The Bachelor Recap: Home Sweet Hometowns (Season 23 Episode 8)
One of the most important weeks of every season of The Bachelor is finally upon us: hometowns. Colton, in between steamy shower montages, visits each of his final four women and their families in the city where they’re from.
As Colton has been nothing but traditional (read: predictable) this season, it’s no surprise that he follows the unspoken rule of asking each of the women’s dads for permission to marry their daughter. Which… fine. I mean, sure, it’s pretty regressive and patriarchal and silly to do this by default in 2019, but… sure.
First up is…
Caelynn’s Hometown Date
While I’m not sure the order they were actually filmed, the producers choose to show us Miss North Carolina’s hometown first. Plot twist: They’re actually in Fredericksburg, Virginia, not North Carolina at all.
They start things off with a romantic carriage ride through town, but their conversation feels unusually stilted, which instantly makes me wary.
Before heading home to meet her family, Caelynn informs Colton that among the people he’ll be meeting is her step-dad, John. John raised Caelynn from a young age and was essentially her father in all but name, since her biological dad was never involved in her life. So it’ll be John that Colton needs to sway.
Caelynn’s sister Arianna is wearing a slightly ridiculous outfit, and she and their mom are skeptical about Colton’s intentions and the entire reality TV show dating process — which, y’know, is fair.
John is particularly wary, especially when Colton confesses he’s falling for Caelynn but still doesn’t yet know if he’s the right person for her and if this will end in an engagement. Regardless, once Caelynn convinces them of her feelings, the whole family comes around and decides they like Colton.
John gives Colton his permission to ask Caelynn to marry him, should it eventually come to that.
The highlight of this hometown date actually doesn’t have anything to do with Colton. It’s Caelynn and John’s emotional conversation, where she thanks him for always being the best father figure she could’ve asked for. He tears up, as does she, and it’s genuinely touching.
Hannah G.’s Hometown Date
Next up is Hannah G., at home in Birmingham, Alabama.
This date is probably my favorite of the four, and it’s also distinctly the “easiest” one. Hannah G.’s family, like all the other women’s families, is protective of her. But they seem largely pretty easy-going and fun to be around (that rap scene is so good!).
As expected, Colton and Hannah G. are super touchy from the word “go.”
Normally, I would think all this PDA is over the top — but it actually seems pretty genuine? I don’t know. Maybe Hannah G. is just an excellent actress! Either way, I totally buy that she’s really, really into Colton.
The pre-family activity they engage in is a Southern gentleman etiquette class. Colton is already pretty “gentlemanly” in the traditional sense, so unsurprisingly he doesn’t struggle all that much with the lesson. Weirdly, this opener makes it seem like Hannah G.’s family is going to be very proper and sort of stuck-up, when in reality it turns out to be the complete opposite.
The etiquette lesson is cute though, and Hannah gazes at Colton like this during it:
Girl is smitten AF.
At Hannah’s house, her cousins, best friends, and mom all really like Colton once they get to know him. Her mom is initially wary because Hannah G. left a momma’s girl and came back ~a woman in love~, but she’s 23 years old, so that’s fair.
Once again, Colton takes a moment with the dad to confess he’s falling for Hannah.
Colton: I’m not hiding the fact that there are still other women here. With your daughter, from the very moment that I met her, I could tell she was somebody special.
He also repeats the thing about Hannah having always felt like home to him. She’s definitely making Final Two, mark my un-spoiled words.
Hannah’s dad believes Colton is being genuine and seems pleasantly surprised at being asked for permission to propose, which he grants “if it continues working the way it is.”
Tayshia’s Hometown Date
Colton arrives in Santa Ana, California to see Tayshia and her family. Their pre-family activity is skydiving, which is Tayshia’s “payback” for the one-on-one date where Colton made her go bungee jumping in Singapore a few weeks back.
It’s charming, and once again these two have great, natural chemistry. I don’t think she’s the winner, though; she may be a little too cool for Colton.
Colton’s pre-jump prayer also makes me laugh out loud.
Colton: God, please let me survive this fall. I still have to lose my virginity. I don’t know what I’m missing yet, but I heard it’s really good. Amen.
Spoiler alert: Both Colton and Tayshia survive their skydiving and then get super kissy once they land safely on the ground.
Colton is more nervous about meeting Tayshia’s notoriously intimidating dad than jumping out of an airplane — and he was pretty visibly nervous to do that too.
Tayshia’s entire family is worried about her getting hurt again, since she’s been married and divorced before. Colton firmly tells her dad, Desmond, that he intends to only be married one time, and if he chooses Tayshia in the end, it’s the real deal.
Initially, Desmond is pretty harsh, both with Tayshia and with Colton. He at first holds off on giving Colton permission to propose (citing the fact that he just met the dude). He also delivers an instantly iconic line that’ll for sure go down in Bachelor history.
Desmond: You can’t microwave a relationship.
Tayshia manages to convince her dad of the strength of her feelings for Colton and insists that she’d say yes right then and there if Colton asked her to marry him. Desmond comes around and agrees to give Colton permission to propose.
Cassie’s Hometown Date
Last up is Cassie’s hometown date in Huntington Beach, California. Colton first has to endure a surfing lesson, which he’s not particularly good at.
Making things worse, Cassie is still being a bit withholding with her feelings. She’s currently the only one of the remaining women who specifically hasn’t said she’s falling for him.
Cassie: I know how I feel but I want to be sure.
It’s kind of funny, because this is pretty much what Kirpa accused her of on The Bachelor Season 23 Week 7 — not being ready to commit to Colton. And that’s basically what she’s saying here.
Colton heads to Cassie’s home to meet her mom, dad, and equally gorgeous, equally blonde sister. Things… don’t go particularly well. Especially when it comes to Cassie’s dad, Matt.
Matt and Cassie have a tense conversation where he questions her about her feelings for Colton and the sincerity of this relationship. Cassie doesn’t come across particularly well in this interaction, especially because we already know she’s waffling on her feelings for Colton.
Matt can clearly tell, because he eventually refuses to give Colton his blessing to ask Cassie to marry him at the end of this whole thing.
You can practically hear the air fizzling out of Colton like a popped balloon.
Colton: That’s not exactly what I wanted to hear. I think Cassie can make me very happy, and I think I’d have a great life with her.
In the end, Cassie still doesn’t open up much about her feelings, refusing to say she’s falling for him and instead just expressing enthusiasm for how things are progressing. Yikes.
The Rose Ceremony
Colton hands out the first rose to Hannah G., which is not too surprising given that their hometown date clearly went the smoothest all around. Tayshia gets Rose #2. It all comes down to BFFs Caelynn and Cassie.
Colton ends up keeping Cassie, which must’ve felt like a slap in the face to Caelynn.
After all, Caelynn told Colton she loves him — and Cassie isn’t even sure she’s ready for marriage!
This pretty much cements in my mind that Cassie, the “risky” option, will be Colton’s choice in the end. Again, I’m committed to remaining entirely spoiler-free this season, so that’s just my educated guess based on context cues and editing.
As for Caelynn’s exit… It’s pretty dramatic! Also known as: her audition reel to become the next Bachelorette.
That’s not to say she’s not genuine or that her feelings weren’t real — it’s just that this is typically the sort of over-the-top reaction you get to see when they’re setting up somebody’s eventual return to the franchise.
Also, what the heck is up with Caelynn’s cryptic whisper to Cassie as she’s leaving? “Get engaged”? What? Why would she say that? What is going on?! So many questions, so few episodes remaining.
What did you think of this episode of The Bachelor? Will we finally get our long-promised fence jump next week in time for Fantasy Suites? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8/7 on ABC.
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Caralynn Lippo
Caralynn is a freelance writer and editor, but most importantly, she is a diehard TV addict. A few of her current favorites are Mr. Robot, You're the Worst, iZombie, and The Vampire Diaries. She also writes about TV for Romper, The TV Junkies, and TV Fanatic.