Tonight’s episode of The Bachelor opened with Chris Harrison and the live audience in Los Angeles. He asked them who was rooting for Catherine and who was rooting for Lindsay before tonight’s finale actually began.
Sean was still in Chiang Rai, Thailand, and his mom, dad, sister, niece, nephew, and brother-in-law all came to visit and hear about Sean’s final two ladies. Right away, his mom was skeptical that he could have such strong feelings for two different women.
Catherine was up first. After she met everyone, the whole group (aside from the children) headed outside for lunch. Catherine talked about the sports she was a part of when she was younger and her feelings for Sean. Sean’s mom, Sherry, asked her to step aside and talk to her alone. Catherine told her about the notes she gave Sean and mentioned he reciprocated on the third week. She added that he is such a great person, she never wants to let him go. Sherry felt much better after their conversation. Sean’s dad started his conversation out with Catherine by asking if she believed in The Bachelor process. That led her to say she is consumed by Sean. His dad told her that if she married Sean, he would be her biggest fan, and she would be his daughter for life. Catherine was brought to tears. Soon enough, it was time to go, so Sean walked Catherine out.
The next day, it was Lindsay’s turn to meet Sean’s family. They sat down to get to know each other better and talked about feeding the monkeys and Lindsay’s first exit out of the limo in a wedding dress. Sean’s dad, Jay, pulled Lindsay aside first. He asked how she knew she was in love with Sean for life before they get married. She said “I just know” and listed off all the qualities in Sean she loves. Lindsay was also brought to tears when Jay told her he and his wife had been praying for Sean’s wife since the day he was born. Before they ended their talk, Lindsay asked Jay for Sean’s hand in marriage, and the two laughed. Sherry asked Lindsay if Sean is open with her and talks to her about things that are serious. Lindsay told her they can be goofy, but they had decided not to live together until they are married and to be open in communicating with each other. Sherry told her she is a wonderful, sweet young woman, and she is excited to see where everything ends up. If they had a meal, we never saw it, because it was then time for Lindsay to go. Sean walked her out before heading back inside to get his family’s opinion.
They all agreed that they loved them both, and they would both fit into their family just fine. Sherry told Sean he shouldn’t propose to anyone if it feels like pressure. The two of them went off and talked alone. Sherry told Sean she didn’t want him to propose if it wasn’t in his heart and ended up in tears, so they took a short walk. She didn’t understand how he was going to make the decision and wanted it to end up a good experience for him. She added that if he couldn’t decide, he didn’t need to end up with either of them. Sean reassured her and said he would do what was best for him and asked Sherry not to stress out. They headed back inside, and Sean said good-bye to everyone. He was disappointed that his family couldn’t help him decide.
Lindsay and Sean met for their last date and went exploring in a raft on the murky Mekong River. Sean played tour guide and pointed out the sights and geographic landmarks. They talked about her visit with his family and their dates.
Later on, Sean went to Lindsay’s hotel room. They shared wine and got cozy on the sofa. She told him that he is everything she has ever wanted in a husband, and it just keeps getting better and better, but she is nervous. He told her not to be nervous. During her in-the-moment to the camera, Lindsay said, “I feel like that’s why we’re always kissing – because that’s the only way he can express himself to me.” (Right. He just can’t express his feelings in words). The two of them took three Chinese lanterns outside – one for family, one for happiness, and one for love – and set them off into the sky.
The next day, Catherine and Sean met for their date and hopped onto an elephant, their mode of transportation for the day. After they saw the sights from atop an elephant, the two of them snuggled up on a couch and talked about what their future together might be like.
That night, Sean went to Catherine’s hotel room. They shared champagne, and Sean told Catherine he was grateful for her being there and added that he had a lot of fun that day. Catherine whined about how she has a hard time talking about serious things and her feelings and admitted she was nervous to put herself out there. She told Sean she was thankful for his family and feels a lot. Sean (again) told her he thinks about her and their future together a lot. Catherine added, “I couldn’t see it going down any other way than me accepting your proposal.” As ABC cranked up the sounds of a heart beating in the background, Sean and Catherine stood together at the doorway before she finally whispered, “Sean…I love you.” Catherine was disappointed she hadn’t seen a glimmer of hope from him when she told him and followed him out the door, crying. Sean still didn’t say much, and Catherine still felt frustrated that she couldn’t get anything from him.
Next up was a brief recap of Sean’s journey with each of the women before he sat down with Neil Lane to select a ring. Both ladies went with frumpy, metallic dresses – Lindsay in silver and Catherine in gold – and everyone headed off to meet and see who Sean chose.
In the studio audience with Chris Harrison, Lesley, Jackie, Sarah, and AshLee were all there to weigh in. Lesley said she thought Sean would end up with Catherine, but Sarah said he would end up with Lindsay. AshLee didn’t give a solid answer on who she thought he would choose and admitted she did see a different spark between Sean and the final two that wasn’t there with the two of them. Eventually, she said she thought he might end up with Lindsay. Jackie could see both sides and said it was a toss-up. Chris asked her about the letter, and Jackie guessed it might be from his mom as a last warning or from Catherine.
It was Lindsay who exited the car first and made the long walk to meet Sean. She told us this would be the best day of her life because she would be getting engaged. (Sorry, sister. First out means you are definitely not getting engaged). Sean told her she has been such a surprise and loved hanging out with her and being around her from the start, but he didn’t know the depth he would find. He continued to compliment her and told her she blew him away before telling her this was the toughest thing he has ever had to do and breathing heavily. Her mouth hung open, and she dropped his hands as he told her he wanted to give her his heart, but it was somewhere else, and he had to say good-bye to her. Adding insult to injury, he told her he loved her and knew he loved her. He tried to explain himself, but she cut him off and told him to stop before asking if it was her. “Oh my gosh, okay, I am just going to go because this is too painful and my nightmare.” She told him she was happy that he found love, but she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it, and that was something she was going to have to figure out. Sean walked her out, but really, Lindsay stormed off ahead of him, holding her high heels, and he walked behind her in tears.
In the car, Lindsay said she felt like an idiot, and it wasn’t fair. She couldn’t figure out why Sean did this to her, and she didn’t want to be hurt this way. Through her tears, she said, “This is like, really sad. In a sick, twisted place in my head, I am really happy for them.”
Meanwhile, Chris gave Sean the infamous letter from Catherine. After a dramatic break for a commercial break, Sean read the letter out loud, with Catherine’s voice over blending with his. In a nutshell, the letter told Sean that she felt they were perfect for each other, and even though she couldn’t picture herself as a wife before, she now couldn’t see herself as anything other than his wife. When Catherine finally reached Sean, he told her he knew she would be fun to be around, but he never imagined it would be so much more. He told her he thinks the world of her and misses her every time he had to say good-bye to her and doesn’t want to say good-bye anymore. He told her he wanted to spend every day for the rest of his life making her feel special and bent down on his knee to ask her to marry him. Catherine asked if this was for real, and Sean told her he loved her. Finally, he said he loved her letter, and she said she had never been so comfortable around anybody and was so happy to have met him. Naturally, an elephant appeared for them to ride off into the sunset on.
The Bachelor: After the Final Rose aired immediately following tonight’s finale on WISN 12 in Milwaukee, at 9:05 p.m. Were you surprised to see Sean choose Catherine? What did you think of this season? Leave a comment below!
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