The Bachelorette Finale (Follow-up) - Desiree Hartsock

Okay. I was wrong... but I did say it was just a guess.

Brooks was not the last-man-standing. Brooks and Desiree are not engaged. In fact, Brooks never even made an appearance in the 2^nd part of The Bachelorette finale.

Honestly, the ending, I did not see coming. I would have never guessed that Chris would be the one with the final rose, nor would I have ever imagined that he and Desiree would actually be engaged.

I really have to give props to ABC and The Bachelorette producers for creating a scenario that many people (including myself) were absolutely convinced was going to play out in the Final Rose episode... but yet never happened.

After watching the show and sitting there stunned at what just happened, I went looking for spoiler sites—as I mentioned yesterday, I never read any spoilers during the run of the show, but now I was curious to see who they said was to be the final guy.

The most popular and detailed one I found had said (weeks ago) that it was going to be Brooks at the end, and in reading the backdated posts on the site, I was pretty impressed. Week after week the spoiler was right, little details were spot on, and the outcomes were accurate. So what happened with the finale? Why was the spoiler off? Why were so many people so very, very wrong?

Spoilers rely on sources, so why the spoilers were wrong is simple... misinformation was received. You have to remember The Bachelorette began taping in mid to late March and lasts for only six weeks. This leaves a little over three months between the taping of the finale and the actual airing of the finale... three months to keep the secret! I’m sure ABC does everything possible to prevent leaks which lead to spoilers popping up all over the internet. So, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the ‘spoiler sources’ are actually ABC plants who leak specific and predetermined information. Whatever the case, the secret remained just that for three months, and in a day of instant information, that is quite the accomplishment!

Now, why was I and millions of others wrong? I can only credit that to the producers of The Bachelorette. Between The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, the show has been around for eleven years now and cumulatively have 26 seasons. The fans get smart and learn the patterns of the show, but this season, those patterns were altered. Specific conversations and events that got more airtime than others stood out. Brooks and Desiree seemed to have more airtime and the conversations seemed more intimate. The big change, however, was Desiree’s confessions about how she felt about Brooks being shown to the public. This has never been done before, so once we added this to all the intimate interactions that were aired, we ‘assumed’ their relationship was very important... but, no!

Needless to say, the producers, knowing the outcome, carefully and purposely edited footage and aired all the important Brooks comments. By allowing us to see how strong Desiree’s feelings were becoming, and by making those feelings the focus of each episode, the only natural thing most of us could conclude would be Brooks is coming back.

So, I was wrong... in fact, I wasn’t even close. Honestly, I am surprised that Chris proposed. I am even more surprised that after Chris watched the show back over the past three months and saw Desiree’s strong and clear feelings for Brooks he still wants to marry her. He’s either much more of a trusting man than I, or he is way more stupid that I am. Desiree professes her love for Brooks on more than one occasion, and within days of Brooks leaving, she is suddenly and completely in love with Chris. Really? You going to trust that?

I guess something must be there (or I’m betting a very strong illusion of something being there), because she is moving to Seattle this weekend to move in with him. She isn’t just moving into his place... they are “getting their own place,” so they can have their own start. Really?

Don’t get me wrong. Desiree seems like a very nice person... smart, attractive, and fun. Chris seems like a good guy, but remember people, they have only ‘dated’ for six weeks and then spent three months semi-apart. I guess time will tell. I really do wish both of them well, and I do hope that everything works out for them, and they are happy together. But...

In the meantime, I think I’ll peg my being so very wrong up to being blindsided by ABC and fooled into following a pattern for The Bachelorette that was no longer there.

In a related note... Juan Pablo is the next Bachelor. The man with the least amount of screen time but got the most attention and reaction. The next season of The Bachelor, I think, is going to be filled with way more drama, multiple ‘cat’ fights, and a whole lot of tears... gee, can’t wait!