Sorry this is late...with the vacation I just never got around to finishing this one. Last Monday night on The Bachelorette involved another night of some pretty surprising twists. This week was home dates for Jillian and the 5 left standing.
Hometown Date with Reid
The journey begins in Philadelphia, PA. Reid stands with 2 cups of coffee, looking a little more rugged than usual. This greeting starts the pattern that will follow for (I think) each of the greetings...Jillian running towards the guy, squealing. There's some quick shots of him showing her great views of the city, before the moment of truth. The first family introduction.
The house is a classic red-brick colonial (?) with a perfectly manicured lawn. Jillian meets Reid's mom, dad, and 2 older brothers. The family owns a real estate business (which Reid is a part of), and his mom comments: "We would love a designer in the family." Shortly after, she launches into a story about how kids just gravitate towards his son. Hmmm...maybe laying it on a little too thick. Jillian tells her she adores Reid and that he has a warmth about him. His brothers ask why she thinks Reid's still single and then say how he doesn't have a problem finding women but then they just go away. Way to throw him under the bus, guys. All of his family comments on how Reid has to get everyone else's opinion about girls he dates.
Next, the sister-in-laws and Grandma surprise Reid for a 30th birthday celebration. They express shock over seeing him so affectionate with Jillian. Jillian's final commentary is that she fell hard for Reid and his family.
Hometown Date with Michael The start of this part was hilarious. When Michael walks in the door, his twin brother and his mom start jumping up and down enthusiastically. They greet Jillian with big hugs, and then Michael hatches a little scheme to trick Jillian by switching places with his brother, except they're super easy to tell apart so that lasted about 1 second. Michael's brother asks how Mike's been getting all the roses. Jillian explains she made a list of non-negotiables with her cousin before the show and #1 was someone who could make her laugh. While mom and Jillian chat in the kitchen, Mike's dad tells him that Jill's the real deal but "it's going be pretty hard if it doesn't work out." Mike gets all serious and tells the camera "there's a good chance I could get my heart flattened." Awwww. You feel for Michael, especially since it's obvious that's exactly what's going to happen.
They ask Jillian what are 3 things she's most proud of about herself. (1) an ability to laugh at anything (2) that she loves to see the good in everybody, and (3) her work ethic. Mike's sister surprises them by coming all the way from Australia to meet Jillian. The night closes out with everyone dancing around the living room.
Hometown Date with Kiptyn Jillian tells Kiptyn she's crazy about him and he warns her his family might "bring some heat." As they walk up, she takes in their gorgeous home and in a voice-over worries that she might not fit in with them. She meets his mom, stepdad, sister, brother, and brother's gf. His parents tease her by showing how they've surrounded the hot tub with caution tape (after seeing her on The Bachelor). Then they give her a test to see if she can pick the dad's homemade lasagna vs. another one, and the best wine to go with it. She guesses it right, and then they throw out a little French between the two of them. (They're coming across a bit pretentious). Jill's worried about them seeing her as a hill-billy.
In an interesting convo between Jill and K's mom, his mom tells her she doesn't know if she believes in unconditional love. And then asks her if there's something she would change about herself that would make both her and Kiptyn happier. Jill's reply doesn't totally make sense. She starts talking about how's she always had to work for her happiness. Anyway, it ends with her talking about how she's worried that Kiptyn won't think she's good enough.
Hometown Date with Jesse Jesse meets Jillian at his family's winery in Carmel, CA, and drives her around on a tractor. It was interesting to hear a little about his parents' background. His dad came over from Eastern Europe as a teenager. I'm not gonna lie. Jesse's brother Jacob is a stone cold fox. (haha I don't know why that phrase just popped into my head from back in the day). Anyway, Jesse who? He loses a bit of his mystique when he opens his mouth, asking Jesse when they're alone: "Do you love this chick? Does she want babies?"
When Jacob asks Jill what makes her think Jesse's possibly the one, she says his dedication, the business they're in, he's a guy who would want to take care of her but would also let her take care of him. Wait, wait, wait. The business he's in? That phrase alone just sealed the deal for Jesse. He's gone. Jacob loses points again by asking if they've been naked together. Oh Jacob, can't you just sit there and look cute? What's the Abraham Lincoln quote..something like better to be thought a fool and remain silent than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. So true!
The date ends with the family rocking out, Jesse on drums, Jacob on guitar, dad and then Jill on the tambourine, and mom swaying to the music.
Hometown Date with Wes
Wes tells her he has a big surprise. His band. And the Wes saga continues. Okay, we get it. You're hear for your music. He tells us "This is like my church right here. You cannot beat that feeling with a bat. There's no drug, no woman, that can beat that feeling when you're on stage." Too bad we can't phone in our votes and get him kicked off!
Next, we see Jake wheeling his luggage into the hotel, the white knight sweeping in to protect Jillian from "a deceiver."
Then it's back to Wes and the band, singing Jillian's song. Jillian's giddy taking in the performance and comments to the camera that he's the most "incredible and talented guy she's ever dated." (Yeah, incredibly arrogant and talented at pulling the wool over her eyes).
Dramatic music plays as Jake pops by the hotel, assures Jillian he's not there to win her back, and then drops the bomb that Wes is the one with a girlfriend. Her name is Laurel, and Wes had talked about her multiple times. Jill confronts Wes, who of course completely denies it, and then Jake comes in to call him out face to face. Drama, drama, drama.
Jill agrees to still go meet his family, which includes his mom, stepmom, and 3 sisters. His sisters say that "guys are always going to be jealous of him because of what he has going for him." They all gush about him like he hung the moon. His mom tells Jill that he has "a very sensitive heart" and that he's a one-woman kind of guy. Oh brother. If she only knew!
Ed returns!!!
My favorite part of this episode was Ed showing up at the hotel. He couldn't stop thinking about her, he made a huge mistake...I didn't get a chance to recap the episode where he left, but I was so disappointed when he did and elated to see him back! She invites him to that night's rose ceremony.
1st rose: Reid
2nd rose: Kiptyn
3rd rose: Ed (And this is where I start jumping up and down!)
4th rose: Wes (NOOOOOOO! Over Jesse? Over MIchael? Are you kidding me?)
Wow. Poor Jesse. He's upset about Ed just showing up and the age-old complaint of Wes being there for the wrong reasons.
And poor Michael. Saddest line this season: "Oh man. I straight up loved that girl, didn't I?"
Next up, they're off to Spain!
