Season 16 | Episode 11

Hometowns are heeeeere!! What a wild ride it’s been, y’all.

Tayshia’s remaining 4 men are all really great; most likely the first time in Bachelor/Bachelorette history that this has happened.

Since Covid has ruined literally everything, the men aren’t traveling this year, BUT Tayshia’a family is in fact coming to La Quinta, getting Covid tested and quarantining so they can meet her final suitors.

But that’s not all! Chris Harrison then reveals to the guys that some of their family members are at the resort quarantining as well, which makes Brendan and Ben tear up.

Tayshia’s date with Brendan is up first, which is a make shift “carnival” from his hometown, right in the heart of the La Quinta resort. Brendan’s adorable 11 year old niece joins them, which is fun seeing their dynamic together.

The night portion of the date consists of Brendan’s older brother and his sister in law, who he’s very close with. I loved Brendan’s family after seeing their flawless date and reeeeeally hope she picks him.

Next up, Zac’s date. Zac plans a “New York styled” date which includes hailing a fake cab and eating NY style bagels and pizza. Oh man, Covid has really put a damper on these normally extravagant dates.

Zac’s brother grills Tayshia about her other relationships, which she politely deflects. Zac’s dad is uncomfortable with the whole situation but is happy to see how happy his son is. It’s really touching to see Zac’s relationship with his mom; you can really tell they’ve been through a lot together with Zac’s former addiction. His date goes flawless as well and at this point I can’t see it being anyone else other than Brendan and Zac being the final two.

Ivan’s date is up next, little sweetie. Ivan has a little cooking date set up for them, while they make homemade lumpia and honestly, this was like watching porn, but better. Way better. There arguably isn’t anything better than homemade lumpia and watching this date made me make a mental note to order some for lunch tomorrow.

Ivan’s mom is freaking ADORABLE – and skeptical. But overall she’s a sweetheart to Tayshia as is his dad. Ivan admits to his mom that at this point he’s not ready to propose to Tayshia, but he can definitely see it getting to that point. Ivan’s older brother ends up being the ultimate surprise of the evening, and seeing Ivan get emotional is really sweet.

Last but not least is Ben, equipped with a cheesy Venice Beach inspired date. After roller blading through the “board walk” (AKA the La Quinta resort) and a dip in the pool, Tayshia meets Ben’s older sister Madeline and family friend Antonia (which no big d is a freaking chef on the food network). Ben admits to Antonia he’s in love with Tayshia (awwww) and damn, another perfect date for Tayshia is in the books.

Ben ends up whimping out and doesn’t tell Tayshia he loves her, which I’m guessing is going to come back and bite him in the ass.

Rose ceremony time. Tayshia is an absolute knockout in a body clinging magenta dress, and I swear the four men drooled when they saw her (as did I).

The first rose goes to Ivan, the second to Zac and my boy Brendan gets the final rose. Ben looks so sad though and I genuinely feel for the guy, I really did start to like him.

Tayshia reveals in her ITM’s that she wanted Ben to show more emotion, but I think that’s super unfair. Ben was in the military for so many years – he was literally trained to not show emotion. I think outside of this process Tayshia and Ben could have worked but I guess we’ll never know…

Can’t wait until the two night finale next week!

Laura

The Bachelorette abc bachelor bachelorette bachelorette recap real reality reality tv realitytv The Bachelorette