The Bachelor Recap: What Happens When One Girl Meets Ben's Parents? ... Not What You'd Expect

It's the week before hometown dates on The Bachelor and the women are starting to feel the pressure.

On Monday's episode, the group traveled to Ben's hometown of Warsaw, Indiana – but as per usual, there were plenty of ups and downs. Let's begin.

Welcome to Warsaw, Indiana, Where Ben Is Totally a Local Celebrity

After an emotionally exhausting week breaking up with girls in the Bahamas, Ben couldn't be happier to be back in his hometown.

While he may live in Denver, Colorado now, home is where the heart is and Ben is totally obsessed with Warsaw. He spent much of this episode driving himself around the town, either in a red pickup truck or in a boat across a local lake, and the women were quite literally besides themselves when he pulled up to the dock to agree them. (No joke, Caila actually reached out and tried to grab the boat – not quite sure where she was going with that, but it should give you an idea of how excited they all were.)



Ben drove the women to their Warsaw digs, a sprawling private home on the water just around the corner from his childhood home. At this point it became clear that host Chris Harrison was totally MIA (and would be for the majority of the episode) because instead of a hand-delivered date card, Ben had to announce who would be getting the first one-on-one to the girls himself.

At this point, six women were left: Lauren B., Becca, Caila, Amanda, Emily and JoJo. Ben picked Lauren B., which created some drama because it was the first time the women were forced to see him ask one of them out on a date in front of everyone else.

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One-on-One with Lauren B.

This one-on-one was different from the rest of the dates this season because there was no rose that needed to be handed out – or not handed out – at the end of the date, which took a lot of the pressure off.

Nevertheless, Lauren was anxious for the day because she knew she needed to iron out last week's drama with Ben. (To recap: Leah basically tried to sabotage Lauren by telling Ben she was a "different person" in front of him than she was in front of the other girls. This quickly backfired and Leah was sent home.)

To kick off the date, Lauren climbed into Ben's pickup truck and the two drove around the town, with Ben pointing out special spots and memories, like that time he had his first kiss at the movie theater in the 7th grade and the girl laughed at him. (Then Ben and Lauren recreated this scene as an excuse to make out.)

They eventually pulled up to the Baker Youth Club, where Ben previously worked for four years. Ben explained this was the place that gave him a passion to help children and formed him into the man he is today, and honestly, we believe him: Ben looked so freaking happy to be back at the club, hanging out and playing basketball with the kids. He even got to show off what a good dad he'll be by comforting one kid he found crying in a corner, and more kissing with Lauren B. ensued (this time in front of the kids, who were adamant that Ben and Lauren were meant to be).

Halfway through their basketball date, Indiana Pacers players Paul George and George Hill showed up, because we need a celebrity cameo to tide us over every few episodes.

During the evening portion of their date, Ben and Lauren – who, by the way, are completely smitten with each other at this point – worked through their drama from last week in about two seconds. Then they hung out at Ben's place a little more, hit up his local dive bar and met a bunch of his friends. By the end of the date, Lauren was completely comfortable telling the cameras that indeed, she is in love with Ben and felt "so confident" saying that.

One-on-One with JoJo

The second girl to land a one-on-one with Ben was JoJo – but instead of a local, small-town date she was driven two and a half hours away for a date in Chicago, where she'd never been.

ABC rented out Wrigley Field for the day, a place close to Ben's heart because the Cubs are his and his dad's favorite sports team.

The two slipped into adorable "Mr. and Mrs. Ben Higgins" baseball jerseys, and for somehow who's apparently never played baseball before, JoJo can really swing a baseball bat.

For the evening portion of the date, Ben and JoJo had dinner (read: white wine for her, whiskey for him) and the two talked about the fact that JoJo "is scared" to "give Ben her heart" because she has trust issues from her past relationships.

Eventually, JoJo decided it was time to "throw away" her fears and they kissed and it was so cute. Maybe we're just feeling mushy post-V-Day but it was romantic and they are adorable.

A Group Date Turns Into a One-on-One

The three girls to land this week's group date were Becca, Caila and Amanda. All three women were beyond nervous about the date because there was a rose up for grabs – and it wasn't just any rose, it was probably the most important rose of the season so far because whoever got it was guaranteed to move onto hometowns next week and introduce Ben to their family.

The date took place at a farm, where the group hung out in row boats and flew kites all together before each woman got some alone time with Ben. In particular, Becca was visibly distressed because, as she explained, she cared so much more this season than she did on Chris Soules' and wanted to be open and vulnerable with Ben but didn't feel like she was getting any validation from him.

Of course, there was a twist – but again, no sign of Chris Harrison (where are you, Chris?! We're getting worried here!) and poor Ben had to break the devastating news to the women himself: The group date was actually two-part, and whoever he decided to give the rose to would go on to get a one-on-one with him while the other two would have to return to the house.

Then Ben was forced to hand out the rose in front of the three women: He gave it to Amanda, and the whole scene was really just awko-taco as Amanda and Ben walked away hand-in-hand while Becca and Caila were left sitting in the barn looking absolutely miserable. After they left, Becca started crying, which was rather startling because this was the most emotion she's ever displayed on this show.

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Needless to say, Becca and Caila didn't really miss out on much because Ben and Amanda's one-on-one that followed took place AT A MCDONALD'S. Yes, a McDonald's. Ben bought Amanda an Egg McMuffin and they shared a fry Lady and the Tramp style and they worked the drive-thru counter and it was abominable. (This better have been when Ben filmed that McDonald's commercial because there is no other acceptable reason for this to be a date on week 7 of this show.)

Of course, there was a "surprise" at the end of the date, which was a giant carnival set up for Ben and Amanda where they walked through the crowd to the deafening sound of a thousand cheering fans and flashing camera bulbs. Ben is basically the Pope to the people of Warsaw and we half-expected him to start kissing babies at any moment.

Ben, you're not hanging out with Amanda's kids just yet – why the Happy Meal and town fair date?

Anyway, Ben and Amanda made out on the ferris wheel and if you could tune out Ben screaming every time they got on a roller coaster it ended up being a pretty cute date.

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One-on-One with Emily

Emily was over the moon to get the last one-on-one date with Ben in Indiana – like, she-started-crying-when-she-found-out-happy, but as any Bachelor fan knows, footage of one girl gushing repeatedly about how happy she is usually means her impending doom awaits her.

Ben picked up Emily in a boat and drove her across the lake to his family home. After showing her around the house and his childhood bedroom, Ben surprised Emily by bring out his parents.

Poor Emily was so excited and anxious not to make "an idiot out of herself." She sat down individually with Ben's mom and dad, and did her best to "pull out all the stops" ... but unfortunately, the conversations were just the tiniest bit cringeworthy.

Emily: "I love watching movies. So if I could sit down and watch movies all day long that would be my favorite thing in the whole world. ... I don't like vegetables."

Emily: "My lifelong dream is to be an NFL cheerleader."

Ben's mom and dad: *hesitant smile*

Ben's mom then sat down with Ben and basically tried to tell him she thought Emily, bless her heart, was too young for him. Then she started crying, which is never the reaction you want your future mother-in-law to have after meeting you.

After the get-together, Ben drove Emily back home in the boat and Emily, still blissfully unaware of what was about to come, couldn't stop gushing about the wonderful day they just had.

"I know what I want in a wife and even though I may not know exactly who I want my wife to be yet, I know what I'm looking for," Ben said to the camera during a confessional. "And at this point, it's really just not fair for anyone to be here if I know for certain that we're not right for each other."

Ben then dropped her off back at the house, sat her down on a bench on the dock and gingerly broke up with her, admitting to her that he just didn't see her as his wife. (Also, all the girls were watching the breakup unfold from the living room window, which made the whole thing even more sad.)

After shedding a few tears, Emily said goodbye to the rest of the girls and headed home. We'll miss you, Twin.

Becca Gets Blindsided at the Rose Ceremony

Up next was the rose ceremony, and Ben, who was feeling unsure of what to do, eventually admitted to Chris Harrison (who FINALLY decided to show up) that he knew there was one person he just hadn't gotten to the same place with.

With Amanda already having secured a rose, the remaining three went to Lauren B., JoJo and Caila, sending Becca home.

Their goodbye was painful, with Becca dropping Ben's hand as they walked away from the group and whispering to him: "Why did you do that?" before calling him out for blindsiding her, which she had asked him not to do.

Ben explained that "even a second ago" he wasn't sure what his decision was going to be, but that it felt wrong to bring her family into it with the hometowns coming up when he was already feeling uncertain about their relationship.

Up next, plenty of drama as Ben meets the three finalists' families – and from the looks of it, things get interesting.

The Bachelor airs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.