The Bachelor Winter Games is more than just a way to pass the time between Bachelor episodes and reading each of The Bachelor Spoilers that leaks.
It"s also a wild ride. This episode saw a very memorable Ghost homage on a surprisingly successful date. There was also an epic kissing contest with high stakes.
But Ben Higgins realized that he was in the wrong place. After talking it over and crying over Lauren Bushnell, he decided that it was time to leave.
For starters, it turns out that Dean and Lesley aren"t just both beautiful — they"re both pretty good with a pair of skis, blowing everyone away as they raced down the slopes.
Josiah couldn"t help shading Dean Unglert at little — referring to Dean having "so many women at his disposal."
It sounds like a compliment or perhaps even a neutral description, but it"s to remind everyone of Dean"s disastrous love triangle in Paradise.
And Clare is much harsher about it.
(Oh, Deanie Babies, the Bachelor Nation is still so disappointed in you)
However, Dean and Lesley won two date cards and after a lot of soul-searching, decided to hand off one of them to Kevin and Ashley. Which is how we got this:
That"s right, folks.
Kevin Wendt and Ashley Iaconetti did a full-on Ghost reenactment.
You"d think that a date that includes Ashley confessing that she"s a virgin would be spent awkwardly, but Kevin was totally understanding.
(He is, after all, Canadian — politeness is kind of their brand)
That didn"t stop either of them from enjoying their spin pottery date. And Ashley said that she could really see herself falling for Kevin.
A lot of folks are rooting for these two.
After Tiffany realizes that it was time to say goodbye, Ben Higgins started questioning whether The Bachelor Winter Games was really best for him at the moment.
This resulted in the tearful heart-to-heart that he had with Chris Harrison, which you can see in the video below.
"Coming back to a place like this really brings up a lot of weird memories."
He says that he"s haunted by the "ghosts" of his past, which means that this would have made a great Halloween episode. Alas.
"And then, to try to engage in relationships here, and know that the last time that I did this was one of the best moments of my life. …"
Sometimes, you don"t know that you"re in the wrong place until you"re there.
"But, right here, right now, it just doesn"t feel right."
"My fear is not entering into a relationship, my fear is not pursuing somebody."
But he does know what his real fear is:
"My fear is that if I [were] to be broken again, I"m not full enough right now to recover from that."
We can totally understand that. You need to feel secure in yourself, emotionally. Some wounds stay raw for longer than you would think.
And perhaps being on The Bachelor Winter Games has exacerbated that.
And then he talks about what sounds like being deeply impacted by comments and fan speculation — and not only that which was hurtful or intentionally hurtful.
By leaving, Ben Higgins (and Michael and Yuki) missed out on the kissing contest, which was judged by Rachel Lindsay, JoJo Fletcher, and Arie Luyendyk Jr.
Which means that Dean, Luke, Josiah, and Bibiana were engaging in a makeout contest … in front of their exes.
Awkward beyond reason.
The best kissing was definitely Ashley and Kevin — they got a standing ovation.
The worst? Josiah and Ally. Ally threw up right beforehand, and that"s just not a recipe to a good kiss.
Take a look at Ben"s tearful conversation and decide for yourself if he was right to leave:
