‘The Bachelorette’ 9.08 Has Some Tame Hometowns
Ah hometowns, this is where it starts getting real. When the men are no longer together all week it always seems to get much more emotional. By hometowns most men will normally confess their love to the bachelorette, and this week is no different. In promos there looks to be a weird fatherly massage and the reintroduction of Des’ brother, but does any of that affect who she sends home?
Zak’s hometown date is up first in Texas. Des spends the day being indoctrinated into the family business: selling sno-cones! A big group of kids swarm the family truck as she hands out the cones and help the kids pour syrup on them as Zak dons a penguin mascot suit. Some cooties are spread as she kisses the penguins cheek while all the kids scream EW! So I guess he isn’t a winner? When they go back to meet Zak’s family everyone is super young, beautiful, and picture perfect. Are they really just a bunch of actors? Perhaps, but let’s just go with it. Everyone seems concerned that he’ll get too attached to Desiree before she chucks him off the show, but she does a good job assuring them she’s in it for the long haul. He pulls Des outside at one point to give her this beautiful ring he’s been carrying around since Atlantic City as he tells her he loves her. It was a really sweet moment, and it’s obvious he’s so incredibly in love. At the end of the night his brother and sister sing an edited version of Zak’s song from the Mr. Bachelorette pageant to her with Zak on guitar. So not only are they beautiful but they’re also talented singers? Okay… where did you get these people from? When he walks Des out to her the car they seem like this cute, real life couple that just went round to his parents place for the evening. I like how natural they seemed together and how much he made her laugh… she needs that.
Drew’s date is up next and he can’t stop kissing and hugging her when he first sees her. A complete contrast from Zak’s date, they go sit in a park for a bit and talk about who she’ll be meeting. They go to pick up his disabled sister which is an emotional time for everyone. I think it’s sweet he was so open to bringing Des and great that she seemed so comfortable. Unfortunately they seemed to completely forget about his sister as he drove them to his mum’s house. Oops. I can’t handle how perfect he acts with his sister and the kids in his family. This visit is so much more serious which just shows the differences in the relationships Des has with these men. His parents had such an amazingly positive reaction to Desiree, it was almost surprising. They seemed to be the family which might cause some doubts but instead they welcomed her like she was their own. Did anyone else notice there was never any lighthearted time with these two though? I wish we would get to see some of their more silly moments, like the ‘compatibility quiz’ his sister had them do which we only saw during the credits. Give us more cute things like that and less of all this drama and I’ll be a perfectly content Bachelorette watcher!
In Oregon, Chris runs up to Des with a bouquet of roses. Much like Zak, Chris has taken initiative and planned out a fun day before Des meets his family. They’re a bit goofy as they write on each other’s black under eye things before they play some baseball. A few silly puns later and they get into a cute picnic. So far Chris seems like the best pick: he’s funny and silly but he can also be serious and loveable. When Des and Chris have sat down for a meal with his parents she’s almost immediately brought into the basement by Chris’ father for a back readjustment. It’s really weird for that to be her introduction to the family, but what’s even weirder is when Chris goes down for a “nose alignment”. Apparently it helped him to think through everything better, but when he’s chatting with his sister all they can focus on is his last girlfriend. Why are they so concerned about this ex? They should really be talking about Des and if the sister likes her, but at least he gets the seal of approval from his mum. His hometown was a little weird…
Brooks is last, just like his feelings for Desiree. His hometown didn’t reassure me that his feelings for Des are as strong as the other men’s, but I guess I’m expecting a lot from one month of dating while the girl is dating a bunch of other men. He’s definitely the most passive Bachelorette contestant of the season, who “just kind of forgets” what it’s like to be with their girlfriend when they’re apart? After a few weeks of these concerning thoughts, he finally explains all of this to Desiree who doesn’t seem to take any notice of how weak that is compared to the other men. Everyone else said they love her while he said he’s forgetting her. They get into a canoe, take on some water, and chat about duck couples to forget about the weird conversation before going to meet his massive family. Given that they’ve only been dating for a month I like that they’re a little bit more shy (but comfortable) around each other, it seems much more real. When Des gets to the house everyone in the family has name tags which I think was a really good idea for such a big group. There must have been at least 30 people in that house… who has a table big enough for all of them? What’s made me fall for the Des and Brooks relationship was definitely the family time. He’s starting to talk about her in this perfect way like he’s falling in love with her and the music and editing is building up to such a crescendo… Isn’t it obvious he’ll be the final guy yet?
Although Brooks still hasn’t said he loves her, when Desiree talks with Chris Harrison she’s still gaga over him. Once again we hear about how much she’s in love with Brooks and how she can tell he feels the same even though he hasn’t said it. Not only is she in love with him, but she’s now announced that she wants a proposal from Brooks. Chris is still the only other guy in the running as he makes her wonder what a life with him would be like, but neither Drew nor Zak held a candle to Brooks. Poor Drew and Zak, they’re clearly more in love with Des than Brooks is, at this point.
If Desiree’s brother Nate didn’t cause enough drama last year, he’s back to give it another go. Unfortunately, it was the most boring conversation of the night where Des said nothing more to say to him then the same descriptions she gave the girls from Sean’s season a few episodes ago. Has Nate not had his fifteen minutes yet?
Once Des has finished with Chris Harrison and her brother she decides to send Zak home. It’s the most heartbreaking dismissal yet because he’s one of the sweetest and most entertaining men on this season. It was awful seeing him so upset and dumbfounded, and it killed me when he chucked the ring he had given her onto the freeway as he was driving away.
With that dismissal over with, we’re given a week before the overnight ‘Fantasy Suite’ dates and proposals with the Men Tell All next Monday at 8pm on ABC. I live tweet each episode with the West coast @reviewsbylauren and @TheReviewWeekly so make sure to check that out! Also, I’ll be meeting last season’s Bachelor, Sean Lowe! Tweet me any questions you have for him and I’ll try to get to them!