Everyone’s Jumping Ship

Welcome back to Roses and Thorns! It’s week 2 of Bachelor in Paradise and things are already starting to heat up. Last week was basically all introductions, so let’s get into the real drama that started this week.

We start off the episode with a newcomer to the beach- Victoria F. from Peter’s season of The Bachelor. She wastes no time and takes Justin on a date, which causes Genevieve to spiral because she had spent all her time there so far with Justin. She spends all day whining and freaking out while Justin and Victoria spend a fun afternoon taking ATV rides and jumping in waterfalls. A few hours later, Justin and Victoria come back from their date, and Justin tells Genevieve that he doesn’t know who he’s leaning towards. Genevieve (surprise) does not take this well and panics, crying that she’s done and just wants to go home. While I get where Genevieve is coming from, it’s only day 2 and paradise is meant for testing out different connections. Her intense jealousy and insecurity so quickly into things seems like a really big red flag.

Still, she’s a lot less of a red flag than Romeo, who tries to talk to Brittany even though him and Jill are basically a couple on the beach. She immediately tells Jill, who rightfully flips out and tells Romeo that they’re done. In a desperate attempt to save his spot on the beach, he talks to Kira and Hailey and goes around crying, but no girl wants anything to do with him.

Johnny has a much better night, and ends up hitting it off with Victoria. They honestly look really good together, but I feel bad for Hunter who got completely blindsided; especially because it’s right before the rose ceremony, and she ends up being sent home along with Hailey and Kira.

The morning after, the energy on the beach is a lot happier, especially from Genevieve since Justin chose her and not Victoria. It’s actually just the calm before the storm though because James and Aaron arrive on the beach shortly after. Aaron and James were on Katie’s season of The Bachelorette, but they’re better known for becoming best friends during the last season of Bachelor in Paradise. They’re given a double date card, so Aaron asks Genevieve and James asks Shanae, but there’s some awkward history there– Shanae falsely accused Genevieve of sleeping with Aaron at their “Women Tell All” reunion episode. Surprisingly, the date ends up being fun for everyone, but I feel like it’s really hypocritical of Genevieve to go on the date and kiss Aaron after giving Justin so much hate for the same thing.

Later, Rodney from Michelle’s season walks down onto the beach. Everyone only has good things to say about him, and it’s clear that just about every girl there is interested. He takes a special interest in Teddi, but this triggers an emotional breakdown for her. Being excited to talk to Rodney makes her realize that what she has with Andrew isn’t where it should be. She wants to be crazy about him because she’s waited so long to meet him, but she just can’t get herself there. She breaks up with him then leaves without telling anyone. I feel like this is a really hurtful move on her part because she completely abandons her close friends Serene and Jill with no explanation, leaving them incredibly upset. Also, Andrew is (of course) devastated because they had been waiting so long to meet each other and he liked her so much. I honestly think they could have worked out really well if they met in the real world and didn’t have so much built up expectations. Also, sometimes couples who failed in paradise end up meeting up again after the show and working then, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened to them.

Still, the episode ends with a weird energy on the beach due to Teddi’s departure, which only sets the scene for more drama to come.