Tonight’s episode of The Bachelor kicks off with Chris Soules paying the girls a visit in the Bachelor mansion, he reveals that there will be two 1-on-1 dates and a group date – and they are heading to Santa Fe, New Mexico for them. The girls are thrilled, and they pack their bags for their trip, and head to New Mexico.
The 11 remaining Bachelorettes arrive in Santa Fe and check in to the hotel, Ashley I. plans to make her time in New Mexico with Chris count – after she revealed she was a virgin to him she feels like their relationship has suffered. The first date card arrives and Jade reads it aloud. “Carly, let’s come together. – Chris” Carly is ecstatic for her first 1-on-1 date with The Bachelor, the other girls – not so much.
Chris and Carly meet up for their first date, they head to a resort where they find a woman meditating in the back yard. She invites them to sit down with her, the woman explains that she is a “Love Doctor” and she is going to help them find each other’s “secrets of intimacy.” Chris and Carly put on robes, and the love guru lights up some sage and instructs them to “feel their bodies.” She makes them sit back to back and meditate together and breathe together. Chris tries to be optimistic, but he thinks the process is a little strange. The love guru instructs Carly to blindfold Chris, and “play with his body.” Next she orders Carly to bend over in front of Chris – and tells him to feel her thighs, Chris and Carly are getting obviously uncomfortable.
As if their first date couldn’t get any more awkward, the love guru instructs Chris to start “disrobing” Carly. Once they get each other’s shirts off, Carly tells Chris that she feels “really uncomfortable,” and Chris agrees – so they decide to leave their pants on. They get dressed, and the love guru tells Carly to sit on Chris’s lap so they can explore each other’s bodies with their hands – she makes them breathe in to each other’s mouths without actually kissing. Afterwards, Chris admits that their date was insane, however he feels much closer to Carly than he ever did before.
Back at the hotel, Kelsey opens up to the other girls and explains that she is a widow – her husband passed away unexpectedly, and his heart stopped beating while he was walking to work. Ashley I. is baffled by how nonchalant Kelsey is about her husband’s death.
Jade, Meghan, Kaitlyn Whitney, Mackenzie, Becca, Samantha, Ashley, and Kelsey all receive a date card and learn that they are going on a group date. Kelsey is annoyed because she desperately wanted a 1-on-1 date with Chris Soules, and once again she is stuck sharing him with an entire group of other girls.
After their bizarre date with the love guru, Carly and Chris sit down together for drinks and discuss their experience. Carly confesses that she has a fear of intimacy – and her ex-boyfriend never made her feel comfortable about her body. She thanks Chris for making her feel comfortable, and admits that their date with the love guru was really hard for her. When their date is officially over, Chris presents Carly with a date rose.
The next day, the women meet up with Chris for their group date – he reveals that they are going white water rafting down the Rio Grande River. The guide arrives and instructs the girls on safety rules on the rafts and then they head down the river. When they hit some waves, Jade is thrown from her boat. The instructor get her back in, and they head to the shore – but Jade reveals that she has poor circulation and the water was so cold that she can’t feel her hands or feet. Chris feels guilty and proceeds to give Jade a foot rub, and of course all of the other girls become jealous.
After rafting, the girls and Chris get changed and meet up for drinks. They are all determined to score some 1-on-1 time with Chris Soules, but they have a shock in store for them. Chris is headed to meet them, and runs in to Jordan in the lobby. She was eliminated in Episode 2, but she drove seven hours to see him because she really wanted a second chance with him. She explains that she was nervous, and drank a lot of wine, to calm her nerves. Chris is shocked, he is touched by how genuine she is being and sits down to talk to her.
Chris decides to invite Jordan to attend their cocktail party, and the other girls are not happy. They all take Chris aside one by one and rant to him about giving Jordan a second chance and how unfair it is to them. Ashley I. is furious and tells the other girls that they “have to be mean to Jordan.” Whitney calls her out on being a “mean girl,” and thinks that if Chris knew how she was acting he wouldn’t like her. The group date gets really tense, and Chris takes Jordan aside and tells her that she has to go home because he doesn’t have the heart to betray the other girls by letting her come back. Jordan thanks him for being honest and chokes up as she wishes him the best of luck.
Meanwhile back inside Whitney and Ashley I. are still arguing over Jordan coming back. Jordan and Chris come back to the party and she hugs the other girls and tells them goodbye. Chis walks her out to her car, and hugs her goodbye. Chris heads back inside and apologizes to the other girls for bringing Jordan on their group date. There is still a date rose to be passed out, Chris announces that it is going to Whitney – because she always makes him feel special and he is excited about the potential they have. Whitney squeals and accepts the rose, and gushes that she is looking forward to the future. Ashley I. starts crying because she thinks that she should have gotten the rose – she heads back to her room and rants to Mackenzie that Whitney is “fake as s—t.”
The next morning Chris sneaks in to Britt’s room at 4:30 in the morning and wakes her up and tells her that it is time for her 1-on-1 date. She throws on some clothes, and they head out of the hotel and hop in a car – it is still pitch dark outside. They ride out in to the desert, and Britt begins squealing with joy when she sees a hot-air balloon. They climb inside the basket and take off – Britt feels safe as they go up in the air, because Chris is holding her.
Back at the hotel, the girls are all talking about Britt – they laugh that she doesn’t take a shower, and they think that she doesn’t shower enough. Ashley I gossips to the other girls and tells them that Britt is just “feeding Chris whatever he wants to hear,” and she told her that she doesn’t even want to get married or have kids. Ironically, Chris and Britt are lying in bed kissing and chatting about how they both want to have 100 kids. So, either Britt is lying to Chris, or Ashley I. is lying about what she said. Back at the hotel, Carly is crying because she thinks that Chris likes Britt more than her.
Britt heads back to the hotel and brags to the girls that she was in Chris’s bed with him for two hours – she insists that they just ordered room service and took a nap together. The other girls are not impressed, Kelsey rants that she doubts they just took a nap together. Kelsey heads upstairs to his hotel room, and announces to him that she needs to have some 1-on-1 time with him. Kelsey sits down with Chris and proceeds to tell him about her husband, and explains that he passed away unexpectedly from heart failure. Chris hugs her and comforts her, and then they begin kissing. He walks her to the door, and Kelsey gushes that she knows she is getting a rose ceremony tonight.
It’s time for the final cocktail party before the rose ceremony, the girls are all determined to get some alone time with Chris to ensure that they aren’t sent home – Whitney, Britt, and Carly all received date roses, so they are safe tonight. Kelsey brags that she isn’t nervous, but the girls are all baffled as to why, they have no idea she snuck up to his hotel room.
Chris arrives, and apologizes to the girls about how tense things got when Jordan showed up, he says that today was a tough day for him and he and Kelsey had a “tough conversation.” He begins stuttering and breathing heavily, and says he needs a moment and walks out leaving all of the girls sitting there completely confused. Chris Harrison follows Chris outside to check on him – he just explains that this whole process is much harder than he thought it would be. Kelsey explains to the girls that she visited him in his hotel room and told him about her husband passing away.
Chris Harrison heads back inside and says that Chris Soules is extremely emotional tonight, and they have decided to skip the cocktail party. The girls all begin panicking and wondering if they are safe, and Kelsey runs out of the room. Suddenly they hear someone screaming outside in the hallway – it is Kelsey. The EMT rushes to her side and yells at someone to call 911, they think that she hit her head because she is lying on the floor…
THE END!