Every week, Madi Held and Shanna Sweitzer are giving you a weekly review of ABC’s The Bachelor.

This show aires on Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC and is about a single man looking for a woman with whom he would like to spend the rest of his life. After extensive interviews and auditions, 30 women were picked to be on the show this season. In each episode there are group dates and one-on-one dates where the bachelor gets to spend time with the contestants. At the end of every week, there is a rose ceremony where the bachelor narrows down his choices by giving roses to the girls he wants to stay another week. Those who do not receive a rose are then “sent home” from the show. This helps him to then focus on the girls that he thinks will be the best for him. At the end, the bachelor must decide between the two remaining girls which one he’d like to propose to. Many couples end up breaking off their engagement and splitting up, but there has also been a lot of successful couples that do get married and even have children. The show has become super popular all throughout America and on January 2, 2017, the 21st season started with Nick Viall as America’s Bachelor.

*SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*

Let the Dates Begin

Group Date 1

Shanna

The group dates on this show are always super weird, kind of fun, and a little awkward.

The first group date of the season started with 12 girls: Corinne, Vanessa, Sarah, Alexis, Hailey, Lacey, Brittany, Jasmine, Raven, Danielle L., Taylor, and Elizabeth W. Nick and the girls went to a wedding photoshoot. Each girl was given a different themed wedding dress (some had to be bridesmaids which was unfortunate) and took funny/cute pictures with Nick. Trying to outdo everyone, Corinne acted completely inappropriate during her photoshoot with Nick. Along with all the other girls, Nick was uncomfortable, you could just tell. Corinne is really starting to get on my nerves. Plus the photographer was to pick the girl he thought did the best and she would get a little extra time with Nick. Corinne won.

After they do the fun activity for the day, the group dates always end in a cocktail and conversations with Nick. Most of the time, each girl gets to talk to him before one of them goes for seconds. Before half of the girls had even talked to him, Corinne went for seconds and even thirds, which was really making the other girls annoyed especially Taylor (one of the girls she interrupted). Taylor got back at her by interrupting her and Nick. I’m so glad she did that.

Anyway, Corinne claimed that she could do whatever she wanted and that she’s just there for Nick and doesn’t care about making friends. This was so immature of her. She already thinks she’s the best and to top it off, Nick gave her the rose on the group date meaning she was safe and would move onto the next week. I’m not sure if that was entirely Nick’s decision because I’m pretty sure the producers have a say in who gets the roses. I feel like Nick could tell the girls were not happy with Corinne and if it was up to him, he wouldn’t have picked her.

One-on-One: Danielle M.

Madi

Danielle was selected by Nick for one-on-one date. Normally, the one-on-one dates consist of something fun and relaxing and then ends with dinner and a possible rose. The bachelor must decide whether or not he wishes to give her a rose, so she either stays or gets sent home right there on the date.

Nick and Danielle started the day with a helicopter ride that eventually landed on a yacht anchored off of Newport beach. Their quality time included relaxing in a hot tub and just talking. They later went into town for dinner, which is when Danielle opened up about her past relationship and how she was once engaged but never married due the passing of her fiancé. She explained how in relationships after the engagement she only received negative results from the men. However Nick did not take this negatively. Instead, he said that she should cherish those moments and try to recreate that feeling with someone new. When Danielle received this reaction, it overjoyed her and created a special bond between the two of them. This connection helped Nick to decide to give Danielle the rose, assuring her a spot a the rose ceremony

Group date 2

Madi

The girls invited on the second group date were Christen, Josephine, Astrin, Jaime, Kristina, and Liz. The group went to the Museum of Broken Relationships. This museum is full of artifacts from people who had failed relationships. Even Nick himself put the rose and ring which he planned to give Kaitlyn on The Bachelorette into a case at the museum.

The group walked around, looking at old objects and reading the stories behind them. Eventually, they witnessed a staged break up which they would later have to do. The girls were given time to plan a way to “breakup” with Nick and then performed it in front of the rest of the girls and other random people who happened to be at the museum on the same day. The point was to stage the “best breakup” and make everyone laugh. Josephine took her acting to the extreme and went as far as to start her breakup off with slapping in Nick the face. All the girls had different ways of breaking up which helped Nick to understand their personalities at another level. However Liz seemed to take this idea to the extreme by incorporating details of how she had met Nick prior to the show, which she had earlier spilled to Christen. The entire thing was awkward and wasn’t the best choice on Liz’s part. Plus the only people who actually understood her “breakup” were Nick, Christen, and Liz so none of the other girls actually knew what was going on.

The group later retreated to a cocktail hour where each girl could each get their own time to chat with Nick. However, for Liz this conversation time did not go as well as it did for the other girls. Nick confronted Liz about how she addressed him during their mock breakup earlier in the day. They talked about their past and each explained their feelings which lead Nick to the decision that he did not want to be with Liz. He thought it would be better for each of them if she left, which is what he asked her to do. She didn’t say much after that and simply let him walk her to the door although you could see the shock in her face. Then Nick went to tell the other girls what happened. Then the episode ended. In my opinion, Liz shouldn’t have gotten a rose last time. She already had a chance for his phone number at Jade and Tanner’s wedding but said no, which is her own fault.

How’s Nick Doing?

Shanna

He’s doing alright for now, I like the way he’s handling things despite the decision to give Corinne the rose which could’ve possibly been his decision. I thought it was very mature of him to send Liz home and then tell the rest of the girls that they had been together before. Even though the episode was cut off and we didn’t get to see what went down after that, it seemed to be handled somewhat well. But I know this is gonna make all the other girls angry. How could it not? It wasn’t right of Liz to come on the show anyway and dig up even more of his past. He didn’t have to tell the girls about what happened between them but then she came on the show and was forced to.

Current Standings

*To be determined because the episode was cut off prior to the rose ceremony*

Who went home: Liz

Who is staying: Corrine & Danielle M.  

Come back next week for our review of episode 3 and to see who went home!