It’s Finally Over

Welcome back to Roses and Thorns! Since the last time I posted, season 27 of the Bachelor finally came to an end. I can’t say I’m too sad it’s over because I thought Zach was a really boring and icky Bachelor, but there’s still a lot to talk about from the finale.

We left off at the end of Fantasy Suites where Zach sent home Ariel. This week’s episode started with Ariel having the chance to talk with Zach about their relationship and how it ended, all in front of a live audience. I already really liked Ariel, but this segment made me love her even more. She’s one of the most emotionally mature people I’ve seen on this show, and she did a great job explaining how she felt about everything that happened. One of the highlights of their conversation was her saying, “it was really difficult to see that you weren’t honest with me. I committed to being in an open relationship and when the parameters of an open relationship change, I should be the first to know.” If you missed last week, Zach told the women he wouldn’t have sex during Fantasy Suite week then proceeded to have sex with only Gabi and tell only Kaity what happened. Poor Ariel was completely left out of the loop which is incredibly disrespectful to her and their relationship, so I’m glad she called him out for it along with many other things.

The other two remaining women, Gabi and Kaity, are also still upset with Zach for the catastrophe that was Fantasy Suites. Before going to meet his family, Gabi tells Zach that what he did last week made her feel like he regretted what happened between them and like she was painted with the Scarlet Letter. He reassures her by telling her that there’s only love in his heart for her which helps her feel ready to meet his family. This definitely isn’t the first time that Zach has “confessed” feelings as a way to get out of trouble, and it feels really manipulative to me. Still, her meeting his family goes really well, and so does Kaity’s chance to meet them the next day. In fact it goes so well for both of them that they both tell him they’re in love with them once they leave his family. This seems to leave both of them on pretty even footing going into their last chance dates (the final one-on-one dates) which is even more confirmed when Zach tells each woman that he doesn’t know what he’s going to do.

As a result, it all seems to come down to the proposal day, but it seems like that wasn’t the case for Gabi. When she steps out of the limo, she tells them to fix the mud when Kaity comes, showing that she knows she’s not the one being proposed to. She ends up being right and when she gets to Zach she says he doesn’t need to say it because she knows what’s coming, and she just wishes that he would have sent her home when he knew. Back at the live show, she is still just as upset and wishes Zach wouldn’t have put her through all of that knowing he would pick Kaity. She also discloses that Zach promised that them having sex would stay between them, but then he went on to tell the nation anyways. I feel really bad for Gabi, and I think she deserved a lot better.

After she talks to Zach, the show cuts back to Zach proposing to Kaity (which I guessed in a previous blog). The proposal was kind of unmemorable, but they both are excited and happy to end up together. Zach’s face while watching the proposal made it seem like things didn’t go well, but when Kaity comes out they reveal they’re still together. They still haven’t broken up yet, but it honestly only seems like a matter of time to me because they seem so awkward together. Still, for now, Zach’s long and annoying journey ended with a happily ever after.