The Bachelor | Arie’s Women Tell All

Surprise! A Sunday night blog post. I’ve arisen from my Sunday cocoon after a migraine day yesterday for my favorite episode of a season of The Bachelor(ette). I wasn’t sure if I was going to recap this one because I just wanted to enjoy it, but my best friend Kyra is writing a midterm paper so she told me she’d need a recap. So here we are. This is for you, K!

Chris Harrison is here in what I just realized last week is also the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? studio with all the ladies who’ve been sent home. We’re looking at some of the most memorable moments from previous Tell All episodes. After going through many moments rapid fire, we get a top three. Third is Chris asking Corinne about Michael Jordan + Abraham Lincoln’s napping habits. Second were the women going in on Courtney for being awful (featuring a long, spike-haired Chris). But the most memorable moment in Tell All history was the time the audience member stood up to show off his tattoo of Lace. That was awkward. Then Chris acknowledges his hair, asking if he’d been in a boy band. Too funny.

Chris now wants to know some of the ladies’ reactions to finding out Arie’s the Bachelor. Jenny is VERY excited because liking older men is her new thing. Seinne thought walking into the house was much harder than meeting Arie. We’re recapping the whole season. Everything. Group dates, bumper car trauma, glam shaming, Bekah’s age, Bibi’s mic drop + glitter. You know, the important highlights. “That is a lot. That is a buffet.” –Chris Harrison We’re spending a ton of time unpacking glam shaming + Chelsea’s trying to apologize because she wasn’t meaning to be hurtful but everyone is talking over her. So Chelsea gets up to bring Marikh a compact which Marikh wants nothing to do with + she places it on the floor. #Yikes

Then we get a quick catfight between Tia + Bekah over who’s ready for marriage. Tia brings up that Bekah had doubts after Jacqueline went home. But Bekah reminds Tia that she knows nothing about her love life + experience. Bekah has been in love with men who’ve treated her like a queen where as Tia’s only been in love with men who are (beep) so maybe Tia’s the one who lacks experience. I gotta say I think I’m on Bekah’s side on this one because I’m in the same boat as Tia experience-wise. Am I ready to get married? Heck no! I’m 27 but every man I’ve dated has been such a disappointment that I’d just be waiting for the other shoe to drop for a long time. Bekah hates that she was questioned about her readiness the whole time when she is very skilled at interpersonal relationships + handling conflict (emotional intelligence anyone?) where as Krystal is 29 with a lot to learn about conflict resolution yet no one ever questioned her on her readiness for marriage. “I can’t control that I was born in 1995.” –Bekah.

We’ve got Krystal in the hot seat now. We take a look at a recap of their relationship before we get into any questions. Apparently after the bowling date, she called Arie some bleeped out names. Krystal says this is a really hard experience. She said she wished she’d tried harder to make friendships. The women told her that she tried off camera to make friends but it was so hard for the other women watching it back because she’d say such unkind things in her interviews. Then Caroline GOES IN. She’s almost crying over how mean Krystal was + the unkind names she used to describe the other women. Krystal flips out that she was mocked so Chris throws it to commercial. Bibi calls her out on her anger + high school-like issues. “Dating a man who’s dating 29 other men that I’m living with is not a good idea.” Bekah told her just to admit she was a b*tch + apologize to which Krystal just laughs. Then Olivia, whom we said goodbye to night one, asked what’s up with her voice. She claims that she lost her voice. So Chris wants to hear the voice but she claims she doesn’t know how to do it. She also found out her brother found out she was on the show + didn’t realize that anyone cared about him that much + he’s transitioning to living with her family which is great.

Now it’s Seinne’s turn in the hot seat. We recap their relationship + are reminded of how blindsided she was when Arie sent her home. They had what looked like an incredible date in Tuscany but the energy had flipped by dinner. Watching back, she could see that she + Arie weren’t meant to be together. Seinne is hoping she can be an example + someone to look up to for girls who don’t see a heroine in a love story who doesn’t look like them. She’s single + tells Chris to send anyone good her way. I just want her to be the Bachelorette. Please, ABC?

Now we get to talk to Bekah. Bekah finds her recap hard to watch because her intentions were called into question + someone she thought was her friend hurt her. She’s never experienced so much judgement on the years she’s been alive until she was on this show. That’s incredibly sad. Not that Bekah would ever read this blog, but I’d like to issue an apology for anything I’ve said that may have been judgemental about a woman who’s beautiful inside + out + who’s looking for love. She thinks so many of Arie’s insecurities were projected onto her which wasn’t fair. Chris asks Tia why she felt so concerned about Bekah. Tia said that at one point Bekah asked if anyone had someone back at home which was baffling to Tia because she was so in love with Arie she couldn’t have thought about anyone else. Bekah respects this very much. But she says Tia looked at her own feelings + expected Bekah to be right there + because she wasn’t, she was wrong. Bekah wishes Tia had talked to her instead of going behind her back. Tia says she regrets hurting her but not as much as she’d regret not saying anything + getting her feelings out there. So now we’re getting to the most anticipated topic for me: When Bekah went “missing.” She’d gone up to a farm with some friends + she does confirm it was a marijuana farm. She’d told her mom she’d check in but neither she nor anyone else had service on their phones. After about six days she just had a feeling she needed to go home so she left + called her mom as soon as she’d had service who was very emotional because she thought Bekah was truly missing. Chris wants to be sure Mrs. Martinez knows where Bekah is so they call her to tell her she is safe as a joke + that she’ll be “missing” for two weeks this summer because SHE’S GOING TO PARADISE! So freaking excited!

Tia’s in the hot seat now + her package was hard to watch. It’s hard to see someone feel like she wasn’t enough because believe me I know that feeling far too well. She was leading with her heart the way I do only to let her down. Chris tells her as soon as Arie said goodbye to her, he told Chris he didn’t know if he’d made the right choice. That’s “gut wrenching” for Tia. Chris asks if she’s really closed off to love like she’d said she was in the limo but she says she isn’t. She was open to love + she found it. It was so great to be in love even though it lead to heartbreak. I don’t know that I agree with that sentiment. I’m still trying to put my heart back together from someone I loved + hurt me so many times over the last year + a half that I’m just not seeing the merit in love right now. She says she can see what she deserves now. I was thinking Chris was getting ready to reveal that she’d be going to Paradise or she’d be the Bachelorette (#TeamSeinne forever), but he doesn’t. He just tells us that Arie will be coming out after the break, that there will be bloopers + a few other surprises before the end credits.

Arie’s here + he’s saying this season has been very hard to watch back. Chris tells him he just talked to Tia + Arie says that the night he sent her home was so difficult. She tells him she doesn’t understand why she was sent home when Arie had all of these doubts about Kendall. He reiterates that it wasn’t Tia’s fault + that her feelings were farther along than his. Arie says Bekah’s age was too much of a risk. She wishes she hadn’t been so scared. Caroline tells Arie that the whole time Arie said he was looking for a wife but she knows what he did + doesn’t know how he could do that + she hopes he found what he was looking for. He tries to answer but she said she doesn’t need one from him, that she just needed to say what she said. I’m wondering if she’s referring to the huge spoiler Reality Steve revealed a month ago regarding his winner + his runner up. Other than that, I’ve got nothing.

Krystal joins Arie on the couch because she wanted to address their goodbye. She states twice that it was cold but Arie said it was very appropriate. There’s quite the reaction from the audience + Arie continues on to tell her that it sucks to see who she actually was vs. who she was with him. SHOTS FIRED. He said he didn’t appreciate the comments she made + that he may have carried it on longer than he should have. It sucked for him because he thought they had a really good thing going. She agreed but she was talking to a friend about how hurt she was + she hated that clips were shown but that showed Arie another side of her. She says they’re all fighting for time with him + she felt mocked that they had to share their time with the losing team on the bowling date. He reminds her that this is “The Bachelor” Cut to Bibi literally making a round of applause. Honestly my favorite moment of the night! She just wanted him to know she was here for him + he doesn’t even really acknowledge her. I’m okay with that.

We get some funny bloopers, an extended preview of the movie Blockers, then some “blocked” moments from cocktail parties. Then it’s time for a preview for tomorrow’s episode. Until then, Bachelor Nation!

xo.