*If you want a reminder of the drama in previous episodes, take a look at those recaps here.
While previous weeks’ recaps followed the chronological journey of the episode, things are getting shaken up this week. While we’ll still revisit some of this week’s events, we’re going to do a deeper dive into the drama of the individual couples for the episode.
First, we’ll start with the rose ceremony that last week’s episode leads into:
- Brian Autz gives his rose to Parisa Shifteh, despite her saying that the two have struggled lately and she doesn’t know where he is.
- Andrew Spencer gives his rose to Alexe Goldin, saying, “Seeing you smile, making you laugh, has made every day here worth it.” He proceeds to try to ask the French-Canadian if she’ll accept the rose in French—though she accepts, she laughs at his pronunciation.
- Jeremy Simon gives his rose to Bailey Brown, though we don’t see much else about this interaction.
- Spencer Conley gives his rose to Jess Edwards. This was obviously going to happen, but there is also no lead-up to the moment.
- Dale Moss gives his rose to Kat Izzo, though he is waiting for her to open up (and he’s still considering that there might be someone else he is interested in).
- Sean McLaughlin gives his rose to Allyshia Gupta (though she looks pretty disappointed that she didn’t get a rose from Dale).
- Jonathon Johnson gives Lea Cayanan his rose, though April Kirkwood kind of jokingly asks for him to return the favor of keeping her in Paradise. Lea isn’t sure about the romance in the relationship, which is (spoiler alert) foreshadowing.
- Keith Gordon gives his rose to Kathy Swarts.
- Kim Buike gives his rose to Faith Martin, despite trying to decide between a few people.
- Gary Levingston gives his rose to Leslie Fhima, calling her, “very special.”
This all means that April, Natascha Hardee, and Nancy Hulkower are sent home.
There’s a very sweet moment when April is saying goodbye where she gets a giant group hug from the men.
“I came here for love,” she said, in her final confessional. “I got love! I feel for the first time in a long time that I am very loved!”
The Twist
After this rose ceremony, host Jesse Palmer announces the plan changes that he’s alluded to all season. As discussed, there will be no new arrivals to Paradise, and all of the challenges going forward will be relationship tests. The final twist? Winners of the challenge can make the choices, losers may not get roses and will therefore be sent home, and someone could leave Paradise with $500,000.
The first relationship test is the following day. Palmer calls it, “High/Low, What do you know.”
Essentially, each couple bets on answers to questions their partner gave. If correct, they win more poker chips, combining the “Match Game” with a hint of gambling. The winning couple will receive a date card and the winning woman will get to decide two of the three losing couples get to stay and one will go home.
However, these get-to-know-you questions lend to a nice scene of all of the couples asking about each other. The nature of the show often promotes a less personal environment, so it’s heartwarming to see them ask questions they most likely wouldn’t have otherwise.In the end, though we’ll dive deeper into this below, Bailey and Jeremy win and the three losing couples are Brian and Parisa, Faith and Kim, and Gary and Leslie. This means that Bailey and Jeremy get a special one-on-one date, and Bailey will have to choose which couple will go home.
Though most things have changed, parts of the rose ceremony have remained. It seems like whoever gives the roses will go back between the women and the men each week. This week, the women are going to give the roses.
But now, it’s time to dive into the couples!
Jess and Spencer
This is a no-brainer. For the last six weeks, we’ve come here to remind you of the strength of Jess and Spencer’s relationship. While it can feel like waiting for the other shoe to drop and the two devolving into messy drama, they continue to remind us that an easy relationship is possible, even in convoluted dating/game show situations. While we don’t know what happens with them, they both continue to post on social media as the show is released, Therefore, it seems like there is a very high possibility that they’re still together.
Spencer does admit some anxiety about the game show aspect introduced. He’s worried that people might want to get rid of them because they have such a strong relationship and therefore would threaten other peoples’ chances of winning the money. It’s a question of other couples’ strategies, and it’s too early to tell which way everyone will go. Some seem to be leaning towards staying in it for the relationship and love while others seem to shift their focus to the money.
Keith and Kathy
This relationship goes back and forth. On one hand, Kathy seems to be all in. On the other hand, Keith admitted last week that he and Kathy are just friends. Kathy seems to be in on the “just friends” situation sometimes, and other times, it’s unclear whether or not she’s aware. Despite Keith admitting their simple friendship, Kathy muses about the $500,000, saying, “Do you want love or do you want $500,000? I want love. I don’t care about the money.”
Andrew and Alexe
Though they’ve been together for a shorter period than Spencer and Jess, because Andrew arrived to Paradise later, Alexe and Andrew seem very happy. The two are always seen laughing together and smiling. While the relationship is clearly still in the early stages, Alexe said (another spoiler, during the rose ceremony at the end of this episode), “Everyday, I’m starting to feel like you’re my person.
Sean and Allyshia
This couple is a bit of a wild card; they both came in later in the season, Sean had been with Jill until she self-eliminated and Allyshia still admits to being interested in Dale. The two are clearly happy while getting to know each other and are enjoying each other’s company. In fact, Allyshia tells Sean that they did better than she expected to in the relationship test. We’ll see how their relationship progresses.
Kat and Dale
While these two had their drama last week, the impact of all everything said still lingered. Dale is still trying to dig deeper with Kat, and Kat is trying to protect herself from getting hurt while also trying to let him in. The two are trying to let the relationship happen, but it’s clear they’re struggling. Also, though Dale says he’s all in with Kat (to her face and in confessionals), he also says that maybe he’s still into getting to know Allyshia, comparing the two women in their willingness to be open. Dale tries to reassure Kat, and it seems to work, but it’s hard to forget what he’s said in outside conversations.
It’s moments like these that make you wonder what it would be like to watch all of the moments you’re not privy to. What is it like for Kat to watch this back? To see that Dale is still interested in Allyshia, even though he’s telling Kat something else? This question really comes up with Jeremy and Bailey, but we’ll get there.
In the relationship game, they get every single question right, although Dale bets very conservatively on the last question so as not to “put [them] in a bad position.”
Jonathon and Lea
This relationship is tough. Jonathon friend-zoned multiple women in Paradise already, and it didn’t work out with the one woman he was romantically interested in. Meanwhile, Lea just arrived in Paradise. The two are instantly drawn together because they’re friendly already and…they’re the only ones left. In fact, Lea says that she thinks it’s important to know someone first as a friend before attaching romantic feelings, emotions, and complications into the relationship.
Lea knows that they’re friends at first, but she’s hoping, and feeling, like the relationship could become romantic. She’s excited about the prospect. However, before Jonathon even says it explicitly, it’s clear he doesn’t feel the same way. He tells Kat that he and Lea are just friends and Kat tells Lea, because Jonathon says that he hasn’t actually told her yet (despite Lea being interested in more). So, Lea confronts Jonathon. He says that while there is a possibility they could be more than friends, he doesn’t know. Lea clearly feels differently.
Kim and Faith
Kim and Faith are the newest couple on the list. They’ve known each other since, like, lunch the day before, and they have to compete against couples who’ve been together for two weeks. It’s clear that these two were at a disadvantage when it came to answering questions about each other. However, it’s also clear throughout the episode that they are into and getting to know each other deeper.
Gary and Leslie
While you may have cheered when Gary gave his rose to Leslie at the beginning of this episode, they’re in hot water by the end. Things are clearly progressing well, and they’re in the top three of the relationship test game. However, in the last round, Gary bet too much on a question he didn’t know the answer to, leaving them in the bottom three by the end. Gary works to cheer Leslie up in the face of possibly going home, but they’re both sad while thinking about leaving.
Brian and Parisa
The misunderstanding from last week has carried into this week. Parisa is trying to get deeper. Meanwhile, Brian thinks they’ve gone deep enough and that Parisa is smothering him. Throughout the episode, they go back in forth over who upset and why. Parisa doesn’t really feel like she knows what’s going on with him. She tells him that she’s upset because he’s ignoring her. Brian is upset because she’s giving him too many compliments and smothering him. Plus, they get nearly each question wrong in the relationship test, which only makes matters worse. They’re competing to stay in Paradise while not having a very strong relationship.
Jeremy and Bailey
It’s hard not to talk about these two without talking about Brian and Parisa, but we’ll get there.
Jeremy and Bailey are the main characters of the episode, referring to themselves as the “King and Queen of the castle.” They win the relationship test, get a very romantic candlelit dinner date complete with beachside fireworks, and they have the power to decide which of the two losing couples stays and which one goes home.
But it’s not their decision. Ultimately, it is Bailey’s decision, despite how Jeremy talks about it. Moreover, Jeremy is makes this decision from a stance of competition Who are the strong and weak couples, and who will be good for the competition to win so much money? However, Bailey is looking at this as a decision of which couples are stronger and can last outside of Paradise.
Plus, let’s not forget that Jeremy begged Susie to come back to Paradise and said he’d propose on the spot. While Bailey is gushing over him and Jeremy is saying good stuff to her face, Brian is still accusing Jeremy of lying to Bailey. Jeremy basically threatened to send Brian home, and Brian threatened to tell Bailey what Jeremy said to him about Susie to break up their relationship. Honestly, both guys are kind of icky in how they treat the situation, and Bailey is stuck in the middle (and Parisa, too, but we already know Brian is kind of ignoring her).
Because Bailey (and Jeremy) are making the decision about who stays and who goes, Kim, Faith, Gary, and Leslie give Bailey their pitches to stay in Paradise. Parisa and Brian don’t bother with Bailey, while Brian is still trying to blackmail Jeremy.
Rose Ceremony
- Bailey gives her rose to Jeremy, saying “I think we make a pretty good team.” Jeremy, in a confessional, says, “I couldn’t be happier that we’re in control of the roses.” (At one point, in regards to this role, Jeremy says, “I like playing God.“)
- Kathy gives her rose to Keith.
- Allyshia gives her rose to Sean.
- Kat gives her rose to Dale
- Jess, of course, gives her rose to Spencer.
- Lea gives her rose to Jonathon, despite their earlier conversation. Lea says, “You’re welcome,” instead of the traditional, “Will you accept this rose?” She seems the most upset because he was “supposed to be [her] best friend in the house.”
- Finally, Bailey, ever focused on love, gives the first of the last two roses to Faith, saying that she and Kim moved her. “I don’t want to cut y’all’s journey short,” she tells Faith.
- Faith gives her rose to Kim.
With the final rose, Bailey asks Leslie to come forward and breaks down in tears. She says that she can’t give the rose to Leslie, but that she hopes she and Gary find each other outside of Paradise. We’ve since learned that the two are still apart after elimination, but are close friends and talk frequently.
So, the final rose goes to Parisa and Brian. Brian, still finding issue with Jeremy, is now out to get him. In the promo for next week, it’s very clear that Brian tells Bailey about what Jeremy said about Susie. Things are bound to devolve from there.
Plus, next week’s promo also tells us that a couple will be voted out by their peers.
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