Puppy Love: Bachelor 29, Episode 3
Lines are drawn and feelings begin to blossom.
Happy Valentine’s Day week y’all! Love (and drama) is in the air this week, and this episode was no exception.
The cold open was back and teased a rift between Carolina, Grant and an (alleged) lie another woman told. So in the first few seconds, we know the episode is about to give us mess.
Jesse arrives with the news that there will be two one-on-one dates for the week and one group date. He leaves the group date card for the ladies to read on their own.
Love is the Greatest Investment
On the date: Natalie, Bailey, Alexe, Alli Jo, Chloie, Sarafiena, Dina, Parisa, Rose, Zoe, Litia, Juliana
The women are spending the day talking dollars and cents with Grant, comedian/former Summer House cast member Hannah Berner and Daniel Lubetzky of Shark Tank. After changing into their power suits the women are asked a series of mostly unserious questions that have very little to do with finance. Hannah and Daniel give out “Grant bucks” (the Bachelor version of Monopoly money) with little rhyme or reason.
Bailey caught on quickly that the rules of the day’s games were nonexistent, so she leaned into her fun side. It served her well because she won the extra time with Grant at the after-party.
Dates like this remind me that this show is such a joke. But there is a method to the madness and if you play the game, and cozy up to the right producer, you can at least get some extra screentime and a ticket to Mexico. Even if love with the lead isn’t in the cards. Kudos to Bailey for doing exactly that. She even gave us a good amount of tears, which (to me) made her seem more human and less annoying.
At the nighttime portion of the date, Bailey is handed a menu of experiences she can pay to have with Grant. She pays for a t-shirt of his to sleep in, and dessert with him. We don’t see much of their time together — a telling sign of what’s to come.
Meanwhile, the women discuss how fun the day was and agree that it was one of the more fun days they’ve had thus far. Except for Zoe. She shared that she felt out of her element and began crying because she wasn’t getting recognized for her correct/honest answers. Alli Jo and Sarafiena immediately clock it as disingenuous because she was the main woman stealing time last week. So maybe it’s ok to take a back seat on this one date.
As the night goes on, Sarafiena, Bailey, and Alli Jo continue talking shit about Zoe and she overhears them. Zoe uses this as an in with Grant and shares that the women have been throwing jabs at her since last week. She refuses to tell him who said rude things about her and Grant accepts this, but is frustrated that the women seem to be forming “petty drama” with one another.
I hate this new tactic of bringing drama to male leads, but not naming names. Baby say it with your chest! If it was important enough for you to bring up, then it’s important enough to name who’s causing the chaos. The fake ass tattles are not it. We all grown.
Next, Juliana and Grant get one-on-one time together and both admit they’re crushing on one another. I love how quick Grant is to compliment these women. He’s been doing it since night one. Good job Grant!
At the end of the night, the group date goes to Parisa, which is wild because all they did was play chubby bunny with rice krispy treats. Once again, this is an example of how being yourself is what gets Grant’s attention. Last week, Natalie got the group date rose for being true to herself.
Before Grants says goodbye to the women, he reminds them to be kind because he’s been hearing rumors of the women being rude to one another. While the rest of the women act confused and shocked by this revelation, Juliana calls out Zoe and her lack of response lets the women know that she’s the one who told Grant what was going on amongst the women.
Viva Las Vegas
Carolina is speechless when her car pulls up to a private jet. She and Grant are headed to Las Vegas for the day.
Once they land, they head to the Strat building, where they jump off the top of the building — more than once! The adrenaline of it all bonded them and they even ended the daytime portion creating a handshake.
Headed into dinner, Carolina has something to share with Grant that she’s worried might turn him off. But she’d rather share it sooner than later.
Grant comes in hot asking her if she’s ready for marriage and kids and you can see Carolina tense up. She even starts crying when she shares what she likes about what she’s seen of Grant so far.
Through tears, Carolina shares that she is epileptic. She has had seizures since she was a kid. While they’re controlled with medicine, she does have to be careful about the activities she participates in and letting her body rest. She also shares that her condition has often drawn a wedge between her and her friends and romantic partners.
Grant’s response was the most genuine I’ve seen from a male lead on this show. Not only was he tearing up while she was sharing, but he was also declarative about how he’d support her if they were to move forward in their relationship. He also confirmed that he’s developing feelings for her and her medical condition doesn’t change that for him. He was so reassuring.
Change of Plans
On the date: Sarafiena, Litia, and Dina
The one-on-one date was supposed to go to Beverly, but she was sick and went home, so an impromptu small group date happened instead.
As an unapologetic stan of Lisa Vanderpump and Vanderpump Rules (RIP), I was so happy to see this crossover! Grant invited these women on the date because they impressed him most during the group date earlier in the week and he wanted to know if they could hack it with dogs because owning one with his partner is a must for his future.
The women spend the day volunteering at Vanderpump Dogs, grooming some of the pups, and taking them for walks.
After spending one-on-one time with each woman, Grant decides to invite Litia to the dinner portion later in the evening because of the nurturing spirit he got to see from her at Vanderpump Dogs.
Litia is wearing a gorgeous red bodycon dress with gold accents. It’s so simple, but wows.
As they settle in, Grant admits that their connection is special in such a short amount of time. She asks Grant more about his upbringing. He shares that his dad was an addict, and it caused rifts within his family. Their relationship even caused him to look at his mother differently. As he got older, he realized the truth — his dad wasn’t handling business and his mom was making it all work. He admits his mom isn’t as affectionate as he would like, but she shows her love through actions. He also says the dynamic between his parents growing up is why he craves a hug, kiss, and time spent with the family he and his spouse will create.
Litia shares about her upbringing. Her parents met in Hawaii and had her, but soon after she was born, her father — who is originally from Fiji — passed away. She says her mom, aunts, and uncles rose to the occasion and raised her and supported her. Her reflections of her mother made her miss her dearly so Grant surprised her with a FaceTime call from her mom. It was brief (that we saw) but seemed meaningful that Grant got that small window into her life in this way.
As expected, Litia got the date rose.
Prom Night
Instead of a regular cocktail party, the ladies are headed to prom with a few special appearances from the men of The Golden Bachelorette. The Golden men share some advice from their senior (citizen) prom last season, and the night begins.
While the other women are enjoying the night’s festivities, Carolina is spiraling. Rose told her that at last week’s group date, Grant said he would’ve preferred to be dancing with her instead of Carolina. Now, if untrue, this would be a wild lie to tell. Why would you lie on the lead like that?
Carolina grabs Grant to uncover the truth. Grant immediately starts guessing names and gets a little defensive. He says he’s not there to play games or act like a player, so he wants to get to the bottom of it.
He goes back into the house to grab Rose and repeats what Carolina told him. Rose looks dumbfounded and says that’s what she thought she heard Grant say. Girl be better 🙄. Rose apologizes and explains that she and Carolina were deep in a girl-talk spiral — which I understand — and the feelings took over. I appreciated that Grant spoke to Carolina again and cleared things up, saying that it’s important that his character isn’t put into question.
While Carolina leaves her time with Grant better than it started, the other women are pretty upset that this drama is taking up their night. Apparently, she grabbed him several times to discuss this — according to the women. From the edit we saw, it seemed like one long convo between the two of them with a brief break to get Rose’s POV.
Jesse announces the end of the cocktail party, and the women who didn’t get time with Grant worry they’ll be going home because of it.
In the end, the women that went home weren’t too much of a shock. Alli Jo, Bailey, and Chloie had to say goodbye.
Next week, the women are headed to Madrid, Spain, where deeper feelings are developing and the women turn on Carolina. Carolina, you may be in danger girl!