Season 1 | Episode 5

We’re down to 4 couples everybody – Chris and Bri, Rudi and Matt, Jamie and Trevor and Natasha and Ryan. In the first few minutes Chris Harrison shows up in his casual attire as he has all season and announces there will be a “massive change” and that they are leaving the mansion for good. He tells the 4 couples they’re packing their bags and heading to none other than Las Vegas – on tour buses. Each couple gets their own tour bus which is pretty cool since they get alone time together (with cameras and a crew, of course). Chris and Bri are clearly the only legit couple here and I sincerely hope they are still together today. Cue to Trevor and Jamie – Trevor is just the worst and I feel bad that Jamie is so smitten over this guy who clearly is not that into her. He knows coupling up with her can help him go farther in this competition even though he has no intention of pursuing her outside the show.

Now let’s focus on Matt and Rudi for a minute. It’s definitely obvious Matt likes Rudi, but there’s no way he’s “falling” for her like she is with him. Again, he knows coupling up with her allows him to stay on this show longer (and Rudi has a kick-ass, amazing voice at that). Even so, Matt and Rudi decide not to go to Vegas right away and stay in some sketchy motel to have some more alone time and according to Rudi, “break down more walls”. AKA she wants to jump his bones with no cameras around.

The next day there’s a date card for Chris and Bri. They get to sing at another couples “wedding” at the iconic Little White Chapel on the Vegas strip and all I’m thinking is… there’s no way this is real. This couple has probably been married for decades and agreed to do this as a favor to a producer of the show. After the couple said “I do”, Chris starts playing his guitar while Bri sang a beautiful acoustic version of “Stand By Me”. Chris and Bri have incredible voices, and I truly enjoy listening to them sing and harmonize together. Chris opens up to Bri that he always wanted his dad to marry him since he was an ordained minister and how much trouble he’s had since his passing. Bri ultimately wants to be his rock, says she can see herself getting engaged to Chris, and Chris tells her how relieving it has been to meet her. Awwww.

Cut to the next scene – Matt is talking to Ryan, explaining how he “really likes the girl” (Rudi) but “just isn’t there yet”. Shocker. Meanwhile, Rudi is gushing to Jamie how she can totally see herself falling for Matt and Jamie mistakenly tells her that she can tell how much Matt likes her, too (noooo Jamie, no).

Now onto Trevor and Jamie’s date. They have the entire T-Mobile arena to themselves, where our beloved Golden Knights play. I personally would love this date (make this happen, Dave). After they ice skate for a bit, a random rug and couch appear out of nowhere on the ice, which is just so classic Bachelor. Trevor tells Jamie that he has only said the “L-word” (really, Trevor? The “L-word”)?  to two other people in his life and that he’s not ready to say it to her. Again, shocker. But then, in a weird turn of events, Jamie tells Trevor that she’s falling in love with him and he tells her he’s falling in love with her too. WTF? I hate this show sometimes.

Time for Matt and Rudi’s date. Rudi is determined to tell Matt she’s falling in love with him. Yikes. Their date takes them to a Shaggy concert, where Shaggy calls them up on stage to sing with him. Matt awkwardly sings part of “It Wasn’t Me” which was pretty cringey in itself, but it gets worse guys! Rudi says f**k it, (literally says it), and tells Matt she’s falling in love with him. Matt literally responds with “you’re courageous for saying that”. THAT’S IT. THAT’S ALL HE SAYS. IT’S SO AWKWARD. Rudi walks away crying, and again, Matt does nothing. Feeling pretty bad for Rudi right now. Again, it’s so awkward.

Natasha and Ryan’s date overall is uneventful. They go to a place called Dig It Las Vegas, where they get to pick up heavy machinery in tractors then smash them – and it definitely a date I want to go on as soon as we’re allowed to go to public places again. Make this happen, Dave.

Let the performances begin! Each couple gets to perform at an intimate venue where Lady Gaga performs at in Vegas which is awesome. Guest judges include my girl Ashlee Simpson, her husband Evan Ross, the lead singer of Train and former Bachelor Arie and his wife Lauren, which is just annoying. Look, I’m happy that he and Lauren ended up happy together but I will never forgive him for how he did my girl Becca. So I just would rather him be off my TV forever. Bri and Chris kick off the performances by singing “I Can’t Help But Falling In Love With You” by Elvis Presley. A special song to the couple as they sang it together a few episodes ago on their date at a Guitar Center (yes, you read that right). Overall they got solid responses from the judges, mainly commenting by how in love they looked (accurate). The next performers are Jamie and Ryan singing Lady Antebellum’s “Just A Kiss”. Not a fan of the performance, as I personally don’t like Trevor’s voice. Jamie’s voice is good, but I don’t think they mesh together and I’m not buying it. They get good reviews, though. Natasha and Ryan are up next singing “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. I love both of their voices and normally they kill their performances but tonight’s was just off.  The judges felt it too, and it turns out Natasha accidentally sang the wrong verse of the song, which meant her and Ryan had to improvise which ultimately threw off the entire performance.

Rudi and Matt are the last performance of the night singing “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Rudi absolutely crushes it and Matt actually does a great job too. I ended up really liking their performance and the judges did too.

Last but not least we have the rose ceremony and it is just SO CHEESY. Again, I really hate this show sometimes. Jamie and Trevor, Rudi and Matt and Bri and Chris all get roses, meaning Natasha and Ryan go home. I’m sad for them, but it is what it is. They both tell each other they don’t want their relationship to end, which is a nice thought but we’ll see what happens. The episode ends with Chris Harrison telling the final couples that next week they’re heading to Music City for the finale.

See y’all next week in Nashville!

Laura

The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart