In the last episode of this season of The Bachelor: Does Peter propose to Hannah Ann? Why is this episode so long if Peter only has Hannah Ann remaining? Will Barb ever stop crying? Will Shelby ever write another Bachelor Recap? The drama continues.
We start the second part of this finale back in Alice Springs, Australia. We see Peter talking to Niel Lang about an engagement ring for Hannah Ann and Peter calls Hannah Ann’s father to ask permission to marry her. He gives them permission and we see Hannah Ann getting ready for the big day. She talks about how she knows Peter’s heart is being pulled in two directions because that’s what he has told her. Does she know Madison isn’t here? Anyway, moving right along, Peter is waiting for Hannah Ann to show up so he can propose, but we see Chris Harrison walking down to him instead. Chris tells him that he isn’t sure if Hannah will be coming and Peter asks if Hannah knows that Madison isn’t here. I guess that answers my question. After we see Peter have a breakdown, we find out Hannah Ann is coming. Shocker. We finally see Hannah Ann and Peter together again and I’m not going over Peter’s entire proposal speech because I don’t think it’s necessary – but for a quick summary, he’s being all romantic right? then he goes “so Madison left two days ago.” I mean I wouldn’t have brought that up, but whatever, this isn’t MY proposal. He proposes to her and she says yes. Usually, the episode would kind of end here but we still have an hour left.
Next, we are reunited with Peter’s family. Barb is crying, per usual. Peter tells them that he is engaged and that he proposed to Hannah Ann to which Barb’s natural response is to Barb start hysterically crying. Alright, I’m just going to say it. Yeah, I would kind of want my family to like the person I would potentially marry too, but not to the extent of Barb. Thankfully, my mom isn’t a Barb. Peter facetimes Hannah Ann and they have a brief talk with his family. Everyone seems pretty happy, right?
This was also filmed live, so Chris Harrison brings Peter out on stage. Peter talks about how excited he was for that last day in Australia. Chris asks Peter if he was over Madison to which Peter responds that understandably, it was hard for him to push those feelings aside after expressing them for two months. He then goes on to explain how he struggled with that during his last few days in Australia but didn’t want that to hinder his potential in a relationship with Hannah Ann.
Next, we see Hannah Ann and Peter out in Los Angeles after filming the show and they talk about how they haven’t seen each other in a month. I get they have to remain low key after the show, but WOW! They both look like they are going to burst into tears and Peter expresses to her how there is no doubt in his mind and heart that he loves her and cares about her, but he is struggling. Peter feels bad for putting Hannah Ann through this and I’m assuming his “struggle” is in regards to Madison, but I’m not really sure. Hannah talks about how she said yes to an engagement between the two of them with the belief in their mutual understanding of this being a partnership, but she feels like she is giving to only receive nothing in return. Peter talks about how Hannah has always been there for him and she says that’s because that is what she has always wanted from him in return. He responds by stating that he truly wants to be able to give her everything she has given him, but he can’t do that so he apologizes. Hannah is kind of at a loss for words at this point and I mean I can’t really blame her. After his apology, she expresses that he took away her first engagement. I mean, valid. I’m just going to add this in because I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did but I just love how they have a little screen in the corner showing Barb’s reaction to the whole thing. I’m not trying to disrespect Barb, but it looks like she is the one going through this breakup. Peter keeps apologizing to Hannah Ann for taking away her first engagement from her and not being true to his actual feelings and understandably, Hannah begins to get defensive, which I totally get, but that being said, this whole situation is hard for everyone. Hannah gives him the ring back and says she’s done concluding that she doesn’t need anything else from him and she didn’t want to talk to him any further. Of course, Peter tries to talk to her again but she clearly expresses that she doesn’t want to listen to someone who isn’t true to their words. Anyone else having flashbacks to Arie’s season of The Bachelor? For those of you who don’t know this exact situation happened. It was wild. Anyway, Chris asks how Peter feels after watching that back to which he responds that in truth, he wasn’t expecting that to happen. Chris asks about Peter’s conflict and if that had something to do with Madison to which Peter reveals that yes, it did have something to do with it, but mostly it was in part to the fact that he wasn’t able to match what Hannah was giving him.
Chris brings Hannah Ann out on stage with Peter. Hannah begins to talk about how things had been off between them going on to say that the whole day blindsided her. Hannah talks about how Peter said things to her that made her stay with him and made her feel like she could fight for him and their relationship to which Peter says that the way she was feeling was valid. Yet at the same time, Peter wanted to explain how his feelings for her were real and he wouldn’t have proposed if he felt otherwise. Hannah talks about how he downplayed his feelings for Madison and how she wished Peter would have told her the entire extent of how he was feeling in that last week. Peter responds that although he seems that point, he didn’t want to let her go because she gave him a love that he hadn’t felt before yet he does agree that they should have had a conversation about the entire situation. Hannah Ann is given the last word concluding that she should have picked up on the first red flag – which was Peter’s desire to reach out to Hannah Brown for closure after the engagement. She says that so really there were three women involved in this engagement – being engaged to Hannah Ann, being in love with Madison, and needing closure with Hannah Brown. WHAT? Peter still needed closure with Hannah Brown? Peter has quite the mess on his hands here.
Chris went to Auburn, Alabama to talk to Madison. She talks about how hard this entire thing has been for her and that she regrets leaving stating that if she had been presented with the same situation, she would have done things differently. When Madison found out Peter got engaged, she broke down a little bit. Chris goes on to say that Peter doesn’t know that he is there, but he just got the news that Peter ended his engagement. After hearing this, her first instinct is to ask if Peter is okay and that is honestly so sweet. Sorry, I’m Team Madison. Anyway, Chris asks if she is in love with Peter still and she responds by saying that she knows she fell in love with him and those feelings didn’t just go away, but she doesn’t know what’s going on in his head. Chris explains how he ended his engagement due to his feelings for her and she responds by asking Chris what Peter wants – Chris responds that Peter’s want and his dream is to be with her. Madison says that if she was given a second chance she would take it in a heartbeat so Chris tells her to pack a bag because they are heading to Los Angeles. Madison shows up in LA and Peter has no idea she is here and when she does find Peter, he genuinely looks surprised to see her. He asks what she is doing here and she says she wants to talk to him. Long story short, they talked about how they regret how things ended between them and how the love they have for each other didn’t just go away. The question is what do they do about all of that now?
Back to the live show, Peter admits that he is still in love with Madison and that he hasn’t seen her since that day in LA. Chris brings Madison out and Madison expresses the same – how she loves Peter and that hasn’t changed. She says that she was hoping they would have had some closure after that day in Australia, but that wasn’t the case. She goes on to talk about how she learned about the rest of Peter’s time in Australia and the breaking off of the engagement all in one day. Understandably, she needed some time to process this. Chris has said multiple times that no one knows how this season was going to end and how he still doesn’t know, so the question remains: how does it end? Peter explains how they have both hurt each other and he has made a lot of mistakes, but they both continue to have a lot of love in their hearts for one another. Chris asks if they want to give this relationship a real shot and Peter responds that they both know how they feel, but they should take this one day at a time. They both have a lot of healing to do and ahead of them, so this would probably be the best option.
Chris asks Barb’s opinion on the whole situation and if it wasn’t obvious already, Barb was a huge Hannah Ann fan. Barb expresses how she loved Hannah Ann and that she welcomed the two of them together with love. She goes on to say that Madison was not like that and claims that Madison made them wait three hours before they could meet her. She says that waiting wasn’t the worst part because the most disrespectful part of the whole thing is that Hannah didn’t apologize for her tardiness. Apparently, Madison told Barb that she wasn’t madly in love with her son and Barb goes on to say that Madison stated she would not accept a proposal at the end of this. As a mother, of course, she would want Peter to end up with someone who loves him and as a result, she just felt more of a connection with Hannah Ann. Madison responds by saying that at the end of the day, it is what it is and the past is in the past. She elaborates by stating that personally, she came into this entire experience promising to remain true to herself. She says that she understands she isn’t a mom and doesn’t know what that is like from a maternal perspective, but she says she has a lot of respect for Peter’s family and will say nothing bad about them. Peter jumps in and says that he knows that his family has his best interest at heart and admits that their main concern was that she wasn’t on the same page as Peter. Peter directs this conversation to his parents and says that he has so much love for Madison and hopes they can understand that to which Barb responds that the two of them are both so different and only one would be willing to compromise. At that point, Hannah Ann was reciprocating the same feelings as Peter was and that’s why they gravitated toward her. Finally, Madison cuts her off and explains how this isn’t just Peter’s journey. As a mother, of course, Barb is going to be concerned about Peter, however, she explains that this isn’t just Peter’s journey and about Peter finding a wife, but this is also about her deciding if Peter is the right fit for her at the same time. I totally agree with that because when you sign up for something like this, you have just as much to decide and just as much to lose or gain in the process of making that decision. Chris jumps in and says although the family is important if there is a way that Barb can move past this and be open to their relationship moving forward. Barb responds that Chris is going to have to fail to succeed. Harsh. Barb is claiming that everyone has said that a relationship wouldn’t work out with Madison and Peter says that he loves Madison which should be enough assurance that they will do all they can to ensure they compromise and make their relationship succeed. Peter’s dad says that this should have been nothing but happiness from the beginning and he just didn’t see that because they have had so many obstacles already and it shouldn’t already be this hard. Chris ends this by telling Madison and Peter that he will always be there for them and that he wishes them nothing but the best. Wow, we all need a Chris Harrison in our lives.
Alright, here are my final thoughts on this season. I am going to be brutally honest, this was the worst season of The Bachelor that I have ever watched. The girls were horrible to each other. Peter was terrible at making any sort of decision and honestly, he was terrible at being The Bachelor in general. Let’s see, my least favorite contestant of the season has to go to all of them but I will say that my favorite contestant was Sarah. I’m sure you’re wondering who that is which goes to show she barely got any screen time and went home earlier than she should have. My motto of the season remains disappointed, but not surprised. Last, but not least, we can only hope that the next bachelor’s mother does not act like Barb. Overall, I had a great time recapping this season and will hopefully be back with more Bachelor recaps soon.