'The Bachelor' recap: Contestant's brother accuses Ben of brainwashing girls

Ben Higgins of ABC's "The Bachelor." (ABC)

Ben Higgins experienced the hometown visit from hell on Monday night's episode of "The Bachelor."

The Indiana-born software salesman was down to his final four ladies and met their families in the cities where they grew up. But Ben was shocked when JoJo's brothers ambushed him, implying he was a phony and could "brainwash" the girls vying for his heart.

The visit to JoJo's hometown of Dallas was rocky from the very beginning, when JoJo found flowers and a romantic letter on her doorstep. She assumed they were from Ben, but it turned out her ex-boyfriend Chad had sent the gifts in a bid to win her back.

"That's so f***ed up," JoJo said, pacing and crying. She phoned Chad and viewers heard him tell her, "I have gone through so much since you've been gone." Chad said he wanted her back and added, "I love you."

JoJo snapped, "But you didn't while we were together." Ben then walked in and saw JoJo in tears. She told Ben that she'd rejected her ex-beau's plea to reconcile and stressed how happy she was with HIM instead.

The Dallas gal said her family would love him but Ben soon realized JoJo's protective brothers Matt and Ben weren't on board "The Bachelor" train.

Ben Patton, who also appeared on a dating show called "Ready for Love", told the cameras he didn't want his sister to get hurt, especially after her last relationship. He also said it was "kind of spooky" seeing his sister so attached to bachelor Ben. He added, "I'd love to say this guy's that terrific, but I just genuinely can't say that."

Patton grilled Ben about his intentions, in response to which Ben waffled, "at this point, I don't know…[but] we're in a really good place."

Meanwhile, JoJo told her mom she was falling in love but Ben still had three other contenders. Ben told JoJo's father he didn't want to "make a ton of promises", but he cared for her.

JoJo talked to her brothers in private, and Matt asked how she could be in love after having had only two one-on-one dates with the bachelor. JoJo said she had to take a leap of faith and sighed, "It sucks to hear this."

Then, as bachelor Ben joined them in the kitchen, Matt confronted him, saying, "You brainwash these girls way too much, man. To see my sister like that ... She's obviously starting to have real emotional feelings but I don’t get the same read [from you]."

Ben insisted he really cared,  but Matt said his intuition was that Ben had been faking it. In confessional, Ben said he didn't tell them anything that was false: "Am I that evil ... [that I'd] break her heart on purpose?"

The brothers' attack left Ben feeling "unsettled" and JoJo worried about losing him. "It wasn't the hometown visit I would have liked," Ben sighed.

But that wasn't the only time Ben got the third degree. As he played with single mom Amanda's two young daughters, the Bachelor was quizzed by her folks on whether he was ready for instant stepfatherhood. During the visit to Laguna Beach, Calif., Amanda's father John warned Ben, "You're not used to kids in your life…the kids need to come first."

Then, in Lauren B.'s home city of Portland, Ore., Ben gushed, "I don't know if I can picture a better way to die than standing next to you." Lauren's sister Mollie was wary until Ben said he couldn't put into words how he felt about Lauren and got choked up.

"You just answered my question. Don't cry," Mollie said, hugging him.

Lauren also shed tears telling her sister she was in love with Ben while dad Dave worried that there were three other women "in the mix here ... and I don't want my baby hurt."

Ben also met up with Caila in Hudson, Ohio and they visited the toy company where Caila's dad is the CEO. Caila's mom Rosanna asked Ben why he liked her daughter.

"She's super joyful and cute and bubbly…then one night, she told me, I don't know if I can love you," Ben responded, praising Caila's honesty but saying he needed to have his love reciprocated.

Meanwhile, Caila cried to her father, Chris about Ben dating multiple women, "It's hard, dad, it's hard!" Chris urged caution but Caila said Ben was the person she'd been looking for her whole life.

"It frightens me she might ... get crushed," her dad admitted. Meanwhile, Caila's mom urged her to tell Ben she loved him but Caila let Ben leave without saying the words.

At the rose ceremony, Ben made an unsurprising cut, sending single mom Amanda back home to her children and keeping Lauren, Caila, and JoJo. Amanda told Ben he should have let her know after the hometown date that he had doubts but the reality star insisted that he hadn't made up his mind then.

Upon leaving, Amanda told the cameras, in tears, "I'm just shocked ... I've never introduced anyone to my kids ... he seemed like he was ready to come into our lives."

Ben cried, too, and said, "I can't do this right now," turning his back to the cameras.

"The Bachelor" airs Mondays on ABC.