Emily gets brave in Scottish Croatia, boots Ryan; Arie back on top

The bad boys are DUNZO for the season.  Was so happy that Emily stood up to the strong sales pitch she got from Ryan this week.  What a piece of work that guy is.  You can tell she loved flirting with him, found him charming, good looking – all the things he saw in himself.  Yet her decision to send him home just shows what a mature, strong hearted woman she is.  She’s like the Jane Eyre of her generation.  Good job, Emily!  Happy to see that our top 6 are all solid, NICE guys.  She’s really good at this Bachelorette thing.

A couple of comments…
Why did they send them all to Croatia if they were just going to do a whole Scottish themed group date?  The kilts, the Scottish bagpipe guy and Brave being a Scottish tale – it seemed absolutely ridiculous that they had to play this all out in a country as beautiful and cultural as Croatia.  Couldn’t they have found something more Croatian to do other than have the guys ride donkeys?  Who came up with this idea?  I really hope they don’t show The Bachelorette in Croatia because this just reinforces the moronic American stereotype.  The Croatian people would (and should) think, “Why are these stupid Americans dressed up as Scots playing Scottish games in our country?”  The Highland Games group date might have made sense if we were in Edinburgh, but why the hell are they doing archery, Caber Toss and Maide Leisg in CROATIA?? How insulting to the Croatians, like there is nothing better to do?  Yes, I’m really upset about this.

In case you had never heard of the Highland Games, wikipedia defines them as follows:

Highland games are events held throughout the year in Scotland and other countries as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain aspects of the games are so well known as to have become emblematic of Scotland, such as the bagpipes, the kilt, and the heavy events, especially the caber toss. While centred on competitions in piping and drumming, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics, the games also include entertainment and exhibits related to other aspects of Scottish and Gaelic culture.

And just to clarify – Croatia is not considered a “Celtic” nation – also according to Wikipedia, so yes, the Scottish stuff seen throughout tonight’s episode was PURELY done to promote the Disney movie, Brave, which by the way, IS the cartoon, Scottish, medieval version of The Bachelorette.  I’m surprised they didn’t make Emily wear a long curly red haired wig throughout the group date.

Alright, some other things…
Arie is back in it to win it!  I LOVE that he snuck away to get some QT.  Did you see how Emily is just glowing when she talked about him?  I was giddy as a school girl watching them together.  She is all lit up around him and he is so back in first place after tonight.  This is the first episode where we’re seeing the “L” bombs come out in full force.  Jef is falling in love.  Arie’s in love.  Chris is in love. Ryan’s in love with himself. Everyone’s in love.  Speaking of love, watching Arie throw Emily up against the Croatian wall during the group date was steamier than this heat wave we’ve got going on.  I think there was actual steam coming out of them.

I felt bad for Travis and actually liked him more tonight after seeing their date together. Unfortunately, it “just wasn’t there.”  Can’t do anything about that.

I definitely thought the Wolf was going home tonight and he really pulled out all the punches to keep hanging on.  Think we were all convinced both Wolfie and Dougie were going home tonight, but BAM, Emily fooled us all – she’s keeping them both around another week.
Ok, fine let’s talk about Ryan.  Poor guy was definitely digging his own “Most Arrogant Man” in Bachelorette history grave, but it was kind of fun all the same watching it unfold. He just thought he was so slick and smooth and would cruise right into the finals.  I found it more amusing watching the guys back in the suite talk about Ryan than Ryan’s actual date.  Jef, in particular, was pretty funny – even though his hair is now bordering on blown out mullet.  BTW, watching Jef get beaten up in those Highland Games was really not fun.  He’s so much smaller than the rest of them.

I LOVED that Emily gave the group date rose to the “loser” – Chris.  Thought it was very “mom like” of her to see that “A+ for effort” should win over the big, brawny, blonde and perfect Sean.  Poor Sean.  He is just oozing perfection and still he can’t get a damn rose from Emily on the group date.  Even after he has some semi-convincing discussion with Emily on how “it’s exciting” to know how she feels about him (feel like part of their conversation was edited out, but who knows?).

Will end it here to say 2 things:
(1) OfficeStace.com will launch on Monday (June 25^th) (with any luck).  Please stop by, bookmark it and share with your friends.

(2) I’m dreading the next episode to see this Arie thing come to a head.  If he really did have a previous relationship with current producer. Cassie Lambert, who Emily has been hanging out with this whole season and DIDN’T TELL HER, this could be the end of them.  Seriously, why would he leave out this VERY BIG detail?  Or are they making a bigger deal of it than it is?  Not sure how he can dig his way out of this one.  Yes, they supposedly dated for a few weeks over 9 years ago, but that’s kind of a detail you’d want to know as Bachelorette, right?  OH NO, ARIE – WHAT’S YOUR DEAL? I WANT TO LOVE YOU AND EMILY, but how can we if you’re being shady?  Too bad, because he really does seem sincere in his feelings for her!  He practically skipped down that Croatian street after his time with her!

(3) Looks like Wolfie and Arie are getting solo dates next week.  It’s gettin’ steamy in Prague.  Not sure the Wolf can continue to stick around by playing the dead grandparent funeral card much longer, but we shall see.

What did you all think??