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‘BACHELOR PAD’ RECAP: Target practice with the lovers

'Bachelor Pad' on ABC — Photo courtesy of Greg Zabilski / ABC

SPOILER ALERT!

This week’s challenge on Bachelor Pad was appropriately called You Got a Target on Your Back.

First up, the men were the targets of the women’s aggression. The bachelorettes had to throw paint balls at the men, who were blind-folded with targets on their backs. The women had to answer very telling questions by whipping the men of their choice on the back. The questions asked were, who is the least attractive, who would you like to see go home, who least deserves the $250,000, and who is the dumbest?

Ready, aim, fire!

After insulting their fellow housemates, Jake proved to be the most uneasy. While most of the intended targets were all over the board, Jake was unanimously voted as the one who the women would most like to see go home.

Next up was payback time with the women now the target of the men’s angst. Who is likely to cheat on you, who would you like to see go home, and who is the least attractive? Sadly Erica is chosen unanimously by the men as the least attractive. Not only was her backside bruised by the paint balls that were hauled at her body, but her ego was bruised by this tremendous insult.

Michael and Melissa were the challenge winners, having accurately hit all of their targets. They became immune from elimination and were able to invite three others on a date.

Michael chose Michelle, Erica and Holly, his former fiance, to go on his triple date. In true Bachelor Pad style, Michael was able to save one of the women with a rose.

For the date, they were sent to a haunted hospital to spend the night. How are the women expected to win over Michael’s love in this spooky setting?

Michael chose Holly to save with a rose, and they finally had a long overdue talk about the status of their relationship. Michael choked back tears while he told Holly he loves her and he wants her to be happy.

Holly was less than forthcoming during the conversation and didn’t seem to tell Michael what he wanted to hear. Is this because she has budding feelings for Blake? They end this gut-wrenching conversation with a hug and not much else.

Melissa’s triple date included Blake, Casey and Kirk. They took a romantic trip on a yacht as a nice escape from the drama of the show. Melissa seemed to trust Casey blindly and preemptively promised the rose to him. That is before the other contenders stepped up their game. Blake decided to “pacify Melissa for the moment” by planting a sensuous kiss on her. His hopes of swaying Melissa’s vote worked. Blake got the rose and achieved immunity. Casey was now on a war path against Melissa. Did she make the right move to advance closer to the $250,000?

One could almost forget that this is reality TV with the almost scripted plot. Blake not only showed interest in Melissa, but he also flirted with Holly, Michael’s ex-fiancé. This creates a crazy love triangle that will surely cause some drama throughout the season.

During an intimate moment between Blake and Holly, Melissa walked in and jumped in the middle. Melissa then started to doubt Blake’s affection toward her. She had an emotional breakdown that caused Blake to realize what he has been warned about: Melissa seems unstable.

Jake realized that Vienna is the one poisoning the other girls against him. So what did the confidant Texan do? He asked the person who hates him the most to help him. It’s a long shot, but Vienna may be Jake’s only chance.

The unique twist this week was that the men were safe from elimination and two women were voted off. Is this a twist by ABC to keep Jake and Vienna in the house together? Vienna said she thinks this is cheating. Duh, it’s a reality show.

The pressure got to be too much for Gia. She left the show in tears before the voting even began. After two hours and lots of drama during this week’s Bachelor Pad Jackie was voted off. Her love interest, Ames, was sad to see her go, but the future may bring them together. Ames proved this by running after her limo and leaving the show. AWWWW!

By Bear Adams / TV Columnist / Bear@HollywoodSoapbox.com
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John Soltes

John Soltes is an award-winning journalist. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Earth Island Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, New Jersey Monthly and at Time.com, among other publications. E-mail him at john@hollywoodsoapbox.com

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