Bachelorette Blog - The Final Rose

Another season of The Bachelorette has come to a close and I have all the details from an evening of meeting Kaitlyn's family, the last dates with each guy and after the final rose. I'm going to break this down by show segment so forgive the back and forth!

Meeting the Parents

Nick
Kaitlyn fills her family in on the fact that Shawn and Nick hate each other, and that it partly stems from her taking things too far with Nick on their Dublin date. She's obviously very close with her family, or not an idiot and realizes that they'll see it on the show regardless but Nick is surprised that she would disclose that info to her parents and becomes pretty nervous upon meeting them!It's nice to see him caring so much and I really do think the show did a good job of not making Nick the bad guy this season. Kaitlyn's mom was understandably skeptical about Nick having seen him on his previous season but after talking with him they both end up crying and she gives him her blessing if he wants to propose to Kaitlyn. He also got the go-ahead from Kaitlyn's dad and the whole family really seemed to like him. In fact I think her sister said something along the lines of "I enjoyed Nick and Kaitlyn together."

Shawn
Shawn was super nervous to meet her family because he knows how important it is and that if they don't approve of him Kaitlyn could never choose him. He shouldn't have worried because they loved him practically immediately. They thought everything he said was super genuine, and he did a great job of conveying his feelings about Kaitlyn to the group. Her mom again had some reservations, she asked him about jealousy and in particular what happened with Nick. But Shawn easied her mind by telling her that he thinks everything that happened made his relationship with Kaitlyn stronger and that if they can get through all that, they can get through anything. Kaitlyn's sister who liked Nick, very quickly became Team Shawn and told Kaitlyn that she can see the way Kaitlyn is around him and can tell that he is good for her. Shawn invited both parents to sit down together when he asked for their blessing and they gave it 1,000%.

Next up were the final dates

No seriously, they're not friends. 

Nick
This date went really really well. Kaitlyn said she felt like their lives could very easily fit together. She was looking for clarity on the date because her feelings for both guys were "too strong". All that being said, she did seem very reserved on the date, probably because there's still Shawn. She told Nick that she was very happy that he took the chance to come on the show and find out what could happen between them and leaving the date she said that she felt in love and that he could be the guy for her. This is very confusing because it seemed like from the family dates that she was leaning more toward Shawn. Very clever editing Bachelorette producers, very clever indeed. Got to keep us guessing!

Shawn
As opposed to Nick's date, this one is very awkward. The beginning part of their date they didn't know what to talk about and Kaitlyn knew she was making it weird for him. She was super nervous because this was the last date and she's thinking ahead to the next day when she was going to have a proposal and have to break someone's heart in the same day. Needless to say this made Shawn question things (of course), he thought if the date continued to go poorly he would have to reconsider proposing because maybe she was giving him the vibe on purpose to let him know she wasn't going to pick him in the end. However, on the evening portion of the date they made up for the weirdness of the day, spending a lot of time talking about how they would cope the next few months while the show aired and if Shawn would be jealous watching back everything that happened. At the end of the night Shawn gave Kaitlyn a gift, a memory jar full of mementos from all their dates and time together over their 2 month courtship. Kaitlyn left feeling relieved because everything was "perfect".

Rejection & The Final Rose

Kaitlyn was having a very hard time because she knew that both of the guys were in love with her and she really struggled with the fact that she was going to have to blindside someone. According to typical show structure, generally the first guy out of the limo is the one getting rejected, and poor Nick was the first one. He had been really excited because in his mind he thought that if Kaitlyn was going to let him go, she would have done it earlier in the day and not let him get to the point of almost proposing, which unfortunately she did. He was about to get on one knee when she stopped him. He was obviously very hurt saying "You don't feel the same way I do, and you don't love me otherwise you would have a ring on your finger." He left feeling shocked, foolish and like the world's biggest joke.

Next Shawn arrived and Kaitlyn was super excited to see him. He gave the typical proposal speech which sounds a lot like marriage vows (seriously all they need is an officiate and they could just get married on the spot). He called her his best friend and partner in crime, and then finally they got engaged and it was very cute. Yay for Kaitlyn, Shawn is a good guy and thank goodness after all he put up with over this season they can finally be together!

After the Final Rose

Happy couple on the cover of People!

We started right away with a first look at the happy couple together, which was a nice way to start. Often they make the couple wait until midway through the episode so I'm glad they got to be excited right away! Then the majority of the after show was dedicated to Nick. Chris Harrison talked to Nick one-on-one, then they forced Nick and Shawn to have a sit down, then finally Nick got to talk to Kaitlyn. All of these segments seemed really rushed and like they kept cutting Nick off when he was trying to talk, which I didn't like. Also, it seemed like Kaitlyn was holding back a lot with Nick. I'm not sure if this was just out of respect for Shawn or if since the show ended she's had a change of opinion on the whole Nick situation. A couple things are clear, first Nick and Shawn will never be friends even though they both agreed that their behavior on the show was immature. Second, Nick is not a bad guy. Even when he's coming across kind of short or like a jerk, it's because he's hurt and I actually think he was really mature and I'm really sad for him that it didn't work out but hopefully with his reputation restored he can find a good person in the end to be with!

The show left off with Kaitlyn and Shawn looking forward to getting to be normal, finally! No announcements on what their next steps are or on who the next Bachelor will be, although there have been rumors about both Bens (Ben H. or Ben Z.) from this season, both of which would be great Bachelors.

So that's it for this season, I guess I'll just have to find something else to write about until The Bachelor begins in January. It's unlikely I'll write anything about Bachelor in Paradise, even though you know I'll be watching every week! It's just so awesome.

Later friends!