SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains details from tonight’s episode of Bachelor in Paradise.
It’s week two of ABC‘s Bachelor in Paradise, and the men have the power of the rose.
First up on the docket for viewers tonight is the love triangle between Olivia, Will and Kylie, which over the course of the episode leads to escalating tensions between the three. Will is already ready and willing to devote his life to Kylie, giddily exclaiming those famous last words, “There’s nothing you could do to ruin my day,” only for Kylie’s first choice, Aven, to show up on the beach. Olivia predicted that this would happen, and takes great satisfaction in seeing Will treated like a placeholder after being spurned following their Episode 1 make-out. But her lust for revenge isn’t satisfied there, so she makes it her mission to steal Aven out from under Kylie.
As fate would have it, Aven does arrive bearing a date card, and after pulling both Kylie and Olivia individually for a chat, he decides to ask out the former. Will’s soul left his body in that moment, he says, and when Kylie pulls him later to talk about what’s transpired, she acts as if she hasn’t yet decided between the two men in her life, even though it’s quite obvious to the viewer that she has. Kylie then takes off for her second one-on-one in two weeks, sharing a date with Aven aboard a boat that concludes with a passionate kiss.
Elsewhere in Paradise, Blake and Jess deepen their bond, as do Brayden and Kat, Aaron S. and Sam, and Sean and Rachel. While Aaron B. had seemed previously to be hitting it off with Mercedes, he finds himself attached at the hip unexpectedly with Eliza, who cheerfully reflects on how nice it is not to be in a stressful love triangle scenario, like the one she wound up in last season. While Mercedes laments being ghosted, Aaron B. opens up about kissing her to Eliza. His intentions are pure in doing so, but Eliza can’t help but feel a sense of triggering déjà vu. In the end though, the pair reconciles, with Eliza coming to realize just how strong the feelings are that she feels for Aaron. As this is going on, women including Greer, Cat and Olivia stress about not having found their match, begging for more men to come down to the beach, so that they might stand a chance of lengthening their stays in Paradise.
And, of course, someone does come down. It isn’t a guy, though, but rather former Bachelorette Hannah Brown, who casts a spell on a starstruck beach when she arrives, only to stress them out given uncertainty about her intentions. If she’s here to date, she’s likely to be a major threat to the women, as “The Taylor Swift of Bachelor Nation” (in Jess’s words), who will almost certainly grab a rose out of one of their hands. Hannah makes the women sweat even more when she pulls two pairs of men for chats — first Blake and Will, and then Brayden and Aaron S. But in the end, we learn that this has all been a tease, as Hannah has, in fact, found love already. Her true intentions are first hinted at by a date card, which talks about “burning questions” to be answered that night.
Later, at “the first official Paradise Bonfire,” Hannah demands honest responses from cast members to questions they’d rather not answer, which shed new light on relationship dynamics. Cat reveals that she’s hoping to connect with Peter, as Brooklyn admits that the man she hopes to kiss is one and the same. Sean says he’s “pretty confident” in his burgeoning relationship with Rachel, although it is still early days, and Rachel seems to be on the same page. If there’s anyone else Sean has eyes on, it’s Jess, though she seems to have her heart set on Blake, who expresses an openness to the potential of connecting with new women on the beach, much to Jess’s dismay. Kat and Brayden can both see a real future with one another, but while Brayden has eyes only for Kat, she could be seduced by Tyler Norris or Tanner Courtad, she admits. Aaron B. puts all his chips on Eliza, and Kylie has to admit her preference for Aven’s kisses. Aven says he believes he could find real love with Kylie, but if he had to connect with someone else, it would be Olivia — as Olivia makes it known that she would relish the chance. Olivia admits that she feels “done dirty” by Kylie and that she wound send her home if she could, and Will takes us home as he acknowledges that a happy ending for him in Paradise would mean leaving engaged.
The bonfire might have been all fun and games for Hannah, but in the aftermath, it has contestants reeling, including Sean, who notes that even the most seemingly impenetrable connections can fall apart in a second in Paradise. Among those left heartbroken is Will, who hears from Kylie that she has a different kind of spark with Aven.
Amidst a growing awareness for the women that three will soon be going home, Mercedes strikes up a conversation with Will to confess her feelings for him, leaving him crying tears of joy and exclaiming that “it should’ve always been Mercedes.” Peter feels like the belle of the ball as he courts interest from Greer and Cat, but like the true villain he was made out to be in Charity Lawson’s edition of “The Men Tell All,” he decides to go after Sam, who is already coupled up with Aaron S. When Peter sits down with Sam, he tries to imply that Aaron is immature in hopes of convincing her of getting with him, even if he denies doing so later when confronted.
Fortunately for Aaron, though, Sam accepts his rose when asked. Other couples leaving this week’s rose ceremony together included Brayden and Kat, Blake and Jess, Aaron B. and Eliza, Will and Mercedes, Sean and Rachel, Aven and Kylie, and the wild-card duo of Peter and Olivia, leaving Cat, Greer and Brooklyn to be sent packing.
But if Brayden feels secure right now, he shouldn’t, as the Episode 3 tease reveals that he’s soon to be burned, as Kat accepts a date with Tanner. Also coming up is the arrival of “hot commodity” Tyler Norris, who pulls Rachel, after participating in her season…and the storyline no one asked for, Sam’s altogether unfortunate medical emergency.
Airing weekly after new episodes of new spin-off The Golden Bachelor, which has thus far garnered impressive ratings, Bachelor in Paradise will be back with a new episode next Thursday night.