It feels kind of sad to be typing this on Valentine's Day, but it looks like there will be no romantic happy ending for Chapel Hill's Emily O'Brien.

At least not in the world of engineered, reality show romance.

Emily, a Duke graduate and current PhD student at UNC-Chapel Hill, made it to the final five in the reality competition show, but was eliminated in last night's episode. Her nemesis Courtney Robertson is still in the game (and internet rumors indicate bachelor Ben Flajnik actually proposes to that witch).

Confession: I didn't even watch "The Bachelor" last night (too many DVR conflicts now that "The Voice" is back!) but I did monitor the situation in Panama so that I could report to other slackers that Blakeley Shea, the Charlotte/Rutherfordton contestant, was eliminated in last night's show.

Blakeley (left) ended up as one-half of the dreaded two-on-one date last night, which means two women leave for the date and only one woman returns. Reports indicate the date included Latin dancing and a weird "scrapbook of feelings" (made by a weepy Blakeley). Let's face it. Even a "VIP Waitress" from holy Charlotte cannot pull off a stalkery move like that, and Blakeley was dismissed. Blakeley was livid and stormed out in tears without speaking to bachelor Ben Flajnik.

In other local developments, Emily O'Brien, the Duke grad and UNC-Ch PhD student . . .

Neither of the North Carolina women were really the focus of attention on last night's episode of "The Bachelor."

That is, until the cocktail party at the very end when Duke grad/UNC PhD student Emily O'Brien (right) made up her mind that she'd had enough of phony ice queen/fashion model Courtney (I don't care enough about Courtney to look up her full name) and made the terrible decision to tell Ben Flajnik that Courtney's intentions were not true.

Problems here: 1. Emily had gotten no alone time with Ben in the period of time during which this episode was filmed (a few days can be an eternity if your man is picnicking by a mountain stream with another woman!) and she used the teeny bit of time she had with him to complain about another woman. Never a good move! Never! 2. The other problem, and it's a much larger one, is that Ben really likes Courtney.

That means Ben is a fool, of course, but it was still a pretty disastrous move by Emily. A move made even worse when she told Courtney's one friend in the house what she'd done. That woman, Casey from Kansas I believe (?), defended Courtney and then ran straight to Courtney and told her what Emily had said.

I skipped "The Bachelor" last night to watch Betty White's Birthday tribute on NBC, and wouldn't you know it, it was the night that Emily O'Brien -- Duke grad and UNC PhD student -- got a one-on-one date with bachelor Ben Flajnik.

But luckily (?), there's a video (below) of the date on youtube, so here's what happened:

Emily and Ben's date involved climbing San Francisco's Bay Bridge. Emily was extremely nervous and had a tough time dealing with the whole "fear of falling to my death on a reality show" issue. But Ben gave her a magical kiss that removed her fears and they completed the climb.

At their dinner later, Emily asks Ben about his rejected proposal to Ashley Hebert in last season's "Bachelorette" and he explains what was behind that (he loved her in the moment, etc.). Then Emily tells Ben her most embarrassing dating moment, which the rest of us already know if we saw her profile page on ABC's website: she once signed up on an online dating site and they "matched" her with her own brother.

North Carolina should be proud. This season's "The Bachelor" has two Carolina girls competing for the affections of Sonoma winemaker Ben Flajnik.

One is Emily O'Brien, a 27-year-old PhD student at UNC-Chapel Hill who did her undergrad work at Duke. Emily is studying epidemiology at Carolina, so we know she's smart. And apart from a brief, awkward moment where she rapped in the first episode, Emily has so far done nothing she should be embarrassed about.

Charlotte's Blakeley Shea (pictured here), on the other hand ... Well, let's just say Blakeley (who alternately cites Charlotte and Rutherfordton as her hometown) has distinguished herself for many things in just two short episodes, and none of them good.