Quick Take: The Bachelor (Brad Womack), "Season Finale"
Season Fifteen of the Bachelor comes to an end as Brad chooses the woman of his dreams.
Review: The Bachelor (Brad Womack), "Season Finale"
(S1511) The Bachelor season finale began with Brad having a tearful reunion with his family in Cape Town, South Africa. Chantal was up first to meet the family and she couldn’t say enough good things about Brad. His brothers take her out for a talk where she tells them that she would marry Brad on the spot and they seem okay with this. When Brad’s mom takes her out to talk she asks Chantal how she fell in love so fast. Chantal tells her stuff about her divorce and how she has learned to be more open to fall in love again. Mom Womack likes Chantal and tells her she hopes she will see her in the end.
Emily comes to meet the family next and things start off awkwardly when they ask her about the hometown date. She and Brad are both really nervous about telling his family about her daughter, something I would be nervous about as well. Brad tells the family about Ricki and his brother asks Emily what Ricki’s father would think if she moved to Austin. Emily steps up to the plate this time and tells her story about her fiancé. I don’t think it matters how many times you hear this story, it still makes you want to cry. It definitely made Brad’s sister-in-law shed some tears. The story has his family seeing Emily in a whole different light.
Emily talks to Brad’s mom and tells her that Brad has been her angel through this whole situation. Mom loves Emily and wants everything to work out well for her. While they are talking, Brad is outside with his brothers getting the lecture on how picking Emily would come with an instant family. Brad swears that he is ready and can handle it. When Brad talks to everyone after Emily leaves, they tell him they like Emily more and says she is the whole package.
Before the final rose ceremony, Brad gets one last date with both women. Chantal and Brad go for a boat ride where they get to swim with sharks. She tells him if she does this he better put a ring on it! They come out of the water fine and head back to the hotel for dinner. While they are eating, Chantal gives him a map that she made of their travels. She makes a comment about how she has traveled the world for this guy and that says a lot about how she feels about him while I was thinking, you had no idea where ABC would be taking you so thank them for the journey. They reassure each other they are okay and he leaves. I found the date kind of short and they didn’t really have too much of a talk.
Brad's last date with Emily is a little frustrating. She still seems insecure and the first thing she asks him is if he is ready to be a father. I love Emily, but even I was frustrated with her. You wouldn’t be there if he wasn’t ready and wanted to try. When they go to have dinner, this conversation is still taking place. Emily keeps asking are you sure and he keeps telling her yes. At one point Brad even started to get mad at her. It was hard to decide how to feel about their conversation. She needs to get over her fears, but then again, if I were a mom I would want to make sure he was ready because it is a tough job and takes a lot of responsibility. Also she was thinking about if there came a time that he couldn’t handle it anymore and would just walk away.
Brad left Emily feeling defeated and was now questioning what to do. After this date it seems up in the air who he was going to choose. The editing was well done because at times it seemed he was going to pick Chantal, but then they made it seem he was going to pick Emily.
The big day came and the first thing to take care of was choosing a ring. Neil Lane just happened to stop by with a variety of rings to pick from and Brad chose one that was perfect for his woman. He makes his way to the proposal site and the first limo pulls up. I am always nervous when this happens because most of the time the first limo is holding the reject! Chantal gets out and I breathed a sigh of relief. Yes I did like her, but I liked Emily more!
She meets Brad and he starts off about how they had a great connection, had fun, yada yada yada. Then comes the but... I have stronger feelings for someone else. I felt really bad for Chantal because I think she truly believed she was the one. There wasn’t any doubt on their last date and she seemed really sure. She broke out in tears and told him Emily was very lucky. He walked her to the limo and said goodbye. During the drive to the airport, Chantal cried and wondered why she thought she was going to be the last one standing.
With the break-up behind him, Brad is now waiting on Emily. When she arrives he goes straight to telling her that she is the one. He told her he loved her, told her she was his once in a lifetime and said that he wanted her forever. He got down on one knee and she said yes without hesitation. I found it funny that when he gave her the ring, he just happened to tip the box enough to show the Neil Lane logo! Very strategic ABC! They kissed and hopefully have their happily ever after. Up next: After the Final Rose.
Video: The Bachelor (Brad Womack), "Season Finale"
Check out the episode in full from Hulu available. Part I:
Part II:
Totally noticed the logo move with the ring as well! I thought at that moment that Brad consciously made to show the logo properly, figuring that's the only way he gets to keep it... though it's likely a prop ring? Would love to know how that works.
Great job covering The Bachelor all season Erin! This was a season where it was clear who The Bachelor/Bachelorette favored throughout (wacko Michelle aside).