The next day is Melissa's turn to try to convince Jason to pick her, choose her, love her. Their greeting is a lot more passionate than either of the two before. I'm still thinking that Melissa will be the winner. (But don't worry, this is just speculation. I don't know for sure.) They get out on a lake in Winston Churchill's old boat, and my lord, the scenery is just breathtaking. Melissa expresses her fears of really getting hurt by him in this strange reality dating process.

Next, they dock the boat to explore some hot pools. They change into swim suits, giving Jason another chance to get shirtless. The pool is indoors, but the window slides up, opening up the room to the outdoors. Jason asks Melissa about why her parents stood him up. She says defensively that she really is close to her parents, but he's still sore about the televised snub he received from them. In an interview, Jason says that he can fall in love with her without meeting her parents, but "it can only go so far."

The evening portion of the date begins on the waterfront in downtown Queenstown. They have a private dinner at a nice restaurant (for which Jason is totally underdressed, by the way.) She's still preoccupied about her parental situation, so she brings it up again. Yes, we get it, we get it! She asks if it's a big deal for him that he didn't get to meet her folks, but he doesn't give a completely straight answer.

Oh my goodness, I just thought of a conspiracy theory. I kind of feel like Jason really, genuinely likes Melissa the most, and he doesn't see a whole lot wrong with her. I wonder if the ABC producers orchestrated Melissa's parents' refusal to meet him in order to make it look like there is a doubt that she might not be the one he chooses. I wouldn't put it past them.

Jason presents Melissa with his invitation to his fantasy suite, and of course, she says yes. They retire to their suite, and she lays all of her feelings out in the open for him. She admits that she has definitely fallen head over heels in love with him, and he interrupts her confession with a passionate kiss, more passionate than any kiss he has given to either Jillian or Molly. They fall onto the bed in each other's arms, and Jason says in an interview that he is definitely falling for her. You can totally tell in his voice and the way he talks that he likes her the most.

It is finally time for the Rose Ceremony, but there are still 35 minutes left to the episode, so we know that something big is going to happen. Well, that, and the promo guy keeps harping on us that there will be much drama.

Chris Harrison has his usual pre-ceremony man-chat with Jason, and they rehash the first hour and a half of the show, which means that you really didn't even have to watch all of it. (You can also read my recap!)

To help Jason make his decision, each woman has made a private, personal video message to him. Jillian's is first, and in it, she tells him how much she is in awe of him. In Molly's video, she reminds him that she opened up emotionally to him and how much that means. She also says that she positively and madly in love with him. Finally, Melissa sounds the most natural in her video. She actually sounds like she is speaking from her heart, instead of reading off of cue cards.




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