‘The Bachelor’ 2009 Ben Higgins doubles up on love

the bachelor 2009 ben higgins doubles up on love 2016 images

It is not only February that has come to an end…ABC’s The Bachelor is quickly nearing the finale of its 20th season. On this week’s episode, Ben took the final three ladies off to Jamaica, where they all got to go on a unique overnight date and hopefully win Ben over once and for all.

The episode kicks off with Ben following his predecessors and claiming that “[insert destination here] makes a great place to fall in love.” In a bright pink button up Ben gazes into the distance on his hotel balcony and gives viewers a bit of a recap of the three remaining women – Caila, Lauren and Jojo.

The first one-on-one date that Ben goes on is with Caila. The two of them head on a private raft tour of the Martha Brae River. Despite the fact that Ben was just heard talking about how he can see Caila being his wife, the two of them seem to have lost the chemistry they once had. Caila tries to make small talk about her view from the hotel room but for the most part, they just boat down the river in awkward silence.

Shortly after the couple takes a pit stop and here Ben confronts Caila about her seemingly stressed demeanor. Here Caila admits that she is overthinking things, and it is throwing her off.

Later on, Ben and Caila meet back up for dinner. Caila thanks Ben for confronting her earlier about her off behavior. Caila admits that she knew she was being cold but didn’t know how to bring up her thoughts and feelings at the moment. This leads to her proclaiming her love as she tells Ben, “every time I’m with you…like I think about it, and it just feels right. And part of me has wanted to tell you something for a long time, and that is that I’m in love with you.” I guess in Caila’s world a “long time” means a matter of weeks. Nonetheless, Ben doesn’t reciprocate verbally, but he does give her a big grin and proceeds to kiss her after. After going for a little night swim Ben and Caila retire to the fantasy suite, where of course the cameras are soon turned away.

The next date of the week was between Ben and Lauren. Undoubtedly Lauren hit the jackpot when it comes to dates, as her and Ben spent the day saving little baby turtles. As Ben puts it, “[the date] was filled with cuteness.”

Later in the evening, Ben and Lauren hit up a local lounge and enjoy some music played by a local Jamaican band. Then they head to dinner, where it is Lauren’s turn to tell Ben how she feels. However, Lauren has a hard time spitting it out and it’s not till Ben invites her back to the fantasy suite that she can finally let it all out. Lauren tells him, “I do feel like I’ve been meaning to tell you something…I feel like I’ve felt this way for a long time, but I am completely in love with you and you really are like the man of my dreams.” (I guess it’s not just Caila who considers a few weeks a “long time”). Lauren’s love confession was quickly followed by the big shock of the season, as Ben responds with “I’ve known I’m in love you with you for quite a while as well.” For those of you new to the whole bachelor thing, the show encourages the bachelors not to go around throwing out the L word before the final rose ceremony. Therefore, while he might not be a rule breaker in any other aspect of his life, Ben definitely was one tonight on the show. At this point, things don’t look too good for Caila’s future with Ben.

However, even, after all, the lovey dovey stuff with Lauren Ben still had to go on his last date of the week, with Jojo. In confessional Ben admits that his “heart is with Lauren,” but he still wants to explore things with Jojo. The couple goes to a romantic, hidden waterfall where they enjoy a day splashing around in the water. Unlike the other two ladies Jojo didn’t wait until dinner to confess her love. While still at the waterfall Jojo sits down with Ben and gushes, “I’m not just falling in love anymore. I do love you.” And once again Ben broke the bachelor rulebook and looked straight into her eyes while claiming, “Jojo, I love you too.”

To be honest, my read on the situation is that Ben genuinely wants to be with Lauren, but he needed to add some drama to the show, so he told Jojo he loved her as well. Ultimately this is probably not the wisest choice, as not only is Jojo going to be incredibly heartbroken when things don’t work out but also her family seemed to be the most protective of her. Thus, Ben might need to relocate after the show if he doesn’t want to get a special little (unwelcomed) visit from Jojo’s brothers.

Conveniently enough, after all the three dates were over Caila decides to surprise Ben at his hotel. She confesses in the car that she wants to remind Ben of how much she loves him. Meanwhile, Ben is seen sitting in silence as he contemplates how he is going to dump Caila and subsequently shatter her heart into a million pieces.

the bachelor 2009 caila gets the love boot

Caila surprises Ben with a kiss and immediately his face just goes cold. Inevitably Ben walks her down to the beach and tries to let her down easy. He tells her, “I am in love with two women here, and I just couldn’t say it back to you.” You can literally see Caila’s heart break, as Ben tries to make things better by calling her his “perfect wife” – albeit not perfect enough to actually be his wife. Surprisingly (the usually overly joyful and smiley) Caila calls him out for using  “a line” and even tells him that she doesn’t want him to say “I miss you” because she knows he most likely doesn’t mean it.

Initially, Caila seems rightfully pissed off, but true to her personality she gets over it and pretty much forgives him completely by the time they walk to the car. Nonetheless, Cailas still drives off as an emotional wreck (that you can’t help but feel bad for).

And that’s it for this week’s The Bachelor!

You can catch the “Women Tell All” episode of The Bachelor next Monday, March 7 on ABC.

 Next Week on The Bachelor:

Ben Higgins faces 17 of the bachelorettes he sent home as they discuss the season. In addition, viewers get a sneak peek at the emotional final days of Ben’s journey after telling two women – Jojo and Lauren – he is in love with them.