Ben H. for Bachelor - Week 7 Power Rankings

Last week we said goodbye to 40% of the remaining girls going from 10 to 6 ladies. Production probably realized they’d hemorrhaged their budget on prop planes and helicopters earlier in the season and simply couldn’t afford to fly more than 6 women and Ben to Indiana for this week’s dates.

During the episode we saw an awkward 1-on-1 with Ben and Caila (where she pretty much tried to dump him nicely before backing off), the worst group date in recent memory (“Hey Ladies! Who wants to play with pigs in paradise?!?”) and a 2-on-1 that left Olivia stranded on a strip of beach in Mexico during a hurricane while Ben and Emily snuggled up in the helicopter back to the hotel.

Think about how much pig poop was floating around that water.

With Olivia no longer on the show, will this week be as fun? Where will the drama come from? Let’s hope the producers step in and stir the pot!

POWER 5

After last week’s episode, Chase and I each took a loss in our POWER 5. With 6 girls remaining, I have one left (Caila) and Chase has two (Caila and Becca).

Admin Note: To help you keep track of where our remaining POWER 5 contestants land in each of our weekly rankings, we will mark them with an *.

POWER RANKINGS

The Rules: We will rank the remaining Bachelor contestants. Points will be awarded each week based on how well each of us predict the contestants going home. For example, if Josh puts CONTESTANT A in spot 7 and Chase puts CONTESTANT A in spot 10 and CONTESTANT A goes home, Josh will get 7 points and Chase will get 10. 

The winner will be based on the player with the most points at the end of the season (this ain't golf, folks). 

We said sayonara to four women last week – Jennifer, Leah (WHO?!?!), Lauren H. and Olivia (providing more drama than the nightly news). The updated score leaves Chase far ahead. With little time to catch up, this season victory may be squarely in Chase’s corner again:

Chase: 164.5
Josh: 157

Check out this week's rankings below and keep track!

1. Lauren B., 25, Flight Attendant, Marina Del Rey, CA – Queen of the Laurens. Lauren is so much the GOAT of this season, if she dropped an album and only made it available on Tidal, Ben would buy a subscription. #LifeOfPablo. (Speaking of Kanye and his new album… aren’t we glad that Juan Pablo isn’t The Bachelor this season?) Anyway, Lauren B. is officially the Last-Lauren Standing because she beat out the Chicken Suit Lauren. She’s in the driver’s seat. And she is a lock to be in the fantasy suite in a few weeks.
2. *Becca, 26, Chiropractic Assistant, San Diego, CA – Whenever we reach this point in the season, I chug drink my wine and yell at the TV calmly think about how each of these girl’s need to act like they’ve been here before. It’s a ludicrous statement, I know, because seriously who has ever been in this strange situation where the person they’re falling in love is dating 5 other girls? But… each of these girls has watched this program before and realizes how things work. Becca is keeping her cool because she literally has been here before. She’s playing the game and is here for the right reasons… and we just may see her as next season’s Bachelorette if she ends up as the runner-up again this season.
3. *Caila, 24, Software Sales Representative, Hudson, OH – The freefall continues. This was one of the STRANGEST 1-on-1 dates I’ve seen in my storied history of watching this television program. Caila, a front-runner from the start of the season, was seemingly a sentence or two away from being sent home. It felt like she was breaking up with Ben. But instead they were just being unlovable together. Despite being the only girl to have not one but TWO 1-on-1 dates, #SexPanther is quickly losing her footing. But she wins the award for having all the feelings.
4. Amanda, 25, Esthetician, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – As I sit here and labor over these critical decisions, I’ve had Amanda as high as 2 and as low as 6. My gut says that Amanda should move up this week, but it isn’t really because of anything that she did. Caila’s indecisive craziness should drop her a spot, and Emily and JoJo aren’t currently fantasy-suite contenders. But my worry with Amanda is that this week might be the “It isn’t you, it is your kids” conversation. It happens every year. The Bachelor plays the “I can’t continue this charade of falling in love with you on national television while your kids are at home watching. It just isn’t fair to you. It isn’t fair to them.” The nation rejoices in our loving Bachelor realizing the REAL LIFE implications of keeping her around for even longer and we move onto the hometown visit. I don’t know if it happens this year, though. 
5. Emily, 22, Twin, Las Vegas, NV – There are two tiers of contenders in my mind. The top 4 are pretty well defined while smart money is on Emily to make it another couple weeks. If you survive the 2-on-1 date, you’re doing something right. BUT you can’t read into her victory too much. This wasn’t an Emily win as much as it was an OLIVIA IS ABSOLUTELY CRAZY loss. I’m keeping Emily ranked 5th because in my heart, I refuse to believe that The Bachelor franchise would truly allow Ben to go on a hometown date with Emily. Can you imagine that? Ben rolling in and seeing Mama Twin again? It is such an amazing proposition, that it just might happen.
6. JoJo, 24, Real Estate Developer, Dallas, TX – Listen. Can you really blame her? If your boyfriend (who is dating 9 other girls) took you on a date with those other girls and told you GO PLAY WITH THE PIGS wouldn’t you be a little salty, too? I’d probably be angry because Ben straight trolled the girls by telling them the universal sign for the pigs to leave them alone was making an X over their chest with their arms. Yeah, okay. Pigs know sign language, Ben. JoJo has had a good run, but I don’t think she makes it to hometowns.

1. Lauren B., 25, Flight Attendant, Marina Del Rey, CA – Ben claims this season left him in love with two people. I am 100% confident Lauren B. is one of those two people. But it leaves so many questions. Will he pick Lauren B. in the end? Will he move to Utah and pick her and another girl? Wait he didn’t say he was in love with two girls – is he in love with Lauren B. AND Chris Harrison?!?!?! Who knows. But for now, the last remaining Lauren is solidly in the #1 spot.
2. Amanda, 25, Esthetician, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – The previews after last week’s episode show Ben meeting Amanda’s Mini-Me 1 and Mini-Me 2 so we know she’ll get past this week. But I can’t imagine that he sees a viable future with a woman who already has a squad assembled back at home. 
3. *Caila, 24, Software Sales Representative, Hudson, OH – I love Caila. But though she got a rose on her 1-on-1 last week, it was rocky. Her speech at the end of their 1-on-1 dinner sounded more like she was ready to be the next Bachelorette than Ben’s fiancée. 
4. Becca, 26, Chiropractic Assistant, San Diego, CA – Other than their 1-on-1 in Vegas, B² (Becca and Ben) hasn’t shown much promise. Their relationship needs an adjustment if she wants to make it to the Final 2. LOL chiropractor jokes.
5. Emily , 22, Twin, Las Vegas, NV – She survived the 2-on-1 with Olivia in what appeared to be a full-fledged hurricane (a feat in it of itself) and snagged the rose from Ben. It’s a vote of confidence to be sure. But her age (“she’s feeling 22”) and lack of career (don’t forget she’s a professional twin, y’all) is going to spell doom for this relationship. 
6. JoJo, 24, Real Estate Developer, Dallas, TX – It’s tough to put JoJo in the last spot when she admitted her ability to make a killer quesadilla in her contestant bio. If she gets an opportunity to whip one up for Ben – it would go perfectly with his drink during the cocktail party – she could flip this season on its head. If not, this subprime relationship will crumble in front of us (we always knew it was a risk). LOL real estate jokes.