Quick Take: The Bachelorette (Ashley Hebert), "Week 5"
Ashley continues her journey in Thailand, as Bentley heads back into the picture?
Review: The Bachelorette (Ashley Hebert), "Week 5"
(S0705) The trek through Thailand continues this week as Ashley and the boys head to Chang Mai. The guys explore their new digs -- a spacious villa -- and Chris Harrison tells them there will be a group date, a one-on-one date and a dreaded two-on-one date.
The first date card tells us that Ben F. is the lucky winner of a solo date with Ashley and soon after the two take off to explore the streets of Chang Mai. They spend the day eating food, checking out the local art, and Ashley believes that they have the spark. Too bad when they want to kiss they are outside a temple that is too sacred to kiss in front of. They spend the evening at a romantic dinner outside and Ben opens up about his father’s death. He tells Ashley he wants to focus on a relationship and she loves their conversation enough to give him a rose.
The group date is next with Constantine, Ames, Nick, Blake, Lucas, Ryan, JP, and Mickey going with Ashley to compete in Muay Thai boxing, which seems to be a nice excuse to have an extended segment that shows off the guys without their shirts on. Ashley presents some gear for the men and reveals that they will be fighting each other in front of a public audience.
Blake and Lucas fight first with Blake winning. The next fight is between Mickey and JP. After Mickey gets in some early shots, JP comes back and takes Mickey down. Ryan and Ames are up next, with Ryan throwing some brutal punches. Ames seems out of his element and Lucas puts it best when he says that “Ames has been at Harvard and Yale while the rest of us have been idiots fighting in the streets.” While Constantine and Nick fight, Ames is not looking too good and Ashley gets him help. A person from the crew shows up and puts Ames in an ambulance.
The date continues onto a cocktail party, where the main concern is still about Ames' condition (who has not been seen since the afternoon). He finally shows up and everyone is glad that he is okay. Ashley dotes on him and is impressed that he still came to the party even though he has a mild concussion. Ashley chats with Lucas and he calls her out on her "type" being someone like Bentley. Man, I am tired of hearing this name. There are eleven great men she has to choose from and this name still comes around. Ashley assures Lucas that she is willing to explore her options.
After the chats with all the men, Blake ends up with the date rose (I would have given it to Ames for coming to a party with a concussion!). The "dreaded" two-on-one date is up next with Ben C. and William. Two men, one rose. One stays, one goes. The threesome go on a river rafting ride which includes an encounter with some elephants. I found this date to be the worst out of all of them because no one wants to be the third wheel. It is also awkward because William is kind of a douche. He calls Ben C. out to Ashley, telling her that Ben C. is more into dating sites and has talked to the guys about being ready to go home. After their talk Ashley ends the two-on-one date right away and tells Ben she wants him gone. Apparently she believed William and confronts Ben about it. Ben defends himself and it is obvious that he knows that William is the one that threw him under the bus. Ben is upset about what is been said about him, but Ashley makes her choice and he is sent home. Ben leaves and doesn’t really understand what had happened.
William and Ashley continue the date and go to dinner. This is the first time they have had alone time since William acted like a jerk at the comedy club. He had been laying low ever since and for the right reason. William believes that he is going to be given a rose, but Ashley has not made up her mind. They chat a little more, but it is not enough for Ashley to keep him around. Ashley doesn’t think she has the feelings she did on their first date and she has realized that she wants a man. I fully support her decision because it seems that William is not mature enough and his move against Ben C. didn’t seem right.
The cocktail party is up next and Ashley seems a little hesitant about things. She makes a speech that she just wants people to be honest with her about their feelings and wants the men to be true to themselves. Ryan P. tells her that he wants to spend time with her and she assures him that even though they haven’t had a one-on-one date that they are in a good place. Constantine tries to persuade Ashley that he desires a rose and wants to spend time with her.
Ashley is still unsure about everything, and wouldn't you know it, it's due to the fact that she still needs closure from the Bentley situation. She admits she is still thinking about him and knows that she is wasting time with the men that are there for her by dwelling on Bentley. Ashley sits down with Chris and tells him that in order to move forward with the men she needs to put Bentley in the past. Chris tells her that she is being unfair to the guys and that it won’t be a happy ending if she keeps going the way that she is. She wants to figure out a way to end things with Bentley and Chris tells her that he will try to make it happen.
In the end, Nick is the one to go home with Ben F., Constantine, JP, Ryan P., Mickey, Blake, Lucas, and Ames ending up with roses. I was a little disappointed that they teased the Bentley saga and it won’t even happen until the next episode. Most likely everybody that watches this show is over this issue and wants it to end.
Next week the group travels to Hong Kong and Ashley will finally(!) get to confront Bentley.
William really nose-dived in a hurry. I have an inkling that Ashley took him and Ben C. on the two-on-one with the idea that she'd have the opportunity to knock them both out. Therefore it makes a little more sense that she would dump Ben simply based on William essentially telling her a rumor about him?