Bachelor In Paradise recap: Two more men arrive on the beach and a truth box unloads Kat before women hand out roses

DEVASTATION WARNING! This post contains details from Thursday’s episode of ABC Bachelor in paradise.

Things are getting more and more exciting in paradise.

The women are getting ready to hand out roses and the men are clamoring for their attention to make sure they stay another week… but some of them will go home despite their best efforts. You may remember that the last episode ended with several cliffhangers. What happens to Sam’s poo baby? Will Mercedes choose Tyler or Will? Are Kat and Brayden still fighting?

First on the agenda is Sam, eagerly awaiting the sunrise – denying her natural bowel movements before a medical procedure forces her to leave the beach. As the sun rose above the horizon, Sam’s situation did not improve. Stuck in a bad situation (no pun intended), Sam leaves Paradise, leaving Aaron S. without a lifeline.

Otherwise, it seems pretty relaxed in paradise. Kat and Tanner get along well. Brayden continues. Peter and Olivia meet after Peter gives Olivia his rose as a gesture of goodwill. But wait… another man comes into the picture.

It’s John Henry! He went home quite early in the charity relay but admitted he was very shy. He hopes that paradise can be a better environment for him to find connection. After talking to Kat, Kylie and Olivia, he asks Olivia out on a date. Before she accepts, she takes Peter aside for a chat.

It’s admirable because Olivia felt completely blindsided when Will went on a date with Kylie without saying goodbye to Olivia. Peter expresses his concern and Olivia feels unsafe, but decides to go anyway.

Olivia and John Henry had a great time on their date. They spend the day enjoying a spa experience, which is new to John Henry. Olivia teaches him about skin care and shows him how to give a good massage. Throughout the day, Olivia seems genuinely surprised at how well they get along, but it’s easy to see why. Olivia’s carefree attitude rubs off on John Henry, who quickly loosens up as the day wears on. It feels inevitable when their date ends with a dip in the pool and a make-out session.

Back on the beach, everyone relaxes. The men play football in the sand and the women enjoy the view. Kylie and Mercedes rank the men based on their looks. Before they know it, there is another commotion when John B., also from the charity squadron, comes ashore.

He invites Mercedes and Eliza to chat before he asks Eliza out on a date. This comes as a shock to everyone at Paradise, as she and Aaron B. seemed pretty solid. But Eliza hasn’t had an eye for anyone else since arriving in Paradise, and she’s made it very clear that she doesn’t want to find herself in an embarrassing situation like last season. She talks to Aaron B. before she leaves, and despite his protests, she tells him that she wants to explore her options. Good for you! As she should!

In a confessional, Aaron B. tries to explain his connection to Eliza by using a comparison to the fig spread on a charcuterie board. If that sounds confusing, that’s because it was. Meanwhile, everyone else feels they must also weigh in on Eliza’s choice. Tyler says that dating “isn’t tennis” and that people can’t play volleyball back and forth all the time. At some point they have to calm down. Well, it seems a little early for anyone to make that assessment, but it’s up to each individual.

Fortunately, Eliza’s decision is not in vain. She and John B. enjoy a delicious meal by candlelight and dance in the moonlight. We don’t see much of their date, but they seem to be having a good time.

Back on the beach, Olivia returns from her date with John Henry. She tells Peter that she and John Henry get along well, but she’s not quite sure what she wants to do yet. In the meantime, she wants to continue talking to the two men, which they seem to agree with, although Peter seems to have some reservations about it. After talking to John Henry about her date with Peter, Olivia gets dressed for dinner and is immediately confronted by Peter again. He decided to take his shot and told her that he wanted to kiss her all along. She dares him to do so, so he leans in to hug her. Look at the shocked faces of the audience!

Even though Kylie didn’t go on any dates today, she was entitled to one of them. That’s why she wants to make sure she and Avan are on the same page in case it happens again. She tells Avan that she’s not interested in dating anymore and that she doesn’t think someone coming down the stairs can change their mind (famous last words). Avan agrees and they are the first and only exclusive couple in paradise for now.

As if there wasn’t enough going on, Wells decides to add his own mayhem. He introduces the group to a “truth box” in which they can anonymously submit and read messages about each other. This will definitely cause drama.

In a rather strange twist, Sean says he’d like to pursue Jess, who Blake has enjoyed getting to know all along. He tells the men that he was nervous about exploring this connection because Rachel already likes him so much. Well, that opens the door for Brayden to get in on Rachel, but in classic Brayden form, he can’t stay out of other people’s business. So he tells Rachel what Sean said about her, which confuses her. She confronts Sean, who admits that he wanted to investigate this connection, but after talking to Jess, he’s willing to move on (not to mention that Jess wasn’t interested).

After that conversation, Sean talks to Brayden and tries to invoke “bro code” by saying he doesn’t think it’s Brayden’s job to say anything. Brayden doesn’t seem to mind. In a rather strange departure from the charity season where Brayden was the villain, most contestants seem to agree for the second time around that Brayden isn’t wrong.

Eliza and John B. return from their date and Aaron B. eagerly waits to see how she feels. She wastes no time inviting him over and telling him that she had a great day with John B., but she also thought about Aaron B. during the date. It looks like she hasn’t made a final decision yet, but Aaron takes that as a good sign.

The rose ceremony is still hanging over everyone’s heads, but they can’t move on until Wells releases the Truth Box. He starts off pretty tame, reading out notes accusing him of serving poor tequila shots and explaining that Rachel and Brayden need to know (I wonder who wrote that!). But Aaron S. is not here to fool around. He is ready for some real drama. He opens the box and begins to read the juicier notes, most of which have to do with Kat.

Kat played Brayden. Tanner needs to check on Kat. Kat doesn’t pay much attention to Jess. Brayden and Rachel must reconcile.

Brayden uses this as his chance to steal Rachel, which is the perfect time since Kat is ready to jump away. Especially after Tanner admits that the feeling is getting to him and he’s not sure he can trust her intentions. Tanner tries to explain how he can see things from Brayden’s point of view, but Kat doesn’t want to hear it. She insists she didn’t blindside Brayden, and she has no idea why Tanner would be unsure. In a confessional, Kat literally rants about this whole situation… which is illustrated in several shots that show the entire beach could hear her rant as she filmed it. Kat doesn’t seem to care who’s listening, including Tanner.

And Brayden isn’t even listening because he’s too focused on Rachel.

Sean and Aaron S. are among the men desperate for a last-minute lifeline so they can stay another week in paradise. Those prayers seem to be answered, as the episode ends with a joke about another lady hitting the beach.

Still no rose ceremony! I guess we’ll have to wait another week.

Bachelor in paradise airs Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT The golden bachelor.