‘The Bachelorette’ Season 13 Episode 5 Recap: The Racially Charged Drama Continues

In the time from last Monday to this Monday, all living beings on Earth have advanced one full week in their lives but The Bachelorette has become stuck in one moment: a racially charged conflict between Lee Garrett and Kenny Layne.

This week’s episode began with the two contestants discussing Lee’s manipulative ways on a gorgeous terrace in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Lee’s racism shines through as he refers to Kenny as a “stack of bleeding muscle.” Kenny keeps his cool but is nonetheless baited by Lee’s constant manipulations.

Lee eventually goes back into the house having worked up Kenny a little bit more. Will Gaskins, who is black, takes Lee aside and explains to him that the words he uses to describe Kenny carry very heavy racial undertones. Lee is aghast by the accusations and digs himself into a deeper hole by blaming Kenny for using the “race card.”

Despite all the awful things Lee has said and done on camera, the bachelorette Rachel Lindsay – or, more likely, the producers – keep him around by giving him a rose at the rose ceremony. There are no other surprises from the ceremony, for the most part. Jonathan Trecee, who is more commonly known as ‘The Tickle Monster,’ was sent home, but not before giving Rachel one last tickle “for the road.” Iggy Rodriguez, the gossip king of the house, was also sent home but not before telling the camera that he learned more about himself in the past several weeks than he had learned about himself in his whole 30 years on Earth.

For the one-on-one, Rachel picks Jack Stone, who, like Rachel, is an attorney in Dallas, Texas. On paper, the two should get along great but in reality, they don’t seem to mesh at all. On a carriage ride through Bluffton, South Carolina, Jack jokes to an unresponsive audience. When Rachel barely cracks a smile after his jokes, Jack explains that he is looking for a woman with a sense of humor.

Towards the end of the date, Jack tells the camera that he thinks that he is falling in love with Rachel but it is obvious this love is unrequited. He attempts to kiss her but she tells him that she is sick with a cold and that she doesn’t want him getting her germs. He says it’s ok but the kiss never happens. As expected, he does not get a rose.

The gang takes their first international trip to Oslo, Norway because Rachel thinks that traveling is the best way to get to know someone. When they arrive, Bryan Abasolo is invited on the one-on-one date. Rachel says that she wants to get to know him more on an emotional level because they’ve already become quite familiar on a physical one.

For the second week in a row, the date involves heights – either Rachel loves being high off the ground or the producers are growing increasingly more lazy, hence their use of racism as their major plot point. Bryan and Rachel rappel down from a ski jump 187 feet above ground. All the way down, Bryan grunts and Rachel squeals. At one point, Bryan tries again to get physical by panting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss,” when the two are still dangling at least 150 feet above ground. Rachel declines but, once back on the ground, the two make out while the poor attendants try to remove their harnesses.

Over dinner, Bryan tells Rachel that he is falling in love with her. While she doesn’t repeat his words back to him, it is clear that she is feeling the same. He gets the rose.

The boys head out for the group date in a gym where a group of professional hand-ballers are practicing. They are informed that they will compete for Rachel’s love by playing against each other.

The contestants emerge from the locker room wearing singlets – it should be noted that hand-ball players do not wear singlets. Everyone has managed to wear their outfit correctly except for Dean Unglert, who wears his jock strap on the outside and still, no one mentions it. Will emerges as the top scorer and top dog after telling the camera that he views this game as his chance to differentiate himself from the group.

Back at the house, Rachel gets some one-on-one time with several of the men until meeting with Peter Kraus. After briefly kissing, Peter pulls away and says that they shouldn’t because they still have so much ground to cover. Rachel suggests that they cover it in the hot tub.

After a steamy make-out session, the couple emerges three hours later. With a grin, Peter walks into a room where the other guys all give him dirty looks. Rachel too joins the room with a smile and she is greeted with the same amount of animosity, albeit, a little more passive than the emotions thrown Peter’s way.

Despite Peter’s “quality” time, Rachel gives the group date rose to Will for his efforts on the court.

The episode ends when Kenny, Lee, and Rachel are flown out into the middle of a field on a ridiculously staged two-on-one. Again, Rachel gets the two men to tell her their sides of the story, and once again, Rachel thinks that Kenny is lying to her. The final shot shows Kenny coming down a hill towards Lee laughing like a madman. The fight no one wanted to see is about to finally end.

The Bachelorette continues tonight as part of their special two night Kenny-Lee drama week at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.