The Golden Bachelorette Finale Recap: Did Joan Get a Happy Ending After All?
We’ve made it to the finale of The Golden Bachelorette, and Joan is cruising right along with two men she adores to choose from. But will her love boat crash on the cold, hard rocks of reality? (Let’s hope not.)
Wednesday’s finale finds Joan on a cruise ship headed to Bora Bora with her two remaining men, Guy and Chock. But as the episode opens, she’s still reeling from the disappointment of Pascal saying goodbye. She sobs to her friend Nancy that Pascal’s departure made her feel “unlovable,” and Nancy gives her a much-needed pep talk, convincing her she deserves to find love again. So Joan is ready to move forward, especially since she can see a real future with either Guy or Chock.
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First, Joan takes time to reunite with her family, including her daughter Ally and her son Nick, and give them the lowdown on her two guys. She admits she’s been hesitant about this whole process because of her lingering feelings for their late dad, but now she feels free to find love again, and her kids completely back her up on that. She brings in Chock to meet them first, and he knows he needs their approval before going any further. Nick pulls him aside for a chat, where Chock assures him that he’s not trying to replace his father, while Ally emphasizes to Joan how exciting it is that she’s opening her heart up again. Everybody seems to love Chock as much as Joan does. So far, so good!
Joan and Chock then get together for a final date — and it’s a little ominous how often Chock says he’ll be devastated if Joan doesn’t pick him, isn’t it? The date goes smoothly, though, and Chock has a present for her: a key to a New York City apartment they can live in together. Start spreading the news! He tells her again how much he loves her, and she hasn’t heard those words since John was alive, she says. She doesn’t say it back, though, because she’s still waiting until the end to say that, so it’s a little awkward. Chock is worried… and hey, we don’t blame him. (We’ve seen this show before.)
Then it’s Guy’s turn to meet the family, in the midst of a torrential downpour. (Is that a bad sign?) He tells us he’s fallen in love with her… but when we see Joan approaching his hotel room door with a sad look on her face, we start to get a bad feeling about this. She says after spending time with Chock and hearing that he loves her, she realizes that she “actually found love” already, and her mind is made up. “I know where my heart is at,” she says. “And I know what I have to do.” She sits Guy down to talk, and she raves about what a great time she had with him at hometowns and in the fantasy suite. But then she drops the bomb: “I’m here to tell you that my heart belongs to somebody else.”
Joan tries to tell Guy how much he’s meant to her, and that she wanted to spare him going through the rest of the process, but he gets emotional anyway, sobbing on her shoulder. He tells her “I fell in love with you,” and that he was ready to propose. “There’s no changing your mind?” he asks. No, she tells him: “I love you. But I love you in a different way.” Even as they hug goodbye, he whispers in her ear: “I know we would have been happy together.” After she leaves, he cries in the rain, and the tears are falling as fast as the raindrops. Joan feels terrible for hurting him, but “my heart belongs to Chock, not to Guy.”
Jesse then brings out Guy on the live show, where he can see Joan again and get some answers. He tells Joan his feelings for her on the show were genuine, and asks if there was anything else he could’ve done to change her mind. She tells him no, it just was “kind of a time thing,” and she was just further along with Chock at that point. She wants to remain friends, though, and hopes that “one day, we’ll be double-dating.” Jeez Joan, you just broke the man’s heart. Give him a chance to heal before you start planning the double date!
But now it’s time for the final rose ceremony, and Joan is excited for her future with Chock. He’s still wary, since he hasn’t heard the big L-word from her yet, but he’s ready to risk getting his heart ripped out — which is what love is all about! They meet on the beach, and he gushes about what a wonderful person she is, paying homage to their late spouses John and Kathy before promising to love her for the rest of his life. She recalls that when Chock left the show to be with his mother, she realized “I couldn’t do this journey without you.” She tells him she loves him — yes! — and she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. He proposes… and she says yes! And Charles L. approves!
Jesse brings out the happy couple, and they can’t wait to spend time with each other’s families. Joan admits it was “a relief” to finally tell Chock she loves him “because I had been feeling it actually for a little while.” Jesse reveals that they had a few “secret rendezvouses” after taping the show — they did crosswords, Chock says! — and then Chock gets teased about how often he said he’s “crazy about her.” (He says it so much, it seems a little… crazy?) After Jesse wedges in an promo for the college football playoffs at ABC, he has a final gift for Joan and Chock: a trip to Disney World for them and their families! Cross-promotion for everyone!
Alright, Bachelor Nation, we want to hear from you: Tell us who you think Joan should’ve chosen in our poll, and then hit the comments to give us all your thoughts on this season.
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