The Bachelorette Recap: Love and Basketball (Season 13 Episode 2)

It’s the morning after the first rose ceremony, and The Bachelorette‘s Rachel Lindsay wakes up ready to “put herself out there again.” She’s nervous, anxious, and excited to get this thing started and to open herself up to finding love again on The Bachelorette season 13 episode 2.

That 70s Date

Chris Harrison enters the mansion and asks the men how they’re feeling — and they all have nothing but wonderful things to say about their bachelorette. Still, Harrison hopes they’re all here for the “right reasons”. After explaining the concept of a group date (which they should really already know…), he leaves them with the first group date card of the season.

The lucky men invited are Dean, Jack, John, Blake, Iggy, Kenny, Fred, and Lucas, and the card boldly reads: “I’m looking for husband material.”

They say cheers in celebration — followed by a gleeful “whaboom” from Lucas — and head off to learn what’s in store for them.

Once they greet Rachel on a grassy outdoor lawn, the date begins with a casual game of touch football, during which Lucas takes the reigns and makes every attempt to steal Rachel’s attention. The other men — namely Blake — are not impressed.

Moving on, the group takes a walk across the grass and runs into none other than Hollywood power couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher (say what???!!!).

The couple claims to have started watching every Bachelor-related series a few years back, after hearing that one of the franchise’s contestants looked like Ashton (somewhere, Jared Haibon is undoubtedly freaking out). And because they love Rachel so much, they recently called up the show’s producers and asked to be a part of her season (on screen, Rachel does a good job of internalizing her own freak out).

Mila and Ashton present to the group the “Husband Material Challenge”, for which the men will complete 6 challenges to prove whether they are ready to be a husband and father. Ashton then boldly predicts that “Rachel’s guy” is not present for this date, so his expectations re: their performances in this challenge are apparently pretty low.

The games begin, and Lucas takes the initial lead after the first diaper changing round. He falls slightly behind, however, while putting on the bjorn to carry his baby (doll).

The vacuuming round allows Lucas to regain his lead, and as he and Kenny race toward the finish neck and neck, he shocks everyone by physically shoving Kenny aside.

None of the other men are pleased, but Lucas is still named the winner of the challenge. How ironic that the biggest child of the group is deemed the best “husband material”… perhaps this game needs some tweaking?

After Mila and Ashton say their goodbyes, the group heads to a fun-filled bar stocked with neon lights and old-school arcade games.

Rachel starts the mingling portion of the evening by pulling Lucas aside to discuss his victory. While they’re gone, Blake addresses the group and reveals that he knew Lucas before coming on the show, so he therefore knows for a fact that he’s a phony.

The other men appear far less concerned — they think highly of Rachel and believe she will see through anyone there for the wrong reasons. Rachel, however, claims to like that Lucas continuously surprises her.

But after several more one-on-one conversations, Rachel reveals to the camera that she can’t seem to turn the corner with any of these guys and find a spark that separates friendship from potential love.

Blake, who’s apparently never seen this show before, makes matters worse and decides to use his private time with Rachel to throw Lucas under the bus. Should someone let this guy know that tattling on another contestant never works out in the end?

Although Rachel finally feels something during her sweet conversation with Kenny, it’s Dean who earns the very first group date rose. He giddily accepts, then cheekily asks her to keep him in mind for the next one-on-one date. They share a goodnight kiss that Rachel describes as sweet, sensual, and genuine.

Puppy Love

Rachel’s first one-on-one is with Peter, and she’s super excited to get to know him better. But before they’ve even left the mansion, she drops a bomb on him: their date will actually be a two-on-one — her dog Copper is joining them too!

Copper limps over with a sad little cast on his paw, having apparently gotten into a recent accident. The trio then hops onto a private jet and flies off to spend the day in Palm Springs, as one does while on a first date.

They exit the plane, walk to the site of their date and, to Peter’s surprise, find themselves at “Bark Fest”, a big poolside puppy festival!

Rach and Peter have a doggone good time, though she can’t help but look forward to their private evening together so that she can continue get to know him “on a deeper level.”

Rachel’s wish is granted, and she and Peter have an amazing time getting to know each other over their (uneaten) dinner. Bonding over everything from the gaps in their smiles to their similar experiences seeing a relationship therapist, they prove to be incredibly compatible.

Unsurprisingly, Peter is offered and accepts the date rose, and he and Rachel seal the night with a kiss under their own private fireworks display.

Rachel Gets Court-ed

This week’s second and final group date finds the remaining men competing for Rachel’s attention — literally — on the basketball court. They’re joined by the legendary Kareem Abdul Jabbar, thrilling both the men and Rachel, who played basketball throughout her childhood.

Rachel says she’s looking for someone who isn’t intimidated by this whole experience, so the men suit up and take the court to prove they’re in it to win it, no matter the challenge.

DeMario stands out as a front runner both in the game and in Rachel’s eyes. If it’s confidence Rachel is looking for, he’s certainly her type. Between plays, he takes time to tell the camera, “D is for DeMario, dunking, and defense.”

Everything changes, however, when the game ends and a woman named Lexi introduces herself to Rachel. She claims that she was DeMario’s girlfriend for seven months before turning on her TV and seeing him arrive to meet Rachel on last season’s After the Final Rose special.

Apparently, they never even broke up — instead, DeMario ghosted her mid-relationship and left for the show without a word. Rachel believes her completely at first and leaves to pull DeMario from the locker room, ready to confront him with Lexi by her side.

DeMario — though blindsided — stands his ground. He claims he and Lexi went out for a while, but that she’s “crazy” and he ended things with her in person long before coming on the show.

His attempt at saving the situation soon fails when Lexi hands Rachel her phone, on which DeMario’s most recent text messages are still saved. Her story holds up, and his does not.

Rachel is rightfully MAD. Having already sent home men who genuinely wanted to be there for her, she tells DeMario: “I’m not here to be played. I’m not here to be made a joke of… so I’m going to need you to get the f**** out.” And with that, Rachel is officially the greatest bachelorette of all time (as though that wasn’t already a given).

With nothing left to say, DeMario obeys. But as he walks out the door, Rachel threatens to leave too. She hates being played, and appears to be angry at everyone involved in this dramatic turn of events — for which she was completely unprepared.

Thankfully, she’s able to move forward, and after confronting the other men and telling them what’s gone down, she goes on with the evening’s cocktail party.

And after spending time with the lovely gentlemen still remaining, Rachel is left feeling more confident than before that there are true and honest men here for her. It’s Josiah who receives the date rose, having shown her a protective side that made her feel comforted after the day’s unexpected events. But overall, Rachel leaves the date impressed  with each and every one of the men who were there.

It Ain’t Over till It’s Over

It’s time for the end-of-week Rose Ceremony, and Rachel arrives at the cocktail party looking like a greek goddess in a gold-accented jumpsuit.

The evening is going well when things once again take a turn for the dramatic — DeMario returns to the mansion in hopes of speaking with Rachel one more time. And though she has zero intentions of forgiving him, Rachel’s curiosity gets the best of her and she agrees to meet with him outside.

The other men find out what’s going on, and they are not happy. As Rachel makes her way to the front patio, they rant and rave about what they would do if DeMario stepped foot inside the mansion.

Then, of course, the episode comes to an end, and we’re left with an ominous “to be continued…”.

Should Rachel give DeMario another chance, or did she make the right decision the first time around? Let us know what you think in the comments, and tune in next week when The Bachelorette returns, Monday at 8/7c on ABC.

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