The Bachelor Hometown Dates

One girl left sobbing, and then there were three.

So Ben met the families of the final four women on visits to their hometowns.

Lindzi's date with Ben in Florida was all about her horses, including hitching up carriages so she and Ben could race around a track against her parents! She has a great family and Ben even mentioned that he could use a father-in-law like that to fill the void left by the death of his own dad.

Next Ben went to see Kacie in Tennessee where she greeted him with, literally, a marching band and her own baton twirling. But you could see the writing on the wall when he met her parents. Very old-fashioned, strict parents who don't even drink.......and Ben owns a winery. Not necessarily a good match. And then her mom tells him she doesn't want her daughter moving in with him unless they are married. You could just see Ben cringe. But then I think Kacie's dad put the final nail in the coffin by asking Ben to let her go right away if he wasn't sure he would choose her.

For Ben's third hometown date, he met Nicki in Texas and they had a great time. Nicki was never on my radar for Ben until recently. She is a really great girl (but then again so is Lindzi and I don't think he has eyes for anyone but Courtney.) But Ben loved Texas (and got himself cowboy boots and a cowboy hat to strut around in) and really enjoyed Nicki and her family.

Finally, it was Courtney's turn. The bad-girl model was at home in Arizona with her family (and her crazy-cool dad!) lamenting over the way she treated the other girls and seeming to have a revelation that she wanted to turn into a nice girl and profess her love for Ben.....with a fake wedding to him! And sure enough they went through with it. Alas, Ben fell for her a long time ago and I'm pretty sure he made up his mind long ago that she will be THE ONE for him. (Although ABC is trying to tease us in the previews for next week to make it look like there's a shot he'll change his mind about her.)

In the end, Ben sent Kacie home. At first she handled it gracefully, telling him not to feel bad, but she totally lost it in the limo. I'm talking wailing and freaking out. Poor girl. Even though Ben was raving mad and upset when he got dumped last season, he doesn't seem to show any of that compassion when dumping girls that have so obvioulsy fallen in love with him.

Such is life. On a reality love show.