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‘The Bachelor’ Recap: Nick Viall Visits Hometowns, Corinne Drops $3K on Shopping Binge

Hometown glory! In The Bachelor’s Monday, February 20, episode, Nick Viall charmed four sets of parents (and one nanny) with flowers and chocolates, while continuing to lure in his four remaining women. Watch all the best moments of the episode in the video above.

The Rose “Ceremony”

Corinne, Rachel, Raven and Vanessa were still in their Bimini rental anxiously wondering whether Nick would pull another fast one and opt for fewer than the traditional number of hometown visits. Well, he didn’t. Nick entered the house with four fresh stems and, gentleman as he is, asked each of his remaining women if they’d mutually accept his rose and allow him to meet their families.

Related: PHOTOS: Meet Nick Viall's Bachelorettes!

Happy in Hoxie

Nick met Raven in Hoxie, Arkansas, for his first hometown date, and they had so much fun we can’t believe he bothered to go anywhere else. To start, the local business owner rolled up in an ATV and instructed him to hop on. Nick was man enough to let Raven take charge and sat behind her.

Nick Viall Raven The Bachelor
Nick Viall and Raven

After a tour of the local landscape, Raven took Nick to climb a grain bin, which is where you go to have deep conversations in Hoxie. Unfortunately, it’s illegal to climb grain bins, and a cop rolled up to the scene. Fortunately, the cop was Raven’s brother, and they got off the hook unscathed. Full of adrenaline after their run-in with the law, Raven and Nick wrestled in a marsh.

Related: PHOTOS: ‘Bachelor’ and ‘Bachelorette’ Babies

Once Nick and Raven arrived at her parents’ house, Raven’s parents announced that her dad, who had been battling lung cancer, was declared cancer-free. Raven could barely speak through her emotions, and frankly neither could we.

Believe it or not, Nick still had to do the typical fiancé-to-be things after that lovefest, so he did. Nick asked her dad for permission to propose, and Raven’s dad said they could get engaged but definitely not married. (Sorry, ABC.)

Meanwhile, Raven’s mom worried that Raven might be too scared to put her heart on the line and tell Nick she loves him. Mother knew best, because come time to leave, Raven choked and couldn’t say the L-word. She regretted it as she watched his car drive off to hometown No. 2.

Dawdling in Dallas

Our second hometown date took us to Dallas, where Nick introduced Us to the future Bachelorette’s family. Since we already know they don’t end up together, here’s what we learned about Rachel during her hometown date.

Nick Viall Rachel The Bachelor
Nick Viall and Rachel

1. She is a committed churchgoer. For the first part of her date, Rachel took Nick to her “predominantly black church,” which was full of singing, dancing, clapping and snapping, a true expression of love.

2. She is very comfortable in her skin. After many discussions about being an interracial couple, Rachel said, “You have to be confident to be, you know, not the norm.”

3. She gets her work ethic from her father. Her dad didn’t even skip work to meet her potential fiancé-to-be! That ended up being OK, because Nick was too nervous to explain why he was still dating three other women to a federal judge anyway.

4. Her family doesn’t watch The Bachelor. “Great!” Nick replied.

5. Nick was the first white guy she’s brought home, but he wasn’t the first white guy anyone’s brought home. Rachel’s sister, Constance, married Alex, who is a white man, and he seemed to fit into the family well.

6. Her mom is concerned about “red flags.” Rachel didn’t see any with Nick (yet), but we’re excited to hear about all the red flags next season on The Bachelorette.

Despite the day being “perfect,” Rachel didn’t express deep feelings before Nick headed to meet his next potential future in-laws.

Modeling in Miami

For his third hometown, Nick met Corinne at an exclusive shopping mall in Miami, where she attempted to fulfill all of Nick’s Pretty Woman fantasies. The couple made their way into the Tomas Maier store, where Corinne made Nick try on every outfit in the store, including one $1,400 sweatsuit that provided a strong glimpse into his future with Corinne as a “Miami soccer dad.”

Corinne coerced Nick into leaving with $3,423 in new clothes, which made Nick turn “red with anxiety” as she casually flicked her credit card to the cashier. Corinne thought it was funny that Nick called himself a “bargain shopper,” mostly because she knew she could change him.

Nick and Corrine stopped at a restaurant before heading to her home, where Corinne told Nick she loved him. The look he gave her in return made Us think he loved her too.

After all the hype about nanny Raquel, we finally met her. She seemed like a lovely, somewhat quiet woman who had Corinne’s best interests in mind. “She’s happy, I’m happy,” she noted, giving Nick the approval he needed.

Corinne’s dad pressed that she wouldn’t be happy as the breadwinner of the family, which annoyed Corinne into dropping a “Dad! Yes.” So even though Nick cringed while pretending to like her dad’s famous marinated olives, Corinne’s family loved him.

Related: PHOTOS: 10 Times 'The Bachelor' Made Our Heads Explode!

Muddling in Montreal

Nick went from extravagant Miami to humbling Montreal, where Vanessa took him to meet her special-needs students. Recalling the scrapbook her students previously made for Nick, she enlisted their help in making another with photos from her time on the show. Vanessa’s students approved of Nick, which was the first checkmark he needed during this hometown.

Nick Viall Vanessa The Bachelor
Nick Viall and Vanessa on ‘The Bachelor.’

For family reasons, Vanessa decided to have Nick meet her mom’s side first, then her dad’s. They walked into her grandmother’s house and found a scene familiar to Nick: 100 eager family members.

Vanessa’s family thought she and Nick hadn’t spent enough time talking about the future. Her sister and mom were concerned that Vanessa was going to be too accommodating to Nick and not put herself, her future and her career ahead of his. As they headed to her dad’s house, Vanessa realized she had more questions than answers.

Not making them feel comforted at all, Vanessa’s dad asked him to compare his feelings for Vanessa to those for his other women. It took some persuading before Vanessa’s dad finally gave Nick his blessing to propose, should things get to that point.

Vanessa was encouraged when her dad said Nick asked for his blessing, but she was discouraged to hear that Nick also asked the other parents for their blessings. She added his feelings for her to the list of conversations she needed to have with Nick but didn’t try to have any conversations that night.

Related: PHOTOS: Biggest Bachelor and Bachelorette Villains

An Unexpected Visitor

By the time Nick had gotten to New York City for the rose ceremony, he was still unsure about what his future held, and all the women were full of regrets over what they should have said — except for Corinne, who was still ecstatic about telling Nick she loved him.

As Nick paced around his hotel room, there was an unexpected knock at the door, and who could it be but the person Nick started this entire journey with: Andi Dorfman.

Then we saw those three little words we’ve grown to expect at this point in the season: “To be continued …”

The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.

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