The Bachelorette - Season Finale 2014 - Recap: Too Good to Be True (VIDEO)
Recap and review of The Bachelorette Season Finale 2014:
This may have been the most bloated season finale for any reality show I've ever seen. And I say that as someone who sat through an entire season of The Vineyard. That said, The Bachelorette has never exactly been subtle about its drama-stretching tactics, so what we ended up with was two hours of platitudes and "Is this too good to be true?" reflections, and what felt like six years of commercial breaks. Andi's search for love hasn't always been the most exciting, but I'll be the first to admit that it wasn't exactly boring either, as this was a fairly unique season of reality TV, and not just because one of the contestants tragically died before the competition was even over.
In a lot of ways, this season finale reflected some of the strengths and weaknesses of The Bachelorette. I say "weaknesses" because this was a horrifically over-long broadcast, padded out to the margins with pointless recapitulations to the camera, and a small army of ad breaks preventing the episode from achieving anything resembling momentum. We even had a devastatingly useless bit where Chris Harrison took time out of seeing the conclusion of Nick and Andi's break up to ask the opinions of several Bachelor alums in the audience -- a segment broken up by ad breaks on each side, leaving audiences in suspense for damn near twenty minutes. Yet I also say this finale had "strengths" because, even in its most cringeworthy moments (like Nick's face-to-face with Andi on After the Final Rose), the show can still manage to wring genuinely compelling moments out of thin air.
I've long been of the mind that this was Josh Murray's competition to lose, which means this finale didn't really have all that much drama. That said, with how hard they were emphasizing Josh's certainty that Andi would accept his proposal, I began to truly believe he was headed for heartbreak. And that speaks volumes for just how much drama can be mined out of a premise in which lives may not be on the line, but hearts are. This mostly ignores that, much like Nick being pigeonholed into becoming the season's villain, much of the finale's drama was all misdirection by the editing team. But this finale illustrated that such editing trickery has strengths and weaknesses of its own.
Ultimately, I'm leaning towards giving this finale a thumbs up. It wasn't trainwreck TV, nor was it compelling all the way through, but I was far more entertained than bored. And given how terminally bland some of the episodes this season have been, that's actually saying something. But onto the events...
Credit: Twitter
MEET THE PARENTS
The dates, such as they are, seem constructed so that very little of interest actually appears to happen. Nick meets Andi's father and seems flustered, but remains intent on proposing to Andi. Josh, meanwhile, is actually far more flustered than Nick, laughing and sweating profusely like some sort of caffeine-infused maniac. Ultimately, Andi's father, Hy, thinks Josh is trying too hard to be relaxed and calm and cool, while her mother thinks Josh is "boisterous and a little chaotic." For her part, Andi is concerned that her family doesn't like Josh because he's been the type of guy she's always gone for, and this sort of become the ongoing narrative concerning Andi's thought processes. She's been cautious about Josh since Day 1, but now her family is giving her cause to be even more doubtful, if that's even possible, when they aren't immediately over-the-moon with the guy.
However, Josh goes out of his way to make certain that Andi's family knows how much he loves her, telling Andi's sister and her husband that she is the only person he's felt this way about in five years. Hy, in a wonderful moment of genre savvy, expresses his concern that Josh may view this reality show relationship as a "camp romance," prompting Josh to clarify that meeting on a show like this doesn't invalidate what he feels. He calls what he feels for Andi a "forever kind of love." In trying to prove his worthiness, he asks Andi's father for his blessing to ask Andi to marry him, admitting that while the process is quick, he's prepared to make her his wife. "You've got my blessing. The only one you need to worry about is hers," Hy responds.
And this first hour continues with Nick virtually dropping off the face of the Earth altogether. Andi and Josh are back in the Dominican Republic for their final date, and Josh lets Andi know how important it was to have Hy's blessing. Andi is charmed, but admits she does tend to overanalyze things and have doubts, which brings us back to our theme of uncertainty, in that I can't really think of a single moment outside of the final ten minutes of the finale where Andi has ever shown any certainty about Josh whatsoever. It's to the point where she finds herself repeating "Is this too good to be true?" to the camera, ad nauseum. At dinner, Josh admits that everyone's courtship is different, noting that Andi's sister knew her husband forever before they got hitched, while Andi's parents only knew each other four months. Josh tells Andi it's been a long 29 years, but she's changed everything for him, and he couldn't feel more blessed. In exchange, Andi can hardly muster any response more passionate than "That's sweet." In fact, so much of this first hour was spent on Josh hammering home that Andi will accept his marriage proposal that I would have put in serious bets against Josh, despite favoring him for much of the season in my predictions. Damn that pesky editing foreshadowing!
At dinner, Josh reads her a note and reveals he made her a baseball card of herself, as Andi notices that Josh has affixed his name to hers. And whaddya know? Andi Murray IS a pretty great name. Naturally, Andi feels the card is a sign that Josh is ready for marriage, since a man doesn't put his last name on a girl unless he's serious about her. And I'd agree, if only because no man engages in arts and crafts unless he's ready to put a ring on that finger.
Credit: ABC
A NICK, A CUT
Nick's date is every bit as subdued as Josh's, although he's much more reserved than the "Always Hyped" Josh. Yet Andi seems to react to Nick in ways that suggest she's far more enthusiastic about Nick than she is about Josh. After going off-roading for their final date (which seems like a misnomer, since they're clearly on some kind of road), they start chatting about Nick's visit with Andi's family. He recounts how he told them, "I love [Andi] in ways I didn't think I would ever love somebody." This, of course, gets a bigger reaction from Andi than similar proclamations from Josh, which makes what comes later all the more random. Nick goes on to talk about how he told Andi's family that nothing would ever take priority over their daughter: no job, no city, nothing. Andi cheerfully proclaims that this level of attention makes her feel sexy, while Nick admits in a confessional that he's nervous about proposing to Andi because he's not entirely sure how she feels about him. So yeah, two confessionals, two separate emotional statuses -- both of which are about to be reversed inside twenty minutes of screentime.
Nick is worried because he doesn't know if Josh is still in the picture, but notes that if he does ask Andi to marry him, it's because he has no doubts that he's the one she'll pick. At dinner, Nick nervously recounts that heartbroken feeling he experienced on the morning he was rejected the last time he made a marriage proposal, having sensed that something just wasn't right. However, Andi reassures him to such an extent that Nick starts talking about all the mundane things they're going to do as husband and wife, like go grocery shopping, hit up the gym, and make out while cuddling in their home. He wants to be able to laugh about how they first met, and to be able to tell that story to their kids. He also hopes she'll always remember the first time he told her that he loved her. Meanwhile, Andi talks about how Nick is everything she's been looking for in a man, with Nick adding that it's hard to imagine she has this kind of connection with anyone else. Basicall, the show is hammering every bit as hard on the idea that Nick and Andi are a done deal, a His/Her bath towel collection waiting to happen. "I feel confident we are ready to get engaged. I want to get down on one knee and ask her to marry me, and spend the rest of our lives with each other," Nick declares, oblivious to what's ahead.
The next morning, the jeweler arrives at Josh's suite to help him pick out a wedding ring for his proposal later. Nick waits in his suite for the same man to come by, only to be surprised by the sudden arrival of Andi. After the aforementioned useless segment in which Chris Harrison asks the Bachelor alums what they think Nick is going through, and what they expect is about to happen (with all of them refusing, when asked, to actually offer a prediction on what Andi is going to say to Nick, even though it's tortuously obvious what's about to happen). And, sure enough, the inevitable arrives, as Andi says she woke up this morning experiencing the same doubts and uncertainty that Nick felt on the morning he proposed to his ex. Through a curtain of tears and awkward silences, Andi explains that she just doesn't have the feelings for Nick that he has for her, leaving a stunned Nick utterly flabbergasted.
While he never gets cruel or bitter, Nick clearly is devastated, asking Andi just how much of their connection was real, and also asking why she went out of her way to reassure him about their relationship. It's like a terrible boxing match where the fighters slowly circle one another with their silences, getting in a jabbed apology here, or a "But why?" hook there until all fifteen rounds are up and nothing's been resolved. "Sometimes I feel like you took it too far," Nick tells Andi, and she's almost too soaked through with tears to really respond. It all happens in a sort of fugue state for the two of them, with neither making any kind of progress towards understanding. Nick simply says he hopes Andi is "1000% sure."
After a curt hug, Andi and Nick part ways, and Nick packs his things, mopes, and walks out into the car, amid the pouring rain of the Dominican Republic. "I feel like such a fool," he mutters under his breath, and it's hard not to feel bad for the guy. This is one of the weaknesses of editing a narrative that doesn't always fit. By editing Nick into the role of villain this season, his elimination here lacks a certain effectiveness. In essence, it backfired and sort of makes Andi look like the bad guy for bringing him this far and stringing him along when, from all accounts, she knew well before this point that she didn't feel the same way about Nick. And the goal of any season of this show shouldn't be to vilify The Bachelorette herself. Then again, it's kind of fitting that Andi comes from a season where The Bachelor had been similar vilified by the editing team towards the end. Regardless of the editing tactics, this was deeply uncomfortable, and somewhat undercut breeziness of the Final Rose Ceremony. But that's almost par for the course for this season...
Nick Rejected By Andi - The Bachelorette Season 10 by IdolxMuzic
ONE LAST FAKEOUT
At the Final Rose Ceremony, Andi anxiously awaits Josh, who arrives looking like he's about to throw up from nerves. However, once he actually gets to Andi and launches into his prepared speech, I'm stunned at how much better the athlete is as an orator than the assistant district attorney he plans on marrying. Sure, it's a speech he's probably memorized completely, but it still takes talent to deliver any kind of speech that effectively. He tells Andi how long he's been waiting for a woman like her to come into his life, and how he feels he's the only person in this world who can make her smile the way she does. He basically declares that he wants to spend the rest of his life making her happy, and if there's one thing no one can take away from Josh, it's just how sincere he comes across in everything he says. It's almost impossible for me not to believe every word coming out of his mouth, to where I'd be shocked if he wouldn't have taken a bullet for her right then and there.
However, Andi's response is much more reticent. She talks about how much she "appreciates" his feelings for her, and how she's had her doubts over the past two months, leaving her with just one feeling. The music changes from sweeping, uplifting music to "level one of Mission Impossible on the N64" to sell the possibility that Josh is about to get dumped, until Andi reveals that the one feeling Josh left her with is love. She tells Josh she's in love with him and has been since she first laid eyes on him. Josh is practically bowled over by this fakeout, breathing the deepest sigh of relief you're likely to see a man breathe on reality TV this year. Josh, who's been waiting forever for Andi to reciprocate, drops to one knee and proposes. And Andi says yes immediately, leaving only the formality of the Final Rose to clear up: naturally, Josh accepts the Final Rose, and the happy couple starts pecking at each other with woodpecker kisses as the sun inexplicably sets behind them despite appearing to be early afternoon just five minutes ago. Oh, editing team. I wish I had you around to turn day into night and back into day.
Credit: ABC
Josh & Andi Engaged - The Bachelorette Season 10 by IdolxMuzic
AFTER THE FINAL ROSE
The perfunctory nature of After the Final Rose usually means it can be skipped, provided the finale goes as planned. And it normally does, but for Nick's sudden, inexplicable elimination before the Final Rose Ceremony. In such cases, After the Final Rose can actually be the most interesting part of the finale. Sure, you get moments like Josh gleefully talking about trying to make babies with Andi, or Chris Harrison bringing out Grumpy Cat to have a frown-off with Andi, but such moments are usually just window-dressing to the main event: the awkwardness of broken hearts (oh, and learning who the next Bachelor/Bachelorette is going to be, but Chris Harrison remained coy, saying we'll learn "at a later date" -- although it should be noted that the crowd got a "Chris" chant started for Farmer Chris during this non-announcement).
The awkwardness of this After the Final Rose interview with Nick became its own Bleachable Moment once Andi came out. Apparently, over the last several weeks, Nick has had a hard time accepting Andi's decision to let him go, and has tried on numerous occasions to get in contact with her. Apparently, while she was vacationing in Mexico, Nick tried to arrange a meeting between the two through Chris Harrison, only for Andi to reject him. Later, he showed up backstage at the Men Tell All taping to see if Andi might be willing to meet with him this time. His rationale was that he needed closure, while also adding that he needed Andi to understand how he felt. Despite having flown out from Wisconsin to give this thing a shot, Andi rejects him again, although she does accept a letter from Nick that is delivered by Chris Harrison, the FedEx of Emotional Ruin. We never find out what the letter says, but we don't really have to, since a lot of it comes out in the final confrontation between Nick and Andi...
When Andi and Nick first meet onstage, it's a fairly cordial confrontation, as Nick has apparently run out of things to say to Andi and instead just mumbles about how hard he's been struggling to deal with the heartbreak. He does note that he's grateful to Andi for showing him that love is still out there, but he does admit that he's not exactly over her either. And this is where things get awkward, as Andi (in the politest way possible) explains her decision by saying that she just wasn't in love with Nick, prompting Nick to ask why she decided to make love to him if she didn't feel what he was feeling. The crowd is absolutely stunned by this, and Andi is deeply offended that Nick would go "below the belt" by making their bedroom activities public like that. And I don't disagree with her there, as I feel Nick kind of eroded a lot of the goodwill he'd built up by airing their laundry like that, even if that physical aspect of their relationship does tie into his reasoning for why he felt so betrayed and confused by Andi's rejection. Andi appreciates that Nick feels grateful to her for showing that love is still out there, but she notes that she didn't do it for him, it was more a matter of principle for her. She reiterates that everything she felt with Nick was real, and that it was a great relationship, and still would be, if she had the season to do over again. But not everything works out, and all they can really do is move on with their lives, for better or worse. Ultimately, Andi handled it well, but this was deeply uncomfortable television, and I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking so.
Credit: ABC
CONCLUSION
This was an eventful season of TV, but it's not anything I'm sure I'd want to revisit. That said, I do expect we'll be getting a wedding special next spring when Andi and Josh walk down the aisle, as the couple admitted they were aiming for Spring 2015 to make things official. If nothing else, Andi and Josh are a great match, and the most natural match out of all the potential pairings this season could have generated. I might seem ludicrous for saying so down the line (although I hope I won't be), but I like the odds for these two. They just seem right. I can't explain it.
And after all, Andi Murray IS a great name.
Thanks for joining me this season on The Bachelorette! Let us know what you think about Andi's decision, her response to Nick, and everything else about the finale in the comments below! Thank you for reading, and check back next week for the premiere of Bachelor In Paradise!