Bachelor Blowup: One Woman Self-Implodes as Final Four Bring Joey Home

That's been an issue with multiple women so far this season, though it's an understandable defense mechanisms. At the same time, Joey has been withholding some of his own expressions of how he feels because there are still four women left.

It's hard, though, to expect these women to pour their hearts out and share that they're either falling or are fully in love with you when you know you aren't going to fully reciprocate verbally, even if you do emotionally. Love is complicated enough, but this show makes it ridiculous.

As always, it is fun to see which families step up and bring good entertainment, and which ones kind of fade into the background. Interestingly, it was Kelsey Anderson's family who turned out to be as quiet and unassuming as she is.

Kelsey has had hardly any edit this season, and her Hometown visit was wrapped up in one segment. Maybe it's because there's really nothing all that different about her family from what Joey would be used to, meaning there was less to share.

Rachel Nance brought her Filipino heritage to the fore with her traditional family and cultural experiences a huge part of who she is and how her family welcomed Joey. Daisy has been through so much with her health that this was a huge factor in that visit. And then there's Maria, with that music playing underneath every scene with her father.

"She's never brought home a guy. I've never seen Maria affectionate with a guy," he said. "If she gets hurt, it would be a problem for Joey."

No pressure, big fella!

Here's another reason Kelsey might have gotten short shrift in the edit. She fully gets the process. "At the end of the day, if it's not me, I know I tried," she said.

Kelsey knows how this show works, she knows what she signed up for and she's still fully invested in it. Her family was also extremely supportive and more understanding than most about their being other people.

"I think the man deserving of Kelsey is one that she picks," said her father, Mark. As for Joey, he assured him that he was holding back expressing his feelings because he's trying to be aware of Kelsey's heart.

It was all very wholesome and warm. Great for Joey and Kelsey. Terrible for TV.

Rachel's hometown visit was also pretty wholesome, but it was also more culturally distinct, so there was a lot more going on. We had Joey eating a pig's ear as the suitor, after all! And performing a traditional Filipino greeting with Rachel's mother.

This kind of cultural representation matters, not just for Joey and his possible future with Rachel, but for all of the show's viewers. We need to see things like this in our popular shows to build tolerance and understanding, so we're glad The Bachelor gave this segment some room to breathe.

Rachel was also in need of her family's blessing before she was willing to open up her heart, but it was hard for them considering their more traditional views of marriage. This show is anything but that!

"If it doesn't happen the way you want it to happen, even keel. Don't get too high or too low," her father Hakim told her. To Joey, Rachel's mom Noela said, "She's at a place where we told her, 'Don't settle.'"

They were adamant that Rachel needs to make sure that as much as Joey might choose her at the end of this, she also needs to be sure she's choosing him. It was again all very wholesome.

Daisy was upfront with Joey that she was holding back her feelings pending seeing how he is with her family. This was her support system through all those years that she was sick and ultimately lost her hearing, so it's understandable why it means so much to me.

It wasn't even all that long ago that she got her cochlear implant. In fact, during the visit, Daisy realized that this moment was the first time since getting it that her brother's voice sounded like the voice she remembered.

Her mom Julie picked up on it immediately, saying, ""I feel like Joey truly does love her. But it just seems like she is not being vulnerable to the full extent. So she will have to get there if they end up going any further."

"I just worry that I'm not going to be able to express it and show it and then I'm gonna lose him," Daisy told her mom, while her dad Brandon told her, "If you really want it to work, you're gonna have to see if you can get past that. If you think you're falling in love with him I think it's a no-brainer."

They could see it, even if she was afraid to admit it. "It's not like you're gonna lose your hearing over it," Brandon joked to his daughter. "It's only love. So you're gonna have to decide if it's worth taking the risk."

Daisy was ultimately able to take down her walls and tell Joey that she was falling for him, which is exactly what he was needing to hear. But is she still the front-runner? One moment has us a little uncertain.

Daisy was the only woman on the night to talk about what it might be if she didn't win Joey's heart, and how she would be okay because of what she'd already gained from this experience.

"This whole experience has honestly changed my perspective and my outlook on life, and that's completely because of him and how he's looked at me and treated me," she said. "Even if it's not us at the end, which I hope it is, I'm gonna have that forever."

That means she's more open now than ever before to the possibility of finding love. Is she still getting a winner's edit, or is this a last-minute pivot to a Bachelorette edit?

Sitting at the head of the table, Maria's dad Nick certainly seemed to be a domineering presence. And with that Don Corleone music playing beneath every scene, we were holding our breath as "daddy's girl" brought home the first guy ever.

Before they even got that far, though, Joey expressed what we're all feeling. Maria almost bolted from the show over her insecurities about other women. Yes, she was protecting her heart, but she was also taking the easy way out and that's not great for any relationship.

"You having fears doesn't scare me," Joey told her. "It was the choice you were about to make. I want to have zero doubts walking into that house that you want to be here with me and you can see a future at the end of this. I just want to feel confident."

This was his struggle throughout, even as he sat down with her father, who did lay it on a bit heavy. "If you're telling me I'm falling for her, and you're telling the other three girls you're falling for them, to me that doesn't mean anything," Nick told Joey. "It's hard for me right now because I don't know where you stand."

As he's proven over and over again, Joey is very good with his words and he's playing with as much integrity and honesty as he can. As such, he knows Maria has her guard up, as does her father.

He also, like he did with Rachel's father, asked for Nick's blessing should it be Maria in the end. Nick echoed the sentiment that it was key that Maria choose him, but if she did, he'd give his blessing.

The problem was with Maria. She admitted in a confessional that she was falling for Joey. During their final moments, though, she choked.

""I want you to know I feel very strong about you. It continues to grow and that's for sure," Maria said, before pausing and ending lamely with, "Um, I appreciate you being here."

She regretted it immediately.

Maria had a startling realization as she was preparing for the Rose Ceremony and expressing her regrets that she didn't tell Joey how she really felt. "I still have time," she said, before realizing. "Oh no, I don't, 'cause if he doesn't give me the rose, I'm screwed!"

That's why she pulled Joey aside and finally told him how she felt. When she returned to the lineup, though, she couldn't bring herself to tell the other ladies what that was all about ... and it didn't really matter anyway.

Joey's biggest fear is that the woman he chooses won't choose him in the end. Maria's growing doubts and hesitation in comparison to three women who are leaning in to be vulnerable and real with him? Well, it's really no surprise he didn't choose Maria.

"I told Joey I'm falling in love with him. If that's not enough for him, what more can I give him?" Maria said from the limo. It sounded again like her trying to protect her heart by placing the blame on him solely, but she ultimately relented and acknowledged her own role.

""I should have told him how I felt much sooner than I did and that's my biggest regret," she admitted.

Now, Maria is someone we thought was in the mix for Bachelorette, but we're not sure the show would want to bank on someone who just doesn't seem ready to commit to a relationship. She is still too driven by impulsive, emotional reactions that she then regrets.

That leaves our Final 3 and maybe someone like Kelsey Toussant or Jenn Tran or even Katelyn DeBacker -- but we didn't really get into their minds as much. In fact, we haven't gotten into Kelsey's mind much, either. We'll just have to see how it all plays out.

The Bachelor moves into Fantasy Suites next Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.