This week, 11 women are left, and they’re headed to Puerto Rico. What are your top picks so far this season? I’m hoping that he’ll be able to narrow down the ladies to some of his more serious choices this episode. There are still girls who we barely know competing!

I love watching Chris Harrison introduce these dates. He manages to be totally non-descript. Anyone else follow him on Twitter? I think he’s a pretty good guy.

Nicki gets the first one on one date. She wears a tropical one-shouldered mini dress that is perfect. Props to Nicki! They set out on a helicopter ride over old Puerto Rico before landing and heading into the town. They end up getting caught in the rain, which should be sort of romantic, but something about it seems a little bit more like friends. So far, I’m not sensing much chemistry. 

They head out for dry clothes, which is a cute moment, and then end up having a discussion about marriage while they watch a bride and groom enter a church. It’s sweet, but it still feels a little bit forced. Watching a wedding together just a few dates in? Pressure!

For the nighttime portion of the date, they head to a secluded spot on the beach for wine and conversation. Ben seems a little hung up on Nicki’s previous marriage, which is probably fair. He looks great in a simple white Henley. Love that look! 

After a conversation about her past marriage, it seems like the biggest problem with the relationship was just that they got married when they were too young. She explains that they just changed too much over the course of their marriage to stay together.

Cut to the ladies in the house. Blakely and Elyse are arguing about who deserves a one on one. All of the ladies find out that they’re on the group date except for Elyse. 

Back in the one on one, Ben and Nicki are still talking about her divorce. At this point I can’t decide if it’s just a conversation that needed to happen, or if all the talk is just highlighting one of Ben’s insecurities. Regardless, Ben ends up giving her a rose.

For the group date, the ladies end up meeting Ben for a little game of baseball. Emily’s excited because she’s athletic, and feels like this could give her an edge. Blakely feels the same way. The ladies do drills, batting, and sprint before Chris Harrison shows up and calls them in to explain that they’ll be split into two teams. The winning team will have a romantic evening with Ben, and the rest of them are headed home. Lindsey gets to play for both teams, so she automatically gets to go to the beach. I can’t help but wonder why he chose Lindsey! I don’t have anything against her, but she seems a little fake, maybe?

The two-inning game ends up being pretty competitive. All of a sudden in the bottom of the first, the blue team starts getting some serious runs, but the red team ends up winning. A helicopter takes them to the next part of the date. An entire montage of Blakely being upset follows. She hasn’t had a one on one at this point, which adds some pressure. 

Kacie B. and Ben sneak off for some alone time, and Ben admits that he’s had a lot of unrequited love in his past. He ends up giving her the rose, which is adorable. It really seems like they have something! 

Then, the moment we’ve been waiting for, Courtney steals Ben away and they walk to the ocean. Courtney introduces the idea of going skinny-dipping, which Ben is (obviously) super tempted by. We’ll have to see what happens…

For Elyse’s one on one, they head out on a boat together. Ben explains that this was significant in his time with Ashley. Elyse says that she’s done everything she’s wanted to do, so he shouldn’t be worried about her being young. She seems a little bit naive to me, but she might just be nervous. It’s almost like she’s just saying everything that she feels like she should be saying, instead of allowing herself to be real with him. 

The date progresses to a secluded dinner on the beach. Their conversation seems to rely on Elyse saying something, and Ben clarifying it. Again—no chemistry! Sure enough, Ben ends up not giving her a rose. I think this is definitely the right choice. She’s a cool girl, but her prince charming is waiting for her somewhere else.

Oh boy. The skinny-dipping scene. Courtney shows up with booze, in a towel, and surprises Ben. Ben says he doesn’t know how he feels about her breaking the rules. I hope he doesn’t feel good about it! She has bad influence written all over that terry cloth.

Ben falls for it. They go in sans clothing. Of course, Courtney keeps talking about how she’s “winning,” which is really disturbing. She’s obviously not focused on their relationship, but on winning the game.

The next day, Ben says that he doesn’t feel good about what happened the night before, because he feels like he needs to be open minded about all of the girls.

After Jennifer and Ben have a little conversation, Blakely and Ben pull away for some one on one time. Blakely explains that she has strong feels for Ben, which could have been really sweet, except that Ben’s reaction is very sterile. Something is missing there.

Courtney obviously brings up skinny-dipping with the girls, which is awkward and horribly manipulative, as always. I can’t even imagine how they felt watching this episode.

Emily and Ben start chatting, and she immediately brings up their conversation about Courtney. She explains that she’s ready to focus on the two of them, and that she wishes that she’d never have said anything. Immediately, though, she goes right into her feelings about Courtney. Such a good start, and then immediately heads down the same bad-mouthing road!

Ben again encourages her to drop it, and Emily realizes again that she’s messed up. Déjà vu, anyone?

At the rose ceremony, Lindzi gets the first rose. She’s growing on me. Jamie, Rachel, Courtney, Casey S., Blakely, and Emily all follow. He ended up letting go of Jennifer, which was completely shocking to me! I thought they had something! Emily over Jennifer? Something must have happened that we didn’t see. 

Next week they’re headed to Panama City. Can’t wait to see some sparks fly between Kacie B. and Ben!

Reach writer Anita Dukart here