Bachelor In Paradise - Season Finale 2014 - Recap: Love Don't Die
Recap and results for Bachelor In Paradise - Season Finale 2014:
It's the season finale of Bachelor In Paradise, and there's one last twist in store! Last week's episode saw the elimination of Jesse and Brooks, leaving us with six couples as we head into the finale: Marcus and Lacy, Sarah and Robert, Tasos and Christy, Jackie and Zack, Graham and AshLee, and Michelle and Cody. But will any of these couples stay together?
Let's get this finale on the road!
THE MORNING AFTER
So everyone wakes up the morning after the Rose Ceremony with an inexplicable feeling of dread. Chris Harrison is coming, and like the arrival of ravens on Game of Thrones, it can't possibly mean good news. And so everyone worries about what's next, with Michelle weighing the risks of bringing Cody into her daughter's life, Cody reiterating to Robert how head-over-heels he is for Michelle, and Lacy becoming more and more orange by the minute. We also have Michelle continuing to worry about Graham, who seems oblivious to AshLee's ticking time bomb nature. "AshLee needs to go home," she declares, as she seeks out Graham to have a talk, somehow coming to this realization after the final opportunity to eliminate her has come and gone. Or maybe it's not the final opportunity, since we still don't know what twist Chris Harrison has in store.
Chris Harrison comes in and reveals the twist: each couple has the day to decide whether they're going to continue in their relationship. If not, they must leave Paradise immediately. Seems sort of like a Rose Ceremony, except with the respective couples talking their decisions through with one another. I like that the show is forcing the issue, since I get the feeling a lot of these contestants would just chill in Paradise and coast along indecisively forever, if the show allowed it.
Credit: ABC
GRAHAM'S LAW
So Michelle tracks down Graham and essentially tells him that he's too nice a guy, and too great of a catch to allow AshLee to "make a fool" of him, and all I can wonder is when the hell Michelle and Graham are just going to get together already. Her interest in his love life goes far beyond friendship, at this point, given how often she's gotten involved. She insists that Graham and AshLee will never work outside of this setting, and she probably has a point. Then again, if Graham hasn't listened to her by now, he's never going to. For her part, AshLee says (in a confessional) that she's in love with Graham, that he's the greatest guy she's ever met, and that she can make him happy.
Of course, this ends up being the moment Graham grows a set and tells AshLee he's having doubts about their relationship outside the show. AshLee insists that he doesn't have to tell her he loves her, nor does he have to marry her or anything. But Graham declares that this "doesn't feel 100% correct," so he essentially ends things with her, once and for all. "I knew it," AshLee says, fighting back tears. "It was too good to be true." She then goes at him for breaking her heart, saying she just got done recording a confessional about how lucky she felt. Graham admits he's said a lot of the same things in his own confessionals, but he ultimately doesn't feel they "have what it takes" to make it outside this context. They say their goodbyes, but AshLee has trouble letting him go. However, he feels it's what's best for the both of them. In a confessional, Graham says he'll miss the "concept of being in love with someone," but notes that he's now back to the drawing board when it comes to finding love. That entire quote is utterly ridiculous to me, since he was the one who limited his own options by yoking himself to someone he wasn't all that into from Day 1. Graham just seems completely oblivious, particularly when he tells the others that he ended things with AshLee and that she "took it well." We immediately see AshLee's eyes puffy and red from crying, as she climbs into the van and leaves Paradise, with Lacy providing voiceover about how "delusional" AshLee was. And now I suddenly feel awful for AshLee. Sure, she could probably use a relationship with a good psychiatrist, but Graham just seems kind of -- I dunno, aloof. Would he have ended things with AshLee if Michelle didn't talk to him first? Dude just always seems like he's coasting, and has no real involvement in his own choices. AshLee hasn't been the most likable person out here, but I'm suddenly soured on Graham too.
Credit: ABC/Francisco Roman
JUMPING IN OR WALKING AWAY
AshLee and Graham aren't the only couple breaking up and leaving Paradise: both Tasos/Christy and Zack/Jackie break up and leave. And so we go from six couples to three. Robert commits to Sarah, and Marcus and Lacy are obviously not going anywhere. That just leaves Michelle and Cody, and what follows is a conversation that's either cute or awkward, depending on how you feel about a thirtysomething getting dating advice from her daughter.
Michelle can't decide without getting her daughter's input, so she gives her a call. Michelle and her daughter talk about how cute Cody is, although Michelle expresses her uncertainty. Her daughter responds by telling her to just take her time, since she doesn't have to decide right away. This leads to the uncomfortable response from Michelle that, well, actually, she does have to decide now. The daughter is thrown for a loop by this, but she responds with a lovely piece of advice for her mother, telling her to ignore how cute Cody is, and simply judge him on his personality and how he treats her. Michelle admits, in a confessional, that she has responsibilities as a mother that she has to take into consideration, although one would think she'd have taken those responsibilities into consideration before coming on yet another show in The Bachelor franchise. But I suppose that's neither here nor there, at this point. Ultimately, she decides to stick it out with Cody.
Chris Harrison enters and reveals the final facet of the twist: each couple will have one more Fantasy Suite date, after which they must make a final decision on their respective relationships. He encourages each couple to have serious, honest conversations about where their relationship is headed, although I have no idea why anyone would wait until the last minute to have these sorts of talks. It's almost like none of these contestants knew how long the show would last, and were taken by surprise to learn it was ending. Amusingly, Chris seems to show surprise that Marcus and Lacy have hit it off as well as they have, as if to suggest he never imagined anyone would actually fall in love on this silly show.
Apropos of nothing (or everything), we go to break and get a commercial for the new season of Couples Therapy on VH1, which will feature Juan Pablo and Nikki. Apparently, he still doesn't feel like he's in love with her yet, and Nikki is no longer as cool with that as she was on After the Final Rose. I anticipate a trainwreck. Not that I'm actually going to watch it or anything.
Credit: ABC
FINAL FANTASY
The Fantasy Suite dates go pretty much as you'd expect, with one notable exception. The quick-and-dirty: Lacy finally tells Marcus she loves him, as the admit their 100% commitment to one another; Robert and Sarah, meanwhile, spend seemingly their entire date making out in the pool like on their first date. But the surprising part is with Cody and Michelle, as Michelle talks through her doubts with Cody, admitting that while he's a wonderful guy, she needs to experience a bit more of real life with him before she can make a decision. So she decides to go to the Fantasy Suite with him, although she makes it clear he isn't getting laid.
Except that isn't entirely true: the next morning, Michelle declares that she's feeling "sore and satisfied", announcing to the other two couples that she now has a boyfriend, and his name is Cody. Cody declares it one of the best nights of his life, as Michelle states in a confessional that she finally knows, with perfect clarity, exactly what she wants -- and she wants Cody. You know what? Good for those two. I like Cody, I like Michelle, and I like that the feelings are now no longer a one-way street.
However, throughout all this lovey-dovey, post-coital celebration, Sarah is miffed. Apparently, nothing happened with Robert in the Fantasy Suite. As she explains, not only was he far more interested in just going to bed once the cameras went away, he actually wore his jeans to bed, as if to suggest he just didn't want to get physical with her at all. Sarah just feels awful, seeing the connections between the other two couples, since it makes her and Robert's formerly solid connection pretty much look like a blind date between two poorly-matched strangers. And I don't disagree, although if the physical attraction isn't there, you can't really force it. That said, if he wasn't feeling Sarah, Robert really should have spoken up. Although why would he even agree to stay if he weren't into Sarah? It's not like he'd have a chance with other women by choosing to stay.
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HE HAS A PENIS"
Sarah feels even worse when she goes back to her quarters and hears Michelle talking about how good Cody is in bed, and how well-endowed he is, while Lacy is all sparkly-smiles over Marcus. Sarah talks in a confessional about how she tried to undo Robert's pants while they were in bed, but he stopped her. She says he was in no way interested in touching her, stating that he didn't touch her leg, didn't do any neck-sucking, didn't do ANYTHING. "I don't even know if he has a penis," she declares.
Sarah is so upset that she takes Robert aside and confronts him about it, telling him that she feels as if he couldn't be any further away, emotionally. "You didn't hardly want to touch me," Sarah says, with tears in her eyes. Robert is shocked by all this, since he thought they had a great time on their date, and had no idea Sarah felt as disappointed as she did. "I did want to do all those things. I thought I was pretty clear on that," he tells her. He thought they had a connection of the same strength as the other two couples, but apparently, he was wrong. "I felt not-loved," she says, prompting Robert to apologize for making her feel that way. He says he actually feels sad that he made her feel that way, and Sarah is sad too. So sad, in fact, that she ends the relationship, saying she's just not getting what she needs from him. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I didn't want you to feel this way," Robert tells her. "I'm feeling pretty upset right now," he says, as his eyes get red and fill with thin tears. "I guess I'm going to take off."
I'm actually stunned. Sure, Sarah is crying and all, but I expected her to be upset. But I didn't think Robert would be this devastated. In a confessional, Sarah breaks down and says that seeing how hard Robert took it made her feel awful. She says it sucks because he did make her feel great, far more often than not. Lacy and Michelle console her, and she explains the story, and they're completely heartbroken for her. "I can't pretend his lack of interest in me is acceptable. ... I felt like I was sharing a hotel room with my friend. Not someone who wants to spend the rest of their life with me."
And now Robert breaks down in a confessional as we see him packing. He explains that he liked taking it slow with Sarah, because he liked building an emotional relationship. He states he genuinely didn't know she felt the way she did, since he was very much into her. Robert says he wasn't more aggressive with Sarah because he's scared himself, and it isn't easy for him to let people in. He implies that maybe he just wasn't good enough for her, and now I just feel awful for the guy. Sarah, for her part, is now questioning her decision, feeling that she might have let "one weird night" convince her to give up the relationship she was meant to have. Now I really wish we were getting an After the Final Rose-type special for this, since I'd love to hear how some of the finalists are feeling about their decisions now.
Credit: ABC
WE FOUND LOVE IN A TROPE-FUL PLACE
On the final day, Chris Harrison visits the final two couples and says that the biggest challenge of starting a relationship on a show like this is transitioning that connection into the real world. And so he brings in three of the more successful couples in franchise history: Jason and Molly (married with kids), Sean and Catherine (newlyweds), and Desiree and Chris (engaged). They offer advice to the remaining couples while also interrogating them about their connections, since all three couples are skeptical about the possibility that either of these couples are for real, despite having found love on a show like this themselves.
It's almost as if this sequence addresses many of the tropes inherent in a reality romance show, from the expectation that neither knows anything about the other person (such as favorite foods, sexiest body part, willingness to relocate, and whether they're still too fragile from their last Bachelor relationship). Cody reiterates that he's absolutely in love with Michelle, and Marcus basically says the same thing about Lacy. Both Michelle and Lacy reaffirm their commitment to their men, and this is actually a refreshing departure from all the insane drama. Just a breezy, light, feel-good segment. Granted, it's a little bit boring, but I feel like that's the trade-off we get with a show like this, which has been balls-to-the-wall all season.
Credit: ABC
THE FINAL ROSE
Chris brings the three Bachelor couples, and the remaining two Paradise couples together for a Final Rose ceremony. The three veteran couples talk about how these two pairings have the potential to be the next great Bachelor relationships, which Chris Harrison declares means a lot coming from the "Mt. Rushmore of Bachelor Couples" (funny, I don't see Trista and Ryan anywhere).
Cody tells Michelle that she means the world to him, and that he wants to be there for her and for her daughter. He offers her his rose, and she accepts. Michelle then tells Cody how lucky she is to have found him, and how much she appreciates him taking her daughter into consideration with his every thought. She offers him his final rose, and he accepts, of course. In a last confessional, Michelle tearfully confesses that it was Cody all along. Cody was the one, and she almost let him go. They leave Paradise together, and this is honestly the best I've felt about a Bachelor relationship in some time. Whether it lasts or not is anyone's guess, but they certainly make a lovely pair.
MICHELLE and CODY leave Paradise together as a couple!
And now it's Marcus's turn. But there's still one last bit of drama, as Marcus asks for a minute alone with Lacy. He talks her down to the beach and reveals that meeting her has been the greatest gift he's ever received. He says he thought he knew what love was before he met her, but she's taught him what love really is. He fights back tears as he tells her he wants to continue this with her forever, and do everything he can to make her the happiest woman in the world.
He takes one knee, and proposes. A teary-eyed Lacy says yes, as the three Bachelor couples cheer them on.
MARCUS proposes and LACY says YES!
After congratulations from Chris and the other couples, we get the foregone conclusion of Marcus and Lacy offering each other their final roses. They cry through the ceremony, as Marcus reiterates his love for Lacy while Lacy declares her intention to be the best wife possible. They accept one another's final roses, and if you'd told me any legit couples would come out of this concept, I'd have called you to get put in the nuthouse alongside AshLee.
But surprises like this are what keep shows like these from being a waste. So count me happy.
As we close, we get a montage of moments from the season, with voiceovers from the contestants, along with text indicating what happened with some of the couples after the show: Sarah is back in LA looking for a man, while Robert still sleeps in his jeans. Graham is still heartbroken and single, but has deleted his Instagram account. Michelle K. and Ryan Putz are no longer together, although they continue to make "excellent life decisions" (three cheers for sarcasm!). Clare is back in Sacramento, looking for her soulmate. The raccoon is "hoping she picks him." Chris B. and Elise broke up after just two weeks together, while Michelle and Cody are "still very much in love." Cody has even met Brielle, Michelle's daughter, as we see a video of them playing together in the ocean. Naturally, Cody is moving to Utah. But that's not all, as he's also currently training Chris Soules, getting him in shape for the next season of The Bachelor. Marcus and Lacy are still in love and are planning a wedding for the spring, as Lacy moves to Dallas. There's an "80/40 chance they'll have hot babies."
Aaaand that's a wrap on Bachelor In Paradise! What did you think of the show? Are you looking forward to Season 2 next summer? Should the format be revamped in any way? Sound off in the comments! Until next time, thanks for joining me this season. It's been a blast.