SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Monday’s episode of ABC’s The Bachelorette.
With Brayden finally gone, will Charity finally get a peaceful week to explore her connections with her remaining six suitors?
Only time will tell, but from the looks of this week’s preview, it seems as though there’s plenty more drama headed Charity’s way before she can accept a proposal.
Episode 5 of The Bachelorette finds Charity and her men in the Big Easy, and by the end of the week she will have narrowed her dating pool down to four. You know what that means, it’s almost time for hometowns, and the pressure of that is certainly weighing on everyone.
The men barely have a chance to explore New Orleans before Charity is whisking someone away for a date. She meets the group at a cafe in the city, where she steals Joey for his second one-on-one of the season. You’ll remember Joey was on the group date where he won a chance to break the record for Bachelor Nation’s longest on-screen kiss with Charity, and then the other men were sent home so he and Charity could have some alone time. Since Tanner and Sean still haven’t had a single one-on-one, Charity’s choice naturally ruffles some feathers.
At this point, both men wonder if Charity is open to exploring their connections and whether they’ll have time to actually deepen their relationship before hometowns when she would presumably meet their family. Charity says during her confessional that she chose Joey because she sees a future with him and wanted an entire day to see if those feelings are reciprocated.
The pair take a horse-drawn carriage around New Orleans before stopping for some authentic cajun food. Then, they get a tarot card reading. They end their afternoon by dancing to some jazz music and receiving a custom poem written based on their feelings for each other. And, of course, lots of kissing.
After the sun sets, Charity and Joey head to dinner. Charity uses the time to get much deeper with Joey, asking him how he felt about being in an interracial relationship. She says in her last relationship, her partner was ignorant to some of the micro-aggressions that she faced, especially from his family. Joey tells her that he’s never dated a Black woman, but he is confident that his family would accept their relationship. He says he doesn’t have all the answers, but he’s willing to “conquer that together.” His response makes Charity emotional, and Joey comforts her as she cries.
Once she gathers herself, Charity offers Joey a rose. And here it comes…the L word! Love, that is. Joey becomes the first one this season to tell Charity that he’s falling in love with her. While she doesn’t say it back, she does tell the cameras that she feels the same way.
Meanwhile, the men back at the house hear a knock on the door. It’s another date card, summoning Sean and Tanner on a two-on-one. We all know how this works. Only one man will come out of this date headed to hometowns. Both men are pretty bummed, because no matter what way this goes, the man who gets the rose will be taking Charity to meet their family without having a one-on-one.
The next day, Tanner and Sean reluctantly meet Charity in the middle of the bayou. Looks like they’ll be testing their feelings on an airboat ride. Charity acknowledges their obvious anxiety, but she tells them she wants to focus on having a good time and they’ll get to the tough conversations later. For now, it’s time to look for some gators — and there’s plenty to be found.
In confessional, Charity says she’s holding out hope for both men, but neither have shown that they’re husband material quite yet. She’s looking for more depth and vulnerability from them. After the airboat ride, they get a lesson in how to eat crawfish. Finally, Charity mentions how weird the whole day must have been for them, but it’s not over yet. She invites both of them to join her for dinner.
Charity doesn’t waste much time. After a quick toast, she sends Tanner away to begin with a solo conversation with Sean, who tells Charity that he’s very excited for her to meet his family. The episode doesn’t show much more of their conversation, instead opting to clue us in on how Tanner is feeling during that whole moment. Tanner says he’s trying not to let her other connections affect him, and he’s ready to be vulnerable with Charity.
And he sticks to his word. He tells Charity that his past relationship prompted him to retreat emotionally and protect his peace “at all costs,” but he knows that isn’t an effective way to foster a new connection. Once again, the audience doesn’t see much else. Meanwhile, we do hear Sean say he feels good about their own conversation and he doesn’t think Tanner is going to make it out of this.
The other guys receive the last date card of the episode, and it’s for Dotun (his second consecutive one-on-one, by the way). Aaron thinks this means he isn’t getting a date with Charity this week, and he’s not really sure what that means for his future.
But before Charity can focus on any of that, she has to make a decision about Sean and Tanner. She gives it to…nobody. She tells the men she’s grateful for both of them, and she wants them to stick around until the rose ceremony so that they all can gain more clarity. Tanner is relieved, but Sean is not happy to be going into the rose ceremony without the assurance that he’s sticking around. He says that her lack of clarity is making him question his own feelings — which usually signals that this is where that relationship starts to spiral. We’ll see.
Charity is ready to clear her mind. She meets Dotun at the Crescent City Classic. Surprise! They’re running a marathon. Or, well, they’re going to try their best. Charity admits she’s not a runner, but she’s ready to let loose with Dotun and get playful.
They spend much of the race chatting with other runners. Once they make it to the finish line, they commence their run with a kiss. And now, it’s time to shower and change for the nighttime portion of the date. Dotun tells Charity that he is very excited for her to meet his family, but he’s also scared. He thinks it stems from his fear of failure, because he’s used to things not working out for him. But, he’s learning to follow his heart more. And with that, he tells Charity that he’s falling in love with her. She doesn’t say it back, but she’s clearly ecstatic to hear that he’s feeling that way.
It should come as no surprise that he gets the rose. They end their date with a kiss under the moonlight.
Despite the two-on-one, there’s still a group date this week. Sean and Tanner are once again summoned, as well as Xavier and Aaron, who have not been on a date at all this week yet. It doesn’t exactly help ease Aaron’s previous nerves about not getting a date at all. Although he’s glad to spend time with Charity, he and Xavier are now playing catch up with Sean and Tanner since they’ve already had a date.
Somehow, Sean is the one spiraling though. Once he learns that Dotun received a rose on his date, Sean can’t handle the lack of validation he’s received from Charity. He decides to visit Charity to seek out clarity on where she thinks their relationship stands. While Charity acknowledges Sean’s feelings, she tells him it would have been an injustice to both Tanner and Sean for her to make a decision that night. Sean says he understands, but he isn’t sure if he can bring her to meet his family if there’s no assurance about where their relationship stands.
And there it is again! The L word. Sean tells Charity that he’s falling in love with her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t receive the words with an open heart like she did with Dotun and Joey. She admits that her connections with other men are stronger, and he insists that he thinks they could deepen their relationship with more one-on-one time. But Charity doesn’t think they’ll get there in time, so she sends him home.
She still owes it to Tanner, Xavier and Aaron to go through with the group date, so she puts on a smile for them as they meet her for their last ditch effort to make it to hometowns. They skip straight to cocktails and one-on-one conversations though, and Charity steals Aaron away first for a chat. From there, she speaks with each of them, and they all echo the same sentiments about introducing her to their families without much confidence in the relationship. And even more scary is the idea that they’re inching closer to an engagement. They all feel as though they have a lot of catching up to do before they could get down on one knee.
When she gets to her conversation with Xavier, she starts to get a bit anxious. He tells her that he wants to commit to one person, and he isn’t sure yet if she’s the one. He’s not falling in love quite yet, but he thinks he could get there with her. According to Xavier, he really, really, really likes her. Just not love yet.
There’s two roses sitting on the table, which means one of them won’t make it beyond this group date. After all three conversations, she extends a rose to Aaron and sends him off to prepare for hometowns. She then returns to give out the second rose, which says she can’t give out yet. Instead, she invites the two of them to see her again that night, where she plans to make her decision.
Charity seems to be taking this decision seriously, and after another few hours, she’s made her decision. She doesn’t waste any time, journeying to Tanner’s hotel room to let him know that he won’t be moving forward.
After sending him home, she meets Xavier to tell him her decision. She offers him the final rose of the week.
And just like that, we’ve made it to hometowns, folks. Charity will officially be meeting the families of Xavier, Dotun, Joey and Aaron.
The Bachelorette airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.