Spoilers for The Bachelor Season 27 follow.
After 10 weeks of tears, drama and questionable decisions, another season of The Bachelor came to a close on March 27. What started as 30 women dating Zach Shallcross dwindled down to the final two: Gabi Elnicki and Kaity Biggar. After a tumultuous time in Thailand, Biggar left engaged to Shallcross and Elnicki’s journey ended in heartbreak.
The show has been on for 20 years. That’s 20 years of bachelors trying to find love with a proposal as the end goal. Seems rather simple, right? Though the premise of the show is clear, the bachelors time and time again drop the ball, and the women are left to pick it up for them. Every year, I’m impressed by the poise and bravery the women exhibit, and this season is no different. So, I’m happy for Biggar and Shallcross. I mean, they achieved the goal. However, their happiness came at the expense of another’s. In my opinion, the real winning relationship is the womanhood and support the women showed for one another throughout this season, especially the friendship between Biggar and Elnicki.
If you didn’t watch this season, let me break it down for you. In the week of Fantasy Suites, the week that comes right before the finale, three women are given a date and off-camera quality time with the bachelor. The three were Biggar, Elnicki as well as Ariel Frenkel. Frenkel had the first of the dates, which is when Shallcross shared his intentions for the week. He went into the week with his goal being to just further his emotional connection with the women, rather than explore a physical one. Frenkel understood and handled his intentions with grace. However, I think that should’ve been a decision they came to as a couple.
Elnicki was second of the dates. In the day portion of her one-on-one time, she was vulnerable with Shallcross and explained her insecurities and worries about her relationship with him. He offered support and reassured her that what they had was strong. Then, came the night portion. Here is where everything started going south. Ultimately, Shallcross went against his intentions and explored a physical connection with Elnicki. The next day, her trust was broken as he told Biggar and all the viewers about what happened between him and Elnicki. But the woman that deserved the most explanation, Frenkel, didn’t even get one. Frenkel didn’t get a rose that week, and though Elnicki and Biggar did, Shallcross put the women through so much stress just because he wanted control over how the week went. They deserve better.
What could’ve driven a wedge between the women, only “trauma bonded” them, as Biggar jokingly said on After The Final Rose (ATFR). Following the events of the Fantasy Suites, the three women took to Instagram to share their support for one another. The woman never shamed Elnicki for what happened, never pointed fingers at one another and never compared each other’s relationships, even though it would’ve been easy to in the situation they were put in. They are the epitome of what womanhood should be. The reality is: Shallcross prioritized his own feelings over the women’s and betrayed all three women by doing so.
I think the most heartbreaking moment from the finale was Elnicki knowing Shallcross wasn’t going to choose her. After a week of essentially being punished for the special moment she and Shallcross shared, she now was strung along to meet his family and was made to believe there might be a proposal at the end of this. Throughout the whole episode, Elnicki kept saying she had a gut feeling it wouldn’t be her. And when pulling up to the final moments, despite this gut feeling and looming heartbreak, she still was looking out for Biggar.
She got out of the car to walk up to Shallcross and when she noticed they parked her in a muddy spot, her first reaction was: “When it actually matters when Kaity arrives, don’t do this to her.” She knew she wasn’t getting proposed to yet still looked out for her friend. Her selflessness is what many of us yearn for in a friendship.
I believe Shallcross does not deserve any of these women. He was never honest with his feelings for the sake of his image. He told Elnicki he hadn’t made a decision till the night prior to the proposal, but on ATFR, he said he always knew it was going to be Biggar. Which one is it? Elnicki deserved to know the truth before being made to believe it could’ve been her. Frenkel deserved an explanation instead of having to learn from fans and watching the show live that he broke his “rule.” Biggar deserves to be with someone that professes his love when he knows it. Though I wish Biggar and Shallcross a happy relationship, he just proved why you should never settle. Always go with your gut and choose someone that’s going to put you first. These three women should get a collective final rose because they carried this season and most importantly, showed the true definition of friendship.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest!