The Bachelorette Desiree - Episode 2 - Recap

It's only Episode 2 of Desiree's season of The Bachelorette, and the contestants are already teaming up on the "villain" of the season, giving elaborate gifts to Des, and crying about how much they care about her. Come on. Get it together. My recap of the episode is below.

Brooks' One-on-One date

Des picks Brooks up in her baby blue Bentley for the first one-on-one date of the season. He's very attractive -- he reminds me of American Idol's Ace Young -- and he seems like a nice guy. (Though I wish he would use maybe just a dab of hair gel rather than pour the whole bottle on his head.) Des is a bridal stylist, so they drive to a bridal salon in Beverly Hills and try on some wedding clothing. Brooks goes for a kelly green tux at first, and then he switches over to a classy black tux. They take a picture of themselves together in the wedding gear. If I remember correctly, the last time the Bachelorette took a wedding picture with one of her contestants on a date, they got engaged and married! Is that a good sign of things to come for Des and Brooks? He picks up her up and places her into the driver's seat. They drive to the Hollywood sign! I'm getting some Friends With Benefits vibes here. Too bad neither of them are being carried off by a helicopter like Justin Timberlake's character was in that movie. They sit on the second L as the sun sets on the horizon. Des and Brooks have a natural chemistry; conversation flows easily, they look good together, and now they're making out already… we haven't even gotten to dinner yet!

That night, they drive through a sketchy area of town, up to a Road Closed sign. She decides to move the road blockers while Brooks weakly protests… and they drive up to a deserted bridge, lit up with purple lights, overlooking the city. There's a private table set up for them for dinner!

At dinner, Brooks tells Des about his childhood -- his parents divorced and he and his dad didn't talk to each other for years -- and says that he's learned to not take things for granted. He starts to tear up, and he's surprised that he opened up to her this much so early.

She then gives Brooks a rose, duh. Afterwards, they hear music playing far away… and it's Andy Grammar playing a private concert for them! Love Andy; saw him in concert in September, and he rocked it. What a perfect date. Yeah… they're pretty much perfect for each other. Game over. Let's see how much of a threat the other 18 guys pose to him.

Group Date

The guys on the group date are Dan, Juan Pablo, Kasey, Zack K., Will, Brian, Drew, James, Mikey T., Zak W., Nick, Michael, Brandon, and Ben.

They're going to star in a rap video with… Soulja Boy! Haven't heard from that guy in a long time. Classy move making his return on The Bachelorette. He sure is building up his street cred again! Brandon, Michael G., Ben, and James are featured in the music video with lyrics to rap, while the other guys are backup dancers. The song is called "For the Right Reasons." Of course it is. The concept behind the video is actually kind of funny, since they're making fun of ex-Bachelors who have not been on the show "for the right reasons." Brandon re-enacts Kasey "Guard and Protect Your Heart" Kahl, Michael does Jason Mesnick (while Mikey acts as Jason's kid), James does Justin "Rated-R" Rego, Ben does Wes Hayden. I can't tell exactly what Brandon is wearing, since a censor block is covering his behind, but either way, it's very revealing.

The final product is terrible, but it's all in good fun, and they know it's terrible. I just wonder what else Soulja Boy is up to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9bb2hvBiN0

That night, Zak W. gives Des an old book with an inscription on it, and she's overwhelmed by his depth. So… we're only at the first group date, and we're getting gifts like these? I guess the music video must have had some kind of impact on him to get his shirtless act together.

The guys are ganging up on Ben, as they don't think he's here "for the right reasons." Cue eye roll. Mikey is pissed that Ben swooped in on his alone time with Des and also that he's not being genuine. Oh come on, everyone always steals the lead from the others. I hate guys who deliberately stir up drama.

Brandon tells Desiree that he moved every two years as a kid, and he pretty much raised his younger brother and sister when he was 11 years old because his parents were MIA. I guess I'm not too surprised about how emotional he can get, given his upbringing. "I didn't expect to fall in 'like' with her so soon," he says with tears  in his eyes.

Brandon... it's only Week 2...

Even though she has great talks with Zak and Brandon, she gives Ben the rose! He's racking up these roses: first impression rose and then the first group date rose! Clearly, the other guys are not pleased.

Bryden's One-on-One

Des, Bryden, and Bryden's terrible haircut embark on a road trip across California. Bryden's from Montana, and despite the close proximity of the two states, he had never ever been to California. They drive to El Matador Beach, then an orange grove (Des: "Want some Brie?" Bryden: "I don't know what that is." America: "Who are you"), then the Ojai Valley Spa. Des loves that she gets to be there while he's visiting all these new places.

At dinner, he talks about a serious injury that he incurred in college. Then he whips out pictures -- pics or it didn't happen! -- of his face when he was in the hospital. They're pretty gruesome; poor guy. Des thoroughly enjoyed the road trip and gives Bryden a rose. They then kiss in the hot tub after some awkward lead-up.

Cocktail Party

Michael begins to tell Des the story of how he got Type I Diabetes when he was 16 years old, and right when he gets to the meat of the story, Des looks up… and it's Ben ready to steal her away. The guys talk behind Ben's back about how rude it was that he's taking time away from the other guys even though he already has a rose. Michael and Mikey then pull him aside to call him out on it. Well, if he's here to make Des his wife, wouldn't he want to spend as much time with her as possible? I don't get it. Mikey seems like one of those big, loud, tough guys who enjoys bullying smaller guys. Prove me wrong, please. At this point, I still don't really see why Ben is so bad. Maybe we'll see as the season progresses?

Rose Ceremony

The guys who receive roses are James, #Kasey, Dan (who?), Juan Pablo, Brad (don't remember ever seeing this guy), Chris, Brian, Zak W., Drew, Mikey, Zack K., Michael, and Brandon. The guys leaving are Robert, Will, and Nick. Too bad Will didn't give her a high-five on the way out. I also can't get over how much Robert reminds me of Scotty from Eurotrip.

What did you all think of the episode? Who's the frontrunner: Brooks, Ben, or Bryden? Do you think the guys are being irrationally upset at Ben, or are we missing something? Let me know in comments!