Ok, it’s time….time for my Bachelor blogging.  I was waiting until I felt some kind of emotion, inspiration or disgust, and the time has come – spurned on by last night’s skinny dipping event….

So just quickly (and you probably know all of this already), Ben Flajnik is the Bachelor (pictured above).  He is a winemaker, 28, from Sonoma, CA, and he was one of the final two bachelors on the last season of The Bachelorette with Ashley Hebert.  Ben seems to be a good guy – down to earth, a good listener, empathetic, low key, cute and fun too.  As of the beginning of last night (episode #5), he was in Vieques Island, Puerto Rico and down to 11 ladies….

The Bachelor started the evening with a one-on-one date with Nicki (pictured here), a dental hygienist, 26 from Hurst, TX.  They got caught in a rain storm and improvised by shopping til they dropped and buying a new wardrobe.  Then they had a romantic dinner, talked about her first marriage/divorce, smooched…and as I like to say, “Then he gave her a rose.”

The group date was a baseball game – four ladies (Blakeley, Emily, Jennifer and Rachel) made up the red team and four ladies (Casey S., Courtney, Jamie and Kacie B.) made up the blue team and Lindzi C., a business development manager, 27 from Seattle, WA, was a member of both teams.  Ben actually voted her MVP so whichever team won, she was part of the date.  Well after a fierce, intense battle, the red team won.  The lucky winners got transported via helicopter to a party on the beach while the blue ladies went home, basically all of them crying on the bus.  Ben gave the rose to Kacie B., an administrative assistant, 24 from Clarksville, TN, while Courtney, a model, 28 from Santa Monica, CA, was whispering “skinny dipping” sweet nothings into his ear.

Elyse, a personal trainer, 24 from Chicago, IL, had the second and final one-on-one date with Ben.  And maybe it was her comment that she was “sick of being single,” but Ben wasn’t feeling it….  He picked up the rose, waved it in front of her (though in his defense, he may not have realized that he was doing this) and then said he just couldn’t give it to her.  Ouch…. “Another one bites the dust,” as Courtney likes to say….

And now, we get to the sinful skinny dipping….  Courtney intercepts Ben after he has just gotten back from his rejection of Elyse.  She is in a bathrobe and convinces him to join her down on the beach.  From there, she says “You’re only in Puerto Rico once,” disrobes and then coaxes him to do the same.  Yawza…..  They both seem to have a good time giving one another naked hugs and kisses in the ocean…..

Ok, so now it’s time for the rose ceremony.  And we see all of the other bachelorettes, who innocently and happily are talking about Ben and are trying to vie for his attention.  And meanwhile, we know what evil lurks.  We know that Ben and Courtney have had this against-the-rules (probably), intimate encounter the night before, and for some reason, I feel yuck. Somehow by watching and knowing what has happened, I feel complicit in Courtney’s evil plot to hoodwink Ben.  And if that’s not bad enough, a Q&A then arises among the ladies about skinny dipping.  And Courtney is just reveling in her secret information.  Double yuck.  But I really think this will all catch up with her – and bite her in the you know what.  It may not be tonight or next week, but soon.  Call me crazy, but I also get the sense that Ben feels that he has “dirtied the waters” to some degree as well…. Hmmm.  This is getting interesting – and I didn’t even get into the Courtney vs. Emily drama.  But from the looks of it, there will be plenty more sparring between these two ladies to come.  In other words, T-B-C (To Be Continued).

Ultimately Ben did not give a rose to Jennifer, an accountant, 28 from Oklahoma City, OK.  This was a shocker to me, especially after their one-on-one date last week in which they were lowered into a crater and then dove into it together hugging and kissing all the while.  Plus he had made several comments about her being the best kisser?!  I wouldn’t have guessed this, but then, you just never know…..

So now we’re down to nine bachelorettes, and next week, they’ll be in Panama.  So tune in with me Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC, and we’ll see what evil lurks – and maybe even prevails….