The Bachelor 2023 recap: Contenders, pretenders and power rankings after ep. 3

Week three means drama, pool parties and some NFL legends.

Welcome to Week 3 of Zach Shallcross’s journey on The Bachelor,

Kaity got one of the two coveted one-on-one dates, and for maybe the first time in Bachelor history, this is a date I’d actually want to go on. Zach took Kaity into the Natural History Museum, and they got to walk among the fossils and exhibits alone and in the dark. She receives not only a rose, but an invitation from Zach to – gasp – spend the night with him in the museum.

For the week’s group date, Zach welcomed NFL legends Shawne Merriman and Antonio Gates for Bachelor Bowl 5. If you were looking for the worst possible football imaginable, you’re in luck. With team names like the Ball-Zachs and Shall-Crushers, your expectations should be low.

A “thrilling” 14-7 victory for the Ball-Zachs meant the ladies from the blue team got to go to the afterparty (a.k.a. the night date). Things got a little dramatic at the afterparty with one woman being sent home early and another deciding to embrace her full villain.

Aly got the second one-on-one date where Zach made her tandem sky dive. As a former aviator, I am staunchly against jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, but it seemed like they had fun.

Instead of a cocktail party, we got a pool party. That means day drinking and messiness, led by Brianna salting the earth as she departs the show. Only one woman is sent home from the rose ceremony, though three total left this week.

Let’s get into the contenders, pretenders, those that have work to do and our Top five.