Welcome back to A Local Rose! We’re only three weeks in, but we’re already having the best time following UNC Grad + Carrboro resident Xavier Bonner as he competes for The Bachelorette’s heart. Whether you’re a seasoned Bachelorette fan or you’re simply tuning in to cheer on Xavier, I’m glad you’re here.
The best news of this week is that Charity has narrowed down the field to a group of men whose names I can finally remember. She visits the house, and dramatically lets the guys know she can’t do this anymore… in Los Angeles. The men absolutely freak out over leaving Los Angeles and going on the long journey to Oceanside, California. Guys, I googled it, and this is a 90-minute relocation, so they are losing their minds over traveling slightly farther than the drive from Chapel Hill to Winston Salem.
Brayden gets a one-on-one date that begins in a helicopter, and I’m hoping it ends with him jumping out and skydiving back to his house so Brayden can be Bray-done. If he leaves this week, whoever emerges as the new villain has some big, corny shoes to fill. Their date has a lot of tension, because Brayden hasn’t seemed to figure out that he’s not the center of this particular universe. It’s hard to watch Charity have a gorgeous roster of funny, smart, successful men, and have to convince a 24-year-old having a tantrum to stay in the game.
As we watch the rest of the guys travel to the new house we get a shot of Xavier knitting. I’m very curious how he ended up on this show, and on reality TV in general. As a connoisseur of all things reality TV, I’m slightly concerned he’s too nice for all of this. To the Reality TV Gods, otherwise known as producers: please be kind to Xavier! I think he’s a good one!
We’re heading to a group date with everyone but Warwick and one of the few success stories of the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise, Jojo and Jordan Rogers, are here to host a Barbie-themed date! The guys will each write a song for Charity and perform them for a crowd while dressed as various Ken dolls. Except for the fact that we don’t get to see Xavier’s Ken performance, this is the perfect Bachelorette event – the guys look ridiculous, there’s an all-girl band dressed in pink, and Charity is an absolute Barbie vision in her hot pink suit set. Nothing serious in sight. Perfection.
This is the second week in a row that Cowboy Caleb has given his all on the group date and come up short. It looked like he was going to take the win, but Sean’s bad singing and good kissing gets him some one-on-one time with Charity at the end of this group date. Between finally kissing Charity, getting some one-on-one time with her, and making a heavy handful of enemies, it would seem Sean is on deck as our next villain.
By this point the front-runners of this season are becoming very clear. Charity is taking the time to be engaged with each of these men as much as possible, but as a viewer, I can sense who she genuinely feels romantically connected to. One of these connections is Dotun, who gets the group date rose after a very sweet and vulnerable conversation in Charity’s room.
There’s not much to say about Warwick’s one-on-one date except that I predicted this from the moment he was left off the group date card. For those of you who are new to The Bachelorette and are just watching for our friend Xavier, sometimes one-on-one dates are used to expose a contestant’s shortcomings, and that’s exactly what took place here. Charity needed to see if Warwick would rise to the occasion of a one-on-one date, and he clearly couldn’t. While I’ve seen that happen before, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone fall asleep in the limo. I know these two-hour episodes are a lot, but falling asleep before you get to the airport is wild.
I can’t bring myself to type another paragraph about Brayden vs. Aaron B. vs the rest of the house. I don’t want to write it, you don’t want to read it. Producers are riding the Brayden train off a cliff and we’re all held hostage on the tracks.
Aaron B., Cowboy Caleb, Xavier, Joey, Michael, John, Sean, and Tanner get roses before Charity walks out of the rose ceremony. She returns, dramatic music behind her, just for Jesse to come in and excuse Adrian, James, and Aaron S. Brayden’s rose stays on his chest for one more week, but that quiet ticking you hear is Charity’s patience for his nonsense running out.
Contestant Power Rankings
5. John crept into the power rankings this week because he was such a good sport about pulling the shortest straw on the group date and getting stuck as Naked Ken.
4. Cowboy Caleb was a dodgeball assassin last week, and karaoke Ken this week, and still didn’t get a one-on-one. But he did get a rose, so clearly his muscles and his cowboy hat are having the same effect on Charity that they are on me.
3. Joey. Listen, as long as Joey is on this show and keeps making deep eye contact with Charity every time he’s near her, I’m putting him in the top five. The bar is on the ground, and eye contact gets you in the top 5. That’s where we are.
2. Dotun sharing how much he respects Charity and that he wants to learn from her was a pretty special moment, and seeing him fight for her was a nice change of pace from “I’m not even sure I even want to be here” Brayden.
1. Xavier not only clearly and calmly expressed his emotions to Aaron B. in the middle of all the cocktail party chaos, but he knit Charity a blanket. I REPEAT – XAVIER KNIT CHARITY A BLANKET. Welcome back to the number one spot for the third week in a row my friend.
X Marks the Spot
Speaking of Xavier, “X Marks the Spot” is a fun one this week! For a baseball park date, I can think of nothing more lovely than dinner on home plate at Boshamer Stadium. It’s such a special place to play baseball, and a private dinner tucked into the pines of Carolina’s campus sounds pretty sweet and romantic.
If you’re looking for a Barbie-themed date, look no further than shopping at Rumors or Community Worx for all your Ken-outfit needs, and heading to Lumina theater to see the Barbie movie! Chapel Hill & Carrboro have such great second hand shopping options, and I’ve never been in Rumors when there wasn’t something sequined or hot pink. (Putting on a ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ performance on the Southern Village Green is completely optional.)
If it’s the right time of year, and you can stay awake long enough to go on an amusement park date, the North Carolina State Fair is always a fun experience. Great food, fun rides, music, and games give you plenty to do while getting to know a new person. The NC State Fair is from October 12 through October 22, so download your dating apps and find some caffeine because I want to hear all the ‘first date at the fair’ stories in a few months.
I’ll meet you back here next week for another recap of The Bachelorette. Fingers crossed we get to see more of Xavier!
Ali Evans is a three-decade Chapel Hill resident currently living in Mebane with her husband Brian, dogs Cameron & Macaroni, and cats Brooke & Dexter. Ali is a Marketing professional in Durham, and a reluctant reality TV expert. She currently serves as President of Leadership Chapel Hill-Carrboro through The Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill Carrboro. Ali loves all things local – food, drinks, people and places and is a really big fan of trains. You can find Ali on twitter @helloalievans, or get in touch via email – helloalievans@gmail.com.
