Molly Pennington

Television has been a pulpit since its invention. And pop culture is like religion in that it can create and govern belief.

Your hometown is not just some rando locale where you grew up. It's your entire identity, basically. It's the setting for your self-made reality: "This is who I am," chirps Raven. That's why Nick just goes with "Milwaukee" instead of saying godforsaken "Waukesha" when the cops grill him about where he's from. Because Nick is someplace you've heard of. We go muddin,' go to church, go shopping, and go to school with the four remaining bachelorettes on the ever-illuminating Hometown dates.

This teensy little Bachelor episode is only an hour long, but it's one enormous, platinum vagine tease from start to finish.