-On to Croatia, and I’m gonna talk about all 3 dates on this page as a whole because they were just, ummmm, weird? Usually when they go to a country for an episode, they try and do whatever they can for the 3 dates involved to show as much of what the country has to offer as possible. Not so much for Croatia. Did the Croats piss them off? Did the check bounce? Were they understaffed or something? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode in another country with the subsequent 3 dates, where as little of the country was shown to the viewers as what we got last night. Did anyone else notice this?
-First date started off without even a date card. Clayton just showed up to where all the women were sitting and said the first date starts now with Teddi. Great. Teddi the first impression rose recipient, who’s basically been a ghost for 5 episodes, finally gets her first 1-on-1. Now, once their date started it began to rain, so maybe original plans changed, but their date literally consisted of them walking in the streets under an umbrella and…that’s it. No joke. They went to commercial break and the next we see of them is at night for their dinner portion. At dinner Teddi tells Clayton she’s a virgin, Clayton acts unbothered by this, but I think we kinda saw Teddi’s youth on this date. I just sensed that there was zero physical chemistry between the two and he just looked at her as a buddy. And make no mistake, if Teddi was someone Clayton was seriously considering picking in the end, there is no chance she would’ve gotten a bullshit “walk under and umbrella” date. No chance.
-The group date took 7 of the women to see a Croatian knight. Or some cosplay version of one. They had to perform feats that a knight would apparently perform. You know, if you’re an actual knight living in Croatia. They had to do a physical strength competition, eat a feast of disgusting food, then win over the knight’s heart by telling him what they’re feeling and what they’re fighting for. You know, because all knights do this. Why not just take them to Medieval Times for a group date and just be done with it. Oh, they don’t have that in Croatia? You mean the local strip mall didn’t have cosplay knights riding around on horses and fake jousting with each other while the fans cheered them on and ate turkey legs with their hands? Could’ve sworn they’d have that on every street corner in Hvar, with Katarina our local Croatian knight leading the charge every show.
-Rachel got the group date rose for the second straight week, which has only happened now 3 times in show history I believe: Nikki on Juan Pablo’s season, Brandon last season with Michelle, and now Rachel. One of them won. One of them didn’t. So that back-to-back roses tells us nothing, although I’m sure some will read into it. The noteworthy happening from that night was what I’d reported a couple weeks ago, and that was that Susie left a note under his door to meet him at the Clock Tower, which totally had my Back to the Future pants on fire last night. The clock tower? Were Susie and Clayton gonna travel back to the beginning of the season so he could rid us of Shanae on night 1? Alas, that didn’t not happen, there was no flux capacitor involved, no DeLorean, no Enchantment Under the Sea Dance and I’m pissed.
-The final date went to Sarah, who’s now getting her second 1-on-1 date before Mara got her first, and Mara made that known to Clayton. For those that are new to this show, or for those that haven’t been able to pick up on this in 46 seasons, the bottom line is the reason Sarah got two 1-on-1 dates before Mara got one is because Clayton was never picking Mara. We’ve seen this time and time again on this show in the past. This is nothing new. Plenty of people have gotten their second 1-on-1 in that 6th or 7th episode before someone even got their first one, and that person without one is basically gone that episode. So while they really tried to stir shit up with Mara & Sarah, there really wasn’t much there. I guess what they are really digging for is for “cocky” Sarah to show herself, which we got a little of at the end of last night, but seemingly seeps into next weeks episode. Not that Sarah is a villain, but we know she doesn’t get a hometown and is eliminated next week, so I guess they had to plant the seed as to why she was.
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