Week three of “The Bachelor” brought the drama to new heights as the 14 remaining contestants competed for Ellis’s attention. Bungee jumps, rooftop conversations and — most notably — a lot of tears lead to major shifts in the group. As connections depended, so did the tension, leaving a few women with nowhere to go but home.

First Group Date: Bachelor School of Finance

After a quick change into power suits, Alexe Godin, Alli Jo Hinkes, Bailey Brown, Chloie Costello, Dina Lupancu, Juliana Pasquarosa, Litia Garr, Natalie Phillips, Parisa Shifteh, Rose Sombke, Sarafiena Watkins and Zoe McGrady all spent their afternoon with Ellis playing a finance game.

Executive Chairman for Kind Snacks Daniel Lubetzky and comedian Hannah Berner helped mediate the competition, where the women who answered questions correctly or creatively earned “Grant Bucks” — fake dollar bills with Ellis’ face on them — and the person with the most won “perks” at the afterparty.

Shifteh kept the fun going at the afterparty by challenging Ellis to a Rice Krispies stuffing contest, leaving Ellis laughing. 

“That’s the most I’ve laughed in a long time,” Ellis said.

Meanwhile, McGrady — whose track record is anything but clean when it comes to stealing The Bachelor’s time — teared up while feeling ignored by Ellis. McGrady ran away crying to Ellis, getting a kiss, but ultimately the date rose goes to Shifteh who stole Ellis’ heart via Rice Krispie treats.

Before the group date concluded, Ellis addressed rumors that the women were being mean to one another, causing additional conflict between the women that continued on to the following morning, when the cameras showed nearly every woman crying after Ellis’ scolding.

One-on-One: Las Vegas Carolina Quixano

After flying to Las Vegas on a private jet, Carolina Quixano and Ellis spent a heart-pounding day bungee jumping off The STRAT Hotel and Casino. The night turned dreamy at Drai’s Las Vegas, where they dined barefoot on a rooftop covered in water, their feet submerged as they opened up to each other. With a lot of ankle showing, emotions ran high ending the night in tears — and a date rose for Quixano.

Bachelor Bombshell: 

Beverly Ortega was supposed to have this week’s second one-on-one date, but abruptly left the mansion and the season due to appendicitis. 

Second Group Date: Vanderpump Dogs

Ellis and the women spent a day volunteering at Vanderpump Dogs, a non-profit rescue organization and dog spa in Vegas. He teamed up with Lupancu to bathe a pup, getting hands-on with the bubbly chaos. Later, he joined Watkins and Garr for a dog walk, making for a wholesome day.

Garr and Ellis had an emotional dinner talking about challenges from their upbringings, during which Ellis gives her a date rose.

Back at the mansion, Quixano spiraled about Ellis going on dates with other women. 

“I kinda wish I didn’t have that date,” Quixano said.

This did not land well with the other women.

At the final prom-themed cocktail party of the week with special guests from “The Golden Bachelorette,” the contestants and Ellis danced the night away.

Quixano confesses during an off-camera talk that Sombke told her “something strange.”

“She said that last week on our group date, when me and Grant danced together, he told Rose when he was dancing with me, he was thinking about her,” Quixano said in the interview.

Ellis, incredibly upset, marched off to confront Sombke, who was adamant Ellis said it, she eventually apologized and the situation diffused.

Elimination:

At the rose ceremony, Godin, Lupancu, Pasquarosa, Phillips, Sombke, Watkins and McGrady received roses, joining Garr, Shifteh and Quixano, who were already safe. 

That left Hinkes, Brown and Costello without roses, sending the three women home.

Review

This week’s episode was full of the normal drama of “The Bachelor,” along with a surprise exit and a fair amount of gaslighting by Ellis himself. The first group date, and what was originally supposed to be the only one, was a bit dull compared to some of the other group dates in seasons past. 

“The Bachelor” loves to do a competition group date, but there could have been more entertaining ways to bring in Ellis’ career than what they chose. However, it did bring its share of drama, and what else can viewers ask for?

McGrady is shaping up to be the villain of the season, and from the looks of it is going to excel in this role. Regardless of the circumstances, she seems to always find a way to make it about herself — particularly in this group date, saying she was completely out of her element and not comfortable. 

In other scenarios, it could be understandable why a contestant would voice this discomfort about a group date, the first one coming to mind being a group date from Matt James’ season in which each woman had to perform a self-written romantic scenario between her and James.

However, in this situation, it is a bit difficult to understand what would have made McGrady feel so uncomfortable by this date. At the afterparty, however, an immature comment made by Watkins about the length of McGrady’s dress was definitely grounds for a bit of upset. While Watkins does have some valid concerns about McGrady, a petty comment such as this one should have been left in sixth grade. 

The other group date, one which was a surprise to everyone, was very lighthearted and more intimate than other group dates. With only three girls going, Ellis was able to spend ample time with each contestant and chose to bring Garr to the dinner portion of the date.

Garr was also given the opportunity to speak to her mom over the phone during the dinner portion, something that does not usually occur on the show but was sweet nonetheless.

Ellis and Quixano’s one-on-one to Las Vegas was exhilarating during the day and emotional during the night. Nobody is certain why “The Bachelor” franchise has such an infatuation with one-on-ones including contestants jumping off of high things, but this seems to be a common theme among seasons.

Ellis and Quixano shared an emotionally charged dinner portion, during which Quixano opened up about her struggles with epilepsy, tearing up in the process. Ellis was also choked up during this conversation, making it fairly clear how much he cares about Quixano.

However, Quixano ended up ruffling a decent amount of tail feathers at the rose ceremony turned prom. After Sombke tells Quixano that Ellis said he would have rather been dancing with Sombke during last week’s group date, Quixano takes up the majority of the night talking to Ellis about the situation.

Many women were put out by this, saying she already had a rose and there was no reason for her to be spending that much time with him and ultimately taking time away from the rest of the women. Ellis assured Quixano multiple times that he never said that, but looking back at last week, those words essentially did come out of his mouth — it seems Sombke may have just misinterpreted them. 

Three women ended up being sent home at the rose ceremony, including Costello, a woman who many fans adored because she was the first “plus-size” contestant featured on the show. Many fans were also cheering for her to be the next Bachelorette, but ABC threw a wrench in these plans when they announced they were skipping this season of “The Bachelorette.”

Ellis’ season seems to be moving fairly quickly, with only 10 women left. It seems Garr is a frontrunner, but things can change in an instant — one can only keep watching to find out.