Last Monday, “Bachelor Nation” tuned in to see if Nick Viall finally found love (meaning America can finally stop watching him trying to find love on live TV). Nick ended up choosing and proposing to Vanessa Grimaldi, a 29-year-old special education teacher from Canada, but things didn’t seem so smooth sailing on the After the Final Rose.
While Chris Harrison claims every season is the “most dramatic in Bachelor history,” drama has definitely followed Nick since the beginning of his journey with the Bachelor franchise. He had major issues with Josh Murray on Andi’s season, even bigger issues with Shawn B. on Kaitlyn’s season and had his fair share of drama on Bachelor in Paradise. His fourth time on the show was no exception, with the awkwardness that came on After the Final Rose when Vanessa seemed downright miserable. Here’s the condensed lowdown.
The Viall family met the final two, and Nick’s dad was brought to tears while talking to Vanessa. In the other room, younger sister Bella looks miserable. I would be too if I had more common sense about relationships than my 36-year-old brother. Also, Nick seems to have an infinite amount of siblings. So many that every time he appears on the show I feel like we meet more Nick lookalikes that just mumble and avoid eye contact.
Vanessa and Nick’s final date was a little shaky and filled with tough conversations, proving they still have a lot of issues to work out. Vanessa was uncomfortable about the uncertainty of things not working out, neither one of them seemed to want to compromise about which country to live in and the fact that Vanessa had never watched a full season of The Bachelor made it difficult for her to understand why Nick could reciprocate when she said “I love you.”
Raven and Nick’s date was much more smooth sailing and was filled with puppies, ice skating and, of course, a horizontal makeout session. This is just weird, Nick! No one wants their hair in dirty mud or on a freezing ice pond.
Later on in the night, Raven takes the opposite approach of Vanessa, telling Nick she is confident she is ready to be engaged to Nick. As Nick leaves, Raven says, “Today’s the last day I’ll call Nick my boyfriend. From here on out, he’ll be my fiancé.” For anyone who has ever seen a single episode of the show, you know that is foreshadowing something terrible. The happy, confident contestants never end up getting what they deserve.
The best part of the episode was during Raven and Nick’s breakup when Nick says, “I’m really going to miss you,” and Raven responds with, “I know.” You go girl! I also applaud Raven’s stoic attitude during the whole breakup, refusing to cry until getting into the limo while Nick blubbered like a baby.
Next up: the big proposal. Nick professes his love to Vanessa, Vanessa says yes, Nick picks up Vanessa, they share a happy moment. Yippee. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy for them. I just don’t think there’s a chance their love will last.
The After the Final Rose was all kinds of awkward, with Vanessa and Nick seeming completely miserable. Vanessa revealed how difficult things had been since the engagement, which really bummed viewers out. Also, apparently now Vanessa is totally cool with moving to Los Angeles to be with Nick. So at least they’ve worked that out.
Other news: Raven is headed to Bachelor in Paradise, Rachel looked great in her jumpsuit while meeting four Bachelorette contestants, and Nick is excited to be headed to Dancing with the Stars.
Observations: Nick has an extreme love for picking women up. He picks them up to say hello, to say goodbye, when kissing them and even after proposing. I have no idea why he thinks this is a super romantic move, but I am not into it.
Also, throughout the whole season, Nick constantly talked about finding love and getting engaged but never mentioned actual marriage. I don’t think he’s in it for “the right reasons,” and I don’t think he has any intentions to ever get married. So who knows, maybe we’ll see him again on The Bachelor.