Charity is so freaking stunning. Yes, I’m starting with that. We’ve had plenty of good-looking leads/contestants on this show, but my goodness, I find Charity breathtaking.
Anyway, Charity is getting ready for her date, the men are moving into the mansion, and Brayden has a pair of various unserious earrings on. Is this the style? Does anyone hip and young read this recap? Let me know if this is a thing the youths are doing. I dig it, but also could not take Brayden seriously in them.
Jesse comes in and greets the guys and lets them know what kind of dates to expect for the week. He also takes the time to make fun of Brayden and his look, which I appreciated. More of Jesse’s personality, please!
Building A Love That Lasts A Century
Charity is at the mention to pick up Aaron B. for their date. They speed off in a sick red Mustang while the guys watch, jealous.
They look cute together and the beginning of the date felt like typical first date banter. Riding through the Hollywood Hills they settle and park near the Hollywood sign. I couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t get closer and then I realized this was likely (read: definitely) advertising for the California and/or LA tourism office. Now we know Charity and Aaron come from families with long marriages and that the Hollywood sign is 100 years old.
Back at the house, Aaron S. and Adrian are talking about who is mature enough to be at the mansion and who is just here to goof off. This is also the first time we find out Adrian is a dad, to a one-year-old! I have more questions for Adrian, what made you feel like it was appropriate to leave your infant child to “find love”? What did the mother say? Did you and the mom date? We need more info.
Still on their date, Aaron and Charity finally get closer to the Hollywood sign and Aaron admits that his coin from night one is double-sided. Charity doesn’t seem to mind, she laughs and they share a kiss.
For dinner, Charity and Aaron are having dinner inside a beautiful theatre. The conversation pivots from light to heavy, in true Bachelorette fashion. Sounds like Aaron has had a few partners that have (allegedly) taken advantage of his kindness and vulnerability when he started going to therapy. It was, of course, nice to see a dark skin Black man talk about choosing to go to therapy and work on his vulnerability, but the story was disjointed. It felt like there were major plot points we lost due to editing.
The date ends with a double doors private concert moment from a country artist whose name wasn’t on the screen long enough for me to commit it to memory. The important part is Aaron gets the date rose and Charity is very pleased with how her night went. So much so she gives us happy tears in her confessional. I thought that was so sweet.
Suns Out, Buns Out
On the date: Dotun, Tanner, Adrian, John, Caleb A., Caleb B., Kaleb K., Xavier, James, Aaron S., Sean, and Brayden
A group date with this many people on it can only mean one thing: violence is about to ensue. Pretty much any time there is a massive group date, it means the contestants are about to be subjected to some sort of strenuous team activity where at least one of them will likely get seriously injured.
For the day portion of the date, the men are playing beach dodgeball. In thongs. With cups. I know those men were cold! Everyone watching was in jackets and jeans while the men had a singular piece of fabric over their junk, as if Yosef’s daughter wasn’t watching (IYKYK)!
I don’t remember previous dodgeball comps being this intense. Jesse took his job as the announcer seriously, half of the men apparently spent their entire childhood preparing for a moment like this (am I the only one who didn’t play dodgeball much growing up?), and Caleb B. gave us the performance of the night, only the way a WWE wrestler could!
In the end, Caleb’s efforts weren’t enough. The pink team won and got to spend the night with Charity. Adrian was chosen as the MVP from the losing team and got to join the winners for the cocktail party.
At the cocktail party, Charity is wearing a gorgeous sequined plaid two-piece set with a leather blazer of sorts. We never get looks like this on this show, I loved it!
Brayden steals time with Charity first. During their time together, they established that they both are crushing on one another, which Brayden took to mean he was in the number one spot. Ok, bro 🙄
John and Charity have a nice moment and we learn John played basketball (semi?) professionally. Meanwhile, Brayden is talking shit to Adrian about how he wasn’t really the MVP of the dodgeball date and shouldn’t have gotten to join them at the cocktail party. This led Adrian to spend time with Charity and share that he has a daughter. Charity’s reaction says it all, babygirl is not here to be a stepmom and a wife at the end of this journey, and that’s fine.
Adrian’s time with Charity was weird. I feel like he was talking to her like she was his bro and not a woman he’s trying to court and see if it could work. This conversation solidified Adrian as the friend she can trust, but nothing more. Adrian shares that he feels some of the guys are acting like being on the show is spring break. He questions if all her men are truly there for her and put a seed of doubt in her head that only grows bigger throughout the episode.
After Charity hands out the group date rose to John (love that for him!) she calls out the guys for not taking this journey seriously enough. This is based on what Adrian shared with her about their behavior. This sends the men after Adrian for insinuating that some of them weren’t serious about the process. It always tickles me that in the face of accusations about being on a TV show ‘for the wrong reasons,’ contestants choose to get mad at the housemate who tattled instead of taking some time to reiterate their interest in the lead. Why go after Adrian, when you could pull Charity aside and share a moment with her, or ask a producer to help you do something small, but special before the rose ceremony?
The Longest Cringest Bachelor Nation Kiss
On the date: Josh, John Henry, Michael, Warwick, Joey, and Spencer
Gabby and Rachel, last season's Bachelorettes are joining Charity for this date! It’s a kissing date, where one guy will get to break the Bachelor Nation record of the longest kiss, set by Sean Lowe at 3 minutes and 22 seconds.
First, Rachel and Gabby ask a few questions to determine which of these guys is most compatible with Charity. They ask about where they like to touch their partner when kissing, and what they find sexy about Charity, and end with a segment of these men making out with their first…in front of an audience.
Joey wins the “prize” of making out with Charity for at least three and a half minutes and we’re all subjected to roughly two minutes of awkward kissing while half a dozen other men watch and a crowd of strangers cheers. So cringy. I know I put Joey in my final four, but that kiss looked awkward at best. In two episodes, we’ve seen Charity have hotter kisses than this record-breaking one. Despite the awkwardness they both seemed to have felt, they broke Sean’s record by a minute. Then Joey finds out he gets a one-on-one with Charity that night because of his ‘performance’ during the day date.
Joey uses his one-on-one time to share his family dynamic. His parents are divorced and they specifically got a divorce when he was young because his dad came out as gay. He says that experience helped him understand the importance of being true to himself, and vulnerable to live his best life. He spoke very intentionally to let Charity (and the audience) know that he received love from both sides of his family and the experience only made them stronger. Joey said y’all not gonna use his family to push homophobic rhetoric!
Pool Party 🎉
Instead of a cocktail party, Jesse arrives at the mansion and tells the men they’ll be having a barbecue in lieu of the nighttime cocktail party.
Charity arrives shortly after and is quick to get in one-on-one time with men she hadn’t had much time with. We get a sit down with Dotun where he shares a bit more about where he’s from and about his experience of coming to America, we also got to see Charity with Tanner and Sean in meaningful ways. Tanner did the smart thing and use his time with her to reiterate his intentions for being part of this process.
Then, playboy Brayden takes a moment to tell Charity that her longest kiss date was disrespectful and essentially made him jealous. The way he presented it was so rational and calm, the total opposite of the shit he was talking in his interview with producers and in conversations with the other men. Brayden presented his case so well, Charity lowkey apologized for the date and said she appreciated his vulnerability. As viewers, we know Brayden was talking mad shit about the long makeout she had with Joey in front of the other guys. I don’t like that. If you gon’ talk so much shit behind my back, have that same energy to my face.
Next, Adrian takes the time to stir the pot just a little more and Charity eats it up. Not sure if Adrian is aware, but at this point, Charity is keeping him around for intel on what’s been said in the house. Charity asks for his opinion of who he thinks is acting immature in the house and Adrian quickly names Brayden. He tells Charity Brayden called her classless (I don’t remember hearing this) and disrespectful and insinuated that Brayden lacked emotional intelligence.
Jesse joins the men out on the patio and announces that Charity is gone because she got some upsetting news about the men. He shares that the next time they’ll see her will be at the rose ceremony.
The entire rose ceremony is building up to whether Charity will keep Adrian, Brayden, or both. But we seasoned Bachelor Nation viewers know that we’re only in episode two, and if Brayden is going to be a villain worthy of the title, he’s gonna have to stick around for at least another two weeks.
So, Brayden and his enemy Adrian get the final two roses of the night. Then, Brayden decides to end the night by giving a toast that is only about him and barely about Charity.
Going home: Spencer, Caleb A., John Henry, Josh, and Kaleb K.
The preview for next week looks intriguing. Looks like Dotun and Brayden get significant one-on-one time and several men are starting some drama at a group date.
I’m really enjoying this season so far! The little tweaks that have been made to the programming have made a big difference for me. I hope we continue to get to know more about these contestants!