You know it’s an eventful hometowns episode of The Bachelorette when you don’t even get to all the hometowns. Then again, we’ve never had two Bachelorettes before. But in all fairness, Rachel Recchia had so much happen during three of her hometown dates that it warranted all the extra time spent with each guy.
The flight instructor first met Zach’s family (which included his uncle, actor Patrick Warburton), and it went so well that you got the feeling Zach was ready to propose right then and there. Rachel was equally charmed by Zach’s family, but it seems she feels more strongly for someone else (more on that in a second).
Then it was off to the Jersey Shore to hang out with Tyler, who couldn’t pass up any opportunity to introduce Rachel to his friends before formally meeting his family later that night. It was all a bit too much for Rachel, who later broke down and admitted she didn’t want to meet Tyler’s family if she knew she wasn’t going to end up with him. It was the admirable thing to do, except before she could get the words out, Tyler went and on and on professing his admiration and love for her, and she didn’t stop him. (Raise of hands if you were yelling at the TV in this moment.) She eventually did, but not before the poor guy was totally crushed.
For the next hometown—though we don’t know in what order the visits were actually filmed—Rachel was feeling much better when she went to see Tino. He assured her that she’d fit right in with his family and would have nothing to worry about. Perfect foreshadowing, because Tino’s parents grilled Rachel to the point that she nearly broke down in tears. While all of their questions and concerns were absolutely valid…have they never watched this show? Getting engaged at the end is basically the equivalent of deciding to exclusively date someone. It doesn’t mean much more than that. So, sure, ask the questions, but do it in a way that doesn’t make the woman scared to ever see you again.
While it was a bit of a disastrous hometown, the good news was that it prompted both Tino and Rachel to admit they were falling in love with one another. At that point it was easy to forget we hadn’t even gotten to all of Rachel’s guys—Aven, we’ll see you next week—because it feels more obvious than ever that Rachel’s connection with Tino is stronger than everyone else.
Even so, the previews indicate there’s still plenty of drama and tears to come. So ahead of the Men Tell All (which airs Monday, August 29), Rachel filled us in on the finale and adjusting to life in the limelight.
