'The Bachelorette' Season 7, Episode 8 Recap - 'Meet The Parents'

“True love endures.” Deep down, we all know that much is true.

Unfortunately, “The Bachelorette” narrowed down to the final four contestants vying for Ashley Hebert’s hand, and this week showed that whatever there’s been between Ames and Ashley just couldn’t go the distance. The Most Interesting Man In The World – at least, the most interesting of all the men with foreheads that could bust a coconut – went home this week. That means that in two scant weeks, it’ll be some duo combination of Constantine, Ben F. and J.P. standing with Ashley on a Fijian beach awaiting one last rose.

Ames fails from the little farming community of Chadd’s Ford, PA, and city-slickerette Ashley surprisingly feels instantly at home with his sister Serena, her husband Randy, his brother Jim, his wife Tracy, Ames nieces and nephews, and his mother Jane. Mom can see immediately how taken he is, but Serena is looking to see if she’s got that same spark and takes Ashley aside.

She tells Ashley that she can see the love for her on her brother’s face. Ashley tells her that their relationship is moving slower than others, but she sees some great things in him and definitely feels something for him. “I’m not ready to stop learning about him. He’s like an onion.”

Serena tells him he’s very romantic at heart, but Ashley says that she’s still waiting to see that side of him and feel that spark.

Jane tells her that Ames lost his father at Age 10, and later also lost his stepfather to cancer. Both shaped his intellectual side and his yearn for travel, Jane says, and Ashley is relieved to know that he can have a positive outlook in the wake of loss like that. Ultimately, Jane tells her, you won’t find anyone with a bad word to say about him.

Still, Jane just isn’t sure Ashley has that spark for her boy.

Picnic Time

Ames, meanwhile, has just one more surprise in store: a picnic under his favorite blooming magnolia tree. He opens up to her about how being a poor student in high school and pretty unpopular had him bound for boarding school, and how it shaped him. Ashley tells him that the thing she loves most about him is his ability to turn anything into something positive and beautiful, and that he’s set himself apart from any other man she’s met.

Ashley tells us that knowing first-hand how meeting the folks really makes the whole experience feel complete puts a lot of importance on this week’s four big dates. Before Ames could seal his fate, Ashley started off “Insecurity In The U.S.A.” Summer Tour in little Cumming, GA, to meet the good people who brought Tall, Dark and Handsome Wonder-Twin No. 1 Constantine into the world. Constantine himself couldn’t have asked for better than watching a love lantern carry his and Ashley’s wishes into the Taipei night sky. Still, he admits, even he wasn’t so sure he’d be coming home with a fine lady upon his arms.

Or Ashley, for that matter. But love is a hungry thing, so they’re off to his family’s Giorgio’s Italian Restaurant for some lunch on a cloudy day. She’s both taken and a little hot-and-bothered by Constantine’s tall-walking presence among the wait staff giving him a hero’s welcome once the two have a foot in the door. The pair yuck it up and Constantine charms the pants off Ashley while they make up a pizza and a couple salads, and she’s instantly charmed by how at-ease he is in his element.

Back home, it’s a banner and balloons as Constantine’s sister Maria, father Demetri and mother Lenny await in excitement, but Dad can read Constantine’s happiness like a book. Likewise, Ashley also likes the closeness and joy she sees. Maria’s just glad that for as long as her brother’s been gone, he’s coming home happy.

And Lenny?

“In the real world, it’s difference,” she says. She thinks they need a lot more time than what they’ve spent seeing sights abroad that some may never see in a lifetime. She takes Ashley aside and is glad when Ashley tells her that if being with Constantine means moving to Cumming, then she’s got Georgia on her mind.

Constantine tells her dad that he’s gone farther in this journey than he ever expected, but that he wants his family to not hold back with their concerns. Demetri tells him “If it happens, it happens. If it’s there, it’s there,” but knows that time will tell the strength of their love.

Ben’s excited with how his relationship with Ashley is progressing, and even more excited to introduce her to his Sonoma, CA family. He starts her off with a stroll through rolling green hills to where he makes his wines, and Ashley tells us that she’s taken with his sophistication – well, that, and probably that he’s taking Ashley on a wine-tasting picnic on the estate.

Ben tells us that for as emotionally guarded as he’s been since his father’s death, he hasn’t brought many women home to meet his mother – only one other one has made the trip, in fact. That makes Ashley a little nervous, but flattered that she has that honor. She’ll also be meeting Ben’s sister, who’s visiting from San Francisco. Still, Ben drives home the point that if the family doesn’t like her, this could be it for them.

Over lunch, Ashley tells them that she noticed Ben immediately – and that with that hair, she couldn’t have avoided him. And along the way, Ben says, he’s opened up more emotionally than he has in a long while. Still, Sis is skeptical – and protective.

The two chat privately, and Ben explains that everything feels effortless between them. He can come out with more feelings to her than he has with anyone in six years, he says. Yes, he tells her, he’s fallen for her. And yes, he could absolutely see himself popping the question. The new openness intrigues his sister, and she seems to think that can only mean Ashley’s been a good thing.

Meanwhile, Ashley and Mom chat it up over Ben’s younger pictures. Ben later tells her that this whole experience has been an eye-opener the whole way around, especially in terms of helping him confront the way he now sees he should’ve coped with losing his father so long ago. Ultimately, the trip and the impact the family sees that Ashley has had on Ben seemingly cements Ben as a shoe-in to be one more Rose Ceremony away from the Grand Finale in Fiji.

Batting clean-up, it’s J.P.’s time back home in Long Island, NY. His mother is admittedly more than a little protective, because not only is it her boy, after all, but it’s her boy who’s had his heart broken before. Ashley admittedly doesn’t care what she’s doing with J.P. on their date, just as long as she’s with him, but J.P. says he has a surprise . . .

One rented-out roller rink and two pairs of rollerskates . . . disco-ball and all. And Foreigner.

Ashley says with delight that she feels like she’s back in seventh grade. So, what, last Tuesday then?

So since they can’t fight this feeling anymooooore, off they go a-twirling around the rink, clumsiness on four not-in-line wheels and all. Over lunch, J.P. tells her that she’ll be meeting his mother Eileen, father Peter, brother Roy and his girlfriend Andrea. “They are my world. I’ve probably only taken home four girls to meet my family,” he confesses to her.  “The last one didn’t turn out so well. It turned out well bringing her home, but it went terribly in the end.” J.P. explains that her actions always gave him reason for doubt. When Ashley asks him, though, J.P. tells her that he’s 100-percent certain about the two of them.

Ashley wants to know how he can be so sure about them. J.P. explains that it’s the high when he’s with her, versus the lows he feels when he’s not.

“At the end of all this, someone’s heart’s going to get broken. But unless I put myself out there and expose my vulnerability . . . there’s no way this can work,” he explains. But he knows that the reward outweighs the risk.

Home Sweet Home

They’re off to his home, a beautiful house in Roslyn, NY. There are hugs all around, like Ashley’s been part of the family all along. Roy’s surprised at how J.P. has fallen so fast, but he and Eileen are both more than a little concerned about his vulnerability.

Eileen, first and foremost, tells him that Ashley’s terrific but that she wants to know what guarantees this won’t end up like before. J.P. tells her that he doesn’t want to ever feel that way again, but that he has to open himself up if it’s to happen – and he is, indeed, in love with her, even though he’s having a hard time admitting it.

It’s then time for Ashley’s own grilling. Eileen tells her very flatly that it was hard seeing his heart broken before. She wants her reassurance that Ashley won’t be giving them an encore after all the other men she’s had to pick from along the way. Ashley tells Eileen she’s OK being put on the spot. She’s learned on this journey that she’s got to use her gut and her head equally, and that she’s truly smitten by him. After their conversation, Eileen swears she sees a spark in Ashley – and that’s a very good sign.

But later, it’s time to dole out some roses – and in the end, Ames is the only left without some petals. Give him credit, a trace of a smile never leaves his face nor the light from his eyes until he’s in his limo.

“I’ve fallen in love with somebody who clearly didn’t fall in love with me back,” he said. “I just wonder what it was. I was excited to see what was going to happen between the two of us next. And it’s something I’ve never going to get to know.”

Back at the mansion, the last three share a champagne toast to journeying to Fiji for the final two weeks, and we’re out again.