This season of The Bachelorette has seen its share of highs (Becca’s sparkly dresses, everything about Grocery Store Joe) and lows (Lincoln), but where does the finale fit in? Well, spoiler warning: Garrett wins.
But let’s back up and dig in to the recap, shall we?
We’re in the Maldives, and Becca’s wearing the cutest beach-y lewk. She’s in love with two men: Blake, with whom she has the most “consistent” and “strongest” relationship, and Garrett, who is not Blake. “With Garrett it’s been a little slower,” Becca admits. Still, she’s seen “so many” sides to him that’s made her love grow. (Apparently not the side that likes those problematic Instagrams.)
Even though she loves both, she’s not going to tell them yet because she doesn’t want to do what Arie did to her. Good call, Becca.
Luckily, her family’s here in the Maldives to meet the guys and give their feedback. Garrett’s meeting is first, and Becca warns them that she still sees his divorce as a potential red flag. He shows up with flowers and is VERY excited to talk about fishing. Later, Becca’s mom pulls her aside for a one-on-one chat. She tells Becca that her dad would appreciate how much Garrett clearly loves her. Her mom, however, is a little skeptical: She saw her daughter be just as lovey-dovey with Arie, so what makes this relationship so different?
Becca’s uncle, meanwhile, asks Garrett about his divorce. Garrett says he realized after the wedding that his ex-wife and family were never going to get along. (This may sound a little judge-y, but…wouldn’t that have come up before?) Garret tells the uncle he loves Becca because she’d be a good wife and mother and tears up.
“My emotions are just takin’ the best of me for sure.” – Garrett
During a talk with Becca’s sister, Emily, Garrett says he’s a 50/50 person and is glad Becca’s the same. He tears up again talking about how much he loves her. This wins Emily over and she tells Becca, “Girl, I don’t know how you’re going to make a decision because he’s fabulous.”
But the next day, the family meets Blake. Emily’s first impression is this:
“He looks like a movie star.” – Emily
Emily immediately pulls Blake aside for a chat. He tells her he gravitates toward strong women, and Becca’s the strongest woman he’s ever met. He also feels like they can work together as a team. This wins Emily over, too, and she tells Becca he’s “amazing.” When Becca asks her sister for her honest opinion, Emily says Garrett would be a wonderful father someday, but Blake would challenge Becca and be a better teammate. Becca tears up and admits she always thought it would be Blake in the end, but there’s just something about Garrett. That said, she knows he would be a bigger risk. Emily is basically like, well, Garrett says he’s a caretaker and Blake wants you to be a strong woman, so…
When Becca’s mom sits down with Blake she tells him he’ll be fine whether or not Becca picks him. This, naturally, sends Blake into a spiral.
Then Becca’s uncle asks Blake if there’s any reason the family should be concerned about Garrett. (I can think of one.) Blake says he doesn’t know what Garrett has said, all he knows is that he’ll put Becca first no matter what. As he leaves, Blake admits he’s probably overthinking everything, but he can tell something’s a little…off with Becca. The rain certainly doesn’t help.
“She’s going to pick Garrett.” – Blake
After Blake leaves, Becca asks her family for their thoughts. Right away, her mom says she got the sense that Becca and Blake are more of a team. “He was more on your level,” she says. “You compliment each other very well,” Emily adds. Becca’s uncle thinks Garrett has a “beautiful soul” and is “a poet” but that makes him more of a “risk.” Emily questions whether he would really challenge Becca. Her uncle agrees, adding that Becca needs somebody who will be stride-for-stride and is passionate about the same things as her. Becca’s face says, “I hear you, but Garrett though.” I feel like in this moment, when her family is leaning toward Blake, she goes the other way.
Her mom and sister tear up and say they’re proud no matter what, as long as Becca’s happy.
(PS: Guess who else was in the Maldives…ARIE! And Lauren B.! They went there to talk to Becca, though the conversation was cut from the finale. It’s for the best.)
Even though her family is Team Blake, Becca’s still not sure and hopes the last dates will make things clear. First up is Garrett. They take a boat ride, and he asks what her family thought about him. Halfway through their serious conversation, though, they get distracted by dolphins. To be fair, the dolphins are pretty cool. Garrett, a poet, says he has no words to describe how he’s feeling. They jump in the water to make out on the equator line.
That night, Garret tells Becca that all of their dates have been awesome, but he gets most excited thinking about the bigger picture and doing things like changing diapers with her. Becca says he’s a snorer, so that makes her nervous, but she likes that they were touching the entire night they spent together. Becca asks if he has any last questions or doubts but Garrett says he’s good. Not one question? What about like, “What are your views on feminism?”
Becca says once again that he reminds her of her dad, and Garrett tears up again as he reiterates the whole “I’m a caretaker” thing.
The next day, Becca has a date with Blake that consists of a bike ride around the island followed by snorkeling and snogging in the ocean. Blake asks what her family thought about him, and Becca says it meant a lot to her that they approved. They have a very open, vulnerable conversation with each other, but you can tell Blake’s more invested in it.
Later, he gives her a time capsule he made of their relationship. It’s filled with pictures and quotes and super cute. (Shout out to the producer who helped put this together!) When they kiss goodbye, Blake feels like they’re on the same page. Foreshadowing?
The next morning, Becca reads a lovely letter written by her sister while the guys pick out engagement rings. I like Blake’s cushion cut better, but willing to admit I am very, very biased in his favor.
After a lot of buildup, Becca’s decision is finally revealed: Blake is getting dumped. He’s confident going in to the proposal, which makes it all the more heartbreaking that he’s about to be blindsided. Becca stands there quietly while he delivers this long, emotional speech about all the reasons why he loves her. Before he gets down on one knee, she tells him to pause. Then she drops the bomb: Because their relationship was so solid and constant, she overlooked over other relationships. (Read: Garrett.) Then she digs in further, telling him that she pictured them getting engaged for so long, but now her heart is somewhere else. “I don’t think anybody can make you as happy as I can,” he responds. She doesn’t answer.
As she walks him out, Blake tears up and asks what changed. Becca says there wasn’t anything particular she can point to, Garrett’s just a better fit. They part ways, and both break down into tears. Blake is literally sobbing into a washcloth, while Becca says she has trouble breathing. It’s hard to watch Blake as he says horribly sad things like, “I can’t believe I have to go through all this alone” and “I did love her. I thought she loved me back” and “All I can imagine is how happy she’s going to be when Garrett proposes to her.”
The scene fades out to Blake, who’s now in the studio with Chris Harrison. He’s still thrown that he was so close to proposing and she said no. Chris asks Blake if he’s still in love with Becca, and he says some part of him will always love her. Still, he wants her to be happy and no hard feelings. Watching the show back, Blake realized at least her feelings were as real as his.
After a commercial break, Becca sits down with Blake and tells us yet again that there wasn’t a single moment that changed for her. However, she questioned the longevity of their relationship because he gets more in his head sometimes and she could see that being an issue when challenges arose. Becca apologizes for how the breakup went down—she feels bad he was blindsided—but Blake is gracious, telling her that he wishes her all the happiness.
With that, it’s time to watch Garrett’s proposal. When he arrives, Becca greets him with a kiss. (Notably, Blake did not get the same.)
He gives a speech, Becca tells him she loves him, and he gets down on one knee and proposes. Becca says yes. Meanwhile, I’m trying so hard to be happy that Becca’s happy, but John Mulaney gets it:
Becca and Garrett join Chris in the studio, and they are full of giggles and smiles as the audience cheers. Becca loves her ring—”I think my jaw hit the sand”—but she’s just happy to be engaged to Garrett. Chris congratulates Garrett on his “amazingly romantic” proposal, but Garrett admits he thought was going to break up with him during it. Chris asks Becca when she fell in love, and she says it was during the hometown dates. She could picture herself being a part of his life; on her way out, she ran into his sister and niece and started crying and that’s when she knew she loved him. Garrett says he really fell for Becca after seeing her with his family.
Then they get into what happened after the proposal. A video montage of their secret meet-ups reveals these consisted of making out in a pool and snuggling in bed. The “one” downfall is that Garrett snores. “No, I purr,” he jokes.
Back in the studio, Garrett addresses his social media controversy head on. “I didn’t realize the effect of a double tap or like on Instagram, so I put out an apology,” he says. “I didn’t mean to offend anybody. I apologize for that still. I’m very sorry. I didn’t meant to hurt anybody’s feelings or do anything like that. So, I stand by everything that I posted in my apology. I’m just trying to grow as a person, be a better person on a daily basis. She’s helping me through everything. We’ve been honest and open and transparent with one another since the beginning; and when that all came out, we attacked it because I feel like when I was liking things it was going against what she stands for. And that made it really hard on us as a couple. So when we started talking about that we got through that together. We’re growing, we’re progressing, and we’re moving forward.”
“That was a major thing that we had to talk about early on at the very beginning of our relationship,” Becca adds. “I luckily got to know him for who he is. On the show we don’t have phones, we don’t have social media, and so I got to see who he is, his heart, his soul. The Instagram situation, I don’t condone that and I know that he stands by his apology. He feels so bad for everyone that he did offend, and he didn’t mean it, but I just want to move forward and to learn and to grow and to continue to educate ourselves and that’s all that you can ask for in another person, that somebody who recognizes they made a mistake and did something wrong and want to learn and grow from it and that’s what he showed me.”
OK, well, I’m glad they addressed it so directly. All we can hope is that going forward Garrett really does learn and grow from this, as he promises.
As for next steps, they don’t have any wedding plans but they’re moving in together and getting a pet. Chris gifts them with an all-expenses paid trip back to Thailand as an engagement trip and, even better, a minivan.
And that wraps this season up, my friends! I’ll see you tomorrow for Bachelor in Paradise.
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