Thursday, February 7, 2013

Bachelor Sean: Warm hands, cold heart

Back at it. No rest for the stupid. Two shows this week means two (late) blog entries. And by all means, don't leave me hanging here all by my lonesome. I'd love to hear from you. For example, is there anyone out there sympathetic to Tierrable? Did Sean send home the right girls? Is two episodes in two nights too much? Who's your favourite? Who's over-rated? Got any more good nicknames? You know, stuff like that.

Brrr
Tonight's show took place at Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada. I do believe I've stayed at the very hotel featured on the episode. Jealous? I've never canoed the lake, though. And despite it being an annual tradition in my city, too, I've never partaken in the Polar Bear Plunge. And never will. Selma and I have so much in common. Plus I've never kissed on national TV, either.

Chris Harrison welcomed the girls to "one of the most beautiful, most romantic places in..." wait for it... "all the Canadian Rockies!" That right there is what's known as your classic backhanded compliment. I was expecting "all the world" but figured he'd say "all of Canada." It wasn't even "all the Rockies". He went with the smaller section of the Rockies that extend north of the border. I didn't see that one coming. You got me, Harrison. Basically, he said nothing at all. He may as well have said, "Welcome to this place, located right here. It's the best place in all of this place."

The first date went to Catherine. Sean was looking for his fairy tale ending. Not sure how the date played into that date card, but whatever. Catherine stood out in the middle of the frozen landscape, wind whistling, snow blowing in her face. Over the hill comes a giant snow bus, driven by Sean. The vehicle looked invincible but I still wouldn't be comfortable with the Texan at the wheel. But they survived.

They were getting pelted with snowflakes, and it hurt, but Catherine said, "I never get cold when I'm with him." They frolicked in the white stuff, doing handstands and making snow angels. "This is what I want from a wife," said Sean. He picked her up and gave her a big bear hug then fell on top of her. I guess he also wants a wife who can cushion his fall.

At night they ride a horse-drawn carriage to an ice castle. Oh, now I get it. That's the fairy tale. I'm a bit slow but cut me some slack. This gruelling two-a-week schedule is getting to me. Inside the ice structure was a couch and a fire. I don't know a lot about ice castles but I wouldn't think fire would be its friend. Nor television lights. What do I know? I didn't notice any drips on our couple.

Sean told Catherine, "Sometimes it just clicks, and it clicks with you." Catherine then wanted Sean to know why she is the way she is. And I thought, "How is she, exactly?" Did she mean there's a reason why she's so bubbly and good-natured? "I hope he takes it well," she said.

It was a pretty traumatic experience I don't need to repeat here. But the life lesson learned was that things can be taken away from you very quickly. Sean didn't seem to have an appropriate response to her sad story. He just gave her the patented Sean stare and smile. He found her intelligent, funny and sexy. Not the time, Sean, not the time.
Catherine's heart

But Catherine is totally crazy about Sean, so it's all good. For his part, he says, "I can see myself with Catherine." The fire may not have melted the castle, but Catherine melted his heart.

We've known for weeks there'd be drama on the group date. But it started out well. They canoed across Lake Louise, not a tiny lake by any stretch. And after last night's canoeing attempts, I'm surprised they'd go on such an adventure this time. But they made it to the other side.

Lesley jumped at the chance to ride solo with Sean, which got some of the gals jealous. Selma, not fully understanding the difference between bodies of water, said she wanted a shark to come out of the lake and eat their boat. Then she gave the most wonderful, most awesome pathetic laugh I've ever heard. It's like she immediately realized how unfunny her joke was as soon as she started laughing and had to put the brakes on it. Words can't do it justice.

On the other side, Sean told them about the Polar Bear Plunge and introduced them to an EMT team. Yeah, that'll instill confidence. All I could think was: Worst. Date. Ever.

The girls thought so, too. There was no hot tub to get into right away, just a robe. Selma wouldn't do it. "I'm from Baghdad," she said. "We are warm weather people." AshLee didn't want to do it, either because it would make her emotionally vulnerable... Or even more emotionally vulnerable than she already is.

But they all jumped in, except Selma. Lesley was excited, Sarah said it was amazing and felt incredible and that she'd do it again. Daniella said it was the best experience ever. And even AshLee was proud of herself for doing something she didn't want to do. And she didn't even mention her childhood once.

"I miss time with him!"
Meanwhile, Tierrable jumped right back onto Tierra Firma and couldn't breathe. Or that's what she claimed. We're never really sure with her, are we? They carted her off to a van and asked her if she knew the date. "Nuh-uh," she said. I'm not sure she'd know the date at the best of times, though. She looked like Tammy Faye Baker-meets-Heath Ledger with her mascara running down her cheeks. At one point she looked up to the camera and rasped out, "I miss time with him." But it wasn't clear if she was just mugging for the camera. I got the sense she was joking.

I'm also unclear on how she got back to the hotel. We saw from the vantage point of the girls' balcony the EMT people carrying her, but that was on the near side of the lake from where it all went down. Did she have to come back in a canoe in her condition? We saw everyone else come back the same way they got there.

Catherine and Desiree were horrified to witness the tragedy from their balcony. They went down to the lobby to find it was Tierra, and she looked ghastly. Overacting just a little bit, but ghastly nonetheless. Catherine wondered how horrible it must have been for the others, too. Cut to: Sarah, Daniella and Lesley whooping it up in the hallway of the hotel. Everyone else thought it was an amazing experience.

Sean visited the patient, and she perked up immediately with a radiant smile and vibrant laugh. She said, somewhat revealingly, "After I came back here and I had a wheelchair, I was like, 'This guy better marry me!'" Hahahahaha! Then added, "Just kidding." Sean's response was perfect: "No, you're not." He said, "You keep managing to find ways to get one-on-one time with me." Oh, yes she does. Stalkers are crafty that way. But it's as if nothing registers with the guy. Intellectually he knows what's up, but he just can't quit her. Well, at least not until he watches the series. When he left the room, she laid there with a smug, self-satisfied smile.

So with Tierrable safely back in her room, the rest of the group date got a guaranteed drama-free night out with Sean. Right? Come on.

Lesley's conversation with Sean was oddly sincere. I say oddly because she's such a confident speaker who sounds like the politician she'll probably wind up being, but at the same time I believe her. Maybe I just want to believe her when she says, "I love love."

Sarah whipped out some old snapshots of herself as a kid and her family to share with Sean. He called it a "reality check" but I don't know why. Maybe he thought she was just an apparition. Or that she came into the world as a fully grown woman.

Tierrable's makeup kit
Meanwhile, we see Tierra back in her room rise up off her deathbed and apply makeup. Oh yes she was! She got all gussied up and even put heels on her frozen feet because "beauty is painful." She was going to that party come hell or freezing water.

So the girls are sitting around gossiping about Tierrable when guess who walks in the door? Yup. Lesley said, "I don't know what she's done throughout her life to be so good at this, but she is a professional at getting attention." She also said T should teach a class called How to Fake an Injury 101. And then came up with another great nickname for her: "Everybody watch your back, we have a Tierrorist on our hands." This is why we have to keep watching this season: If we don't, then the Tierrorist will win.

When Sean enters the room, Tierrable the Tierrorist's face lights up. He whisks her away to another room. Despite her hypothermia, Sean notes, "Oh my gosh, your hands are so warm." True, Tierra concedes, but "my body is so cold." Nothing phases her.

What started out as honest concern for her has turned into scoffing skepticism. Lindsay pieces it all together, noting that they all jumped in the water at the same time and she wasn't in any longer than anyone else. She concludes, "Hands down, Tierra's faking it."

But the clueless Sean keeps feeding the troll. He asks Tierrable, "If we were to fall in love, would you want a proposal at the end of this?" Stalkers don't understand hypotheticals. Tierrable said, "Wow!" In her mind, Sean just proposed. She blathered on a bit, never really answering the question. I think it was a 'Yes', though.

So when it came time for Sean to hand out the rose, you knew Tierrable would get it. She was the damsel in distress thanks to the horrible idea Sean had. Plus he just proposed to her. Sean mentioned her in his little headfake of a speech, but then he deked everyone out and handed it over to Lesley, saying she embraced the day and he had turned a corner with her. Good move, if only to see the look on Tierrable's face.

Then came the hard part. He didn't see a 'forever' with Sarah so he felt the need to let her go then and there. Was there any need for that? Why single her out? He was going to send home two others at the rose ceremony so he presumably didn't see a 'forever' with them, either. If I were a contestant, I'd much rather go with the others at a rose ceremony. Plus, you'd get some free drinks. I saw no reason for him to send her home ahead of the others.

He sat her down and told her that lately he's been trying to force a connection that just wasn't there. Sarah half-smiled throughout the breakup then said, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't totally hurt and surprised and caught off guard." She started to break but kept it together pretty well. Sean said they "didn't click but you are one of the most incredible girls I've ever met." She replied, "That's the way love goes. It's totally okay."

But it wasn't totally okay. She's heard that line once too often. She felt blindsided and embarrassed, but more than that, felt like she was in a rewind. "I wanted to stop him before he started because I knew what he was going to say before he started." She said "it's always the same – 'You're an amazing girl; I know how special you are and I want to connect with you so bad but I don't. And someone is going to be so lucky to have you and I don't want to put you through this.' It's not the first time."

The last date went to Desiree. And the show borrowed again from Bachelor Canada with the two rappelling down a 400-foot rock mountain. She whined for the first quarter of the descent but then got back to her usual bright smile. At the bottom they had a picnic in a meadow. The segment started off with some (possibly stock) footage of bears in the wilderness so all I could think about was them being mauled. Then again, I'm a bit of a coward. I think wilderness is awesome in theory; not so much in practice. I don't mind driving through it but sitting in a field eating food with bears nearby isn't my idea of a stress-free experience.

To make matters worse, they then go for a stroll deep in the woods. Des says, "I hope there isn't any bears." Of course there are bears, you silly child! Run for your lives! And make lots of noise. So now you see where I'm at. Forget rappelling, that could have been the scary portion of the date right there for me: a simple walk in the woods.

A Canadian mansion
Then they happen upon a humongous tepee. Oh no, this is a set-up. It's probably a trap set by an evil woman who lives in the forest. There's a nice warm fire inside luring them in. But it was all good. My only concern here is that Americans will watch this episode and conclude that it was just a typical luxurious Canadian home.

Turns out it was almost home for Desiree. Inside the giant tent, she revealed her humble beginnings. She and her family lived in tents for months at a time when they weren't living in trailer parks. It's why she's so humble, she thinks. My first thought: I definitely want her on a hometown visit. It seems everyone lives in gorgeous properties. I want to see Sean invited into a trailer or tent with maybe Spam as the main course.

It didn't turn off Sean. He gave her the rose. "I could see myself proposing to Desiree, I really could," he said.

At the cocktail party, some of the girls were standing around talking about the Human Drama, Tierra. Selma had the line of the night: "Let's be honest: You're gonna wife that?!" Never heard 'wife' as a verb before, but she made it happen.

Selma felt it was her time to make a move. She bailed on the Polar Bear Plunge and had earlier bailed on a kiss because of her culture. The Baghdad beauty said "to kiss someone on national television is a huge shame to my family, but Mama, please forgive me!" That's a very specific taboo, and probably not one written down in any historical religious artifact: "Thou shalt not kiss anyone on national TV."

Anyway, she broke with tradition and planted one on Sean. A tasteful and relatively quick one. No tongue. No movement, in fact. She instructed Sean to hold still. It must have been hard for Sean (yes, I see the pun I just inadvertently wrote but I'm sticking with it) because she was smoking hot. It may be winter but Selma was busting out all over. When she said the kiss was "necessary" so she "had to bring out the big guns tonight," I don't think she was referring to her girls, but she may as well have been.

Lindsay, she of the not so subtle kissing, made a vow to herself not to waste all her precious time with Sean ramming her tongue down his throat. So they tried their best sitting an inch apart from each other. Sean asked her to tell him something about herself he didn't know: "I sleep naked," she said. "I respect that," he responded. "The girls aren't as accepting of it," she laughed. And they succumbed, unable to keep their lips off each other.

AshLee, meanwhile, was reliving her childhood. Again. She is one serious and emotional person. Beautiful, granted, and a solid person, but methinks she might be a bit of a handful on a day-to-day basis. Everything is a metaphor for her, from jumping in the lake to the scarf she brought him to blindfold her with (nothing kinky, she just doesn't like the unknown or feeling vulnerable so had to test herself). She topped it off with another metaphor: "I feel like I pushed a mountain out of my life and Sean stood on the other side." So deep.

Only three roses would be handed out. With Sarah already exited, two more would join her in ignominy. The roses went in order to:

  1. Lindsay the naked sleeper
  2. AshLee the walking metaphor
  3. Tierrable the Tierrorist
Goodbye to Selma the Baghdad Beauty. So much shame and dishonour to the family all for naught. She left "with heartbreak and a memory." I desperately wanted her around for the hometown visits just to meet her disapproving family. Also gone is Daniella, who was in complete shock even though she never got a one-on-one date. "I'm keeping a straight face," she said while not keeping a straight face, "but I'm hurt... I'm over having a broken heart."

Next week they're off to warmer climes: the Virgin Islands. And hopefully only one episode.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Bachelor Sean: Played for a fool

You guys are all ahead of me, no doubt. It's late Tuesday and I just got finished watching Monday's show. I know the next one aired already, but I'll get to that tomorrow. God, I'm glad this 2-fer isn't a regular occurrence. Let's see what I scribbled down during this mess. Sorry for the ancient history.

We learned they would embark on a world-wide journey and were told to pack their bags because they were going to... MONTANA! There were actual oohs and gasps at the very mention of it. Okay, I gotta admit, what they showed was gorgeous but Sean said it was the most beautiful place he'd ever seen. Wasn't he on the season with Emily? So Montana is more beautiful than CuraƧao or London or wherever else they travelled that season? All right, London isn't the most beautiful place in the world but it's got character.

Lindsay got the first – and only – one-on-one date. Who gave her any kind of chance that first episode when she thought it would be funny to wear a wedding gown to meet Sean? Not I. But she's become gradually normal. Their date card read: Let Love Soar. I think that was the spelling anyway. But maybe she did get a 'love sore' on the date and we just didn't see it.

Sean told her he liked her so much because she's not high maintenance and the way he stares into her face with a dumb smile plastered on his mug makes me think she might be the one for him. As he said later in the episode, he can't mask his feelings. It just looks like he's gaga over her.

They drank wine by a roaring fire. If there's any real conversation between the two of them, it's edited out. We get just that flushed face and those lovey-dovey eyes and vacuous comments like, "You're pretty amazing, you know that?" And then they smooch.

No surprise he gave her a rose. He told her he thinks she's going to be such an incredible wife. If she doesn't ultimately get chosen (as appears to be the case from the upcoming season highlights), you could understand why people go home thinking they were led on.

Ring a bell, Lindsay?
But for now, all is groovy. They took a stroll to "downtown" Whitefish, where the entire town was on hand to see a concert by one of the other girls from the house. I mean, it very well could have been. It was just another anonymous country singer trying to get a name by appearing on network TV but I refuse to repeat that name because I'm morally opposed to country music. Anyway, during the performance, Sean and Lindsay mounted a platform in the middle of the crowd and slow-danced. They were digging each other's scene, that's for sure.

Lindsay said, and I quote, Sean is "so good-looking on the eyes." This is why she's still just a substitute teacher and hasn't gotten a full-time gig yet.

Sean said they have a perfect balance of playful and romantic: on one side is his best friend; on the other the love of your life. To borrow a joke from a standup comic (can't think who just now), does this mean if he ever has sex with her, he can then high-five her and tell her who he just nailed?

(If I find out who did that joke – and did it better than I just tried – I'll come back here and edit in his name, giving full credit.)

Next up was the group date. Eight gals on a lumberjack competition. Looks like they stole the idea from Bachelor Canada. Only in Canada, the ladies were all real lumberjacks. As we all are.

Clearly
As they were walking to it, they see goats. One of them says, "Oh my goodness, are those dogs?" Unfortunately, it was just a voice-over so I don't know who it was. Just as well because if it was one of the girls I like, I think that would ruin it for me.

The Red Team consisted of Selma, Desiree, Sarah, and Robyn.
The Blue Team consisted of AshLee, Lesley, Daniella, and Catherine.

Imagine that: a complete group date with not one crazy person or jerk. That's a solid group right there.

As per usual, the winners would get quality Sean time, while the losers would be bussed immediately back to the hotel... Or would they???

The contest consisted of a canoe race, hay bucking, a literal saw-off, and goat milking. To top it off, the winner would be the first to complete and down a glass of the warm goat milk.

That's when things got a little dirty for network American TV. Lesley said, "I'm gonna chug that goat milk like it's my job." I guess that's what Washington, DC, political consultants do.

Okay, that was perhaps more in my dirty mind than anything she intended. But how about when Selma mimed milking, saying, "Just give it a little..." and Des finished her sentence: "... a little hand--". No, "job" wasn't said, but you could tell by the raucous laughter they all shared what she meant.

And then during the milking, someone said 'nipple'. Again, not a big deal, but America is a place that absolutely lost its shit when Janet Jackson accidentally on purpose gave a brief glimpse of hers and the word was expunged from the language, it seemed. Maybe this marks the first time it's been uttered (uddered??) since.

Lesley's checklist
The Red Team got way behind in the canoes when Robyn and Selma took a circuitous route to the finish. But then the Blue Team fell behind when their bales of hay fell apart. Sabotage? It wasn't mentioned, but I suspect it. Then Red took the lead and held on, right to the end when Desiree poured the warm, white liquid down her gullet for the victory.

Lesley was pissed. And not just because she didn't get to guzzle the fluid: "Weak people piss me off. And losing pisses me off. And not getting more time with Sean pisses me off."

But that wouldn't last. Sean took the winners out and, being a guy who cannot contain his emotions, looked less than pleased with the foursome. So just like he's done all season, he bent the rules and invited the losers to join the party. That didn't sit well with the victors, who didn't get their share of the spoils. Selma thought it was a "crock of shit." She was so mad she invoked the third person. "Not everything is roses in my world," she said, keeping the rose theme to her venom. "I can tell you that right now because when Selma gets angry, Selma gets angry."

When the losers arrived, Sean visibly lit up. "A lumberjack challenge cannot determine who I spend time with," he said. If he were to tell the complete truth, he would have added, "if the team I don't want to win ends up winning." He knew ahead of time what the rules were. I think if the Blue Team had won, he would have abided by the agreed upon rules.

Even though she wasn't invited to the party, Tierrable decided to crash it. Or if not the party, hunt Sean down. She found him talking to the camera, answering questions from a producer. She snuck up behind him and covered his eyes. Surprise! Didn't we call her a stalker from the very first episode?

Earlier, when it was revealed Tierrable and Jackie would go on the dreaded 2-on-1 date, Tierrable smiled cockily and said she loved it. There wasn't a hint of doubt on her face. But she played that card when sneaking out to talk to Sean. She told him she had thought they had something special going and then felt like she got a huge slap in the face with the 2-on-1 selection. "I don't want to be misled. I'm a real person and I have real feelings and I'm very sensitive." And a bit crazy. Oh, and she told us another reason she went to him was because she needed to "see the guy I'm dating." Okay, maybe a lot crazy.

The sweet and lovable Desiree played her displeasure perfectly. She doesn't pout but lets it be known how she's feeling. She keeps her sense of humour throughout. She said, "I'm bummed. I worked my ass off." But she says it with a smile. And not a fake one. A kind of jabbing playful one. She said she thought, "Oh crap, I could have just walked the whole thing and been able to spend time with you." (Although not necessarily, as I pointed out above. He probably would have kept to the rules if Des's team lost.)

But Des got barely a couple minutes with Sean before AshLee interrupted. Sean's been making up rules all season long. How about this one, Sean?:

No interruptions.

Period. You interrupt, you get sent home. Why can't he just tell them ahead of time he's going to spend the same amount of time with each girl? If I were on the show – and is there really any reason why I shouldn't be? – that's the mark I'd leave. I'd be the no-nonsense Bachelor. Well, except for the wee bit of nonsense that I'm not a bachelor.

AshLee said nothing of significance but it didn't matter. Sean got that dopey look on his face again with her. Mark that down: Lindsay and AshLee should go a long way.

With Catherine, the look is almost there, but not quite. Sean says, "All I want to do is snuggle with her." That's neither best friend nor love of your life category, I'm afraid. They walk outside and she sits on his lap. Five simple words, aren't they: she sits on his lap. Not a difficult concept to grasp. You got it on first read, I'm betting. But it was all a little too much for Daniella to comprehend. She walked outside and witnessed this shameful activity and couldn't even process it in her mind. She marched back in to report to Desiree what exactly she saw.
Even Escher could draw people sitting
 on each other's laps

"They're, like, sitting on each other's laps," she said. Picture that, if you can. The best I can do is an M.C. Escher-type painting. It doesn't even make sense.

Okay, maybe she misspoke. It happens to the best of us. Give her a moment to gather herself and rephrase it: "I just felt like, 'Can you get off of her lap?'" Des paused for a second, trying to soak it in, before clarifying that Catherine was, in fact, the one doing the sitting, and Sean was the one providing the lap. That made Daniella cry. I guess not being able to process simple information is overwhelming.

She then got some alone time with Sean, and the tears kept on flowing. She apologized for being so emotional. Sean, a sucker for unstable women, said, "Don't be sorry. You're so sweet. I get where you're coming from." That was enough for Daniella, and she savagely attacked Sean's lips.

And that, in turn, was enough for Sean. He gave the rose to Daniella. Robyn was miffed someone from the losing team got it.

The 2-on-1 was frustrating for us all, I think. Tierrable the Stalker said, "I'm excited to see my husband," and laughed an evil and haunting laugh. They three of them went horseback riding, with Tierrable and Sean riding together while poor Jackie lagged behind. Tierrable said, "Jackie does not know she's on a date with me and my husband."

Jackie felt it best behooved herself to rat out Tierrable to Sean. Yeah, that always works out. Funny thing, though, is Sean would say later how he wants someone to warn him of people. But he felt nobody was being specific enough. Jackie said, "I'd hate for you to fall in love with somebody who's not their true self." Okay, that's pretty vague, granted. Sean asks for specifics and Jackie tells him that Tierrable was flirting with a cute guy at the airport. And Jackie wisely gave caveats, saying she doesn't know if it meant anything or if Tierrable is just a flirty person. Very reasonable and very specific, I think you'll agree.
Sean and Jackie

They kissed after, but it was a craned-neck kiss. Their bodies didn't know about it.

Jackie – who is beautiful, by the way, and seems like a cool person – gave conflicting reviews of the date. Before the commercial break she said, "I feel like it went really well." After the commercial break she said, "Today was an awkward date, I'm not gonna lie."

Jackie's words about Tierrable gave Sean pause. He had lots of questions. So he confronted her. She said she's nervous because "I have the biggest heart. I want to be loved and I can love back." Fairly meaningless words. But Sean read something else in them. He said, "Do you care to elaborate?" I was thinking, elaborate on what? She didn't say anything. But he knew something was up.

Tierrable revealed she was in a relationship with a guy for five years who was in and out of drug and alcohol rehabs. She stuck by his side no matter what because that's the type of person she is (clingy?). But he passed away in 2009 and that's why she's scared. "I attach myself to people I care about."

That was enough for Sean. Desiree nailed it when she said, "I feel he gives roses to the girls who are having a hard time." Because she opened up, she got the rose while Jackie got sent home. What bugged me throughout is that we all knew Tierrable was going to stay because last week's upcoming highlights showed her shivering after being pulled from the frigid waters of Lake Louise... in the next night's episode. Way to take any sense of tension or drama out of the episode, producers. I don't even read spoilers and I knew she got selected so the whole thing was a waste of time.

As Sean walked Jackie to the car, she gave him one more warning about Tierrable for good measure. Then got in the car and cried. She maintained her head, though. She said, "Maybe it's not me but I know it's not Tierra."

In her interview, Tierrable lived up to her nickname, saying about Jackie, "I saw tears form in her eyes" and then let go with her unbridled crazy evil laugh. "My heart melts." And then sang, "I got a rose!" followed by more uncontained laughter.

At the cocktail party, Desiree was her cute self while calling Sean out. He said he felt the group date started out well, and Des answered playfully, "Yeah, until you screwed us over." She called him "unpredictable." Again, using his mind-reading skills, he asked, "What? Keeping Tierra?" Des said, "Um..." and said no more.

Then he got his back up, saying, "If that's the reason, tell me. Don't make me guess." Yeah, because it's worked out so well for everyone else who's told you. She replied that no one knows what he's going to do next or what he really wants. I'd say that's a specific answer, just as Jackie's was about Tierrable's flirting. But Sean hears what he wants to hear. To his ears, no one is saying anything specific.

But why does he even need specifics? If nine other women (plus those who have already been sent home) all have a bad feeling about someone, isn't that enough? Don't we all like or dislike people even though we can't put our fingers on why exactly? If nothing else, Sean should look at the history of the show. Not once has there been a case of group dislike of a good, solid person. And in 100% of the times the herd has shunned someone, that person has always deserved it. Why can't future Bachelors and Bachelorettes remember that?

Feeling the heat, Tierrable got feisty. "I seriously want to punch everybody in that room," she said. It didn't help that, with Tierrable sitting in the group, angelic Desiree said, "Jackie was probably the sweetest person in the entire house. It's hard to watch him send that home." Everyone nodded. Tierrable stormed off to sit by herself by the fireplace.

"I honestly wish I was a fighter because I would beat the shit out of these bitches," she said.

Robyn had enough and told her what's up. She thought Tierrable is a phoney. Lesley, who followed, told T that when someone asks a question, she should respond to them like a normal human being. Tierrable said, "This is ridiculous." She told them that different people handle things differently, then added, "I am not about to get threa'ened. You're insecure, not me!" Spoken like a very secure person.

Then she added something very specific any one of the others could have told Sean about, but no one did: "If I wanna go get engaged, I can easily go get engaged. There are plenty of fucking guys in the world."

Tierrable's checklist
The rage continued. At one point she, herself, threa'ened, saying, "I will bite. I am a Scorpio. I do bite and my stinger does come out when I get pissed." As she was saying this, Sean non-chalantly walked by behind her. Didn't say a word. Didn't acknowledge anyone. Just kept on truckin'.

Des thought Tierrable just needs a Xanax and to be sent home. But she's got a rose. So the producers thought they'd try to make us forget we saw her in an upcoming episode already by suggesting that maybe Sean would send her home anyway. More wasted time given we knew the hypothermia episode has yet to air.

Sean wanted to get to the bottom of it all so he pulled Tierrable aside. Yeah, that'll help. She hasn't fooled you before at all. He asked her why she was so upset. She had a huge smile when she said, "As you walked by you saw me fuming, of course!"

And then she played the victim. Talked about how all the girls are attacking her, how she's not a "drama person", and how frustrating it is for her because "I am such a nice girl." Question: Has any nice girl ever described herself as a nice girl in the history of girlkind? Didn't think so.

Sean didn't want to be naive or played for a fool so he asked the reliable Lesley if she had any specifics that could shed light on the situation. Les said, rightfully, that it's not a simple question to answer. She described Tierrable as "very cold, not engaging." Again, fairly specific.

In his chat with Chris Harrison, Sean lamented that some women want to spend time talking about other women. Can he make up his mind? I thought he wanted them to come forward with specifics, that he wanted to know if he should be warned of anything?

The whole scenario got him thinking maybe he wouldn't find his wife in this group afterall.

Tierrable, Daniella and Lindsay were all safe. Six more roses were handed out, with one going home. In order they went to:

  1. Selma
  2. Catherine
  3. Lesley
  4. AshLee
  5. Sarah
  6. Desiree
That spelled doom for Robyn. She looked at once devastated and defiant. Selma shot a glance at Tierrable and whispered to AshLee, "Be scared." Sean walked Robyn to the awaiting limo. No explanation, just a simple hug and "Best of luck" to send her on her way. On the ride of shame, she said, "What was he thinking? He probably thinks I'm starting drama. I'm not starting crap." She thought she was the perfect woman for Sean. "It hurts," she said.

In upcoming season highlights, it looks like AshLee and Tierra are there at (or near) the end. Again, I don't read spoilers and don't want to know. Which is why, if I'm right, I wish the producers wouldn't aid in the spoiling of their own series. We also saw that Sean got a Dear Sean letter at the altar and said, "I can't believe she did that to me." Who knows what that means?

I can't think that far ahead because I'm already an episode behind. I'll get to that tonight.