The Golden Bachelorette’s Joan Gets a Shock From One of Her Three Remaining Men: ‘I’m Not Ready’
Joan is down to her final three men on The Golden Bachelorette, which means it’s fantasy suites time… but she didn’t even make it that far with one of them.
Wednesday’s episode opens with (of course) a flash-forward, this time of Joan sniffling back tears on a ship. “I had started feeling more and more hopeful,” she says, but “now my hope is, like, down to nothing.” Uh-oh. Then we go back to the beginning, with Joan heading to Tahiti for overnight dates with her three final guys: Guy, Chock and Pascal. She’s staying on a cruise ship — is this a Doctor Odyssey crossover?! — and she gets support from her Golden Bachelor pal Nancy, though she’s still anxious about letting a new love into her heart, with her late husband John still on her mind. Nancy reassures Joan that her feelings are perfectly normal, adding: “Lonely is not a place that you stay. Lonely is a place that you walk through.” That’s profound stuff, Nancy!
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Joan’s first date is with Guy, and they pop a bottle of Champagne as they hit the water in a (different, smaller) boat. She’s still concerned, though, that he’s farther along than she is down the old love path. As they go snorkeling together and kiss underwater, we see Chock visit with Jesse, admitting he’s nervous because he’s emotionally invested in Joan now. He’s in love with her, and he’ll be devastated if she picks someone else. Don’t let him see this snorkeling footage, guys.
Joan and Guy move on to dinner, and she’s starting to feel like their connection is “as strong” as it is with the other guys. She needs to make something clear, though: She tells him that she wants to go to the fantasy suite to talk, but she’s decided not to do anything physical with anyone this week. She’s saving that for the man she ultimately picks. Guy is fine with that, and they both say yes when the fantasy suite invite arrives, shutting the cameras outside. The next morning, Guy raves about what a great night they had — but it doesn’t look like they woke up together. At least not in the usual “afterglow in bed” way that’s a Bachelor fantasy suite tradition.
It’s Chock’s turn next — thank goodness, the poor guy was bursting with anticipation — and they get all revved up taking an ATV through the Tahitian wilderness. Joan admits she has strong feelings for Chock, but she’s still guarding her heart a bit. She pushes him to go faster in the ATV, though, and he obliges, and she loves how safe she feels with him, which is a good sign. They have a picnic and gaze into each other’s eyes, with Chock gushing, “I’m the happiest guy.” (He’s the one, right? All signs are pointing to Chock at this point.) If anything, Joan worries that he may be too good to be true. Which, to be fair, has happened a lot on Bachelor shows. (Just ask Jenn Tran.)
At dinner, Chock admits he worried a bit about where Joan’s head was at, but he’s confident in what they have. He tells her again that he’s falling in love with her, and she remembers how unseen she felt after John died, but Chock makes her feel seen, as he calls her “the best thing that ever happened to me.” (Neil Lane, get those rings ready!) They read the fantasy suite invite, and Joan tells him she’s not ready to get physical yet, which Chock is perfectly OK with. They head to the suite, leaving the cameras outside, and the next morning, Chock has a big smile on his face. He keeps the details private, though. Hmmm… is it possible Joan broke her vow, if she’s planning to choose Chock anyway?
Last on Joan’s dance card is Pascal, and she still thinks he has some emotional walls that need to come down. Before their date, Pascal chats with Jesse, telling him he was in love and nearly engaged a year ago, and it was a volatile relationship before they finally split up. He and Joan go to a traditional Tahitian welcoming ceremony, dancing together and eating native foods. (The locals speak French, so Pascal feels right at home.) Then the priest calls them together for a bonding ceremony, asking them to name what they want to release from their lives. And while it seems like a cleansing experience for Joan, Pascal admits later that the ceremony “freaked me out.” He looks like he saw a ghost, announcing that “my walls are still up… I’m not ready.”
Pascal knows he needs to tell Joan how he feels, and at dinner, he opens up: He was just in love with someone else, and then his daughter signed him up for this show, and he never thought he would last this long. Joan says she kept him around because he reminds her so much of her late husband John, but he says he needs to be “very honest.” He doesn’t want to hurt her, but “I just don’t think I could get to the place where you want me to be.” Ouch. Joan is shocked, and asks if he’s just not ready now or if he’s never going to be ready. He tells her he cares for her as a friend, but “I’m not in love.” Double ouch. They end the date early, and Pascal shoos the cameras away as he tries to console her, but it’s no use. Joan feels unlovable, she says, because Pascal knows what love is and he doesn’t feel that with her. “Now my hope is, like, down to nothing,” she says (again), and she’s now worried she’ll leave with no one.
In a preview for the season finale (in two weeks, with “The Men Tell All” airing next week), Joan sobs to Nancy about Pascal’s decision, and Guy and Chock try to comfort her. Chock says “there’s a big problem” (huh?), and Joan says “this is the last thing I wanted.” We still have our fingers crossed for a happy ending… but like Joan, our hope is starting to dwindle.
How do you think Pascal handled the situation, Bachelor Nation? And who do you think Joan should choose: Guy or Chock? Hit the comments to make your voice heard.
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