Every week, Madi Held and Shanna Sweitzer are giving you a weekly review of ABC’s The Bachelor.

Hosted by Chris Harrison, this show aires on Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC and is about a single man looking for a woman with whom he would like to spend the rest of his life. After extensive interviews and auditions, 30 women were picked to be on the show this season. In each episode, there are group dates and one-on-one dates where the bachelor gets to spend time with the contestants. At the end of every week, there is a rose ceremony where the bachelor narrows down his choices by giving roses to the girls he wants to stay another week. Those who do not receive a rose are then “sent home” from the show. This helps him to then focus on the girls that he thinks will be the best for him. At the end, the bachelor must decide between the two remaining girls which one he’d like to propose to. Many couples end up breaking off their engagement and splitting up, but there has also been a lot of successful couples that do get married and even have children. The show has become popular all throughout America, and on January 2, 2017, the 21st season started with Nick Viall as America’s Bachelor.

*SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*

Continued from last week…

After Nick shockingly sent Kristina home last week, the girls were left freaking out. Nick has been very unpredictable lately, which put them all on edge. The rose ceremony was scratched, and Nick went back to the house to give roses to the remaining four girls, securing them all with hometown dates.

Raven (Hoxie, AR)

Shanna

Nick joined Raven in Arkansas where they drove around in ATVs and got “busted” for climbing a grain bin by a cop that happened to be her brother, Weston. At Raven’s house, Nick met her mom, Tracy, and her dad, Wesley, who has recently found out that he is cancer free. Raven thought she was going to lose her father at one point and hearing this was so relieving.

When Nick and Wesley sat down to talk, Wesley admitted that he didn’t expect to like Nick. He was pleasantly surprised as to how much he ended up liking him. Nick asked her father for his blessing and Wesley gladly gave it to him. After the date, Raven was reluctant in telling Nick she loved him because she was too afraid of getting hurt.

When the night ended, she was left worrying whether or not she should’ve told him.

I think this date went really well. Raven’s family was very sweet and cooperative so there were no awkward or uncomfortable moments. She hit home with this one, literally.

Rachel (Dallas, TX)

Shanna

While watching this date is kind of pointless because we already know that Rachel doesn’t win and has been named the next bachelorette, it was still entertaining. Rachel brought Nick to her local church where they sat through a service together and talked about it after.

Later, Nick met Rachel’s mother, sisters, cousin, and one of her sister’s husband and child. He also met her father, who is a District Judge of

Texas. While the racial difference was acknowledged, Nick had great conversations with all of her family members.

While Rachel told the camera she was falling in love with Nick, she didn’t tell Nick himself. Unlike Raven, Rachel didn’t wonder what could happen if she had told him.

Corinne (Miami, FL)

Madi

Corinne started her hometown date off by taking Nick out shopping. They spent a huge amount of money at some of Corinne’s favorite high end stores in Miami. They then sat down for a quick talk, where she explained to him how she really feels about him, and even told him she loves him. They talked for awhile and then decided it was time for them to head over to her family’s house for dinner. Nick met Corinne’s mom, dad, sister, and the famous nanny, Raquel. They all enjoyed a short meal and then Corrine got to talk with her mom and dad and tell them all that had happened. Her dad specifically asked both her and Nick all the right questions. They both had great answers, and Corinne thought her family loved Nick. However, what bothered me was that Raquel talked to Nick instead Corinne’s mom talking to him.

Vanessa (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

Madi

Because Vanessa is a special education teacher, she took Nick to meet her students on her hometown day. Together the two of them and her students made a scrapbook using all the photos from their adventures on the show. From there, it was time to meet the family.

Since her parents are divorced, Vanessa explained that half the time would be with her mom’s family and half with her dad’s. Vanessa’s sister hammered him with questions asking about how the living situation would work after the show since they live in two different places. Her brother and mom also showed some concern for the situation. However the most dramatic thing was what happened when they got to her dad’s house. Nick and Vanessa’s dad had a conversation where Nick eventually ended up asking her father for his blessing, if the times was to come, just like he did for all the other girls. Vanessa’s dad said no right away and then asked whether he had asked all the other girl’s dad’s the same question. He then eased into saying yes if it meant Vanessa would be happy. Vanessa’s dad later told her that he had asked the other fathers for their blessings and she got pretty upset. This caused their night to end on a rough note and personally, I don’t think they will work out.

She’s Back

It was a total surprise when the viewers were expecting to see Vanessa going to talk to Nick before the rose ceremony but instead he opened the door to Andi Dorfman. The first time Nick was on the show, he was turned down by Andi in the finale on her season of the bachelorette. Since then, there has been some bad blood between them specifically when she exposed his behavior in her talked about book It’s Not Okay: Turning Heartbreak into Happily Never After. While this is a huge surprise, I don’t think it’s a very big deal. They definitely just asked her to come on the show to stir some drama but I think that’s it. It’s not like she wants him back or anything, she’s probably just there to talk to him. It will for sure be entertaining though.

Current Standings

*To be determined because the episode was cut off prior to the rose ceremony*

Who went home: N/A

Who is staying: N/A

Come back next week for our review of episode 9!