The Bachelor: Episode 8 recap

Four are left. Who will be voted out tonight?

Previews of drama, drama, drama. Everyone’s crying. They all leave him and nobody is left to even propose to.

Ok, that last thing was a lie.

Looks like they’re in Kansas City, Nikki’s hometown. She’s my pick to “win”, so let’s see how this goes. JP: “Every time I’m with her, I feel happy.” Apparently neither of them slept last night because they were so excited for today. They kiss a whole bunch. There are a lot of cows.

Nikki takes JP to a BBQ place. My stomach is turning already. JP: “She took me to Oklahoma Barbeque. I didn’t even know what that was.” Turns out JP loved it, even if he didn’t know what a BBQ was.

Next up? Bull-riding. JP looks like he’s gonna be sick and the bull is barely moving. Nikki thinks it’s hot watching JP on the bull. Oh, there he goes. He got bucked off. They toast with some beers. Nikki: “Here’s to you being more of a cowboy than I expected.” Then both of them get on the bull, fall off after three seconds, and make out on the mats.

Nikki: “I’m so close with my family and their opinion means everything to me.” Uh oh. That’s just a bad sign right there. Maybe I’m the odd one, but if I loved a guy and my family didn’t like him, I really wouldn’t care. (Sorry, family.) Nikki’s dad: “When you sit down, you become family.” His family asks how the flight back from Korea was. Apparently Juan Pablo gets to fly first class while the girls have to fly coach. JP: “I slept like a baby.” Nikki: “I’m sure you did!”

Nikki’s mom pulls her away. Right in the middle of dinner. Yea, that’s natural. Almost as natural as this entire process. Nikki: “My mom is my best friend.” I hope my kids say that about me one day. Nikki’s mom asks her if there’s a physical and a mental attraction. Haaaaa! I’m sure Sharleen wouldn’t have been able to answer positively on the latter. Nikki says she’s in love with Juan Pablo, and tells her mom that the next time she sees her, she could be engaged. Nikki’s mom asks if she’d say yes if JP proposed; Nikki says she would.

Apparently Nikki’s dad is logical. I like that. He and JP have a chat about the potential hurt that could happen. JP says he likes Nikki’s honesty; it’s easy to talk to her. JP asks if Nikki’s dad would invite him and his daughter into the family if he proposed. Her dad says not to propose unless he’s 100% sure he wants to marry her.

On a side note, I like how JP says Nikki’s name: Neekee. My psychiatrist says my name, “JENNEEfer” instead of JENNifer. I love it.

Nikki’s dad feels that JP was honest and that if he proposes, she’ll have to decide for herself. He then asks Nikki what she sees in JP. She says she can’t explain it, but she feels good about it. “How do you feel about being a mom?” She says she had great examples for parents and that she has a lot of love to give. Her dad says he’ll support her in whatever she does. And then complements her a bunch. “I love you, Sweetheart.”

Nikki: “I had the best day ever. It felt good to have their blessing.” Awkward silence … “It didn’t feel right to tell him that I love him. I hope I’m around next week to be able to tell him.” And now he’s off to do the same thing with three other women. I so could not handle this process.

Next up is Atlanta, Georgia, Andi’s hometown. I like Andi a lot more than I like Nikki, but I don’t think Andi and JP fit together well. Andi’s excited about being on her own turf. “Never did I think this was going to happen. I’m so excited to see him!” JP: “There’s definitely something going on between the two of us.”

Since JP has made Andi do some tough things, she’s paying him back. In the gun range. “You’re on my turf, we’re gonna do something I’m good at.” She IS good. JP is impressed. “That was hot.” JP picks up a gun. “How do you hold it?” Yea, he’s not getting any bulls-eyes. Oh, wait, he got one. I used to be in charge of the gun range at summer camp. Pretty sure I could kick the crap out of Juan Pablo. Andi: “I have to prepare him to meet my family. It’s a tough situation to walk into.”

Andi: “I’m dying inside right now. I don’t know how this is going to go.” Andi’s family left a “Welcome Home, Pookie” sign on the door. Andi says she’s so close to being in love, but she’s waiting to see what her family thinks. JP & Andi tell about the dates they had: group date, group date, group date, group date … until they’re down to 8 girls did she finally get a one-on-one. Andi’s dad isn’t impressed. Andi: “I saw disapproval on my dad’s face in the first five minutes.” Her dad is very skeptical. Dinner is awkward. JP: “Are you worried?” Andi’s dad: “Oh, very.” … “He’s an attractive guy with three other girls.”

Andi’s parents were engaged and married quickly, Andi hopes it will happen similarly for her. Andi’s mom takes JP away. JP says she’s quick-minded, and some other nice things. Andi’s mom asks if she can see how JP dances. Awkward! He calls Andi out to salsa, then salsas with her mom as well.

Next up is Andi’s dad. He’s worried about JP breaking Andi’s heart. He asks JP what made him go on the bachelor. JP says, he’s been on the bachelorette, so people know who he is before coming on the show with him, like that he has a daughter and wants a family. So the women coming on the show, presumably, will know those things about him and want the same things. That’s a pretty good reason, not so skeezeballish. JP then asks if Andi’s dad will accept him and his daughter into his family if JP proposes to Andi. Hy (Andi’s dad) says to JP, “Let’s reverse rolls. If someone came to you, who was dating three other people, and said to you, ‘If I do, will you?’ … my answer to you is, I won’t answer you, it’s the person who is perfect for my daughter will say, ‘There is no one else in the world.’”

Andi chats with her sister, “He’s hot.” She’s not in love with him, but she sees it happening. Andi’s sister says she doesn’t know if she sees Andi & JP together. She hasn’t heard “this is the one” from Andi. Andi: “In a weird way I’m just looking for that reassurance.” Hy says to her that he doesn’t want her to get hurt. That’s his only concern. Hy: “He can go home by himself.” Everyone leaves on a positive note.

Previews of tomorrow and the fantasy suite show Andi and JP fighting. That should be interesting.

Sarasota, Florida. Renee’s hometown. She hasn’t seen her son in two months. Yikes. That would be rough. JP is looking forward to meeting her 8-year-old son Ben. Renee is nervous. Ben runs up and hugs his mom. Looks like Ben’s not a big fan of the cameras. JP: “He’s such a cool kid. He is so nice. I can’t wait to have a son.” Renee & JP cheer on Ben’s little league game.

Cut to Chris Harrison and JP on the set of Need for Speed. Aaron Paul narrates. And then a trailer for the movie. Oooh Aaah, I don’t care.

The three of them, Renee, JP, and Ben, pull up to Renee’s parents’ place. Renee and her mom look SO alike. Renee: “If they don’t see it, I will step back.” Renee goes to tuck her son in while JP talks to her family. JP and Renee’s brother chat for a bit. Then JP and Renee’s mom talk about how great Renee is. Renee talks to Ben about how much she missed him. She doesn’t know when she’ll see him again. Depends on when she gets kicked off.

Renee and her mom have a chat. Her mom just wants Renee to be in love. Renee’s dad “has always been right”. He likes JP. Renee seems to be the most smitten with Juan Pablo. She’s the only one SURE she is in love with him. But she doesn’t tell him either. “It didn’t flow. It didn’t come out.”

Coming up! Drama at Clare’s house. Surprise, surprise! And tomorrow! Andi’s overnight date doesn’t go well. I guess that means that Andi makes it through this round. But maybe not the next one, and it looks like it’ll likely be her leaving rather than JP not choosing her.

Onward!

Sacramento, California. Clare’s hometown. Clare is excited to see JP. JP is, too. “I have a good time when I’m with her.” JP to Clare: “I can’t wait to see why you are the way you are.” They’re at a park where Clare’s dad used to take her. Clare tells JP that her dad already danced her wedding father/daughter dance with her before he passed away. JP has tears in his eyes. Clare: “When my dad died, I shut off all my feelings. I shut down my vulnerability.” They’re throwing white bread at ducks and the first thing that comes to my mind is my conservation officer cousin saying to me, after seeing a photo of my girls feeding ducks, “No! Don’t do that! At least make it whole grain bread!” White bread is apparently unhealthy for ducks, too.

Clare has a lot of sisters. She’s the youngest of 6 daughters. JP says he’s been waiting all day to hear Clare describe her 8 weeks of Bachelor. A lot of bikini time. Aaand cue the middle-of-the-meal chats. Clare goes off to talk to her sister who has been married for 20+ years. Her sister Madeline asks her what she’d do if JP proposed to her. Clare says it’s scary. She hasn’t been in love since before her dad died. But she’d say yes in a heartbeat. Apparently her parents knew each other for only three weeks before they were engaged, and they were married for decades.

JP is chatting with two other sisters. They ask him if he thinks she will be a good wife. JP: “At first it was a physical attraction…” and then says he loves how she talks about her dad and hopes that one day Camila will talk about him that way. Clare is with her mom and another sister, Laura, and the sister asks, “How would you feel if he didn’t choose you?” Way to go to the negative. But I guess that’s got to be thought about. Her sister says that she doesn’t feel that they can give a blessing to the relationship. Laura says she sees how happy Clare is, and Clare says to just trust her and how she feels. It would devastate her if JP didn’t choose her. Laura accuses Clare of not respecting “Mama”. They fight for a bit. One of the other sisters comforts Clare when she comes in upset. Laura says to another sister, “Does he know what he’s getting into?”

Juan Pablo goes out to talk to Clare’s mom, and Laura jumps in on the conversation. JP goes back to talk to Clare and comforts her before going back to Laura and their mom. JP says he loves it that Clare wants a man like her dad, JP wants to know “why Clare is the way she is”. He says he’s very family-oriented. Laura finally leaves to give JP time with her mom. They speak Spanish back and forth. She says they’re a religious family. She sounds like she has an accent, might come from a Spanish background? I’m sure JP loves that. They have a good conversation and hug it out afterwards.

There are hugs all around before JP leaves. Clare and JP make out on a bench in her mom’s backyard. After JP leaves, Clare says she would LOVE to marry him.

Rose ceremony! The girls get brought in one by one. Clare, Nikki, Andi, then Renee. They all say nice things about him. Renee regrets not telling JP that she loves him. Chris welcomes the girls back to Miami. Three roses are on a pedestal. Juan Pablo comes in and says he feels privileged to have four amazing women in front of him with great families. He picks up the first rose. I wasn’t sure at all who he was going to send home, but saw a spoiler on Instagram last night (I watched half live, and half this morning)(I’m old and tired) before I had a chance to make my final guess, so that sucked. Serves me right for going online before I watched the whole episode.

ANYWAY. The roses. JP has the first one in his hand. Nikki. Clare. And now, lots of ominous music … Chris: “Ladies, Juan Pablo, this is the final rose tonight. When you’re ready.” More ominous music. Andi. Which means Renee is going home.

I’m actually glad Renee is going home, because I don’t think she and JP make a good pair. She’s way too good for him. He’s crying while Renee says bye to the other ladies. “This is horrible.” They walk out together. Renee: “I’ve never felt this way about anyone.” She says he opened her eyes to a whole new world. I hope she finds the perfect man for her. She’s such a sweetheart. They hug it out and Renee gets into the limo. JP is a bit of a mess. Renee is sad. “I had fallen in love with him. I let myself feel things that I didn’t know I could feel. … But I can’t force him.” She saw how life could be with her and Ben and someone else. She now knows what love is, and wants to have a family. “There’s not a lot of guys like Juan Pablo. He’s as good as they come.” Just wait till she watches this season!

Tomorrow! (Well, tonight.) They go to St. Lucia. Nikki tells JP that she loves him. But then Nikki is crying. And Andi is crying. Chris: “What happens in the fantasy suite doesn’t stay in the fantasy suite.” Andi: “The whole thing was a disaster.” EVERYONE IS CRYING. There are no clips of Clare.

Credits! The best part. JP and Renee are sitting in chairs in the ocean. Seagulls are eating their lunch. They yell at them and JP goes to chase them away. Renee asks JP how his week has been, and all of a sudden a seagull comes and drops a sandwich on Renee’s head.

So! Tonight! I’ll post again about the overnights. This should be interesting.