Is It Kelsey A?

It’s been a LONG and exhausting work week thus far, so this entry will be shorter and more to the point than is typical. But didn’t the episode feel that way? It, too, moved quickly to its raison d’etre of determining whose families Joey would meet.

With hometown-to-meet-the-fam visits on the line, the Evil Genius Producers (EGPs) introduced the episode by using Maria to create some unnecessary drama with legitimate but out-of-context clips about her wanting to leave.

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The real drama, however, was with who would get the two 1-on-1 dates. Per My Girl @bachelordata IG, 70% of the winners get multiple 1-on-1 dates, and all the remaining girls had precisely one each. That made it a big deal when Daisy got the first of those highly coveted dates. Daisy was also in @bachelordata’s trio of Low Elimination Risk girls: Daisy, Kelsey A., and Maria.

But Daisy has doubts that don’t seem to be manufactured by the EGPs. She’s falling but not yet in love but seemed to be warming to the possibility of the L-word by the end of her date.

Next up was the Group Date announcement, which would also reveal who would get the other of those highly coveted 1-on-1 dates. Kelsey A. won out over the other obvious potential choice, Maria.

For the Group Date, the girls had a “Lumber Jill” competition after some lessons on how to use sharp and dangerous objects from a champion Lumber Jill-er. I found that whole thing terrifying, and this city guy also felt every ounce of Maria’s disinterest in this outdoorsy activity.

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Maria, whom the EGPs can’t get enough of[1], was also shown being in her head a lot and expressing serious doubts to Joey about committing to a guy with multiple girlfriends. Those doubts leave Joey with his own doubts about whether he can continue with Maria. We love this show while acknowledging the ridiculousness of those two sentences.

Joey didn’t give out a Group Date Rose. This had to be an EGP decision to create more drama for The Rose Ceremony. Naturally, all the girls are very disappointed, seeing as Joey has convinced each of them that they are The One.

The prominent feature of Kelsey A.’s 1-on-1 date was a polar plunge into frigid waters. It wasn’t lost on me that this was another cheap date after having to pay Michael Bolton twice this season. I also haven’t been able to shake the feeling that I’ve had that she will be The One.

No Group Date Rose? And no Cocktail Party, either![2] Sure, all the women wanted – NEEDED – to have that time with Joey to let him know that he is The One for them, but the EGPs set this up so that Joey would come to The Rose Ceremony to have the only convo that mattered – one with Maria that he pulled her aside for before he started handing out Roses.

With all the drama that Maria brings, it’s apparent that he likes her A LOT. So, it wasn’t surprising that she got a Rose, which scheduled a hometown visit. Also, shoutout to @bachelordata as all three of her Low Elimination Risk girls made the Final Four.

Even with all the manipulation the EGPs do with hometown visit previews, the previews look pretty juicy. The EGPs have also done an excellent job magnifying doubts about Daisy and Maria, who, along with Kelsey, are the three girls to whom the EGPs have drawn our attention. I am thinking Kelsey will be the last girl standing.

See you next week.

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This week’s viewing wine was a nice quality-to-price ratio Latitud 42 Rioja Crianza.

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[1] Her and Daisy have the most screen time this season.

[2] Shout to Dear Friend and Loyal Follower of These Musings KMD, who finds great humor in cancelled Cocktail Parties.