Serene’s hometown date has Clayton screaming in terror before Rachel’s dad has him shaking in his boots — there’s always one “mean” loved on!

There’s always one. It’s as if ABC combs through the family’s of these “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” contestants to see who’s going to make the best TV. This season, that dubious honor went to Rachel’s father, the Italian tough-guy she says has never liked anyone she’s brought home, Tony.

That’s right, it’s Hometown Visits and for the first time in a long time, it meant actual, authentic, real hometown visits. No more lame setups in some back office of the hotel where someone gets to try a random food item and look at a flag.

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This is real, good old-fashioned travel to the four hometowns of Clayton Echard’s remaining ladies. Gone is all the drama and craziness that has come to dominate his season way more than his personality. All that’s left is downhome Midwest charm and heartbreak.

It’s still always amazing to us that family’s and even contestants are shocked at this point of the competition to realize that they could be the one going home. You just wanna sit them down and say, Honey, three of you are going to have to go. That’s one-in-four odds you win this thing. Those aren’t great. Prepare yourself.

Nevertheless, the night ended with the latest heartbreak, as well as a bit of a shocking admission from Clayton for traditionalists — and perhaps people who’ve never watched this show before. He shared with Jesse that he’s actually falling in love with all four women.

Is this possible? Well, sure, why wouldn’t it be … especially in a bizarre pressure-cooker situation like this. On top of that, he’s been making out with anything with a pulse in a dress since Day 1 of this competition. We’re just appreciative all that sucking face evolved into actual feelings.

It does, however, make things harder for all parties involved. All four women are falling in love with him. Hell, one of them upgrades that message this week to, “I’m in love with you.” And yet, Clayton has still not told any of them. We saw how that blew up in Katie Thurston’s face a couple of “Bachelorette’s” ago with Greg Grippo.

Of course, as we know from teasers all season long, Clayton does ultimately tell the remaining women that he’s in love with all three of them — and he tells two of them that he slept with them. They seem shocked, but come on! Have they not seen all the making out?

Hell, Shanae was able to get out of how many instances of her just being awful by climbing up on a bar and trying to suck Clayton’s tongue out of his face. Of all the things new couples have to worry about, Clatyon’s libido is clearly not one of them. We’re surprised he didn’t push for three-for-three.

Actually, he might have. We’ll have to wait until next week’s Fantasy Suites to find out. You can bet Pilot Pete will be watching to see if his infamous Fantasy Suite shenanigans are outdone! What did people think happened on those overnights? More talking?! Maybe sometimes, but, come on! We’re all adults here.

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Susie @ Home

Susie brought Clayton to Virginia to kick his ass and see if he was up for some light choking. She introduced him to her love of jiu-jitsu. It was all very sweet and ultimately, not very memorable.

While chatting with Susie’s mother Jean, she asked Clayton if he was in love with Susie. It was here that he first admitted he’s been holding back his feelings because there are four women left.

This was a prelude to his chat with Jesse later where he said he’d been grappling internally over his feelings for the women because he couldn’t seem to reconcile in his brain that it could possibly be love for all four of them. My dude, love is messy at the best of times!

One thing we’ll say is that Susie’s parents absolutely adore her, telling Clayton that they often look up to her because she is such a genuine and sweet soul. We’ve seen that a bit in her from the beginning, and it’s clear Clayton did, too.

They’ve had a bond since the first night that made her stand out from the pack, and that only continued throughout the season. She scored that first One-on-One for a reason. Their relationship just seems easy in a way we don’t see with all the others. It’s as if they’re already there.

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Gabby @ Home

Even the closing credits gave us another moment during Gabby and Clayton’s Hometown date. Regardless of what happens in this show, Gabby is hands down the funniest contestant of the season. And after meeting her family, we can say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Watching her interact with her grandpa, in particular, made us think about how much love and connection exists within that family unit for them to razz each other so relentlessly and with such obvious affection. So many family’s take themselves so seriously, so it was beautiful to showcase this sillier side that still knows how to buckle down when it matters.

As for Gabby herself, she is hilarious. Clayton has a pretty good sense of humor about him as well, but like him, we’ve struggled to sometimes see what they have beyond that playful sense of humor. Yes, they like making out, but she has a pulse so that was inevitable.

The hardest part of the night for Gabby was that her dad wasn’t able to be there due to Covid restrictions and his girlfriend’s recent cancer diagnosis. But in a surprisingly beautiful moment, he managed to be there for her anyway.

Since he couldn’t hug her or meet Clayton directly, he instead showed up outside the house and gave her a message on cue cards a la “Love Actually.” This family knows how to joke, but they also know how to creatively express their deep love for one another and we are here for it!

We’re just not sure how here we are for Gabby and Clayton together. It doesn’t seem to flow as naturally as it does with Susie, and it doesn’t seem to have that same deep connection and ease he’s had with some of the other woman. It’s perhaps a little too reliant on that playful chemistry.

Serene @ Home

Serene fearlessly challenged herself and Clayton fearfully went along for the ride. We’re with Serene in that we didn’t quite get the level of fear he had walking across the rope discs on this adventure climb she set up for them to do together in her Oklahoma City Hometown.

Before meeting her family, Serene said that her dad wouldn’t be there after a tumultuous divorce when she was two. She then shared that he was the first person she’d brought home in more than ten years.

In a very sweet moment between siblings, Serene’s brother Roland got emotional talking about how deeply he doesn’t want to see her get hurt during this process. He’s been there with her, supporting her and loving her through heartbreak in the past, but it’s always hard.

Again, we wish someone would prep these families and contestants somehow even more that this process inevitably leads to heartbreak — lots and lots of heartbreak. It goes from 30 women down to 1. That’s a lot of broken hearts (we won’t say 29 because we all know some of these contestants are fame-chasing).

Clayton definitely got extra points with mom when Serene shared the firefly jar he made in honor of the cousin (who was like a sister to her) she’d lost just a few months back. Roland was surprised she’d opened up to Clayton about that as Serene is usually very reserved with her feelings, even to family.

It’s a testament to how hard she’s fallen for Clayton, which she punctuated with a declaration that she wasn’t just falling in love with him, but she was all the way there. She was officially the first to declare that, with Clayton smiling as hard at her about that as he was when Susie and Gabby shared their feelings. Too much love for one guy to handle!

Rachel @ Home

Like Gabby, Rachel has a playful side that can be a lot of fun. She and Clayton clearly had fun on a clear kayak ride in Florida where they saw an enormous spider, and we got to see Clayton get a little scared and freaked out all over again.

Rachel was freaked out, too, sharing with Clayton that her father — who she basically said was a stereotypical Italian overprotective father — has never liked anyone she’s brought home. She went so far as to say he was “mean” to them.

To his credit, Tony owned up to all of that when she talked to him about it. In a confessional, he said that a father’s going to be protective of his daughter and her heart. With sinister music and death stares, we really thought he was going to be a lot harsher than he was.

He was very direct with Clayton and to his credit, Clayton shot the straight truth right back at him. Tony asked the obvious question about how to avoid breaking Rachel’s heart, but Clayton owned that it might happen.

With four women there, he acknowledged that he’s probably going to break three hearts along the way to the finale. He couldn’t say for sure Rachel’s wouldn’t be one of them, but he believes in where they are right now.

Tony had said he was only looking for an honest conversation, and Clayton certainly gave him that. We kind of loved that he set up a secret code with Clayton, too, telling him he could’t give him his blessing now, but if after talking to Rachel he was feeling good about Clayton, he’d pat his arm while shaking his hand.

Clayton was elated to get the arm part at the end of the date, after Rachel admitted to her dad she was terrified about how mean her dad might be. He told her that he’d never seen her this happy or content, so he couldn’t bring himself to go there.

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Three for Me & One to Go

From there, it was down to the Rose Ceremony. After hearing four women declare their growing love for him, Clayton had to get down to the business of breaking one of their hearts.

Based on the way the dates progressed, we had a feeling that it might be the end of the road for Gabby. She and Clayton had a great surface-level connection, but it felt like feelings were growing a little faster with the other three women.

Well, we were wrong.

Gabby actually got the second rose, after our front-runner Susie picked up the first one. That left Serene and Rachel. Of the two of them, Clayton definitely seemed to have more enthusiasm for Rachel, as evidenced by their beachside makeout session in Florida.

He makes out with all of the women, so you have to gauge the level of enthusiasm and energy with which he does so. It has definitely and consistently come across stronger for us between him and Rachel than him and Serene.

So once it was down to the two of them, it was no surprise that Serene went home. We were broken for her when she asked if it was because she told him she loved him. Remember she’s the only one to have said it and he still hasn’t used the l-word with any of the ladies.

He didn’t have any real answers for her other than to say other relationships had grown more. As we already knew, he was in love to some degree with all four of them, but how could he make that make sense.

As she left, Serene said that she could feel her walls closing back up, after having let them down so far for Clayton. But could she let them down again to the “The Bachelorette”? It’s certainly time for wild speculation in Bachelor Nation.

The new season is supposedly set to start filming later in March, with casting underway for the men. But they also need a female lead. If we look at the ladies in Clayton’s current season, there are plenty who might be compelling leads.

If we’re being honest, we wonder if the fact that Serene is an elementary teacher just like the last Bachelorette, Michelle, might be a strike against her getting the next nod.

If it were up to us, we’d definitely be having conversations with Gabby. Like Katie, we think she would challenge the men to up their game, be able to make fun of themselves and have to keep up with her quick wit. She’s such an adorable personality.

Of course, Gabby is still in the running and could yet win the whole thing. And if Susie doesn’t — she’s still our pick — we could see her definitely being an America’s Sweetheart type of Bachelorette. As for Rachel, we’re just kind of not seeing it. Plus, after Pilot Pete’s disastrous season, they might be shy to pull the trigger on another pilot, though Rachel seems to have it much more together.

Mansion Chatter

• “Today we’re going to find out if Clayton likes to be choked … Turns out he does.” –Susie (takes Clayton to jiu jitsu class)
• “I’m surprised someone hasn’t nabbed her yet.” –Tom (to Clayton about Susie)
• “I asked her, I said, the guys you apparently have talked to before this are dumb as a box of rocks. I was like, I don’t understand how you are here but I’m not gonna question it. If I even try to find a yellow flag, I can’t find it.” –Clayton (about Susie)
• “My wife and I even look up to her. She sets examples for us all the time.” –Tom
• “I kind of guard myself because I don’t want to fall in love with four people. That doesn’t make sense.” –Clayton (to Jean after she asks if he’s falling in love with Susie)
• “He didn’t say that he’s in love with you, he said that he could see that he could get there with you. And he would never want to hurt you. So proceed with caution.” –Jean (to Susie)
• “I can’t wait for you to meet my family later. You have to cut down trees and fight bears first to meet them.” –Gabby (to Clayton)
• “It’s called Proposal Rock. So did you bring my ring?” –Gabby (during hike)
• “Scenic and romantic? Gabby’s being romantic? What?!” –Clayton
• “Don’t tell anyone. I will kill you.” –Gabby
• “You’ve gotta be the guy. Good luck to you, man. Good luck to you.” –Rich (to Clayton about Gabby)
• “Gabriela. I think it’s great!” –John (laughing at her opening line about sitting on Clayton’s face (pillow))
• “She’s always been a dingbat. A lovable dingbat.” –John (about Gabby)
• “So far, I like what I see. Of course, it’s early, so I may change my mind about you.” –Joe (to Clayton)
• “I think he’s full of s—. Anybody that could possibly like you is obviously full of crap.” –Joe (to Gabby)
• “I definitely feel like– like I’m falling in love with you.” –Gabby
• “There it is. I might have been waiting on that a little bit.” –Clayton
• “She seemed really, really happy, which is bittersweet for me because the higher you are the harder you fall. I’m really scared for her.” –Roland (about Serene)
• Please be really careful. It’s really fragile.” –Roland (to Clayton about Serene’s recent family losses)
• “To tell you the truth, I haven’t told anybody that I love them. I’m not there yet.” –Clayton (to Roland)
• “Yeah, it could be, what if I fall? But to me, it’s like, what if I fly?” –Serene (to Roland)
• “I’m not falling in love with you. I am in love with you.” –Serene (to Clayton)
• “Just for the record, I totally handled that reaction like a man, right?’ –Clayton (to Rachel after freaking out over giant spider)
• “I get where it’s coming from, but sometimes it can come off a bit harsh. So I just want you to be prepared.” –Rachel (to Clayton about meeting her father)
• If anything, I hope I can shake his hand that night and get, ‘All right. You’re not that bad.’ If I can get ‘you’re not that bad, kid,’ then we’re solid.” –Clayton (to Rachel)
• “If you hurt Rachel, I’m gonna hurt you.” –Sam (to Clayton)
• “How do you feel about Fantasy Suites? There’s still other people involved. You don’t want to be played.” –Nate (to Rachel)
• “I don’t know where his relationship is at with the other three.” –Rachel
• To me, I’m thinking about who’s gonna be here two months from now to pick up the pieces.” –Nate
• “The thing about it is I am going to hurt other people. I am going to, and it makes me sick.” –Clayton (to Tony)
• “If Rachel isn’t the one, what are you gonna do to not hurt her?” –Tony
• “I have no intention of hurting Rachel. I don’t have a crystal ball as to what it looks like at the end of this journey, but I know that I see a future with her.” –Clayton (to Tony)
• “I’m very proud of you. I’m only afraid of you getting hurt. But if he’s what you want, I’m all for it.” –Tony (to Rachel)
• “I wasn’t mean, I was a really good guy.” –Tony
• “Clayton was able to break down my walls. But, I gave it my all. So I can feel myself closing back up, and that’s why I have, like, nothing else to say to him.” –Serene
• “I’m falling in love with all of the women in a different capacity.” –Clayton (to Jesse)

Next week, it’s a double-dose of “The Bachelor” with the “Women Tell All” on Monday at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the Fantasy Suites installment on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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