We’ve got four cities, 3 roses, overprotective siblings, dogs, the General’s Daughter, the adopted daughter, and a whole lot more drama to get us through these hometown dates.

Houston, Texas: AshLee

AshLee has already spilled the beans to Sean that she loves him. First he meets Bailey, her pup. AshLee tells Sean a bit about her dad, a pastor, and Sean shares (maybe for the first time?) that his dad is also a reverend, along with his grandfather.  Then Ashley brings in the daddy issues by taking the “you’re just like my father” comparisons to a level that is getting close to creepy. And in case we have forgotten about her previous marriage, AshLee makes sure to tell Sean that he responded to that heartbreaking news better than she could have ever dreamed.

Flowers in hand, Sean arrives at the pastor’s house for a backyard picnic where she details everylittlething they’ve done up until now. And then it gets awkward when AshLee starts telling her folks about rolling around in the sand and getting romantic with Sean.  Not cool, lady.  Sounds like the first time she’s ever kissed a boy.

“What are your intentions for AshLee? Are you going to break her heart?” — AshLee’s mom’s first questions.  I mean, really?  Come on, lady.  How do you expect a man to answer that?

Of course, the abandonment issues are brought up again and Sean is talked into a corner, forced to say he won’t break her heart when odds are he just may do that.

Sean avoids the L word by saying he’s crazy about AshLee and puts dad in the hot seat by asking about why he gave his permission to the boy who wanted to marry AshLee when she was 17.  Dad says she was almost 18 and pretty much he thought it would be better to give in than to make her mad, apparently.

“Would you be okay with me proposing to your daughter if that’s what I wanted to do?” – Sean to AshLee’s dad, who of course says he’d be excited to welcome him into the family.

When AshLee’s dad tells the story of his first date with AshLee and how he fell in love with her when he met her and expects the same type of love from the man who will have her heart (yeah, it was all kinda weird), Sean just looked straight faced and not interested.

AshLee tells Sean she loves him a lot before he leaves and his response is “you’re the best.”  For you Sex & the City fans out there, you know: best is the worst.

Seattle, Washington: Catherine

The sun is out in Seattle for Sean and Catherine looks darling and she’s super bubbly and fun.  For as awkward as this show can get, it seems like they’ve got a good thing going. At the fish market, Sean and Catherine take turns catching fish and my grin is huge. That was goofy and awesome.

Sean says he feels like he and Catherine have been boyfriend/girlfriend for a while.

Catherine warns that her mom is a little intimidating and scary, her grandmother is feisty. I like her already. Catherine’s sisters are there too and so are so eggrolls, which look delicious. Whilst gushing about Sean, the sisters wonder why their happy-go-lucky gal is now so serious. Catherine is disappointed now, having to spend so much time defending her feelings and Sean.

“Do you think she is ready to settle down right now? — Sean to Catherine’s sisters

“I can see her having kids right away. She goes in 100% with guys and you know, she always makes things really fun…blah blah blah…she needs someone who supports her dreams and if they don’t…blah blah blah…”  – Catherine’s sisters.  And in there, the blah blah blah means she breaks it off and moves on.

Sean tries to ease into the “do I have your blessing to propose?” with Sean’s mom and she just advises Sean to take it one day and one step at a time.  I suppose he’d expect a resounding yes, but I think he should probably respect the practicality of the family in pointing out flaws and having reservations.  Not everything is sunshine and roses.  Sometimes the roses run out.

Still no “I love you” out of Catherine.

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri: Lindsay

Lindsay and Sean walk around town but there’s definitely not much to do, although, they’ve at least got a few of my favorite things: antiques, beer and cupcakes. Sean stresses out over meeting Lindsay’s dad, a two-star General.  Eek. Pressure.  And likely some loaded guns in the house.

Lindsay makes Sean gear up in some Army apparel and orders him around all bossy like, making him do pushups and slapping his butt to get him to stand up straighter.  Pretty sure the Army frowns upon that.

Lindsay’s mom looks just like her. She is all smiles and pleasantly surprised that Lindsay and Sean seem to really be getting along well.  When mom asks Sean if he’s falling in love with Lindsay and Sean says that he’s not at a point to say mom takes his response as very respectable, that he isn’t throwing around the L word lightly but what he’s really saying is that he contractually is not allowed to say I love you before the final rose.  Ha! Sorry mom.

Dad tells Sean that his biggest concern is that this will end badly and Lindsay will get hurt. Sean says he’s crazy about Lindsay and it doesn’t seem a whole lot more but he goes ahead and asks for dad’s blessing anyway.  Dad says he’s never been asked a tougher question in his life and he doesn’t think he has an answer.  He goes into an analogy about being a paratrooper and analyzing risk and having the authority to make the decision “on the ground.”  And then he comes around to say that he’d give his blessing for the two of them to have the authority to make the decision themselves.

And to end their time together, dad gifts Sean with some identification tags that outline the Army’s values.  Super sweet. Sean says he can see himself with her family and Lindsay reciprocates by telling him that she’s definitely falling in love with him.

Los Angeles, California: Desiree

Desiree is out hiking when Sean arrives and they casually stroll along chatting. They seem to do more making out and sitting and cuddling than actual hiking but hey, still counts.  Desiree brings Sean to her house and she prepares a meal and then a mysterious man shows up.  Mystery man invites himself in, declares his undying love for Desiree, gets up in Sean’s personal space, and the guy just cannot believe that she’d want to be with an actor!  Sean looks ready to punch something. Ha!  It’s not too long before Desiree interrupts the scene to exclaim “Gotcha!” and she spends the next few minutes reveling in getting Sean back for the art show prank he played on her during their first date.

Not too long after, Mom, Dad and Brother walk in.  Mom recognizes a glow in Desiree, Dad and Sean seem to have a great connection but then the brother gets his turn and it’s not so bueno.  Brother is super skeptical and he thinks the whole thing is pretty stupid and then flat out tells Desiree that if she and Sean end up together, he’d be thinking the whole time that it’s not going to work.

Brother tells Sean that he thinks Desiree is really into Sean but he doesn’t see any reciprocation or connection between the two of them.  Sean says he’s crazy about Desiree and brother retorts that he’s probably crazy about a lot of girls.  And Sean can’t escape that fact — there are three other women in the competition after all.  Sean thinks he’s in the clear but Brother calls him out: “I think you’re just a playboy, just having fun with the circumstances…”  Brother says he does not believe anything Sean is saying. And that’s that.  Big Gulps, huh?  Well, see ya later.

And now dinner is ruined. And mom and dad are chatting about the weather. Everyone is mortified.  Meals have hardly been touched and yet it’s apparently time for Sean to go. After a PG peck, Desiree knows things have gone astray. Brother warns Desiree that he is not the one.

Roses: 

Before the roses are handed out, Desiree asks to speak to Sean alone and they go outside to talk and she apologizes for her brother’s behavior. I’m shocked she doesn’t throw in a last minute “I love you” but maybe she thought that would be a low blow to the other girls. Or desperate. But hey, desperate times.

• AshLee — I was kinda surprised by this one. Were you?
• Lindsay — Also kinda surprised by this one.

And before Sean hands out the final rose, he walks out of the room to contemplate and stare at the girls’ photos and talk to his main man, Chris.  Chris’s big advice: get this right.  Sean decides that he’ll choose the one that he’d miss the most the next day and confesses that he had originally planned to send Des home but now he just doesn’t know if he can. But he does.

• Catherine — I was only surprised that it was between Catherine and Desiree. Those two were my front runners.

Going Home: Desiree  

Sean says she has every quality he’s looking for in a wife and he thinks he may wake up the next day and totally regret sending her home and Desiree agrees — she thinks she can make him the happiest. Desiree says that she wants someone who won’t take her for granted but she honestly feels like Sean is making a mistake, however, if he felt he had a better relationship with someone else then she’d understand. But he doesn’t say that he does. And he doesn’t say much else other than he’ll miss her.  And she spends a solid few minutes hugging him and begging him to not let her go. Sad, sad story.

In the limo home, Desiree says “I don’t even know what I’m going to do about my life.”

Tomorrow Night:  “Sean Tells All”  (is this a new episode?!? I don’t remember this from other seasons…a whole episode rehashing every details. ugh.)

Next Monday: Fantasy Suites in Thailand