Andi Dorfman couldn't ultimately picture herself as a farmer's wife. So sweetly romantic Chris Soules was cut, leaving the Atlanta jock and the Wisconsin guy everyone else hates.
"I have two great amazing guys who could a make me really really happy," she says to Chris Harrison. "They're husband material. They're father material."
Our Atlanta girl is oddly taken by Nick Viall, the software sales executive who struck the other guys and plenty of viewers as insincere, smarmy and too focused on strategy. She gave him a first impression rose weeks ago and has stuck with said first impression.
"I have a mental connection with him," she explains. Then she works the adjectives. "Nick is sweet and affectionate. He's smart and he's serious. When Nick looks at me, he gets me." The show then flashbacks to shots of him staring longingly into her eyes, smarmy grin intact. She throws in "passion" as shots of him kissing her are repeated much to the painful chagrin of millions.
Andi wonders if Nick could loosen up.
As for Josh Murray, the Atlanta jock whose brother is former UGA quarterback Aaron Murray, he always came across as sincere about his interest in Andi. She seemed to resist him because he is the athlete type she is normally attracted to and she was worried he would break her heart. (Past athletes must have cheated on her.)
"Josh has the personality every girl is attracted to," she said. "He's outgoing, funny and lively. I have so much fun with Josh. We can do anything because he's so easygoing." She also likes his self-deprecating personality, his dark hair and olive skin and piercing eyes.
The downside to Josh is the opposite of her concern with Nick: is there a more serious side to Josh?
Josh's intentions and game playing was far more simplistic than Nick but that may be why he made it to the final two. The chemistry is there and as I've said since week one, all signs point to him being the man who gets Andi in the end.
In the set-up summaries at the start of the two hours, Andi has nothing negative to say about Chris at all. Chris, she said, is sweet, charming, cute, manly and lighthearted. "I know I'm always going to have a laugh and it's something fun," she said. "He is here for me and for love." She calls him "the full package." But that's just a tease for what's really to come.
In the Dominican Republic, she readies herself for "fantasy suite" time!
Nick's date
The couple spend a day on a private beach flown in by helicopter. Smart move to keep Nick away from other human beings. They keep talking about "the connection." Then the red flag. "There's a lot more about Nick I don't know," she said, such as his past relationships.
During the day on the beach, he struggles with his words at one point when he wanted to tell her he loved her but couldn't utter the phrase. At night, she asks him what he could come up with his faults and he struggles to come up with an answer. Because he's perfect, right?
Then he whips out a book, a "fairy tale" about his time with Andi so far with illustrations! Yes, that is your dinner returning from your stomach up back up into your mouth.
Later that night, he finally utters the "l" word, admitting it's "terrifying." (Yes. It is.)
Thank goodness she says nothing in return (apparently, she is not allowed to?) but just kisses him. She feels "hopeful and safe." They go into the fantasy suite to continue the kissing. Fade to darkness.
Josh's date
The next day, in Santo Domingo, she meets with Josh. They just have a good time hanging out with vendors. He knows Spanish, which helps. He dances on the street. He pours on the Josh charm. They then find a baseball field and plays with the kids. "A grand slam!" he utters, using a baseball term, of course. She loves how well he interacts with kids.
He tells he he loves her with boylike glee. She is relieved he is telling how he feels. She looks truly happy. Yes, we know. It's Josh, isn't it?
She wonders if there's a darker side to him because he comes across so happy. Is this for real? He says he can be a loving husband, a great father, someone she can trust.
Fantasy suite? Duh. Of course. And the fireworks go off, too. Literally.
Chris' date
She decides to do something "country" by going on horses with Chris. She doesn't particularly enjoy it.
But later, she expresses how much she loves Chris' family in Iowa and the heavenly environment. "I left there literally on cloud nine," she said, misusing the word "literally."
Recapping her time in his tractor, he said, "I loved when you just hopped on my lap and went to town." Was there any grinding?
Her problem: she doesn't quite feel as strongly about him as the other two. "Where's your gut" about living in Iowa? he asks.
"It's a struggle," she acknowledges. "Is that every day life? It's a huge difference."
Then they get really serious. He tells her he is in love with her but she reacts with tears. She isn't in love with him. "I can't feel the same way you're feeling," she said. "I don't see the foundation in us...My head and heart don't match up."
She can't blame it on Iowa.
"I appreciate and respect you for that," he says with uber class. "You can't control your feelings."
He's a good guy but not the right fit.
No fantasy suite for Chris and at the 90-minute point of the two hour episode, it's over for the farmer.
Rose ceremony
With Chris gone, the rose ceremony was a formality. No way either guy would not accept a rose from Andi.
Next week and the week after
First, the other guys talk about her and what a jerk Andrew is (and likely Nick, too.) Then there's the standard finale promo. Will Andi pick Josh or Nick? Come on. We know the answer to that!
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