All bad things must come to an end, too.
As a seasoned Bachelor fan, to say this season was simply ~not good~ would be a colossal understatement.
From the first episode, I already had a favorite: Madison (duh). Because she’s such a beautiful person inside and out AND she went to Auburn (so did my mom, War Eagle), even I wanted to marry her.
But as the season continued with every girls’ true colors being revealed, it seemed like every contestant was the villain, my least favorites being Victoria F., Jenny, and Alayah. And Pete’s judgment? Absolutely nonexistent. How was Victoria F. there until almost the finale??
That being said, let me quickly recap the two-part finale and give my thoughts. And yes, Peter was actually v nice and cute in person :)
Hannah Ann meets Peter’s family, who immediately falls in love with her because she is easy going, showed a lack of personality, and Barb probably saw that she’d be easy to manipulate.
Madison and Peter converse about their “roadblocks” in a long conversation before she meets the fam, who immediately puts up walls against her. Behind Madison’s back, Barb tells Peter “she’s not there for you,” which, pardon me as I have no children of my own, but I don’t think is the role of a mother. Madison later stands up for herself when Barb questions her integrity and decision about Peter and his sexual relationships. Talk about an intrusive family. *eye roll*
Barb cries to Peter after she leaves, pleading the overplayed clip of “Don’t let her go,” which never in a million years, did I predict would be about Hannah Ann.
Madison and Peter have a cute one-on-one but then she gives up on their relationship and goes home (good choice, boo). Peter has a one-on-one with Hannah Ann anyway and withholds telling her Madison left. But it was okay, because the kangaroos were adorable.
Peter proposes to Hannah Ann. This proposal itself was so weird to me—none of it felt real and I was expecting the Punk’d producers to pop out at any moment. Side note: If Hannah Ann had said “Oh my word” one more time, I would’ve shut the tv off (no I wouldn’t have, but I was annoyed).
However many weeks later, a ~shocking~ breakup between Peter and Hannah Ann is filmed.
This was the first time Hannah Ann actually showed strength and stood up for herself—and I was here for it. She put Peter in his place while showing way more resilience than I would’ve. My favorite part of the whole thing was Barb shown live, applauding Hannah Ann just destroying her son. Hilarious.
Hannah Ann and Peter see each other live on The Bachelor stage for the first time since their breakup. She clearly had a rehearsed monologue to tell Peter (I respect it, I would’ve done the same exact thing) where she called him out insanely well on his insecurities with Madison, Hannah Brown, and herself, which all affected their engagement.
“If you wanna be with a woman, you need to become a real man.” Oof. I have a new-found love for her.
Chris Harrison is shown visiting Madi in Alabama (weird, if you ask me) and convinces her to come back and mend things with Peter. Meanwhile, Barb was basically dislocating her own eyeballs from rolling them so hard. The disrespect. Peter and Madi reunite and it’s cute.
Peter and Madi reunite again live on The Bachelor stage, but it seemed off to me. Something about it just seemed awkward, like neither of them knew how to act.
Barb tries to defend her eyerolls (and hatred of Madison, let’s be real) by saying stuff with Madison happened off-camera that wasn’t shown, they had to wait three hours to meet her, blah blah blah…
Madi gives direct respect and shows calmness (and smiles) back to Peter’s family as they continued to attack her, which shows so much about her as a person (I would have been going off).
The most appalling part of the whole reunion was Barb’s reaction to Peter and Madi’s announcement to continue dating. To the entire nation, this woman said he’s “going to have to fail to succeed.” What mother would ever say this to her child? Shoutout to Barb, the real villain of the season, a mother with a very apparent Electra complex.
Sadly, but not unexpectedly, Madi and Peter break up two days after the live finale. Although I really do believe they had something special, no one deserves that mother as an in-law, especially not Madi—I’m glad she got out while she could. I thought this finale was the fitting ending that Pete’s unsatisfying season deserved.
I have to admit, though, it makes a ton of sense as to why Peter reacted to the contestants’ tears the way he did—his mother was training (manipulating) him for this experience his entire life!
Looking ahead, Clare Crawley is our new Bachelorette. While the season’s filming has been postponed for a few weeks and the contestants will be recast due to the Coronavirus, I honestly am excited for her to be the lead. I watched her briefly on the Bachelor Winter Games in 2018 and she’s older most recent leads and contestants, so I’m ready for a fresh start.
Side note: If you watch The Bachelor, you NEED to start watching Daniel Miramontes’s reactions on YouTube. He went viral during Colton’s season, and his recaps are better than the episodes themselves. You won’t regret it.
That’s all for now, Bachelor Nation. See you in a few months!