Welcome to our recap of The Bachelor Season 28, Episode 7! In this episode, Joey Graziadei takes one lucky lady horseback riding in Jasper National Park and hosts a competition to see who’s the best lumberjill. Another woman talks Joey into taking the plunge in a glacial lake, while last week’s frontrunner lets her insecurities get to her. Joey fights his greatest fear while deciding whose hometown to visit next week. Here are some highlights from The Bachelor Season 28, Episode 7.
Joey loves Jasper
This week the Bachelor’s in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, and it’s gorgeous. Bears and elk are everywhere. The camera crew must have had a ball filming all the wildlife. Joey admits, “This is hands down the prettiest place I’ve ever been.”
There are only six women left, so we’re getting down to the wire. Next week is Hometown Week, so that means we’ll be trimming the numbers to four by the end of the episode.
The ladies are waiting on the couch in the hotel when the date card arrives. Kelsey T. reads the card, “Daisy, let’s ride off into the sunset together.” The other ladies speculate that Daisy and Joey are going horseback riding. Daisy leaves to get ready for her date while the other women pretend to be happy for her.
Jenn interviews that she’s “shocked” and “sad.” She says, “Last week, I told him I was falling for him.” So did three other girls, honey. “That was a huge step for me … It’s really getting in my head.” Ironically, Maria is the one who sits with Jenn, consoling her.
Riding in the Rockies
While waiting for Daisy, Joey confesses that even though he feels a connection with her, Daisy is the only woman who hasn’t told him how she feels about him. Joey thinks it’s just because they haven’t had enough alone time, so “it’s time to take it to a different level today … I just really want to make sure we are on the same page.”
They are indeed riding horses today. Joey’s never ridden a horse, and Daisy’s only ridden “a couple of times,” so this should be interesting. The scenery is just so incredibly beautiful.
“I’m very happy,” Joey interviews. “I did something I’ve never done before. I got to do it with a girl that I truly care about. She made it better; she made it fun. She’s special. She really is.”
“I always knew something was there with Daisy from that first one-on-one,” he continues. “[I’m] impressed by her all the time … I can see this growing into love, and her being someone I can spend a life with. I’m hopeful.”
The horses bring them to a wood-fired hot tub on the edge of a lake. Gorgeous. Joey and Daisy go their separate ways into the woods to put on their swimsuits.
“I’m feeling really good,” Daisy interviews. “I love being around him; I love kissing him. Joey’s so hot, I literally can’t stop sweating. Every time I’m with him, I’m happy, and I feel so good.” So tell him that, girl! He needs to hear it.
Daisy’s getting there…
“I feel so good,” Daisy adds. “Today was one of my favorite days ever. But tonight is a really important night for me ’cause I’m gonna tell Joey how I feel.”
“I’m not really in love with Joey,” she adds, “but I can see myself getting to that point … I’m not going to tell him I’m in love with him just to get a rose … It’s scary. You never know when your honesty is going to be too much for somebody, and they’re going to pull away … But at the end of the day, if he didn’t want me because of that, I would be devastated.”
Finally, Joey asks her how she’s feeling about everything, especially with the hometowns coming up next week. Daisy’s biggest concern is to see how Joey interacts with the people she loves most in the world: her family.
“If I’m being 100% honest,” she says, “I really, really like you, but am I there yet? No. I can see us being so great together, and I can see myself falling in love with you.”
Joey’s not happy with that answer. His biggest fear is to fall in love with someone who doesn’t return his affection. But Daisy just needs more time.
She goes on to explain that her parents poured all their love and caring into her when she was so sick. They will want to know that Joey would take care of her in the same way. Isn’t that what the wedding vows say? “In sickness and in health?” I thought it was part of the deal.
Thankfully, Joey understands that if he and Daisy end up together, he would be there for her no matter what. “I can be that person,” he promises.
Will Daisy get the rose?
“I am feeling more and more every time I’m with you,” Daisy says. Even though she was nervous to tell Joey how she feels, Daisy can’t be anything but honest. Joey should respect that. That’s not always the case.
As Joey picks up the rose, you can feel the tension. “Daisy,” he starts, “today really was amazing, but I did have a lot of expectations coming into tonight cause I wanted to make sure we’re on the same page. I don’t take next week lightly … I’ve always appreciated your honesty and your realness. What you said didn’t scare me, so this rose is just a symbol that I really want to meet your family … So, Daisy, would you accept this rose?”
And she happily accepts it. Oh, man, he scared me for a minute there. I’m so glad he came through.
“I would be lucky to be with Daisy, at the end of the day,” Joey says, “because I think she’s special.” I do, too. She’s been my favorite since night one.
Joey has one more surprise. They take an elevator up to a skating rink! They’re going ice skating.
“I really, really like him,” Daisy confesses. “I did not expect to feel this way … Oh, my gosh. I think it’s happening!”
Joey’s Ultimate Lumberjill Competition
Maria reads the group date card. “Kelsey T., Maria, Rachel, and Jenn: Let’s take our love to the great outdoors. Love, Joey.” That means Kelsey A. is the lucky winner of the last one-on-one. The other girls congratulate her half-heartedly, trying to hide their own disappointment.
After meeting Joey, they all walk towards a barn, where a woman with an axe is simultaneously standing on a log while chopping the middle out of it. That looks really dangerous. I would probably chop my foot off!
Today they’ll learn to be lumberjacks, or in this case, lumberjills. Kelsey T. turns out to be really good at everything. Poor Maria is terrible at most of it, though she killed at splitting a log.
After everyone’s had some practice, Anita, the Champion Lumberjill, announces a competition. The ladies are sent to change into their flannels.
The first round is Rachel versus Jenn. The challenges are log rolling, crosscut sawing, and elk milk drinking (ugh). That milk looks disgusting.
Round two is Jenn versus Maria. Maria is not an outdoor kind of girl, and she doesn’t see how this is advancing things with Joey, so she’s totally not into it. “I don’t like competition, and I don’t see how things could get worse,” she complains. Oh, no. Don’t say that, Maria. This show will take that as a challenge.
While Joey is filming a confessional, Jenn runs over and gives him a little “good luck kiss.” She lays one on him, in plain sight of the other women, who are not happy. I told you, Maria! Things can always get worse.
“Did they forget that I have an axe?” Maria quips. LOL.
The Group Date After Party
Maria is not over Jenn kissing Joey. “My man kissed another woman, and [it] felt like sh*t,” she admits.
As the other women have their time with Joey, Maria’s spiraling. She knows what she signed up for, but she thinks of Joey as being hers and doesn’t like that he has to give attention to the other women. Who wants to see the person they care about with other girls?
“I don’t know if I can do this anymore,” she tells Joey. She gets up and goes into the other room. This triggers Joey’s biggest fear of caring for someone who decides to leave.
After her show handler talks her down, Maria returns to Joey and says, “I just had a little moment. It just hit me … because it’s so real … I think out loud a lot. I don’t want you to think [I’m running from you] … I’m scared, and I don’t like seeing you with the other women. It just got the best of me.”
“So, do you still want to be here?” Joey asks.
She nods her head and apologizes for having a freakout. She teases that she won’t kiss him tonight, because she saw Jenn kiss him. But then she kisses him.
“You’re all over the place, woman,” Joey tells her.
“I’m feeling conflicted,” Joey says in a confessional. “I know Maria gets in her head sometimes … It’s making me question if I can trust she’ll ever get there. There are so many women here who’ve [assured me] they would never do that. But maybe that’s not real. Maybe what Maria’s saying is more real.”
When it’s time to give out the rose, Joey says he can’t do it tonight. “I need more time.” Maria’s indecision really shook him.
The Last One-on-One
The next day is Joey’s date with Kelsey A. They’re going to explore the town of Jasper. They go souvenir shopping, buy hot cocoa, play pool, and have a beer together. Kelsey’s trying to just be in the moment and not think too far ahead.
One of the locals mentions the Polar Plunge (jumping into a glacial lake), and Kelsey’s excited. She totally wants to do it, while Joey’s not so sure. Brrrrr! Jumping into freezing water just for the heart-stopping aspect of it doesn’t sound like fun to me. But they go ahead with it. Afterward, they warm up in a lakeside sauna.
At dinner, Joey asks who he’d meet at Kelsey’s hometown. She has four siblings, but she knows her dad would be there for sure. Kelsey says she wasn’t close to her dad growing up because he was working to support his family. She got closer to her dad after her mom got cancer and passed away.
“My dad is really my favorite guy,” Kelsey says. “Whenever anything happens, he’s the person I run to, whenever I’m happy or I’m sad. [That’s when] I really miss my mom, but I know that I have my dad to lean on … I’m really thankful that he stepped up. He lost the love of his life, and he has five kids. I can’t imagine being so devastated, but you have all these people depending on you, and you just have to do your best and be there for them.”
Joey thinks Kelsey is a strong, brave woman and admires her character. He wants to meet her amazing dad, so he offers her the rose, and, of course, she accepts.
The Rose Ceremony
Going into the RC, there are six women, and two already have roses. That means two women will be leaving heartbroken.
“Nothing about tonight’s going to be easy,” says Joey.
The ladies walk down the sidewalk en masse. Kelsey A.’s wearing her grandma shoes again. I wonder if she has a foot problem or just worries about being too tall? Those white slides are not cute.
Here comes Jesse Palmer. It’s never good news when he shows up. He says there will be no cocktail party tonight. Joey knows what he wants to do.
What’s this? Maria grabs Jenn’s hand before Joey comes out, and Jenn says, “I love you.” Maria says, “I love you” back. When did this happen? I thought they were mortal enemies.
Joey enters the room and asks if he can chat with Maria for a second. Uh oh.
He says he felt confident about her coming into this week, but the last time he saw her she was on her way out. “I don’t want to be sitting here, begging you to stay. I want to feel confident that you want to be here.”
“My insecurities got the best of me,” she says. “But I want to be here, and I’m not running.”
He has a tough decision to make.
When they return, Joey picks up the first rose. The roses go to Rachel and — following Jesse’s obvious “final rose tonight” — Maria.
Kelsey T. and Jenn (despite her desperate group date kiss while everyone else was watching) are boarding the Loser Limos. Take a moment and say your goodbyes, ladies.
Next week, Hometowns!
The Bachelor Season 28 airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.
TELL US – DID YOU THINK JOEY WOULD LET MARIA GO? WHEN DID MARIA AND JENN BECOME FRIENDS?
