In case you’ve missed this entire season (catch up on season 17 of The Bachelor here if you’d like), here’s a glimpse into how Sean is feeling about each of his lovely ladies:

“The spark between me and Catherine is undeniable….Catherine is so sweet, funny, very intelligent. I have something with her that I don’t have with the other two.  She’s weird and nerdy and I love weird and nerdy.  I love Catherine’s serious view on life and I think that our morals and values are both in sync. And there’s also this romantic element that we share that is just off the charts. I feel completely natural around her and I can be myself 100% and I think I could easily picture Catherine and I cuddled up on the couch at the end of a long day with kids at home. Seems like a pretty sweet life.” — Sean about his relationship with Catherine

“My relationship with AshLee is probably the strongest relationship I have because she has all these amazing qualities that any man would want in a wife.  AshLee has one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever come across — she’s so giving and caring and I never have to guess about how she’s feeling and that’s what I want in a wife, I want someone who’s open and honest, who communicates. To know that someone I like so much is in love with me is humbling and AshLee and I want the same types of things out of life — family, marriage, future.  She’s so inspirational, so strong.  When I picture my future with AshLee I picture the two of us living in Dallas, nice little house with kids running around — it’s the American dream.” — Sean regarding his relationship with AshLee

“Lindsay and I have this spark that has grown into this massive flame and it’s so crazy to think about where we came from. I was worried Lindsay was just fun and didn’t have the depth or maturity that I was looking for but she’s so much more than the crazy girl in the wedding dress that I met on night one. Lindsay is so loving, caring, generous, supportive, hilarious, and she’s one of those girls that seems to never have a bad day and I love that about her.  The moment I first realized I could see myself with Lindsay was when we were having dinner in front of the fireplace in Montana. I really started to picture me and Lindsay being married and I realized that everything  I’m looking for — emotionally, spiritually, physically — matches up.” — Sean explaining his feelings about Lindsay

Needless to say, our Bachelor is a bit confused. But, not to fret, dear friends! For this week is what every Bachelor waits for: overnight fantasy suites!

Lindsay

Sean meets his first lucky lady, Lindsay, in Thailand for their first date since Lindsay said the big “I love you,” which of course went unanswered (per the contract) leaving Lindsay to wonder whether her beau is also in love with her.  They spend their date day wandering around a farmer’s market of sorts with exotic fruits, street food, and dyed birds.  Oh, and bugs. That you eat. No thank you. Lindsay puts on a brave face to try the bugs but squirms and sours her face, all the while Sean crunches away stating “not that bad, not that bad…”  Boys are so weird.

Lindsay and Sean recall their time at home with her parents and how it couldn’t have gone any better.  Lindsay makes it very clear that she’s ready to start her life with Sean and he affirms that he can see it too.

“You’re the best friend that I’ve been looking for.” — Sean to Lindsay

Their romantic evening dinner is set in front of traditional Thai floats.  Lindsay says she’s open to moving to Dallas and Sean says he thinks that would be so fun — to be engaged, to pick out a house.  Lindsay agrees. She’s ready to start their life together and tells him just that.  Again.

Just as Lindsay is mustering up the courage to say “I love you” again, knowing Sean will just sit there and grin through it without saying it back, costumed dancers appear from behind the floats led in by music that kills the moment.  Directly following the performance, Sean hands Lindsay the fantasy suite card and he does his best to be gentlemanly about the invitation, clarifying that it’s uninterrupted, quality time they’ll be spending together.  She happily accepts, noting that she’d love to spend that time with him.  In the fantasy suite, Ashley and Sean toast to themselves and that liquid courage helps her realize she has a lot to be confident about.  Sean gives a cute little speech about their relationship and how it equates to what he wants for himself, after which Lindsay nervously confesses that she loves him.  Sean’s reply: “I love…hearing you say that.”  So close!  Cue the happy ever after music and then they make out.

AshLee

AshLee’s already calling Sean “the love of her life” and her “true love” whom she “love[s] more than words can express,” which may or may not be a tad intimidating to him.  We’ll see. The pair take a boat ride to Emerald Cave, which Sean sees as another opportunity to test AshLee’s trust capabilities.  On the other side of the deep, dark cave is a private beach waiting for them.  I’m surprised we didn’t hear another metaphor – something about the cave being a closet of her deepest, darkest fears that she’s locked away and put outside her mind and now she has to get out the key and unlock the door to the closet and her heart and swim through all of her issues. Or something like that.  Something like this:

“It’s pitch dark and you can’t see anything. I mean, it’s scary. But, that’s kinda how life is sometimes. When you’re with someone you love, you’re going down this dark alleyway. What scares me here is taking the risk and not knowing the outcome.  What if he says “you’re great but you’re not the one?”

On the other side of the cave is a gorgeous white sand beach surrounded by lush forest. Looks peaceful and serene, and I’m sure AshLee’s told Sean all about how his love has calmed her fears and her mind and how her heart is at peace, just like the beautiful beach before them. Or something like that.

AshLee makes it pretty clear that there will be no hanky panky with Sean because she won’t compromise her morals when he’s also pursuing the same thing with other girls.

Sean says it’s clear that he’s falling in love with her so he wants to be sure to put her at ease about what the date card and fantasy suite mean to him.  AshLee talks her way around saying yes by making it clear herself that she won’t be crossing any boundaries and that they will in fact just be talking and spending time together. She confesses later that she was really nervous to say yes to the fantasy suite but appreciates that he respects their relationship. Sean tells her that he was confident about her very early on and she takes that as an opening to tell Sean her preferred ring style, cut and size.  Tacky. But kudos for trying to close the deal, I guess.

Catherine

“As I’ve been away from Catherine, I realize I miss her. But I left her hometown date thinking do we have the same life goals? do we want to live our life the same way? I still have a few questions about Catherine…” — Sean about his relationship status with Catherine

[Side note, I love that one of the tweets displayed on the bottom of the screen is wondering how many v-necks Sean owns. The answer is a lot. He should buy stock. Or Hanes should sponsor the show.]

“I’ve been thinking about Catherine quite a bit. I realize I need my best friend and I think Catherine fits that perfectly but I wonder if she can truly see herself settling down in Dallas, with a family. I think of the remaining girls, she and I are the most different.” — Sean about his uncertainty of Catherine

Catherine says that she’s not set on Seattle and she makes it known to Sean that she was very upset with her sisters during their hometown visit because they may be doubtful but she’s ready to settle down.  Catherine shares about her past insecurities about relationships and again, they bond over their mutual weirdness.

“I’ve never been in a place to accept great love from someone like Sean and I’m totally ready. I want to be with him.” — Catherine about falling in love with Sean

“I just feel like Catherine gets me better than anyone else and that’s a really good feeling because I feel like I get her too.” “Could I see myself marrying Catherine? The answer was ‘yes!'” says Sean.

Sean: “Where would you see us in five years? What would our life look like? “

Catherine: “We would obviously be married – I hope we’d be married in five years – and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a kid involved in five years and we would be happy.”

Sean: “I can tell you that I can see myself marrying you.” 

You can tell that Catherine is super nervous about the fantasy suite, which is kinda cute and loveable about her. And Sean seems to agree. Except I think it turned him on, which kinda defeats the chivalrous little speech he just gave. Oh well, whatever works, right?

Catherine reveals that she was made fun of a lot — about being chubby or eating too much — and she never thought that she’d ever get to be with someone like Sean, who she considers to be such a hunk.  And Sean just steals her heart (and ours) when he quickly informs her that she’s smoking hot and it is he, in fact, who is the lucky one.  And that’s really the only answer any guy should ever give, I think.  Well done, you.

After some seriously steamy making out in the pool, Catherine says she’s fallen in love with Sean and she’s going to tell him. But we don’t see that part so we’re left to assume that it happened behind closed fantasy suite doors.  I guess it would be kind of nice to have one shared, private moment as a couple, especially one so significant.  Good call, Catherine.

Quality Time with Chris Harrison

Sean says he woke up and knew who to send home and he’s been dreading it all day. It’s at this point in the game that Emily told Sean goodbye and that’s all he can think about now that the tables are turned and he’s going to do the same thing to one unlucky lady.  And with that sad revelation, Sean reveals that he is in love and he can see himself down on one knee at the end of all this. Yay!

The last three ladies have recorded video messages for Sean. Lindsay recalls falling in love with Sean under the stars in Canada and how their lives seem to fit together. “I met you in a wedding dress and maybe soon I’ll be wearing one again for you,” says Lindsay.  Catherine sounds surprised about how the process has unfolded for her and pleasantly so as she sweetly tells Sean the story of their evolving relationship and how happy she is to find herself with him now, picturing him as her husband, and falling in love.  She was a very poised speaker, I thought, which was easy to think especially after hearing AshLee’s…AshLee’s video sounds a bit like a therapy confessional about walls coming down and dependency “I can’t imagine walking away without having you as my partner for life…I believe that together we are whole.”  And tears. There are a lot of tears.

Rose Ceremony:

It’s a rainy day rose ceremony, probably very fitting for the serious mood of this last rose ceremony.  Catherine’s trying to catch his eye and smile, AshLee brought out the cleavage to get his attention and I especially appreciated Lindsay’s “oh shit” on a solemn exhale right as Sean picks up the first rose.

• Lindsay
• Catherine

Going Home: AshLee

And cue the drama music.  Gosh, where is Chris Harrison when you need him?  Isn’t he supposed to step in and tell AshLee to say her goodbyes?  Well, she didn’t need that hint and storms off, not saying a word of goodbye to the other two girls, and telling Sean to “stay back” before stopping last minute to let him explain that he thought it was going to be her from the beginning and he didn’t want to hurt her, which actually isn’t an explanation at all.  If he wanted to not do what Emily did, I think he needed to say that he wasn’t in love with her like he is with the other girls instead of vaguely saying “you’re great but goodbye.”

“This wasn’t a silly game to me. This wasn’t about laughter and joking and having fun. It was hard saying goodbye to Sean because I let him in. And I love him.” — AshLee on the car ride home

You know, this really got me thinking that they should probably bring back that therapist from Brad’s season and just keep him on retainer as part of the crew.

Coming Up

The Women Tell All is next week!  In two weeks the girls meet Sean’s family and Sean looks to them for clarity. Sean’s mom seems to get teary advising him on what an important decision proposing is. Oh, and the finale is 3 hours. Dang.  Pack an ice chest for that one.