So you thought the South of France last week was romantic? Andi Dorfman takes the remaining eight dudes to Venice, Italy. I'll take your wine and your French language and up it a few notches with the gondolas and Italian. Heck, it's called "The City of Love."
But "The Bachelorette" is about cutting down the masses. So Andi leaves two men behind: "pantsapreneur" J.J. and personal trainer Cody before moving to Brussels. JJ was most notable about his attacks on Andrew, who left last week. Cody just seemed like a fun dude who was never Andi's first choice. He was always in the friendship lane, the poor guy. (I'd say immediately that Cody is in the running to be the next "Bachelor.")
Redemption? Nick concerned Andi because she has heard negative things about him from the other guys and saw him mopey during the mime challenge last week in France. "Is he arrogant and cocky or misunderstood?" she wonders. So she takes him on a second one-on-one instead of Cody, the last of the eight surviving men to not have a precious single date with her. He tries to downplay the issues he had about the group date. "I'm going to do better," he said, on his best behavior during a romantic date on a gondola. Did it make things better? Yes. Did it resolve everything? No. The evening improves. "He looks like a prince," she says. "But the drama last week left me so confused."
"It was a weird night, a tough night for me," he said, when Cody accused him of being overconfident and a basic insincere douche. He skirts the question about arrogance, saying he merely has this connection with her. "I don't want to be disrespectful but you're my No. 1 priority," he said. "I do talk with a sense of confidence." He even admits he is falling in love with her. She believes he owns up to his issues and feels better about him.
He gets an early rose. And the collective viewing audience rolls its eyes.
Bottom line: regardless of what Andi says, the douche factor is still very high on this guy.
Honesty is such a lonely word: The group date this week features a lie detector test. Fun! Three men told no lies, two men told two lies and three men told three lies. Andi told two lies herself: agreeing that Italy is her favorite country and that all the guys were here for the right reasons. But she rips up the results for the guys, refusing to see them. What???? The producers had to have been disappointed.
Wake-up call: Marcus admits to her that he almost left. But he didn't let his fear cause him to give up on them. I'm not sure if this is going to help his cause beyond the fact he was honest.
Why Josh Murray is the one: She kept him around this week, didn't she?
Why maybe he isn't: He is all nervous about the lie detector test and Andi senses it. "I can't help but be confused," Andi says. "Why is he so upset with the lie detector test while everyone else is having fun with it?" She said she felt he had has guard up. He denies that. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't feel we're going in the right direction." The conversation ends with a thud.
Secret admirer revealed: Chris is the man! The farmer can write! He felt like he had to reveal it after the lie detector test. She even guessed he was the writer before he said it. She is truly taken by this romantic gesture. Smart move on Chris' part. He gets a group date rose. Nick then goes all douche again by saying how it's BS at this stage to congratulate other guys for getting a rose. That may be true but he again comes off like a jerk.
Cody's last stand: In Verona, Cody finally gets to try to be Andi's Romeo. How much he likes her is obvious. "You make me feel like a 16 year old kid," Cody says with utter sincerity. He puts on the hard sell about how much he wants her and how the more she knows him, the better it will get. The problem: the feeling is not mutual. "To me, it's just a friendship. I don't know if there's a potential for romance," she says. "There's a huge part of me that thinks it's not there." She feels bad that he is being so nice. So he goes straight home, no rose, as she tearfully wishes him off.
Nausea, be thy name: During the cocktail party, Nick takes her aside and the moment they have alone time, he kisses her aggressively. "That's a man," she says admirably. The other dudes continue to send negative vibes toward him because he already has a rose. Chris calls him "arrogant" again. Why not state the obvious?
Survival: Dylan, a man up to this point who has left very little impression on anybody beyond his tragic back story, decides it's time to make his move and he interrupts Nick's make-out session with Andi. But he still leaves no impression. Brian reads her a nice note. Josh is still worried about the last conversation. "You made me feel bad about what the date was," she says. "I 100% trust you. I just want you to 100% trust me," he says. She is worried about heartbreak. "It's not going to happen with me," he says.
NEXT WEEK
The final six are off to Brussels. Nick continues to solidify his spot in the finals and raises the ire of the other dudes. Will Andi care?
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