‘The Bachelor’ encounters an unexpected blast from the past

It’s the final countdown for Nick Viall.

As his journey winds down, Nick takes the next step with the four remaining women by venturing to their hometowns on Monday’s episode of “The Bachelor.”

With a trip to Hoxie, Arkansas, up first, Nick is ready to get down and dirty with brunette beauty Raven Gates. After the couple go quadding through the mud, they get the seal of approval from her family before Nick heads to new “Bachelorette” Rachel Lindsay in Dallas, Texas.

“She is someone I really enjoy spending my time with,” Nick says. “My chemistry with Rachel is the most explosive I have with anyone. The more time I spend with her, the more we build off that.”

Instead of trekking through the woods, Rachel takes Nick to church before he meets the family. And as Rachel explains, their opinion about Nick means everything.

“If my family gives Nick the stamp of approval, that’s the push I need to fall in love with Nick,” Rachel shares.

Though Nick receives a warm welcome from Rachel’s family, they all want to address the elephant in the room: race.

“Everyone else may make this an issue, but for you it doesn’t matter, for me it doesn’t matter,” Rachel says, adding, “Nick sees me beyond the surface level.”

After speaking with Rachel’s sister and brother-in-law, Nick engages in a heart-to-heart with his girlfriend’s mom.

“It is the first serious relationship I’ve been involved in with a black woman,” Nick says. “I know Rachel’s black, I don’t pretend it’s not a thing, we both know that, but I have strong feelings for your daughter. I like your daughter for the person she is.”

Though Rachel’s fairy tale won’t end in a happily ever after with Nick, he at least gets the consolation prize of meeting Corinne Olympios’ nanny in the flesh.

That’s right, the Raquel hour is officially here.

After dropping $3,500 on s sweatshirt and relaxed threads, Corinne decides to drop the L-bomb on Nick before meeting her parents and nanny.

“Everyone in my family is so relaxed,” Corinne shares. “I really, really fell for you. I love you.”

Though Corinne’s words fail to warrant a verbal reply, a kiss from Nick will do. And while the entire Olympios family welcomes him to the dinner table, Corinne’s father, Jim, wants to know his post-“Bachelor” game plan.

“You have to think worst-case scenario, if Nick cannot earn a living,” Jim tells his daughter. “You gotta make sure that he will make you happy when all of this goes away.”

Following three successful hometown dates, it appears Nick’s final venture to Quebec, Canada, will be his best yet. Unfortunately for the perpetual runner-up, Vanessa Grimaldi’s family has his number.

“It’s definitely scary that she’s so confident because what if something she doesn’t expect happens,” Vanessa’s older sister, Melissa, asks.

“You have a life here, he has a life wherever he is,” Melissa tells her love-struck baby sister. “I think you need someone who is able to be a partner. What does he plan on doing after this anyway?”

While Nick does recognize that things don’t go as smoothly as he hoped with Vanessa’s family, things go from bad to worse when her father doesn’t offer his blessing to ask for Vanessa’s hand in marriage.

“I just can’t give you my blessing like this,” Mr. Grimaldi says. “You have three other women, you went to their home, did you ask their blessing also?”

With the uneasiness rising, Nick realizes he has some tough choices to make before narrowing it down to two women. But before he can get the Brooklyn-based rose ceremony on the road, he’ll have to deal with ex-girlfriend Andi Dorfman first.

Buckle up, #BachelorNation, this encounter could throw yet another wrench in Nick’s journey to an engagement.