Typically, during "hometown" dates on "The Bachelorette," the star flies to her suitors' cities to meet their families.
But because of COVID-19 protocols, Minnesota teacher Michelle Young met — and charmed — the parents on her home turf.
During Tuesday night's episode of the ABC-TV reality series, she picked three finalists: fellow Minnesotan Joe Coleman, who works in real estate; Nayte Olukoya, who grew up in Winnipeg and lives in Austin, Tex.; and Brandon Jones, who lives in Portland.
The third episode set in Minnesota featured plenty of lakes, apples and skyline views.
For his date, Jones brought Young to a skatepark despite an apparent lack of skateboarding ability.
Young felt comfortable with his family, talking basketball and fishing with his father, David.
"My dad is a huge fisherman," she told him.
"Give us a few beers and we're sitting on the boat," he replied.
"I don't think I've ever met a significant other's family and instantly saw how well our families would fit together," Young told the camera.
In his interview, Jones grinned: "Yo, I truly wanna marry this woman."
Next, Young met Mathews — who showed up on the first night dressed as an apple — at an apple orchard.
"There is an apple that's only grown here in Minnesota," Mathews said. "The name of it is First Kiss."
She scrunched her nose at him.
"You think I made it up," he said. "I promise the great people of Minnesota made it up."
He's right. The University of Minnesota bred the First Kiss variety, which ripens early.
Next, Coleman brought Young to his Hopkins High School, an echo of their earlier date at Woodbury High School, where she graduated.
In the gym, a surprise: Prom!
"So I've never been to prom before," Coleman said. "And you said you were picked last. I just want you to know you will always be first with me.
"So Michelle, will you go to prom with me?"
Young appreciated the callback to the poem she shared earlier this season that included the line, "I was the girl picked last for prom but the first for basketball."
"Joe really sees me and understands me," she said.
A fancy frock and smart suit later, the pair posed in the photo booth, danced and kissed.
Then they met Coleman's family — his mother Julie, father David, brother Dan and sister-in-law, Hanna.
"One of my favorite things about Joe is that he's not the loudest," Young told them. "It's that quiet confidence I've really appreciated."
His father David then demonstrated where he inherited the quiet.
"I feel that you guys look like a lovely couple," David Coleman told his son when they were alone together. Coleman prodded him for questions, but his father had none.
The two sat in near silence, a clock audibly ticking.
The women, then, kept the conversation going. Hanna noted that they live close to Young. "I hope this works out," she said, "because we will see her in the grocery store."
Afterward, Coleman opened up to Young.
"I just want you to know that my feelings for you are getting stronger and stronger, that I am falling in love with you," he said. "You are that special person for me."
To the camera, he expressed hope that in a year they'd be married and living on Lake Minnetonka.
Then, Olukoya met Young for a date that would "bring a little piece of Austin to Minneapolis." They went paddleboarding and talked about his family.
"I'm crazy about you," Olukoya said.
"I'm crazy about you, too," she replied.
"I'm falling for you," he said.
"I'm falling for you too," she said. "Very much."
Olukoya warned Young that his family doesn't express emotions, so he wasn't sure how his mother and stepfather would react. At first, Olukoya's stepfather, in particular, expressed only reticence.
He warned Young not to expect a proposal: "I don't know if he's going to get to that point."
But a one-on-one conversation between Olukoya and his stepfather took a turn, and suddenly the pair were sharing their love for one another.
"Never doubt that I'm proud of you," he told a teary Olukoya. "Never, ever, ever doubt that I love you."
During a tense rose ceremony, Young said goodbye to secret-handshake-specialist Mathews, a fan favorite. "I'm always gonna care about you, Michelle," he told her.
Then a black SUV drove him away, across the Hennepin Avenue Bridge.
