Hometowns: Bachelor 28, Episode 8
All the women are falling in love, but not all of them say it soon enough.
It’s the best episode of the season, hometowns! Joey is meeting the families of his final four ladies to determine who he can see spending the rest of his life with (or statistically speaking the next 1-3 years with).
Of course we cold open with Maria’s family and her dad who looks like he could’ve been a rockstar in the 80s. They discuss how they aren’t sure what to expect because Maria has never brought home a love interest before. One of the least anticlimactic cold opens we’ve gotten all season, but I’m still happy to see this over the 60-second recap we used to get.
Kelsey, New Orleans, Louisiana
Kelsey’s Family: Matthew (brother), Mark (dad), Taylor (sister)
Kelsey’s up first. Joey meets her at City Park in NOLA. They’re riding a tandem bike, something Kelsey hasn’t done since her mom passed, eating beignets, and talking about their potential future together.
Kelsey is also marveling about all the butterflies she comes across, a callback to her and Joey’s first one-on-one date where she shared that when she sees butterflies she believes it’s a sign from her mom. This could’ve been played up for the show, but I thought it was really beautiful and affirming that she was able to see so many butterflies before introducing Joey to her family. It visibly gave her a sense of calm.
They head to a bar and Joey checks in with her about how she feels about this moment happening without her mom physically present. Kelsey got emotional, which is understandable, but I love that Joey even made space to acknowledge how difficult it might be for Kelsey to bring someone home for the first time (I think) since her mom passed. I feel like this is a level of emotional intelligence we don’t always get from the bachelor.
Kelsey sits down and announces she was not kidnapped 😂. This is a real thought I’d have as a parent sending my child on this questionable ass show. They download her family on where they’ve been, what their one-on-ones have been like, and how many butterflies they’ve seen throughout the day. There’s this sweet moment where Kelsey’s dad pulls out a photo album so Joey can see photos of the family when their mom was alive. I appreciated the way Joey interacted with the album and made comments. I’ve been in many situations like this (my partner’s family LOVES a photo album) and it can be awkward, especially when you don’t know who or what you’re looking at. Joey handled it well.
Kelsey and her sister Taylor speak first and she shares how great the experience has been and how much she’s enjoyed Joey. The only concern is she doesn’t know where he’s at with the other women. I’m always so interested in the women who stay in their lane throughout the process and then get to this point and are sort of forced to check in with the process. How does that work?
Joey and Kelsey’s dad chat mostly about the process. Mark wants to know how Joey can be sure that his daughter is standing with him at the end of it. Joey gave a diplomatic answer, but what I loved most is Mark’s response. He said the man who is most deserving of Kelsey’s heart is the one she chooses. That trust that he has in his daughter’s choice is refreshing. So often we get dads on this show who try to dominate the situation and show that the bachelor has to get through them, it was nice to see a different approach.
Before leaving, Kelsey checks in with her dad and she shares that she thinks she loves Joey, she uses their time together to express her gratitude for all her dad did to keep their family together and cared for throughout her mom’s illness and afterward. An intimate moment that made me shed a small thug tear, which this show never does. It was so sweet it made me want to root for Kelsey, but unfortunately, I don’t think she and Joey are endgame.
Rachel, Rancho Cucamonga, California
Rachel’s Family: Liam (nephew), Hakim (dad), Noela (mom), Uncle Al, and her sister (whose name I swear we never saw)
Rachel and Joey are in California, not Hawaii and I would like to speak to a manager because they should’ve flown out to Honolulu, I don’t care what it would’ve cost!
Anyway, we are in not Hawaii and so many of Rachel‘s family members are present. We also get to see so much of Rachel’s Filipino culture. They roasted an entire pig—Joey ate the the pig ear, as is custom if the suitor likes the woman he’s with—they’re playing games in the backyard, it’s a whole cookout!
Rachel and her dad Hakim sit and discuss the process and how untraditional it is. Her dad is worried that she won’t be the one he chooses at the end of the process. He’s seen her get her heart broken badly before and he doesn’t want to witness that again. Rachel assures him that she’s ok, that she and Joey really like one another, and that even if it isn’t her, she’ll be ok.
Joey and Rachel’s mom also speak about the atypical process and how nervous it makes her. Noela, her mom bursts into tears thinking about how hurt her daughter has been in previous relationships. She doesn’t want to see it happen again and she’s worried it’s more likely because there are so many other women left in the process. It’s clear both of her parents are very worried about their daughter’s heart getting broken.
I loved this hometown. We got so much of Rachel’s culture; instead of being painted as weird or “un-American” it was presented as what it is: her family and her culture. Joey took it all in stride too. He was excited and interested in what he was learning about, in some cases, for the first time.
Before the end of their time with the family, Joey asks Hakim for his blessing, which we didn’t see him ask Kelsey’s dad. Hakim didn’t say no, but he didn’t say yes either. Essentially, he told Joey that his daughter knows how to reach him and he expects a call if it gets to that point.
After her parents plead with Rachel to protect her heart, Rachel’s sister encourages her to follow her heart and lean into the good feelings because the family will be there to support her no matter what.
The advice from her sister is what Rachel needed to share how she was feeling with Joey. Before saying goodbye to Joey she tells him she’s choosing him and that she’s falling in love with him. I liked Rachel’s line about choosing him and them needing to choose one another. That part is always so lost in this process it seems.
Daisy, Becker, Minnesota
Daisy’s Family: Julie (mom), Brandon (dad), Josephine (older sister), Harrison (younger brother), Ted (grandpa), Gloria (grandma)
Daisy’s hometown holds an incredible amount of weight for Joey because he knows she needs to see him with her family to determine if he’s the right fit for her life. Part of me is annoyed that Daisy feels like she needs her family’s approval to move forward with Joey. I understand valuing their opinion and it informing your next moves, but the next steps (engagement, marriage, etc) hinging mostly or solely on meeting the family seems immature to me.
They spend the day exploring the Christmas tree farm she grew up on. They make a wish on a wishing tree, bother some child actors who are on the farm, and then come across Daisy’s friends. She uses the time with them to share how happy she is with Joey and how excited she is to be bringing him home.
Daisy says when she’s with Joey she isn’t confused at all, she just wants her parents to feel the same. I suppose that’s fair, but she can’t really control how her family feels about Joey. She’s the one that has to choose him at the end of this and day-to-day everything can’t be a gut check with the fam. Maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way, but I side-eye adults who can’t make decisions without their parents’ input, even a decision as big as getting engaged. From my perspective, if the relationship doesn’t work out, there isn’t anything that’s lost, but there could be a great experience gained (which is lowkey what her family says to her later on).
The most important part of meeting the family is not the conversations had with Daisy’s family, it’s the fact that she finally got to hear her brother’s voice the way she remembered it before losing her hearing and getting a cochlear implant 🥹.
Joey and Julie speak first and Julie asks if they’ve shared that they love one another. Joey shares that they haven’t because meeting the family was so important to her, but her mother seems surprised that her daughter hasn’t expressed her feelings for him yet.
Julie sits with her daughter next and encourages her to be vulnerable and share how she’s feeling because it’s the only way to see if it’ll work. Her dad, Brandon shares the same sentiments. He validates her feelings and seems to break through to her.
As they say goodbye, Daisy shares she’s falling in love with Joey and that she’s felt that way for a while but has been nervous to share it. She says she’s in the rest of the process wholeheartedly and she wants to experience all that this process can be. And Joey responds saying he’s feeling the same way 😭. I just hope none of this comes back to bite him. It’s not quite the “I love you too,” but it also isn’t great.
Maria, Niagara Falls, New York
Maria’s Family: Nick (dad), Lori (mom), Steven and Soto (brothers), Brittany (sister)
Maria, who is from Canada, not from Niagara Falls, New York, is at the New York/Canada border with no explanation of why (besides to see the falls). Rachel didn’t get to go to Hawaii and Maria didn’t get to go to Canada, at least production is fair.
They’re riding into the waterfall and taking a Canadian maple whiskey shot to commemorate the occasion, which is lovely. Still, their entire interaction is plagued by their last moments spent together where she threatened to leave because it was so hard to see Joey with other women.
After chasing the waterfall, they take some time to discuss how Maria’s walkout last week was scary because he wants to know that she’s all in and sure about the relationship their building. Joey says he wants to feel confident about his relationship and Maria walking out didn’t make him feel that way. Maria ensures that despite that moment last week, she’s here to stay and is excited to introduce him to her family.
Maria’s family is great, but I swear the weird stereotypical Italian music in the background was so distracting to me. It doesn’t match the moment and makes the whole intro of Maria’s family seem like a joke.
Maria speaks with her sister Brittany first about how worried she is about the other women who are still in the process. She says it’s hard for her to pretend Joey is all hers because he’s not. Despite the process being atypical, Brittany encourages her to put it all out there, much like the other siblings throughout the hometown visits.
Nick and Joey speak next and he’s extremely hesitant about the process. Joey is honest that he hasn’t expressed anything back to any of the women—even though we just saw him express his feelings for Daisy—because it’d be unfair to do.
Joey then asks Nick for his blessing to marry his daughter and he’s the only dad that says yes. Specifically, he says if Maria is opening up and choosing Joey, how could he not support that? Another dad who trusts his daughter’s opinion, we love to see it! Nick’s parting words for his daughter are to let her guard down and give the process her all—and she doesn’t listen.
They end the night watching home movies of Maria and her family. It seems like we’re going to get a moment of Maria sharing how she feels for Joey, but she says nothing and instead, puts him in a car and watches him drive away.
Rose Ceremony
We are in an airplane hangar, which has become expected for the hometown rose ceremony location. The women are entering one by one in true dramatic fashion. In their interviews with producers, each of the women speaks about how they’re happy to be falling in love with Joey, but also feel a way about other women being in the process. Except for Maria, she’s freaking out about not telling Joey how she truly feels before this ceremony.
Before handing out the roses, Joey shares with the ladies that the roses represent the step forward that each of them has taken in their relationship during hometowns. He grabs the rose and Maria asks to go talk to him. He agrees and she says she didn’t want to have any regrets so she needed to tell him that she was falling in love with him. It felt like a last-ditch effort to get a rose and sort of cheapened their entire relationship. It was too expected and produced. I hated it.
Joey acts like this is earth-shattering news and like Maria’s revelation will change the choices he came into the night making, but I don’t believe it. Daisy gets the first rose, Kelsey gets the second, and Rachel gets the final rose! I’m glad Maria’s stunt didn’t work and that Joey wasn’t thinking with his dick. The reality is, he probably can’t get over her walking out, nor the drama early on in the season and so he had to let her go.
During their final goodbye, Joey expresses that ultimately it was his doubts about her that he couldn’t ignore. A little brutal, but also very honest. I respect it.
I won’t hold y’all, Maria’s personality is fun for TV, but I do not want to see an entire season of her as The Bachelorette, maybe on Paradise, if that’s coming back.
Next week, it’s fantasy suites and the Gerry’s ladies from Golden Bachelor are back! I love how much we’re getting of them this season. It seems like Leslie puts some doubts in Kelsey’s head, or maybe another woman’s, and it leads one of them to walk out (at least that’s what the editing made it look like). We’re almost to the end. y’all! What have y’all thought of the season so far? I’m enjoying it, Joey was a great pick for a lead!