War of the Roses - Game Of Love

When Osher enters the man-mansion, the lads are, as per usual, sitting around with a brew. But this relaxing scene is soon disturbed by the news that tonight’s single date is not going to be the usual pleasure cruise. At first, the guys are quite chuffed by the James Bond clue: “I like my martinis shaken not stirred,” but when it’s revealed that two Bachelors go, one comes back, the date becomes far less appealing. It comes as no real surprise that Tony and Davey are the two names on the card.

Team captain Sasha hits the nail on the head when he points out this date is a test to see if mature Tony can show his fun side and if Davey can, well, reign in the Davey-ness a bit.

Decked out in tuxes, Davey and Tony head off across the harbor to meet Sam waiting aboard a super yacht. Once aboard, the trio have a toast with Sam bluntly laying it all out there: “Cheers to seeing the best of you tonight,” i.e screw up and you’re out.

Because James Bond, the boys and Sam gather at the roulette wheel set up inside the cruiser. There, the boys start the duel by making fun of each other’s ages while placing bets.

Sam offers alone time to whoever walks away the winner and after ONE WHOLE SPIN, Tony wins leaving Davey’s chances looking shaky. Or are they? On top deck, Tony tries to show Sam his more relaxed side but as he begins to open up to Sam, Davey takes it upon himself to join in too.

His interruption is not well-received by Tony, but Sam likes the fact that Davey is willing to fight for her. However, when they’re alone, Sam soon reveals to Davey she’s not convinced his display of passion will go the distance. She’s had larrikin boyfriends before and they’ve never stuck around when times got tough, so will Davey be the same? He professes he’s not that guy, but are we convinced?

The James Bond date reaches new levels of awkward when Tony returns, baring cocktails, to break Sam and Davey’s conversation.

Back at the mansion, Michael is wearing some sort of titanium bodysuit and geared to read out the next group date card aerodynamically. All the boys are called up for this date where the clue is “falling in love is child’s play.”

Back on SS Awks, Sam, Tony and Davey are having a tense dinner trying their best to ignore the one red rose also sitting on the table. In order to lighten the mood, Sam thinks it’s a good time to ask the boys the soul-deep question, “When are you at your happiest?” Davey, rather unexpectedly, answers, “When I’m in love,” with a straight face. Serious Tony seriously agrees with Davey’s sentiment, before adding a kind of unsettling example that involves the back of someone’s head and waking up.

When Sam asks the boys what they think about the possibility of soul mates, Tony trips and stumbles over his response, leaving the field wide open for Davey to sail in with a glorious save. Despite his sinking performance, Sam offers Tony a bit more alone time.

But, it’s not really alone time. Before we know it, our Bachelorette is making Tony walk the plank. He doesn’t go down quietly however, maintaining he would have been the better choice for a life partner, but it’s all null and void as the single rose goes to Davey.

GROUP DATE! And we’re off to a little girl’s birthday party where our manly men have to embrace their inner child and find ingenious ways to entertain 30 kids in a confined area. From the get-go, plumber Dave is not confident. Without his usual bribery weapon of choice: chocolate, he has no idea how to communicate with teacup humans.

With the prize of a Bachelorette Pad dinner up for grabs, it’s down to the boys to theme the party, dress up and entertain. Diving into the dress-up and craft boxes, Michael decides to forgo the obvious sports-themed choices; English gent Alex decides to play face painter for the day; while Dave decides to invent a game involving sharks that even we’re a little scared of.

Sasha, who appears to be good at everything, is also good at art and kids. His drawing and painting station has a big line up, while across the garden, Kayne is also reeling them in, getting the littlies to slap a pie or two in his face. Richie was making a killing sucking back helium balloons and racing the kids across the yard with eggs, while poor Dave was the lone shark circling a deserted Shark Island.

Making a late and bold play, Michael steals Sam away for story time, where he regales the crowd of tiny tots with a story involving a princess called Sam and some sort of soccer prince called Michael.

While Michael’s story brings the house down, the misery of Shark Island eventually gets to Dave and he abandons his post. When Sam notices he’s walked away, we all start to fear this could be the last we see of the grinning plumber.

At the end of the day, it was Michael’s fairytale that won Sam’s heart as she invites Prince Michael back to the Bachelorette Pad. When they arrive, it’s straight into the kitchen where Michael is thinking Sam may have arranged a seafood dinner. WRONG. Sam is not that kinda girl and that’s why we love her. Our Bachelorette is preparing a delicious ham, cheese and tomato toasty for her suitor…which she then goes on to burn.

The charcoal didn’t seem to diminish the attraction however, as the chemistry was bursting when Sam handed him a deck of cards that told him a little bit more about her. When it reached the card where she tells him that she’s “terrified of getting her heart broken again,” his response is a winner. Michael tells Sam that he understands where she’s coming from and to “choose slowly and I think the love will come quicker.” WOWSER. Then, Sam’s last card results in a BIG KISS and finally, results in a rose for Michael. Oh, and then another kiss.

Later, at the cocktail party, Michael arrives back late straight from the Bachelorette Pad. When he gets a grilling from the boys as to what happened between he and Sam, he plays his cards close to his chest.

Not long after Sam enters the room, she asks Dave for some alone time. Can their private chat save him from an exit at the rose ceremony tonight?