‘Bachelor’ Recap Week 6: Raleigh’s Matt James gets a ‘State Fair’ fantasy date
Raleigh native Matt James did a little house-cleaning on last week’s episode of “The Bachelor,” dismissing two bullies in an effort to return calm to the house — but looks like he wasn’t quite finished.
When last week’s Episode 5 ended, MJ and Jessenia were fighting about which of them is the most peaceful and harmonious, having been called to the rose ceremony ahead of the other women for a chat with Matt. The backstory: Jessenia told Matt that MJ made a reference to “JV vs. Varsity” regarding the original women in the house vs. the new women who were introduced two weeks back.
This week, Matt deals with that, and everything is calm. For maybe five seconds. Of course, there’s still bickering!
And then we get Heather Martin, a contestant from Season 23 (The Colton Season), showing up to make a play for Matt.
More backstory: Matt is best friends with Tyler Cameron, from Season 15 of “The Bachelorette,” which starred Hannah Brown, who was also in Season 23 of “The Bachelor,” alongside Heather. If you watched that season, you might remember Heather as the one who had never been kissed before going on the show.
According to The Internet, Matt quarantined at Tyler’s house in Florida prior to “Bachelor” shooting, and Hannah, who is still friends with Tyler, apparently visited them with her friend Heather (which to me doesn’t sound like much of a quarantine, but I’m not the COVID police).
So yes, Matt and Heather know each other already. But no, Matt insists that the two of them never had any kind of romantic relationship.
So why is Heather here? Let’s find out.
Make it stop! Make it stop!
Matt walks in as Jessenia and MJ argue and scream over each other. Please, Matt, make it stop.
Matt talks to Jessenia first, and she tells him, essentially, “MJ started it.”
MJ starts pacing and we hear her talking to herself, but mostly there are a lot of bleeps and a lot of tears. She even squats to compose herself (this seems to be a go-to “in distress” move, used by Victoria last week).
But when it’s MJ’s turn to talk to Matt, she rallies. She fluffs her hair, slaps her hands together and says, “I had a weak b*tch moment, but I’m back.”
MJ tells Matt that she’s emotionally exhausted, and she wipes at her eyes, and says softly, “I’m shaking” (we don’t see any actual shaking).
Apart from Matt, MJ tells the camera: “I’m gonna keep being a bad b*tch, this is not gonna shake me.”
Then MJ goes right back to Jessenia and starts the argument up again.
Matt tells us he’s conflicted because they are both great women, but he can’t continue with both of them there. He really seems like he’s leaning toward keeping MJ, but in a surprise move, he tells her he can’t give her the rose and he walks her out. Bad b*tch on the move! Bad b*tch on the move!
Jessenia breathes a sigh of relief, but is she safe? The other women arrive and they aren’t sure if one or both women have gone home, and neither are we — until Jessenia walks in with the rose.
Everyone’s tired of the antics, Serena C. says, and they are ready to spend time with Matt before the rose ceremony. But instead of Matt, they get Chris Harrison, coming in to tell them that Matt is exhausted and doesn’t want a cocktail party. We’re going straight to the rose ceremony and they are not happy.
In the whack-a-mole spirit of what has to be the snippiest season of “The Bachelor” ever, one toxic personality leaves and another steps up to start trouble: Serena C. starts blaming Katie for everything.
Ryan and Michelle, two of the New Girls from Episode 4, go outside and let out a primal scream.
Same, ladies. Same.
At the rose ceremony, Serena C. is angry that Katie gets a rose, and unfortunately she gets one too, which means there’s going to be more arguing.
We lose Magi, the Ethiopian pharmacist, and also Ryan and Brittany, both from the New Girl group. Ryan sobs uncontrollably (she’s been here all of two weeks).
More fighting and a party crasher
Pieper gets the one-on-one date card. She has a real Zoë Kravitz vibe. Everything seems cool.
Except Serena C. decides she hates Katie so she goes to Katie’s room and knocks on her door to start a fight. The women can hear them screaming all over the house. Katie ends the fight with “thank you for your feedback” and walks away.
Serena C. goes back to the women to brag about her fight and to drag Katie, but Katie walks in, so the fight starts up again.
The rest of the women (and the viewers) are basically traumatized children trapped in a violent marriage, coloring quietly in a corner and praying for the fighting to stop.
(Actual text I sent to my editor at this point: “They need to stop arguing or I’m gonna have to resign.”)
Meanwhile, a car pulls up to the gate and we see security footage of Heather Martin trying to surprise-crash the season in the middle of a pandemic. You been isolating, Heather? Where’s your mask while talking to that security guard?
Chris Harrison comes out but stands about 40 feet away from her to ask her what she’s doing there. She gives him a story — which we all know by now is untrue — about how her friend Hannah told her about Matt and said “he is the perfect match for you.” So Heather tells Chris, “I couldn’t let him get engaged and not meet him, or not try my best.”
Chris reminds her that they are in quarantine. and she says that’s not going to stop her. Well, Chris is going to stop her. He tells her that he can’t let her in, but he’ll “take it up the hill” and talk to some people and get back to her — but it won’t be today.
Later in the show we see Heather at a hotel where she tells us she is quarantining for a few days and that she’ll hopefully get to meet with Matt soon.
A ‘magical’ carnival date for Matt and Pieper
Matt takes Pieper on a nighttime date in the woods and it’s feeling kind of creepy at first, but then Matt flips a giant switch and a small carnival appears.
There are rides. There are games. There is cotton candy. But we didn’t see any ham biscuits.
“Growing up going to the fair was something I looked forward to 365 days of the year,” Matt said. “That feeling I got when I walked through the gates and I saw all the lights, that was magical. And I hope Pieper feels that tonight.”
Pieper confirms that it feels magical, like something out of a movie.
They have a nice dinner later, and Matt gives her a rose. Then they dance as the country music group Temecula Road serenades them.
The dude-ettes must abide
The group date is a bowling date, Pink Petals vs Blue Bombshells. They wear bowling team shirts, and the winner gets to attend an after party with Matt while the losers have to head home.
The Pink Petals are victorious.
Back at the house, Katie and Pieper are chatting when the Blue Bombshells walk in, sad and dejected. They’re as blue as their shirts when Chris Harrison arrives to tell them they can come back to the party.
Just as the Pink Petals are saying they are glad it’s just the four of them there, the other women walk in.
At the end of the after party, Michelle, a school teacher from Minneapolis, gets the group date rose.
We also find out that Katie is getting a one-on-one date.
Well, that got a little weird
Tyler shows up to play some pool with Matt and offer advice on dating a bunch of women at one time. These guys have been friends since college, when they both played football at Wake Forest, and their love for each other is obvious.
Our time with Tyler seems disappointingly short, but when Katie shows up for her one-on-one date with Matt, Matt tells her that part of their date will be playing a joke on Tyler.
Tyler is on his way to get a massage, Matt tells her, but they have an actress playing the masseuse, and Katie and Matt will give crazy commands during the massage. Some of it is a little uncomfortable, if I’m being honest. Later, Matt and Katie sneak in and Matt takes over the massage.
“Having Katie right beside me torturing my best friend was incredible,” Matt says. Matt introduces Katie to Tyler, and Tyler, after having been molested for the past however many minutes, tells her, “Interesting way to meet you.”
Katie and Matt get to the romantic dinner portion of their date, and Matt has said way too much about Katie being “fun” for us to think this is going to end well. Katie might be in The Friend Zone.
Back at the house, a couple of the women — and not the mean ones — are saying they don’t think Katie is coming back from the date.
Then Matt does something I really, really hate on this show: he picks up the rose and holds it in front of Katie and then explains to her why he can’t give it to her. He could have had this conversation without actually holding the rose in front of her and then placing it back on the table.
Matt tells us that Katie is incredible but he’s not seeing her as his wife. Katie wishes him luck and rides away. She tells us that she didn’t see that coming.
“I know what I deserve and I deserve a man who knows what I have to offer,” Katie says. “I am what I am and there’s someone out there who wants that.” (Will Katie be the next Bachelorette? Some people are saying....)
Honestly, the worst part of this is seeing Serena C. gloat.
‘She’s had her time, go home’
We’re at another cocktail party, right before another rose ceremony, and just as the women say they’re excited that there are only 10 of them there, we see Heather driving — in an evening gown — to crash the party.
Let me say that again. She is driving herself to a cocktail party in an evening gown. Girl didn’t even get an SUV ride from producers. Not even an Uber!
She walks right into the hotel, walks right by the women, and walks in on Matt talking to Pieper. Matt laughs and hugs her and asks Pieper if he can have a minute. Pieper leaves and Heather says to Matt: “Nice to meet you.” Meet you?? Give us a break.
The other women are furious. Fuuuuuurrrrious!
“If you’re gonna let a new girl come in or if you’re going to give a new girl a rose over some of us who have been here for this long, you better marry that girl or the rest of us are gonna be p*ssed,” Chelsea says. Preach it!
In a preview for next week, we see the women going hard at Heather and Heather is crying, shocked — SHOCKED — that these women are not friendly to her. Oh, she has no idea!
There’s no way Matt’s keeping Heather, but we’ll have to come back next week to see for sure.
More about ‘Bachelor’ Matt James
James, who made news this past summer when he was named ABC’s first Black “Bachelor,” is 28 years old and works with a real estate investment firm in New York City. He is also involved in a program in New York that helps children affected by homelessness.
We will recap the show each week.
Catch up on our previous Matt James coverage:
▪ Raleigh’s Matt James named ABC’s first Black “Bachelor”
▪ Durham woman is a contestant on “The Bachelor”
▪ See Matt James in middle school yearbook photos
▪ Episode 1 recap: Meet, pray, love with Matt James
▪ Episode 2 recap: Matt James is a prince, but there’s an evil queen, too
▪ Episode 3 recap: The Sarah Show finale
▪ Episode 4 recap: A (literal) battle for Matt James
▪ Episode 5 recap: Matt James ousts bullies Victoria and Anna
How to watch ‘The Bachelor’
New episodes of “The Bachelor” air at 8 p.m. Mondays on ABC.
You can also stream “The Bachelor” the next day at abc.com/shows/the-bachelor or on Hulu.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 9:05 PM.
