Alright bachelor nation, we are down to the last two episodes of this rollercoaster of a season, but it seems that both bachelorettes, Rachel and Gabby aren’t too confident that their journey will end with an engagement.
Last week’s episode left off with a nail-biter when Zach abruptly pulled Rachel for a chat before she began the rose ceremony. The finale opened with this same conversation and it was obvious it was going south— Zach voiced that he wasn’t happy with Rachel’s shift in character during the fantasy suites. “I felt like I was seeing ‘Bachelorette Rachel,’ not the real Rachel I had come to know and love,” he said. This statement was confusing for many. While some suggested he just removed himself from the rose ceremony before Rachel could, others questioned if she was truly being genuine.
One fan tweeted favoring the side that maybe Rachel is putting on a facade.
She does receive a bit of closure in the “After the Final Rose” conversation with Zach. “First I just want to say that I do apologize for ever making you feel like I called you out for your character,” he says. “That’s the last thing I wanted.” Essentially they both agreed that there were “no hard feelings” and then Rachel accepted his apology.
The episode switches gears when it’s time for Aven to meet Rachel’s family. And guess who’s back? That’s right— Big Tony! In addition to her mom, Mary Anne and two of her closest friends, Nate and Samantha. Rachel’s absolutely gushing over how much she likes Aven and couldn’t be more confident going into this family visit. However, there is just one teeny problem— Aven is totally not ready for an engagement.
As if it couldn’t get more awkward, Rachel assures to her family that Aven is ready, “We talked about it at length,” she says. “I’m so happy.” (Yikes.) This is not going to end well. Aven’s conversation with Nate definitely opened up a can of worms. Nate explains that Rachel’s end goal is to be engaged. But, Aven couldn’t give him a straightforward answer.
Understandably, she is completely shocked and feels blindsided by all this. However, her statement “I’m not coming out of this not engaged, ” certainly raised a few eyebrows from fans.
When Rachel brings up this issue the whole conversation kind of just becomes redundant. She is now talking in circles about how all she wants is a proposal. On the other hand, Aven is explaining that he sees a future but just needs more time. “I want nothing more than to be with you after this,” he says. “I know there’s still somebody else involved in this, that’s another thing.” They try their best to make up and not end on a bad note, but nothing will make that conversation any less painful to watch.
Well, that’s enough of that, let’s see how Gabby’s family visit went.
Gabby narrowed her search down to just Erich after Jason eliminated himself during fantasy suites because he wasn’t ready for an engagement. How shocking is that? She is accompanied by fan-favorite Grandpa John, her dad Patrick, Patrick’s girlfriend and Aunt Julie. Overall, Erich definitely got the stamp of approval from everyone and left the best impression thus far.
Gabby does have her own reservations as she reveals to her Aunt Julie the estranged connection she has with her mom and, “not having felt love,” leaves a large imprint on her ability to trust and fully open up herself to a person. Aunt Julie tells Gabby that she should communicate these concerns to Erich so he has a better understanding of where she’s at mentally.
Now we’re at the last family visit with Tino. Right off the bat, you can tell he’s extremely nervous and is trying his best to impress Rachel’s family. The conversation shifts when her mom addressed the obvious elephant in the room: Will Tino’s family come to like Rachel, his possible future wife? He confidently replies, “Absolutely. I am one million percent confident they’ll love Rachel — because I do, so they don’t have a choice.”
There’s no doubt viewers were shaking their heads at the TV while watching this live on Tuesday. Twitter was confused why Rachel would want to be with Tino if his family doesn’t like her?
The rest of the visit went fairly well and although Tino and Rachel have careers that clash, Tino being a general contractor and Rachel a pilot, Big Tony was able to look past this due to his confidence that he’s is ready for an engagement and truly loves his daughter.
Next up are “Last Chance Dates” and just when you think it couldn’t get any more messy, don’t worry, it does! Off the bat, the same argument circles back to Aven unable to decide if he’s ready to propose. “I want to do life outside of this with you, and I just feel like that’s so important for us at this point before that next step… I want us to be fully, fully in love with each other.” That’s definitely not what Rachel wanted to hear.
It’s clear that her fixation on getting engaged at the end of this is not going anywhere. “I want to be engaged. I want someone who’s sure about me,” she says. “I’m not willing to sacrifice that at the end of the day,” she says.
Surprisingly, her “After the Rose” conversation with Aven didn’t end in tears and utter disaster. “I’m extremely, extremely sorry about the way things ended between us. I blindsided you with everything, that wasn’t fair,” Aven says. “I definitely feel like I let you down in that moment and I’m truly sorry. Again she accepts his apology and understands he was just being honest and that’s all she can really ask for.
Fans did not agree with Rachel on this one. They thought it was unreasonable for her to expect someone to be ready for such a commitment so soon and that an engagement should never be forced just because the franchise normalizes it.
Gabby and Erich’s “Last Chance Date” is off to a good start. Out of everyone, Erich seems the most promising when it comes to ending things with a proposal. Yes! Finally, something positive will come out of this episode. “It’s been crazy, but I truly love you. I do want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I don’t want to rush anything, and I don’t want there to be any expectations or anything that won’t be natural to us,” Erich says abruptly during their date. Well, that didn’t last long.
Immediately Gabby is taken aback because his comment, “Doesn’t scream, ‘I want to propose.” Regardless of how she feels, Gabby says she doesn’t want to throw everything away just because Erich isn’t ready.
Well, that’s it for tonight, folks. Do Rachel and Gabby get their happy ending? We’ll just have to find out next Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. on ABC. See you there!
