Chris Harrison blogs 'Bachelor in Paradise' episode 2
- TV Show
These days saying something is “inexplicable” is like saying something is great. The word is not only overused, it’s misused. If you want a good example of when to properly use the word “inexplicable” just watch the beginning of this week’s show. What Michelle K. did was more than a bit unusual. But what our crew member did was truly 100 percent inexplicable. The number of things Mr. Putz could have done before deciding the best option was to jump off a 25-foot balcony in the dark onto wet concrete is incalculable.
The fact that the option of jumping off a 25-foot balcony to escape detection is inexplicable in and of itself. We had a pretty clear idea about Michelle’s special relationship with our audio guy after she left the show and started making odd comments to us. At that point we figured “she’s already off the show let’s just let this go and move on.” A no harm, no foul situation. I wasn’t all that pleased she decided to take up a spot that first week, but the damage was done.
But then Michelle and Mr. Putz decided to take it to a level of crazy the likes of which I’ve never experienced on this show. I don’t say that lightly cause I’ve seen a boatload of crazy over the years, but this insane scenario easily takes the cake. I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or lock them both up. Obviously once Mr. Putz made the fateful, inexplicable decision to jump off the balcony and crushed both his heels, ending up in a Mexican hospital, we could no longer just let it go. The two of them made such a mess out of the situation that we had no choice but to include it in the show and tell the story exactly how it happened. We went out of our way to get everybody’s angle on this story. The only person that didn’t open up completely on camera was Michelle, but she more than confirmed it all to producers off camera.
My favorite retelling of the story came from our handler, Lauren, who actually knocked on the door that night and saw and heard the whole thing. The fact that she couldn’t keep a straight face telling this tale tells it all. I felt like I was back in my old local news reporting days covering this ridiculous story. We didn’t include it because it would have been redundant, but I did go to the villa and tell the entire cast what happened to Michelle K and our crew member. You should have seen their faces when I told them. Most thought I was joking and didn’t believe me. The interesting thing about telling the cast was Ben’s reaction. As I was talking about someone being there for the wrong reasons he was squirming like crazy. He couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable. At the time I didn’t know what to think of his reaction, but later it all made sense.
Later in the week, Marcus found a letter on top of Ben’s luggage. He read the letter and found out it was a love letter from his girlfriend back home. Let me take a break in the action and ask: Who the hell brings a love letter from their girlfriend to Bachelor In Paradise when you’re trying to get away with being there for the “right” reasons? Now if what Ben says is true and he forgot he had it, then destroy the evidence and move on with your sad silly caper of hanging out in Mexico and toying with women’s emotions and using a bunch of people for selfish reasons. It’s sad when you can’t even do that much right.
I appreciated the way Marcus and Marquel confronted Ben and called him on his crap. I think the only thing that made what Ben attempted to pull off worse was how cavalier he was about the whole thing. He was so amazingly arrogant and defiant through it all that it really rubbed everybody the wrong way.
One of the other big stories this week was the battle for Lacy. Robert made a big play for her week one and seemed to be in the driver’s seat, but Marcus wasn’t going to just let her go. He stepped up in a bold move at the first rose ceremony and offered her his rose, and she accepted. He took it a step further this week by taking her on his date. The date went really well and things were incredibly awkward for Robert having to sit and just take it. I wonder what your opinion of Marcus is in how he stepped up and took a shot at Lacy and essentially stole her from Robert. Obviously she was more than willing, but do you think Marcus broke any unwritten “man code” by doing what he did? I personally do not. I think he was bold and courageous and went after what he wanted. I don’t think he was rude or disrespectful in doing so.
Earlier I talked about the misuse of the word inexplicable. I could see how some might say it’s inexplicable how poorly Elise handled her relationship with Dylan and really how poorly she handled everything this week. While I don’t think it was inexplicable, I will say she couldn’t have possibly misread the situation worse nor could she have handled the rose ceremony much worse. Dylan couldn’t have been more open and straightforward about his feelings for Elise after she decided to go “swimming” with Chris Bukowski. He wanted nothing to do with her. He flat out told her several times “do not give me a rose, I won’t take it.” There is nothing vague or confusing about that or anything else he said. Elise really thought that diving in the Bukowski fire pit was a good angle to play with Dylan. Turns out she was dead wrong.
Despite an insane amount of warnings, Elise decided to offer Dylan her rose. Surprisingly (that’s sarcasm) Dylan refused her rose. The only thing that could have possibly made that awkward moment worse was exactly what happened next. Elise quickly decided she would get the last word and show Dylan by making an insanely bizarre, confusing awkward speech about… well, who the hell knows what? Oh wait—there’s more. Elise finished off the speech by offering Chris her sloppy seconds rose, and he gladly accepted. It was a beautiful moment in paradise.
Next week, things get even crazier with Elise and Chris. What does that mean? Well, it’s something you’ll just have to see to believe. It’s truly the last thing you would ever expect.
Are we in paradise or some bizarre alternate universe? This is just the beginning of our time together and there is so much more to come. I’ll see you next week for more “inexplicable” decisions. Okay, that’s enough of that word! Join the conversation online using the hashtag #BachelorInParadise.
More Bachelor in Paradise from EW: