Ashley Narrows the Field to Four, and Emily Talks About Brad

Emotions were at an all time high on “The Bachelorette” and it’s easy to see why.  These remaining six guys were vying for the chance to bring Ashley to their hometown, I mean, who isn’t comfortable on their home turf?  But to get to that point, they’d have to survive Taiwan.  I think J.P. put it best when he said, he was sick of the locations, he was ready to be one-on-one and so were most of the other guys.  They’ve been traveling for weeks and frankly, I think they’re all sick of each other.

 

The first date was for Constantine.   His date card said: “Let your love light shine”.  There would be no roses given out on any of the individual dates, but the group date would have a rose up for grabs.  Constantine and Ashley boarded a train, and if you had any doubt they were on the train, it blew its whistle about every five seconds.  I doubt it really did that the whole time, but that editing effect was really annoying!  They cuddled and chatted on the train and I thought for the length of time they spent showing us this part on the train, it really wasn’t that interesting! 

 

But, eventually they arrived in a tiny village that hosts a lantern festival each year.  I would love to see this in person, it was really amazing.  They got to write all of their “love wishes” on a red paper lantern, and then they headed off to a private dinner together.  They talked all about their feelings, or basically Ashley asking him, “So, when do you think we’ll fall in love?”  Um, if you have to ask about it, it’s probably not going to happen.  Still, they did have a great date, and when they finally lit the lantern and watched it float away in the sky, it was a really touching moment!  They kissed and when they looked up there were hundreds more of the lanterns all floating around.  It was really a sight to see!

 

 

 
The next date card was for Ben!  It read: “Let’s spend a gorges date together in Taiwan”.  Ryan was really upset the date card wasn’t for him because he still has not had a one-on-one and he’s in the final 6!  They go riding around on a moped.  It did seem really romantic because he was driving them around and she got to hold on to him the whole time, so that was a really good bonding experience for them.

 

 

 
They ended up at a suspension bridge where they kissed.  They have dinner together and he tells Ashley all about his mom and his sister and what she can expect to see when she goes to his hometown. 

 
It’s clear these two are both developing some real feelings of love for each other.  Apparently things went so well on this date, and it was probably pretty far away, so Ben ended up staying the night.  Drama!

 

The guys were freaking out!  Especially J.P.!  This guy has some really deep feelings for Ashley.  He was downright disgusted that Ben didn’t come home and called it a “mind bleep”.  You can go ahead and fill in that bleep yourself.  Ben eventually strolls in and tells the guys that yes he stayed over but it didn’t get physical and they had separate rooms.  That seemed to make J.P. feel a tad bit better, but he was still in a pretty foul mood.

 

J.P., Lucas and Ames had a group date together and the date card read: “I’m grooming you for the big day.”  I don’t know why she thought this date would be fun, maybe in the beginning weeks, but at this point there are too many feelings wrapped up into this process. The guys had to dress up into some wedding outfits and take wedding photos with Ashley while the other guys looked on. 

 

Lucas got a gold Taiwanese wedding outfit, Ames’ outfit looked like something out of the late 60’s early 70’s, and J.P. finally lucked out and got a hot looking tux!  Still, J.P. was freaking out when she had to take kissing pictures with the other guys and hated seeing her in wedding dresses posing with other guys. 

 

I was really, really shocked when during their alone time, he actually tells her everything about how he feels.  She didn’t take it as whiney or complaining, she honestly felt bad that he felt that way and she went and got the date group rose and gave it to him.  Lucas was flabbergasted.  He really thought that after their conversation, he would be getting it.  As for Ames, I really didn’t think we got to see too much of him this time around.  He showed her photos of him growing up, but other than that, not much was gained in their relationship as far as I could tell.

 

At long last, it was time for Ryan’s one-on-one date.  His date card read: “Let’s get a taste of Taipei”.  Their date was really kind of the least romantic one.  I kind of wonder if it was just set up for failure.  They went around the town, visited a temple where people were praying, played a matchmaking game with some bricks that did not have good results, and had a picnic in which he bored her to death with the details of his business.  I mean, she asked him about it, but I guess his passion for his job just didn’t relay his burning desire for her.  She asked him about his family, and then kind of quickly turned the tables which I thought was odd and said that she “just wasn’t feeling it”.  He was shocked and said, “You don’t want to meet my family?”  Aw, tear!  I felt sooo bad for him!  Ladies and Gentleman – Meet your next “Bachelor” in my opinion!  This guy would be perfect.  He’s smoking hot, sweet, and genuinely wants to find love.

 

It was so sad, as he left Ryan talked about how he didn’t want to be left alone in the world, how he just wanted to find someone, and he was really looking forward to finding a woman who wanted to be a good mother because he wants to be a good father.  Aw!  He said he wants to “be himself and she can be everything that she wants and more.”  Sounds like husband material to me!

 

In the end, there was no cocktail party; Ashley said she knew what she had to do.  She cut Lucas loose, and selected J.P., Constantine, Ben, and Ames to be in her final four.  Next week, she’ll go visit their hometowns!

 

After “The Bachelorette” was over, it was Emily’s turn to tell her story about what happened between her and Brad.  She pulled up to “The Bachelor” mansion in a black town car and started crying immediately.  It just brought back a lot of memories she said.  I could see that, I mean, I think they totally did that on purpose!

 

She says that they are no longer together or engaged, but that they will always be in each other’s lives.  They could not stand the paparazzi and the tabloid fodder. 

 

She says that she actually was trying to rent an apartment in Austin so that they could try out a relationship and it never happened because red flags would come up.  She said she was constantly searching for reassurance that Brad was in this for the long haul and she never got that from him. 

 

Emily said that she didn’t want people to “feel like they were lied to” because this situation is her “worst nightmare” and she never thought it would end up this way, she really saw them beating the odds and ending up together. 

 

I thought she seemed genuine, although if they make her the next “Bachelorette” after she said all she wants to do now is get back to normal and be with her daughter, Ricki, I’ll think this was not really that truthful, so we’ll have to wait and see.  I do feel so bad for the both of them that it didn’t work out.  When I met Brad at the premiere of last season, he said that he was in love and she was without a doubt the one for him and he couldn’t be happier.  It didn’t take long for that to change.

 

 

Hugs, Kisses & Roses,

Jennifer Matarese

 

ps.  I hope to add more photos later!