The third episode of ABC’s ‘The Bachelor’ ended with the women in agreement that Shanae is at the center of all the drama, and episode 4 immediately picked up on that theme. 

Clayton began the cocktail party by addressing the dramatic elephant in the room and asked Shanae and Elizabeth to talk with him about it. Clayton sat speechless in the middle of a game of table tennis as the two women went back and forth arguing. Their argument was over something that happened back at the house regarding shrimp. Yes, shrimp… as in the food. Shanae was very offended that Elizabeth didn’t offer her any of the shrimp she had made, which apparently meant Elizabeth was trying to turn everyone in the house against her. It appeared that Elizabeth remained mostly calm and respectful while Shanae got visibly worked up, knocking her drink back along with the rest of us watching at home.

When they rejoined the other girls, the air reeked of tension as they expressed their utter frustration at Shanae once again, taking up their time to spend with Clayton. 

Clayton’s head was spinning when he decided to cancel the rest of the cocktail party without giving the other women a chance to talk to him more, or even tell their sides of the story. Instead, they moved on to the rose ceremony. As the final rose took place, jaws fell to the floor when Clayton called Shanae’s name, sending home Elizabeth, Melina, and Kira. Keeping Shanae around means this season’s drama will be never-ending. 

The silence was loud the next morning when the remaining women gathered at the house waiting for the next date card to arrive. The host, Jesse Palmer, arrived and announced that the rest of their journey would continue outside Los Angeles as they travel on a “worldwide, international journey to find love with Clayton.” The first stop: Houston, Texas. Exciting!

When they arrived at the hotel, Clayton’s college football best friend, Clarence, surprised him. Their talk gave Clayton a refreshing chance to think about where his head is at and how he’s feeling about the upcoming week. Clarence, being married with a family, offered him some insight. “You gotta make sure the woman you are with is the rock and foundation for you,” he said.  

A one-on-one date card arrived with Rachel’s name on it. Their date began with horse riding that brought them to a random family’s barbeque. Even though we never learn who the family is, they chatted with them and helped prepare the food. Their successful date moved onto dinner and discussion. Clayton asked her, which is presumably supposed to be a compliment, “how are you single?” Rachel talked about her demanding and time-consuming training to become a pilot and how her previous boyfriend never gave her the support she needed. 

Clayton, seemingly impressed with her dedication and motivation, gave her a rose. “It was so easy giving Rachel this rose tonight,” Clayton said. During their slow dance, Clayton whispered, an admittedly sweet thing to say, “I will never dim your light.” 

Back at the house, the group date card arrived with 13 names on it, including Shanae’s. The women were anxious to be on a date with Shanae, given her history of letting drama tag along.  

Shanae was pathetically shown trying to sleep when she overheard some of the other women through the wall talking. The women were talking about their plan to approach Clayton on their date to finally reveal the truth about Shanae’s character. Specifically, Sierra was heard saying, “Like on that group date, we all tell him, this is not somebody you’d wanna marry.” Shanae quickly put her victim’s face on to trick Clayton, once again, into her ‘being bullied’ narrative. 

The group date was set at the NRG Stadium in Houston and began as an innocent tailgate that sure enough turned into The Bachelor Bowl. NFL players Jonathan Greenard and Kamu Grugier-Hill arrived to coach the women for a game of tackle football. The winning team would proceed to the after-party, and the losers would be sent back to the hotel.  

The teams were The Purple Punishers vs. The Shrimp Stampede. Hm… I wonder who came up with that one? The game began and there was clearly some built-up anger being released in their tackles. They played a nail-biting game, and it was a close call when the Punishers came out on top, making the final score 21-0. The Punishers may have had a bit of an advantage with Marlena, a former Olympian on their team. Nevertheless, The Purple Punishers moved onto the afterparty. 

Sierra and Genevieve took this time at the afterparty to reveal their feelings about Shanae to a very confused and shocked Clayton. He probably wouldn’t have been as confused if he had given even one other girl a chance to share their feelings about the situation earlier, but instead, he was taken aback. 

Back at the hotel, Shanae plotted her next move to manipulate Clayton. She made the bold, yet not that shocking decision to put on a dress and crash the afterparty. She strutted right into the party and interrupted Clayton’s talk with Sarah.

Clayton looked surprised but, for some reason, was happy to see her. They had another redundant conversation of “she said, she said,” and Shanae did what Shanae does best: manipulate. She brushed off all accusations against her with a pathetic defense, and Clayton apparently forgot all about his previous conversations with the other women. They ended their talk with passionate kissing. Silly Clayton must have forgotten his common sense back at the hotel. 

Before leaving, Shanae made it a point to call out Sierra and Genevieve. “Keep my name out of your [bleep] mouths.” She then threw the winning trophy into a bush but, of course, Clayton was nowhere in sight to witness.  

The episode ended the way it started: about Shanae, and she knows it too. “It’s Shanae Show, not The Bachelor,” she said. 

The fifth episode of ‘The Bachelor’ will premiere on Feb. 7. 

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