in charge of this mess. They made Rachel keep Lee too long, stoked the flames of racism for TV enjoyment to create a 2 on 1 conflict(hey producers–pushing Lee and Kenny towards race related in not cool TV, it is despicable). Sorry, but picking Rachel, then race bating for a storyline is cause for apology, and the production company needs to apologize.
This storyline and then the BIP issues shows Fleiss has lost control on his show, and keep pushing it in terrible ways. Sex, booze, drugs, race baiting. Congrats.
rob22
June 27, 2017 at 9:21 AM
BTW: Lee shouldn’t get any kind of pass for not understanding the racial implications of calling Kenny “aggressive”. Lee isn’t 15 years old and he lives in Tennessee where the racial divide plays out pretty publicly. Lee understands perfectly what he was saying to Kenny. But he spoke using enough “code” that he can claim surprise when he gets called out on it. That’s what is done in the south (I live in the south btw). People speak in code, and everyone understands what is meant. And everyone also understands that guys like Lee will hide behind words like Political Correctness or “Being misunderstood” or “they played the race card” to obscure their intent. Lee is a bad guy. Kenny shouldn’t have taken the bait, and doing so hurt him, but it’s not hard to understand why Lee got under his skin.
rob22
June 27, 2017 at 9:23 AM
@crushonspivey: I agree 100%. The Producers role in Lee’s race baiting cannot be ignored either.
instigator911
June 27, 2017 at 9:30 AM
@rob22 – I agree with you in that Bryan seems a little too slick. I also noticed last night that Bryan seems cosmetically enhanced. I’d bet a few dollars that he’s doing Botox and filler. If that’s the case – that’s odd and would be a turnoff for me.
As far as Lee — he’s just a slimeball. Regardless of his past tweets – he is pretty transparent. None of his portrayal seems unfair – he is exactly what Kenny calls him — a snake.
allaboutme
June 27, 2017 at 9:44 AM
I keep getting the Ed vibe from Bryan, which I think is worse than the Jef H. vibe.
Del Scorcho
June 27, 2017 at 10:00 AM
Bryan was on a show called “The Player” so I don’t think for 1 second that he is genuine.
Also, Reality Steve says in his podcasts that he doesn’t make fun of people’s physical attributes that they can’t control, yet makes fun of Lee being short. Hmmm…
biscuit
June 27, 2017 at 10:34 AM
IA with both crushonspivey and rob22 regarding Lee and the franchise promoting the racial divide. I would love to know Rachel’s take on all this now that she’s had to opportunity to view the interactions of Lee’s IM as well as all the guys take on Lee’s actions. I wonder if Rachel now has a different viewpoint of Kenny. In last night’s episode, Rachel said there was some truth from both parties where in actuality there was no truth coming from the lips of Lee.
Kenny appears to have been very sincere in his feelings for Rachel. Mind you, he too could have been there for the purpose of his brand promotion, but from what I’ve seen so far, he seems sincere. Unfortunately he is the recipient of intentional provoking and drama storyline from the franchise and Lee. If Kenny really had a desire to get to know Rachel, that was not going to happen because what mattered most to the show was the making of drama.
I also wonder what Kenny’s thoughts are on this whole experience. He has to know it wasn’t a fluke Lee was cast. If he were at a regular work place, he would have grounds for discrimination and harassment suit. You sign (contract) your life away and dignity being on show like this.
allaboutme
June 27, 2017 at 10:49 AM
Jordan is more sincere about JoJo than Bryan is about Rachel. Who would have guessed?
dtandie
June 27, 2017 at 12:02 PM
Yes, he told Ashley Spivey that and then he went on to use the word midget (I can’t believe he doesn’t know how politically incorrect that is these days!) He also went on and on, criticizing Dean’s appearance.
instigator911
June 27, 2017 at 12:32 PM
I actually thought the references by Steve about Dean looking young were a bit tiresome and oddly excessive. I think Dean is super sexy.
rob22
June 27, 2017 at 12:54 PM
Regarding Dean and RS’s comments, I agree. A couple of podcasts back he went on and on about Dean being a teenager or looking like one. I had to watch more closely and when I did, I was scratching my head. He’s 26, and doesn’t look excessively young. Yes, he’s younger than Rachel, but she’s in her 30s. Dean’s pretty much in the sweet spot of the typical contestant. It’s not like he’s 20, 22 or 23, or something. I just found that whole line of commentary to be weird, especially since it went on and on. If he continued to do that on a following podcast (I decided that I cannot listen to another one), I guess he thinks he found a funny line to pull out over and over.
tjudd
June 27, 2017 at 3:44 PM
I’m from the south & I have never heard that the word “agressive” is code for something. How is that racially motivated? Trust me, I’m not a fan of Lee’s by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it’s grasping at straws to say he’s being racist!!
tjudd
June 27, 2017 at 3:47 PM
I hope that’s sarcasm about the midget part. Cuz seriously, I still call people that. I have a friend who is one & she thinks its hysterical? All this PC bs is getting ridiculous!
elizabeth82
June 27, 2017 at 3:47 PM
I read Kristen Baldwin’s recaps on Yahoo because her tweets are funny. Her recaps go up the same nights as the episodes. Maybe Steve reads them too because these passages are really similar, amirite?
Steve: “Josiah then tells Rachel he’s 100% convinced she’s the woman for him, she’s the woman of his dreams, and he wants to grow old with her. Rachel essentially tells him to slow his roll cuz she’s not even close to being on that level with him. He doesn’t even ask her anything about herself, just spews out how much he wants her. That doesn’t go over well and Josiah’s days are numbered.”
Kristen: “Rachel is loving all of it — until Josiah implies that God told him they’re going to be together. ‘I just want to grow old with you,’ he says. ‘And I really, really mean that, Rachel.’ The Bachelorette is all, slow your roll, pal. ‘You never really ask questions about me,’ she tells him, adding that she wants him to learn things about her by asking, not by reading them in a tabloid. Yeah, Josiah’s days are probably numbered.”
https://www.yahoo.com/tv/bachelorette-episode-5-recap-kenny-vs-lee-round-1-020144658.html
taxionna
June 27, 2017 at 4:44 PM
instigator911 – you are so right! Brian has definitely had some fillers/botox on his face. Really brings out the uncanny valley.
tjudd – when you have multiple men of color telling you that it’s a dog-whistle for racism, you should probably listen to them.
more information here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-bachelorette-contestant-dropped-a-classic-racial-dog-whistle_us_59488bbde4b0cddbb008f1b4
rob22
June 28, 2017 at 7:50 AM
tjudd: you’ve honestly never heard the “aggressive black man” talk track. “Black men are violent, dangerous people”. Unfortunately people post stuff like this all over social media and comments sections. That’s why calling him “aggressive” was code. It was shorthand for “aggressive black man”. He just left of the last two words to make it more ambiguous and less obviously racist. I could entertain the possibility that a lot of people could make that kind of statement not realizing that they were making a racially charged comment. I just can’t entertain it for Lee. He knew what he was doing. That was something that wasn’t lost on either the black men or the white men on the show. There were several comments to that effect from several contestants.
allaboutme
June 28, 2017 at 7:52 AM
tjudd – Also, watch Little Women to hear how toxic the M word is. Or – just Google it.
jlal
June 28, 2017 at 8:32 AM
To the person on here and apparently RS too, yes midget is a bad, bad, label. just like using the term retarded is bad. Just because people are more aware these days about what is offensive to certain groups doesn’t make being PC bad. I’d like to think progress vs. PC is to credit. There was all kinds of terms used in the past for women, blacks, disabled people, etc. that are NOT funny. People should know better today.
Bryan has definitely had work. Botox and fillers in the cheeks are my guess. Vanity aside, I like him though.
jlal
June 28, 2017 at 9:16 AM
I think Rachel is the most intelligent, classy, and well spoken bachelorette they have ever had. I have only caught two grammar errors and those were using the wrong pronoun, he vs. him and I vs. me which unfortunately most people do.
Lee was hired and most likely kept on the show by the producers to cause trouble. It is unfortunate the producers decided to use the race card. Sad, and desperate really. After the Chad backlash I would have thought they would figure out the most of us watch for the lead bachelor or ette, not to have the show be about what conflict they create.
pwaagg
June 28, 2017 at 1:33 PM
Literally couldn’t agree more. This is exactly what I was thinking when I watched this scene. And knowing what he’s said about race issues in the past, we know he knew exactly what he was doing when making those statements.
pwaagg
June 28, 2017 at 1:35 PM
Seriously? Have you not seen his racist tweets? He’s completely racist. And it’s a very common race baiting move – calling black women or women of color/giving them the “angry black woman” title and calling black men “aggressive”.
sam837
June 29, 2017 at 3:03 PM
It’s funny everyone keeps commenting on Lee’s racism toward Blacks, when he has made way more overtly hateful, bigoted, disparaging remarks against Muslims. But I guess that’s ok because hatred against Muslims is the last acceptable form of xenophobia. Being Muslim, and a longtime Bachelor fan, I find him highly offensive, and find it offensive that that part of his hatefulness is brushed under the rug.