The Bachelor - Season 17 Episode 8 - Recap

It's Hometown Week, so Sean visits the homes and families of each of his four remaining Bachelorettes. This week is really up-and-down; though he has great dates during the day which each woman, some family members are skeptical of the process, and those negative feelings really seem to shape Sean's perception of his various relationships. By the rose ceremony, he's extremely conflicted and doesn't even know who to eliminate as he's holding the final rose in his hand. Read my recap of The Bachelor Season 17, Episode 8 below.

AshLee's Date

Sean, AshLee, and AshLee's dog frolic around a field in AshLee's hometown of Houston, TX.

AshLee's (non-biological) parents seem sweet. She gets emotional talking about the Polar Bear Plunge. "I submerged everything and left it in the water," she said, referring to her fears and vulnerabilities. AshLee's parents tense up when she says there was a lot of romance in St. Croix.

Sean tells her father Bruce that love is on the horizon. He asks for permission from her father Bruce to propose to her, and he says yes.

"There's no doubt I want to marry this man the second I can," she says. Out of the four girls left, she definitely seems the most into Sean. Compared to everyone's else's relationships, though, their relationship seems the least fun; Sean definitely seems to be less playful around her, and that's probably because she's older and seemingly more mature than the 24-to-26-year-olds.

Catherine's Date

Catherine brings Sean to her hometown of Seattle, WA. He says that they first started out as friends, and then they developed the romance. They go to a market with fishermen throwing fish, and Sean and Catherine take turns catching giant dead fish. They take photobooth pictures and hang out in a marketplace.

"I never worry about being the cool guy in front of her," he says. "I'm a big kid and Catherine brings that out of me, but we can turn it around real fast and make it romantic."

They have crazy chemistry, and it's clear that they have a ton of fun with each other.

The meeting with the family doesn't go as well as the date, though. Catherine feels like she has to keep defending her relationship with him to his sisters. When her sisters talk to Sean, they make it seem like Catherine's not ready to get married. They tell her about her messiness and various moods.

Sean then asks for her mother's blessing to propose to Catherine, but he never gets the blessing. Awkward. Her family seems very skeptical of the whole process, and he's not sure where they move on from here.

Lindsay's Date

Lindsay brings Sean to Fort Leonard Wood, MO to meet her father, who's a two-star general in the army, and her mother.

They hang around town, browsing shops and eating cupcakes. "I have never been so happy in my whole entire life," she says. She's finally ready to tell Sean that she's falling in love with him!

Sean fits in well with her family, and he doesn't think her father is as intimidating as he expected. Sean asks him for his blessing to propose to Lindsay, and Mr. Yenter says it's kind of tough to answer. Awkward pause. "Um. I don't think I've ever been asked a tougher question in my life. I don't know if I've got an answer," her father says. Sean is probably crapping his pants. After a roundabout answer, he finally gives him his blessing.

As he leaves, she tells him she's falling in love with him!

Desiree's Date

And the salmon shorts are back in Los Angeles, CA for Desiree's date. They go hiking in a canyon for a date. Back at Desiree's house, they prepare dinner for her family and hear a knock at the door. A guy shows up at the door and starts talking about how much he misses her and why hasn't she responded to his texts and "I still love you."

Meanwhile, Sean is really confused, and his face is turning red. It's super awkward. "Now that you're here, I have to tell you something," she says. "Gotcha!" It's a prank! The guy was an actor. She finally gets to return the prank to Sean after he pranked her in their first one-on-one date.

Sean gets along very well with Desiree's parents, but her brother Nate is extremely skeptical. "You think he's your best friend?" he says with an eyebrow raised. "I think this is stupid, almost. If this were to happen, I'd be thinking, 'There's no way this is working out.'" Wow he must hate this franchise.

The discomfort levels get cranked even higher as Nate pulls Sean outside.

Nate:  "I believe that she's really into you but you're not into her. I really do not believe there is any reciprocation. There's just not that connection."

Sean: "I'm crazy about your sister."

Nate: "You're crazy about a lot of girls, right."

Sean is still charming as usual, but Nate is just not having it.

Nate: "I think you're just a playboy."

Sean: "I'm sorry I gave you that opinion, but that's not me, at all."

Nate: "I'm not buying it."

This time it's not a joke, and Sean is visibly upset but doesn't want to call him out on it and ruin the date even more. "To call me a playboy at this point, he's basically calling me a fraud," Sean tells the camera.

I wonder what Des thinks about all of this after watching it over. She's extremely disappointed at how the night ended.

"He is not The One," Nate drills into her mind after Sean leaves. Wow, Sean just got completely c***blocked. Now THAT is sabotage, Tierra.

Rose Ceremony

Sean says he can picture his life with Lindsay and AshLee, but he still has question marks with Catherine and Des. Huh, that's interesting. He was turned off about how rude Desiree's brother was and questions how well he would fit in her family. As for Catherine, he questions if she's ready to get married yet. I guess that's based off of what her sisters told him.

"As I'm talking right now, I don’t know who I'm saying goodbye to," he tells the four girls as the rose ceremony begins. Dang, that's really come down to the wire. He's about to hand out the first rose, and Des interrupts and asks to talk to him really quickly. Cue huge eyeroll from Catherine. She wants to apologize for his brother's behavior, and she starts crying. He gives the first two roses to AshLee and Lindsay, picks up the final rose, and after a long pause… puts it down and walks out. Wow.

He tells Chris that he STILL doesn't know who he's sending home. "I think it comes down to who will I miss the most tomorrow," he says. He thought he was going to send Desiree home, but he doesn't know if he can send her home after her final plea in pulling him away at the rose ceremony.

And… Catherine gets the last rose. Des is eliminated. Wow. Des was definitely one of the frontrunners for the whole entire season. Potential Bachelorette right there?

Des tells him that she thinks he's making a huge mistake. I wonder what Catherine thinks of all of this watching this over, realizing how close she was to being sent home.

In a scene straight from a romance movie, they embrace tightly for a full minute outside of the limo. "Don't let me go," Des pleads. Eventually, she gets in the limo. "I don't even know what I'm going to do about my life," she says as the limo drives away.

Hey, Des, if America likes you enough, then you very well may be the next Bachelorette. She's certainly getting that edit.

Well, what an interesting episode. Did you expect Des to be eliminated? What did you think of her brother? Do you think Sean regretted his decision afterwards?

Tomorrow night, there's a special Sean Tells All episode, where he dishes about all the girls and what he thinks from watching the episodes over again. Don't miss my recap of that!