by David McAlpine

Last week on The Bachelorette, Justin started feeling left out because of his cast. He took matters into his own hands and hobbled several miles down the hill to her house--and right into her heart. The other guys called him out as a creep, putting him on the outs of the other Bachelors. Roberto and Kirk earned roses on their one-on-one and group dates, respectively, while Hunter fell flat during his alone time and John and Steve didn't impress Ali, either, sending them home, too.

With the crowd of men slowly narrowing, the theme of this season, "Around the World," finally took effect as Ali and the 11 remaining men jetted off to New York City for yet another chance to fall in love. Upon landing, the first solo date goes to Kasey, who is head over heels for Ali--in a creepy, creepy way.

Kasey starts painting this magical, almost fairytale-like picture of Ali and their life together and all the other guys can do is sit back and laugh, because really he's being incredibly naive. And it's true, he is. He keeps talking in romanticized terms and I think we're all counting down the minutes until his heart is finally crushed at the end of this date. As Chris L. puts it, this isn't "unicorn love."

Ali and Kasey are swept away by (what else?) helicopter and taken to a romantic spot to picnic. After they settle in and start eating, Kasey takes an opportunity to try and impress her: he starts to sing. Now, you thought this guy's voice was bad (sorry, I had to go there)…his singing is 10 times worse. Oh, wow. Even Twitter exploded when he started it, and the look on Ali's face was priceless. Pure pain.

Then, Ali takes Kasey to an empty, rented out Museum of Natural History hoping he's not as bad as she thinks. It seems like she's having a good time until they sit down and talk some more and he gets really intense about his whole fairytale vision.

Back at the hotel, the group date attendees are announced: Craig, Frank, Jesse, Jonathan, Kirk, Roberto and Ty. Note that that doesn't include Justin, who's over pouting in the corner because he doesn't get alone time with Ali.

Meanwhile, Kirk is still being very straightforward and saying things like "I choose you," while Ali is saying (in confessional) that she needs to forget about the other guys and focus on Kasey. Something tells me this isn't adding up right. Then he starts singing again. SIlence. Ali still looks uncomfortable and Kasey still looks desperate. But Ali has a solution: she decides not to give Kasey a rose, but she doesn't want him to leave yet, either. Translation: I don't really like you, but you're overly nice to me and I need the attention,

Skip to the group date, where the seven guys are wandering around Times Square. All of sudden, they see a huge plasma screen decorated with roses and a red screen (right in front of the ABC News studios, too…shocker!). Ali pops on and starts blowing them virtual kisses, then tells them to meet her in the concrete jungle. Like the smart man that he is, Frank turns around and sees The Lion King on Broadway, then sees Ali waving from the window.

After a mad rush to get there, Ali puts the guys in their toughest position yet: they have to audition for The Lion King and the winner gets to spend more one-on-one time with her. She's feeling under the weather, so she sits and watches as the guys try to dance their way to the top (which none of them clearly do), then sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." Granted, it wasn't Kasey bad, but it was pretty bad. Roberto, however, decided to mask the poor quality by singing to Ali instead of the piano man and, even though he sounds like a dying bird and worse than most of the other guys, the producer of the show gives him the one-on-one time, anyway.

It's not just any one-on-one time, though. He and Ali get to "star" (i.e. appear for a minute at the end) in that night's production of The Lion King while the other six guys get to watch. From outside the theater via closed circuit TV. Ouch. You could tell it was pissing them all off.

So, the game was on at the bar session after that. But with Ali feeling sick and it getting late, time was short for everyone. She chooses to walk outside in the rain with Frank to sike him back up, because she thought he was getting discouraged (because you're kissing all those guys, maybe?), and chats with everyone else. But when Jonathan wants a little time, she asks for five more minutes with Craig. Bad news, bad news.

It was Kirk, however, who was the knight in shining armor when he offered to take Ali up to her room and tucked her in. He even sang her a lullaby and left when she fell asleep! With that, Kirk moved to a very solid number two, right behind my man Frank.

The next day, it's Chris L.'s birthday as well as his chance for a one-on-one date. But Ali is still feeling really sick, so she asks if he'll come up to her suite instead (obviously not for a fantasy date). He brings her soup and flowers and sits down with her, which clearly sets off stars in her eyes. In a perfectly timed moment, he starts opening up about his mom and his move from New York to go be with her, which Ali really appreciates.

But one person still can't let the lack of roses given out go. Kasey decides to go to a tattoo parlor and get a tattoo to show Ali how much he wants to protect her heart. Right.

Back to Chris and Ali, who are getting along wonderfully. Ali surprises Chris with a huge seafood dinner as well as a call from his dad, making his birthday pretty complete.

Back to Kasey, who doesn't want to show the tattoo to anyone but Ali, first--I'm guessing because the guys would beat him up if he tried to pull that with them. Anyway, he lies and says he got burned, which Justin doesn't believe at all. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, yeah?

Chris' surprises don't end there, though. Ali pulls him up to the roof for a private concert by self-described singing superstar Joshua Radin. Cue the choir, cue the dancing and cue the kissing! I think Chris is going to be around for a while, that's for sure. Oh, did I mention he got the rose?

It comes down to the pre-rose ceremony cocktail party and everyone is on edge because only one guy is safe. Jonathan brings a guitar and tries to sing Ali a song, but it's terrible because he can't sing or write. He's still confident, thinking he's got the rose in his back pocket. Oh, Jonathan…

Justin decides to confront Kasey about lying (forever branding him as one of the biggest hypocrites on this show), but Kasey doesn't own up to it, he just keep avoiding the questions. It's the final nail in the coffin for me, because he's just that annoying. I didn't think it was possible, but it clearly is. So Kasey takes his last road of defense: he shows his tattoo to all the other guys and the reaction shots are blatantly left out. I don't think any of them would have been that impressed, or at least as impressed as Kasey said they were.

Finally, it's time for Kasey to show Ali. He gives her some of her favorite candy, starts the wind-up of the sleeve and…is interrupted by Frank, who Ali gladly steps away with.

However, Kasey has little to worry about because he gets a rose anyway. Granted, he was the last to get one, but he got one, as did Kirk, Frank, Craig, Chris N., Roberto, Justin and Ty, leaving Jesse and Jonathan out. Jonathan starts to pitch a fit, though I'm guessing he's more upset that he'll actually have to go on-air after this, while Jesse seems to understand Ali's reasoning.

Tune in next Monday at 9/8c to The Bachelorette when Ali and the guys travel to Iceland for more love-finding!

(Photo courtesy of ABC)

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