In this episode, the four farmers took one lucky lady on the final solo date of the season. Then the farmers had to narrow it down to their final two women whose families they will meet in the coming episodes.
Each week, members of our Lancaster Farming news team tune in to provide our commentary and insights.
In case you missed it last week, our very own Rebecca Schweitzer became a wife! While she is enjoying her time off with her new husband, Ryan, Phil Gruber has stepped in to watch the show on her behalf. Thanks for your service, Phil!
Cringiest Moment
Candice Wierzbowski, digital content manager: Melody proclaiming that if she wants a baby, she’ll get one made me recoil. Ty, you better watch yourself. Any woman who’s that assured that she’s going to get a baby out of you is one you have to keep your eye on.
Karen Lefever, paginator: For some reason, the cringiest moment for me this week was when they showed Mitchell’s ladies in the morning cooking breakfast and all they were all wearing camouflage t-shirts. I just thought that felt very weird. They kind of looked like they were Mitchell’s workers. I just can’t find the words, but if just didn’t feel right to me. Be an individual, lady!
Stephanie Speicher, social media editor: The women on Mitchell’s farm wearing teenie tiny jean shorts and crop tops to tag cattle made me roll my eyes. How about you wear something a little more substantial for farm work?
Phil Gruber, print content manager: It was revealing, if not awkward, that Brandon and Joy had different ideas of married life. He wanted to share responsibility at home and have the woman have her own career, while Joy said she wanted to stay at home and be treated like a princess. That was a little strange given her indication last week that she wouldn’t mind being in town shopping, and it’s hard to imagine a farm spouse having the luxury to sit on a throne of languor.
Kelly Thomas, food and families section editor: Anytime Joy says anything it’s cringeworthy. Brandon, you deserve better.
Favorite Date
Candice: I love a pontoon boat ride, so I’m giving this one to Nathan, who clearly loves to look at large bodies of water while holding deep conversations. Bonus points for the heart-shaped but ultimately pointless rafts the producers obviously tacked onto the boat to make it more festive.
Karen: Wow, I think all the men stepped up this week. Most did very romantic things. I loved Ty’s date on the horse-drawn carriage. Who wouldn’t like that? And Nathan, he stepped up his game. A pontoon ride for fishing and then candlelight dinner on the beach. Very nice. Mitchell went to a winery. All of those dates are things that I would love to do in normal life. And Brandon, I thought it was really nice to go to the family cabin and get some nice one-on-one time. But I thought Joy was trying way too hard — and I was right.
Stephanie: I actually liked all of the dates this week, but I’m going with Nathan’s for my favorite. I love fishing and being out on the water, and dinner under a starry sky sounds pretty perfect to me.
Phil: Most of the dates were simple, with two of the couples just sitting together drinking. I hate to give credit to the unrealistic set dressing for Nathan and Allye (who goes boating with heart-shaped inner tubes?), but it was the most elaborate.
Kelly: I had zero favorite dates this week. Mainly because I didn’t feel any of them were with the person I feel the farmers will end up with. The fact that Mitchell sent Kiana packing and Joy left Brandon confirms my suspicions.
Funniest Moment
Candice: It was a small moment, but seeing all the women at Mitchell’s farm eating breakfast wearing matching camo shirts made me laugh. Dress for the job (or man) you want, I guess.
Karen: No really funny moments for me. But if I would have to choose one, it would be the women on Mitchell’s farm trying to tag the cows’ ears. First off, can I say, Mitchell is really doing a good job in trying to start this farm. He enlisted a local man from the farming community to mentor him and teach him. Sydney got right in there and was excited. When she tagged the cow, her response was “smoked that.” Kiana’s on the other hand was “sorry.” And then Kait just had a very hard time and the cow would not cooperate.
Stephanie: What should have been a relatively serious moment in Joy’s departure had me laughing watching Brandon almost struggle a little to load up all her suitcases. I feel like the show really took its time showing how much luggage she brought with her. Maybe they were trying to insinuate she comes with baggage?
Phil: Those dogs really wanted to be there for the emotional moments. Mitchell’s dog was on hand for his talks with Kait and Kiana, and Nathan’s dog’s noisy breathing was audible while Makenzie was talking about her dad’s illness. Still, a good dog likes to be with its people in those situations.
Kelly: Watching Brandon struggle with all of Joy’s luggage. One of those suitcases probably contained all her makeup and the other was most likely empty like her soul. She probably didn’t want Brandon to meet her family because they are robots.
Any Shockers?
Candice: I was shocked by how Joy left. One moment she’s sitting around, fantasizing about being Brandon’s stay-at-home farm wife who gets treated like a princess — which, by the way, makes me think she has no idea what it’s actually like to be a farm wife — and the next she’s saying she doesn’t think she and Brandon would ever work. Brandon was right to be confused, but ultimately he should be relieved. He dodged a bullet with Joy.
Karen: Well, there were two for me. Of course, the first one was when Makenzie had to go home again because her father is not doing well. It broke my heart. Where is the “any tears shed” question when you need it? I felt so bad for her. I hope her dad is OK. And Nathan saying she might have been the one — I guess we will never know. But hello, Joy, you are a piece of work. She switches it on and off like a water faucet. Poor Brandon. He has been duped and I honestly feel that Reba was right all along. I think Joy was playing her part the whole time. She did what she needed to do at the right time for him to keep her around. I mean, I do respect that she has only ever brought one guy home to her family and that it was because she was in love with him and she wasn’t at that point with Brandon, but come on, you know that is part of this show. All I can say is goodbye and finally Brandon can move on with one of the other women. Grace seems so genuine and really wants to be there. I hope he makes the right choice.
Stephanie: We are 10 episodes in and this sappy water sign finally shed some tears! That’s a bit of a shock since my eyes were dry the entire season so far. Too bad we got rid of the “any tears shed” question. It was Makenzie’s departure that finally caused a few tears to fall. I really feel for her as her dad struggles with health issues. And her goodbyes with Nathan along with Taylor and Allye really got me in my feels.
Phil: Joy going home. Brandon was clearly taken with her. But I don’t think he could have gone wrong with any of his three women.
Kelly: I didn’t think Mitchell would ask Kiana to leave. Although his mom likes Kait, I felt she forced a kiss on Mitchell when she pulled him aside. While family opinions should count for something, you should always go with your heart.
Favorite Couple
Candice: It didn’t seem like any of the couples made any real headway this week, so I’ll stick with my old standby: Ty and Megan.
Karen: I don’t have one from this episode. Nothing really stuck out for me.
Stephanie: We didn’t see much of them this week, but I really think Brandon and Grace have a lot of potential.
Phil: Nathan and Allye have a genuine rapport. Mitchell and Sydney seem to get along well.
Kelly: Since I didn’t see Nathan and Taylor interact much this week, I’ll go with Mitchell and Sydney. She’s fun and feisty and willing to fight for Mitchell, which is apparently exactly what he needs.
Favorite Farmer
Candice: I’m going to join the Nathan fan club this week. He was very cute when he was talking about how he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to be an astronaut or a cowboy when he grew up.
Karen: Ty! I just really like how he talks and respects the women. And his smile. It gets me all the time. I wonder what he thought about Melody’s answer to having children. She said if she changes her mind that he will give her a baby because she always gets what she wants. Um, really?
Stephanie: Any guesses? Yep, it’s still Nathan. I think he’s really come out of his shell personality-wise, and I really like how sweet and genuine he is with his women. Plus, he looked really good on that boat this week.
Phil: Honestly, I didn’t pay that much attention to the farmers. The women are really the stars of the show.
Kelly: Still Nathan, even though he seems to be pretty wishy-washy with his two remaining women. So much of this episode felt incredibly forced.
Final Thoughts
Candice: I appreciate that Mitchell has been vocal about wanting to be pursued. It’s something that I don’t think gets talked about enough. Of course men want to feel desired and worthy of attention. Relationships require communication from both parties, and part of that means letting your partner know you want them.
Karen: Like I said above, I think all the dates were nice this week. And that the guys really seemed to step it up a little bit. As for next week, I always like the hometown episodes. You get to meet the women’s families and see how the guys will fit in and get some good questions answered.
Stephanie: While part of me questions a lot of Joy’s actions this episode (especially her declaring she wants to stay home and be treated like a princess, ew) I do understand where she’s coming from in not being ready to take Brandon home to meet her parents. As someone who is active in the dating world, I truly couldn’t tell you the last guy I took home to meet my parents. I would have to be pretty sure of a guy before we get to that step, so I do see her perspective there. But on the other hand, I kind of feel like she should have known that this is part of the show she signed up for. On another note, I know I’ve been quite critical of Mitchell over the course of Season 2, but I do think he’s been showing some emotional maturity these past couple episodes, and I appreciate that.
Phil: Since I have run out of thoughts on the dating part of the show, I’ll go with the landscape. I could see Nathan and Brandon having a conversation about soil moisture. It’s an important topic to farmers, and the difference between swampy Florida and semiarid Colorado was obvious in this episode.
Kelly: It will be interesting to see the farmers out of their element next week. I am picturing a city mouse/country mouse situation where it’s now the farmers turn to feel out of place.