‘The Bachelor Season 16’ episode 8: Your faves weigh in

This week we got to visit four of the amazing ladies’ not-so-amazing hometowns. I usually love the hometown episode, but I have to admit that since this season has become all about Courtney, it made the other three hometown dates seem kind of pointless.

I was surprised to see that Courtney is the spawn of Joe Biden and a member of the Lollipop Guild. And I wasn’t surprised to discover that Courtney would be so presumptuous as to concoct a mock wedding for her date with Ben.

The only other highlight I can think of to point out is that all of the Dad’s (and even Ben this week, when he was in Texas) wore their shirts either tautly tucked or tucked and then fluffed. I mean, lets just all get UNTUCKED, people!!

Now on to what some of your favorite Bachelor characters and bloggers thought about this week’s episode:

 

From Constantine Tzortzis: “Later in the evening Ben sits with Kacie’s dad, Denny and attempts to instill confidence in his possible future Father in Law regarding his worth as a suitable husband. Denny proceeds to ask very direct questions of Ben and it wasn’t hard to imagine Denny using the same tone he used with Ben with his typical murdering and felonious clientele.

Denny seems unconvinced with any answer that Ben gives to his queries, which makes me believe that his opinion of Ben was decided upon prior to actually meeting him. It’s obvious that the words “Wine Maker” and “San Francisco” have unnerved Denny enough for him to request that Ben let Kacie go sooner rather than later if his intentions are not to marry her and the tone he used during this request reeked of “not gonna happen.”

I applaud Denny for ignoring the blinding lights of Hollywood and sticking to his guns realizing that he probably has made life for his family uncomfortable in the short term. Denny’s main priority as a husband and a father is to protect his family, everything else be damned. You do not have to agree with her father but you do have to respect his actions because love can make you short sighted and someone needed to be there to make sure that the less pleasant side of love was addressed in regards to his young daughter.

It’s my opinion that Denny felt his daughter was ignoring the fact that she had only a 25% of ending up with Ben regardless of her 100% feelings and any further continuation of the process would only lead to greater heartache. At the same time, Kacie seems completely invested in the idea of a life with Ben and appears ready to go against her father’s wishes to follow her heart.

Unfortunately for Kacie, she has few allies at home as her mother also has reservations about the relationship specifically as to where her daughter would live if she did end up engaged to Ben. I thought that this conversation was hysterical because Kacie’s mother, Martha suggested that Kacie and Ben would have to live apart in San Francisco. It’s quickly apparent that Martha does not keep up with US housing trends as most people in San Francisco can barely afford to live in one home and the thought of two mortgages/rents in the 94123 Zip Code almost made my head explode and my wallet faint.”

Read more from Constantine on Bachelor.TV….

 

From Marissa May: “And one more catch…did Courtney have her vows pre-written? Did she have a producer write them for her? As you can see she clearly has a smaller piece of paper on top of this Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper that she was supposed to have written her vows in. Shady business.

Outside of the fake apologies and hijacked vows, there are hints of cuteness and special bonding moments with Ben and Courtney. I find myself slamming my head into my computer every time I catch myself smiling. The thing is, as much as I or we or America may hate a side of Courtney, Ben hasn’t seen it and the way she is with Ben isn’t terribly horrible. But as the girls have said before, you can only hide your true colors for so long. Eventually Ben will catch on and if he is okay with it, more power to him. I just hope he’s okay with only having Courtney, her sister, his sister and mom as the only women in his life because I’m pretty sure Courtney is going to nix any other females coming within a 50 mile radius of his luscious locks.”

Read more at MarissaMay.com….

From Mark Lisanti of Grantland.com: “Over the last couple weeks, response to my brazenly advertorial posts about the consulting firm I’ll soon be establishing for forward-thinking, rapaciously ambitious future Bachelor contestants has been so overwhelming that I’ve gotten a little ahead of myself and already begun living the extravagant lifestyle that’s surely coming to me. The Bentley (custom plates: FINLR$E) and cutting-edge loft space in downtown L.A. have already been leased, the lobby Cristal fountain designed, the yacht (The Final Ro$e) tricked out with a below-decks karaoke stadium. Shit, as they say, is getting real.

There’s just one problem with these champagne wishes and caviar cream-dreams: The single greatest tactical mind in the history of fake-engagement competition genre is not in our employ, she’s actually competing on the show. And so in the interest of (a) further advertising the future services of this incredible soon-to-be business and (b) undermining a dangerous potential competitor’s entry into this lucrative consulting space, this week we’re going to go to the tape and break down Courtney the Model’s mind-blowing strategic masterstroke from last night’s episode: The Warm-Up Wedding. The video’s embedded above. Watch it again as we prepare to deconstruct the staggering brilliance of the boldest gambit in Bachelor history.”

Read more at Grantland.com….

 

From Chris Harrison: “Now, let’s talk about Kacie. From the moment she started talking about her family to Ben you knew there was going to be a bit of a culture clash. Ben summed it up best himself when he said, “Kacie’s dad doesn’t drink, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Well that’s great — I’m a wine maker.’” Of course that isn’t the reason this didn’t work, but all joking aside it did point out some of the distance between them. Kacie has a newfound perspective on life and love, and this experience has definitely changed her. She has an amazingly loving family, and while things didn’t go smoothly with Ben she should be grateful for the love and wisdom her parents shared with her. This is a great example of why the hometown dates are so important. Ben comes from a very different world than Kacie does and this wasn’t a good fit for him or her. Kacie’s departure was easily one of the most emotional we’ve seen in a while. We’ve all gotten to know and love her so much, so it was tough to see her so confused and brokenhearted. I’m sure, upon reflection, Kacie can now see the great divide that was between them, but that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hurt.”

Read more from Chris Harrison at EW.com….

 

From Ali Fedotowsky: “After watching Courtney and Ben tonight I really do feel like they’re the best match for each other. Ben said it best—they’re both a little “weird” (I mean that in a good way) and they seem really comfortable together. And did you hear his “vows”? I definitely think he’s in love with her because he’s never said anything like that to the other girls. I can’t say for sure whether they end up together in the end, but I’d be willing to bet money on it at this point.

I also have to wonder after watching this—did Ben ask every father if he could marry their daughter? I feel like that makes it so much less special. I hope he didn’t.

So in the end I think Lindzi isn’t falling in love with Ben, but Ben’s falling for Lindzi and Courtney. And Nicki is falling for Ben, but Lindzi is in love with her horses, and Courtney is in love with herself. Yikes, that’s quite the love triangle…or rectangle. I’m not really sure what to call it, but it’s confusing!”

Read more from Ali Fedotowsky at LHJ.com….

 

From Jillian Harris: “At first I thought Courtney and Ben’s faux wedding was kind of cute, but ultimately, it totally annoyed me. We all know she stole half of her speech from Sex and the City (Ben totally bought it) but I have to give it to her- she’s a smart cookie. Doing a dress rehearsal of their wedding was a surefire way to make him picture himself ending up with her. Just like the tarantula… she’s fearless.”

Read more at JillianHarris.com….

 

From Ashley Spivey:

 

I also really like that he took his straw out of his drink.  All men should watch Crazy, Stupid, Love and listen to Ryan Gosling when he says that you basically look like you are performing straw fellatio when you keep your straw in your drink.  Bravo again Ben!

 

Ben sits down to have lunch with Courtney’s Mom, Dad, and Sister and I’m amazed by her Mom’s faces.

 

Seriously – this is the exact same face Courtney makes after she’s said something evil!

Read more from Ashley Spivey at SayNoToCosmo.com….

 

From Bachelor Ben Flajnik: “Meeting Courtney’s family was a very welcoming experience. It felt very familiar to me because I lived in Arizona for some time so it almost felt like home. Her parents’ Saltillo-tiled floor reminded me of my parents’ house and it was a good, nostalgic feeling. Rick was a true gentleman and I appreciated all the advice he gave me.

Later that day I was taken to a place in the Phoenix area that I had never been before and I am so glad I visited. I picnic a lot back in San Francisco and I loved that Courtney had planned this for our day. My date with her felt really natural and I have to give her props because she was really bold to assume that I would play along with a mock wedding.

Little did I know how much this elaborate setting would allow her to pour her heart out. Hearing Courtney tell me she loves me made it all worth it. All in all, it was a great hometown date and a great way to conclude visiting all of the hometowns. ”

Read more from Ben Flajnik at People.com….

 

From Dana Weiss (aka Possessionista): “I’ve been completely manipulated by Courtney’s good looks and feminine wiles. She’s cleverly withheld her fashion from me for several weeks now – presumably because I started a rumor that she has hooves and breathes fire and is the offspring of Cruella deVille and John Goodman’s character in Fallen.”

Courtney’s pleated, tiered dress
Halston Heritage
Courtney’s flat, slouch boots
I think these are them
Frye Paige Trapunto
Copyright Possessionista Media, LLC

Read more at Possessionista.com….

 

From Reid Rosenthal: “Courtney’s hometown date – Somewhere in Arizona or Hell – Courtney is one great actor. Her parents and sister actually appear to be somewhat normal but there was a weird, cold vibe going on in that house. I can’t explain it just like I can’t explain Courtney. I felt that they were going to pull out a Ouija Board and start summoning the dead. Courtney’s dad explains that marriage is life’s biggest gambles and only 50% of the time you are right. That’s a sad thought. I wonder if he won or lost with his wife? Anyway, all I can say is that every time Courtney professes her love for Ben, it seems to be a struggle. She seems to have to force out kind words. If I had to go with my gut, I would say that Courtney is extremely competitive, a great actress, and completely full of shit, however, at one point I had a different thought. Maybe Courtney has been let down or cheated on by so many men then she reflects her bad feelings toward the girls. She looks at all women as evil because of her insecurities when she should be blaming herself for choosing the wrong men all along. What if Courtney really did just needed a guy she can trust just as a dog saved from the pound needs to warm up to people. I want to say that my first thought is right that she comes from a family of witches who were all playing the part but witches don’t exist and I did see a small change in Courtney. We’ll have to see. I see her winning and then having a change of heart but I really think that I could be wrong. I really don’t know. If I went with my absolute gut feeling I would say she’s full of it and too old to change.”

Read more from Reid Rosenthal on Bachelor.TV….

 

From Dave Good: “They have saved the devil-spider-lady (Courtney) for last.  Apparently the devil came from Scottsdale, AZ.  Guess we can put the bibles up and stop worrying about that part of it.

She starts out saying she has had a few days to think about her time on the show and she feels bad about a few things she might have said and how she treated the other girls.  She follows that up with “because it has affected my relationship with Ben” which say’s she could actually careless about what she did or said to the girls.  It is only because it affected “her” situation.

Did anyone notice Ben has his cowboy boots on he got with Nicki?

Her family seems relatively normal for having a devil baby.  I was expecting a fire-breathing dragon mixed with a housewife from NJ.

Ben and Courtney sit down to write some pretend marriage vowels.  Actually pretty cute and then they read them to each other.  Ben writes like a 7-year-old chimpanzee on crack.  I could not read one word.  Literally.  Courtney tells Ben she loves him.  His response is “wow.”  LOL   I know he can’t say it back, but it just makes it awkward.”

Read more from Dave Good on Bachelor.TV….

 

From Michael Stagliano: “Anywho.  In some bizarre twist of kindness, Courtney plans a pre-wedding.  And look, this was crazy sweet and.  IT WAS…stop it… it WAS!  Though I do remember “seeing” (that’s right… I never “participated”) kids do fake weddings at recess when I was 9 and 10.  She explains she did a photo shoot at the location they were at (bridezilla magazine?) and since she saw it, she has always wanted to get married there.  Sure.  I actually buy it…  She pulls out a bow tie, some paper, pens.  They walk up to the altar where a man is standing (who must be thinking…ok now, you want me to do WHAT exactly?  And the couple is HOW OLD?) and they read their vows.  Ben’s were a bit bland if you ask me.  It always irks me a bit when people write “poetry or vows” and use words they wouldn’t normally use, for example.  Ben says, ” I feel like a better person when I am in your presence.”  No one talks like that…including you, Ben…just say, “when I am with you.”

Read more from Michael Stagliano at Bachelor.TV….

Of Ben's final three amazing ladies, who do you think is going to win?

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