No Rules in the Game of Love: Bachelor 27, Episode 3 Recap
Zach really is not here for the drama.
Is it just me or was there a lot of build-up to this annual BN football date? The LA Charger football players (who I didn’t know) posted about it, Hannah Storm, the ESPN correspondent posted about it, and of course, Jesse Palmer and all the accompanying Bachelor Nation accounts posted about it. It felt like the actual Super Bowl. The game didn’t really live up to the hype for me, but as a marketer, I can applaud a solid digital strategy.
We begin the episode with another gratuitous shower shot and then a FaceTime call from the representative of the Aryan race Sean Lowe (seriously his hair is so blonde and his eyes so blue) giving more encouragement to our leading guy.
Jesse enters the mansion to let the women know what the week will hold and leaves a date card. The first one-on-one of the week is for Kaity and the women act so happy for her but fuck all that. I’m not congratulating another bitch for getting a date with my man.
A Night At The Museum
Kaity and Zach had an early connection, which was clear from the few moments they’ve had together thus far in the season. They’re cute or whatever and they are headed to the Natural History Museum for the night, where apparently keeping the lights on was an impossible task, so they were given lanterns instead.
This is my dream date. I love museums, especially the history and art variety. I don’t care how much the franchise repeats this date, it never gets old. This museum did look a little mid, but still a fun experience. And to actually get to spend the night there, so cool.
Zach and Kaity share what they’re looking for in their next relationship. Kaity shares that she was in a toxic relationship she stayed in on and off for seven years and she tears up talking about wanting a good man. She kind of tries to go down this line of being a pick-me, insinuating she just wants the basic things and doesn’t want to ask for much and Zach tells her she deserves more and shouldn’t limit herself. I agree, baby girl do not be afraid to ask for the world. If Zach can’t get it for you, or won’t, another person will.
I normally don’t pay attention to background music, but I couldn’t help, but notice the crescendoing romantic music played over the dinner portion of their date, especially when he gives Kaity the rose.
Zach invites Kaity to spend the night at the museum with him and she agrees. The setup comes with cute pajamas, slippers, and notably separate twin beds (booooo!). They run around the museum, take photos, and makeout. While they enjoy their night together, the women are back at the mansion stressed about Kaity not being back from her date yet.
The women wake up the next morning to see that Kaity still isn’t home and right on cue she comes in with pajamas looking great. She shares the night with the ladies and they all look pissed. Now it’s time for them to get the shit knocked out of them on the group date! LMAO, the producers ain’t shit.
Bachelor Bowl V
On the date: Ariel, Mercedes, Kylee, Anastasia, Christina, Bailey, Genevie, Brooklyn, Brianna, Jess, Katherine, Davia, Gabi, Charity, and Greer
The women meet Zach out on a nondescript football field and before getting started he makes sure to hug each of the women, which I thought was cute. He then tells them they’ll be competing in a full tackle game of football. Jesse Palmer and Hannah Storm are calling the game and we get a cute trailer for the previous Bachelor Bowls. Winners get to spend the night with Zach at the cocktail party.
The Ball-Zachs and Shall-Crushers are ready for kick-off and almost immediately someone is hurt. This game and the game of football, in general, is so problematic/dangerous, yet it is another favorite Bachelor date of mine. The injury ends up being Anastasia faking it for some special sideline one-on-one time with Zach. Smart woman.
Women are pissing themselves, breaking nails, and sweating buckets all for a man. Worth it? Probably not. Especially since this show has a history of letting the losing team come to the cocktail party anyway. The women mostly look miserable, but the LA Charger players, Jesse, and Hannah all seem to be enjoying themselves.
In the end, the blue team wins and Ariel, Bailey, Brooklyn, Charity, Christina, and Kylee get to go to the cocktail party.
The women are psyched to be in a smaller group setting with Zach. Christina pulls him first and shares that she’s getting a little insecure that his connection is growing with other women. He encourages her to trust in what they have because that’s what helped him during his time on the Bachelorette.
Charity and Zach get time next and he thanks her for giving her all on the date. He says in his ITM he feels really comfortable with her and likes spending time with her. I’m fascinated by this relationship. I don’t think Charity is there yet with Zach, but she seems open to it. Meanwhile, Zach seems super into her or at least very intrigued by her. I think the therapist and calming presence really shines with Charity and Zach is attracted to that. The man clearly does not handle even the slightest whiff of drama well.
Back amongst the women, Brooklyn calls out Christina for oversharing about her date with Zach. She tells her to shut the fuck up because she’s making other women feel bad for not having similar experiences.
Bailey joins Zach for some one-on-one time and shares that she’s feeling like they’ve regressed since their first kiss on night one. Zach immediately agrees, which I took as a great sign because I thought it meant he wanted to change that. It might not have been the best response, but it was certainly a very honest one.
Zach has promised honesty from day one and I do feel like he’s given that. Last week he told Brianna he didn’t care about the petty house drama, and this week he’s telling Bailey something is off between them. Bailey was really hurt by this, but Zach was open and willing to keep talking about what may be missing between the two of them, but instead of trying to have that conversation (or at least the beginnings of it) she immediately dips when the next woman tries to cut in and interrupt their time.
This was a missed opportunity. Could Zach have validated her feelings a bit more and shared that he still wanted her there? Sure. He is honest, but he’s also a little blunt and his low voice can make him come off as crass/cold, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because I don’t think it’s intentional.
Bailey tries speaking to him again and shares what she’s looking for from him, which I respect, but then Zach says he isn’t confident that there is a future between them. WHEW. It was awkward and not fun to watch. Zach is lowkey cutting these women off and shutting down the bullshit fast.
When the women hear that Bailey is gone, Christina says “Well, it’s inevitable,” which is a wild response to have right after someone leaves. Zach reaches for the group date rose and gives it to Charity. Love to see a Black girl win, even if only for a moment.
The moment is immediately ruined by Christina saying she should have gotten the group date rose. Seriously? She should’ve kept that one to herself, or saved it for an ITM because it was not necessary for the other women to hear. I get it, you don’t want to fake happiness for another woman dating your man, so then shut the fuck up then! Say nothing! Journal your negative thoughts! Keep the shit to yourself! There is a fine line between real talk and rudeness. Christina is forgetting that she still has to live with these women.
Falling in Love (And Out of Planes)
Zach is standing at the altar, waiting for his bride. He’s in a suit and Aly is dawning the beautiful lace jumpsuit that was delivered to the mansion the previous night. Aly learns pretty quickly she will not be participating in a fake wedding ceremony but instead will be jumping out of a fucking plane, in a goddamn bridal jumpsuit.
I’m immediately dumping any man that tries to play this game with me. To make it worse, Aly had to jump first!?! What the fuck? She looked like she actually enjoyed herself, while Zach looked scared shitless and like he never wants to do that again. We get a standard hot tub in the middle of nowhere before they head to dinner.
Aly looks confident as fuck walking into dinner. She’s got a tight, shiny, emerald dress on and a no makeup, makeup look. I’ve already said how stunning these women are, but it’s worth repeating, they all look great.
Aly shares that she is mostly type A (same) and likes to be in control so that she knows what to anticipate and how to handle potential outcomes. It sounds like she’s been in relationships where she’s put herself second or hasn’t always spoken her mind. She says she doesn’t want her relationships going forward to take that same theme. She wants to feel safe in her next relationship and feel like she can be herself. Zach really builds her up, says she has her shit together, and that she kicks ass. He gives her the date rose.
They get a private concert from Griffin Palmer, who literally sounds like every other white man/band we’ve seen perform on this show. Apparently, he’s a nepo baby too, so there’s that.
Bachelor Pool Party and a Somber Rose Ceremony
Jesse enters the mansion and lets the women know the cocktail party for the night is canceled in lieu of a day party.
We get a lot of steamy makeouts (especially one with Ariel) before Brianna ITMs that she’s still feeling disconnected from Zach and she feels like she’s on her way out. She confronts him and he says that she feels guarded and that their interactions don’t feel natural.
Brianna shares that she’s planning to leave and so she feels comfortable sharing that Christina is stirring the pot in the house and intimidating some of the women (her, Charity, Brooklyn). She drops that bomb, cries a few tears, and dips out the house. The women are legit crying at the news of her departure, like real tears falling down their faces. This lets me know that Brianna was likely cool AF and we just did not get to see that side of her likely because of the pressure of being “America’s choice” and not really feeling Zach (the chemistry just wasn’t there for me).
What a loss for us as viewers and for the franchise. They tried something new with America’s rose and it didn’t pan out well. Three of the five women he met at After The Final Rose are gone (soon to be four—more on this below), and two of them self-eliminated. Brooklyn and Christina are the only women left and Christina is about to get a villain edit, while it seems like Brooklyn might be the one to cuss her out.
Zach pulls Christina to understand what is going on, but he completely lacks empathy at this moment. He is very focused on the fact that he doesn’t want drama and that annoyed me. I’m sure being the lead is very stressful, but if there’s drama in the house and it’s causing the women you want to date to be uncomfortable, just confront it. He seemed to spiral and he was clearly bothered that he had to address any drama at all.
I felt he was more worried about how the drama made him look instead of the way the women were feeling. In her ITM, Christina maintains she wasn’t trying to hurt anyone’s feelings, but if we roll the tape back, I’m sure Christina could agree that she was out of pocket at the group date.
Next Zach speaks with Charity and Brooklyn, while Christina is crying on the mansion stairs. Zach is so “overwhelmed” by all the info he’s received he cancels the rest of the pool party and they go straight into the rose ceremony.
Zach gives a weird intro speech before the rose ceremony talking about sacrifice and making the right decision. He probably should’ve just started handing out roses and said nothing. During the rose ceremony, we see Genevie with her arm in a sling and just completely gloss over it. Ok?
In the end, we get all this build and I swore we were gonna see the final rose go to Christina, but it went to Mercedes. Christina will be great in Paradise where she can be a wonderful villain, or ya know, find love, whatever she wants. Christina was the only one to go home during the rose ceremony, but Brianna and Bailey also went home this week via self-eliminations. I believe I hypothesized that Zach would have a good number of self-eliminations, and I wouldn’t say I’m too far off at the moment. I think there are more to come too (no spoilers please!).
Next week the ladies are leaving the mansion and headed to the Bahamas and someone is being exposed for being on the show for IG followers (spoiler alert: they are all there for that).
Until next week ✌🏾