Warning: major spoilers ahead for the September 9 episode of Bachelor in Paradise Season 6 on ABC.
From the very beginning of Bachelor in Paradise's sixth season, drama surrounding Blake Horstmann threatened to take over everything else. Admittedly, there have been lulls in the Blake craziness, but even a literal fistfight over a piñata and John Paul Jones ruining a wedding weren't enough to outshine Blake, Stagecoach, and the aftermath. That said, the events of the September 9 episode and a big confession from Blake's latest lady love in the game, a.k.a. the confusing Kristina Schulman, may have put an end to the Blake drama for good.
Blake and Kristina have been exchanging "friendship roses" for a while to keep each other in the game, and Kristina's motivations were always kind of hard to figure out. Did she really want to make Blake her "bitch," as she claimed at the very beginning? Was she giving him roses to make him suffer by watching Hannah Godwin with Dylan Barbour? Was she upset about Caelynn Miller-Keyes? Did she want another shot at Blake? Her position seemed to change regularly, but the latest development had Blake and Kristina getting cozy again, and Blake seemed all-in on her.
Whether he was genuinely all-in because it took Paradise to realize that Kristina was the woman for him or he just decided on Kristina because he struck out with all the other ladies despite starting the season as the most wanted guy on the beach is up for debate, but he did go to the effort in the September 9 episode of setting up a cute little date for Kristina, complete with date card.
If Blake's date for Kristina wasn't completely overshadowed by JPJ throwing a prom for Tayshia because she'd confessed to never going when she was in high school, it might have been the sweetest gesture of the night. Honestly, for two of the most controversial guys in Season 6 not sporting facial hair, they did throw some pretty sweet special occasions together for their ladies.
Unfortunately, Blake showed an astonishing lack of awareness throughout the episode, when it became clearer and clearer that Kristina just wasn't as into him as he was into her. So, when Blake brought her to their date and tried to snuggle up to her, surrounding by snacks and champagne and the sounds of the surf, her confession that she didn't see them having a future together completely threw him.
To her credit, Kristina did try to let him down as gently as possible, and her days of wanting to make him her bitch seemed long gone. She was also firm that she didn't think she could get to the same place as Blake was, and she went to the other people in Paradise and said her goodbyes, not intending to stay after she broke Blake's heart. (Take note, Demi!) Kristina removed herself from the equation.
And then, so did Blake. Whether or not his feelings for Kristina really were strong enough to have sustained a real relationship beyond Paradise, his devastation at her turning him down seemed genuine to me. He was crying pretty heavily, and he didn't even recover enough to say a collected goodbye to everybody left in Paradise. He too decided to leave rather than try his hand at love again, so soon after Kristina.
So, all signs point toward the end of the Blake drama, but we can't be too confident of anything in this season of Bachelor in Paradise. Despite Dean Unglert leaving Paradise of his own volition and breaking Caelynn's heart on her birthday, he returned a couple episodes later to ask her to leave with him, and she did.
Chris Harrison also whisked Kristian Haggerty in for Demi Burnett when Demi wasn't too confident about poor Derek. Anything seems possible this season of Paradise, and more drama is probably going to unfold when the contestants get back together. We'll have to wait and see.
This episode alone saw the voluntary departures of Caelynn, Kristina, and Blake, and some more folks will be leaving soon with the coming rose ceremony. Are engagements going to happen soon, or are some of the most solid couples bound to break up? Find out with new episodes of Bachelor in Paradise on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
