In the season premiere, we meet the Bachelorette, Trista, and learn about her past, who she is, and what makes her so special. Trista then hosts a cocktail party and is introduced to the 25 men hoping to become her husband for the first time. By the end of the evening, she faces the daunting task of selecting 15 whom she would like to know better, and presents each one with a single red rose. But at this point and at every point thereafter, the men can either accept or decline the Bachelorette's invitation to continue on the journey. After much deliberation, Trista offered a rose to Russell, Greg T., Ryan, Brian C., Brook, Michael, Brian S., Jack, Charlie, Josh, Brian H., Jamie, Rob, Jeff, and Bob. The men who accepted the rose will now move into a bachelor pad for much of their courtship with the Bachelorette.

Trista's friends Missy, Sara and Shannon arrive at the Bachelorette Pad to go over the compatibility questions they are going to give to the remaining bachelors. The friends are then brought over to the men's house and introduced by Chris, and the questions begin. After the quiz, the girls dish together about how great the guys are. They were surprised that they hadn't heard more from Trista about Jamie, and were unimpressed with Russell, whom they had heard much about. They were also skeptical about Greg because they heard a comment that he may not accept a rose at the next ceremony, and Missy was very impressed with Ryan. Shannon sees Trista more with Charlie. The first tape arrives, and Shannon collects it. Russell gets the first individual date tape, in which Trista says they're going to do something neither one of them ever has done before.