So, the way we left it last week, Heather had just arrived in her rented minivan and strutted right in to interrupt Matt and Pieper.
Matt laughs at Heather and her arrival, and tells Pieper he needs a minute. Matt welcomes her and gives her another hug.
Some of the women know who Heather is, and some do not. Abigail knows all about who she is.
Heather tells Matt that Hannah Brown thought that Matt would be a good match for Heather. Heather evidently went to Hannah's house and Hannah told Matt all about Matt and blah, blah, blah. Why this whole conversation didn't happen before Matt started taping seems suspect. Extremely fishy.
Matt says Hannah knows him well, what she has to say means a lot to him, but he needs to think about it.
Heather wanders into the room where the other women are. They start grilling her asking her what she is doing there. Jessenia asks if she's ready to be engaged in two weeks. Chelsea asks if she was on another season. When Heather says she was, Jessenia gives her what for considering she had her chance. Someone accuses her of Bachelor hopping. Pieper has been very upset about being interrupted by a new woman. She lets Heather have it because they have been there six weeks and have feelings for Matt.
Honestly, all the women show their ugly sides. Not that I blame them, but still. Rachael goes on about if he picks Heather, then, his feelings toward her (Rachael)... What she says doesn't make a lot of sense, but basically, she doubts his sincerity towards her if he lets Heather in.
Chris Harrison tracks Matt down to check in. Matt says he is shook up.
Chris says it must be flattering because it's someone recommended by someone he respects. Matt says that yes, Hannah has dated his best friend and knows him. Everything Hannah has said about Heather seems to check his list. (So, evidently, Hannah has talked to Matt about her before. Why haven't they met yet?
Matt comes back in the room with Heather who is alone since everyone is ready to murder her. Matt thanks her for being bold and following her heart to get there. Matt again brings up how important Hannah's opinion is to him. It's hard for him, but given how deep they are in the process, he doesn't know how it could work with her. Heather wants him to know how serious she is about being there. Matt respects that, but he's falling in love with women who are already here. Matt tells her time isn't on their side, and his heart is pulling him back to the room where all the other women are.
Matt walks Heather past all the other women there and out to her minivan.
When he returns, he assures the women that no one else will join the journey that is not on the couch. He was caught off guard, and Matt apologizes for taking time away from them. He asks Pieper to go finish their conversation.
Abigail is whining again about not knowing where she stands when Chris comes in to ring the glass.
It's rose ceremony time. The only ones with roses from dates are Pieper and Michelle. (Katie went home on her date, so no rose.) There are six roses to be handed out.
- Bri
- Rachael
- Serena P.
- Kit
- Jessenia
- Abigail
I really thought the last rose would go to Chelsea instead of Abigail. Other than her whining about not knowing where she stands, I like Abigail. I also thought Chelsea and Matt had a better connection. So, goodbye to Chelsea and Serena C. I didn't see it with her anyway.
It's a new week for the ladies, and Jessenia and Abigail are the ones out of the eight remaining who have not had a one-on-one date. Chris tells everyone they will have a date and keep in mind that around the corner is "hometowns." He drops off the card, and heads out of the room.
Pieper picks up the card to read it.
"Serena P. - Can our love go deeper? - Matt"
She is the first to get a second one-on-one date. Abigail feels slapped in the face. I get it. I just hate whining.
He wants to go out with Serena again because they are in the friendzone, and he wants to see if there is more too it.
The two are going to be doing tantric yoga on this date. After doing a number of poses, we hear from Serena that this would not be her choice of dates.
She's uncomfortable with the intimacy because she's not overly affectionate, especially in public. Matt asked her how she liked it. He was into it, but she says it wasn't for her. Serena says she's slower to open up and be all into a relationship.
Back at the hotel, Rachael talks about the group getting cut in half and how much unknown there is. There's a knock at the door signaling the next date card.
"Pieper, Michelle, Rachael, Bri, Kit, and Abigail - Love will always find a way. - Matt."
Now Abigail is really going to have a meltdown being the only woman not to get a one-on-one.
Onto the dinner part of Serena's date. Matt is thrown off by Serena being uncomfortable earlier, but thanks her for being honest. He thinks that part is funny, but really doesn't know what he thinks about moving on with her.
She does tell him she wants to be herself and honest, even if that means telling him she wasn't comfortable.
At the hotel, Abigail is talking to Kit about where Matt's headspace is. Kit reminds Abigail that she did get the first impression rose. She has also gotten a group date rose. Abigail just doesn't know what else to do. She doesn't think she'll get to hometowns because she hasn't had a regular date with him first.
Matt talks to Serena about potentially meeting her family. Serena says she does want him to meet her family and that her sister may grill him a little. Matt enjoyed the date and her honesty enough to extend the rose.
The date isn't over yet! They go ice skating and I'm pretty sure that's fake snow falling on them.
The next day is the group date. By group date, it's basically a cocktail party. Matt wants to hear from them tonight if there is anything on their mind.
Bri and Matt talk first. There are some things Bri has wanted to talk about, but it hasn't seemed like the right time. Bri tells Matt about having to resign from her position to be there and potentially find love. (Stupid move if you ask me.)
She talks about the sacrifices that her mom made for her family. For Bri to quit her job was more like a dream than a sacrifice. Matt has heard all he needs to hear from Bri. He knows she's there for him.
Michelle is 100% committed to Matt. He's wanted to spend more time with her since the moment they met.
Abigail finally gets her time. She's wanted Matt to meet her family. When they sit down, she says the past week has been really hard because she's only gotten bits of time to share with him. She thinks they share a lot of things in common. You can tell he is so not into this conversation. She talks about seeing a picture of him and seeing him in her life. He tells her he was drawn to her on night one. He was comfortable in their relationship, so he explored other relationships. So, he got deeper into those other relationships and it's pulled him away from her. He tells her that she deserves someone that is going to put her first. He asks if he can walk her out.
Really though... he did give her the first impression rose, then ignore her. A first impression usually gets a pretty early date.
Matt comes back in and tells the women that he walked Abigail out. He wasn't expecting it to go that way, but at this point in the process, he's not going to lead anyone on. He whispers to Rachael, "Can we talk?"
Rachael loves Matt, but does he feel the same? He asks what her family is going to think next week. She thinks they will be fine if they see her happy. She's just worried she won't be with him at the end. Matt says he's always thinking about her, and they end up lip-locked.
Kit is nervous seeing how Abigail was sent home. She's having doubts about where she stands now. She tells Matt she has been stressing. She says, since you value the truth, I want to tell you some things that are set for me. She needs someone who supports her as she finishes school. She's not going to want kids for a few years because of her trajectory. She wants to make sure he's ok with that. He giggles at her and says he doesn't have a set 5-year plan. Their conversation goes better than she expected it to. All of a sudden, she is confident she is going to get the group date rose.
When it comes time to hand out the rose, he gives it to Rachael. He has something planned for the rest of the evening, so he and Rachael are going to head out.
Kit asks the other women if her face is tomato red because that is how she feels. Bri feels like she could rip her stomach out right now.
Oh, by the way, the plans Matt referred to... a private concert with Aloe Blaac. Rachael is crazy over Matt.
Pieper, Michelle, Bri, and Kit are basically sitting around crying together.
After Matt gets home, an upset Kit goes to see him. After their one-on-one, she said she thought she was falling in love with him. She didn't think she'd open up with someone like this. Before going into hometowns, she wants to be 100% that he would be her future husband. She's not so sure. He walks her out to a waiting car.
But, of course, she thinks she may be making the wrong decision.
The next day, the women are a big surprised about Kit taking herself out. Jessenia is headed out for her date. She reveals her date card said, "Our love will take a turn."
The car takes her out to a parking lot where there is a test track set up. Matt makes a show as he drives up. Actually, he wasn't driving, a professional driver was.
Jessenia gets in the driver seat and is coached on how to drift by the professional. Matt then gets a chance to bash into a bunch of boxes.
Over "dinner" she thanks him for acknowledging she has been patient. He has that "not interested" face. This isn't looking good. He asks her what he should expect in meeting her parents. Jessenia tells him to expect to be welcomed with open arms. As she talks, even when she says she's falling in love with him and has no regrets coming here, you can tell he just wants the date to be over. Matt thinks they are missing compatibility. He sees himself marrying another woman, not her. She gets giddy as he picks up the rose, but he's not going to give it to her.
Of Bri, Michelle, or Pieper... which is going home? He only has one more to go before he's trimmed down to four. The women are surprised when someone comes for Jessenia's suitcase.
The next night, they gather for another rose ceremony. Matt tells Chris he knows what he has to do.
No cocktail party. No talking to anyone. Straight to the point. Two roses.
- Bri
- Michelle
It's time for Pieper to say her goodbyes. They walk out to the car, but she does not say a word to him. He only says, "I'm sorry."
The previews of meeting the families don't look too promising. We shall see.
I feel I have to acknowledge somehow about the news of Chris Harrison temporarily stepping aside in light of racial comments that came up in Rachel Lindsey's podcast. Not really sure what to say, to be honest. I've read a little bit, but I'm not educated on the whole thing enough to go into anything in any way.
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