And now it’s time to say goodbye to Temptation Island, for the singles that is. This is the last chance for them to make their move before the final bonfire where the couples decide if they want to leave the island together, alone, or with someone else. So far, it looks like only Ashley Goldson might want to go home with her boyfriend, while Esonica Veira, Ashley Howland and Kate Griffith will choose to fly solo or leave with someone else.
On the opposite side of things, Gavin Rocker, Casey Starchak, and Rick Fleur seemed to have decided they want to go home with their girlfriends. David Benavidez, as usual, says whatever the person he is with wants to hear, so who knows what he really wants. All I know is, it’s going to be an interesting finale, and no one can be sure of anything.
If Gavin thought he still had a chance with Mia Metcalf, he burned that bridge real quick. Last week he told her he was interested in having a relationship with her. Well, after bonfire he said something completely different. He told Mia and Payton Burgess he still wanted to be with Esonica, even though she was connecting with Kareem Thomas. Face palm.
Payton gave Gavin her sympathies, but Mia wasn’t having any of it. Gavin insulted her further by saying that she was his silver lining in all this. Hooray for being second choice! If only Gavin was paying attention, he would have seen the daggers Mia was shooting at him from her eyes.
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Meanwhile, Esonica confided in Ashley G. about her hook up with Kareem. Oops. She didn’t regret it, but admitted she still isn’t over Gavin. Ashley and Esonica laugh that she is a “good girl gone bad.”
Mark L. Walberg then showed up to throw in one last twist. Their upcoming dates aren’t just any dates, but “romantic” overnight dates. And whoever they don’t pick for their dates will get sent home. No more free Hawaiian vacation and booze!
Ashley H. picked Ben Knobloch for her final date, and the look he gave her was everything. Kate snapped Dominique Price up, and thanked him for being so patient with her. Esonica picked Kareem because he is “her favorite.” And Ashley G. picked Jose Rodriguez for a fun and friendly date. She’s had enough drama until she sees Rick at the final bonfire.
Over at the guys’ villa, a blank-faced David picked a blank-faced Toneata Morgan for his date. Those two deserve each other. Casey asked Rachel Hamel on a date, and she said yes. I really wish that she would have told Casey to shove it. Rachel’s seen first hand how unstable he is, and how he’s talked about his girlfriend.
In his confessional, Casey decided he needed to come up with a scheme as to how this date could benefit him in the final bonfire with Ashley. All that was missing was Casey holding his pinky finger up to his mouth like Dr. Evil.
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When it got to Gavin, he apologized to Mia for not showing interest in her earlier. But he still wanted to spend his last date with her. Mia politely told him thanks, but no thanks. The reaction shots of Medinah Ali, Colleen Powers, and Rick almost cracking up was priceless. In her confessional, Mia said Gavin is interested in his girlfriend so she didn’t see the point in taking this further. Thank you!
Gavin was embarrassed, but quickly bounced back when Payton accepted his offer. Rick then asked Medinah out, but prefaced it as they would be exploring their “friendship connection.” Medinah wasn’t happy, but kudos to Rick for sharing his intentions ahead of time.
Medinah didn’t give up quite yet though. She wanted to show Rick she could be calm and not yell at him the whole time about not opening up about his feelings. Hard as she tried, Rick shut it down as soon as they sipped their mojitos and admired their ocean view. He talked about how their journey was romantic but then ended up as a good friendship. Medinah told Rick she didn’t realize she was in the friend zone, but said that was an ok place to be.
Over at Casey and Rachel’s pad, Rachel said she wanted to help Casey prepare for his bonfire with Ashley, even though she thinks that Ashley has moved on. Casey shared with Rachel that none of his friends are married, and that he would be the least likely out of all of them to get hitched. Shocker. But, he’s been thinking about Ashley every night and decided he’s ready to marry her. Again, it’s all about what he wants. If he took five seconds to think about the footage he’s seen, he might realize it’s not going to be so cut and dry.
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As Casey cooked up his plan to win back Ashley, Ashley was busy making out with Ben everywhere they went. They spent their date staring into each other’s eyes, talking about how perfect they are for one another, and kissing under a waterfall. Not too shabby.
Gavin and Payton had their date on a boat, where Gavin spent most of his time talking about Esonica and Kareem in bed together. Payton had hit her limit, and literally jumped off of the boat so she wouldn’t have to hear him talk about his problems anymore.
Gavin is still on Esonica’s mind, but Kareem is taking precedence. In her confessional, she said she knows she met Kareem for a reason, and needed to figure out why. Was it to make her realize she wants Gavin, to be by herself, or be with Kareem? Kareem’s long game has paid off though, and in his confessional, he said that patience is key when you want something special. Agreed!
Kate finally opened up to Dominique once they were alone. She said that her feelings for him scared her, and that she was trying not to give in. Dominique was trying a little bit too hard with Kate. Like when he told her he knew he would make it to the end, and that he knows what women want because he grew up around all women. Still, I think they are cute together and it was nice to see Kate happy.
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On David and Toneata’s date, they went on a picnic with no food. Seriously, all I saw was a little fruit plate and a random hoagie roll. Where was the cheese? Too bad there wasn’t much food because watching them eat would have been more entertaining than hearing what they had to say to one another.
David continued to lead Toneata on by telling her they were a “good looking couple” because that’s basically all that matters in his mind. In her confessional, Toneata said she could see herself with David for the rest of her life. Sorry Toneata, David is no prince charming with a fairy tale ending. That is reserved for Ashley and Ben.
Ashley G. was hilarious when she said, “Why the hell are we here?” She couldn’t understand why she and Jose went golfing for their date. But she ended up having fun as Jose taught her how to golf. He shared such gems as, “Slight bend in the knees, and show a little ass.”
Jose also gave good relationship advice to Ashley as well. She told him she felt emotionally checked out, and didn’t know how she was going to feel when she saw Rick. She didn’t know if he could forgive her for what she did with KB Brown. Ashley then pouted she didn’t want to talk about Rick anymore. Jose said, “If you don’t talk about it, you’re not working on it.” Preach!
Medinah asked Rick if he thought he and Ashley were growing apart, or coming back together. Rick said in the past they always ended up back together for selfish reasons. But this time, it’s different. Rick said he is emotionally connected to Ashley, and wanted to make sure she felt the same.
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Esonica and Kareem went on a proper picnic, with fruit, bread, AND cheese. Leave it to David and Toneata to have a superficial picnic. Esonica asked Kareem why he told her he would be disappointed if she got back together with Gavin. He said he couldn’t understand how Gavin never complimented her natural beauty, and he went on about how stunning she is. Kareem definitely knows the right things to say, let’s just hope he means them.
Later that night, Esonica asked Kareem what was one thing he wanted to make sure he did so he wouldn’t have any regrets. Kareem said he wanted to kiss her, which then led them back to the bedroom. Well, that was no oops this time. Esonica knew exactly what she wanted to do today with no regrets!
Over dinner, Payton coached Gavin to shower Esonica with sloppy kisses when he sees her. I don’t think Esonica wants Gavin’s foot mouth anywhere near her. She then asked Gavin if he thinks Esonica would actually leave him for Kareem with all the history they have between them. Gavin said he wasn’t sure, but you could see a part of him knows it’s probably over.
Meanwhile, Rachel and Casey discussed if Ashley would really leave him for Ben. Casey said he’s the “bad guy” now so, of course, Been seems like the good guy who is treating her right. He said all he has to do to win Ashley back is prove that he’s the good guy that loves her. It’s too bad he doesn’t mean any of that, and it’s really more for his ego to “win” Ashley back.
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But Ashley’s heart has already been won by Ben. Ashley told Ben she appreciated that he never was aggressive with her, ahem like Deac Conti, and that he was always there for her. Ben agreed that being friends first was the best approach. Ashley was completely surprised when Ben added that he’s fallen for her. Anyone have some tissues handy?
Kate again shared she was scared about how things might play out with her and Dominique. What is going to happen when all of this is over and things go back to normal? Dominique comforted her and assured her things would be ok. That was enough for her to finally let her guard down, and she and Dominque shared a kiss. And then Kate really let her guard down as the two of them went into the bedroom. Good for you Kate!
The next morning, Kate admitted it felt freeing to let go and enjoy her time with Dominique. She said he’s been really patient with her so far, and if he continued to be patient when they leave the island, there could be a possibility for something more to happen between them. As long as she doesn’t go back to David, she will be just fine.
As David and Toneata laid in bed and stared vacantly into each other’s eyes, she had a huge smile plastered over her face. According to Toneata, they are officially boyfriend and girlfriend! What is this, high school? Meanwhile, in his confessional, David talked about possibly getting back together with Kate if they work things out during bonfire. Mark was right, David says one thing and then does another.
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Someone who is sticking to his word is Casey. He and Rachel go engagement ring shopping for Ashley. I think I threw up in my mouth a little. Rachel told Casey she hoped Ashley says yes because he deserved it. I know Rachel was trying to be nice, but she didn’t need to enable him here. Casey thinks that once Ashley lays eyes on him, she’ll automatically remember everything they had and answer yes to his proposal. He’s probably right, she’ll remember everything they had, but then realize it wasn’t much at all.
While Casey was having delusions of grandeur and grinning maniacally over the ring he picked out, Ashley and Ben shared breakfast in bed and reminisced about how amazing their date was. But reality set in and Ashley said she knows dark waters are ahead. Ben reminded her to do what is best for her.
In her confessional, Ashley admitted in the beginning that she thought she was going to leave with Casey, but is surprised at how things have changed now that she has feelings for someone else. She’s got another surprise coming if Casey follows through with his proposal. This is looking like it’s going to be one hell of a final bonfire!
TELL US – WHO DO YOU THINK WILL STAY TOGETHER? WILL DAVID TRY TO FIX THINGS WITH KATE? DO YOU THINK ASHLEY WILL SAY YES IF CASEY PROPOSES? WILL ESONICA WILL CHOOSE KAREEM OR GAVIN? DO YOU THINK RICK AND ASHLEY CAN WORK THINGS OUT?
[Photo Credit: Mario Perez/USA Network]
