When Kristina Schulman gave her rose to Blake Horstmann on Monday's Aug. 19 Bachelor in Paradise episode, most of the rest of the contestants were shocked and upset. Many of them were ready for Blake to leave Bachelor in Paradise and to take his drama with him, but he's hanging around the show for a while longer, at least partially thanks to the show's rose ceremony structure.
Rose ceremonies have thus far been happening about every other episode on Mondays. In week 4, the men will have the power to hand out roses, which means none of them can be eliminated (unless they get in a physical fight or choose to leave). After Blake hands out his rose on what will likely be the Aug. 26 episode, he'll then get a week to try to woo a woman into giving him her rose during the next ceremony, likely taking place during the the Sept. 2 episode. That means at bare minimum, we'll likely have Blake drama on our TV screens for at least two more weeks, unless he chooses to leave.
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But a voluntary exit is pretty unlikely to happen. He said on Monday's episode, "I'm ready to forgive myself. I've been really hard on myself," before going on a date with Caitlin Clemmons (he also noted that he hadn't "murdered" anyone, which is a low bar), so he seems to want to stick things out and see if he can find a connection.
Now that Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Tayshia Adams, and Hannah Godwin are not really options for him, Blake is going to have to find someone new to give him a rose if he hopes to last beyond the next women-controlled rose ceremony. Caitlin Clemmens seems like a good option for him. The Colton Underwood season alum came to Paradise after the second rose ceremony and asked Blake on a date. Caitlin also knew Blake from Stagecoach, but she seemed unbothered by his version of events surrounding his drama with Kristina, Caelynn, Hannah, and Tayshia. Perhaps Caitlin will choose to keep Blake on our TV screens for far too long. Or... maybe Kristina will hand out another pot-stirring rose.
On the Aug. 19 episode, Kristina explained that she gave Blake the rose in part because he would have to stay and watch Dylan Barbour and Hannah date now. That was the second time she used her advantages in Paradise (a date card and a rose) to mess with Blake. Would she do it a third time? Possibly. After all, this is what she said after giving Blake the rose at the ceremony: "It's kind of mean, but it's Blake we’re talking about. The temptation's too good." So, she could easily be tempted again to keep Blake in "his personal hell," for funsies.
However, while Blake is not necessarily going anywhere anytime soon, there are hints that he doesn't make it to the Fantasy Suite and proposal episodes of Bachelor in Paradise. Those are usually the last two episodes of the series (likely airing on Sept. 9 and 10 this year), and Blake is not shown in any previews talking about being at the "I love you" stage or the Fantasy Suite and proposal stage. As Refinery29 previously pointed out, Hannah, Dylan, Demi Burnett, Katie Morton, and Chris Bukowski all appear in scenes that hint they stick it out through the Bachelor in Paradise finale. Blake, however, is nowhere to be seen in similar instances.
So if you're waiting for Blake to leave, he probably will — just not right away. We have to deal with more of his Stagecoach-instigated shenanigans first. Oh joy.