'Bachelor in Paradise' recap: Blake Moynes and Jess Girod break up, Mercedes Northup dumps Tyler Norris, and Rachel Recchia quits!

Bachelor in Paradise featured Blake Moynes and Jess Girod breaking up, Blake self-eliminating and Jess becoming a hot commodity on the beach, Mercedes Northup feeling "used" by Tyler Norris after he dropped a bombshell on her, and Rachel Recchia quitting during the Season 9 episode that aired Thursday night on ABC.


After Blake and Jess broke up, Blake self-eliminated from Paradise because he had no romantic interest in any of the other women.

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Tyler also left Paradise on his own accord once Mercedes established that she was done with him and he wasn't going to receive her rose that night.

And at the last Rose Ceremony of the season prior to Fantasy Suites, Rachel decided to take her rose out of the running and leave single, which ultimately eliminated Brayden Bowers and Taylor Pegg from the process.


The Bachelor in Paradise broadcast began with Blake pulling Jess aside for a conversation before the Rose Ceremony.

Blake explained that his reunion with his ex-fiancee and former The Bachelorette star Katie Thurston reminded him of how quickly love can develop and what it felt like to be in love on this show. And unfortunately, Blake said he and Jess weren't there yet.

"[Katie and I] were able to accomplish so much more, but I've had more time with you," Blake explained to Jess.

"I kind of feel like we're just going in circles... In a sense, I feel I'm here not just playing Paradise, in a way, and I don't want that for you and I don't want that for me... Everything is pointing to, as much as we want this to work, that it's not going to."

Jess said it felt like they stopped having fun but she wanted to keep trying and see their relationship through.


Jess started to cry and admitted that by this point, she thought she'd be hopelessly in love with someone on Bachelor in Paradise.

"And that's not where I'm at. I'm someone who keeps going because I don't know how to end something I begin," Jess explained to Blake.

"I kept trying to figure out what was missing, and I guess it shouldn't be this hard. There is truth in what you're saying, and if it took Katie coming in here..."

But Blake interjected and assured Jess that Katie's presence in Paradise wasn't "the thing" that broke them up. Blake said they simply weren't working on the pace that they were on.

Jess told Blake that he had made her feel very comfortable and allowed her to open up and be herself on the beach. She also noted how she had no hard feelings toward him at all.


"You brought me back. I was numb for years. I care about you a lot, and I tried to show that all the time through affection... [but] I'm sorry if I wasn't able to deliver what you needed," Blake shared.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Jess assured the Canadian wildlife manager.

With that being said, the couple broke up and Blake self-eliminated from Bachelor in Paradise.

Jess couldn't help but blame herself because Blake had been all in and she just "couldn't get there" with him. Jess said she wanted to be in love and to make things work with Blake so badly but she just couldn't force it -- and she said she felt like a horrible person.

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When Blake left, Kylee Russell ran after him and begged him to stay.

Blake explained how he and Jess weren't getting anywhere and their chemistry was off and not there.

"But I don't think you feel that way, and that's what makes me sad," Kylee noted.

"Regardless of how I feel, if she doesn't feel it, it's not going to work and so it doesn't matter," Blake responded.

Kylee accused Blake of giving up "too easily," but Blake insisted that he knows when something isn't going to work -- because he's been through it before -- and it wasn't going to work with Jess.


Kylee said she couldn't imagine Paradise without Blake, who had clearly become one of her best friends, but there was no one else Blake wanted to pursue on the beach.

"I don't know what to think right now. I don't regret it, but I hate that it ended already. I didn't come here for fun; I came here to find somebody," Blake told the Bachelor in Paradise cameras in his final words.

"It was clear it wasn't happening. At this point, I just feel like I've tried it all. I've tried three times and failed. Oh man. I feel like a failure. You go through all these things and come out empty-handed. You feel like you have things to offer. Why are you not figuring it out? I have no idea."

There was so much chaos on the beach after Blake and Jess, who were a Day 1 couple in Paradise, split up. Aaron Bryant worried there would be a Domino effect.

Later that night, Mercedes decided to have a serious conversation with Tyler about what she wanted and needed. She thought this talk would either help them grow or end their romance.

Mercedes explained to Tyler how their relationship had plateaued and there was really no depth to their connection or conversations. Mercedes said she didn't feel pursued, wanted or desired, and Tyler admitted that he was afraid to date long distance.


"Are you here just to have a little fling?" Mercedes asked, adding how she came to Bachelor in Paradise for a real relationship and it didn't seem like Tyler was trying with her.

"For me to leave here with somebody, I knew that I wanted a spark, you know? I wanted something where there wasn't a doubt... like, 'That's it,'" Tyler said.

Tyler confirmed he didn't feel a spark with Mercedes but had been trying to establish that with her, and Mercedes was totally shocked and bewildered.

Tyler said he had given Mercedes a rose in attempt to build that spark, but Mercedes replied, "I wish you had been honest with me about that. No spark?!"

Mercedes recalled Tyler saying that he was so "into" her on Bachelor in Paradise, and so Tyler mentioned, "Maybe I see a 'spark' differently than you do."

Mercedes suddenly felt "used," and she told Tyler, "I feel like you're here just having fun, and that really pisses me off. Now I feel like my time has been wasted. I could've left here with someone and had an amazing relationship, and now we're at the end and I can't. You weren't honest with me."


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Mercedes told Tyler that he wouldn't be receiving her rose that night, and she came to believe that he never came to Paradise with the right intentions. Mercedes didn't feel like she deserved to be dragged along just for someone's pleasure or to walk out of the experience alone and single.

"Are you kidding?! That's so f-cked up. I didn't want this," Mercedes cried.

"I literally thought... I'd be leaving so happy, and now I just got played! I came here to find my person. I want a relationship, I want to get married, and I want to start a family. All of my expectations went to sh-t, and now I feel stupid."

Tyler then self-eliminated and quit Paradise, and Mercedes girlfriends couldn't believe what Tyler had told her.

Meanwhile, Olivia Lewis felt "seen and heard" by Michael Barbour, who had surprised the bachelorette with a cute date. And Aaron B. spoke to Eliza Isichei about how he looked forward to meeting her family and introducing her to his family.


And Rachel was trying to decide between Jordan Vandergriff and Tanner Courtad. She told Jordan that there's no one else she'd rather give her rose to, and she told the Bachelor in Paradise cameras how she was so excited about the charming and kind suitor.

"I deserve someone who is all in on me, and Jordan could be that person," Rachel noted in a Bachelor in Paradise confessional.

But Jordan admitted to his friends that he wasn't sure if his romantic feelings for Rachel -- which he felt on The Bachelorette's nineteenth -- could return. Jordan said he'd love to pursue things with Mercedes, who was someone he had been interested in from the get-go.

Jordan told Mercedes how he thought their personalities meshed and he considered her to be a great woman. Mercedes thought Jordan was very sweet, but she felt confused and didn't know where her rose was going.

"Do I just leave? What am I doing here?" Mercedes vented in a Bachelor in Paradise confessional. "I'm still here but I'm barely breathing."

Kylee advised Mercedes and Jess to live in the moment and put themselves out there, and so Jess and Brayden went off alone for a conversation. Brayden said he'd always been attracted to Jess and it was "sucky to see her sad" after Blake left.


"I don't know if there's a chance, but at least on my end, there's definitely something. This is a last-ditch effort and I'm just going to leave everything on the table," Brayden told the Bachelor in Paradise cameras.

Brayden surprised Jess with a box of chocolates, but then Tanner confessed he had also been interested in Jess the entire time. Given Jess had been locked in with Blake, she was closed off, but that was no longer the case.

Most of the single guys therefore sought Jess out for a conversation, including Tanner.

Tanner told Jess that he realized that day, or the day prior, that he really only felt a friendship with Rachel. Tanner expressed how he felt hopeful something could happen between them on Bachelor in Paradise and he appreciated how loyal she seemed to be with Blake.

"That's a super attractive quality. It made me sad to think I was going to leave here without at least getting to know you a little bit," Tanner shared.

"I do want to get to know you. I just feel so weird right now," Jess confessed.


Tanner revealed that Jess at least being open would be enough to make him want to stay on the beach.

It then became time for the Rose Ceremony.

Eliza handed out her rose to Aaron, and she said she was looking forward to what life was going to look like for the outside of Paradise.

Kat Izzo gave her rose to John Henry Spurlock; Kylee handed her rose to Aven Jones, with whom she could see herself spending the rest of her life; Olivia offered her rose to Michael; and Sam Picco gave her rose to Peter Cappio.

Jess decided to give her rose to Tanner, Mercedes opted to give her rose to Jordan, and then it was Rachel's turn.

Rachel, with a rose in hand, asked for a second to think, and she told host Jesse Palmer that it was time for her to go, even though that was going to be difficult for her.


"I came to Paradise with no expectations, and I made mistakes. But I learned so much more about myself than I could've ever expected," Rachel cried in her final words.

"Even if I'm not leaving with anyone, for me, Paradise has been able to make me stand alone on my own two feet for the first time. I feel like I was meant to be here in Paradise, even though I don't have a partner I'm walking away with. It has been the most amazing experience, and I'm happy."

Rachel's decision to self-eliminate ultimately ended Paradise for Brayden and Taylor.

Brayden said he felt "deflated" to be leaving Paradise without a partner.

"I feel like I shouldn't have gone on that date with [Becca Serrano]. I had really good vibes with Rachel, but I messed up the potential for a relationship with her," Brayden admitted to the Bachelor in Paradise cameras in his final words.

"I burned a bridge with somebody who's an amazing woman, and it's a tough lesson to learn and it's a hard pill to swallow. But I have to learn from it. I've got to do better and I've got to be better."


Bachelor in Paradise's finale is set to air on Thursday, December 7 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski