Good Morning Vietnam!!!!

Juan Pablo and the 11 remaining ladies jet off to Vietnam as we begin Week 5 of this “amazing journey.”

Renee gets the first one-on-one this week with a date card that reads “Are we the right fit?”

Renee and JP rent bicycles in Hoi An and spend some time shopping. Juan Pablo gets her fitted for a traditional Vietnamese dress and they have a great night together. I think Renee is my favorite from the season, she is so sweet and down-to-earth. It becomes more obvious every week that she could do so much better than Juan Pablo. JP still refuses to kiss her and she seems okay with it. Despite the fact that he obviously isn’t that into her, Renee still gets the rose.

Back at the hotel, the group date card arrives for Kat, Clare, Cassandra, Danielle, Alli, Andi, Sharleen, Chelsie and Kelly. It reads “Can you go with the flow?”

They girls meet Juan Pablo for a boat ride down the river in a Vietnamese boat. The boats only fit two people each and since Clare didn’t have a teammate she got to ride with JP. So after he doesn’t kiss Renee last night (because of Camila) he has no problem making out with Clare on the group date.

Kelly and the rest of the ladies aren’t happy that JP is basically having another one-on-one date with Clare right in front of them. She wore the Stella & Dot On the Mark Necklace ($59):

They stopped for lunch at Tra Que Village and to do some work on the farm…not really my idea of a vacation. Sharleen wore the Stella & Dot Maya Pendant ($39):

At the cocktail party jealousy is flying as JP asks Clare for the first alone time of the evening. Andi is really put off by this, along with the rest of the girls. Andi wore a pink maxi dress and the Pave Duo Necklace ($32) from BaubleBar. This Go Jane Coral Maxi Dress ($28) is similar:

Clare is on a high with Juan Pablo, he has paid her special attention and even invited her back to his private suite for a swim. She wore a bright blue maxi dress with her trademark Believe necklace (see Week 2). This Maxi Tank Dress ($69.99) from The Limited is similar:

Sharleen’s up next and she wants JP to see her as a panda in a room full of brown bears. Unfortunately, I think that might be a little too deep for him. She is also great at rocking the backless dress, this black and white striped one is fabulous. This Stripe Maxi Dress ($141) by Eight Sixty is a great match:

Kelly wore an Alexis Bittar Spear Necklace ($155) and deep purple maxi dress. This Royal Grapevine Dress ($48) is similar:

Much to the dismay of the other women, Clare gets the group date rose, but that doesn’t stop her from continuing her group date high. She sneaks out of the hotel to meet up with Juan Pablo. They end up having a very steamy swim in the ocean. There was a lot of controversy around this and I don’t think they had sex in the water. You can read Clare’s People interview on the topic here.

Previous contestants and even Reality Steve doesn’t think that they did it in the ocean. As I’m writing this we are at the end of the season so I think it doesn’t really matter anymore – she obviously slept with him at some point, so does it matter if it was in the ocean or in the fantasy suite. I think Clare was on a high on this date, this was probably the peak of her journey on the show and she went for it…I can’t blame her for that. Everything he did on that date led her to think that her attention was warranted. In this situation, JP is the textbook definition of leading someone on.

Nikki gets the final date card that reads “Let’s have a hell of a good time.” Juan Pablo gives Nikki her surprise, which is rappelling down into a cave called “Hell.” She is terrified, but totally impressed me with her courage. I would not have done that date, but she didn’t go back and forth about it. This is the best I’ve seen Juan Pablo so far, he was very supportive of Nikki and genuinely helped her overcome her fear.

Until he tells her that he didn’t sleep well last night – which we all know is because he stayed up late with Clare. They end up having a great conversation and JP gives her the rose.

At the cocktail party, JP sets the tone by telling the women that he plans to let three people go. Andi is insecure about where she fits in, so JP distracts her with besitos (kisses). She wore the sold-out Naven Heartthrob Dress. This Amanda Uprichard Madison Tulip-Skirt Dress ($77.35) is similar:

Renee finally gets her kiss from Juan Pablo and their relationships finally seems to be moving forward. At this point I wasn’t sure if they had waited too long and she would get stuck in the friend zone. She wore a soldout Gianni Bini Becca Strapless Colorblock Dress. I found this BCBGMAXAZRIA Kira One Shoulder Colorblock Dress ($186.99) this provides a similar style:

Then things totally blew up when Juan Pablo decided to take back his ocean rendezvous with Clare and tell her that he made a mistake. I really don’t understand what the point of this was. There was no problem and he had to make a problem. In my opinion this was the beginning of the decline of their relationship. She wore the sold-out Nightcap Belize Victorian Lace Dress in Hot Orange. This Ellen Tracy Women’s Cap Sleeve Belted Lace Dress ($42.33) was the closest I could find to match this look:

At the end of the day Juan Pablo sends Danielle, Kelly and Alli home. Juan Pablo seemed really upset about it at this ceremony. He was actually more upset than the girls.

Next week the ladies and JP are off to New Zealand!

For this week’s deleted scenes we have Sharleen and Juan Pablo talking about their must-have qualities in a significant other:

The second clip is Juan Pablo and Kat talking about The Bachelor experience:

For the last video we get to hear what Clare really thinks of Nikki:

What did you think of this episode and what was your take on the Clare/Juan Pablo ocean rendezvous?

I enjoy reading Bachelor spoilers and if you are interested in finding out what happens in advance you can check out Reality Steve for more information. He also has great behind the scenes details on which cast-offs are dating and who is going take the final rose this season.

If you missed Week 5 you can watch it online here.

Juan Pablo posted his Week Five Bachelor blog on People that you can read here.

Chris Harrison posted his Week Five Bachelor blog here.

Last season’s Bachelorette, Desiree Hartsock posted her recap here.

To catch up on Jason & Molly Mesnick’s podcast, click here.

To read Trista Rehn’s Bachelor blog, click here.

For more Bachelor posts, click here.