Cupid's Pulse Article: ‘The Bachelorette’ Season 7, Episode 2: Ashley Gambles Her Heart in VegasCupid's Pulse Article: ‘The Bachelorette’ Season 7, Episode 2: Ashley Gambles Her Heart in Vegas

By Jennifer Harrington

It’s been a week since we’ve met Ashley’s bachelors and rumors continue to swirl about Bentley’s intentions.  Here’s a rundown of last night’s episode in Sin City.  Let’s see how the guys made out:

One of our early favorites, William, was given the first one-on-one date.  If you tuned in half-way through the show, you would have thought you were watching a wedding reception.  From the selection of rings and Ashley’s white dress to nearly-delivered vows, it was nothing short of a love fest as these two voiced their strong feelings for each other.  William’s declaration that “this is the kind of date where you know you will marry the person” had me wondering if they were going to hail a cab and head to the closest wedding chapel.  After a fabulous dinner against the backdrop of the Bellagio fountains, William was (not surprisingly) given a rose.

Following William’s self-declared “best date ever,” Ashley invited 12 contestants to the Monte Carlo hotel for a group date that would test the men’s “ability to move.”  They were split into two teams of six, where the winning team would perform in the “Jabbawockeez” show later that night, while the losing team would catch the next flight back to Los Angeles.  We were happy to say that the winning dancers included two more of our early favorites, Blake and West.

To add some drama to the night…Ashley awarded Bentley the group rose!  Yes, the guy who she was initially warned against before the season began is rumored to be using the show to promote himself.  Last night, this season’s bad-boy told the camera that the “game is over before we hit the start button,” confidently stating that he has Ashley wrapped around his finger.  Oh, Ashley – if you could only see what we see.  Oh, wait!  The show is taped so you CAN see what we see.  We just hope you saw it all before it came down to the last man standing!  And when you look back at the preview of this episode, everything we saw proved true.

The last date of the week was a first for the Bachelor franchise: a coin toss to determine who would get the one-on-one date.  The men in competition were construction manager JP and chef Mickey.  Flipping a coin became a theme throughout the night, as dozens of tosses took place to determine how the evening would go.  Though Mickey wouldn’t be our top choice given Ashley’s independent nature, this self-proclaimed momma’s boy got a rose thanks to the lucky coin toss.

The stakes were high at the end of the Vegas trip as Ashley handed out the remaining roses at the ceremony while boldly stating, “I think my husband is standing in the room.”  The rose ceremony, minus the drama surrounding masked-man Jeff (who at one point considered revealing his face) was fairly routine, as Ashley handed out roses to West, Constantine, Ryan P. (winner of this season’s first impression rose), Ben C., Nick, Ames, Lucas, Jeff, JP, Chris, Ben F. and Blake (the dentist who doesn’t seem to have much of a connection with Ashley and thinks their personalities may be too similar for a romantic spark).

So this concludes an “amazing week of dates,” in the words of Brad Womack’s snubbed lady!  We’ll be back on Friday to preview the next episode of The Bachelorette.  Until then, what do you think of Ashley’s decision to give a rose to Jeff?  We want to know…do you think the mask is corny or clever?