The Bachelorette 2017 airs on ABC this evening with an all new Monday, July 17, 2017, season 13 episode 8 and we have your weekly The Bachelorette recap below. On tonight’s season 13 episode 8 as per the ABC synopsis, “Rachel returns to the U.S. and goes on four hometown dates where she meets the parents of the final four bachelors. After the revealing visits, Rachel realizes she is falling in love with all four men and must make an impossible decision to send home someone she can’t imagine living without.”
We will be live blogging tonight’s episode of The Bachelorette 2017 and you just know there is going to be tons of drama, cat fights, and tears. So come back tonight at 8 PM for our live The Bachelorette recap of tonight’s episode. While you wait for the recap, hit the comments and let us know how excited you are for this season of The Bachelorette?
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Rachel is nervous about it being hometown week. She kicks it off by going to Baltimore to meet Eric and his family. Eric tells her this is the nice part of the city, but he’s not from there and tells her he is going to show her how he grew up and where he is from; she wants to see the “real” part of Baltimore. He begins the tour with the basketball courts he played at when he was young. They play a little, with Rachel admitting she always has fun with Eric as he just seizes the day. She is super excited to be there with him, meeting the people who are important to him.
Eric’s friend, Raul joins them as Eric explains how challenging its been for him. Raul confirms Eric bringing a woman home is new. Raul says he is proud of Eric who has taken a different path, a straight up guy. Rachel admires that Eric didn’t have role models and accomplished everything on his own. Once they are alone, Eric says his family was very successful on the streets so he watched what not to do and make the right decisions instead. He admits he had no one to show up for him and he took the “no help” approach because his mother was strong like that. Rachel says she is going to freak out because she is the first girl he’s taking home to his family; feeling the pressure.
They share a quiet moment together before Eric brings her into his family. They all hug her and within 10 seconds she felt at home. Eric shares how him and Rachel initially met before the show. Verne, Eric’s aunt talks with Rachel saying how nice it is to see Eric so happy and connected with her. She wants to ask Rachel about the “race” card. She feels she is judged by 2 groups of people. She admits she has to be selfish in choosing live and love doesn’t have a color so like the past 12 Bachelorettes she shouldn’t have to chose based on color. Verne says that is great to hear.
When Rachel asks if she feels Eric is ready for marriage and settling down, she assures Rachel that she has no doubt about that. She says Eric isn’t afraid of commitment and he’s definitely ready. Meanwhile Eric talks to his mother, Karen saying it feels right, he has his shot for love, something he’s been running from his whole life. He says their relationship wasn’t always easy either. He understands what she went through and why it was the way it was. He thanks her for making him the man he is today saying he loves her always and forever.
Karen tells Rachel to see the gleam on Eric’s face and the fact that he brought her home, is a big deal to them; something they’ve never seen before. Rachel shares that she lives that Eric is funny and smart but what draws her to him is that he challenges her. They call each other out but come out better from it.
Eric tells his father that it feels right with Rachel and she is the one for him. He is happy and there is no resistance in his heart. He loves that they are opposites that attract. His dad apologizes for putting him through such rough times, telling Eric he is so proud of him for steering away from the street life. He says he will support Eric all the way. Eric says his family may be unconventional but its all about live.
Eric thanks everyone for the vital roles they played in his life and each of them played a role that formed him into who he is today. Eric feels that dreams do come true and he is happy to say love is part of that. After they leave his family, Eric finally tells her that he cares her. They kiss and she believes when he says he cares about her and appreciates it, admitting she really likes him too and definitely falling for him too.
Rachel meets Bryan in Miami, his hometown. She says Miami just screams “Bryan” because its hot and steamy and there is something sexy about it, sometimes speaking to you in Spanish. She admits that Bryan made a huge impression on her when she first met him but she felt that he was just too good to be true, and over time he has proven her wrong.
Bryan takes her to domino park, where he talks about bringing her to the “real” Miami. They play dominoes with some of the best players but Bryan informs her they basically just got a “beat down”. The area they are in is called Calle Ocho, a place that is very famous. He says Miami is in his blood and its him to his core; he is determined to show Rachel a good time in the city he loves.
They enter a club and begin to dance as Bryan is nervous that things won’t go well with his family. Having things go well with his family was an issue in his last relationship. He is trying to be positive and hopefully when they see their chemistry and how much he cares about her and how special she is, everything will fall at the way side.
Bryan says it is opposites attract when it comes to his parents, where is dad is the quiet one but very charismatic where his mother is a fireball who is sensitive and Rachel must remember that he is their only child, so this is very special. Rachel is nervous because she knows how the last time went but just asks Bryan to stay by her. He feels if they see how they are right for each other and that he is happy, then they will be happy too. Rachel feels they are very compatible but worries how things are going to turn out.
Bryan feels if everything happens as good as the day went, then he will be ready to profess his love to her. Rachel is a bit nervous about how close Bryan is to his mother; as she toasts them, his mother tears up and goes silent. Bryan tells them how everything happened.
Bryan sits with his mother, Olga who asks if Bryan really sees a future with her; he says he knows she is the one. Olga is in shock that Bryan has gone out with so many girls but falls in love with a girl on the show. She says they need time to get to know each other because marriage is a very serious commitment; she says Rachel needs to know not to mess with the mother because blood is blood.
Rachel learns that Bryan’s ex felt threatened by his relationship with his mother and she shouldn’t have been; they feel she should have embraced it and that he has a beautifully tight-knit family. Rachel feels she would never disrespect his relationship but would like his mother to accept and like her.
Olga and Rachel sit on the couch and Olga wants to know what qualities Rachel sees in Bryan that would make him the one. She says the first thing was how open and honest he was; secure and confident and she loved how good his heart is. She never had a guy who treats her the way Bryan does. Rachel admits that she likes how close Bryan is to his parents; Olga says Bryan is her life but she issues a warning that if she is with Bryan she marries the family.
She tells Rachel if Bryan is happy, she is happy but if he isn’t she will kill her; Rachel bursts out laughing. She also tells Rachel that marriage is commitment and difficult and she needs to have a lot of love, trust, understanding but love is the most important. Olga says she can see in Rachel’s eyes that she is a good person. She makes Rachel cry when she tells her about going to church that morning and praying for her son and his happiness.
Bryan says his family loved how his family saw how genuine Rachel was and they loved her. After he got their approval, he couldn’t wait any longer; as they sat outside, he kisses her and tells her he is in love with her and doesn’t want to hold back on his feelings anymore and didn’t want her to leave his hometown without him expressing how much she means to him. Rachel hearing those words was above and beyond anything she could imagine and she feels like she is in a bit of a whirlwind right now.
Peter is back in Madison, Wisconsin where he is going to show Rachel some of his Mid-Western roots today. She rushes into his arms, happy to see him; he welcomes her home. He is definitely falling for Rachel and he looks forward to seeing what his friends and family think and feel about Rachel.
He brings her to the farmer’s market, she really likes Peter and can really see a future with him. She worries that Peter has walls up and guarding his heart but in this journey, things go quick and he has to be willing to open himself up and let go. She hopes being there will break down his walls. She’s hoping by the end of today she will have better answers where her and Peter stand going forward.
Peter considers his friends to be an extension of his family and he wants to see if she will fit into the group. Rachel shares some of their conversations with their friends. He says that Peter has been a bit reserved from the beginning. Peter wants to take the guys away to chat and leaves her with the woman to talk to. The guys tell Peter they like her, and she fits in well.
Peter admits to his friends he doesn’t know that much about her; like the other side of her, what its like waking up to her every day and the idea of possibly getting down on his knee to propose to her in 3 weeks time is terrifying. He wants to do that only once in his life and doesn’t want a shadow of a doubt in his mind at that moment. His friends tell her if its the right person, you wouldn’t care, and they say she is nice and fun and seems very genuine; his friends tell him not to mess that up. His friends have nothing but positive things to say about her and he is happy they got along so well.
Peter says his friends getting along with her made his feelings stronger but he doesn’t make rash decision, so he doesn’t have any regret and he hopes that tonight with his family will prove what he has with Rachel.
Before they walk into his house, they both are excited but Rachel admits she is really nervous. He says its okay but he is really question whether he wants to be engaged at the end of this; but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. He says hopefully after his family he will have some clarity.
Rachel meets his mom Lynn, his dad Gary and his brother David and his wife Brooke, and their children. Rachel reveals their first meeting and how after they talked that night there was something about him that drew her in, and she took him out on the very first one-on-one.
Rachel melts over how Peter is with his niece seeing how he would be a great father and how great of a husband he would be but her fear is he may not be ready for marriage yet. Rachel sits with Brooke who says what you see with Peter is what you get; he wears his heart on his sleeve. Brooke feels it wonderful how serious he is about her but Rachel admits she is concerned that she definitely wants kids and to get married. Brooke feels he is ready for this and has talked about marriage and kids before but there has always been something holding him back and she hopes he can show that to her.
Lynn says she can sense the chemistry but Peter says there have been hard days with Rachel and he hasn’t figured out just when those walls will come down. He thinks he is ready to do it but he has a legitimate fear that when it comes to it he may still have those walls up and miss out on the opportunity. She says whatever decision he makes, she will support him but she can definitely see Rachel and Peter moving forward.
Lynn learns from Rachel that in 4 years she wants to be married with more than one kid. She says going through this process has made her miss the family unit. Rachel asks Lynn if Peter is emotionally ready for marriage? Lynn thinks he is ready to start a family and to have someone to share this with but she doesn’t think he is necessarily ready for the ring and proposal. He can commit to someone but not marriage is a huge deal for Rachel; she doesn’t want just a boyfriend at the end of it and she fears this is all she will get from him.
Peter feels the night went fantastic, when he saw how well she got along with his friends he was very hopeful for the future and how she interacted with his family is further proof that he made the right decision. Rachel says she is very happy too. He says Rachel fits in to his life flawlessly, they kiss each other goodnight. He wants things to move forward but he isn’t there yet for the next step and needs time to process the emotions and feelings. He is afraid she will send him home this week because he didn’t express his feelings to her.
Rachel arrives in Aspen, Colorado. She felt Dean came through that night and she is looking forward to some fun today with him. He is nervous and scared of the uncertainty because of his family dynamic. He hasn’t seen his father is 2 years and knows today is going to be difficult.
He reveals they are going ATVing today, she is excited but worried she will flip it as she has never been the driver on one of them before. She likes to refer to Dean as her beautiful surprise, when she is with Dean they always have fun. Dean is funny, intelligent, and he makes her smile all the time. He is like her where they think alike and don’t express their feelings.
Today, Dean wants her to have absolute clarity as to where she is, where he is and where they are as a couple. Rachel will be meeting his brothers, Brad and Ross, Brad’s girlfriend, Ashley and Dean’s sister, Skye. He says she will meet his father who is a bit eccentric. This is new, as his father took over this persona 6 years ago. Rachel will be meeting his father’s wife, who he has only met twice.
Rachel wants to know if Dean has tried talking to his father in the past couple years and Dean feels since his father hasn’t been there for years he doesn’t want to make the effort. Rachel thinks Dean should tell his father he hasn’t been there for him and Dean fears the meeting won’t go well.
As they approach the house, Dean says he isn’t nervous, he is terrified. She tries to reassure him but he thinks its going to be awful. As they walk into the house, everyone is gathered on the floor and Dean wonders where the table is at; his father says they don’t have one.
Dean admits he is suppressing everything he is feeling; his father welcomes Rachel and says he is going to play the gong as it cleanses the air. He tells everyone to point their heads toward it and let themselves go. He tells them when to hold their breathe and when to let it go.
Rachel kind of likes this with the energy feeling good to her. His father talks about Debbie, Dean’s mother and created the “Debbie feather” as symbols of the love she gave them, he hands one to Dean and Rachel saying they are both incredible people. He was very emotional, something Rachel wasn’t expecting but she loved the symbolic thing. His father continues to talk about meditation and how much he loves the dish they have made but Dean doesn’t eat and is disgruntled over how his family is putting up a front for Rachel. His father asks Dean if he can speak to him in private.
His father is happy that Dean gets to hang out with beautiful woman and just the way Dean talks shows him that this isn’t the Dean he knew a year ago; saying Dean is talking with a whole new sense of power and its pretty cool to see, saying he didn’t think he had it on him.
Rachel talks to Skye about the relationship between Dean and his father; she says the anger is from their father not being there for Dean since his mother passed away. She tells Rachel that Dean has been through a lot in his life and she admires him, she tears up saying Dean has always been the strong one while she was weak.
Dean and his father talk about the arguments they had and his father insists that it was Dean who was arguing. Dean is frustrated that his father didn’t understand why he wasn’t there for him. He tells him he knows his father was there financially but his family fell apart; no one came together in solidarity, there was no moment that they could build from their mother’s death.
His father says he was angry that his wife died. Dean wants to talk but his father shuts the conversation down. He says he struggled watching his mother die. Dean gets emotional and his father admits he didn’t know how to be maternal all he knew was to go out and make money.
Dean feels he was abandoned and his father says if that is how he feels then there is no need to carry on the conversation. Dean calls his father stubborn as he isn’t allowing them to work through this. Dean appreciates him opening his house but he is closing himself off not allowing them to have a relationship. His dad yells that Dean has a foot stuck in the past. He stands up wishing Dean the best.
Dean’s father goes outside to talk to Rachel. She wants to talk to him because he welcomes her into his home and it was important for her to meet him and Dean’s family. He tells her that Dean is an incredible man and their relationship is through him and after the conversation with Dean… He stands up and walks away saying this doesn’t work!
He wishes her blessings and says he needs to take into account that he didn’t know Dean had such harsh feelings about him still. He says if the relationship between her and Dean goes further, he welcome her back then. He says he honors the whole thing when she says her and Dean have something special.
Rachel returns to the house and lays down beside Dean, telling him how strong his sister said he was. He rubs his eyes and she asks him to talk to her. His father watches from outside as Dean explains what happened with his father, apologizing for all of it. He knows that he is falling in love with her and he doesn’t know how to express it; she knows its hard for him and just cuddles with him on the floor as he tells her she is absolutely amazing.
Rachel feels Dean is amazing, she couldn’t imagine going through what he has and turn out the way he has. She says he is the kind of person she wants to be with. Dean says tonight was tough and for Rachel to be there every step of the way made him see how incredible she is and now its up to her to decide what happens.
Back at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas, Rachel only gets the clarity that she has feelings for all four men; they are all nothing short of amazing and she is absolutely falling in love with all of them but she needs to make a tough decision and send one of them home. She can’t imagine one of them not being in her life. She sits with Chris Harrison and talks about how hard it was this week.
She is devastated that she will hurt someone’s feelings this week. She talks about the hometowns with each of the men. She doesn’t know if its just an infatuation with Eric but doesn’t want to judge him because he has never been in love.
With Bryan, she had a great hometown with him and shares that he told her he loved her and couldn’t go another day without telling her that. She loves that he is very self-aware. She feels good that his family really liked her at the end.
In Wisconsin, Peter was in his element coming home but she found it interesting that Peter has been the most reserved and the one who held back the most. She saw a different side of him, but she isn’t sure if he will be ready for this at the end of this; she wants a proposal and a fiance at the end.
She says Dean has been the biggest surprise to her this entire journey; they laugh and have a good time but they have gone so much deeper. He has an estranged relationship with his family since his mother passed away his whole family grew apart. This was the first time his family was under the same roof in 8 years. He confronted his dad who walked away with him and that was when he told her he was falling in love with her, but she isn’t sure he really feels like that and its possible he just doesn’t know what to do with his feelings.
She has no idea what she is going to do, but Chris tells her it is okay to struggle and okay to not be perfect right now; she feels selfish and she knows she has to be but doesn’t like it. She needs to do what is best for her to get what she needs in the end but she is uncomfortable that it comes at the expense of others.
Chris Harrison brings the four men into the room, as Rachel paces. She enters the room, telling them this was a big week, coming into their homes and meeting their families. It was very important to see where they came from and how they became the amazing men they are today. Her feelings have progressed to the point that she has feelings of love and she admits its been a very hard week because all of them are great and this decision hasn’t been easy.
To the person she has to say goodbye to tonight, she is sorry and she wants them to know she believes they are an absolutely amazing person and she is sorry to do this. She takes a big sigh and hands the first rose to Bryan. The second rose goes to Eric. Chris returns to the room as Rachel hands the final rose to Peter. Dean smiles as Peter accepts the rose.
Chris returns apologizing to Dean, telling him to take a moment to say his goodbyes. Rachel walks with him out of the room, they sit on a bench as she tells him she feels she underestimated how she would feel about the people left and wonders if he is really ready for the things she was ready for at this point. She struggles, saying she meant everything she said to him and never said anything just to say something.
He says she is an incredible woman with 3 incredible guys in there and hopes she finds what she is looking for; they hug before he leaves. Rachel takes a moment to gather herself as she cries on the bench. Dean is shocked and confused, he didn’t see this coming and denies saying he loved her just for the sake of saying it; he thinks she is an incredible woman and tonight she made a mistake, wondering if she meant it when she said she cared about him too.
THE END!