Episode 6, The Drama

The Situation: Tattling to Des about James
How Dramatic Was It? Not as dramatic as it might have been in I still cared at all.  Look, it's always a risk to tattle on someone on the Bachelor/ette. No matter how many times each Bachelor/ette claims he or she wants you to come tell them if someone's intentions aren't good, what they mean is "Come tell me if someone's intentions aren't good...unless it's someone that I like better than you."  Drew played it smart and safe by waiting to tell Des until after he had secured his date rose, but it didn't save the group from a teary "I'm almost resent the guys from putting this on me" later in the episode (which, seriously - unless they guys turn out to be an elite hit squad assembled to put an end to her currently very overproduced life - I just don't see any circumstances under which Des should be regretting these poor saps who are hanging around a hotel room all day in hopes of snagging five minutes of her time)
Who's to Blame? Ben Flajnik. Not that there needs  to be a reason to blame Ben Flajnik, but he was really the guy who standardized the practice of sending home anyone who spoke out against the woman he lusted after.

The Situation: Confronting James en masse
How Dramatic Was It? I don't even know. I know there may be some degree of hypocrisy in devoted the lion's share of a post to a situation that I'm complaining about not being dramatic enough, but, this is pretty obviously a four man horse race, and given that none those men are interesting enough to merit even a quarter of the minutes devoted to James this week, we're looking at a very bleak end of the season.
Who's to Blame? This is actually a tricky one, and perhaps an unprecedented Bachelorette event, because I actually think no one was in the wrong here. On the one hand, Jame is right. He wasn't saying he was hoping not to wind up with Desiree. He was just saying, if he didn't, at least he had a shot at being the next Bachelor (although his grasp of statistics and basic probability left a little something to be desired).  I'm pretty sure he just gave voice to a thought that occurs to most of the guys over the course of the season as they realize how incredibly slim the odds are of getting to propose to Desiree - and let's face it, the guys it doesn't  occur to are the overly intense guys that nobody wants any part of, like Brandon.  On the other hand, you pretty much open yourself up for any criticism they want to dish out when you say these things aloud. I'd be pretty peeved if the guy I was seeing was talking about the next girl he was going to date.....but that doesn't mean similar thoughts wouldn't simultaneously be floating through my brain.  As always, we have to give the edge to relative stupidity, and say James was to blame for this, but that doesn't mean I think he was in slimy spin mode when he seemed upset and confused (although I did not care for him swearing on the life of his sick father - I know he thought he was telling the truth, but still...gross).  Also, big points to Mikey T. for apparently knowing exactly where he stood - you're gonna be alright big fella!

The Situation: Des' decision to let James sweat it out at the rose ceremony
How Dramatic Was It? It wasn't dramatic at all. And moreover. It was dumb.  With four out of five of the roses already on lock, we all knew she wasn't going to dole out the final flower to the one guy who had given her major reasons to doubt him, so all this really accomplished was robbing those of you who have James on your team of some much needed points.

Who's to Blame? The producers. No matter what she claimed, Des knew she was sending James home.  Heck, they started the episode with Chris Harrison informing them that their wouldn't be a cocktail party. Which either means, some intern just got fired for forgetting to reserve one of the Barcelona hotel's conference spaces, or Des had her mind made up from minute one.

The Situation: The final rose
How Dramatic Was It? Surprisingly dramatic. Just because I cannot believe she picked Michael G.

Who's to Blame? This one's a little bit circuitous, but I think we can safely blame Zak W. for her final pick. James and Kasey were never going to make it out of this episode, but, had I not spent way to much time analyzing scene's from the season during week one of the show, I would have been more than a little surprised to learn Michael G. was her final pick.  In part, this is because Michael G. is awful and I can't imagine her wanting to be around him for another week, but in part, this is also because it was so clear she wanted to screw Juan Pablo.  I can only assume that it went down like this:  Zak and Juan Pablo have always been in a bit of a race to be the heir to the fantasy suite throne, but after his date this week, Zak pulled ahead. Des did the math, realized that with Chris and Brooks and her pesky feelings, there was no way she was sneaking more than one of these guys into the top three, so she figured she might as well crush Juan Pablo's dreams now, rather than next week when failure to procure a rose becomes akin to Des sending a giant middle figure to Juan Pablo's 6-year old daughter (no Wikipedia this time - I'm just making things up).  So, I guess actually Zak and good, solid logic are to blame - two things that I imagine are not often referenced in the same sentence.