‘The Bachelorette’ spoilers: Ben Higgins, Nick Viall, Shawn Booth, and overnight / hometown Kaitlyn Bristowe dates

Tonight’s new episode of “The Bachelorette” was largely a bloodletting of contenders. Two contestants were sent home, with Jared Haibon to us being the big shock of the night. He really cared for Kaitlyn Bristowe! Granted, we knew that Nick Viall and Shawn Booth were more or less locks, but we didn’t see Ben Higgins beating him to the punch coming into tonight’s new episode.

Granted, all that is done, and next week we are going to see the continuation of the show’s overnight / hometown dates. There’s a lot to pack into a single episode, mostly because of the weird way that things have operated this year. Everything should make it into these episodes, mostly because the “Men Tell All” should air on July 20, with the finale coming up on the 27th. We at least assume that this is the way that the series will schedule things out.

Do we really imagine that some big scandal will emerge in the final weeks? Probably not, mostly because of the fact that they rarely do at this stage of the game. We’re fine with some of this being condensed down, largely because these two episodes tend to be among the most boring of the entire season unless you have some crazy family member. Plus, we’ve already met Nick’s family! (We should make it clear that family visits were not in the promo, but we still think it is coming.)

If there is one person who has to up their game going into the overnight dates, it is probably going to be Ben. He has had some screen time the past few weeks, but he also just doesn’t have that same placement in the show’s overall narrative.

If you are interested in some other news on tonight’s episode, including a review and much more, be sure to visit the link here! Also, you can sign up to get some more updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)