Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 8 Here we were, all excited for hometowns, and the show drops a Men Tell All on us. But hey, we're not complaining. It was, by far, the best Men Tell All ever seen on The Bachelorette franchise. The bromances were plentiful and palpable. We were able to pepper in added context from Us Weekly's exclusive look behind the scenes. And, even better yet, we got to see the most obvious plant in Bachelor Nation history.

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S8E8 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 8

Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 7 The week before hometowns can be dramatic or completely predictable. This one felt like it was sort of in the middle. In this week's episode, we are left to wonder the art Blake made. We are left to wonder what might have happened if Katie chased after Andrew and said something different. We both have different predictions about who will win the whole thing. Enjoy all that, plus a cameo from Sammi's dog and mom.

S8E7 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 7

Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie ThurstonE – Episode 6 Even though it's painfully predictable, it never gets easier. There's always a time in the season when our favorites (Sammi's especially) get exit the show. However, we do have a few to look forward to in Paradise, with hopefully more announcements to come. We talk about the unseen potential of the drag queen date, how similar Conner is to Sammi (we love ya buddy), and who we think is in the top 4, no matter what Hunter thinks.

S8E6 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 6

Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 5 What happens when you run out of villains and you're only 5 weeks in? Make one of Hunter, someone who is doing all of the normal things that contestants do in former years, but in the context of this very rule-following crew, it flies in the face of all of their social norms. We get to see another competition where the men are wearing next to nothing, get a couple cute one-on-one dates, and previews with lots of crying. We get it, Bachelor. We're hooked already.

S8E5 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 5

Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 4 It's that point in the season where we start to solidify our strong opinions (and quietly do away with the other stuff) - Sammi will forever stan Tre and Aaron, and Steve takes the oh-so-bold choice to try to understand Thomas (ew). We talk a bit about the Blake drama, the upcoming episodes, other news in Bachelor Nation, and the uselessness of our former host.

S8E4 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 4

Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 3 This has shaped up to be quite the palate cleanser of a season. The men are joining forces to rid the season of the toxic, phony men. We have a nice mix of outspoken contestants - the blunt one (Aaron), the expressive one (Justin), the soft-spoken one (Conner), the mediator (Hunter? didn't see that coming), and the comic relief (Tre). The men are doing a great job going to bat for one another and in support of Katie. You love to see it.

S8E3 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 3

Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 2 This episode really had everything: Safer-than-usual mud wrestling, a virgin competing in a "best lover" contest, and Karl, one of the most annoying contestants who ever existed. Sammi is still gushing over Tre, gossip and speculation are shared about Mike and Greg, and we close out Week 2 like we always do with early days - our favorites could change at any time. The heroes could become villains and vice versa. We love it!

S8E2 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston – Episode 2

Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston - Episode 1 After the year we had, we all deserve the next two Bachelorettes we'll get to see wind their way through eligible bachelors. Katie Thurston is helping us start off the new season with a bang of "Mostly 10s" we guess? We talk about some of the unusual bios ABC decided to include on Facebook, some early favorites (and not-so-favorites), and Sammi declares justice for Marty!!

S8E1 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelorette Katie Thurston - Episode 1

Ice Scream Sunday - Swimfan Picture it: A mall in 2002. High School Sammi attends a movie with her friends called Swimfan. She is scandalized! How did she get to watch this steamy PG-13 movie? And this starts her obsession with thrillers, horror movies, and all other psychological cinematic masterpieces. Unfortunately, Swimfan is far from a masterpiece. Not as nuanced and complex as Fatal Attraction, not as sympathetic of a character, but still, fun to dip into for nostalgia's sake. Little did Sammi know, almost 20 years later, she would be lamenting the severe lack of Jason Ritter in most scenes, and marvel at the career development for Shiri Appleby and Erika Christensen. Oh, also, my bad - I say "Portrait" instead of "Picture" for The Picture of Dorian Gray - I hope you'll forgive my literary transgression, and on the topic, here's an article referencing what I was talking about - "How Gay Was Dorian Gray?"

S1E12 - Ice Scream Sunday: Swimfan

Ice Scream Sunday: Fatal Attraction What I wish I could do here is share Mandi's copious notes as screenshots because, believe me, they were SO GOOD. But I guess you'll have to listen to this episode instead. Here's that custom orthotics commercial I was talking about.

S1E11 - Ice Scream Sunday: Fatal Attraction

Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 11 So the finale was really quite something...but mostly nothing. But the After the Final Rose, that's where things really kicked off! I'll let us do the talking, but some resources I mention include: Khadija Mbowe and #Instagramface @accordingtoweeze and grills Khadija Mbowe and the Meghan & Harry interview 

S7E11 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 11 * A

Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 10 Sigh. We all know what's coming. Why delay the inevitable? Here we have an episode that didn't really have to happen. We cover Rachel Lindsay's response to Matt's scene with his dad, plus her inside scoop on the upcoming season. We talk about how lovely Michelle is for saying anything nice about that horrible oatmeal date. And we compare relationships to pottery, because of course we do.

S7E10 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 10

Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 9 Another season, another "Tell All" episode that left us wanting. The things we really needed to talk about weren't going to be on this episode for a couple reasons, so instead, we have the women trying to excuse their bad behavior. We also go off on a tear in the middle about accountability, racism, and what we can reasonably expect of people.

S7E9 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 9

Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 8 Fair warning - don't listen to the beginning of this episode if you don't want spoilers that are already all over the internet. With that said, the hometowns were close to what we expected. We laughed, we cried, OK, we mostly cried, and we met some cool moms and dads, and some not so cool dads (well, one not cool dad). It was decidedly an episode and now we just have to wait to see how everything erupts at The Women Tell All.

S7E8 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 8

Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James - Episode 7 If you've found this episode, congratulations! It is the LUCKY episode! It is the (hopefully) only episode where you'll hear Sammi sing the intro AND outro because Zencastr has a really screwy beta right now! We spend the first 35-40 minutes talking about all of the drama with Rachael and Chris Harrison, so if you want to skip that, please do, but also, don't! Check out these podcasts that are related to things I talked about on the show: Higher Learning with Rachel Lindsay and Van Lathan (I was way too late to this one...well, to all of these!) The Blckchelorettes 2 Black Girls, 1 Rose The article on Tantra I mentioned "I Asked My Friend WHY She Had a Plantation Wedding" 

S7E7 - Rose Plate Special: Bachelor Matt James – Episode 7

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