Absence makes the heart grow fonder — right? On the Monday, July 10, episode of The Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay and her remaining suitors headed to Geneva, Switzerland, for some romance. There were six men remaining and four of them would continue on to the famous (and somewhat infamous) hometown dates.
Shortly after settling in, Rachel arrived to tell the guys there would be no rose ceremony this time. Instead, she would go on three one-on-one dates and one three-on-one, and make her decisions at the end of each about which men to keep. Naturally, none of the guys wanted to be part of the three-on-one, and the first to escape that fate was Bryan.
Bryan’s Date Is Hard to Beat
Bryan was pretty delighted when discovered that he would be driving Rachel around in a Bentley for their luxurious date. Things went from good to great when she took him to a fancy watch store and bought him a watch. (Well, it was unclear whether Rachel or the show actually paid that bill, but the important takeaway was that Bryan most certainly did not.) They then spent the rest of their time together making out in various storybook locales including a boat, a park brimming with flowers, and a private ballroom decorated with candles.
Bryan confessed to Rachel that the last time he introduced a woman to his family, the relationship ended shortly after. He assured Rachel his family would love her and she was beyond swooning. “I was on cloud nine after my last date with you, and I’m going higher,” Rachel said. “I have to come and meet your family.” She then gave him the date rose and music began to play. Oh, there were live musicians on standby, too.
Dean Struggles to Open Up
Next up for a coveted one-on-one was Dean, who was extremely nervous about the prospect of bringing Rachel home to meet his folks. Things were awkward between Rachel and Dean when they kicked off their date with a hug, and they remained awkward pretty much the entire time. Instead of driving around in a Bentley and being showered with expensive gifts, Dean got to go to Catholic mass with Rachel, which was conducted in French. Neither of them spoke French. (Wah wah!) Rachel tried to get the conversation going by mentioning that she volunteered a lot at her church, but Dean didn’t have much to say to that.
Later, when Rachel tried to get Dean to open up about his feelings, he asked her if she believed in the Tooth Fairy and what her favorite dinosaur was. In case you forgot, he’s 25. In a voiceover, Dean explained that he had a lot of “internal conflict” about the hometown date on the horizon and said he felt like a “black sheep” because his family was less than perfect.
Finally, after Rachel called him out on being weird, he admitted that ever since his mother died a decade ago, he’d had a strained relationship with his father. He is not a person that has any bearing on my emotional experience,” Dean said. “My concern is that you would judge my family into what our potential family could be.” Rachel assured him she wouldn’t and gave him a rose.
Peter Tells Rachel He Isn’t Sure He Would Propose
Peter nabbed the third and final one-on-one. He and Rachel took a helicopter ride over the Swiss Alps and went dog sledding at the top of Glacier 3000. He told Rachel that the process had been hard for him, especially not being able to ask questions or get answers from her when he knew she was out with other guys. Though he had spent most of his time back at the hotel whining about the process, once he got in front of Rachel, things seemed to pick up right where they’d left off.
He admitted that he’d never dated a black girl before, but assured Rachel that his parents would be supportive of any woman he brought home. He also told Rachel that at the end of the process, if he didn’t feel proposing was right, he wouldn’t do it. Though Rachel said that gave her pause, she decided to give him a rose anyway and take her chances.
Two Go Home During the Three-on-Three
Adam, Eric and Matt then had to fight it out on the three-on-three date. Matt started pouring his heart out to Rachel, who immediately started to cry. After telling him that he reminded her of herself, she broke the news that other relationships had progressed faster than theirs and she was sending him home.
Eric went all out during his time with Rachel, explaining that he’d had a tough upbringing and reasoning that he was motivated to help others because no one ever helped him. Rachel was mildly alarmed to learn that Eric had never brought a girl home, but in general she seemed impressed with their conversation.
Then came Adam, who was confident he was a shoo-in for the final hometown date. Though Rachel said she was impressed that Adam had made good use of every “single second” they’d had together, ultimately it wasn’t enough and she sent him home too. Adam was sure that Rachel was making a horrible mistake by choosing Eric over him, but Eric and Rachel didn’t seem to agree. Reflecting on the last four dates, Rachel said she was “honored” that the guys had shown so much emotion … We’ll have to wait and see if she still feels that way once she meets their families.
Tell Us: Do you think Rachel sent the right guys home?
The Bachelorette airs on ABC Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
