So much to cover, where should we begin? Week 6 of the Bachelor served as a strong punctuation for the first half of the season. A climax, if you will. There was lots of build up, even more action — crying, backstabbing, pigs running — and some shocking revelations right before the curtain fell on Act I. We now enter Act II of this glorious opera. And shit’s about to get real.

This week’s episode picked up right where last week’s left off: with a flustered Ben pulling Olivia aside to discuss the accusations being lobbed at her by all the narcs in the house. Olivia, though, is no amateur. She knows how to play the game and responded with a strong and brilliant counter.

The poor lighting means this conversation is extra important.
The poor lighting means this conversation is extra important.

“I got the first group date rose from you,” she said to Ben. “After that I had a target on my back.”

You see that, that’s someone who’s been studying the Bachelor playbook. Instead of stooping to the level of the rest of the girls in front of Ben she flipped the script. I’m not the problem, they’re all just jealous of my awesomeness. A genius move from a strong talent who could step right into any Bachelor Paradise season and steal the show. Things might not have worked out for Olivia this year – more on that below – but if you look at this season as audition, well, suffice to say she passed.

After that quick Ben and Olivia heart-to-heart, it was time for the rose ceremony. There, Ben said goodbye to Jennifer, who might have said 12 words all season. That narrowed the field down to 10, all of whom joined Ben in the Bahamas.

The episode featured three dates: a one-on-one with Caila, a grouper with Amanda, Becca, JoJo, Lauren B, Leah and Lauren H, and then a two-on-one (!!!) with Olivia and Emily.

The one-on-one with Caila was essentially the same date Ben’s gone on with every girl this season: a day trip — only this one was on a boat instead of a plane — and a dinner that felt and sounded like a job interview. The one difference: we learned that Ben has a strange tattoo under his left shoulder. And that he likes wearing jean shorts.

The group date, though, was anything but conventional. Someone somewhere thought it’d be fun to have the ladies feed pigs. In the ocean. In bikinis, of course. It went about as well as you would imagine.

About Yaron Weitzman

Yaron Weitzman is a freelance writer based in New York whose work frequently appears on The Comeback, SB Nation and in SLAM Magazine. He's also been published on SB Nation Longform, The Cauldron, Tablet Magazine and in the Journal News. Yaron can be followed on Twitter @YaronWeitzman