The Bachelor Recap: Clayton Faces the Music — Is His Journey Over Already?
Clayton’s quest for love on The Bachelor blew up in his face in spectacular fashion last week — and now he has to do his best to put it back together again.
Monday’s penultimate episode picks up in the aftermath of his ugly breakup with Susie, with Clayton sitting in a church in Iceland (seeking forgiveness, perhaps?) and still reeling from what happened. “I need somebody to help me because I’m so broken,” he sobs to the camera. He confides in Jesse — but still says he was “blindsided” by what Susie said and insists she wanted him to fully explore his other relationships. So… this is still all her fault. Got it! Now he decides he’s going to be “a thousand percent transparent” with Gabby and Rachel at the rose ceremony. If they really love him, he thinks, they’ll stick around. Well, let’s see!
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It’s time for the rose ceremony (from hell!), and the two girls are surprised to not see Susie there. They’re even more surprised when Clayton tells them everything: He was in love with Susie, and he’s in love with both of them, too — and “I also was intimate with both of you.” Ouchhhhhh. He still sees himself with one of them at the end of this… but he doesn’t know who that is yet! (Well, whoever is the least pissed at him for all of this, probably.) The girls both storm off in different directions, and Susie’s gasping sobs reverberate through the whole building. Gabby is crying, too, and says she doesn’t want to be with Clayton at the end if it has to be like this. Rachel can’t understand how he can be in love with two other women and also her. (Yeah, we’re still trying to figure that one out ourselves.) “I just want to continue with both of them,” Clayton tells Jesse. Really, dude? That’s your answer, after all of this?
Gabby eventually returns, and Clayton tries to reassure her that what they have is real — well, as real as what he has with Rachel and Susie, anyway. She reminds him that “love” is a big word to throw around. How can she feel secure when he’s telling everyone he loves them? “Whoever I pick, I love the most,” Clayton tells her… and the disgusted looks on the faces of the fans watching live say it all. “Wrong f–king answer,” Gabby says later in a confessional. (Damn right!) He sits down with Rachel, too, and tries to explain that he has a “different” love for her than he has for Gabby and Susie, but that doesn’t stop the waterworks. “I feel like my heart is breaking,” she confesses before sobbing in his lap. He tells her he still loves her and gets her to agree to take things one day at a time. No, Rachel! Don’t let him get away with this!
It’s starting to dawn on Clayton that he is at least partially at fault here… which is something, we guess? They go through the motions of the rose ceremony, and he offers a weak-ass apology to Gabby and Rachel before offering them both roses. Rachel accepts her, but Gabby stops him: “I can’t, I’m sorry,” she firmly tells him. On the way out, she says they do have something special, but the “whoever I love the most” answer really hurt her. “Just say you’re sorry or something,” she says. But Clayton keeps trying to get her to change her mind, and we have to wait through a commercial break — man, this episode is stretched out — before she starts to waffle and waver. Meanwhile, Rachel is left wondering if she should even stay after both women left her as the only choice by default. Gabby does ultimately come back, though, and she accepts Clayton’s rose after all. Yay, romance?
After Jesse breaks away from the action for a pointless segment where he asks former Bachelor stars for their take on the situation — spoiler alert: They don’t like it! — we get back to Iceland, where Clayton tells his family the whole messy story. His mom and dad seem very sensible: They think the women have every right to be upset and deserve someone who puts them first. (“You’ve screwed the pooch, in my opinion,” his dad chuckles.) Gabby is first to meet them, and she weirdly seems all better from last night’s debacle. In fact, she’s worried his parents won’t like her because she almost walked out on him! She privately tells his mom she felt like she “can’t give up a man like him” without seeing it through. “I’m ready more than ever to be with him,” she says at the end. Ugh. Well, that’s disappointing.
Rachel’s visit with his parents goes well, too, and his mom even compliments her on not walking out after hearing his big confession (?!). So both women are back on board! His plan worked! Well, maybe: After his dad tells him he should really be able to make a decision by now, Clayton reveals to his family: His heart is still with Susie! Dammit, man! “It was just a little more special with Susie,” he says, and he bulldozes over them when they try to talk sense into him. Even though she walked away from him, he thinks he can win her back — and he tells Jesse he needs to see if there’s still something there. Then Jesse drops a bomb: Susie is still in Iceland. Will she pull a Cassie and give him another chance, though? (Because we know how well that worked out last time.)
Alright, Bachelor Nation: How do you think Tuesday’s season finale will play out? Drop your predictions in a comment below.
Launch Gallery: <i>The Bachelor</i>: How Long Each Couple Lasted, From Shortest to Longest
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