'The Bachelor' 2017: Who did Nick Viall send home in week 7?

Culture

Welcome back to Bachelor-land, friends and lovers. Last week's bloodbath left only six women remaining heading into this latest episode — and this week we said a few more goodbyes. Danielle and Kristina were sent packing, Nick cried some more and Corinne finally got to invite Nick into the boudoir — but it didn't go as well as she hoped.

This week kicked off in the tearful aftermath of Nick's confession to the remaining women that he just doesn't know if he can handle the emotional roller coaster of being the star of The Bachelor, or something like that. All the women start off the episode in silence, sitting morosely on a couch and thinking about all the drama that happened the night before. Meanwhile, on a nearby beach, Nick is having a sad heart-to-heart with Chris Harrison. 

Nick says he's "terrified" that nothing will work out. But he somehow pulls himself together and surprises the women with a visit so he can apologize for his mini breakdown the previous night. Amazingly, despite his many doubts, he decides ... to keep going with this wacky love experiment! The women all sigh and giggle with relief. 

Nick also tells them he wants to cancel the planned rose ceremony and cocktail party and leave their current island paradise for a new, different island paradise. We're off to Bimini! After a fun travel montage, it's time to do some dates.

Vanessa scores the first one-on-one date, and Corinne stares at her with jealous death eyes. She points out that Vanessa's getting her second one-on-one date before Corinne has even gotten her first. The injustice is making Corinne feel bloated.

On Nick and Vanessa's date, they lounge on a boat while having a serious conversation about feelings. Vanessa tells Nick she's feeling scared while Nick looks sweaty and kind of sleepy.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Corinne tells Rachel about how she doesn't think Vanessa is actually deep. Little does she know that Vanessa and Nick are making out on a boat as she speaks! Vanessa says she feels like she's known Nick for years, and, if she's been watching since his first Bachelorette appearance, she has.

Nick and Vanessa snorkel and kiss in the water and she says she feels like she's falling in love with Nick and she wants to tell him at their dinner later. Let it out, girl.

That night at the house, the women sit around drinking white wine while anxiously awaiting the next date card. They all do little screams when it arrives. Corrine, Kristina and Raven are getting a group date — which makes Corinne flash her angry eyes again. 

On their romantic dinner date, Nick and Vanessa are clinking glasses and talking about the future. Vanessa tells Nick she has feelings for him that she hasn't felt for years, and then says she's falling in love with him. The music swells and they kiss over the table. 

But then Nick, confusingly, says he's been in love on TV before and it was nice or whatever, but he wants a new, different kind of love. Then why did you come back on this show, Nick!? He tells Vanessa that he really, really likes her. Ouch. 

Nick says he doesn't want to say he loves her back, which makes her feel a little bummed. They get up and walk away from their dinner table, holding hands but making sad faces. Wait, did they even eat anything?

The next day is the group date. Kristina prepares by walking along on the beach, Raven gets ready by liberally applying lip gloss and Corinne makes grumpy faces on a balcony. Then the women all roll up to a yacht for their fun boat date, and Nick helps them aboard. Corrine says she looks "great on a yacht."

Everyone strips down into their swimsuits and Nick helpfully puts sunscreen on Kristina's inner thigh. Thanks dude. Then Nick reveals to the women that part of their "fun" date will be swimming with sharks. Raven thinks Corinne is mostly likely to be eaten today because sharks can smell fear. The whole gang plunges into the water with their little goggles and flippers on and goes off searching for marine life. 

They find some sharks swimming down yonder in the water, and the sharks seem pretty chill, but Kristina gets scared and hightails it back to the yacht. Nick accompanies her to make sure she's OK, which makes Corrine feel jealous and insecure. Everyone eventually makes it safely back on the boat without being eaten, but Corrine is still feeling salty that Kristina is getting most of Nick's attention. 

That night at dinner, the women sip their drinks and stare daggers at each other. Nick and Kristina go off for a little one-on-one time together, and Nick tears up again talking about how hard this whole reality-TV-star-thing has been on him. So Kristina makes him feel better by kissing him a lot. 

Next up for a private chat is Raven. She asks Nick if he's ready to meet her daddy and her brother, and then she opens up about her dad being sick. They also kiss.

Then it's time for Corinne to have her chat with Nick. She tells him that not getting a one-on-one date is making her nervous. But he strokes her neck and compliments her ability to wrangle her way into the spotlight, basically. They kiss. Corinne seems to be feeling pretty cheerful when they head back to the couches together.

Now it's time for Nick to give out a rose, and he doesn't give it to Corinne — he gives it to Raven. Which means she's officially the first person to be confirmed for a hometown visit. Nick says goodbye to Corinne and Kristina and he and Raven head off for a special post-date activity. It's a private concert, that old Bachelor standby. They awkwardly sway and kiss in front of the musicians, which is the only thing you can do when confronted with the "gift" that is a surprise private concert.

Meanwhile, a disappointed Corrine is coming up with a scheme. You can never count that gal out!

The next day, a shaken Corinne plots for her comeback and Danielle M. prepares for her one-on-one with Nick. The two of them ride bikes together to some kind of juice bar, go souvenir shopping and look at bright tank tops. Then they crash a basketball game and Nick awkwardly tries to boost an adolescent boy up to a basket he can clearly already reach. Come on Nick, he didn't need your help.

Danielle says she's definitely falling for Nick, but when they sit down for a seaside chat, the conversation is ultra-boring. And Nick knows it. He says they're struggling to have a natural conversation, which isn't a good sign if you want to get engaged in a few weeks.

But wow he's right, this conversation is lagging. At one point they stare into the middle distance and comment on a pile of shells. Oh geez. Back at the house, a new date card shows up for Rachel, who's psyched about getting the last date before hometowns.

On the dinner portion of Nick and Danielle's date, she seems to think they had a great time. Nick tells her she's "fun to have fun with," which is maybe true, who knows? Nick thinks maybe they can relate to each other because they're just two Wisconsin kids. He also tells her she has a great face.

Danielle thinks she could have found love with Nick, so she jumps in with both feet and tells him that her heart is open to him and she cares for him a lot. But Nick doesn't feel the same way, and, while he thinks they have a great friendship, he doesn't see a future with Danielle.

Nick breaks the bad news to her, and she nods sagely and looks at him with sad eyes. Then Danielle walks away, off to pack up her things and go, while Nick stands by the water with his head in his hands, having lots of feelings.

Back at the house, Danielle sadly gathers up her things and and hugs the other women goodbye. Corrine is sad to see her leave — for a second. Mostly she's excited to have one less obstacle between her and her goal of finally getting Nick's undivided attention. 

That night, Corrine decides to pull ahead in the game by making an unannounced visit at Nick's hotel room. He pretends to be surprised to see her but also invites her in and pours her a drink. Corinne tells Nick she's there to make sure he's OK, but she's also there to get her "full one-on-one time."

Then she invites Nick into his own bedroom — because her heart is gold but her "vagine" is platinum. The sounds of loud kissing come from behind the closed bedroom door ... and then Nick tells Corinne they should slow down and it's better to wait. Nick's been down this road before, baby! It leads to tears and also everyone else getting angry. 

So they hug and kiss goodbye without doing anything too sexy. Corinne feels upset that her plan didn't go the way she wanted it too but all in all it seems like things didn't work out too badly for her. 

Corrine is still feeling down the next morning when Nick comes by the house to pick up Rachel for her one-on-one date. Rachel is super excited, and they head to a place where only locals go, apparently. They sit at a bar and chat about hometowns. Rachel says she's never brought home a white guy before but she thinks her parents could be into Nick.

She also says she loves sports but she doesn't play games. Way to go Rachel, someone put that on a T-shirt with her face on it. The bartender gives them some relationship advice and they giggle and go off and kiss by the water.

The date is over in a flash, though, and soon Rachel is waltzing back into the house, riding high from her time with Nick, which makes Corinne feels sick. It's almost time for the final rose ceremony before hometowns, and Nick gets a pep talk from Chris Harrison while Corinne panics at the house, sure that she's the one going home.

But, of course, there's a twist on the way. Nick says he knows who he's sending home but he doesn't want to say goodbye to this special woman at the rose ceremony, he wants to do it privately. Or, as privately as anything can be on national television.

So he heads over to the house for a surprise one-on-one with ... Kristina? Apparently she's the special girl who's getting sent home. Nick pulls her aside and immediately starts getting choked up. 

He tells her he thinks it's time for her to go, because he doesn't want to string her along until the end just to let her down. Soon they're both crying and hugging and it weirdly feels like the realest Bachelor breakup in a while. 

Nick says he's not ready to let her go but he has to. Kristina gets her hugs from the other gals and rolls away in her black SUV — and, yet again, the episode ends on a cliffhanger. No rose ceremony, no closure, and Corinne, Rachel, Vanessa and Raven are all still in the mix. We'll all just have to tune in next time for yet another night of tears and unanswered questions!