-The group date is up next and the card reads, “I’m looking for a man who’s good with his hands.” Sucks for you Bryan. The chiropractor doesn’t get to work his magic on this one. No, this date had to do with Handball, something the Tickle Monster is probably an expert at. Bummed he missed out on this one. The guys will be split up into 2 teams and Coach Tom from Norway will make his television debut teaching these guys about a game that I have absolutely zero clue about. Wait, this is Handball? I thought Handball was played against a wall? I’m totally mixing up my games here. Anyway, one thing I definitely took away from this game last night, besides that I would never be caught dead playing it, is that apparently you have to jump in the air when taking a shot. I don’t know the point the point of it or what purpose it serves, but it sure looks goofy. Will ended up being the star of the game and, whaddya’ know, just when I mention that any winners or stars of group dates haven’t gotten the group date rose this season, Rachel changes the game on me. But that’s a little later on in the evening.
-Of course we have to get a shot back at the resort of Kenny and Lee preparing for their 2-on-1. Now, before we go any further, this shot of Kenny bleeding from the eye that they showed multiple times last night and have showed all throughout the season in teasers, has nothing to do with his 2-on-1 with Lee. You can see the outfit Kenny had on yesterday isn’t the same shirt he has on during the shot of himi with the bloody eye. I’m pretty sure the bloody eye happened during the impromptu flag football game before the domestic obstacle course back in episode 2. Just know Kenny’s eye bleeding has nothing to do with the conclusion of tonight’s date with Lee. I’m just amazed how much the show is pushing that down the audience’s throat knowing it’s not going to happen. We’ve seen that clip so many times, everyone thinks the payoff will be tonight – and it won’t. Then again, they do this every season so it’s not really a surprise. Kenny is on the phone FaceTiming his daughter and crying, and Lee is working out in cowboy boots. Yep. About as different as you can get with these two. Good vs Evil.
-So the game went on, I have no idea who won, how they won, what the strategy is in that game, why they have to wear high school wrestling outfits, or any of 500 other things that didn’t make sense to me. All I know is the red team carried Rachel off on their shoulders at the end of the game, and Adam Jr was watching from the balcony at them. I thought maybe that joke would’ve ended in episode 2 or 3. Apparently it’s ongoing and he’ll be around til at least episode 7 when Adam gets eliminated. Wonderful. Because he adds so much to the show and doesn’t creep anyone out whatsoever. Could you imagine if Adam actually got a hometown date and they made a space for him? You know, kinda like they made the Rodgers family have an empty chair at dinner for Aaron just in case he might’ve shown up. Looking back on that hometown, how embarrassing was that? There was zero chance in a million years Aaron was gonna show up on Jordan’s hometown, yet, they put out a chair to emphasize that he wasn’t. Dumb.
-So Rachel starts her alone time with every guy, and each one brings something different to the table. Will is up first because I guess he dominated Handball. He tells her he got hurt right around the same time she did with Nick, and he’s bounced back and is better for it. When Nick dumped her on TV or in real life during filming? I would think Will is talking about when Nick dumped her on TV, which was literally three weeks before she started filming this show. In real life, he dumped her back in the beginning of November, which would’ve been a tad more realistic Will. But these contestants never talk in “real” time, they talk in “TV” time, sooooooo, how long before Will left for filming did he get dumped? Judges, can we get a ruling on this? Thanks. Anyway, she made out with him.
-Alex was up next and had a poem written for her that got him a make out as well. She’s sure feeling frisky tonight that Rachel. Just letting her tongue wander down as many throats as possible. Matt made an appearance and had lyrics to a song inscribed somewhere. I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention because I don’t know who Matt is like the rest of us. Josiah then comes along and tells the story of how his dad told his mom after the 2nd date that he was going to marry her. 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.
-Peter was up next and lets explain the behind-the-scenes of this show a little bit. This was a group date after party. Every guy got some alone time with her in another room, yet Peter gets to take her outside, there’s a hot tub available, and both get down in their bathing suits to get in? Just know this is all pre-planned in advance. They know Peter is a main character this season, and when you’re a main character, you get certain advantages. This is one of them. Peter either asked or was told he’d have the ability to go in the hot tub with her during the group date. Hell, even when he got back the guys called him the “3 ½ hour man.” Maybe it did take that long, maybe it didn’t, but just the fact they acknowledged he was gone so long goes to show the advantage he had on this date. Then, Rachel inexplicably gives the group date rose to Will, and we hear Peter doubting what he and Rachel have. Well Peter, since all the other guys got like 5 minutes with her and got to keep their clothes on, the fact that you got what you did and basically got to wet hump her in the hot tub, well, don’t worry about Will getting the rose. You’re safe.
-Since we’re gonna see the Kenny/Lee 2-on-1 group date conclusion tonight, I’ll start tomorrow’s column with that. Tomorrow’s will be a tad shorter since I have “Reader Emails” to throw in tomorrow as well. I know Lee goes home for sure tonight, I just still don’t know if she sent Kenny as well. And pretty sure Josiah gets eliminated at the rose ceremony. Norway and Denmark are the only two episodes where I was confused on who got eliminated when outside of a couple. Once we officially see who gets sent home in Norway, it’ll make Denmark clear as to who goes home.
Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is “RealitySteve,” join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page, or listen to all my podcasts at Apple Podcasts. Talk to you tomorrow.
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.