Keep reading for major spoilers for season 19 episode 4 of “The Bachelorette.”
On the heels a tumultuous last episode, in which three men rejected Rachel’s rose and Hayden called Gabby “rough around the edges,” the Bachelorettes are headed to the city of love! (Paris, France for all you philistines out there.)
Before packing up their bags, the women reflected on last week’s major decision to split up their dating pools into two groups of men and their shared feelings of disappointment as men announced — not always kindly (cough, cough Hayden) — their decision to pursue the other woman.
“It has been a challenge for Gabby and I to have our insecurities brought out as being compared to one another,” Rachel said, revealing she fears that the men in her dating pool might want to switch to pursue Gabby or feel like they’re in the “loser” group.
After Jesse tells the men that their journey for love is moving to France, he announces that both ladies will have a one-on-one in Paris, with Rachel choosing Tino and Gabby choosing Jason. The men board their traveling home (it’s on a cruise ship) to learn that they will be living in different areas based on whether they are #teamRachel or #teamGabby.
As Rachel and Tino wander in the rain in Paris, Tino pulls on Rachel’s heart strings with his comforting presence as they make crepes together. At dinner, after Tino makes an effort to make sure Rachel was okay after last week’s events, Rachel asks Tino if he would be supportive of her working while having a family, noting that her ex-boyfriend was made assumptions that she would be unfaithful due to her line of work.
“Your passion for your career lights me up inside,” Tino responded, “I need somebody who has that type of devotion.” After the two establish that they would both love to have a family, Rachel unsurprisingly gives Tino a rose and the pair french kiss by the french skyline.
As for Gabby, she and Jason enjoyed goofing off, trying on berets and visiting a Parisian carousel, but she said she wishes that he would open up to her more, and that she’s unsure of if there is more to their connection than chemistry and fun.
Jason admits later he felt overwhelmed by being on the show, even noting that he couldn’t eat for a few days. After he revealed that he has gone to therapy for feeling inadequate throughout his childhood, Gabby confides in Jason about her relationship with her estranged mother and how Hayden’s comment cut deeper than expected given her past. Connection thus established, Jason earns his rose.
Meanwhile, on the cruise ship Gabby’s men receive a date card with the message, “Love conquers all, but not without a fight,” addressed to Nate, Kirk, Quincey, Erich, Michael, Mario, Spencer and Johnny.
As the men fight to win a dinner with Gabby, Rachel invites her men to Gabby’s group date. While Gabby’s men proclaim their feelings for their bachelorette in the boxing ring, self-doubt crowds into Rachel’s head — she indicates that she feels neglected by the men she’s dating, who won’t even make eye contact with her.
Spencer wins for best effort, scoring him a private date with Gabby and the pair find common ground from their connection to the military.
Meanwhile, Rachel struggles with, “I don’t know why I feel more insecure, more desperate on the side of “The Bachelorette” than I did on the side of being contestant on Clayton’s season.” Filled with disappointment, Rachel confronts her men about how she honestly felt about the day,
The next day, Rachel rallies to meet her men for a group date, that focuses on the “art of romance,” which challenges Rachel to smell their armpits. Thankfully, the men share their commitment to Rachel in a much-needed reading of love notes. Tyler’s poem, that he had written unprompted the previous, scores him private time with Rachel and a rose.
Amidst feeling loved and supported, trouble maker Logan reveals that he left the group date thinking of Gabby, not Rachel. Logan confides in these feelings with Jesse and notes that he share his feelings with Gabby at the cocktail party.
The bachelorettes and both dating pools reunite for the cocktail party and impending rose ceremony and get some more face time with their men.
Tides shift when Hayden, who shares that his dog is ill, tells Meatball and the other men he was let down by Rachel, after she allowed Tino to cut into her conversation with Hayden instead of insisting the pair speak longer. Cue fan-favorite Meatball, who went straight to Rachel to tell her what Hayden said — and to snitch on Hayden for the disrespectful things Hayden said about Rachel last week.
Armed with that information — remember, Hayden compared Rachel’s body to his ex-girlfriend and said that he didn’t trust these “bitches” — Rachel confronts Hayden about these accusations, which he, of course, denies. With Rachel at the end of her rope, she walks Hayden out and expresses her frustration that she gave him a rose in the first place.
While Gabby cherishes her time with her men, being rejected sends Rachel spiraling, as she struggles to put on a happy face, leading to the decision to cancel the rest of the cocktail party. The rose ceremony begins and Logan, who says he can’t continue with Rachel, has yet to share his feelings.
When Logan’s name is called by Rachel, he choses to accept her rose and keep quiet about his feelings, making it clear in his testimonial that he accepted the rose to get another opportunity to pursue Gabby.
In the end, Gabby gave roses to Nate, Erich, Johnny, Michael and Mario and Rachel gave roses to Aven, Meatball, Zach, Ethan and Logan.
As the bachelorettes and their men head to Bruges, Belgium, Gabby will date Erich, Jason, Johnny, Mario, Michael, Nate and Spencer. Rachel will continue to date Aven, Ethan, James (Meatball), Logan, Tino, Tyler and Zach.
