The One or Done: Final Rose, Part 1
It’s “the most dramatic season yet” as Jesse Palmer claims. And tonight is our first test to see if he’s lying about “What will surely be the most talked-about finale in history.” Probably. In fact, by only having one man left for each of our bachelorettes, I feel like most of the drama has been eliminated. Rachel and Gabby either see a future with these men or they don’t. There is no more competition. It doesn’t look like ZACK or AVEN will be reappearing Maddi Prewitt-style, so next week might come as a bit of a letdown. Time will tell.
We start out the episodes with ZACK’s pull-aside from last week’s almost-rose ceremony. He confronts Rachel about their awkward night in the fantasy suites, explaining that he feels their night was inauthentic and changed his view of their future. And while I shouldn’t be shocked, I am. He breaks up with her.
“I could see it in her eyes that we really meant something different to her than she meant to me,” he says, admitting he was in love with her.
Rachel alleges that he questioned her character and that is why she broke it off is simply not true. We ALL knew he wasn’t getting arose tonight. This is her easy way out. She didn’t fight it at all. Not a muscle.
In the after-the-rose chat, ZACK feels almost too put together, so okay and understanding. It’s very rare to see this lack of drama on-screen and Jesse keeps pulling for some kind of emotion out of them. They’re both very “sorry” for their part in the situation and miscommunication, saying it maybe 10 times. This is where I an inkling of Bachelor vibes from him. He is a final 3 man. He is settled into their breakup and isn’t super heartbroken. He sees that they never really knew each other, the distance between them after fantasy suites coming from the awkward energy of feeling like strangers who realized they weren’t equally in love, then signed up to spend the rest of the night together.
From the introduction to Rachel’s parents, she is absolutely glowing about AVEN, saying how safe she’s always felt, aching to talk to him when drama happened elsewhere in her journey®. Big Tony is impressed, appreciating the lead-up instead of a Clayton-Hometown-style ambush. AVEN brings him a cigar and they start off with a laugh, off on a better note than I thought was possible for Big Tony. He lays it right out there: “What’s going to make me remember you more than the other guy?” AVEN marks their values and humor are the same, communicating that he’s falling in love. Rachel tells her mother that she trusts him, believing that he would be an amazing partner. And yet AVEN feels less certain, admitting that he sees himself being engaged to Rachel in the future but not at the end of the show. And Rachel is rightfully pissed. “Like, I appreciate your honesty but why lie to me.”
They’re going in circles, him “ready for an engagement” but not now and her feeling lied to. Round and round and round. He does check on her before he leaves, obviously stressed but caring about her.
ERICH then arrives to meet Gabby’s family and hang out with his BFF Grandpa John again. They both admit their love to each other in front of her family and it’s very sweet and reassuring to Gabby. There are lots of tears, mostly from the family out of love, and Gabby and ERICH have a hard time pulling away from each other at the end of their date.
The intro to TINO is way less enthusiastic, feeling nervous about his commitment level after her meet-up with AVEN and a little more hypothetical than worked out. He is super nervous at first. His admission of love is very stiff and nervous but then with her mom alone he seems almost overly confident. It’s very odd but the couple is all giggles when they leave, TINO’s words putting down the beast.
Rachel and AVEN have their dreaded conversation, with him clarifying that he wants to see her life in Florida and date before he can commit to an engagement. But I don’t think what he realizes is that she is already sure. He admits he was “caught up” in the process and overpromised. She is sobbing the hardest I’ve seen her all season, breaking up with him, realizing that the man she wants is not the one standing with her at the end. I have no idea what is going to happen after this.
That makes four episodes in without an aired rose ceremony (including Men Tell All). I think that says enough about production this season. I mean, will the girls even know how to pin a rose if they chose someone?
At After the Final Rose, the crowd goes wild for AEN and it’s also giving Bachelor vibes, but more so than ZACK. It’s confirmed that they hire actors for the audience so it’s very possible that producers are trying to drum up excitement for this extremely dry man for Bachelor. In fact, when they hug, Rachel compliments his jewelry, which is a bit intimate and odd, in a friendly way, almost like they’ve already cleared things up. Possibly another sign of an upcoming Bachelor announcement? They feel very settled, similar to ZACK, sharing mutual respect and understanding that they were just on the wrong page.
Post-date, ERICH and Gabby catch up on their expectations, ERICH showering her with kisses and words of love, but warning that “I don’t want to rush anything and I don’t want there to be any expectations that wouldn’t be natural to us,” earning a serious pause. He wants to date continue to date her before an engagement, which I do completely understand, but not for this show. In my opinion, if you’re going say “I love you” after two months of dating on national television, put a free ring on it. It’s literally a free diamond ring. No one will blame you if you break up a few months down the line. It’s TV. People break up after TV engagements all the time. Just ask Michelle Young, Katie Thurston, Clare Crawley, Peter Webber, Hannah Brown, and so many more.
At this point, I don’t know if either of these women ends up in a relationship. Teasers show both of them twirling with roses at a Mexican engagement location. I would assume they are engaged because of this or at least dating someone from their season, knowing how the show often works. I can’t imagine ERICH and TINO breaking up with Gabby and Rachel at the last possible moment at their engagement location. And yet, that WOULD make this the most dramatic season ever. I gues we’ll see next week. Again.
