SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Monday’s episode of ABC’s The Bachelorette.
It’s Week 3 on The Bachelorette, and there are 14 suitors left vying for Charity Lawson’s heart.
At this point, all of the men seem interested in keeping the peace after last week’s tension between Adrian and Brayden. Both of them are still in the mansion, much to the rest of the contestants’ dismay, and Brayden swears that he’s focused on deepening his connection with Charity.
Before the dates kick off, Charity visits the mansion to apologize to the remaining men for ending the barbecue early and jumping right into the rose ceremony, since she herself knows the anxiety that can cause. She’s decided that she “can’t do this anymore.” That is, keep spending time in Los Angeles! Looks like they’re headed a bit further south to Oceanside, California.
While the rest of the men pack and get ready to schlep their way to their new location on a bus, Charity selects Brayden for the first one-on-one of the week (cue the disgruntled sounds from the others). The two of them will be taking a helicopter to the next destination instead.
Brayden might not be making many friends in the house, but he seems to really have Charity’s attention. She wants to see if he’s ready to commit to someone after he expressed he thought about leaving production because of her four-minute kiss with Joey. The date kicks off on a high note though, as the pair sip champagne in the air before landing in the middle of Petco Park. San Diego is Brayden’s hometown, so he’s excited to show Charity the city through his eyes.
After tossing a baseball around a bit, they imbibe in more champagne in the middle of the field. This gives them a chance to open up more, and Brayden shares that he’s struggling with the idea of sharing her with the other men. He says he isn’t sure he can continue or if the show will become “too much” for him, which is (rightfully) a bit of a red flag for Charity. She wants more affirmation from him that he can fight for them, otherwise she’s ready to send him home.
Meanwhile, the men check out their new beachside digs and wrestle over their rooms. Then, of course, they’re back to launching their anti-Brayden campaign, which, historically, will not hurt Brayden and will only hurt themselves…but before they can dwell on that for too long, they receive a group date card!
Joey, Aaron B., Michael, James, Aaron S., Caleb B. (the only Caleb left now!), Sean, Xavier, Tanner, Adrian Dotun, and John are selected for the group date. That means Warwick will have the honor of the week’s second one-on-one.
It’s time for the second half of Charity’s date with Brayden, and she’s still feeling very hesitant when they meet back up at Petco Park. During a moonlit dinner, Charity expresses that she’s nervous about his threat to leave, and Brayden doubles down on being “scared” that she’s seeing other men. He says it’s because he’s been cheated on in the past, so he’s “walking back into that trauma.” He reiterates that he doesn’t know if he can endure this. In a confessional he says he doesn’t want to give her the expectation that he can stick around, which is…worrisome, to say the least. But, it seems like saying he’ll try is good enough for Charity. She offers him the rose.
Time for the group date! It’s synergy central this week, as the show is promoting Greta Gerwig’s Barbie with a date themed to the iconic doll. Former Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher and her husband Jordan Rodgers are on hand to help facilitate the date. To show their devotion to Charity, the men will need to write a love song to the tune of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” And they have to perform their song dressed as a Ken doll, of course.
Just like last week, the man who impresses Charity the most will get to spend one-on-one time with her after the group date. Most of them look pretty goofy as they take the stage in front of a beachside crowd to perform, but they take it in stride and play along. Caleb B. breaks out some ambitious notes as Cowboy Ken, almost turning the song into a ballad. But it was Double Denim Ken (aka Sean) who caught Charity’s attention with his ability to pump up the crowd and his confidence to pull her in for a kiss at the end of his performance.
While the rest of the men go prepare for the cocktail party, Sean and Charity take a solo stroll down the beach to soak in some alone time together. The other men are noticeably distraught, since many of them have had little one-on-one time with Charity. This is usually the time where it starts getting to their heads, and this season proves to be no different. The men are not playing around anymore.
When Sean enters the cocktail party on his high horse, the men are quick to try to knock him down, especially after he steals Charity away to “finish their conversation” the second she enters the room. And by conversation, he means their steamy make-out session. Now the rest of the group is really mad, but some are taking it better than others. John uses this as an opportunity to steal some time of his own with Charity while the others are still fuming.
Dotun gets the honor of visiting Charity’s room, because she wanted to find a more intimate setting for the two of them to chat. The pair share a really special moment where they acknowledge their connection and express their excitement to keep getting to know each other. Dotun calls her a “kindred spirit.” After their conversation, Charity offers Dotun the group date rose.
Somehow, the men are still mad at Sean for stealing too much time, blaming him for them not getting the group date rose.
But there’s not much time to dwell on that, because Warwick is going on his one-on-one! He’s definitely a quiet one, so even the men say they don’t know much about him — meaning that we as viewers know virtually nothing at this point. Likely, that’s why Charity chose him to get to know this early on.
Charity takes him to Belmont Park, where they’ll get to frolic around all night by themselves. For a while, they are having fun, but Charity quickly gets frustrated with his unwillingness to open up with her. As they awkwardly sit and eat ice cream together, it starts to become clear that there may just not be a connection there. Surprisingly, Warwick does think it’s going well! So, maybe there’s just some miscommunication. There’s still time for deeper talk during dinner.
Charity dives right in, asking him to share more about his life and his previous relationships. But all he tells her is that he was in two previous relationships that didn’t work out “for whatever reason” and he couldn’t give any examples of how he shows up for his partner in a relationship. Charity says she prides herself on being a good communicator, which seems to be her way of getting him to open up. Surprise! He says his weakness is communication.
The writing was on the wall from the beginning of the date, and Charity tells Warwick she can’t give him the rose. He nearly falls asleep in the car on the way to the airport, so it seems like he wasn’t that impressed by the date either.
Ahead of the rose ceremony, Brayden reveals that he isn’t sure if he’d be ready to get engaged at the end of this. Fuel to the anti-Brayden fire. It’s only a matter of time before that blows up.
Well, it doesn’t take very long. After a few great conversations with the other men, Aaron B. pulls Charity aside to tell her about Brayden’s comments. Charity is visibly frustrated, and at this point she doesn’t know what to think. To his credit, Aaron tells Brayden that they spoke about him before Charity has the opportunity to blindside him. Brayden tries to play it cool, but he clearly isn’t happy that another man is talking to Charity about him. Once again, the men are more frustrated with Aaron for bringing up the drama than with Brayden for what he said — shocker.
Charity is pretty upset with Brayden though, and she says she’s prepared to take the rose back from him. He contends that he’s only hesitant because they haven’t gotten to know each other yet, but Charity says she’s more concerned about what he’s saying to the other men. Charity leaves their conversation very uneasy, and she’s not sure if she should take a risk on Brayden.
Like clockwork, Jesse Palmer ends the cocktail party before anyone else can talk to Charity. Time for the rose ceremony. At this point, all the men think Brayden should leave, but it’s up to Charity to decide where her heart is at.
Ultimately, she doesn’t take the rose back from Brayden. Looks like he’s sticking around for another week.
Charity also hands roses to Aaron B., Caleb, Xavier, Joey, Michael, John, Sean, and Tanner. Dotun already has a rose. That means James, Aaron S., and Adrian are headed home.
The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.