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Last week on CUPID, America delivered a real shock by voting off Paul, one of Lisa's favorite remaining Suitors. Lisa responded by making a direct appeal to the audience, pointing out in no uncertain terms that there were at least several guys left on the stage that she felt no longer belonged there. Despite Lisa's feelings, however, Paul was gone. That left seven guys to take her out on another round of challenging dates, this time with a bunch of kids along for the ride. Evan, Hank, Renda and Joe scored big points with the little tykes, while Ken and Dominic had a harder time reining in the kids--and their own tempers--which turned out to be a problem with Lisa's two friends, Laura and Kimberly. And, as has seemingly become a weekly ritual, Robert suffered the wrath of all three women after enlisting the kids' help to lure Lisa into kissing him. But proving himself to be the Teflon Suitor, Robert once again escaped elimination when the axe fell on Paul. This week, he along with the six other surviving Suitors would find out which one of them would be next to go, and which ones would stay in the mix to battle it out for the highly coveted hand of Lisa Shannon. One of them, of course, could very well win the opportunity to marry Lisa in three weeks, right in front of a live studio audience, as well as millions of Americans watching at home. SLAUGHTERHOUSE SEVEN After everyone was reintroduced and brought back out before the studio audience, host Brian McFayden offered us a glimpse of what the mood was like in the bachelor house in the wake of Paul's unexpected departure. If Paul could be kicked out, the remaining guys were clearly starting to realize that they were all on the chopping block. Joe may have summed up the grim atmosphere best when he called it, "So damn negative, and so morbid." As Joe saw it, the competition was becoming a lot more cutthroat. But from Renda's perspective, Joe was placing too much emphasis on the competition: "I'm not sizing up anybody!" Meanwhile, Robert was really feeling the heat, not only from Lisa and her two friends, but from his fellow Suitors as well. Obviously stung by the unyielding barrage of barbs hurled in his direction, Robert confessed, "This is very damaging for me. This really is." Ken, too, was growing tired of constantly being on the receiving end of everyone's criticism. As he put it, "I don't need to get thrown under the bus every week on national TV." Hank sensed that Renda might be next to go, and that he'd be crushed when his number was finally up. Sure enough, Renda almost got teary imagining that scenario. But just as clearly, there would be no rest for the weary (or the teary), a fact made most evident by Hank's observation that, almost overnight, the house had turned into a "slaughterhouse… And everybody knows it." ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: FOUR DOWN, SIX TO GO After this behind-the-scenes look at the tension-filled bachelor house, it was time to find out which bachelor would not be returning to the house this week. As in previous weeks, the three guys who polled lowest were asked to step forward, this time, Renda, Ken and Dominic. Releasing Renda from the agony, Brian told him he was free to retake his seat. Laura and Kimberly then weighed in with their thoughts about the two guys standing before them. As usual, they pulled no punches with Laura's thumb pointed squarely down for Ken. Kimberly chose Ken as well, explaining, "I just don't think the connection is there." Brian finally ended the suspense by announcing that the guy who received the lowest amount of votes was Ken. Brian then offered Ken a reminder of his life on CUPID in a brief video retrospective. When he first heard the news, Ken hung his head. But by the end of the montage, he had composed himself enough to offer these parting words--for Lisa and his fellow Suitors: I'm very flattered that you selected me to be in this amazing group of guys. You guys have become like brothers to me." He then addressed Lisa directly: "I sincerely hope that the man of your dreams is in this bunch, and I hope that the woman of my dreams is still out there." Lisa seemed touched as she told Ken, "I count you among my friends, and I had an amazing time with you." Even the two friends who'd been so hard on him in the past seemed sad to see him go. Watching him leave for the last time, Laura claimed, "There was not too much wrong with Ken at all." Kimberly concurred, adding that, "[Ken] is gonna make some woman extremely happy." ( Goodbye to Ken  )
With Ken gone, Brian introduced the agenda for this week's dates. If Lisa and the guys were hoping things would get easier from here, they would be sorely disappointed, because now they'd all get to play the home version of Meet the Parents. That's right, the time had come for Lisa to take that awkward first trip home with each of the remaining guys to meet their friends and, most importantly, their families. Finally, Lisa would have the opportunity to see what the guys would reveal about themselves on their own turf. RENDA'S DATE: EVERY "NO" GETS YOU CLOSER TO A "YES" Renda, the street hustler and poet from Queens, sounded excited at the prospect of bringing Lisa into his world: "I want her to meet my friends. I want her to meet my family. And I want her to see me in my environment." In Renda's case, that meant the environment of street hustling. Walking hand-in-hand, Renda and Lisa strolled the sidewalks of New York, with Renda offering a fellow hustler the benefit of his years of experience: "Every 'no' gets you closer to a 'yes.'" When they showed up at the restaurant to meet his family and friends, Lisa cracked up at the sight of Renda's family smiling at her from behind matching sets of Groucho glasses. One of Renda's friends asked Lisa if she was crazy about Renda, and Lisa wasted no time in responding: "Isn't it obvious? He's amazing." She then leaned over and kissed Renda tenderly, much to the delight of all assembled. Renda's dad, Jerry, assured Lisa that if she ended up marrying his son, she'd "never be bored, that's for sure." Renda's sister, meanwhile, saw a "real strong connection between [Renda and Lisa]." Lisa seemed to agree when she told Renda that this date helped cement her growing feelings for him. And the family obviously gave her their seal of approval. As Jerry put it, Lisa has "all the traits I would look for in a daughter-in-law." Laura sounded initially favorable about Renda's prospects with her friend, observing that she saw "a little more passion between you guys than I thought." But she added that "something about the kiss bugged me a little bit." Regarding Renda's statement that he'd be willing to settle down for Lisa, Kimberly cautioned him not to "give up your dreams, because in the end you might end up resenting Lisa." Renda addressed Laura's comment about the kiss in his rebuttal, "You weren't there. It was a good kiss." Lisa picked up on Kimberly's observation, telling Renda not to worry about the conventional notion of settling down: "I just want someone who's happy with what they do." ( Renda's Date )
EVAN'S DATE: SO FAR, SO RIGHT For Evan, the girls volleyball coach from Huntington Beach, the trip home was especially meaningful, since his parents' opinion of Lisa was very important to him. Not that he was worried about their opinions: "I'm ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure they're gonna love Lisa." Judging from their initial reactions, Evan's confidence was not misplaced. Evan was clearly pleased when his stepmother Jeannine pulled him aside and gushed about Lisa: "I love her." The feeling seemed to be mutual as Lisa chatted away happily with the gathering of friends and family. As for Evan, his friend J.T. claimed, "I've never ever seen him this happy before." In a private moment with Lisa, however, Evan admitted that he felt disheartened after seeing the other bachelors "glowing" after their dates with her. But it looked like he certainly felt better when Lisa assured him that her other dates hadn't been "anywhere near like our dates." The two then shared an intimate kiss before joining the rest of the family in a game of pick-up basketball. As their date wound up, Evan asked himself if Lisa was the right girl for him before answering his own question, "So far she is." Both of Lisa's friends were impressed and touched by Evan's honesty as far as his admitting his feelings about watching Lisa with the other guys. Laura observed, "Obviously it bothers you that she's dating and kissing these other guys. And I don't blame you." But she encouraged him to stick it out, as did Kimberly, who was most impressed by what she called Lisa and Evan's "true sexual chemistry." Evan was all smiles in his response, first thanking Laura and Kimberly for not being mean to him, then telling Lisa, "My family adores you. I adore you. My friends adore you. Everybody adores you." Lisa assured Evan that she'd had a great time with him as well, but expressed concern that he was letting his uneasiness about seeing her date the other Suitors keep his feelings in check: "You either have to get past it, or we're both gonna lose." ( Evan's Date )
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