Yes, the group date consisted of Carolina storming off, the women trying to address her, Carolina going back to steal Grant and them somehow having the most perfect conservation.
But wait. Before I even begin on this, unfortunately, boring episode of Week 5, how on earth is it Hometown Week next week? So, as one does, I did some digging. According to a “Bachelordata” Instagram post, this is the first time since 2010, in Season 14, that the franchise has shortened the “Bachelor” season. Between that and pausing “The Bachelorette” in 2025, things are looking strange for the franchise.
Okay, getting back into this week’s episode. Truly nothing exciting happened, since the drama is really too predictable at this point, except for the rose ceremony. I have no words. Let’s get right into it.
Juliana’s one-on-one date
The women and Grant travel to Scotland this week, and — after we get our montage of Grant walking — Jesse, who is for some reason holding two umbrellas as he speaks, lets the women know that because Hometown Week is next week, Grant will not be handing out any roses during the dates. Then, ever-so casually, he drops a date card on the table for the women and wishes them well — thank you and see you at the rose ceremony to announce there is one rose left, Jesse.
Finally, my queen, Juliana is getting her well-deserved one-on-one date. Clearly the funds for this season went only to helicopters, because this date started off with a helicopter ride to a Scottish castle. Once there, Juliana got all the royal treatment. She tried on beautiful dresses and had a full-on “Bridgerton”-type date as she danced down the red carpet into Grant’s arms — how romantic. I’m not going to lie; I feel like Grant said maybe three sentences during this whole portion of the date.
After Grant — aka the producers — gifted Juliana a necklace, the two opened up about their childhoods and how it shaped them growing up. Juliana ended the date by saying how she was falling in love with him. Woah. The first of the season. I feel like that was kind of surprising since she honestly has not had that much solo time alone with him — but I know Grant loved hearing that because he added that he can see a future with her. The two of course had to seal the date by kissing beneath a firework show.
Group date
After Litia found out she was going to get the next one-on-one date — leaving Zoe to be the only one who never got a one-on-one date — the smallest group date of the season included Zoe, Sarafiena, Alexe, Dina and Carolina — you can only imagine the drama that occurred.
This group date should’ve been called the “Carolina Show” because that’s exactly what it was. This date was honestly so boring, so I mostly zoned out as the women and Grant played games dressed in traditional Scottish clothing. And I am convinced the whole next sequence of events was producer-driven because, without what happened next, this episode would have been so boring.
I tuned back in when I saw Carolina walk away from the group date and go sit on a bench because she “didn’t have enough attention.” It seemed a little too scripted to me.
Of course Grant had to go check on her and she said this was because of how hard the journey was for her and that he would only know her because of the drama — well, Carolina I hate to be the one to break it, you’re right! I thought she was about to leave, but somehow it turned into Grant giving a speech about trust and the importance of moving forward. So, I guess she’s staying?
Someone let me know: are these past three weeks of the evening portion of the group date entirely the same? It starts off well, then the women try to address Carolina, she storms off and steals Grant, yet somehow, they have the most perfect conversation. That was entirely what happened.
To go in a bit more of detail, Dina — who was sticking up for Carolina last week — went after her saying she was being selfish and not even considering the other woman’s feelings. As Carolina storms off, Dina follows her and asks her if she is going to steal Grant — well, yeah Dina she is. This isn’t anything new. Dina lost a few points by saying, “Anyone else would’ve cut their time short for other women.” Well, unfortunately, we all know that’s not true at all. Anyways Carolina walked up the stairs singing, “I guess I’m crazy and evil,” and stole Grant — of course, having a seemingly perfect conversation.
Well that was pretty much the whole group date. We didn’t see any other conversations with Grant, and it is getting pretty old at this point. Isn’t the whole point of this show to see how these connections are formed? It’s hard to do that when we never see these conversations happening, and then we all wonder how Juliana is falling in love with him…
Litia’s one-on-one date
Another fan-favorite, Litia, got the second one-on-one date for this week. We didn’t see much of their day portion of the date — it was pretty short probably, because the date budget was secured for another helicopter ride in the coming weeks.
During the evening portion of the date, the two opened up a lot about each of their childhoods and goals for the future. Litia starts off by sharing, “We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter-day Saints — which are also known as Mormons or LDS. It completely shapes the kind of family I want to be a part of.” She adds on that, with Hometown Week next week, she has never brought anyone home who wasn’t a member of that Church.
Grant seems to be a little nervous, but responded by sharing his religious beliefs, and telling Litia he wants to figure out the logistics of raising their family. He then gets emotional talking about how he used to eat dinner alone as a child, and doesn’t want that for his kids’ future. Grant ends the conversation by saying — something he says often to these women — how he sees a future with her.
Rose ceremony
Wow, truly an uneventful episode. The drama is getting old, repetitive and predictable. But we finally made it to the rose ceremony.
Well, not quite. Of course, Carolina — I know this wasn’t her idea — had to draw more attention by pulling Dina to have a conversation. The two shared that they don’t want to fight, and they both wished each other well. Hallelujah! The three-week long drama seems to be coming to a close.
Back at the rose ceremony, Grant handed out roses too: Dina, Juliana, Litia and — for the shocking final rose — Zoe, despite her never having a one-on-one date. I honestly have actually no words for this choice simply because I don’t understand how you can go to their home without never having one-on-one time.
This left Sarafiena, Carolina and — my personal favorite — Alexe to be sent home. I truly thought Alexe was, at least, in the top four. She better be on the beaches of Mexico this summer… and Carolina better not follow her.
I think Grant will end up having to make a tough choice between Juliana and Litia — mostly because he said he sees a future with both of them and I truly don’t think he has as strong of a connection with Dina and Zoe. I truly think this has got to go down in “Bachelor” history as a final four group where viewers truly don’t know much about them.
Well, with that, hopefully we learn a lot more about these women as they bring Grant to their homes next week. And we can only hope next week will be a little bit more entertaining!
This story was written by Sophie Goldstein. She can be reached at sophie.goldstein@marquette.edu.
