After weeks of sifting, Season 20’s Bachelor, Ben Higgins, has narrowed down the playing field to two women: Lauren and JoJo. Since we have to wait until next week to find out who wins Ben’s heart (oh, the suspense!), this week we are stuck in a room with the rejects for two hours.
Season after season, the “Women Tell All” episode is more or less a glorified clip show (it probably deserves a format revamp). But amid the mundanity, there were several moments worth talking about.
1. Sheila The Chicken Acts Out
Undeniably, one of the best parts of each “Bachelor” season happens before the first episode, when the contestants are revealed — along with their always surprising, very rarely legitimate occupations. At the beginning of this episode, it was clear that most of the ladies were right where we left them: the twins are still Twins, Rachel is still Unemployed, and Tiara is still a Chicken Enthusiast.
Sheila, Tiara’s chicken, made a return trip to ABC this week. At one point during the episode, she jumped out of Tiara’s arms, into Lace’s lap and onto the ground — anarchy! Although, sadly, Tiara (allegedly her real name) was booted early on, this week piled onto the theory that she is infinitely less interesting than her pet.
2. The Real Black Girl
Though she gained quite a few fans at home, Jubilee was not a favorite among the girls in the house.
In the spirit of “telling all,” Jami and Amber brought up some things that Jubilee said that didn’t make the show’s original cut. They accused Jubilee of calling herself “the real black girl,” and saying things like “you’re not black enough” to Jami and Amber, who are not white.
After denying the comments at first, Jubilee admitted that she said something like “I’m the full black girl in the house.” She apologized to Jami and Amber, but for a show that has obvious race issues (in the entire franchise there has never been a black Bachelor), this little tiff barely scratched the surface of a larger conversation that needs to be had.
3. Lace and Ink
Lace was pegged pretty early on as this season’s prerequisite Crazy Girl. This week, a man called out from the studio audience that he did think that Lace was crazy — crazy beautiful. He proceeded to rip off his shirt, revealing a tattoo of Lace’s face on his side. Chris Harrison pulled the man out of the audience to pose for the picture with Lace. Who’s crazy now? (Everyone.)
4. Olivia Cracks
After sticking to her script for the first part of the episode, Olivia broke down (or at least switched to a different script) when she came under fire from several of the girls. She brought up that she was “severely bullied as a child.” Recently, she apparently handed over her social media accounts to her sister to escape the haters. “The mouth stuff is funny,” she admitted, but quickly qualified: “Some of it…”
If Olivia was hoping for complete redemption, this appearance probably didn’t do the trick. She didn’t come across as whole lot different than she was on the show. But at least she got to apologize, which warrants (at least a little) sympathy. Plus points for self-awareness.
5. Shushanna Speaks
If you remember anything about Shushana from the show, it’s probably that she got a one-dimensional Foreign Girl edit, and barely got to speak any English.
During the reunion she really made up for lost time by mediating not one, but two squabbles. First, she jumped in to sort out the differences between Jubilee and Team Jami/Amber (Jamber?). Then, she cleared things up between Olivia and her accusers. Go Shushanna! We hardly knew ye, but good on you for making up for lost time.
6. Becca Slips Up
In a blooper, repeat contestant Becca forgot which season she was on. While talking to another girl, she accidentally said “Chris” (last season’s “Bachelor”) instead of “Ben.” They’re pretty much interchangeable, right?
7. Ben Wants To Marry…
Someone! And the sooner the better. He outright said at the end of the episode that he would marry the person he chose tomorrow if he could. All’s well that ends well?
“The Bachelor” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Who do you think Ben will end up with? Which contestant came out looking the best in the “Women Tell All” episode? Weigh in below!