The Bachelor: Episode 10 Recap
… And it went JUST like you thought it would.
by LAYLA HARRISON ★ MARCH 11, 2021
It’s fantasy suite week. Our final three: Bri, Michelle, and Rachael, sit on the couch impatiently awaiting the first date card. Rachael’s hopeful, “I just feel it in every ounce of my being that he is who I’m supposed to be with” plays over the scene. The ladies discuss hometowns and bonding over that shared experience of sending Matt home in the car after he met their families, and we give them serious props for keeping up such a mature dynamic given what’s about to happen. Chris Harrison delivers the first date card, which goes to Michelle, and tells all the women he hopes to see them all at the next rose ceremony… including an unspoken, but implied "unlike Serena."
While Michelle gets ready for her date, Matt invites his dad over for a talk. Matt starts by telling his father how he originally felt nervous about commitment, and his dad tells him not to worry and that he’s going to be wonderful. At first, you’re like, “aw! This is so sweet!” Then BOOM. Matt hits us with some ultimate Daddy Issues: “I guard my emotions because of what I’ve been through with you.” Immediately: OOF. Matt tells us that a big part of getting over the emotional blocks that could prevent him from a happy marriage is having “~this conversation~” with his father. His dad challenges, claiming if Matt had wanted to have said conversation, he would’ve been down. So, I’m like… ok… what went down?! And. THEY. TELL. US. Matt’s like, “When I needed to talk to you, you weren’t there.” OMG.
Matt’s dad is like BRUH. “My father was killed when I was five, Matt.” Since he didn’t have a father figure himself, he takes the blame for not being present in Matt’s life. He recalls coming back to the house and having Matt’s mom be gone. Matt fires back, “who wants to be around someone who isn’t gonna be faithful to them?” “No one is perfect, son.” This is getting BEYOND messy. Matt asks, “Would you want your daughter to be with someone who disrespected her and cheated on her?” His dad stammers, “Yes—no—I wouldn’t want them to, but if there’s—” Matt cuts him off, and restates the question of if he would really want his daughter to be with someone who cheated on them. At this point I feel like I’m in the room during a conversation I have no business hearing. Like a fly on the wall of a therapist’s office.
Matt’s like, “I thank GOD mom had the strength to stand up to bad treatment.” Matt’s dad deflects, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation (but it’s literally on national television, so that’s understandable) so he then says, “I’m not here to discuss you and your mother’s relationship, I’m here to celebrate your success.” Then, Matt says the best thing he’s said all season. “This isn’t a celebration for me. This is a journey for me that I’m going on and for me to get through it, I’m having to address these demons that we’re talking about right now. And these are the hard conversations that we haven’t had that I’m ready to have. That’s why you’re here, Dad.”
From that, we cut to: TW: ~emotional Matt.~ In an interview, he recalls how his father would come to the house and leave shoes and pizza for Matt. “I didn’t need shoes. I didn’t need pizza. I needed a dad.” Why am I crying in the club rn?!
Credit: Twitter
Matt’s dad ultimately apologizes and it was so nice to see. It didn’t feel staged, so I do feel a little awk that I saw the whole thing. Matt and his dad hug it out. Matt’s dad kisses him on the cheek. Matt leaves no room for hesitation and goes straight from that conversation with his dad to his date with Michelle. No time to digest for this man!
Matt’s looking fashion forward in a neutral two-tone color-block sweater, cuffed jeans, and camo Golden Goose sneakers. He’s definitely the trendiest Bachelor we’ve had, no question. He greets Michelle and tells her they’re having a Pennsylvania themed spa day. Why anyone would choose Pennsylvania over, like, Bora Bora, I’ll never know… but okay. First, they have a nice foot soak... in a bucket of oatmeal. Michelle makes Matt taste the foot oatmeal and Matt spanks Michelle with a literal tree limb as she lies on a massage table. ‘Kay… kinda nauseous… and just as you think it can’t get any weirder, they start rubbing each other with melting sticks of butter and pouring milk from their milk bath on the other’s head. They make out in the milk bath, and I’m pretty much about to vom. To each their own, I guess. If you’re looking for new ~icks~ besides flip flops and cargo shorts, watch this date for ideas!
Over dinner, Michelle asks Matt his plan not for falling in love or being in love, but staying in love. He’s like, “I never thought about it like that, I love that…” and doesn’t answer the question. Classic Matt. Despite that tepid response, Michelle tells Matt, “I look at you as my person.” Then she tells him she loves him. OMG. Matt’s response? He hands her the fantasy suite card.
Credit: Twitter
We get a shot of Matt and Michelle making out in the fantasy suite and the camera is literally wedged inside of a fireplace, behind the flames, angled up at them. It’s honestly more creepy than hot. We see Matt leaning over Michelle on the bed before going to shut the door. Woohoo! I’m stoked for them to have off camera time for deep, exploratory convos and not just deep, exploratory… uh… anyway.
Maybe he’ll tell her his plan for staying in love and open up about his childhood trauma. What do we think guys? The next morning, Matt and Michelle wake up together and Michelle tells Matt she loves him once more. What does he say? You guessed it. “Thank you for sharing that again with me.” And Michelle says, “Thank you for responding like you did.” HUH? LOL, ok. Michelle comes back to the girls and when asked what they did, immediately responds with, “we bathed each other with sticks of butter.” Racheal starts to cry on the spot.
Bri gets the second fantasy suite date. She meets Matt in the woods and he says they’re going to hike then shows off some sleeping bags. If this is her fantasy suite and they don’t find some cute little cabin out there, she’s going home. Sex in the woods is NOT it—unless you’re like, at sleep away camp?
They start to hike and Matt tells Bri, “You look like Dora the Explorer.” Who said romance was dead? Bri asks what Matt looks like and he responds, “Park ranger.” Lmk why I was expecting him to say the cucumber from VeggieTales... Bri, as we know, is not outdoorsy, but has a great attitude about this camping date. Imagine my surprise when they literally pitch a tent. They are spending the night. In. A. Tent. THAT’S the fantasy suite?! The only person more surprised than me? Bri.
Matt finally reveals that they are not sleeping in the woods after all, but Bri admits that they were having fun. Conversation flows seamlessly from their dislike of camping to their families. As I EFFING SAID LAST WEEK, Matt and Bri are the only pairing that makes sense this season. Over dinner, Matt opens up to Bri about the conversation with his dad. Bri reassures Matt that she’s 100% ready for an engagement after this and says, “I really am so in love with you, because it means the world to me that you can understand me and it really just goes to show why I love you.”
Matt says that Bri saying she’s in love with him gives him a “feeling that you can’t explain. That feeling that is undeniable. She’s someone I could see myself spending the rest of my life with and I know what that means now. Tonight could change my life, and it could change Bri’s life.” This is feeling SO promising. They’re perfect. But respectfully, knowing Matt, there’s gotta be a way he messes this one up. I hope I’m wrong, but I really am not wrong very often… especially when it comes to Matt.
In the morning, Matt does a classic walk of shame, complete with his blazer from the night before. Bri comes back to the house and Rachael starts to cry saying, “I’m really scared he’s gonna hurt me.” I’d say it was wholesome, but all I can think about is her at that plantation party three years ago. Rachael heads out on her date. When she greets Matt, she doesn’t even do the run and jump hug, so we know homie’s really going through it. Rachael and Matt go on a ceramics date and the instructor compares making pottery to relationships. Coincidentally, Rachael sucks at ceramics.
Rachael just stops the date and tells Matt she needs to talk to him. She starts with, “This week was like unbearable for me.” She talks about not liking the idea of Matt with other women while still wanting him to explore his other relationships. She tells Matt she loves him and the idea of him always being there for her and their hypothetical children. The issue gets resolved and they just leave their pottery date. A waste of a good date! I love making clay pottery on the wheel. Later that night, Rachael tells Matt if he pulled a ring out of his pocket in that instant she would be ready. He says that everything she embodies is incredible. They spend the night together.
Credit: Twitter
Before the rose ceremony Matt says he knows what he needs to do, but none of these women deserve to be left broken hearted. Michelle gets the first rose, but Rachael’s feeling confident. She continues speaking like she’s in a romance novel where the girl falls in love with her captor via Stockholm Syndrome. For example, “my only fear, at this point, is losing Matt and having to try and figure out how to live my life without him. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else so I don’t know how I would be able to accept that.” She’s 24.
Matt calls Rachael. He walks Bri out while she starts to cry. She wipes tears silently while Matt sits helplessly. She says, “obviously, I gave up a lot to be here. It’s hard to think about, like, not being able to see you again but I think that’s just how this goes. You are going to be moving on to someone else. And I think that’s what makes it harder.” His response? “I’ll walk you to the car.” Oof.
Credit: Twitter
At this point, I’m questioning why I even watch this show. Bri just got dumped on national television and it just does not sit right with me. She gets in the car to the airport and she goes, “It’s really disappointing and sad that it wasn't me.” Yeah! It is.
I can’t wait for next week when we find out if Matt chooses the 27-year-old former D1 basketball player turned mature elementary school teacher or the 24-year-old “graphic designer” whose favorite hobby is doodling! There’s just no way to know who he’ll choose!
Cover photo credit: Instagram (@bachelorabc)