SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Monday’s episode of The Bachelorette.
There’s two rose ceremonies for the price of one on this week’s episode of The Bachelorette, leaving just seven men left vying for Jenn Tran’s heart by the end.
Last week’s episode ended on quite the cliffhanger, as Jenn’s ex-boyfriend Matt flew himself halfway around the world to declare his love. As Jenn is preparing to talk to Matt, her suitors are all waiting for her to begin the cocktail party, hoping that this will finally be a drama-free night. Well, they sort of get their wish, because there is no cocktail party at all.
Instead, after hearing Matt out about his intentions, she decides that this is the end of the road for them. Rather than let him join the rest of her men, she sends him home. While she agrees they have a bond, she thinks her husband is among the men already waiting for her downstairs.
Obviously, the men are relieved. But, they are nervous to find out that they won’t get any time with her before heading into a rose ceremony.
Sam, Marcus and Devin have roses already, making them safe from elimination. Jenn also chooses to keep Grant, Jeremy, Jonathan, Spencer, Dylan, and Austin. That means Thomas and John get sent home.
The next morning, Jenn summons Jonathan for a one-on-one. They’re taking a helicopter ride to Waiheke Island, and Jonathan isn’t so sure about that particular mode of transportation. He takes a leap of faith for Jenn, who takes this as an opportunity to reassure Jonathan that she is there to support him.
After some playful flirting around the vineyard, the pair take a steamy dip in a hot tub, where they begin to open up about their feelings. Jonathan says he’s been hoping for this time to connect on a deeper emotional level and get past the fun, surface level stuff with Jenn. The conversation really gets going during their candlelit dinner, when Jonathan tells Jenn that his last serious relationship ended in flames after his ex-girlfriend began to experience some struggles with her mental health, which ultimately led to her self-medicating with alcohol.
He says the relationship “destroyed” him, and he’s been hesitant to get too serious with anyone since. Jenn says she’s also had an emotionally abusive relationship, and she understands how someone carries that with them longer than they would like. They also bond over their similar family dynamics, both expressing that they felt they’ve had to be strong from a young age to keep their family together. It’s no surprise at all when Jenn offers Jonathan a rose (and he accepts).
The group date goes to Devin, Sam, Marcus, Spencer, Jeremy, Dylan, and Austin. That means Grant gets the second one-on-one, much to the dismay of Austin and Dylan, both of whom have not had a one-on-one with Jenn.
In this group date, the men are on a mission to be dubbed the “most valuable farmer” after completing a series of down and dirty tasks to prove their devotion to Jenn. The winner, of course, gets to spend some extra time with her before the after party.
Devin wins, but not because he was particularly good at herding sheep, scooping poop, or any of the other tasks that all of the men sort of failed at. Instead, he’s rewarded for being the most attentive to Jenn throughout the day and finding ways to make their moments together special, even on a group date.
Later that night, Austin begins to spiral at the afterparty, because he feels like his connection with Jenn is nowhere near as strong as her connection with others. He tells her that he’s decided to leave because he doesn’t feel like they’ll be able to get there in the amount of time left, so he wants to open up the space for the other guys to explore their connections further. Jenn is a bit upset because she feels like she was blindsided by it, leading her to open up to the men for the first time about some of her insecurities.
She says Austin’s departure brought up a lot of feelings of not being good enough, adding that she doesn’t feel like she’s doing a good job in this role, and she doesn’t want to lie about the fact that she’s scared that she ends up alone at the end of the process. The men are really supportive of her, and they reassure her that it’s okay to be her best and worst self, leaving her impressed and reassured, albeit unable to decide at that point who deserves the group date rose.
She opts not to give one out, leaving all six men in jeopardy at the looming second rose ceremony.
During Grant’s date, Jenn is definitely in a better mood after the men uplifted her the night before. They’re going horseback riding to a picnic, and it starts raining but they just go with the flow, pull out an umbrella and keep sipping on their champagne. Grant just wants her to know he accepts her for her imperfections, and he wants her to feel better than she did the night before. He even gets a kiss!
At dinner, he opens up to Jenn on a really deep level, telling her about his father’s addiction. He says that bred a lot of distrust between him and his dad, who finally checked into rehab recently. Grant says he’s looking forward to exploring his relationship with his dad now that he’s sober. That prompts Jenn to open up more about her family as well and how her relationship with her dad impacted her dating life negatively.
He gets the rose to, once again, little surprise.
For the second consecutive week, Jenn decides that she doesn’t want to have a cocktail party, so they’re headed straight to another rose ceremony.
Grant and Jonathan have a rose. The remaining roses go to Sam, Devin, Marcus, Jeremy, Spencer — sending Dylan home.
The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and next day on Hulu.