‘The Bachelorette Australia’ week three recap: awkward triple dates, aging disgracefully, and plot twists

This week’s episodes shared a single theme: refinement. A weeding out of all the weird and wonderful characters that we, as an audience, knew were only placed there for entertainment’s sake.

So sit back and enjoy this week’s highlights of "The Bachelorette Australia".

Episode 5: The awkward ménage à trois

Episode five starts at the same place as it always does, with the boys gathered round having impromptu heartfelt bro chats about their feelings for Sam.

After awhile, Osher enters and presents a date card to the group - with a twist.

Instead of the coveted one-on-one date, an awkward triple date is proposed involving Sam and two of the least popular contestants: larrikin Davey Lloyd and quiet hopeful Tony Strugar.

The date is fashioned as a sudden death duel, with Osher explaining that only one of the two would be returning.

Front-runner Sasha takes a while to do the math, but soon realises that there would actually be two love-struck hopefuls heading home in the rose ceremony, that evening.

Despite the fact that we all know the triple date is nothing but a plot device used to eliminate the both of them, dramatic music is cued and the boys prepare to battle it out in hopes for just a glimpse of affection from Sam.

A water taxi soon arrives to escort the two boys out to a ship in Darling Harbour where Sam awaits.

The superyacht (not to be confused with a boring ol’ normal yacht) is impressive and decked out like a casino.

The two are set up as opposing forces; chalk vs. cheese; yin vs. yang; mature vs. immature - you get the idea.

“This date is do or die,” says Davey.

“I feel like my head is on the chopping block,” adds Tony.

Eager to impress, Davey puts on the charm, spending the cringeworthy date continuously attempting to upstage Tony; at one point breaking his very own bro-code and interrupting Sam’s one-on-one time.

….Not that he needed to, since after five whole episodes, we’re still not too sure what Tony's deal is.

As the date night continues, it becomes pretty clear that Davey has the upper hand.

And like that iconic scene from Titanic where Rose pushes Jack off that floating piece of debris into the freezing-cold ocean (even though there was definitely enough room for the both of them), Sam bids Tony farewell, lowering him into a rescue boat to find his way back ashore, alone.

Returning to shore, the group date kicks off at a children’s birthday party.

The boys are told that they have to entertain a group of thirty screaming kids by constructing their own stall or attraction, using only the materials present at the party.

While the rest of the guys do pretty well on the date, plumber Dave fails momentously.

It could’ve been his terrifying face paint or maybe the preconceptions that he had prior to the group date about being bad with kids, but his ‘Shark Island’, attracts a crowd of zero, prompting him to abandon his post to help the other bachelors on their noble endeavours.

Not-really-a-professional-soccer-player Michael impresses Sam the most with a touching fairytale told to the kids about a princess named Sam, and a magical prince called Michael, who fall irrevocably in love.

Michael is later invited back to the Bachelorette pad for a gourmet meal prepared entirely by our girl, Sammy.

Hilarity ensues as we find out that Sam has zero culinary skills, and instead of the gourmet dinner promised, our heroine prepares Michael a delicious ham and cheese toasted sandwich.

The two share their first kiss, and Michael is presented with a surprise rose, firmly cementing his place in the competition for yet another day.

Eventually rose ceremony time rolls along, and it’s rap god Kayne that is sent packing.

Episode 6: Sam and Richie age disgracefully

The day starts off as any other, with Alex and the boys playing a competitive game of chess.

…….or at least he’s doing a pretty good job pretending to.

Osher enters to remind us of his importance to the success of the show, and presents the boys with the date card.

In this episode, 30-year-old underdog Richie Strahan is the one picked for the one-on-one with Sam.

Up until now, Richie has kept a pretty low profile. We don’t know much about him except that he is 1. a rope access technician (made up sounding job, but okay) and 2. that he’s kind of a babe.

Meanwhile, the rest of the boys are invited to a group date at a carnival, where they will compete in a series of tests to vie for Sam’s attention.

First up is the ‘thunder god’ challenge, a test of brute strength. The boys take turns smashing a heavy mallet onto a target in order to ring a bell.

All seem to accomplish it except Michael and Sasha. The clear winner, however, is self-described man-child Davey Lloyd.

Sam isn’t too impressed though, using the word ‘larrikin’ so many times to describe Davey in this brief period, that if you were to take a shot every time she mentioned it, you’d undoubtedly be sloshed by now.

“Davey is being quite the boy’s boy today which I can’t say I’m surprised, but I can’t help but wonder if that was just brief encounter,” observes Sam.

By the fifth and final challenge, only Davey and plumber Dave remain.

Plumber Dave is victorious and they end up on a romantic date beneath the carnival big top.

Unfortunately for the 30-year-old hunk, the date ended with an awkward hug.

Meanwhile, Richie and Sam get ready for their anticipated one-on-one. It’s revealed that the premise of the date is to see how well the two would do together 50 years into their relationship.

They are rushed into hair and makeup, and a series of complicated latex pieces are applied to transform them into 80-year-old versions of themselves.

“This is a very unusual date, very quirky,” he says as the two of them are transported to a bingo night at a local lawn bowls club.

The date is no-doubt foreshadowing the romance that is to come between the two.

Richie’s amazing sense of humour is revealed on the date, as he fully commits to roleplaying his 80-year-old self.

“No guy has ever made me laugh as much as Richie has. I feel like I’m the only girl in the world and that’s what everyone dreams for,” says Sam.

Next minute, while boogying down on the dancefloor, Richie reveals a hidden talent: breakdancing!

The date ends with Sam and Richie sharing perhaps the most passionate kiss to date on this show, after swapping stories about their family and childhood.

The episode ends in a shock twist as our Bachelorette Sam Frost cancels the rose ceremony, opting instead to send larrikin Davey Lloyd home.