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Ah, the hometown date episode.  We could learn a lot from how many segments each hometown date got (Jesse and Graham got one each, Jeremy and Jason got two each), but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

We began with Jesse in his hometown of Breckenridge, Colorado.  I couldn’t tell with all the guys if the “hometown” was where they live now, or where they grew up, but I could wager a few guesses.  Jesse’s hometown seemed to be both – he grew up there, it’s where his family still lives, and it’s where he lives as an “adult.”  First, he took her on a snowboarding lesson which she apparently nailed.  Much was made of how she was “out of her element,” while he was in his (as opposed to the opposite heretofore) and how great that was, but it made me wonder why they think they have anything in common.

Jesse’s parents were absolutely adorable.  His dad came in with a goofy hat that made him look like he had hideous long hair (DeAnna probably got an ugly glimpse of the future for a split second), and both parents separately told DeAnna what a gift Jesse was since he came along right after they’d given up trying to have children.  Jesse had a private talk with his father in which he declared he wouldn’t be ready to get married “in two weeks,” though the premise of the show kind of asks him to be ready for just that.  Later when they had a private date on a horse-drawn carriage (“Have you ever been in a horse-drawn carriage before?” “Um… can I say no?”), he finally kissed her.

The next hometown date was with Jeremy in Dallas, Texas.  With this one I got the impression that he hadn’t grown up there, and I couldn’t tell if the brothers who came to visit lived in town or were visiting from away.  At any rate, the date began with a motorcycle ride through the city, about which DeAnna suspected he might’ve been trying to sell her on Dallas.  Then he showed her around his perfect apartment, she met his perfect dog (!), and later met his perfect family.  But first they sat with a photo album as he shared his childhood and stories of his mother.  Then, in what might’ve been a sweet move if it hadn’t been on national television, he read aloud to her from the journal he wrote during his mother’s last days.  She cried (of course), and I couldn’t help cynically thinking that they may have no other real connection.  And if I’m being really honest, I was distracted during this whole date by that amazing dog… he was so calm!  I’m sorry, but if there were a camera crew in my apartment, my boxer would be bouncing around losing her mind (and so would most boxers I’ve met – they’re nutjobs!).  I was incredibly jealous, and appreciated it later when DeAnna actually did refer to Kino (?) as a “perfect dog.”

After a wildly uncomfortable scene in which Jeremy’s brother sits stroking a baseball bat that was positioned between his legs (!), the brothers “grill” DeAnna.  Apparently they’re protective of him because the last woman to break his heart was his mother.  Which is sweet, but their brother did just go on a reality dating show and speak on national television about their private family tragedy and grief. 

I’ll throw in here that I never though Jeremy was especially attractive before, but he’s actually kind of hot – when he’s not suited up.

Next, DeAnna dashes off to Seattle, Washington, hometown of Jason.  She is apparently not familiar with the Space Needle, and they eat lunch there.  They both want three kids!  She wants them by 30 (she better hurry)!  Then they stage a cheesy scene in which Jason and his adorable son Ty run toward each other with open arms underscored by swelling music.  DeAnna gives Ty a golf ball as a gift – Ty looked appropriately unimpressed.  They hang out with ducks and then meet the rest of his family in the second segment.  Jason’s family is very festive and sweet, and he tells everyone that the most important thing to him is what he calls, “the sparkle of life.”  The sparkle, eh?  Then when DeAnna says some sweet words to the family, in my broadcast a thunderstorm warning came along and I thought they were bleeping her – wouldn’t that be awesome if DeAnna starting laying down some MFs in the middle of a toast?  Good stuff.  Then in the various one-on-ones, Jason’s family aptly question DeAnna’s willingness to become a stepmother (after knowing some dude for 6 weeks or however long it is), and she essentially avoids truly answering these questions.  Jason’s mother tells him, awkwardly, “I want you to have that openness in your heart that is not… closed,” and I found that Jason looked like he was trying not to laugh very endearing.  More endearing was that both he and his son cried when they had to say goodbye to each other (and DeAnna followed suit), making me more than a little worried that she’d drop him out of guilt for making him spend time away from his son (especially because there’s no way she’ll pick him).

Then we’re off to Graham’s hometown, Raleigh, North Carolina.  I was a little bummed since he’s a New Yorker and they could do some fun stuff there, but they went the route of childhood-home.  She jumped up and down a lot when she first saw him, and they shot some hoops and had a picnic in his former high school gym.  She finds him to be talkative and completely different, and she’s really psyched about it.  The whole thing is a little weird since he’s not actually a pro basketball player but in fact runs some athletic and sportswear non-profits in the city for disadvantaged youth as well as occasionally modeling.  They love to give these guys sob stories, so it seems like they could’ve really capitalized on how injuries ended his basketball career and now he does charity work for children.  Instead, Graham comes off like the pro sports jerk that doesn’t have relationships because he can have any woman he wants.  And he can.  He is crazy-hot and clearly wealthy.  His parents are sweet but they don’t help matters much when his mother tells DeAnna that Graham doesn’t let people in and is a loner.  DeAnna explains that she thinks she’s falling for Graham more than he’s falling for her, and Mom can say absolutely nothing to contradict that.

After the meet-the-parents, they go outside and sit on a bench in silence.  She asks him what he’s thinking, clearly dying to have him confess something huge to her, but he does not.  She tries again, a few times.  She asks if something’s wrong.  “No.”  Silence.  She explains again that she really needs someone to open up to her, and he tells her, “Well, this is just me.”  Finally getting the hint that he’s not about to declare anything to her, she says something about she loves that she’s totally comfortable just sitting in silence with him, which could not possibly be farther from the truth.  Awkward.  As a teenager, I dated many guys like this and always assumed I was madly in love.  I am glad to be a grown-up now and to know better.

They get into the rose ceremony pretty quickly, and she gives roses to (in this order): Jesse, Jeremy, Jason.  Since it was only 9:52 by the end of the rose ceremony, you just knew there was drama to come, and there sure was.

In another awkward scene-on-a-bench between DeAnna and Graham, she makes him sit and listen to all the reasons she didn’t choose him.  He gives her curt answers and it’s difficult to tell whether he’s mad about being rejected or just wants to get the heck out of there.  The more she goes on, the more he looks like he’s trying desperately not to laugh.  I kind of doubt she’d be allowed to retract a decision because of the show’s format, but she did seem to be playing some sort of game – reject him and see if that makes him “open up.”  It didn’t work.  He wrote her a letter that he gives her just as he leaves and looks sincerely sad in the limo.  She reads it and says she’s second-guessing her decision and may have just let her chance at love go.  I don’t know if they’ll ever reveal what was in the letter, but it was the first time they didn’t just look like they were playing the cool guy/ pretty girl high-school games back and forth with each other.  Then again, writing a letter just as he thought she might be about to lose interest isn’t so out of step with those games.

Who knows.  We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, and we don’t really know who these people are or how they normally live.  Thoughts?  Who do you predict she’ll eliminate next week?  Do you think the extra-segment devoted to Jason and Jeremy is an indicator of anything about the final two?  Do you think she made the right choice about Graham and that he wasn’t really into it?