“Bachelor In Paradise” Recap: Week Two

HOLLYWOOD—Week two, night one of “Bachelor In Paradise” kicked off with the aftermath of Chad’s rage-fueled exit; Chris Harrison tries to coax him off set – meanwhile, the remaining—now 14—contestants celebrate his departure and drink to “beginnings in paradise.”

A brand-new and excited bachelorette: Leah Block, 23—an event planner from Denver, CO arrives to paradise with a date card and pre-determined love interest: Chad—for some reason?

Upon learning that Chad was booted from the show just moments earlier, Leah reassesses her options – she chats with several of the bachelors: Daniel, Vinny and Nick. Then, predictably, she asks out two-time veteran and runner-up hunk, Nick Viall; willing to explore his options, he accepts—and Amanda’s pretty displeased—having had basically laid claim to Nick last week.

Leah and Nick embarks towards their date destination: Festival de Margeritas, where they taste-test authentic Mexican margaritas and share a drunken kiss on the beach.

Later that night, things get complicated when Nick gets a date card of his own – he asks out Amanda. Of course—with reassurance in her connection with Nick—she accepts and Leah is completely blind-sided.

Amanda and Nick share the night out at La Ola Rica, a seafood restaurant in San Pancho and have visible chemistry. The two share the rest of the evening cuddled up next to a beachside bonfire, where they have their first kiss.

Elsewhere, more relationships are blossoming: at the house, Grant decides to overlook “Hurricane Chad” and pursue Lace anyway, Sarah sets her sights on Vinny—who was “with” Izzy after last week’s episode—and Evan cuddles up with Carly on the beach, where she confesses to the camera that she’s “a little interested.” However, they share a quick kiss at the end of the night that swiftly spoils that sentiment and Carly finds herself instantly doubting her feelings for Evan—but she definitely still wants his rose.

Leading up to the first rose ceremony, things become increasingly tense and seven anxious bachelorettes eagerly seek reassurance; Jubilee tries to make her case to Jared for his rose, Vinny kisses BOTH Sarah and Izzy—making it even more unclear who he’s giving his rose to—and Leah makes a last-ditch effort to win back Nick – which he flat out denies.

Chris Harrison greets the cast in the pavilion and lines them up for the rose ceremony; with seven roses and nine remaining bachelorettes, two women face elimination.

Grant, expectedly, gives his rose to Lace; Nick—to Leah’s discontent—gives his rose to Amanda; Evan gives his to Carly; Jared gives his rose to Emily – which is then extended to her twin sister, Haley; Vinny gives his rose to Izzy; and Daniel give his rose—the final rose—to Sarah, rendering two bachelorettes—Jubilee and Leah—roseless. The women two say their goodbyes and are chauffeured off in tears.

The next morning, everyone is still coupled up from the rose ceremony when fresh-faced bachelor heartthrob, Josh Murray, an investment advisor from Syracuse, NY—arrives in Paradise and quickly brings an end to that.

Josh is immediately recognizable, being that he won “Bachelorette” Andi Dorman’s heart in season 10, when he went head-to-head with Nick in the season finale, where he won and then proposed. The couple broke off their engagement just eight months later and Andi described their relationship in her bestselling memoir It’s Not Okay as unhealthy and borderline abusive; meanwhile, Josh calls the book a “fictional novel” and decided to partake in season three of “Bachelor In Paradise” to forget the rumors and finally “find [his] wife.”

Josh arrives with a date card and wastes no time acquainting himself with the bachelorettes, but is fixated on one in particular: Amanda – which is especially controversial, since Josh and Nick already have a history of dating the same girl; after several minutes of small talk, Josh asks Amanda to accompany him on his date and she accepts.

Amanda and Josh hop aboard a small yacht and cozy up side-by-side for a romantic cruise through the Pacific Ocean and judging by their chemistry, it seemingly went very well. Josh even opens up about his split with Andi – clearing the air and gaining Amanda’s trust. The two spend the remainder of their date scuba diving and splashing around.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Evan receives a date card and asks Carly—who he’s completely smitten for—to accompany him; she VERY hesitantly accepts and sums up her feelings when she tells the camera, “I’ve never wanted to not go on a date more in my life.”

Evan and Carly arrive at their date destination and are surprised to see not only Chris Harrison—but an audience of approximately 1,000 people—all prepared to cheer them on as they undertake their task for the evening: attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records record for the “hottest kiss” – which entails them each to eat one habanero—the world’s hottest pepper—and then share a kiss for longer than the current world record: one minute and 30 seconds. The kiss looks horrible, but amidst the pain, they actually manage to break the record – clocking in with a record-breaking one minute and 41 second kiss. Evan loved it – but Carly, not so much; she throws up afterwards and inevitably concludes: she needs to break things off with Evan.

Night one of week two ended upon a confrontation between Nick and Josh regarding Amanda and a spark between Emily and Jared, as they finally share their first kiss – all to be resumed in Tuesday night’s episode: “Week Two, Night Two.”

Week two, night two of “Bachelor In Paradise” offered new relationships, even more complicated love triangles and two new bachelors Christian Bishop, an account director from Los Angeles, and Brandon Andreen, a painting contractor from Costa Mesa arrive.

Christian shows up first and like all newcomers, arrives to Paradise with a date card in hand. Without hesitation, he pulls Sarah aside; the two chat for a bit and within moments he invites Sarah to accompany him on his date – impressed by Christian’s confidence, she accepts. The two spend the day zip lining, mountain climbing, romping about waterfalls and they really like each other! They return to the house and reminisce on their date with the group—all in front of Daniel—Sarah’s other love interest, who gave her his rose at last week’s ceremony.

Elsewhere, Carly addresses a lingering issue head-on: Evan. She pulls him aside and the two walk down to the beach for a private conversation, where she finally bites the bullet and tells him flat-out, “I want to be your friend – I’m not romantically interested in dating you.” Evan responds with a simple, “I think I’m going to go upstairs” and retreats to his bedroom, where he lets out a good cry and gives himself a much needed pep-talk, ultimately deciding—in all confidence—that he’s going to pursue Amanda: a truly peculiar choice since Amanda and Josh have been joined at the lips since their date.

Later in the day, Brandon makes his first appearance in Paradise and catches the eyes of several bachelorettes, like Carly and Haley; Carly takes a particular liking to Brandon, so she’s especially upset when he chooses Haley. The two head out on their date and arrive to dinner; it’s all going well, until Haley decides her and her identical twin sister, Emily, are going to do a “switcheroo.” She tells the camera, “if he pays close enough attention to me and is really focused on getting to know me, he’ll probably see the differences once we switch. The issue is, Brandon has literally no idea – he proceeds to profess his fondness for Emily—who he thinks is Haley—and boasts to the cameras about their chemistry.

Later in the night, Daniel tries to one up Christian – he prepares a beachside picnic for him and Sarah, equipped with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. He wows her with his surprising depth and as Sarah puts it, “peels back some layers”—making Daniel fascinatingly complicated—and she’s weirdly into it.

Evan makes a similar move –likely, with a very different outcome; he writes his own make-shift date card and prepares a treehouse dinner for him and Amanda. The date card reads “you deserve love” and Evan proclaims his confidence to the cameras; he approaches and interrupts Josh and Amanda and that’s where the episode ends.

The chaos will continue next week when “Bachelor In Paradise” returns.