The Bachelorette, Ep. 8.8

We are nearing the finish line now, as we're down to four. Emily recaps her status with each of the four guys, but let's face it-she says pretty much the same thing about each of the guys.

Chris: From day one, she felt a trong connection with him (or was it with his bobble head?). He's sweet and very open about how he feels for her. She likes that he can admit when he's wrong. He does sweet and thoughtful things to show how much he cares for her. He has so many qualities that she is looking for.

Jef: On the first night, she saw something special in Jef. She wants a guy with a little bit of an edge, and Jef has that (really?). She has a lot of fun with him, and he gets her. She's very comfortable around him and she feels like she can really trust him. He's really unlike anyone else, he's unique and special. She thinks their life together would be full of adventure and that he would be a good husband and “the best Dad.”

Arie: They have so much fun together. She had an immediate connection to him on their first date. She is very attracted to him. He definitely has that bad-boy edge. (OK, don't really see him with an edge either. The only person she got “the edge” right with was Ryan...now HE had an edge!) Arie has a youthful spirit and he brings that out in her. She thinks their future would be wonderful and she knows that he would adore her forever.

Sean: Her first thought was 'wow, if he's the first guy, how will the rest compare?' She feels very safe with him. She feels like she knows who Sean is in his heart, and that's who she's falling in love with. He's a gentleman with a big heart. Her life with him would be great and the perfect life that she's always wanted.

Hometown Date #1 – Chris in Chicago, Illinois

Chris is a first generation Polish American, so they ate some Polish food...boring! She tells him how sad she was at the last Rose Ceremony. She thought it was sweet that he pulled her aside, because she didn't expect it. She talks about how he wasn't afraid to say how he felt, but I would have to think that he could have just been saying what she wanted him to hear...did she ever think of that?

Emily meets his Mom and Dad and two sisters. Wow, his sisters are pretty (what happened to him? OK, that was mean). His blonde sister actually looks a lot like Emily...what does that say about Chris, hmm? That's just a little more than weird.

Chris gets his hopes up after his Dad tells him that Emily is “falling in love” with him. Technically, Emily never said it that way. He asked her if there were some loving feelings, and Emily said that there were, otherwise she wouldn't be there. Having loving feelings and falling in love are a little bit different (I think, but what do I know). Chris tells Emily that he is falling in love with her, and she realizes she's seeing a different side of him. She said if the rest of the hometown dates go the same way, she's in big trouble.

Hometown Date #2 – Jef in St. Geore, Utah

Jef met Emily on his family's ranch, surrounded by natural forest. Emily says how nervous she is, but excited to see him. She was surprised because he had never mentioned the ranch. They explore the ranch in a jeep of some sort, and he speeds away, freaking her out. They pull up to some guns, and Jef jokes that this is a test, and it could all be over right there. She was surprised that Jef in his skinny jeans could be such a good shot...not to mention that he looked really hot doing it, she said. He hit every one of the clay pigeons! Next, it's Emily's turn: she hits every one of them, too! Surprise! She has shot a gun before, and has taken lessons, she just pretended to know nothing about guns. Classic girly move, but I'm sure Jef appreciated it.

Emily tells Jef how nervous she is to meet his family since he once broke up with someone because his family didn't like her. She will only be meeting his siblings and their families because his parents are in South Carolina doing charity work. OK, so Jef has some sisters who look like Emily clones too! What's up with that?

Jef's brother is worried that Jef isn't ready to jump into the father role, and he expresses that concern to Emily. Emily and Jef's brother Steve seem to really hit it off and agree on a lot of things. It looks like she passed his test. His sisters on the other hand, are a little more skeptical at first. When asked if she was falling in love, she took a really long pause, and then said that she was. Hmmm.

Jef really started to realize just how much he was falling for her. He takes her to a beautiful quiet place where he reads her something he wrote. He finally tells her that he loves her. His letter is very sweet and cute. Aww! That just won some major points. What girl wouldn't want to get a letter like that? Well done Jef.

Hometown Date #3 – Arie in Scottsdale, Arizona

She feels like she's always moving forward with Arie. Of course, she meets him on the Indy Car track. She says that he looked “stupid hot” in his track outfit (what?). Time for a spin around the track...wow that was exciting..NOT!

Arie tells her how different his parents are and that he's nervous about her meeting them. Yeah, that's what a girl wants to hear. He's worried about winning his Mom over, but he later tells her not to worry because they will love her. My first thought is that Arie's Mom looks like what Emily might look like in 20 years, ha!

They start talking Dutch back and forth, as if Emily wasn't even there...AWKWARD! ...and rude! Poor Emily. Boy is Arie's Mom hard to read, she's very skeptical a little standoffish. She started to ease up towards the end, but, I just think they are all so different, it would be rough. There definitely isn't the easy-going chemistry with Arie's family as there was with Chris and Jef's family. Arie's family just seems pretty dull, but she seems to think that things went really well and she says that all her questions were answered.

Arie then says that he is definitely ready to propose to Emily.

Hometown Date #4 – Sean in Dallas, Texas

Emily first gets to meet Sean's little girls...his cute dogs. They spend time picking flowers and playing with his dogs. He then starts to open up about the fact that he has trouble opening up to girls. Emily thinks that he's so perfect and has no skeletons in his closet. He assures her that she should not be nervous to meet his parents. They share a sweet little innocent kiss, and I have to admit, it gave me goosebumps!

Sean's family seems so sweet, right off the bat. He has the cutest nieces and nephews! Whoa, lifesize doll house, who has that?! Sean decides to sit everyone down and he says that he has something he needs to tell Emily. He says that he still lives with his parents...yikes! Emily says it's so beautiful that she would want to move in with them too. She's now rethinking everything. He then wants to show her the house, and he shows her his room, and it's an absolute pig sty: food and clothes everywhere.. He said he wished his Mom would have picked it up a little. Her face just shows horror and disgust. Then, he drops an even bigger bombshell...it's all a trick!! Wow, he got her good. Sweet Emily, says “I can clean, it's OK.” Ha!

I like Sean's Dad, he seems cool. He is so welcoming to Emily, and they seem to get along really well. His Mom was skeptical at first, but once she saw them together she could tell how much they really felt for each other.

Can I just love to hear Emily and Sean talk to each other with their cute Southern accents. Aww...he wanted one more kiss, so he chased her car down as she was leaving. Love him!

Rose Ceremony time. No surprise, Emily can see herself with each of the final four, and she says she loves each of their families. Luckily, I've read the spoilers, so I don't have to worry about Sean or Jef being sent home tonight. 

Arie, Jef and Sean get the roses...good choices Em! Chris, of course looks devastated, and looks like he might pass out, throw up, or both. Emily tells him that she doesn't know what to say, and he says he was shocked. She said her other relationships grew so much faster, and he wasn't buying it, because he told her he loved her. She probably shouldn't have told him that she might wake up tomorrow and realize that she made a mistake. He actually took it a little better than I thought he would. I expected him to have a complete meltdown. Oh wait...here it comes. He thinks he's 10 times the man that any of the rest of them are. Yeah right! Oh well, he'll be over her soon enough. Coming up July 23^rd, we'll get to see, as he will be oogling over some girls on The Bachelor Pad.

Closing Scene: I knew I liked Sean's Dad...even he played a joke on her: Sean's favorite dish? Armadillo! Ha!

Finale
It was just announced that for the first time, the finale will be a 3-hour event on a different night, Sunday, July 22. The finale will be followed by a LIVE After the Final Rose. The next day, Monday, July 23, will be the premiere of Bachelor Pad 3.