Promotional Image // ABC
By: Sam Simons
Media Writer
Season 21 of “The Bachelorette” has made history, for better and worse. For one, this season featured the first Asian-American Bachelorette, Jenn Tran. However, this season also made history by having an unhealthy amount of men not being ready for an engagement and some ferociously annoying catchphrases.
Despite this, dedicated Bachelor Nation fans tuned in – maybe to see if this season would truly be the most shocking, or maybe because Love Island was over. Either way, this season’s finale might not be getting fans’ final rose.
The grueling three-hour finale came down to Army Ranger Veteran Marcus versus Freight Company Owner and self-proclaimed momma’s boy Devin.
Marcus was Jenn’s first one-on-one date, where he opened up about his experiences as an Army Ranger and how during his time he was seriously injured in a firefight. He wooed both Jenn and fans at home with his resilience and pure sweetness considering everything he has gone through.
As far as Devin goes, he charmed Jenn with his confidence. However, he sometimes came across as arrogant to the other guys, and it seemed he would be this season’s villain. But others pointed out that he is just direct, like Maria, who was on Joey’s season of “The Bachelor.”
The finale started with Marcus and Devin separately meeting Jenn’s family. Devin’s portion was first, and we all expected it to go well, as he has proclaimed he is 100 percent in love with Jenn and she has said it back.
When Devin meets Jenn’s brother James, who is a father figure to her, Devin asks for his blessing – which he denies. Considering host Jesse Palmer’s warning that this season isn’t like any other, and with what we will get into later, Jenn’s brother had a Raven Symone moment in not giving Devin his blessing. But the day still goes well, and it appears that Devin is the frontrunner.
In Marcus’ portion, there is an element of fear going into the day, as his connection with Jenn isn’t as far along as Devin’s. Marcus says he cares a lot about Jenn but isn’t fully committed. Furthermore, when the two say goodbye, Jenn says “I love you” to Marcus and he simply replies “I know.”
After the meet-the-family dates, the episode moves into the final one-on-ones. Likewise, we see Devin and Jenn again before the proposal day. The day portion of the date is great. The night portion is even better. Devin reiterates his love for Jenn. Once again, it appears that Devin will be the one to propose.
Everything seems fine, but since the finale is live, before we actually see the date play out the episode cuts to the live studio where Palmer asks James how he is feeling to which he replies, “I’m not too happy.”
Marcus’s date never ends up happening, as Jenn is feeling conflicted about his feelings for her. She looks for these answers by going to his room and questioning him about whether or not he is ready for an engagement. Unfortunately, Marcus just isn’t fully there, and Jenn calls it quits.
Focusing on the positive, now Devin has to be one! But, we still haven’t uncovered the unprecedented event. The episode transitions into a conversation between Jenn and Jesse where she explains that she wants to do something no Bachelorette has done before by proposing to Devin instead of Devin proposing to her. Alas, this is what has been promoted all season long, right?
Turns out Jesse wasn’t lying about this season being like no other after all, because the episode returns to the live studio audience. After showing clips leading up to the proposal where things still look promising, it cuts back to Jesse who announces that we won’t be seeing the proposal, and before the commercial break we see Jenn crying backstage.
Jenn reveals a nuclear bomb of information that following filming Devin called her on the phone to break off the engagement. Things only get worse when Devin is brought out to somehow defend his actions. Rightfully so, Jesse opens the floor for Jenn to speak first, and she tries to make sense of things he did after ending things, including following former Bachelor contestant Maria online. Devin was supposed to be the Maria of the season – not leaving Jenn to go after the real Maria!
Several contestants on Jenn’s season had their doubts about Devin. Sam M. didn’t like Devin from the start and made that very clear, but him being right about Devin’s intentions was truly unprecedented. Aaron went as far as to give Devin a self-help book. Essentially, what sucks is that we were all rooting for Devin, and how dare he! The fact is that I defended him, I laundered his money, I lied for him – okay maybe not that far like Saul Goodman, but I was on his side, and it turns out he was the bad guy.
Watching the Bachelorette franchise is equivalent to watching sports, and after watching the finale, now I can kind of understand why sports fans break their TVs. If all of that wasn’t enough, the crew at ABC thought it was a great idea to make Jenn watch the doomed proposal. While ABC will never be able to compensate Jenn for the trauma they put her through, she at least has support from former Bachelorettes.
Also, Jenn might be able to find a way to cope as she will be joining the newest season of “Dancing With The Stars.” Though Jenn didn’t find the love she was hoping for, maybe it takes going through a bunch of bad men for her to find the one – she wouldn’t be the first.