Welcome back to Roses and Thorns, where I break down an episode of The Bachelor franchise each week. This week’s post is all about the finale episode of The Bachelorette. Going into the finale, both bachelorettes are down to one man each: Erich for Gabby and Tino for Rachel. This is pretty rare because the leads usually have to decide between two contestants by rejecting one proposal and accepting the other, but both women avoided this awkwardness thanks to the messy chaos of previous episodes.

The episode starts off with both women disclosing to the men that each one has beat out the rest of the competition. Despite a brief disagreement, Gabby and Erich decide they want to pursue their relationship, and Rachel and an (in my opinion) overwhelmingly unenthusiastic Tino rejoice in their success.

We then move onto the proposals, starting with Rachel and Tino. This proposal seemed generic and unmemorable, but it was sweet enough and they both glistened with naive hope for the future. Unfortunately, it’s easy to tell from Rachel’s face while watching her proposal back that this didn’t end up being a fairytale ending. Sure enough, after the proposal, Rachel heartbrokenly reveals that Tino cheated on her and they’re no longer together. But here’s where things really start to get confusing.

Rachel’s side: Her and Tino never broke up, and she was doing a lot to make their relationship work even though they were in a rough patch. When Tino told her that he cheated, she was completely heartbroken; now, she’s even more upset because he waited to tell her and then said he wished he hadn’t told her. She claims that he never apologized, that every issue he has with her is taken out of context, and that he is faulting Rachel for his mistakes.

Tino’s side: He kissed another woman, but it meant nothing to him and made him realize he wants Rachel. He argues that he isn’t trying to justify his actions, but wants Rachel to understand the headspace he was in that made him cheat. Apparently, Rachel told him that she didn’t want to wear her ring, asked if he wanted to be the Bachelor, and stopped working to improve their relationship. Her actions broke his heart, and he cheated on her one time out of insecurity. He hid this from her because she was struggling, and he didn’t want to add to her stress.

Now, here’s my opinion. I think Tino sucks for cheating, but I also think Rachel isn’t being honest about their relationship. I honestly even feel a little bad for Tino by the end of the episode because I think he got so screwed over by Rachel and the producers. While it’s awful that he cheated, it’s clear that Rachel is trying to pretend she didn’t say anything that Tino said she did just to make herself look better and “crucify him” as Tino says. Tino seems so desperate when crying to producers that I really think his words were being twisted and that some of his accusations were true. The knife is really dug into Tino when runner-up Aven comes out to steal Rachel away while Tino is still sitting on the couch talking to her. He’s left embarrassed and alone on the stage, with even host Jesse Palmer commenting on the tension of the situation. It’s awful that Tino cheated, but I think he was overly villainized and degraded.

Luckily, Gabby gets a happy ending. Erich proposes and they share some adorable moments celebrating and riding off on motorcycles. They’re forced to discuss messages leaked by Erich’s ex-girlfriend who accused him of breaking up with her just for the show, but the (thankfully still) happy couple explains that this was just his cowardly way of ending a relationship he had been wanting to leave. Gabby calls him out for being an “a**hole,” but it’s clear that they’ve worked through this and are excited to continue their lives together. After a fairly disappointing season, it’s a breath of fresh air to see them happily together and acting so maturely.

The episode ends with the announcement that Zach will be the new Bachelor, and they have him meet 5 of the women who will be competing for his attention. This segment was a little awkward and dry, but I’m hoping it’ll be much better once he’s prepared.

Anyways, I’m happy to be done with this season of The Bachelorette and can’t wait for Bachelor in Paradise to start next week!