‘Hometowns’ often feature some of the most awkward and uncomfortable to watch moments during any season of The Bachelor.

During it, the four women vying for the final rose, bring the guy (Zach) to meet their families. Of course, going into the ‘meet and greets’, the family and friends of the women know that the guy is also dating three others at the same time! Ah, those hard-hitting questions to come … can’t wait, or can we?

Photo: ABC

Last night’s episode begins in Vermont with Gabi’s hometown, which starts with a sexually suggestive maple syrup experience as Gabi shows Zach how to drill for syrup in a tree! Later, Gabi puts Zach through a maple syrup blind taste-testing, where one of the options is fake syrup. OOPS! Zach picks the wrong one, the fake one.  Could it be curtains for Gabi and Zach? The drama!

Now on to the family conversations.  When speaking with Gabi’s brother, Evan, Zach shares that Gabi is, “someone I could see a future with and I don’t have a doubt about that.”  Is that reassuring to her brother?  Zach is also in for a twist because Gabi’s big sister is getting married, and the ladies discuss their dream of planning their weddings together! Alone on a bench, Gabi’s insecurities get the best of her, but in the end she tells Zach, “Don’t forget about me” as he heads out to date three other women.

Photo: ABC

Now, Zach’s off to New York City to meet up with Ariel and her family. Once in the Big Apple, Ariel takes Zach to Sarge’s deli where he eats tongue for the first-time as he is learning a little bit about Jewish culture.  Zach definitely looked most uncomfortable and nervous knowing he was about to meet Ariel’s parents and brother, whom she says looks out for her.

When it comes time for Zach to speak to Ariel’s brother, Bobby, things tank fast for Mr. Shallcross. He has no comebacks to Bobby’s pointed question, which include: “How does he plan to reconcile their different backgrounds? To which Zach, shares: “families will make it work.”  Very awkward.

Next, Bobby asks, “When’s my sister’s birthday?” Zach shakes his head that he doesn’t know.  Bobby follows-up with, “If you don’t know somebody’s birthday, how do you really know a person? Like, do you know my sister’s middle name?” Zach is stuck! He doesn’t know Ariel’s middle name or birthday.  So he responds with,  “If you love someone, and you have that feeling, why don’t you have the rest of your relationship … or the rest of your life together … to get to know the smaller details?” Awkward yet again!  Later, Zach talks to Ariel’s dad, whom he admits that his final choice is still up in the air, or something like that.

We never thought that Zack would continue his relationship with Ariel, after the visit with her family, or after she admitted she was falling in love with him.  More to come on that.

Photo: ABC

Next stop, we come to Charity’s hometown in Georgia.  You can tell Charity has a loving family and good friends since we meet them all. Most impressive was Charity’s brother, Nehemiah, who shows how much he loves her and how much he is worried for her.  While he cries, it seems Charity isn’t weeping as much.  Once alone with Zach, Charity tells him she is falling in love with him, and later, she tells the testimonial cameras that she is going to sleep well tonight.

Photo: ABC

Finally, Zach returns to Austin where he lives and … so too does Kaity! How convenient! Since Kaity just moved to Austin, she needs some help setting up her new place. So on their date, she enlists Zach to help her put furniture together including a bookshelf.

When it comes time to meeting Kaity’s family, her mom’s opinion means everything to her.  So, once she got mom’s stamp of approval, we learn why Kaity has been hesitating to tell Zach she loves him. In the testimonials, Kaity reveals that her previous 7-year relationship was “pure toxicity”. Ready to move on, she lets her guard down and admits to Zach that she is falling in love with him.

Photo: ABC

The women and Zach are now back in LA for the rose ceremony.  Zach is “emotional’ for him, which is not saying much. When he hands out the three roses, it’s Charity who is being sent home. As he walks her out, he tells Charity that he’s felt sick to his stomach all day and only came to his decision only a short time before handing out the roses, and that he “might be making a mistake.” He adds, very awkwardly, “I know you don’t want to hear this from me, but you deserve all the love and I couldn’t give it to you.”

Once Charity is in the limo riding away from the man she thought she had a chance at love with (or did she), she repeats Zach’s words as she’s driven away.  She then says under her breath, “I don’t know what that freaking means,” as she wipes away her tears.

Looks like we have two contenders to be the next Bachelorette at this point … Charity or Greer, who was sent home after traveling around the world to meet back up with Zach after she recovered from Covid, only to have him show her the front door!

After the hometowns, who do you think has the edge for Zach’s heart …. Gabi, Kaity, or Ariel? Share your pick below.

A key week in ‘Bachelor’ Zach Shallcross’ journey to find love has come and gone, all leading to next week’s ‘hometowns’ where Zach will meet the families of the four women still in the running for the final rose.

However, while one can appreciate Shallcross’ determination to find love, he often still comes across cold and somewhat insensitive to when the contestants share some of their inner most struggles or stories of their past.  Even when one of them, the early favorite, Greer (she received the ‘first impression’ rose), returns after having to step away from the competition following contracting Covid-19, he devastates her.  If you recall, Zach also had contracted Covid-19 before Greer and had to spend time away from the ladies and had to have a rose ceremony through a Zoom to boot.

Photo: ABC

As time has gone on, Zach has become to some, one of the least liked ‘Bachelor’ stars in recent memory.  Even former ‘Bachelor’ star, Nick Viall has been calling out Shallcross for his behavior, including a tweet from a few weeks ago that expressed: “That’s 2 weeks in row now Zach was a total dick to one of the woman. It’s literally all about the one on one. Zach knows that. He made Jess feel like she messed up for expressing a valid concern.”  However in a slight defense of him after this week’s episode, Viall tweeted,  “Zach is now fully in ‘I’m the Bachelor, and it’s your job to prove to me you’re worthy’, Mode.”

Courtesy/ABC

Photo: ABC

After the remaining women were all having emotional difficulties (who wouldn’t) with knowing where they stood with their suitor, and if they would be the one to be sent home, we eventually head into the rose ceremony.  Kaity and Gabi already have their roses earned earlier in the episode. That leaves two more roses to give out to either Ariel, Kat or Charity.

Photo: ABC

Shocking many, it was Kat who was sent home. When Kat questioned Zach as to why, he can’t seem to explain his decision.  However, throughout the episode it was clear Kat was doubting herself and their relationship as her concerns kept mounting and her tears kept flowing.  Her exit clearly seemed to upset Zach, who needed a hug from host Jesse Palmer, as Kat was whisked away forever in a limo.

So, of the four remaining women vying for the final rose, who do you think is going to wind up with Zach?  Will it be Kaity, Gabi, Ariel or Charity, or no one? What have you thought of how Zach has handled situations where he eliminates the contestants? Share your thoughts below.

It’s time to dole out the roses once again! This time, 26-year-old California tech exec Zach Shallcross, who got dumped by last season‘s Bachelorette Rachel Recchia, will meet 30 new women at the Bachelor mansion as the lead in the 27th season of the competition-dating-reality series.

Will Zach’s journey to find love be any less complicated than those men before him? Will enough tears be shed to fill a drought in a lake? Stay tuned.

‘Bachelor’ host Jesse Palmer, recently spoke on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” and revealed: “I would say Zach’s season is a bit of a throwback season in the sense that this is really about the love story. It’s not so much about the drama. I know in the past, drama has taken over and there will always be some drama, but this season is less about that. It’s really more about the love story and Zach trying to find his person. He’s really intentional. I was so impressed watching him because he really made a point to talk to everybody.”

So, if Palmer is telling the truth, would it make you want to watch Shallcross’ season more, or not? According to ABC, “From San Diego to Fargo to New York City, and from a makeup artist to a neonatal nurse to a rodeo racer, Zach will have women from all over the country to choose from.”

The Bachelor season premiere airs tonight on ABC beginning at 8pm ET/7 PM CT.

Check out the contestants vying for the final rose in the video below, and let us know just from that, who you think might get engaged to Zach by season 37’s end in the comment section.