!['The Bachelorette' Recap: Season Finale — Tayshia Picks [Spoiler]](https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/david_nemetz_zoom.jpg?w=250&h=250&crop=1)
This season of The Bachelorette already saw one happy ending, when original star Clare left the show early with a proposal from Dale. Could Clare’s replacement Tayshia make it two for two?
Tuesday’s finale begins with Tayshia down to her final two men: Ivan and Zac… well, actually three men, now that Ben came back after last week’s dumping. Tayshia’s head is spinning after Ben’s surprise return: While she still has feelings for him, she also remembers she “sent him home for a reason.” She tells him she’s worried he’ll “run away” again if things get too hard — but she does invite him to tonight’s rose ceremony. Plus, they share a lingering kiss, which she instantly regrets. (“Why would I kiss him?!”) Ivan and Zac are not thrilled — understandably! — to see Ben at the rose ceremony… and it gets even worse for Ivan when Tayshia sets down the first rose to pull him aside.
She tells Ivan they started out strong, but some things came up this week that “kind of posed concern” for her, referring to their differing views on religion. (Wait, when did that happen? Did we miss it?) He puts on a brave face as they hug goodbye, but he’s clearly crushed. “This is definitely going to sting for a while,” he admits on the ride home, but he also predicts that no one else is leaving the La Quinta resort happy, either: “She’s not going to pick anyone, I don’t think.” Ouch.
Now it’s time to meet the family: Tayshia’s mom, dad and brothers join her to grill the final two guys, and they meet Ben first. Her dad is “skeptical” about Ben since he didn’t tell Tayshia how he felt about her until he was already dumped, but Ben wins over her mom by telling her, “I’m in love with your daughter.” Her dad seems impressed, too, after some one-on-one time with Ben, and he warms up enough to “give him a chance.” (Plus, they took a fun scooter ride around the resort together.) Tayshia and Ben smooch some more, and she says she’s “falling in love with him all over again.” But you’re in love with Zac already, right? What is happening?!?
Next, it’s Zac’s turn, and he’s ready to tell her parents he wants to marry Tayshia. He makes a good first impression on them… but when Tayshia’s dad asks her to rate her readiness to marry Zac on a scale of 1 to 10, she only gives it “an 8.95.” (Sheesh, not even a 9?) Zac tells her mom and dad that he sees himself and Tayshia married and starting a family in the future, though, and they all share a New York-style pizza as Tayshia’s mom notes their obvious chemistry. Tayshia and Zac smooch it out, too, but she still seems torn between him and Ben. (It wouldn’t be a Bachelorette finale if she wasn’t, right?)
Tayshia’s dad senses her hesitation and, after the guys leave, he brings up the elephant in the room: her previous divorce. “I can’t let that happen this time,” he bluntly tells her, adding: “I don’t want you to be making the biggest mistake of your life.” Tayshia ends up crying about how “confused” she is and doing the usual Bachelor finale “I can’t do this!” routine. (It’s pretty much a prerequisite at this point.)
Zac picks up on her “trepidation” during their final date — which includes some dance lessons that start out clumsy before getting better — and she rambles on about all of her concerns, but he assures her, “I’m not going anywhere.” (They exchange more mutual “I love you”s, too, which we used to think was verboten for Bachelor/ettes before the final rose?) Ben gets ready for his final date — which allows the producers to squeeze in one last shirtless shot — but Tayshia’s mind is made up: “I know what my heart wants, and it’s not Ben.” She sits him down and breaks the bad news: “I just feel like my heart is with somebody else.” He tells her he’s happy for her, but confesses to the camera as he packs up: “I’m still in love with her. I don’t know what the f–k to do now.” Wow, Ben got dumped twice in two weeks. Is that a new Bachelor franchise record?
After Zac gets the required visit from Neil Lane, Tayshia heads out to a scenic desert locale — hey, they got off the La Quinta property! — and prepares for a proposal… though she still frets that it could be “too much, too soon.” She cries happy tears to Chris Harrison, gushing about how much she loves Zac, and then Zac arrives, pledging his undying loyalty. Tayshia tells him she wasn’t sure she’d get married again, but “you’ve truly woken up my heart… yes, it is real, and I feel it, too.” Though they’re both sobbing, he manages to get down on one knee — and she says “yes” before he can even pop the question! She goes through the formality of giving him the final rose, and they scream and yell in celebration together before jumping in a “Just Engaged” cardboard taxi. (No “After the Final Rose” special, though, so we’ll have to wait to hear how their “journey” is going.)
Alright, Bachelor Nation, it’s your turn: Vote for who Tayshia should’ve chosen in our poll, and then hit the comments below and share your post-season thoughts.
This season sucked. I don’t trust Zac. And I would have preferred she walked away single and had her own season from the beginning.
I agree 👍
Not that I needed it but wonder why there wasn’t an After the Final Rose.
Zac motive is pure sex. He seduces her with his eyes almost perverted looks. I hope she looks back at these episodes and sees it for herself. I think the new bachelor is more her type. Either way I wish you the best of luck
I felt she was seriously in love with Zac and the fantasy suite solidified that situation. While I believe Ivan was her best man. Ben made a bold return and she was truly in a conundrum with his admission of love. By far a very intense season Tayshia was an excellent bachelorette and was hard to read throughout. She really made many men feel like they were the only one and as pretty as she was it was difficult and breathtaking throughout for all the potentials.
I had a similar take. It was striking how Tayshia drew the line on Ivan on religious grounds, yet her season was kind of a triumph for polygamy – she admitted falling in love with more than one guy and did fantasy suites with two. But I found her a captivating bachelorette, and I imagine the producers were ecstatic with her because she said all the right things to keep people in suspense – even during the proposal she did a head fake with the “I said I loved you but….”
Zak? No
It will not work
He did not want kids and all if auden he does?
Than there is is chance for relaps
He always has that crazy look on his face
I think she just wanted a bad boy and he fits some of that
She should have never let Ivan make it to fantasy suites if religion was that important to her. I doubt she and Zac make it to the altar. I feel like Ivan was best suited for her. I hope to see him on BIP. Tayshia did what was best for her but I have a feeling this relationship will tank.
Ben was my choice but hated him after he couldn’t say I love you multiple times when it counted. Ivan was great but She clearly is in love with Zac. Congrats to them both
I also thought Ben was very cool. I have a theory that he might be struggling with his sexuality, hence his two suicide attempts. You could tell she loved his looks, but I could see why she passed – there seemed to be something unexplained there.
The biggest takeaway I had is that Ivan is the only one I’ve ever seen wear the seatbelt on his drive goodbye. The rest was as expected.
The lack of After the Rose screams that they broke up and won’t even talk to each other. It’s definitely not a production issue as Clare had one.
Proof that not even black peoples don’t want to date other blacks.
Diversity fail. Next season the black dude will end up with a white tramp. Book it.
First of all, both Tayshia and Ivan are BIRACIAL. Something they both spoke about on the show. So the only thing that fails here is that lame as attempt at humor. Don’t worry though–your racist flag is waving proudly. We all see you….moron.
Right. A tv show with barely any black people is representative of all black people all around the world. Jeez, you sound like such an authority and not like someone talking out of their butt 🙄🙄🙄
I guess I’m one of the few here that think that Tayshia made the right choice for her. I liked Ivan the most but it’s clear that she and Zac have something special together. It’s my favorite proposal for all of the shows I’ve seen and I’ve been watching since Trista’s season. I wish them the best.
The first dark-skinned bachelorette chooses a white dude. How diverse!
I’ve noticed big mouth Diversity advocates like AOC And Kamala Harris are married to white men.
Do as I say, not as I do.
Dirty secret: black men are for fun, not for marrying.
I guess you forgot about Rachel. Also, just because someone is a person of color doesn’t mean they have to pick a person of color. Diversity has nothing to do with love.
🤣🤣🤣 ignorance is a freaking pandemic! So someone who advocates for diversity can’t possibly fall in love with someone from another race. Totally makes sense since we have 100% control of who we fall in love with 🙄🙄🙄
Not a Zac fan.
I liked Ben, but he really needs work. He is not emotionally mature. I think he almost cried at one point last night. But otherwise he showed next to no emotion. (Although I wonder if they actually had a fantasy suite date things would have come out differently.)
Ivan was wrong for her too.
She should have stayed single or at least dated more.
I wasn’t impressed with this season AT ALL!! I can honestly say none of the men were even interesting! Bennett was just a BORE! Hopefully, ABC gets new bachelor/ bachelorettes and stops using the flunky from a previous show!