We are finally back in paradise with a (mostly) new cast of former Bachelor/ette hopefuls who are ready for a second chance at love, or at least, a summer fling. We get four hours of BIP each week: two on Sunday, one on Monday, and the one hour After Paradise show. I'm only going to focus on the main show because I didn't much care for After Paradise. Yes, there are some outtakes and snippets not shown on the main show, but it's not worth sitting through that extra hour IMHO. Also, I'm going to try to focus on the major happenings because there is so much show each week.
So we begin the show with an intro from a rather smarmy Chris Harrison. I think he seems smarmy because he is basically on vacation here and knows as much as we do that this show is ridiculous. We get a bunch of intro videos, then the arrivals begin with Jade (Chris's season). The rest arrive as follows: Jared (Kaitlyn's season - and rocking less facial hair, which is good), Tenley (Jake's Season/Bachelor Pad), Carly (Chris's season), Jonathan (Kaitlyn's season), Tanner (Kaitlyn's season), Mikey T. (Desiree's season), Ashley I. (Chris's season - with little sister opposite-of-virgin Lauren in tow), Juelia (Chris's season), Kirk (Ali's season), Dan (Desiree's season), Jillian (Chris's season - complete with nice breast enhancements and the ever-present black box), J.J. (Kaitlyn's season), and Ashley S (Chris's season).
Right away the two hot commodities seem to be Jared and Jade. But before too much can happen, Chris Harrison arrives to talk to the group and explain that they have to couple up each week in order to stay. If the guys get the date cards one week, then the girls will be giving out the roses that week. This will reverse each week and new people will arrive throughout the show. The sisters, Ashley I. and Lauren, will be considered as one person, so as long as one of them gets a rose, both will get to stay.
Then Harrison takes the group down the beach to a little area set up with benches and it turns out it is a wedding for Lacy and Marcus, who were the couple that got engaged at the end of Bachelor in Paradise Season 1. After the cast spends a little time with the newlyweds getting advice and encouragement, they return to the house. I must interject here that the digs this season are better than the previous season. The main room and the lodging areas look nicer and they have a really great pool and hot tub. And, of course, an always-open bar.
The first night begins with everyone drinking and hanging out on the beach. The first drama we see is Lauren crying and she can't even talk, so she and Ashley I. go off to talk and try to calm Lauren down. Lauren starts calling some of the cast old and that she doesn't like anyone there, and then she decides to just go to sleep. Ashely I. says in her ITM that this is kind of what she expected from Lauren on the first night. Then she tries to go talk to Jared, but when she likes a guy, she clams up, so she just does a lot of sitting near him and not talking, and we get Ashley I.'s first tears over her inability to talk to Jared. She finally succeeds by bringing up her love of princesses, specifically Princess Jasmine. Then Jared says he's going to walk on the beach and invites Jade along, sending Ashley I. into a tailspin of anger and tears.
The next morning we see everyone rehashing who is into whom. It looks like the pairs, at least for the moment, are Carly/Kirk, Ashley S./Dan, Jade/Jared, and Juelia/Jonathan. Then Jillian comes in with a date card and it is for Ashley I. Of course her choice is Jared, but she is too nervous to ask him, so she practices repeatedly on her sister before asking him. When she does, he says yes. Jade is a little bummed because she likes Jared. On the date, Jared and Ashley I. go riding around in a dune buggy then have a picnic on the beach. They seem to enjoy each other's company and talk about Jared's potentially still existent feelings for Kaitlyn. But Ashley I. is pleased by her time with Jared and feels confident that she will get his rose.
The next date card arrives and it is for Jade. She goes off to think about who to pick. She wants to choose Jared, but he has just returned from his date with Ashley I., so she picks Tanner. Ashley I. is mondo relieved. Jade and Tanner's date consists of a private dinner in a little grotto by a river. They seem to really be into each other and talk and laugh and are just beaming at each other. They have a sweet first kiss, which leads to a bit of a make-out, then they drop their clothes (surprisingly, they were not wearing swimsuits underneath) and have a swim in the river. Back at the beach, Ashley S. is being taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Dan is worried about her so he hops in with her.
So the couples are now Carly/Kirk, Jade/Tanner, Ashley I./Jared, Ashley S./Dan, and Juelia/Jonathan, and then we get a new arrival: Clare from Juan Pablo's season and Bachelor in Paradise Season 1. She also gets a date card, but all the guys she is interested in are paired up (Tanner, Kirk, and Jared), so in her struggle to pick someone, Mikey T. kind of invites himself so she decides to go on the date with him. Their date involves tantra yoga, which involves a lot of touching. They laugh their way through it and end up in the hot tub. Mikey T. is feeling it, but Clare is not, but no matter what she says, Mikey T. is not getting the message.
The last date card arrives via Tanner and it is for Ashley S. She is back from the hospital and feeling better and she picks Dan. They go for a nice dinner and a night on the town, dancing and such, and there is kissing. They kind of consider the one-on-one as a second date, saying their first date was at the hospital. Back at the beach, Tenley is worried because everyone seems to be coupled up. She likes Jared so when she spots him alone walking on the beach, she goes to talk chat with him. Ashley I. can't stand this and butts in as soon as she can stop crying and takes some shots for courage. She opens up to him, but he doesn't exactly give her the validation she's seeking.
So the pre-rose ceremony cocktail party gets underway and J.J.'s rose is really the only one up for grabs. Jillian is confident it is hers, but Tenley talks to J.J. and they seem to make at least a tiny connection, but really J.J. is just relishing the power giving out a rose gives him. We also see an interesting conversation between Jared and Clare where Clare expresses her interest in him and he says that if his name is called and she doesn't have a rose yet, he will give her his rose. Ashley I. sees them talking and is upset (though she would definitely be more upset if she'd overheard what he'd said). Then the rose ceremony begins and the results are as follows: Tanner to Jade, Kirk to Carly, Dan to Ashley S., Jonathan to Juelia, Mikey T. to Clare, Jared to Ashley I. (and Lauren gets to stay), and J.J. to Tenley, which means Jillian goes home.
That's the first week of paradise! A lot of Ashley I. drama, but other than that, not too much craziness yet. But BIP is all about the crazy, so we'll see what happens next week!
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