After last week’s hiatus and saying goodbye to Eric the week before, we’re ready to see Andi have some fun again. Andi and her 11 hopefuls head to Marseille for some European fun and there promises to be a lot more kissing (and catfighting) and falling in l-o-v-e.
As the guys settle into their hotel in one of the most romantic countries in the world, they receive their first date card: a solo date for Josh. Before embarking on her first date, Chris Harrison met up with Andi to chat about how she’s feeling and whether or not she’s falling in love. Her answer? Typical Andi, “STOP.” Though she wouldn’t say who, Andi did admit she’s falling for more than one guy (I mean, how could you not?).
Strolling down the streets of Marseille wrapped up in one another, you could see how hard Andi was crushing (loving?) on Josh. True to Bachelorette form, Andi had a surprise to him—and it wasn’t just the early date kiss on a boat. But, Andi wanted to make sure she wasn’t just getting into another player-athlete relationship and wanted to get to know the real Josh. Unfortunately, Josh reeallly likes sports and talked about them a lot, but it didn’t seem to phase Andi as the two alternated smooching and chatting while they sailed away. Once they arrived at the Calanques (these gorgeous oceanside rocks), they got the chance to chat a bit more about life.
Back at the hotel, the guys were haterading allllll over Andrew. Between the phone number thing and JJ telling Marquel about Andrew’s racist comments (oh, boy), Andrew was not in the good graces of the other guys. Marquel wanted to collect his thoughts before he tore Andrew a new one, but he was visibly pissed. A very emotional Marquel told cameras that he hates how no matter how you treat a person, sometimes you’re still just a “blacky” to someone like Andrew and we couldn’t agree more. From the viewer’s perspective, Marquel is the sweetest guy (and he bakes!), yet racial preconceptions are making certain jerks hate on non-jerks for no. freaking. reason.
Back on Andi and Josh’s romantic dinner date, we were told for the millionth time that Josh is an athlete. (Hey, did you know that Josh is an athlete? Yeah, man. He used to play professional baseball. Oh, no way! I hadn’t heard that.) Andi was worried that they’re chemistry was strictly physical and didn’t go past the smooching and was concerned that she was falling into her trap of falling for athletes (wait, Josh is an athlete?!) who end up cheating on her and having that athlete mentality. But, Josh wanted to nix those stereotypes of his athletic background (HOLD THE PHONE. JOSH IS AN ATHLETE?!) saying that he’s not like that and even though he’s an athlete (NEWS FLASH—sorry, I’ll stop now), he hasn’t been picked up in over five years because—guess what?!—girls think he’s just an athlete and can’t be trusted and hadn’t felt this way until he “came here.” (Awwww.) Well, Josh’s anti-athlete spiel worked on athlete-loving Andi because athlete Josh got his rose after all, which was followed up with a private concert and a bit of slow dancing.
The group date was next up with Marcus, Dylan, Farmer Chris, Cody, Marquel, JJ, Nick, Patrick and Andrew. Even though the whole racial comments were still on Marquel’s mind, Andi promised a fun day ahead—though I don’t think the guys were expecting miming, naturally to see how well the guys communicate without words (spoiler: not that well, though I don’t think we needed to watch this to guess that). Then Andi and her pantomiming friend dropped the bomb that the boys would be miming in front of a group in Marseille—but tensions were running high since France takes their miming very, very seriously. (Right before their performance, Cody gave us the line of the night: “I’ve got my mime on my money and my money on my mime.” Well played, Cody. Well played.) JJ was stepping up his mime game by pantomiming his and Andi’s first date to try and get some attention. Most of the guys were trying to have some fun with this, but Nick—one of Andi’s faves—was just not having it. The poor sourpuss was having a wee tantrum about being on a group date, which naturally irked Andi a bit. Later on the group date when the guys were out of their suspenders and berets, everyone sat down with Andi and some booze and once again fought for Andi’s attention and each other. JJ stole the first moment and took Andi over to the ferries wheel that overlooked Marseille in hopes to finally get to know her a bit better. JJ played his cards right and took advantage of the romantic ambience and also stole a kiss.
But what happens when you leave a group of guys alone in a room who all like the same girl? Well, the shit talking starts. When Cody suggested that some guys felt entitled and like they deserved better than a group date, Nick asked if he meant someone specific. Not one to shy away from the drama, Cody told him point blank that he thought he was one of them. At least Cody wasn’t alone in his finger pointing, as some of the other guys were quick to agree with Nick’s arrogance. Just then, Andi and JJ came back and sensed all of the tension. Andi pulled Farmer Chris aside to try and get the DL on the boy-drama, though he really didn’t seem to want to get involved and tried to be as diplomatic as possible while the boys were back to scratching each other’s eyes out in the other room. Afterwards, Cody sat down with Andi and immediately ratted out Nick for making fun of him for being “thankful” (I’m still fuzzy on this detail). And since Andi was already crushing hard on Nick, she decided to confront him about the drama since she was a bit concerned that the other boys were hating on one of her faves. Nick sat down with Andi and kinda pretended like nothing was wrong and he had fun miming (he looked about as happy to be miming as he would getting a colonoscopy), but Andi called him on his sourpuss attitude and she admitted she was a little confused with his behavior and she couldn’t help but wonder if she was being manipulated by him. And just then Nick whipped out a letter (though he said he’s not the secret admirer) and then Andi let it get sooooo complicated by kissing him (Girl, are you blind?!).
And the drama didn’t stop there. Not wanting his beef to get put on the back burner, Marquel pulled Dylan aside to get some advice on how to approach Andrew about his less-than-kosher comments. Revved up from the drama, Dylan gave Marquel the go-ahead and Marquel decided to pull Andrew aside to hear his side of the story. Meanwhile, Marcus had a moment alone with Andi and she immediately seemed to relax and even pulled a JP and gave Marcus a nice, long smooch. When Marquel addressed his issue with Andrew, he immediately got defensive (almost too defensive), but Marquel wanted to make sure he knew the implications of his alleged racial comments and called those allegations “bullshit.” Marquel pulled his confrontation off flawlessly and gave Andrew the benefit of the doubt. Andrew was next up to get some time with Andi and made sure to tell her about the most recent drama, but kinda sorta made it seem like Marquel was in the wrong by confronting him (I mean, sort of—he didn’t outright say it) but implied that he should maybe not be in this group setting and all the drama that comes with it. After all of the drama was said and done, Andi gave the rose to someone who really made her feel special, which was well-deserved for JJ who stayed above all that crap.
In case your math wasn’t quite right, Brian was guaranteed that last one-on-one date since he was the only bach left at the hotel. Walking hand-in-hand through Marseille, Andi was excited to see how Brian acted in a solo setting and wanted to have a romantic date with him. Having a little movie date, French style, complete with popcorn, candy, snuggles and smooching (though, sadly, no stretching yawn trick). After the ciné©ma, Andi suggested they go to the market, grab some groceries and go back to her apartment to do some cooking together—just like in the movie. Wanting to do “normal” things (newfound appreciation for Andi for wanting to balance out the extravagant dates), they strolled through the Marseille market and ate some weird crap (sea urchin—ew) while collecting their dinner accouterments (like frog legs—double ew). Brian was way out of his comfort zone—between the frog legs and having to cook—and Andi was definitely feeling the weird vibe Brian was putting out. Thinking cooking together would be super romantic like in the movie, Andi was very disappointed when Brian’s mood shifted and he became standoffish, proving that relationships are really never like the movies (duh). After their homemade meal was a bust, Andi and Brian went out for a bite to eat. Confused as to whether it’s going anywhere with Brian, he admitted to the cameras that he was way out of his comfort zone and felt guilty as to how he acted towards her and made a quick effort to turn the night around. Andi tried to play it cool, but called him out on his attitude earlier in the night, but seemed genuinely content when he put the moves on her once again and the two kissed by candlelight in Marseille, which is basically the most freaking romantic thing of life. Obviously Brian’s switcheroo paid off because he got the rose he was worried he’d lost after the frog leg fiasco and he made sure to make an active effort going forward—starting with some serious kissing.
After all of the date drama, it was finally time for the cocktail party, but Andi was feeling a little off with some of the guys. But before she gave the guys one last chance to make their move and mark on Andi, she sat down with Chris Harrison to talk about some of the drama and how she’s feeling about these last 11 guys. Andi told Chris very clearly that she didn’t want a cocktail party because she already knew who she wanted around and who she’s ready to send home—all three of them tonight. Very sure of her decision, Chris went to break the bad news to the guys—particularly the three who were about to be on the chopping block. Some of the guys didn’t take the news too well, hoping for one last shot to dazzle Andi (typical guys leaving it to the last minute), but you gotta appreciate a woman who knows what she wants. Seeming apologetic for having to let some of the guys go without a last chance to prove themselves, she didn’t want to drag it on longer if she’d already made up her mind. Sweetheart Marquel got sent home (a little bummed about that call), along with unmemorable Patrick (#sorrynotsorry) and Andrew. Whether or not his intentions were actually honourable (the jury’s still out on that one), Andi still wasn’t feeling it and kept Cody over the other three, much to his surprise and happiness.
While Marseille was a blast and super romantic, Andi and the eight remaining guys are heading to Venice next week (swoooooooon) for an extra dose of romance (but not without more drama), so stay tuned for our next recap!
Coming up roses: Josh, JJ, Brian, Marcus, Nick, Farmer Chris, Dylan, Cody
Kiss count: Josh, JJ, Nick, Marcus, Brian (x100) (Episode – 5, Season – 14)
Bachelors to watch: JJ, Josh, Brian, Marcus, Nick
