‘Bachelorette’ Week 2 recap: Raleigh’s Marcus has head-over-heels first date with Jenn

Another week of “The Bachelorette” is in the books — with a North Carolina contestant looking for love on ABC’s hit reality show.

After a long night of limo entrances, Raleigh’s Marcus Shoberg and 17 other men made it through the first rose ceremony of the season to continue building a connection with 26-year-old Jenn Tran.

But what happened between the local Army Ranger veteran and the show’s leading lady during Week 2?

Here’s a recap if you missed the second episode. And, of course: Spoilers ahead.

‘Let’s fall in love’

Instead of staying in sunny California, Jenn and her suitors headed overseas to Melbourne, Australia, to officially start their journey to love.

Though Marcus missed out on a group date involving stand-up comedy, he got his own special alone time with Jenn. Jenn picked him for her first one-on-one date of the episode.

“To have just, like, the validation of knowing that Jenn knows that I’m here and wants to spent that type of time with me is like amazing,” Marcus said after the announcement.

For their first solo date, the two went skydiving together — an activity Marcus was very stoked about and one that made Jenn very nervous.

“I did jump out of a lot of planes when I was an Army Ranger so this is smack dab in the center of my comfort zone,” Marcus said on camera before the date. “I’m hoping that I can have a calming presence for Jenn because she’s definitely not as calm right now.

“The way I look at it is that what you do when you’re most afraid says a lot about who you are as a person. To me, jumping out of this plane is a lot like falling in love.”

Though Jenn was terrified beforehand about jumping 15,000 feet out of the sky, she was glad to have faced that fear alongside Marcus, who gave her encouraging words before they took the leap.

“Today was really a test of whether or not Marcus was gonna be there for me or not, and he really was so I was happy about that,” Jenn said.

“I learned that today, with the right person, you can conquer anything.”

After helping her through her fears of heights, Marcus turned to Jenn to help him overcome his fears of opening up.

‘The start of something really good’

During the dinner portion of their one-on-one date, he shared more about his time serving as an Army Ranger and his last deployment in Afghanistan that left him hospitalized.

“A grenade was tossed in the room and, you know, me and all my buddies heard that, like, hit the ground and that was like the longest three and a half seconds of my life. When that went off…like standing right on it, that changed my life,” Marcus said.

After spending months in the hospital — with several surgeries and having to relearn how to walk again — he wants his life to be “as full of as much love as humanly possible.”

“There’s my life before that moment and there’s my life after and now, I’m just kind of like hyper aware of the fragility of life,” he shared.

Did Marcus get a rose from Jenn?

Marcus was emotional in sharing his story, and Jenn returned the favor from earlier in the day, assuring him that he was safe to open up. They shared a hug.

After expressing how grateful she was that he was vulnerable with her, Jenn offered him a rose to continue their relationship. He accepted, making him safe for the upcoming rose ceremony.

“I just feel over the moon,” Jenn said. “Like I feel like Marcus sharing his story with me about what he’s been through and how that’s shaped him as a person is really inspiring and I feel really close to him after today.

“I could see a future with Marcus and I could see him being my forever person. I could see us falling in love with each other and it feels like the start of something really good.”

Who got eliminated during the rose ceremony?

Of the 18 remaining men, here’s who did not receive a rose and was sent home:

• Brian

• Marvin

• Jahaan

How to watch “The Bachelorette”

You can watch “The Bachelorette” every Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC and on Hulu the day following their premieres.

This story was originally published July 15, 2024 at 10:07 PM with the headline "‘Bachelorette’ Week 2 recap: Raleigh’s Marcus has head-over-heels first date with Jenn."

Chyna Blackmon

The Charlotte Observer

Chyna Blackmon was a service journalism reporter for The Charlotte Observer. A native of the Carolinas, she grew up in Columbia, SC, and graduated from Queens University of Charlotte. She’s also worked in local television news in Charlotte, NC, and Richmond, VA. Support my work with a digital subscription