This season of The Bachelor was objectively not a fan favorite. People had a lot to say about Peter and the other cast members, and very little of it was positive.
This season’s finale was a two-day finale with the first day showing Madison and Hannah Ann meeting Peter’s family, as well as the final dates, and the second day showing the proposal and what happened when they got back home. Honestly, the whole finale was a mess. The first episode that aired on Monday was somewhat business as usual until the end. Peter’s parents clearly preferred Hannah Ann over Madison, and while I do not agree with Peter’s family (especially his mom Barb) on most things, this episode did not seem too annoying or hard to watch. Honestly, I found myself quite bored while watching it. The one part of this episode that was somewhat interesting was Madison’s exit. She left during her final date with Peter after realizing that they are just very different people.
The second part of the finale left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It was one of the worst finales I have ever watched. To start, Peter’s proposal was cringy at best. It was clear as a viewer that he still had feelings for Madison and did not seem as serious about Hannah Ann. I felt as though Peter just proposed to Hannah Ann because he, in some way, felt that he had to. I think Peter was so obsessed with making his season entertaining that he forgot about his own feelings. He did not stay true to himself, and I will elaborate on that later.
As most of us know, Peter’s proposal to Hannah Ann did not last very long. I am a huge Madison fan; however, I will say that Hannah Ann handled the whole situation amazingly, and I wish the best for her.
Barb was by far the most talked-about person during the finale. The producers had a ‘Barb cam’ that captured her reaction to most of what happened after they returned home, including Peter’s and Hannah Ann’s breakup and Peter and Madison meeting up to possibly rekindle their relationship. Barb’s reactions were funny at times, but were also extremely immature. Chris Harrison had Madison and Peter come out and talk about where they stand now, and Chris asked for Barb’s opinion on the whole situation. Barb had an incredibly immature reaction and said several nasty things to Madison. This is the biggest reason why I hated this finale. Just a week prior, the show highlighted how much bullying the cast members face. Then, the next week, they allowed and encouraged a grown woman to critique a 23-year-old woman on national television. The whole thing left me angry and disappointed in the franchise.
Let’s circle back to Peter not staying true to himself. I think this season and all its awfulness boils down to one thing: producers. Peter let the Bachelor producers control too much about his season. He trusted the producers because he assumed that they knew best. He let all the control get away from him. To contrast this with the last season of The Bachelor, Colton took control back. Colton realized when the show was ruining too much of his actual life, and he literally jumped a fence and eventually got back his girl. Colton did not let the producers take away his true happiness, but Peter did. Everything about this season felt overly produced. The drama between the girls, all of the Victoria F. drama, and even Peter’s proposal to Hannah Ann screamed producer involvement. This season felt less real and raw. It was less of a love story and more of a hot mess.
Hopefully, the Bachelor producers have learned their lesson, and future seasons will be less fake!
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