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    • Joan travels to Hometowns for Episode 6
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    Joan travels to Hometowns for Episode 6

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    After last week's shocking layoffs (including Mark “Hot Dad” Anderson), “The Golden Bachelorette” takes an emotional dive into “Hometown Dates” in Wednesday's episode 6 (streaming now on Hulu).

    Things get real when Joan Vassos, 61, meets the assembled families of the four remaining senior suitors, two of whom conveniently live near Chicago – salon owner Pascal, 69, and sales manager Jordan, 61. And often things get really awkward, like when Joan meets the family of 60-year-old Chock from Wichita, Kansas, at the memorial ceremony for his late mother.

    Viewer alert: ABC's reality dating show doesn't shy away from the must-see moments. Episode 6 even begins with Pascal's grinning, gap-toothed grandson asking Joan, “Did you kiss my grandpa?”

    Joan handles this – and pretty much every other sticky situation – flawlessly by being real.

    “Okay, I did,” Joan says, blushing and laughing, head in hand. “It’s embarrassing, I know.”

    It could have been much worse. Here's what happened.

    Spoiler warnings ahead! Stop reading if you don't want to know Joan's journey in Episode 6!

    What happened on “Golden Bachelorette”? Episode 5 looked like a “Golden Bachelor” coronation.

    Pascal brings va-va-voom and introduces a new feeling: restraint

    Like a Formula 1 driver, French-born Pascal storms straight to the top of the competition with a stunning, champagne-filled visit. He even takes Joan on a high-speed sports car ride through a leafy neighborhood, which no doubt led to viral NextDoor rants about speeders. But Joan loves it and everything about the elegant and handsome (but high-maintenance) Pascal. He's finally in the driver's seat, literally and figuratively. (Pascal grumbled as Joan drove the sports car on their first date.)

    His “Pascal pour Elle” salon is impressive, with enthusiastic employees who get right back to work when he claps his hands. Nevertheless, he brings out the champagne for Joan. His family is beautiful, and his only adoring son sports Johnny Depp's lost 21 Jump Street hairstyle. And the charcuterie board alone screams, “Marry me!”

    But Pascal begins to bring his emotional problems to the fore and explains that his supposed reticence is more than just Parisianness. He has put up “a little wall” after being hurt by a recent relationship. Joan begins to connect the dots. What if her dynamic French guy isn't that into her?

    Joan worries about what we all think; This could be a nightmarish repeat of the final debacle of Jenn Tran's Bachelorette: ““My biggest fear is that I will choose him and he won’t choose me too,” she tells Pascal’s daughter.

    Jordan opens up and gets “Golden Bachelorette” closure

    Jordan is also cautious for other reasons. He rightly feels that he has no chance with Joan. But the crosstown rival is going the party route, bringing in local favorites and making bold Chicago proclamations by calling Lou Malnati's the best deep-dish pizza. It's a kitschy, nostalgic choice, just like the “Chicago Handshake,” where you down Chicago Jeppsons Malört with an Old Style Lager.

    At home, Jordan's adorable family urges her father to open his heart to Joan. Don't ruin it, Dad, by being afraid. Joan encourages him to open up too as he sits on his porch in Chicago. OK, it opens! But their goodbye kiss says it all: Jordan opens his lips first to break away.

    Of course it's the end of the line. But Joan has a face-saving excuse: Jordan can't open up. “Time was not our friend,” Joan tells Jordan at the end of the episode.

    The guy shows the blue water of Lake Tahoe

    Emergency physician Guy, 66, showcases his hometown of Reno, Nevada, with a beautiful motorboat ride on nearby Lake Tahoe over choppy blue waters. As he talks to his sisters at home, Guy becomes emotional: “Never in a million years would it occur to me that I would say, 'I can love and be loved again'.”

    This echoes the disturbing news earlier this month that Guy's now ex-wife filed for a restraining order in 2021 after their divorce was finalized. His ex withdrew the request, and a judge denied the restraining order. His large family fully supports Guy in further developing the potential for new love. Joan is cool and uses terms like “sweet,” “good listener,” and “slow burn.” Guy still deserves a rose.

    Chock brings Joan to commemorate his mother, but he's talking about marriage

    There is no etiquette guide for meeting a potential life partner's family on television at his beloved mother's outdoor memorial service. This is groundbreaking in the truest sense of the word. Jill's death caused Chock to briefly leave the Bachelor Mansion in Episode 4. Somehow tearful speeches about the lost matriarch segue wildly into welcoming speeches to Joan. No amount of TV editing can make this bridge graceful. But Joan handles it all with poise and even bravely places a shovelful of dirt around Mom's memory tree.

    The father of Chock's late fiancée (who died in 2022) takes over the reality ship and lovingly tells Joan, “You're family if you want to be.” And Chock wants it more than one of his dream Chevy Camaros. The couple's greetings are louder than the cicadas and include mutual declarations of “I missed you.” Their long goodbye kisses will send the Wichita Chamber of Commerce into a frenzy. “I’m falling in love with you,” Chock says.

    “These are all things I want to hear,” Joan says.

    Chock even gives a romantic return kiss (which she returns) after leading Joan into the car.

    Who got a rose and travels to Tahiti for Fantasy Suites?

    Joan never looked more stunning at the rose ceremony in her sparkling burnt orange Randi Rahm dress and dena Kemp dangling diamond earrings. Pascal wears a black suit and smiles like the cat about to get the rose. He does. Josh and Chock accept theirs too. Roseless Jordan looks heartbroken, but Joan walks him to his SUV.

    She comes back ready to party. Next stop: the South Pacific island of Tahiti for Fantasy Suites. “French is spoken there,” announces Pascal. Already thinking about the big prize, Chock predicts, “Joan better say yes to my proposal.”

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    Kathleen William
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