'Bachelor in Paradise': Chris Harrison Blogs Week 4

Welcome back, Bachelor Nation! Well, another week, another chapter in the strange story of Joe and Samantha. In the history of our show, I’ve never seen anything unfold quite so slowly and with so many unbelievable twists and turns.

Was he lying? Was she lying? Did he use Juelia? Did Samantha use Juelia? Did Samantha use Joe to use Juelia? It’s hard to keep any of this straight honestly. And even just watching Sam and Joe talk, it’s hard to tell if they’re being honest with anyone, or even each other, or even themselves. It feels like a giant mountain of lies has been built and we don’t even know what’s underneath it anymore.

Before we go even further down the rabbit hole, let’s talk about some of the other big moments of the week.

Related: ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Recap: ‘It’s Kind of Like We Were Bonnie & Clyde’

First up, JJ. This guy has really taken a turn from “villing,” which is a term I would like to retire, to being America’s loudest, most outspoken hero. Not every man is understood in his time, and I’m just glad JJ got an opportunity to join us in Paradise, and I hope the woman back home takes him seriously, but only time will tell.

Next up: Juelia and Mikey. When Juelia came to me and told me that she wanted another chance with Mikey I wasn’t entirely surprised. You didn’t get to see it, but they did have a pretty good connection right off the bat before he got sidetracked with Clare. Once it became clear that Mikey did have Juelia’s best interest in mind, she ran back through everything like an M. Night Shyamalan film and realized that maybe what she was looking for was right there the whole time.

As happy as Juelia was, Joe couldn’t have looked more upset. With Mikey and Jonathan gone, Joe thought he was finally going to be free of drama, but Mikey really was like the sword of Damocles dangling over him, and as you saw this week, everything really began to fall apart. (That said, he did manage to have some fun, as the behind-the-scenes photo below will attest.)

Much like the re-arrival of Mikey, the arrival of Nick put another wrinkle in Samantha’s sheets. They apparently had been talking before the show as well, and had even met up. He seemed to find this totally innocent, which it may have been. That’s the new question, it seems. Did Joe misunderstand Sam’s intentions? Was she just trying to put feelers out there? Or was she really trying to build relationships with several people at the same time? Again, we’ll get some of these answers next week when Samantha joins us on After Paradise.

The ballad of Joe and Samantha seems to be nearing the end. I mean, you can’t get much worse than getting dumped on your birthday while looking at your own cake. Next week, things are really going to shake up, and it’s time to start putting some of these relationships to the test. What will happen? We’ll find out this Sunday at 8 p.m. on Bachelor in Paradise. See you then!

Bachelor in Paradise airs Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC; After Paradise airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on ABC.