Episode seven recap:

This date was an emotional doozy. Tina was adamant throughout the episode that she was on the show to find true connection, and her date with Chris proved case in point. She confessed through tears that she felt peace in his presence, and he felt strongly that they are at the same stage of life and looking for similar things. Will that add up to a season-three win? Guess we’ll find out next week.

The connection between Cheyenne and Chris remains strong and their conversations are very future-focused. The question is whether they can survive Chris’ other love interests and Ric’s big reveal that he and Chey “linked up” while the show was in production. Stay tuned.

At this point, watching Kaci Jane and Eric date is like spying on an old couple as they catch up at the end of the day … they’re just that comfortable together. If it weren’t for the underlying sexual tension, we’d figure these two had been married for ages. Heads-up to Eric’s roomie Ryan: when they finally meet IRL, you better get some dang good earmuffs.

This newly reunited couple picked up right where they left off, with both Nicole and Jake confessing that they’re into each other and are interested in pursuing things off-camera. We’re not sure what happens when two Greek gods get together, but we do know we’d buy any workout routine they tried to sell us.

Apparently there had been trouble in paradise between these two after episode six, but all seemed to have been forgiven by the time they were back on air. MC even went as far as saying that Candy’s his number-one pick given their chemistry and synchrony, and we can’t help but root for these two rapper-romantics.

Whaaaaat? Were these two punking us the whole season? Because in the span of a single episode, the pair went from total mutual distrust to down-to-be-a-thing. A double-Couple was in the cards for Candy and Chris in our semifinal episode, which – not gonna lie – mucks up our CTV tourney bracket something fierce. 

Tina was on a no-holds-barred tear this episode. Apparently she “read Eric’s energy” and it told her the following: he would always overlook her since he goes for “the bimbo type” (no offense Kaci Jane?), she’s “anti-industry” and he’s way too into showbiz, and (to add insult to injury) “he’s a d**k.” Aggressive read of a guy who’s always been a fan fave, but to his credit, Eric took every hit on the chin and didn’t retaliate. 

Like we said, no holds barred. This time Tina came for the commenters who accused her of being a bit too intense. While we appreciate that she’s taking her search for love so seriously, Ryan looked like a deer in headlights and ended the date feeling slightly shell-shocked. 

Despite a premonition that she was going to be cut, birthday girl Tina was crowned the first Fan Fave of episode seven. (Must have been her awesome vocal solo/self-serenade that helped win over the viewers, eh?)

Tina was joined on the podium by her newly ordained archnemesis Eric, who gets no love from her but lots of love from fans … consistently. Episode seven marked his third time winning the viewer vote!

The first elimination of the night was by far our most contentious of the season.

While Eric's Fan Fave status kept him safe from Tina's disdain, his BFF Ryan found himself on the chopping block, along with the newly recast Pedrooo. Tina’s philosophy that “you are the company you keep” meant that Ryan was decisively sent home with some nasty back-and-forth and a f***boy label all his own. 

Ouch.

Eric had a less aggressive approach with his “victims” Cheyenne and Saima. Though it seems his heart fully belongs to Kaci Jane, he took the highroad and didn’t do her “rival” dirty. Knowing that Cheyenne has made at least one true connection on the show, he decided to let her continue her journey by letting Saima go gently.

This week’s eliminated cast members will be in good company soon enough … all but our winners will find themselves among this gorgeous group of dumped daters.