'Bachelorette': Rachel gets advice from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, DeMario leaves
Welcome back, you lovers of love. It’s Bachelorette Monday and the gang’s all here — Chris Harrison, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and DeMario’s ex-girlfriend... wait, what? Let’s chat.
Husband Material
The first group date with Iggy, Lucas, Fred, Kenny, Jonathan, Blake, Dean and Jack Stone kicks things off with a barbecue and a game of football, and is joined by Bachelor superfans, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. They’re there to host the "husband material" challenge, which is all about helping your wife build a home. Ashton makes the assertion that Rachel’s husband is not in this group, and we can’t disagree. Maybe Kenny, but no one else. The details don’t matter though, because WHABOOM Lucas locks in the win by stiff arming a competitor and then slamming his baby into the ground.
But the best moments of the night come down to Kenny and Dean, and it’s Dean who takes the group date rose.
Doggy Dad-care
The date card comes for the one-on-one, and it’s for our gap-toothed prince Peter! But Rachel quickly announces that today’s date is actually a two-on-one. They’re joined by Copper (!!), Rachel’s incredible dog who is currently wearing a cast. Peter and Rachel (and Copper) fly to Palm Springs to take Copper on a play date.
They head into the second part of the date, and bond over their teeth. Peter jumps the gun and says that if they ever have kids, they’re going to be screwed. The chemistry is palpable, and it’s too good. After some discussion about relationships gone awry, Peter lands the one-on-one rose and a couple good kisses.
Get Out, Right Now
The next group date takes Will, Jayme, Diggy, Alex, Adam, Lee, Matt, Eric, Josiah and DeMario on a basketball date. The team is joined by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Rachel turns to him for relationship advice when DeMario ends up dunking on her... like, what does it mean?! But Kareem is here for ball, not drama, so he sends the guys off to get ready for a five-on-five game. The whole thing is interrupted when DeMario’s alleged ex comes to call him out, but DeMario insists it was simply a fling, and she’s BONKERS. DeMario can’t keep his ducks in a row though, so Rachel pulls out the stops and says, “I’m going to need you to get the [expletive] out.” And with that, DeMario is GONE.
Later that night, Rachel takes the group out and says that all the guys saved the night (even Alex and his strange Russian love song), but the group rose goes to Josiah.
But as the night comes to an end and Bryan is busy giving our girl a massage, guess who shows up for one final plea? You betcha: DeMario. And everyone decides he needs to leave, for good.
The drama lingers, but with no rose ceremony and only one (possible) elimination, let’s evaluate this week’s Sweet, Sour, Sassy, and Classy winners:
Sweet
The guy who made the “I’m ready to go black” joke, Dean, is stepping up as this season’s sweetheart. In a shy moment alone, he’s shocked to see how much Rachel is into him, and when he lands the group date rose, you can see his nervousness about getting a kiss. Dean might be one worth watching.
Sour
Blake insists this is not Lucas’ first attempt to make it on television, which makes you wonder... is it Blake’s? He takes it directly to Rachel and tells her that he used to live with Lucas’ ex-girlfriend and he’s only here for TV. He follows that up by saying he didn’t want their alone time to be about Lucas, but... he did. So, great job, bud.
Sassy
Nothing says 90s sass like a scrunchy and a nude short-sleeve turtleneck, am I right? So when DeMario’s ex shows up with a ton of digital receipts to show Rachel, she’s unmatched. Lexi drops some truth bombs about how DeMario was dating her DAYS before he appeared on After the Final Rose, so when DeMario appears to meet her, she says, “Karma’s a [expletive], isn’t it DeMario?”
Classy
In an episode of Bachelorette firsts, Peter and Rachel’s candor about therapy and mental health is a refreshing twist on a series that often glosses over the details of life’s difficulties.
