Welcome to The Bachelor Season 28, Episode 2 recap! In this week’s episode, nine brides compete for a romantic first dance with their groom Joey Graziadei. In the meantime, the woman who got the first kiss last week gets another one on the group date, which doesn’t go over well with the others. Next, Joey helicopters one lucky woman to the BeachLife Music Festival. Finally, with the help of two Bachelor Nation alums, two teams of five women each compete at paintball for alone time with Joey. Here are some of the highlights from The Bachelor Season 28, Episode 2.
Nine brides, one groom
The morning the women move into the mansion, host Jesse Palmer arrives to explain how the week will go. There will, of course, be three dates: two group dates and one “incredibly romantic one-on-one date.” The ladies are swooning. Everybody wants that one-on-one.
“As always, there will be roses up for grabs at each date,” Jesse continues. As he pulls the first date card out of his back pocket, the women start screaming with excitement. Who will it be?
Jesse wishes them all luck and says, “I hope to see you at the next Rose Ceremony.”
Sydney reads the card. “Rachel, Taylor, Kelsey T., Lexi, Evalin, Erika, Maria, Lauren, Jess: Here comes the bride. You can’t walk down the aisle in just anything on your special day. Head to the other room and select the perfect gown for our wedding.”
Competing for the first dance
Joey is very excited about his first group date. “I never thought I’d have nine brides before,” he says, “but hopefully a lot of these women today are excited to be in a wedding dress.” Are you kidding, Joey? These women are practically hyperventilating, they’re so excited. Have you met them?
Joey announces that today, ”We’re all going to imagine that we all just got married … and we are about to have our own wedding reception.” Okay. It’s Bachelor: Sister Wives.
At the end of the reception, only one of them will get to share a romantic first dance with Joey. Also, there will be a very special guest star joining them. The bride who impresses Joey the most will win the very special first dance.
It’s time to join Joey at the Sweethearts’ Table, but who gets to sit next to Joey? They’ll play a game of Bridal Musical Chairs to decide.
The ladies walk around the table to Pachelbel’s Canon in D, walking really slowly when they get close to Joey and practically running when they’re on the other side of the table from him. When the music stops, everyone grabs a seat, except for Evalin. She’s on the front side of the table and literally leaps over the table to grab the chair next to the groom.
Though Joey is impressed by her athletic ability and gives Evalin an A plus for effort, it was all for naught. Lauren was already in the chair next to Joey, but he’ll always remember her “phenomenal” attempt. “Evalin was fully committed today, and I loved it,” Joey says.
The first dance
Joey and Jess are feeding each other mini cupcakes. Cute. In the meantime, the guests start tapping their glasses and calling for them to kiss. This doesn’t go down well with the other brides, especially Taylor who recalls Jess’ “little smoochy poo” from night one when she got the first kiss of the season. Taylor’s not falling for the “little Southern girl” act.
Rachel makes a cute speech joking about all Joey’s “exes” being there, and she makes a toast, “Cheers to your past, but here’s to our future!” Clever.
Finally, Jesse asks Joey to make a decision. “Who will be sharing that very special and very beautiful first dance with you?” After a quick consultation, Jesse announces the winner of the first dance: Rachel! Her toast was sweet, and she called him “Baby.”
“Here to perform, just for the two of you,” Jesse says, “is a legendary music performer and a Grammy winner. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for … Michael Bolton!” Wow! Is it 1991 again?
I do love this song, though. He sings his remake of Percy Sledge’s monster hit, “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Joey and Rachel sway on the dancefloor while the rest of the brides try to smile and look happy for them.
The after party
At the after party, Jess is feeling a little insecure. After her kiss with Joey, she heard the other women making comments about her and now she feels bad. She goes out to pout on the patio, and of course, production sends Joey out to comfort her.
Jess tells him she’s “been through a lot” in her past relationships. She says she “lost myself” in her previous relationship, and there was a LOT of infidelity on “his” side. It’s taken a lot for her to be able to open herself up again, and then to have people telling her to just “chill” makes it hard.
Joey totally understands and gives her a hug. She admits he makes her feel safe. I’ll bet. She may be a very nice girl, but she just seems really young to me. And a little manipulative.
Rejoining the group, Joey tells them he really enjoyed their first group date. But now it’s time for the rose. Who will get it? Maria seems to think she’s got it in the bag, but no. He gives it to Jess cause she has the best sob story. I think he should have given it to Evalin for her epic leap across the table.
The one-on-one date
Back at the mansion, the other women are waiting for the group date ladies to return, when there’s a knock at the door. Date card time! Katelyn reads it. “Daisy, I want a love that hits all the right notes. Heart, Joey.” Daisy gets the first one-on-one!
She confesses to the other women that she started losing her hearing about eight years ago, and she hasn’t told Joey yet. She’s actually only been on one date since she got her cochlear implant, and that was someone she already knew. She’s nervous about telling Joey about her implant, but I don’t think it’ll matter a bit to him. The implant will just be something that makes her more interesting as a person.
They’re going in a helicopter! Gotta have at least one or two per season. But she’s a little panicked because she’s not sure she’s going to be able to hear him in the chopper. She’s relieved that with the headphones on, she can hear him.
They arrive at the BeachLife Festival, and they have All Access passes. She says it’s something she would normally do, and she’s thrilled to be there with Joey.
He likes her, too. “She’s got this energy about her that makes me feel comfortable,” Joey says. “It feels like I’m just on a date with my girlfriend.”
“When I look at Daisy,” Joey interviews, “there’s something there that just feels right. I just feel like I’m on a date with an amazing girl, and I’m really excited to see what comes next.”
Daisy also has a “really good feeling about me and Joey.”
Dinner with Joey
“Today was so much fun,” Daisy voiceovers, as she and Joey walk hand-in-hand. “I feel like it was a really great start to a future relationship, so I’m really excited to see where this can go.”
“Tonight I have a lot I need to tell Joey,” she continues. “I have to tell him about my cochlear implant and some of the health stuff I had to go through.”
When they sit down, Joey says how much he enjoyed the day with her. He wants to know more about her. She tells him that she needs to tell him some of what she’s been through.
“When I was 17, Daisy continues, “I woke up … and I realized that I couldn’t really hear that well. My hearing kept getting worse. Communicating was really hard for me. It was super isolating … It got to the point that I didn’t feel good at all. Ever. I could barely walk a block.”
Daisy was finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease. She went to Germany and did a 30-day treatment. Afterward, she felt better, though her hearing kept getting worse.
“I have a cochlear implant,” she explains. Joey admires her for what she’s been through.
“You have this confidence about it,” Joey tells her. “It’s extremely inspiring to me. This has only made you seem more interesting, more impressive, more wanting for me to see where all this goes.”
Daisy loves Joey’s response to her story. She was afraid he would be overwhelmed. Instead, he is “10 times more attractive to me.” Daisy is someone Joey can see himself with at the end of all this. He offers her the rose, and she accepts it gladly.
Bachelor Boot Camp
Joey meets the other 10 women in the desert for the second group date. He’s working out shirtless when the women come running up the dirt road to meet him. They don’t know what they’re in for. He’s invited two Bachelor alums, Demi Burnett and Jubilee Sharpe, to lead a Bachelor Boot Camp.
“Joey wants a woman who isn’t afraid to get dirty,” says Demi. “So, you’re going head-to-head in the ultimate paint battle to capture Joey’s heart. You’re [also] playing for the chance to spend extra time with Joey tonight.” Now they’re interested.
They come out of the locker room dressed in white coveralls. One team has pink hearts on their chest, while the other has blue. The object of the game is to steal the heart that is being protected by the other team. There are no other rules.
“Do whatever it takes to win,” Demi says. The best two out of three will be the winner and get to spend more time with Joey.
The Blue Team (Madina, Starr, Edwina, Kelsey A., and Jenn) was victorious. They get to spend extra time with Joey, while the Pink Team (Katelyn, Allison, Marlena, Chrissa, and Autumn) goes home.
But then Jubilee announces, “Winners, I have some great news. You should definitely head back to the mansion and get cleaned up because one of you will be spending time with Joey tonight.” Wait, what?! Only one? That took the oxygen out of the blue team.
And the winner of the reward date is…
The ladies are all cleaned up and waiting on the couch when there’s a knock at the door. One of the women reads the card. “Blue Team, congratulations on your win. You all showed grit and heart today. But the one woman that I feel is most deserving to spend the evening with me is Edwina. – Joey.”
“Well, I’m happy,” she says, eliciting some nervous giggles from her teammates. Edwina climbs into the limo and off she goes to the Westlake Village Inn, where Joey and his rose await.
When Edwina tells Joey she wants to “open up and be more vulnerable,” which is hard for her, Joey wants to know more about why she’s that way. She tells him it’s how she grew up. As the first girl child, she had a lot of responsibility.
“Originally, I’m from Liberia,” Edwina interviews. “My parents sacrificed for us, so [I have to] do my hardest to prove that we can make it.”
“I have a lot of pressure,” she tells Joey. “Failure is not an option for me.”
“I’m sure you’re making them extremely proud every day,” Joey says. Joey appreciates that she’s being vulnerable, despite claiming to have trouble with that. Edwina goes home with a rose.
The Rose Ceremony
A lot of girls are stressed, and tensions are high. The drama among the women is starting to show.
The roses go to Rachel, Lexi, Kelsey A., Kelsey T., Jenn, Evalin, Autumn, Madina, Lea, Katelyn, Chrissa, Maria, Starr, Allison, and Sydney.
That’s it for another week!
The Bachelor Season 28 airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE BACHELOR SEASON 28, EPISODE 2? DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE? WERE YOU SORRY TO SEE ANY OF THE WOMEN GO HOME TONIGHT?
