Bachelorette Recap: Jillian Harris plays reindeer games in Whistler; 2 guys fall through the ice

Ed, 27, chooses a dream job over the dream girl.

Monday night's Bachelorette was, for viewers, a lesson in patience. From last week's episode, we're still waiting on a definitive answer to the question, "Which guys have girlfriends at home?" But the response given by ABC's magic 8 ball is always, "Ask again later." 

After watching previews for the night's episode, viewers naturally want to find out the answer to another question. Who will leave the competition, breaking things off with Jillian Harris, the girl who "wears the pants" in this reality kissfest? (You can tell that she wears the pants by the way she sets up every on-air kiss, leaning in a good 90 percent and allowing the guy to simply paint by numbers, following her lead. Watch it happen with cowpoke Wes, every time without fail.)

In expectation of this dramatic exit, we see a preview of Jillian saying through her tears, "They say that love, it don't come e-e-zay." (Oh wait, that wasn't Jillian.)

These were her actual words: "This is just proof that whether you're wearing the pants or not, it doesn't protect you from getting your heart broken." Crushed by one man's departure, she'll have to hum the tune to Wes's trainwreck-awful song to comfort her.

But who leaves the show, and why?

First we'll have to snowshoe through some dates in beautiful Whistler, B.C., site of the winter 2010 Olympic Games. A one-on-one with Michael the breakdancer starts off with a scenic hike to the top of a cliff. When Jillian tells Michael they're going ziplining, he's totally surprised. Like a kid in a candy store (remember, he confided last week that he has a "straight-up crush on the girl"), he simply dies over the chance to go on a tandem zipline ride with Jillian hooked to his side. She seems to like him okay, too. And after asking some tough questions about his age (25), maturity and readiness for a relationship, she decides to give him a rose to get to know him better.

Back at the house, the guys take a moment to reflect on who is there for "the right reasons" and which of the guys might have a girlfriend. Some of them throw Wes under the bus for his music career and aspirations; little do they know that he's peering over their shoulders from the staircase above. Mu-ah-ah.

Prepping for the next date card, the guys eventually discover that eight men will go on the group date--everyone but Jesse, who has won a meet and greet with "hot tub Harris" on his solo date.

It's group time, and the boys arrive to meet Jillian to ride snow mobiles. She picks Robby to squeeze in with her. He thinks he's won some great alone time, but little did he know that Jillian was just prepping to interrogate him. "So...who has the girlfriend?" she says quickly, as if to catch him in some Freudian slip. Robby plays it cool, not revealing any names. Jillian trusts Robby and doesn't think he's one of the guys with a girlfriend.

Meanwhile, the rest of the guys are standing around bashing Robby for being young, not having a job and drinking like a fish. They don't see a physical connection developing between Jillian and Robby, viewing him as no more of a threat than the dudes she sent home last week.

Tanner P. comes and interrupts Jillian for some alone time in the woods. Her Nancy Drew skills are in a serious slump, and she hasn't even discovered one guy with a girlfriend yet. So she asks Tanner for some more clues on who this bad boy is. He won't budge (for fear of breaking man code?) or name names, so Jillian begrudgingly  moves on to the next suspect date.

Tumbling in the snow with Wes is so much fun. He couldn't have a girlfriend, right? When it comes to detective work, Jillian  has missed the boat big time, according to most of the guys who have to bunk with cowboy Wes throughout the competition. Every week, Jillian gives Wes the rose and another easy way out. Such is the case this week. In fact, she practically feeds him the lines to say, as if scripted for her dream man. So, do you think that maybe you originally thought you'd want to come on the show to benefit your career, but maybe those reasons have changed since you've come here and fallen for me?? Wes agrees with her every word, but his on-camera confessional says it all. "There's no doubt this is going to help my career, but I don't want Jillian to think that's the reason I'm here." Draw your own conclusions.

Later that night, the group date takes a turn for the better as Jillian spends some time making out with Kiptyn. In a toddler-like tone, she says, "I like you. Do you like me?" Kiptyn takes the bait, and is officially off the hook as far as private eye Jillian knows.

Reid gets to "talk" with her next, and tries to woo the bachelorette by telling her she smells like snow, flowers and gasoline. She cranks out the romance by asking Reid about his five-year plan. He says his vision most definitely involves having a wife and kids. But that isn't enough for him to escape the Great Girlfriend Inquisition of '09. Jillian pokes around and tries to find out if Reid will tell her who has a girlfriend at home. He calls her bluff, and jokingly admits to having several girlfriends and two wives at home, which Jillian thinks is hysterical.

And now that our patience has been tested enough, it's finally time to find out which guy will contemplate leaving the show tonight.

Halfway into the episode, we find out that it's Ed who wrestles with the idea of leaving. If you remember from his first one-on-one date with Jillian, he confessed that he's a workahollic who has a hard time saying "no" to his job. Now he'll have to put his career at risk to remain in the competition.

In a private talk with Jillian, Ed reveals that he had a conference call with his boss. His boss apparently doesn't believe in love born of reality TV, but instead told Ed to pack up his bags, stop playing in the snow with Jilli and come back home to his job. Or else, he could just stay in Canada indefinitely, because there'd be no job to return to. 

The ultimatum apparently worked, because Ed no sooner accepted a rose from Jillian than he turned it back around on the bachelorette. He told her that after thinking it through, he realized he couldn't stay and continue on with his job at stake. Jillian was upset, but also understanding, and she told him she hopes that when he finds the girl he's madly in love with, he'll put her before his work.

Apparently Ed isn't a big gambler. Not taking the 1-in-8 odds that Jillian could actually pick him in the end, he took the high road and turned toward his career, the only sure bet in the situation. What's uncertain at this point is whether or not we'll see more of Ed after this episode. Some part of him was still holding on to Jillian, as he refused to give her back the rose he received on his date. If Ed returned to the show, it would have to be "the most dramatic re-entrance by a bachelor," EVER.

And in the final solo date, Jesse the wine maker rides a helicopter to the top of a glacier with Jillian. The two seemed to enjoy each other, carving their initials in the snow ("J+J"). Jillian even confesses that she'd up and move away from Vancouver for the right guy, to just put her life in someone else's hands for awhile. This is great news for Jesse, whose businesses is tied to California vineyards.

Though their snow-shuffling date was pretty tame compared to some extreme sports featured on the show, signs point to the fact that the producers wanted them to save up energy for later. (A hot tub awaited.) Toward the end of the night, Jesse and Jillian "talk," and she decides she really wants to give him a rose. This hot tub scene doesn't move beyond a PG-13 level, though. What's really odd though, is how Jesse goes on and on about Jillian's speaking voice, calling it "arousing" and stating that he could just listen to it all day. Is Jesse's as entranced with Jillian's timbre as Tanner is enchanted by her feet? From head to toe, the men are crazy about her.

At the rose ceremony, Chris Harrison appears and announces that because of Ed's exit, Jillian will only need to eliminated one more guy. In what is possibly the easiest decision ever, she chooses (pizza entrepreneur) Mark to go home, confessing earlier to host Chris that he never really acted like he was all that into her.

All told, Ed's exit and the episode as a whole weren't nearly as exciting and dramatic as ABC wanted viewers to believe. Thus the reason for the crazy, awkward preview for next week's episode?

With Tanner P. grinding away in his skivvies for Jillian and the guys (remember, she thinks guys in thongs are funny, but bare bottoms are inexcusable), viewers have to wonder about what's to come. What's odder than foot fetish making it to the top eight? How about that preview for the rest of the season, where we see a few of the guys who go on fantasy suite dates with Jillian, and hear that one has "problems in the bedroom." The whole situation has Jillian in tears, and Chris Harrison is just spelling it all out. It's got to be something totally PG (maybe one of the guys--gasp!--refused to sleep with her), but only time and spoilers will tell.

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