Bachelor Peter - The Finale

Oh my gosh, you guys what a craptastic finale.

So Monday night we got to see Madi and Hannah Ann meet Peter's parents. And Peter's mom is the absolute worst. Seriously, Barb, listen to your son and just stop. I know we're only seeing a reality TV version of her but people really liked her from when Peter was on Hannah B.'s season so I did not see this coming.

Hannah Ann was first up to meet the family and they LOVED her. She let them know how in love she was with Peter and came off really well. So of course, they did. She's a little cutie. Then came the drama. Madi and Peter sat outside when she arrived to meet his family for what we later found out was 3 HOURS working things out. Finally, Madi came in to meet them and it did not go well. Barb was pretty pissed about having to wait (she seems like a super understanding woman... okay, not so much), and then they really put the pressure on Madi asking whether she really thought she and Peter's lifestyles meshed well.

Okay, that's fair. Honestly, this is important stuff they have to deal with and Madi (and Peter) really should give it a fair amount of consideration. And that's what it seemed Madi did.

After meeting the parents, Peter seemed 100% in for Madi. Even though his mom's "Bring her home" moment was about Hannah Ann, who in her opinion is "an angel on Earth". Peter said he was still conflicted but he was totally going to choose Madi. But Madi had other plans. She realized that maybe in the real world their lives really weren't that compatible and decided she needed to send herself home. This shook Peter (obviously).

Okay, let me take a short break here to talk about a few other incidences in Bachelor past that Peter's situation reminds me of.

1. Back in Des' season, her final two were Brooks and Chris. In the final week, Brooks decided to send himself home and Des flat out told him he was "the one" she was going to choose and that he was making a mistake. But he left anyway. Des reflected on their relationship and the one that remained with Chris and realized that Chris was actually the one for her and that had she chosen Brooks in the end THAT would have been the mistake. She chose Chris and they are now married and have two children. So, at this point in Peter's season, it wasn't inconceivable that he could do the same with Hannah Ann (he tried to, but we'll get there). 

2. I mentioned this before but it's worth bringing up again. Just because Peter is not currently as dedicated to his faith as Madi, doesn't mean things can't work for them. Again I will bring up Sean Lowe. Sean was very religious, his whole season was about how he was a born again virgin. Catherine was not as faith-driven but look at them now. Married, three kids. These things can work out if the people involved are really in love and really want to make it work. 

3. Stating the obvious but, Jason Meznick. He chose wrong for himself at the final rose and came back to After the Final Rose to win back Molly. Boom. Married. Babies. 

So, given all that, and before last night's TERRIBLE conclusion. We could, with some trepidation, assume that things could still work out for Peter.

Then last night happened.

Peter decided that he loved Hannah Ann enough to CALL HER DAD, ASK HIS PERMISSION, AND PROPOSE to her after she almost didn't even show up! What? Seriously? There were like 2 seconds between him being torn up about Madi and him deciding to go ahead and get engaged. Weird choice, Peter.

So, he goes home and tells his family and they were over the moon. So excited to welcome Hannah Ann into their family. Barb was a little too excited, it was creepy.

Then, a la Arie's season, we got to witness their inevitable break up  (yes, all of this is happening within like 30 minutes of the show and it was crazy fast and without any context between things). We also got the pleasure of watching Barb's facial reactions the whole time. She did not look pleased. However, we did get to see more personality out of Hannah Ann than we ever have. It didn't seem entirely unrehearsed but it was "real" enough. I do feel really bad for Hannah Ann. And at After the Final Rose she expressed herself so well. She deserved better and Peter knows it.

So as it turns out, Madi did not come back on her own admitting her mistake. After Peter broke off his engagement with Hannah Ann, Chis Harrison realized that Peter was still in love with Madi and went to her to see if she would be willing to come back to see if things would work out between them. That happened two weeks ago and Peter and Madi had talked but hadn't seen each other since until last night. It was also super clear (because of the Barb-cam) that Barb was not happy about the situation.

Madi and Peter decided that they want to see how things go and try to have a relationship. They didn't get engaged on the spot or anything so romantic. But, unfortunately, Chris asked Barb's opinion and she was a complete and total bitch to Madi. I get it. I do. She is protective of her son and skeptical about whether they can make things work. But why can she not be supportive of Peter's choice? Maybe things won't work out with Madi and Peter, but maybe they could. And it's going to be so much harder for them to even try if they don't have their family's support. I was pretty blown away by Barb's blatant and aggressive dismissal of their relationship. She actually said in front of everyone that Peter would have to "fail to succeed". Meaning he would have to try with Madi and inevitably fail and that she would be there to tell him "I told you so". #momoftheyear

And that wraps up Pilot Pete's unfortunate run as The Bachelor. I hope things work out for him in the end but I can't see this working out with Madi after everything his family has said. He'll be put in a position of choosing her or them and that's super sad. Poor Pete. What a bummer of a season.

I guess we're moving on to Clare Crawley, my dumb Tivo cut off the recording before I could see much of what she talked to Chris about but let's just hope that this decision to choose an older, mature, lead for the show results in a real love story because, after the last few seasons, Bachelor Nation really needs a win.

Good luck to Clare! I'll be watching and blogging.