The genuine vulnerability of The Golden Bachelor is setting it apart from the franchise

In its second week, ABC sensation The Golden Bachelor continues to be a surprising bastion of emotion, representation, and some really great outfits. Both Gerry and the women let the tears flow freely last night, as they bonded over nostalgia, shared love of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and, most notably, the experience of losing a spouse.

Gerry, a widower who lost his high school sweetheart and wife of 43 years in 2017, experienced touching moments with two different women who had gone through similar heartbreak. First up was Theresa, who received the season’s first one-on-one date. (Also, major shout out to Nancy, who had no idea what a date card even was.)

Over milkshakes and neon diner lights, Theresa shared that her high school sweetheart and husband of 42 years had also died. “I watched him take his last breath,” she said as the two clasped hands. “Neither one of us thought this was going to happen,” she continued. “We thought we were going to live with our spouses for the rest of our lives.” For Gerry, this was a watershed moment. “I didn’t feel like I was breaking down and crying for once,” he shared in a confessional. “I felt like I was talking to someone that understood the loss of a spouse.”

Viewers got another reminder that The Golden Bachelor is no ordinary season of the generally icky franchise during the group date, in which the women got dolled up for a romance novel cover shoot to prove that “at any age you can be sexy, and you can be attractive, and you can do whatever you want.” Nancy was the one to break down in tears this time around, as she realized she was wearing a wedding dress for the first time since marrying her late husband. “It was the best day of my life,” she said, sharing that her emotions were not necessarily bad as she was “lucky” to have had him, but still overwhelming. Gerry responded with a story of his own about getting choked up at his own memories, which were evoked by the smell of cinnamon.

This level of real vulnerability is a reminder that—unlike almost every other season of regular Bachelor—these women are genuinely here to find connection and companionship and maybe even love. Hopefully, as the season progresses, the notoriously exploitative producers will respond in kind by actually treating them well. Not putting 80-year-old women in bunk beds (four to a room!), getting cars with working headlights, and in the words of eliminated queen Natascha, “do[ing] the rose ceremony in chairs” would be a great place to start.

The Golden Bachelor airs weekly on ABC and is available to stream now on Hulu.