We’re down to the final two, rose lovers!
“Use that time wisely.”
He drops off the first date card, which goes to… Michelle!
The Bachelor.ABC
While she goes and gets ready, let’s check in with Matt over at his place.
Rose lovers, I was not prepared for the emotional intensity of this conversation.
It was a great relief, then, to see that Matt was prepared for this meeting.
Chris Harrison.ABC
“When I needed you, you weren’t there to have those conversations,” he tells Manny.
“You started other families.
(Damn, this family’s life is a true saga!)
Manny James.ABC
Then the conversation starts to get very real.
says Manny, visibly upset.
“I came home one day, your mom was gone, brah!”
Matt and Manny James.ABC
Matt, understandably agitated himself, shoots back: “For good reason!
Who wants to be with someone who’s not going to be faithful to them?”
Manny plays the “nobody’s perfect” card (where have weheard that lately?
ABC
), which doesn’t go over well.
“I don’t want you to make excuses,” says the Bachelor.
“I just want you to hear where I’m coming from.”
Rachael Kirkconnell.ABC
At this point, it really seemed like things were not going to end well.
“I’m here to celebrate your success.”
For a few minutes, he and his dad sit in sad, grim silence.
Nemacolin resort.ABC
“I didn’t need shoes, man…
I needed a dad.”
Gah, this is heartbreaking!
Rachael Kirkconnell.ABC
Somehow, Matt finds the strength to keep pushing his conversation with Manny forward.
“We’ve all been through a lot.
“I’m trying to address all those things now.”
Matt James and Bri Springs.ABC
Manny is silent for several seconds.
“I agree with you, son,” he says quietly.
He wipes away some tears.
Matt James and Bri Springs.ABC
Matt’s eyes well up, and he smiles.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
I forgive you.”
Matt James and Bri Springs.ABC
And then…
One second, just bawling my eyes out.
On to the Fantasy Suites.
Date No.
Rachael Kirkconnell.ABC
1: Michelle
What could be more romantic than a weird-ass spa date?
Sorry, I mean a “traditional Pennsylvania Dutch spa day”?
Either way, the answer is… “pretty much anything.”
Rachael Kirkconnell.ABC
Behold:
Ummm… okay!
Michelle and Matt start with the oatmeal foot bath, which sloshes around in the tub grotesquely.
Oooh, high praise!
Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James.ABC
“But I think it’s also super-important to talk about, like, staying in love.
How do you plan to stay in love?
Because it does take work.”
Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James.ABC
As the kids (probably no longer) say, we stan a realistic Bachelor contestant.
Relationships and marriage aren’t all helicopter rides and butter rubs.
After a “great day” with Michelle, Matt says their connection “just took off.”
Bri Springs.ABC
“I want to be the man he wasn’t.”
Oh yeah, Michelle is all in.
“I do look at you as my person,” she says.
“That’s where I’m at.”
Once there, she drops the L-bomb: “I love you, Matt.”
The music swells as they enter the bedroom… and Matt shuts the door.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the hotel:
Yep, Rachael is spiraling.
“The fact that he is with Michelle right now is just driving me absolutely insane.”
Bri just looks at her silently, like,Girl, what show did you think you were on?
Anyhow, it’s the morning after.
On a scale of one to 10, Matt and Michelle’s happiness is at an 11.
“You guys are struggling, I can see that,” says Michelle gently.
She’s feeling the pressure, after getting called last at the previous rose ceremony.
“I have no idea how I’m going to keep my s— together.”
Date No.
“I am the least outdoorsy person,” Bri admits.
Matt, too, has no camping or tent-pitching experience.
“I honestly wouldn’t have been able to get it up,” he says.
“The tent?”
Here’s the good news, though: This isnotBri’s Fantasy Suite.
Instead, it’s just another shoestring, trapped-in-a-COVID-bubble activity devised by the producers.
TherealFantasy Suite will have central heating and running water.
Bri and Matt warm themselves by the fire and chat about her hometown visit.
Dang, Bri’s mom is the best.)
I’m sorry, but these antler light fixtures are creepy AF.
They’re giving me some realAmerican Horror Story: Asylumvibes.
That talk, he says, helped him get closer to being “ready.”
Bri gets emotional thinking about her strained relationship with her own father.
What I’m feeling is that I really am so in love with you.”
It’s L-bomb number two, rose lovers!
He does, and she says yes.
Listen up, camera crew, you don’t have to go home, but you might’t stay here.
Cut to:
Another successful morning after in the books.
“We connect on the deepest of levels,” says Matt.
“I can see a life with Bri after this.”
“It was really nice,” she says of her “uninterrupted” time with Matt.
“Are you excited for your date, Rach?”
Let’s find out!
Date No.
3: Rachael
Before she gets ready for her date, Rachael sits by herself and cries.
“I’m just scared he’s gonna hurt me.”
You should be, Rachael!
You only have a one-in-three shot at “winning” this thing!
Matt, on the other hand, is feeling great about his final overnight date.
There’s no run-and-jump hug or happy laughter.
There’s barely even a smile!
“I’m hoping that she’s all right.”
Well… define “all right,” Matt.
Rachael certainly doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to their date activity.
(It “really is like building a relationship.
“The thought of him getting intimate with another woman… it is absolutely excruciating.”
Finally, Rachael steps away from the pottery wheel and tells the Bachelor that they need to talk.
“I picture you as my future husband,” she says.
Of course, the Bachelor can’t do that.
“There’s no easy way to go about the next two weeks,” he says.
“But it’s necessary.”
Matt promises that he’s doing everything “as respectfully as I can go about it.”
He also reminds her about how scared he was when he thought she died during their skydiving date.
“I’m going to continue to show you how I feel about you,” says Matt.
“Where I’m at with you is, I’m falling in love with you.”
Finally, Rachael feels reassured.
“I’m completely in love with you,” she says, and then they make out.
Somebodycue “Unchained Melody,“because the pottery date is back ON.
“I am ready to take on life with you, and whatever it throws our way.”
Be carefulwhat you wish for.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Why didn’t everybody get pyrotechnics?Rude.
They all believe they love Matt, and that they’ll be devastated if he sends them home.
(Though when Rachael walks in, things are a bit frostier.)
Okay, Matt, let’s get this over with.
The first rose goes to… Michelle!
Alas, it’s poor Bri who must head home brokenhearted.
“It’s just a feeling that you have when you’re with somebody,” he says sadly.
Though she’s “really sad and disappointed and hurt,” Bri handles it with poise.
“Obviously, I gave up a lot to be here,” she says.
Hang in there, Bri.
You’ll be okay.
And who knows… maybe they’ll give you your job back?
And there you have it.
Next week, a tear-filled final showdown between Michelle and Rachael.
Until then, rose lovers, let me know your thoughts about tonight’s episode.
Were you sad to see Bri go?
Does Matt deserve Michelle?
And where do you stand on the burnt-vs.-lightly-toasted marshmallow debate?
Post your thoughts below!
