Entertainment

Arie’s Upcoming Two-On-One Date Sounds Like A Recipe For Serious 'Bachelor' Drama

by Kristie Rohwedder
Paul Hebert/ABC

If you had some feelings about Arie Luyendyk Jr. offering up his final rose to Krystal Nielson on the Monday, Jan. 29 episode of The Bachelor, you're definitely going to have some feelings about the next episode. Arie, Kendall Long, and Krystal will go on The Bachelor two-on-one date on the Feb. 5 episode, according to an ABC press release. Oh, yeah. It is on.

“Krystal and Kendall face off during the two-on-one date that ends with a romantic kiss at the top of the Eiffel Tower for one woman," ABC teases in the press release. Later on, the announcement elaborates,

"Arie takes Krystal and Kendall to a beautiful chateau for their feared two-on-one date. The women argue and then at dinner, Arie makes a dramatic choice and takes the lucky bachelorette to the top of the Eiffel Tower where the two kiss while the other woman is left to wonder what went wrong."

Oof, this is going to be good. The Bachelor/ette two-on-one date is, as any fan knows, one of the show’s more intense traditions. Now, if you are not familiar with the two-on-one date, here’s how it works: Two Bachelor/ette contestants join the Bachelor/ette on a date. The Bachelor/ette hangs out with the two contestants. By the end of the date, the Bachelor/ette must decide which contestant will get a rose and which contestant will be sent packing. More often than not, the show picks the “villain” of the season and someone who butted heads with the “villain” earlier in the season to face off on the two-on-one.

And if anyone's a villain this season, it's probably Krystal. Episode after episode, Krystal has done some things that’ve rubbed the rest of the cast the wrong way and, as a result, has created some great reality TV. She’s asked to steal Arie for a second during a cocktail hour when she already had a rose. She’s asked to steal Arie for a second multiple times in one cocktail hour. She’s asked to steal Arie for a second right before a rose ceremony after Chris Harrison said there wouldn’t be a cocktail hour. And she pretended like she was going to ditch a post-bowling cocktail hour, only to show up to the get-together at the last minute. She's playing to win, yes, but her strategy hasn't been well-received. And so, Krystal's been dubbed the villain of Season 22.

Kendall may not be Krystal’s number-one adversary (that title probably goes to Bekah Martinez), but the taxidermy-loving creative director from Santa Clarita is one of the contestants who called out Krystal for throwing a tantrum after the group date at the bowling alley. So, it checks out that The Bachelor would pick these two to go head to head on a two-on-one.

OK, a couple of things. First of all, will Arie conduct the elimination at the Eiffel Tower or at the chateau? Yeah, "at dinner, Arie makes a dramatic choice" makes it sound like he cuts someone at the chateau. But what if he makes the choice at dinner, only to not say anything until everyone's at the Eiffel Tower? And what if he eliminates someone while they're standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower? Oh, that'd make for quite a dramatic scene.

Think about it: Instead of being left on a quiet island or at the Badlands, she’d have to wade through hordes of tourists snapping selfies and enjoying picnics on Champ de Mars. It’s one thing to be “stranded” on a remote island as the Bachelor helicopters away with another contestant; tromping through crowds of happy people in the City of Love after being cut from a reality dating show would be almost too much to bear. Again, that's probably not be how this two-on-one unfolds, but if it is? Whew, that'll be quite a gnarly exit.

Moving on to question number two: If Arie ends up picking Krystal over Kendall, will the rest of the cast mutiny?

Whatever does or doesn’t happen on this two-on-one, one thing’s for sure: Thanks to Krystal, it's sure to be a memorable excursion.