The Bachelorette Season 8 - Week 6 - Recap

Here's my recap of The Bachelorette Season 8, Week 6, also known as The Week Ricki Heads Back To Charlotte So It’s Time For Emily To Get Crayyy!!!

Travis’ One-on-One

Travis hasn’t gotten much screentime at all this season; in fact, all I remember about him is that he was the guy who got made fun of for carrying Shelly the Ostrich Egg around with him everywhere. Ever since he let Emily smash the egg, he’s faded into the background. It’s even difficult for me to remember what he did on this date even though I’m writing this the same night that I watched this episode...

The two of them explored the streets of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Emily described a local tradition in which guys are supposedly granted a good love life if they balance atop a small ledge and strip off a piece of closing. Travis missed an opportunity to take off his shirt in front of Emily, and she’s not hiding her disappointment to the camera. “What’s underneath that shirt?” she pouted. “I felt like I gave the perfect set-up for it too.”

Travis and Emily are definitely friendly with each other, but what did him in was the lack of romance, as was evidenced by their hug during dinner. Most of the other guys left would have kissed her in that situation. Emily sends him home after telling him that she doesn’t feel the emotional spark with him. On his way out, he casts his umbrella aside as the rain pouring down around him mirrors the tears flowing from his eyes. He leaves with a crushed heart and a crushed ostrich egg.

 

Group Date

(John, Jef, Chris, Arie, Doug, Sean)

This week's group date is a giant product placement for the upcoming Pixar movie Brave™.  At first I wasn't going to mention the movie title to spite the show's producers, but since everything about this date revolved around this movie, I eased up. Emily and the guys watched Brave™, a movie in which a girl is set up with a bunch of men vying for her heart, yet she decides to choose own fate. Of course, Emily loves the girl's fearlessness and compares the movie to her current situation. "She kind of got jipped; she only has three dudes," Arie noted about the main character.

Because the gang's in Croatia, obviously the guys dress up in Scottish kilts and high socks in a Scottish highland-themed challenge. It makes sense because the two countries are 1,500+ miles away from each other and all Scottish children are taught to read and write in the Croatian language in grade school. Duh…

Anyways, the Highland Games have three challenges, all of which Chris completely fail at. The first is archery, where Chris fails to even graze the large target board. The second is a log toss. Chris brave™ly volunteers to go first yet gets disqualified, while Hercules Sean  holds the tree trunk by his right ear and pretty much hurls the thing like a javelin a mile down the field. (Not actually, but that’s what it seemed like.) In the tug-of-war challenge, Chris brave™ly—you see a theme developing there?—picks Doug as his competitor, one of the buffest guys there. Chris obviously loses, but Emily is impressed by his courage and gives him the Brave™-est award. He ultimately gets the group date rose.

Ryan’s One-on-One

Ryan has established himself as this season’s Resident Tool. Chris concurs. “Ryan’s kind of a jacka**… he takes three hours to get ready, shaves his legs, and plucks his finger hairs,” he says.

Ryan and Emily drive around town and eat oysters, the ultimate aphrodisiac, at a harbor. And when I say eat, I mean make a stank face, gag, spit the oyster out into the sea, and chirp, “Mmm! Very good!” to the fisherman who looks on disgustedly.

Dinner doesn’t get much better. Ryan drops the “Emily = potential trophy wife = perfect for my public image” line several times, which is several times more than he should have. Emily squints at him, appalled at the BS spewing from his mouth. She withholds the rose because although she thinks he’s funny, easy to talk with, and handsome, she doesn’t like that she always feels the need to be perfect around him. He’s shocked and tells her that she’s making the wrong choice.

Meanwhile, the guys are sitting around and chatting in the hotel—what do they even DO all day besides sit around and chat—about Ryan’s chances of coming home. Most of them think he will; “I think he’s coming home because he’s a great salesman, and I don’t think she’s had enough time to realize that he’s selling her bad goods,” Chris says. Ooh. 1) Burn. 2) Well said.

It seems like she almost reconsiders her decision to dump him when she admits that she’s not 100% confident in her decision, but in the end, Ryan’s persistent nudging is all for naught as she rejects him yet again. As he leaves, he doubts that she’ll find the right guy for her here. Regardless, he’s as confident as always, praising the “great friendships” that he’s built with the guys in the house. Right then, the camera cuts to a shot of the guys cheering and hugging each other as Ryan’s suitcase is removed from the house. “I’ve never been so proud of that girl,” Jef comments.

Arie thinks that this is the perfect opportunity to get some one-on-one time with Emily. He arrives at her doorstep to comfort her and assure her that she made the right decision by sending him home. Emily gives him Ryan’s rose for fun, and they make out on her bed. This brings us to the season’s first… drumroll, please… Declaration! Of! Love! “I’m definitely in love,” Arie says as he heads back to the hotel, rainbows shooting out of his a**. “I could ask that girl to marry me tomorrow.”

Cocktail Party/Rose Ceremony

Emily says that Doug and John are on the bubble for her tonight, which makes sense considering neither of them has gotten physically intimate with her yet. John realizes that he’s lagging behind the other guys and decides to show her more of what he’s all about. He gets teary-eyed as he shows her his grandparents’ funeral cards which he’s kept in his wallet for twelve years. Emily starts tearing up too as she starts discussing her own late grandparents. She kisses him. Your move, Doug!

Emily pretty much begs Doug to pursue her. She scoots closer to him and places his hand around her waist for him. The cameraman tracks the movement of his hand down towards her butt as the conversation progresses. Thanks, cameraman. She wants him to be more confident, but he can’t help but be shy. He gets a hug goodbye… bad sign!

Sean, Jef, and Arie receive roses at the rose ceremony. Before she hands out the last rose, she leaves the room to talk to Chris Harrison. “I just LOVE rose ceremonies,” John enthuses sarcastically. “Love them.”

She ends up asking for an extra rose to give away, and both Doug and John are safe. Makes sense considering she already eliminated two guys earlier in the episode. Regardless, it doesn’t seem like either of them will last too much longer in this journey.

Next week, the gang travels up north to Prague! What did you all think of this episode? Does Arie really love Emily already? Let me know.