The Bachelor - Season 17 Episode 9 - Recap

Sean and his three girls are in Thailand this week for episode 9 of The Bachelor Season 17. Sean gets a whole day with each girl, and he's also given the option to spend the night in a "Fantasy Suite" with each girl, sans cameras. We can usually tell what that means, but Sean seems like a classy guy. My recap has more details below.

Lindsay's Date

Lindsay and Sean go to the Si Kao market, a place where all of the locals go to shop. There are dozens of neon-colored birds in a box and exotic foods everywhere. Yum, dragonfruit! Lindsay said she would try anything but no bugs. Well, speak of the devil; they walk up to a vendor with a bunch of dead bugs on a table. Sean convinces Lindsay to eat a bug with him, and then a second, bigger one. Lindsay looks like she's going to throw up as she chews and swallows, but she does it!

"You're the best friend I've been looking for," Sean tells Lindsay that night.

They play on the beach with baby monkeys! Just when Lindsay is about to tell Sean she loves him at dinner, a bunch of dancers dressed in traditional garb perform for them.

Sean invites Lindsay to the Fantasy Suite -- which looks gorgeous and super romantic -- and she finally musters up the courage to tell him that she loves him.

AshLee's Date

Sean notes that AshLee rarely steps outside of her comfort zone, so he wants to challenge her a bit. They take a boat to Emerald Cave; it's deep and pitch-black, and their private beach is on the other side. He wants to see if he can trust her in certain situations. She's absolutely terrified and feels more vulnerable than she's ever been in her life. Really, you're with the love of your life on an adventure and you feel vulnerable about it? Eventually, they get to the other side, and the setting is obscenely beautiful.

AshLee is obsessed with Sean. She can't stop talking about how in love with him she is. "I don't believe that there are two human beings who belong together more than him and I," she says. It definitely, 100% seems like AshLee is more into him than he is into her.

She was nervous to say yes to the Fantasy Suite because she was probably worried that he was using the time to hook up with each girl. "What I would love is to stay up all night with her talking," he clarifies. That's probably not what was going on in the minds of the previous Bachelors, but Sean is really proving to be a good guy.

"Before I met Sean I had a broken spirit," she says. "This man has literally healed my broken heart." We'll see about that. :/

Catherine's Date

"I need my best friend, and she fits that mold," Sean says. So I guess AshLee is the only one who doesn't get the "best friend" nod. That's definitely noteworthy.

Sean says that among the three remaining girls, Catherine has the most different lifestyle from him. She puts his mind at ease and says that she's grown a lot from her last relationship and is now in a place to get married. I think one of the words Sean uses most to describe how they are together is "weird," which I guess is a good kind of weird. At school we'd use the word "quirky," also known as the ultimate Tufts buzzword.

They do backflips off the boat, snorkel in the water, and make out in the rain.

Catherine says she's more traditional in relationships, and she's terrified of the fantasy suite. Sean assures her that his intentions are just to spend time with her. Catherine says that when she was growing up people sometimes joked around with her and called her chubby. "I've never been in a bathing suit more times in my life than my time with you," she admits. They spend the night in the fantasy suite.

"When I look into his eyes, something visceral happens," she says. "I fell in love with Sean today, and I want Sean to be my husband. I came here to find a great love, and I know that we're meant to be together." Finally, Catherine drops the L-word!

Pre-Rose Ceremony

"I never pictured myself saying goodbye to this person, so this is going to be tough," Sean says. "I don't know if I have the courage to do this… it kills me inside. She's one of the sweetest women I've ever met in my life, and she's so full of love."

Sweetest woman? Well, that's got to be AshLee, right?

They each send a video message to him. In AshLee's video message, she starts crying when she explains how much she loves him. Sean starts to get emotional too… uh oh.

Rose Ceremony

The first girl who gets a rose is… Lindsay. The second rose goes to… Catherine. That means AshLee is sent home.

Sean and AshLee both get visibly emotional. Sean clenches his jaw with what looks like anxiety. AshLee is "PISSED," as Lindsay comments. She storms away into the car and doesn't even want to talk to him. Sean is turning beet red. She gives him the death glare while Sean explains his decision in 30 seconds. She gets in the car without even saying a word to him.

"This wasn't a silly game to me," AshLee says. Eventually, she breaks down in the car. What a vast difference from Desiree's exit last week!

Did you think AshLee would act so angrily to being rejected? Are you surprised she was the one sent home? Who is Sean going to pick, Catherine or Lindsay?! Let me know in comments!