Bachelor Blowup: Mean Girl Drama Explodes Beyond Two-on-One with Someone Ready to Quit

Honestly, we were actually hoping the Two-on-One date would resolve some of the craziness in the house. We should have known when this was a one-two punch of new episodes (there's another one Tuesday night) just how wrong we were. It looks like we're just getting started.

It's also at this point we think how unfair it is that Joey Graziadei is not privy to more of what's going on in the house. He's here to find true love and genuine connections and producers put him in these situations to make decisions about that with very limited information.

Take the Two-on-One situation. Inevitably it was going to come to this because Sydney has been making it clear in confessionals that she is not going to let this thing with Maria go. Maria wants to focus on Joey. Sydney is obsessed with getting Maria out.

It's gotten so bad with her that she admitted it was causing her anxiety and impacting her health. And remember, this all started because Sydney almost heard Maria talking about Madina's age concerns. Maria was trying to lift up Madina, but Sydney heard disrespect.

Madina appeared to be upset at first about it, too, but she and Maria squashed that beef weeks ago and seemed to be at least cordial at this point. Sydney, on the other hand, would not let it go. So while Maria was again focused on Joey, she put together a "game plan" for the double date.

Based on the edit we've seen to this point, it looks like the game plan was to just flat-out lie to Joey. Again, since savvy Bachelor viewers know he's put into these positions where he doesn't have all the information, Sydney might have figured she could control the narrative here, even if it wasn't real.

She certainly was confident that her story would be the version Joey went for when she said that Maria attacked her after last week's pool party and when Lea stood up for her, Maria told her to "f--k off." That's not something we saw, but did it happen?

Well, after Joey talked with Maria about it, she went back to Sydney and they had it out a bit. At one point, Maria asked her if she knows there are cameras on them at all times That certainly suggests that Sydney lied about that particular exchange.

So why can't Joey know that? What if he were to pick Sydney all the way at the end and then find out just how far she was willing to go to sabotage Maria? Talk about engagement regrets ... and it would be the show's fault, in a way.

As it stood, he admitted after talking with both women, he didn't know what to believe. Maria was shocked by Sydney's accusations and denied them, of course, and just continued to be her authentic self, trying to remain positive. That's only possible for so long, though.

Going into the evening portion, Joey decided to throw away the she-said-she-said drama and focus on which of the women he felt a stronger connection with. That also meant he conceded he might get this totally wrong.

Well, again based on the edit, he got it right in that he believed Maria and sent Sydney packing. Maria has just seemed more genuine throughout, even as her character has been attacked over and over and over again.

But the drama didn't stop there. It couldn't! Usually when the "mean girl" gets the boot at around this point, the drama shifts to something new, but parts of the group were not going to let this one go. In particular, Sydney appeared to be close to Lea, Jess, and Rachel.

So here's where it gets even crazier. After Maria came back, Madina (remember her small role in all of this) said she was happy to see her and she was nice to her. Well, that was enough for Lea, who saw this as disloyal to Sydney.

She was so incensed that she pulled Madina out to call her out about being nice to Maria while having declared that Sydney was one of her best friends in the house. While Madina explained she was trying to navigate this the best she could, Lea tore into her.

Is she aware that saying she holds herself and her friends to high standards and that she has a different set of morality and values is an incredibly insulting thing to say to someone, implying just how awful theirs were.

Maria was compassionate to see that Madina was rocked by this conversation and went to ask her about it. It was at this point she learned that it was again all about her and the nonsense with Sydney. That was enough for Maria, who slowly cracked under the constant bullying and accusations in the house.

Madina is getting torn into for being nice to Maria? So she should be a social pariah for the rest of the season? And honestly, looking at the edits we've been getting, Maria hasn't really done anything awful or mean all season. She's tried to be positive and uplifting and she gets torn down relentlessly.

It's no wonder the episode ended with her declaring that she was over it -- going so far as to say the rose Joey gave her on the Two-on-One could go to someone else -- the "mean girls" had won and she was ready to go. Even as she was deciding she'd had enough, Lea was talking to Joey at the Cocktail Party to make sure he knew that there are still some girls in the house who want to keep Maria firmly stuck under that bus Sydney drove over her.

The obsessions are a little weird, in all honestly. These ladies supposedly came on this show to find love and to find it with Joey and yet they are allowing themselves to be completely distracted by this Maria drama (that appears to have been almost wholly fabricated, to boot).

Sydney had no time to develop a connection with Joey because she spent all her time talking about Maria. Now, Lea is getting started on that, and it looks like Jess may not be that far behind her. Are we all getting an unrealistic edit of Maria and she really is this monster ... or are these women just being awful to her for no good reason?

Based on the teaser for Tuesday's episode, we're nowhere near the peak of this ridiculous drama. Here's hoping that we reach it and start to get over it (in more ways than one) by the end of that episode.

It might not have felt like it at times, but there was more going on in this episode than just the drama-nado circling around Maria. Lexi scored the coveted One-on-One date with Joey and they had a lot of fun exploring Malta (did we forget to mention this all went down in Malta?).

During the dinner portion, she opened up about being diagnosed with Stage 5 Endometriosis, which in her case means she may not be able to have biological children of her own. She also shared that her ex left her because of this.

Joey was much more understanding and supportive, and for her openness and honestly, Lexi got the Rose.

The Group date was all about knights, with the women battling it out in a lot of not-very-knightly competitions, like trying to grab a sausage on spinning strings with their mouths and staring into Joey's eyes (though many of the women opted to lean in for a kiss, instead).

The date also got short shrift from the drama in the house, but we did get to see Autumn -- who continues to give great one-liners -- emerge victorious to get a little bit of extra time with Joey.

In the evening portion, his connections with Katie and Rachel and Kelsey T seemed to be his strongest, based on his reactions to the women. He and Rachel bonded over their glasses, while he talked about how easy it is with Kelsey T and Katie ... well, they've had this giggly connection since Day One, almost, and it just strengthens with each subsequent moment together.

And that's about all that happened because the Cocktail Party drama got to be too much to contain in just one episode, so we never even got to the Rose Ceremony. Will Maria stick around for it, or is she gone? If she stays, will Lea's character assassination finally do her in? How much can one person take?

• "From my perspective it seems like Maria, her intentions are good, but Sydney is very headstrong. She can't get over it without being right." --Kelsey T
• "I think yesterday was a perfect indication of what bullying was and it wasn't me doing it." --Maria (to Allison)
• "We're going to Malta and I'm so excited because I've never been to Europe. Is Malta in Europe? Malta's Europe, right?" --Autumn
• "By the end of this, I'm hoping to bring someone to the 'alta.' But before I do that, I have to hang out in Malta. So bad! It's good, though, it's good. It's punny. Oh s--t. Boo!" --Joey
• "I'm happy it was Lexi today, and our time will come." --Maria (to Allison)
• "I think you need that, too. LIke, you need to just spend some time with him so he can get to know you and not go off of everything that people have said about you." --Allison (to Maria)
• "So how are you feeling about the Maria situation this week?" --Jess (to Sydney)
• "I was pretty disappointed at the Rose Ceremony. And because he kept her, I can only imagine what story she gave him to keep her here. You talk s--t. That's it. End of story. You talk s--t. So that is why it is so shocking to me that she is still here. Maybe other people brought up her talking s--t and she was like, 'Oh, it's out of context, it's out of context.' Okay, yeah, maybe it is. Whatever (even though it wasn't). The bottom line is she's gotta go." --Sydney (to Jess)
• "Right now my brain is, like, completely occupied by Maria and it's affecting my health. I'm just exhausted. I'm lethargic. I'm breaking out. So I'm going to make sure that Joey knows that she is the problem." --Sydney (in DR)
• "Life does throw curveballs and I think how you come out of it with your partner is everything. Nothing's ever gonna be perfect, but if you have someone with you by your side, you can get through anything." --Lexi (to Joey during One-on-One)
• "You guys weren't called a bully, abusive, all of these things. So this is like a real attack at my character. And I tried to drop it many times before and it just keeps being brought up." --Maria
• "I have never disrespected you. All I said is, 'Yes, you were verbally abusing me,' because that's what you were doing." --Sydney
• "This is torture. I have literally been put through the wringer enough, and now I have to go on a date with her." --Sydney
• "I only opened up to one other person and that was my ex. And he ultimately came to the decision that he can't be with someone who might not be able to have his children, which is hard." --Lexi (to Joey about Stage 5 Endometriosis diagnosis)
• "I don't want you to think in any way that that's something that I hear and it makes me want to run away." --Joey
• "Wait, this is a cute outfit." --Jenn (looking at knight outfits on Group Date)
• "It's my first time seeing him in person with his shirt off. I'm like, 'It's about time.'" --Daisy
• "I would describe it as half-naked Roman soldier? I think I still need to do some push-ups and sit-ups … I'm trying my best today. Fun-sized Bachelor." --Joey
• "I'm slowly trying to learn how to navigate group dates so I can stand out, but in practice, it's really hard." --Autumn
• "I'm terrified. And my mom watches the show." --Jenn (about the sausage wheel)
• "I'm playing. I'm not making them do this by themselves." --Joey (joining the sausage wheel)
• "I think most of these girls are cheating." --Kelsey T (about sausage wheel)
• "I cheated." --Allison
• "I made a promise with you that if you were going to be wearing your glasses-- So if you're gonna show that side of you." --Joey (to Rachel)
• "Oh, you're, like, blind." --Rachel
• "I'm blind as a bat!" --Joey
• "My approach has been the same since Day One. Be honest, be myself, and hope for the best." --Maria (ahead of Two-on-One)
• "I'm ready. This needs to happen. Maria is not suitable to be his wife and I need to get this girl out of here. I do have a little game plan." --Sydney
• "I am ready to get this thing over with … before I overthink and feed myself to a shark." --Maria
• "She's cracking jokes and I cannot bring myself to do that." --Sydney
• "When you left the party, Maria started attacking me in front of the group. And this was, like, the first time the girls were trying to step in, and she told Lea to shut the f--k up. Many people in the house heard it, it was with the group … I can guarantee that every single situation in the house, there has been one common denominator and that has been Maria repeatedly being disrespectful. It has crossed a line and I have to do this for myself and I have to do this for you." --Sydney
• "Is this something you can look past?" --Maria (after denying she told Lea to "f--k off")
• "To be honest, I don't know." --Joey
• "I told Lea to shut the f--k up?" --Maria (to Sydney)
• "Yeah." -- Sydney
• "You know we're on camera the entire time, right?" --Maria
• "I did everything I needed to do." --Sydney (in DR)
• "If he wants to give a rose to someone who lies about me and says things that he wants to hear, then he's not the guy for me." --Maria (in DR)
• "I'm shocked, because I don't think he knows the real her. She sucks. She sucks." --Sydney (after getting sent home)
• "What's that toe doing up there? … I accept you for you and all of your bunions." --Jenn (teasing Joey about his feet)
• "They're all being nice to Maria. If I was Syd, I'd be really disappointed." --Lea
• "I just hope that me having this conversation with you can give some perspective." --Lea (chastising Madina for being nice to Maria after Sydney left)
• "We have different approaches and perspectives in life and relationships." --Lea (to Madina)
• "Yeah, I've said that." --Madina
• "I hold myself and my friends and my close circle to a really high standard. I have a different set of morals and values." --Lea
• Okay, well, I guess we'll just agree to disagree." --Madina
• "I don't care, give my Rose to someone else." --Maria (ready to go after learning women are still trashing her)

The Bachelor continues Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC before settling back to Mondays.