Honestly, I wasn’t planning on recapping this episode. I thought I might just take the week off. But then I realized there were some things I did want to point out, and when I got started, I just couldn’t stop. Next thing I knew, I had a near-full recap of a not-full episode. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Whoops!

“Cheers to… being comfortable in sharing the uncomfortable.”

—Hannah, concisely identifying what’s expected of anyone on this show

LAST WEEK, CONT’D

Picking up where last week left off, while Luke is changing Hannah’s mind about sending him home, we hear the guys back at their hotel (castle?) discussing him. Here, Garrett reveals how poorly he knows this show…

Trust me, if Luke were gone, or even if he never existed on this season, it’d be someone else. Peace and quiet doesn’t exist as a contestant on this show!

Another thing worth pointing out is the general body language (and dress) during this Man Chat…

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It’s obvious that, in addition to being forced to discuss Luke ad nauseam, the guys are being KEPT AWAKE—most likely to get their reactions to Luke’s return home. It could be midnight (unlikely), it could be 2am, it could easily be much later. But morning ITMs wait for no one. Just a reminder that Luke himself may be an 8/10 on the irritation scale, but the Bachelor bubble circumstances can quickly and easily turn him into a 10/10.

COCKTAIL PARTY

At the Cocktail Party, after Hannah’s toast about opening up to each other, Garrett pulls her aside first and naturally uses his precious minutes to catch Luke in a lie. He then promptly reports the findings to the men. First, Garrett reminds me of some guys from seasons past who became so obsessed with needling or putting the villain in his place that he’s ended up in his own sort of villain role. (I’m particularly thinking of David vs Jordan from last season.) I do give credit where credit is due in that Garrett does later apologize and take responsibility for his actions here. Also, I am NOT suggesting Garrett is anywhere near as bad as David was! I actually really like Garrett.

HOWEVER, I still had to capture the SMILES in the room as he first confronts Luke. Note Mike’s ear-to-ear grin, followed by the unfazed reactions of both Dylan and Devin…

It’s clear from these reactions that it’s not about Hannah—you can tell none of them seem worried or even perturbed that Luke spoke about them to her. I mention this mainly to point out how unnecessary Garrett’s actions here were. The guys respect Luke too little to be genuinely concerned about him sullying their names to Hannah, making this whole conversation solely about catching Luke red-handed in another lie and the satisfaction in that.

Of course, I had to capture Hannah’s death glare and “zip it” gesture she gave Luke as he rambled in circles…

A few of you have mentioned Chris Harrison revealing in an interview that what bonded Hannah and Luke in the first place was their faith. (Thank you! I love it when you guys tell me what’s up in the Bachelor world.) This is a very interesting puzzle piece. Indeed, Hannah does seem to hold out for, protect, and yes, defend Luke more than the other guys, and in a way that transcends the amount of time they’ve had together. To me, although the above is clearly meant coldly, it shows an insane level of familiarity. With the other guys, everything still feels relatively new and getting-to-know-you. It’s hard to even imagine her catching the eye of another guy like this and silently communicating something to him, much less something critical. Above all, it’s yet another example of her protecting Luke; she’s once again teaching him how to behave, when frankly, if another guy committed half the crimes Luke has, he’d likely already have been sent home.

Hannah hears the drama ensuing amongst the men and then enters—twice—to lay down the law. I discussed this in my Flare recap so I’ll resist repeating myself too much here. But in general, while I sometimes soften my stance in the time between Flare and my Pretty Pandas recap, my thoughts have not changed here. I enjoyed Hannah here from a rah-rah, “You Go Girl” perspective, in that she was taking control of rumors and assertively setting a record straight that she didn’t have to. Also, for the record, I am clearly a GINORMOUS Hannah fan and think she’s a terrific lead.

Nonetheless, I maintain what I said over at Flare: I don’t think berating the men for fighting is her battle to pick. It cannot be overemphasized that, no matter how well Hannah knows Luke (faith or no faith), it does not compare to how well the guys do, simply from having lived with him for weeks. (And we’re not talking roommates—more like prison mates. They have been trapped together with no escape.) It really is the difference between someone’s best behavior (being “on” with Hannah) and their very worst behavior. I say “worst” intentionally—the show does bring out the worst in you, just as I suspect it’s bringing out the worst in Luke.

Hannah’s argument here is about the guys “warning” her about Luke, and how she doesn’t need their warnings and can figure things out for herself. I have a few issues with this. First, every lead, including Hannah, welcomes dirt on contestants; they recognize they don’t know the contestant as well as fellow housemates do. Hell, Colton did this with Hannah on his season, when she first talked about Caelynn. Have you ever heard a lead say, “No, I don’t want to know”? (I didn’t think so.) Therefore, Hannah’s sudden anger about the very thing she normally (and recently) welcomed feels both hypocritical and like an defensive overreaction.

Second, while I get that “warning” the lead about a contestant is the proper template one should use when complaining about someone, let’s be honest: The guys’ beef is not with Luke in relation to Hannah. The extent it relates to Hannah is that she’s the one with the power to make him go away. I don’t think any of them truly believe she’ll pick him. (In fact, given how many references there have been to the guys respecting her and her intelligence, it seems impossible they truly think she’ll choose Luke.) The guys’ annoyance is with Luke’s endless web of lies, having to live day in and day out with someone they can’t stand, and having to talk about him several times a day.

Therefore, I find the following statement to be moot…

We are SO past Hannah giving Luke the benefit of the doubt. The above IS in Luke’s defense to the extent that it’s in her defense for keeping him. She’s tolerating behavior in him she wouldn’t tolerate in someone else, and is defending that tolerance. And it’s in that sense that I think Hannah is picking a battle that isn’t hers. In the context I outlined above, where the guys’ beef with Luke has nothing to do with her, she wouldn’t have to be defensive. But she’s treading into territory that isn’t hers—what it really feels like to live and deal with the "worst” version of Luke—and asserting her dominance there. And, in my humble opinion, she’s doing it because she feels the need to defend herself.

As I said over at Flare, I think any lead—all of whom have been contestants and therefore been forced to live with people they despise—has to recognize the ripple effect of keeping the villain around. The ripple effect is conflict in the house. It is natural. It’s people coexisting in an environment designed for discord. It is not a wrong the lead needs to right.

ROSE CEREMONY

I don’t normally point out things like this, but it just so happens that the way Grant “hugged” Hannah goodbye is a huge peeve of mine, so poor Grant is going to be made an example of…

UGH. NO. Men: rubbing a woman’s ribcage even remotely close to her side boob is not an appropriate physical interaction—not in any setting, but especially when she’s just expressed a lack of romantic interest in you. I always get the heebie-jeebies when men do this, sort of like when they think it’s OK to rub your lower back really low. No, no, no, no, no.

And just for the record, I’m a Grant fan. I’ve very much enjoyed his regular-guy vibes and funny expressions all season. And perhaps he really just didn’t know what to do with his hands in the above moment, like maybe hugging her felt inappropriate? I don’t know… All I know is that I hate it when men do this and am making it known here!

LATVIA

The show heads to Riga, Latvia, but before we get to feel excited about a new country, it becomes apparent Hannah’s still not over Scotland’s Rose Ceremony. Here, we get a rather frustrating chat between her and Chris Harrison.

Now, I don’t mean to suddenly sound all critical of Hannah. It’s just this is the first week I haven’t really understood her actions and mindset. (It’s actually kind of impressive on her part I haven’t said one critical thing about her until now, halfway into the season!) I found this conversation frustrating in that it really shone a light on Hannah’s defeatist attitude. Even if she never considered throwing in the towel (which, let’s be honest, she didn’t), it’s the tone of the conversation surrounding that sentiment that bugged me. In general, it was a lot of sweeping statements about ALL the men not knowing her, and her suddenly doubting the entire process. Like, seriously? Because a handful of guys were heard arguing? I realize there are possibly bits and pieces left on the editing room floor, but in terms of what we were shown, Hannah’s suddenly hopeless outlook really came out of left field.

What irked me the most was this…

Now, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with the words themselves. I happen to loathe when people don’t ask questions. It’s not about wanting to talk about myself, it’s about reciprocation. It’s that us as people, socially speaking, are all in it together. I also relate to Hannah in that I, too, am not the type to volunteer information; I have to feel invited to, not like I’m forcing things. So yes, I absolutely LOVE the above sentiment unto itself.

However, contextually, it made no sense to me. Hannah had literally JUST cancelled the Cocktail Party because of the house drama. That was HOURS’ worth of conversation with the guys, gone just like that. The last Rose Ceremony Cocktail Party (plus the Group Date Cocktail Party before that) weren’t so different in that she spent a lot of it going back and forth between the two Lukes, deciphering who was telling the truth. It just felt like a major leap to suddenly have lost so much faith in the men, based on limited interactions which she was the one to limit in the first place.

RECAP

I, like many of you, was NOT a fan of this episode. Did anyone really think this mansion recap was actually filmed in real time, as though they flew Hannah from Latvia to LA to talk about whether or not she’d “quit the show”? Puh-lease. Hearing Hannah and Chris Harrison speak in the present tense about events that were clearly way in the past was just patronizing. Recap episodes are a cop-out, so IF you’re going to do it, you better as hell make it interesting and bring to the table something we didn’t already have.

Strangely, the only thing to come of nearly an hour’s worth of recapping was the fact that on Night One, it would appear “Marcus”, Hannah’s zit, was blurred out! Think I’m crazy? Look at Exhibit A. I took this from Episode 1, during Hannah’s shutdown of Scott…

Now look at Exhibit B, taken from Episode 6’s recap of the same moment…

It actually doesn’t surprise me that they edit out certain things. (I’ve mentioned before that my own side boob was edited out with TWO different outfits. Also, I myself had a monstrous cheek zit during my first 1-on-1 in Seoul and remember it being mysteriously invisible when I watched it back on TV.) I would just think they’d use the same, edited footage if recapping!

As an aside, it’s funny to imagine editors blurring out zits on contestants they ultimately give terrible edits to. (I just made myself laugh out loud thinking about this!) Who cares about how millions of people perceive a person as long as she LOOKS good, right??

Finally, I just had to capture the moment when Chris Harrison, a man who is easily old enough to be Hannah’s dad, asked her…

Chris Harrison always cracks me up. Whenever you watch him through the lens of knowing he knows how ridiculous this show is, it makes everything he says and does hilarious.

As always, my initial takeaways of this episode, as well as my The Morning After video, can be found over at Flare.

THE FASHION

Requests

No requests this week!

Hannah’s Looks

I liked this look. It brought drama and a couture vibe but without feeling remotely costume-y. I’m also impressed that, though the whole ensemble is white/ivory (AND from a bridal collection!), she somehow doesn’t look bridal. Her hair being down doesn’t bother me either, given the very basic straps and neckline to this dress. A solid Rose Ceremony look! Both Hannah’s dress and coat are by the usual—Randi Rahm. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t able to find decent looks-for-less for either. Her earrings are by Charlie Lapson and I couldn’t find them available online, but there’s a good look-for-less HERE.

Oooh, I reeeeally like this ensemble. It’s effortless but the pieces are still on-trend. Above all, the whole thing is practical—it looks like something you’d wear to coffee with a friend. Hannah’s Helmut Lang distressed crew neck sweater (in Beige) sells (super on sale) HERE. (I’ve already picked one up for myself!) Her Rag & Bone Razor booties (in Light Sand) sell HERE. Since those are on the pricey side, there are looks-for-less selling HERE and HERE (the last color). Her long bar diamond earrings are by Dilamani (HERE)—there’s a look-for-less HERE. I couldn’t find her exact diamond bar ring but there’s a good alternative HERE (if you want real diamonds), and looks-for-less HERE and HERE. In my search I found a super cool two-finger ring with baguettes that I’m eyeing, HERE.