Intro: Chris Harrison meets our hotties to explain that this week we will have three dates: two group dates and a one on one. Ben reiterates how he’s not sorry for stealing her away the previous week and he doesn’t care if the guys like him. Hmmm – wonder what’s gonna go down that they started with that?
The first group date card says: Love is a battlefield and the names on it are: Chris, Brian, Drew, Michael G., Brooks, Brad, Mikey, Brandon, Zak K., and Ben.
Des looks really pretty in the neon pink she’s wearing. She says the men are amazing and are gonna flip out about what they’re doing. A garage type door raises to a gym and we see – Dodgeball! They practice with a professional team before Chris shows up and gives them the news they’ll be battling each other in a winner takes all match (best two of three) that will happen in a public arena. They put on their uniforms and look goofy in knee-high striped socks, short shorts, and headbands. She almost dies laughing when she sees them, but says they owned it.
The Teams:
Red: Mikey, Michael G., Brooks, Chris, and Brandon
Blue: Ben, Drew, Zak K., Brad, and Brian
The first game comes down to Chris and Drew with Drew winning it for the blue team. In the second game blue gets in a hole and can’t fight back. It’s one to one.
Final Game: The game is interrupted for a medic to look at Brooks’ finger. They showed a quick shot of it and it did look bad. The medic says it has to be reset and Brooks is taken to the ER. This leaves red one man down and it comes down to Chris and Zak (who Mikey says are both professional baseball players – yummy!) Chris fights hard but the blue team wins. However, Des must have wanted the red team to win because she decides to take them all on the date that night.
The Date Part: Des laments that Brooks is missing the date (His ER scenes seem pretty intense.) and she toasts him in his absence.
She talks one-on-one with Brad who wants to share a past that’s haunted him that he didn’t want to tell her right off the bat until he knew if there was a connection. He has a three year-old son who lives with him full-time. His mom’s watching him. He wasn’t going to come if it wasn’t Des. He hasn’t dated for two years because he’s raising him herself and he says he’s here to find love and leaving a lot behind. He’s pretty sweet.
Next Up: Chris talks about how everyone is taking Des away and it’s getting late, he’s afraid he’s running out of time and wants to do something special so he finds an awesome spot and makes a move. (I looove Chris, but come on! He just randomly find a spot on the roof top to take her? Producer manipulation.) They sit and talk. He says he was skeptical but he liked the way she acted, listened and coached that day. She says she noticed that no matter where he was, he noticed her and smiled and let her know he was there. He talks to the camera about it feeling comfortable and right. He thinks he’s feeling a connection and might get the rose….until Brooks shows up. Chris has a very cute moment when he says, “Damn that Brooks – he’s so charming.” So are you, Chris! So are you!
Brooks and Desiree sit on a blanket and she tells him she misses him. He says kiss me. You can tell she really likes him. She says they don’t have to try. I don’t think it matters that he had the first date. He could go all the way.
When she hands out the rose she tells Zak he killed it (in a good way), and thanks Brad for opening up, but says she’s giving the rose to a person who made a great impression during that day and the night. She gives Chris the rose which means extra bonus time at a concert with Kate Earl where they dance and she kisses him – a lot. She says Chris continues to surprise her and makes her feel comfortable. He tells us that this moment is the beginning of something great.
The other guys know they kiss because Brandon watches. Ben says sometimes it’s just better not to see. He really does get how you have to play it to win.
The one-on one date card shows up at the house. It’s for Kasey and says “Love defies gravity.” Kasey’s excited but not a huge fan of heights. However, before their date can happen, Des gets a phone call from Chris Harrison about a guy that’s been lying. She says she didn’t see it coming and it’s so rude someone is there to play a game when this isn’t a game.
Kasey is so cute and ready to go, but she says she needs to see Brian before their date. She plays him and asks if there’s anything she doesn’t know. She wonders if their conversations are sincere. She says she’s making sure everyone is there for the right reasons. He says his past relationship was over recently, but was really over a long time ago. They realized there wasn’t a future, but there’s still a friendship. Des says, “Do you know how she feels about it? Because she’s actually here.
BOOM: In walks a cute brunette who hugs Des and says, “Hi, I’m Stephanie – Brian’s girlfriend.
Stephanie says he told her that he wasn’t going to see anyone else, and that she tried to break up with him but he said he needed time to figure stuff out. She has a son who looks up to him and he never told her he was coming on the show. He said he was going on a convention and invited her knowing she couldn’t come.
Des says there’s obviously feelings there. Chris tries multiple times to interrupt.
She calls him a coward. Chris asks, how is it possible that he told casting he was single and looking to find love? (hmmm…I don’t know Chris. But I think your producers do.) Stephanie says they slept together two nights before he came out there. Chris asks Des, “Is there any chance this guys is staying here?” She says, “No, not a chance.”
One-on One Date with Kasey: Kasey’s a little worried there might be a lot on her mind. He has to try to turn her day around. They go to Sunset Boulevard. She calls Kasey fun and trustworthy, but something about the way she says it let’s us know she may like him, but not as much as some others. They watch people dance on the side of a building. Kasey says he’s a terrible dancer but he’ll do it for her. She says he was a good support and a good sport. She’s a daredevil and trying to focus on him, but she’s exhausted mentally and physically. She says it’s not going the way she wanted it to, but it’s not Kasey’s fault.
They do a dinner on a rooftop and a big wind comes through. The wind is bad, the candles go out. The rose looks like it’s gonna blow away so they decide to get into the pool that’s freezing cold. He kisses her in the pool, though. The whole day was off and she feels awful. He says he just likes being with her. She thinks he’s a great guy and she trusts him so she gives him a rose anyway.
Second Group Date: Dan, James, Juan Pablo, Bryden, Zack W.
The Date Card: Who will be the lone man standing?
James doesn’t know what to expect but they walk out to a stage-coach and horses. They are delivered to the Rose and Thorn Ranch where Des is dressed in a gown on a balcony. All of a sudden, a man pops out and grabs her. She throws him off the balcony and introduces the guys to the stunt team from Disney’s The Lone Ranger. They put them through a cowboy boot camp. Whoever breaks away from the pack will get some special one-on-one time.
The men look good in their cowboy suits. They have to master a few cowboy tricks: throwing a lasso, a quick draw with pistols and fighting for justice (fake fighting). She surprises them with horses and they get to see the real Silver from the movie. They put everything they learn into one final challenge. James does well. She calls Bryden dreamy. Zack was hilarious, a natural actor. Dan’s pants split, and Juan Pablo spoke Spanish the whole time and was awesome!
She says they all did good, but Juan Pablo came out, was a natural and owned it. (He is sexyyyyyy.) She takes him to a movie theater in the barn where they get to watch the Lone Ranger. Her comments about the movie date are basically just a big commercial for The Lone Ranger – hello ABC/Disney. She tells us Juan Pablo is distracting in a great way and makes out with him.
That night they have a campfire. She says she loves the entire group of guys before she takes them off one-to-one. She and Bryden sit in a tree and she tells him she wanted him to keep the cowboy outfit on. He says he’s having fun. She recognizes he’s reserved and doesn’t quite know when to make the moves so she has to lead a bit and then he’s on it.
Zack says she makes things fun and says she’s a team player and gives such great feedback to them. She so easy to like that everyone’s in love with her. He mentions his attempt to kiss her earlier and they laugh because she says she got confused.
James and she share a blanket and he mentions how he likes the way she laughs at his stupid jokes. He feels at home, but it’s tough to even out the feelings. He worries about his dad at home. His father is sick and has a cancer spot on his pancreas. He asks her if she thinks they have something. He needs to know if he’s wasting his time. She reassures him with the rose. She sees the rose a symbol of more time. He asks her to accept his daisy. He’s relieved their feelings line up and they kiss.
The Final Day: Chris shows up to tell them the cocktail party has been canceled and that Desiree has asked for a relaxed, chill, pool party.
Ben catches her before she gets inside and asks for a 15 minute car ride. He kisses her in the car when they return and some of the guys see that he stole time with her
She finally arrives and there’s a a montage of pool play time. Dan give her a pizza that says, “Will you be my girlfriend or is it too cheesy?” She wants to connect with a few guys to see where things stand. Ben lies to Chris about getting alone time with Des and that pisses Mikey off. He says no to people when he’s asked if he’s talked to her. Mikey confronts him about lying, but he says he did it because he doesn’t kiss and tell. Michael G. says they won’t be friends because he’s been dishonest and he can’t unscramble that egg.
Brandon has a moment with Des where he discusses the week and how he feels about her and how the Brian thing affected him. He doesn’t want see her get hurt and he promises not to do that. He pulls her in for an awkward kiss that he thinks is awesome, then tells her he’s falling in love with her (Too soon dude!) and thinks about her all day long.
Chris breaks up the pool party and Des leaves. At the rose ceremony she looks gorgeous in a blue jewel toned dress.
By the way – that broken heart? Brandon all the way…we knew it was coming and it was obvious she wasn’t into him, but kudos to Brandon for making me feel bad for him despite his overwhelmingly fantastical view of the situation.
Roses go to: (James, Kasey, Chris) Bryden, Juan Pablo, Zack W., Brooks, Drew, Zak K., Brad, Michael G., Mikey, and the final rose goes to…Ben
Sent home: Brandon and Dan
My picks for final four still include Chris and Brooks, maybe Bryden, maybe Michael G.?
Kimmy L. Davis Writes 