-Lauren’s 1-on-1 in Virginia is shown last, and now we have back-to-back girls who run and jump into Arie’s arms. And whaddya’ know? It’s his final two girls. How convenient. These two end up riding horses on the beach before sitting and having a meal. I had pictures of this beach date posted the day of filming, so we knew they’d been at the restaurant which was closed down for the season, but opened just so they could film. Never had pictures of them on the horses, so that was a different touch. Their dinner centered around Lauren being extremely nervous about Arie meeting her family because she knew they were going to be skeptical and question the process. And that they did. All four families last night had reservations about the whole thing, but Lauren’s were definitely the leader of the pack. For those that asked last night and were confused that the house they were at wasn’t the house you saw in the pictures, let me refer you to my tweet from last night:
Actually it’s not. You’re looking at the house that the cars in the driveway are in the picture. Look across the street. That’s Lauren’s parents house. pic.twitter.com/qZPqA3JSJN
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) February 20, 2018
The show actually used the house across the street to park their vans in, hence the reason the person who posted that made the comment they did. Lauren’s parents house is the one across the street with the white picket fence, something we saw Arie and Lauren enter before getting to the front door.
-They presented this hometown as the weird one where there was a lot of silence and awkward silence. Usually one a season they have to do that for and Lauren’s was the one since it played into the narrative that they were the most skeptical of the process. Her dad asks Arie if he’s ever dated anyone from a military family, Arie says no. He asks if Arie plays golf, Arie says no. Things are going real swimmingly right now for this visit. Her dad should’ve followed with a, “So, I heard you like short petite blondes in their mid 20’s too. What’s with that Sydney girl? You stayed with her for a whole year even though you were checked out long before that. Explain.” I’m sure not only would that have made Arie get up from the table, but he probably would’ve had to ask for a change of pants.
-Arie speaks to Lauren’s dad outside and went straight for the jugular. No, he didn’t ask him any difficult questions or beg to be liked, he immediately started kissing up by relaying a story to an ex-military guy about how he once went to Iraq years ago with fellow racers and visited the troops. I’m pretty sure he knew he was gonna pull that card out the second he heard Lauren came from a military family. The dad seemed to like that and now he and Arie can share war stories together once Arie somehow convinces him that changing his mind on an engagement after two months for his daughter is a strong commitment to her and that he’s 100% fully invested with her and has no other interest in any other women in the Scottsdale area, online, or anywhere else he travels. I’d like to think Lauren’s dad is a pretty bright guy based on what we saw last night. I can’t believe they’re buying this load of garbage he sold them. Gonna be one hell of a finale.
-Arie’s talk with Lauren’s mom was a doozy. She was easily the most skeptical parent on the show last night and Arie lied directly to her face. Well, maybe he didn’t lie, but he skirted the question as well as he could. She asked, “Are you saying the same thing to these other people?” Well, the short answer to that question is yes. He told every family last night he’s falling for their daughter, so, I don’t know how the answer could’ve been anything other than “Yes, I’m saying the same thing to everyone to get in the good graces of all the parents. Are you buying it?” Even the mom in her ITM said “it’s difficult to give your blessing,” but ultimately that she trusts her daughter’s judgment and blah blah blah. Lets see how many parents we get that from in future seasons. “Welllllll, I don’t know about all this, but I trust ______ judgement on this, so whatever they decide, we’ll support them.”
-When Lauren spoke to her mom, she laid it on thick. “I feel like I’m falling in love with him…he told me in Italy he was falling in love with me too…I don’t think he would say that to me if he was saying that to other people.” Yeah, you wouldn’t think he would, but he did. Hell, after he dumps Lauren at the altar in Peru he even tells her he loves her, minutes before he proposes to someone else and tells them the same thing. So I’m not sure how they’re going to process that, but then again, we’re 3 months now removed from that happening and Arie has somehow convinced them he wants to be with their daughter after originally telling her he didn’t. No matter what is said during the finale by either side, it’s quite clear to me based on my knowledge of the situation that these two aren’t going to last, and it’ll strictly be because of Arie and his intentions. Nothing new that I haven’t repeated to you over and over and over again for the last 6 months. But hey, some people are buried so far up his ass they can’t see straight. Even when it does end, they’ll still make excuses for him and that’s just pathetic.
-Rose ceremony time and it was held back at the mansion. Can’t remember the last time they did a final four rose ceremony at the mansion. Usually they just do a hotel in LA. Arie: “Pretty incredible…hardest decision ever in my life (lie)…really is…sorry this is very difficult for me…(Arie excuses himself)…sorry…I can honestly say this decision is incredibly hard…Kendall can I talk to you?
So they step outside and basically Arie is begging her for a reason to let Tia go. Like, he couldn’t have been more clear if he was waving smoke flares at her to just tell him he could see them being engaged at the end and that’ll solidify his decision. When he has to take a girl outside that he’s questioning, she really doesn’t give him the clearest answer in the world (again saying that she’s not ready for this to end which answered nothing), and he still gives her a rose over someone else, man, he really didn’t want to give Tia a rose.
Becca: Red apples all day every day.
Lauren: The whole family getting fleeced by this guy sure is a head scratcher.
“Ladies, Arie, it’s the final rose tonight. When you’re ready.” 4 roses, 2 were given out, and Chris still feels the need to step in and do the math for us. What if he didn’t? Would everyone there be running around with their head chopped off not knowing what the hell to do?
Kendall: I figure since you love making out so much, I wanna see what the fantasy suite will bring us.
Change up in the schedule as I’ve reported these last few weeks as the WTA is airing this Sunday, and overnight dates next Monday. Kendall wasn’t at the WTA because she hadn’t been eliminated on the show yet when they filmed it. I posted your WTA spoilers last Thursday, so if you missed those, the link is on page 1. Only 13 days left of this season, thank god. While it’s certainly going to be a doozy of a finale, once the spoiler broke and then his change of heart, as I said at the time, everything else leading up to it is anti-climactic. I want to fast forward to March 5th please.
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