NEW YORK -- This time last week the biggest question on our minds was whether or not Kat would "burn Paradise down" after speaking with Tanner. But after this week's episode, it feels like we have been left with more questions than answers. Can Jess and Blake move forward with one another after kissing other people? Will Aaron B. and Eliza survive Charity's arrival? And, who will break Rachel's heart next?
Last week on Bachelor in Paradise, Tanner went on a date with Davia on Kat's birthday. Kat was upset for the rest of the day but seemed to have started to come to terms with Tanner's decision by night. After all, she discovered a helpful coping mechanism.
"She definitely took her aggression out on a piñata," Brayden said.
Tanner wakes from his extended slumber and pulls Kat to talk. He tells Kat he loves her "as a person," but ultimately he feels he and Kat have different personalities and he does not see her as his wife. Kat is mad that Tanner is breaking up with her, as she feels she was done with him first.
"He did not just break up with me," Kat said adamantly.
After the dissolution of another short-lived pairing, the couples at the start of this episode are:
Aven - Kylee
Peter - Sam
Brayden - Rachel
Tyler - Mercedes
Blake - Jess
John Henry - Olivia
Tanner - Davia
Single: Kat
Genevie from Zach's season enters Paradise, and she says she is ready to find love. She pulls Tyler and Blake to chat and decides to ask Blake out on the date. She says that she likes that he is older, and she feels that with age comes maturity. Blake says "yes" to the date and then asks Jess to talk. On last week's episode, we saw Blake tell Jess he was going to give her space to explore other relationships, and now the tables have turned. Jess is upset that Blake is going on a date with someone else, but she knows it would be selfish of her not to let him go.
"I won't be around, you can explore things you need to explore without me being here," Blake said.
Kat decides she is going from sad girl summer to hot girl summer, and says she is starting to find John Henry really hot. John Henry and Olivia have been coupled up after the previous rose ceremony and their date together, but Kat does not seem to care.
"Kat is homie hopping," Brayden said.
"It's just like so sad because I feel like for the first time I kind of let my guard down, and of course this would happen and for what
Becca, from Zach's season who got sent home night one, arrives to the beach. Becca pulls both John Henry and Brayden to talk and decides to ask Brayden out on the date. Brayden pulls Rachel to talk after accepting the date, as he went on a date with Rachel the day prior. Rachel seems fine to let him go on the date when they chat, but she cries in her confessional later. She says she let her guard down around him, and for the first time on the beach, she was feeling a real connection.
"I just feel so dumb in so many capacities," Rachel said.
Gen and Blake have a very sweet date kayaking in the water. They talk and laugh together, and it seems as though these two down-to-earth people are building a strong foundation together.
"In a good way, I was not thinking about Jess," Blake said. "Back in Paradise, Jess is figuring things out. Is she missing me? Is she not thinking about me at all?"
In what makes our first love square of this season of Paradise, Jess and Tyler start to establish a connection back on the beach. Tyler has been coupled up with Mercedes since they went on a date together, and Tyler refers to her as "my girl" even when he is clearly feeling Jess.
"If I did get a date card, I would take you on that date," Tyler told Jess. "I want to have that time with you, for sure."
Brayden and Becca have what might be the most romantic date Paradise has ever seen, as they sit on the floor and take turns slurping oysters. I am suddenly reminded why they usually avoid showing people eating on television shows. Becca tells Brayden he looks like Johnny Depp, and Rachel does not even seem to be a thought in Brayden's mind.
"I thought I had the best first date I'd ever been on yesterday, and this one kind of just blew it out of the water," Brayden said.
Earlier in the episode, Kat pulled Eliza aside to say that Charity had told her to watch out for Aaron B. on the beach. Apparently, a former girlfriend of Aaron B.'s had messaged Charity to tell her that he had a girlfriend when he went on her season of the Bachelorette. Eliza does not know what to make of this claim, especially coming from Kat, so she decides to bring it up to Aaron B. In response, Aaron B. shares a very convoluted timeline of his relationships with two different women in the last six months leading up to Charity's season. Little does Eliza know, Aaron B. had been going into that night hoping to make Eliza his girlfriend.
"I'm so confused," Eliza said. "I just hearing months... I could not follow. That man was talking for ten minutes about his exes."
Charity, the most recent Bachelorette, comes down to the beach to talk to the girls and see several of her exes. Eliza pulls Charity to talk, and she asks Charity about Aaron B. Over by the bar, Wells asks Aaron B. what the most important thing he needs to deal with tonight is.
"Honestly, I need to make sure Charity is okay, and Eliza is okay," Aaron B. said. "I also need to make sure that Kat is not spreading this because she started this."
In the preview, we will continue to see the fallout from Charity's arrival on the beach. Plus, Blake and Gen return from their date. We will learn whether or not Jess and Blake will decide to make their relationship work. And, I hope we find out how Mercedes feels about Tyler kissing Jess. Plus, Olivia and Kat will continue to fight for John Henry's heart (or his tongue).
"Bachelor in Paradise" airs Thursdays on ABC following "The Golden Bachelor."