Accepting the Rose
Warning! The Bachelor spoilers ahead!
Will you accept this rose?
Season 28 of The Bachelor has finally come to a close. This season’s Bachelor, Joey Graziadei, found his fiancé among 32 women.
This was my first time watching The Bachelor, or anything a part of the franchise for that matter. Before watching the series, I didn’t really get why people loved it so much. From the outside, it’s an odd concept (1 man, 32 women) and I couldn’t understand why people would put themselves in that scenario. But that’s the fun of it!
As a newer member of Bachelor Nation™, I had a few questions throughout the season that I wasn’t sure if they were specific to Joey’s season or a larger theme throughout the franchise. The host, Jesse Palmer, was one of my first curiosities. I did learn the drama that led to him becoming the new host, but I was generally confused as to why the show even needed one in the first place. He barely had any screen time, occasionally popping in to have conversations with Joey, giving the audience a peek into what Joey was feeling throughout the season. His main role, though, was to interrupt the Rose Ceremony to announce, “Ladies, Joey, this is the final rose of the night.” – a fact that was glaringly obvious to everyone participating in and watching the show. The only thing his announcement accomplished was providing me with some comedic relief during the most stressful part of each episode. As for The Bachelor, himself, I expected to get to know more about him. I get that most of the show revolves around the women, learning about them and seeing how well they mesh with Joey, but we didn’t get to hear that much from Joey. I know he’s a tennis instructor from Philly, but that’s about it. During his one-on-one dates, we would learn a lot about the women he was with while Joey was restricted to the same two phrases: “Thank you so much for sharing that with me” and “I really appreciate you opening up.” It took Joey popping up on my TikTok FYP for me to realize that that was the most I’ve heard him talk. As I continue to watch the rest of The Bachelor franchise – because I will be tuning in – I’m curious to see if other Bachelors/Bachelorettes talk more and share more about themselves than Joey did over the course of this season.
This season had no shortage of drama – my favorite part of reality TV! The biggest drama of the season was between Maria and Sydney. As much as I am part of Team Maria, the whole bullying/talking behind backs drama was blown way out of proportion and dragged on for far too long. It definitely could’ve been resolved much quicker but then it just wouldn’t have been reality TV! And we wouldn’t have gotten the iconic way it was revealed that Sydney was going home – a PA came into a room where all of the women except Maria and Sydney were, grabbed Sydney’s suitcase, and left without saying a word – which may be my favorite moment of the season. Besides this drama storyline, insecurities ran high throughout the whole season in both the group of women and Joey. The overarching insecurity of most of the women was the fact that Joey was talking to and falling for other women while they created a bond of their own with him. However, I don’t think this is an insecurity they are allowed to outwardly complain about and find solace in Joey for. I understand feeling this way, but that’s the whole plot of the show! Anyone who is vaguely aware of The Bachelor knows that there’s one person trying to find a lifelong partner within a group of people. Joey had his own insecurities to deal with as well. After being a contestant on The Bachelorette, his biggest fear was to choose someone and not be chosen in return, putting his all in someone and not having those feelings reciprocated. While these are very valid feelings, I became frustrated with how Joey handled them and how they affected his expectations of the women. As the season went on and the group of women grew smaller, Joey increasingly expected the women to be All In and profess their love for him, and was off put if some women said they weren’t quite there yet (because they have only known this man for 2 months with very limited interactions). With these expectations for the women he was talking with you would think that Joey would be confessing his feelings in the same way, right? Nope! He was always very careful and reserved with his words, beating around the bush and never saying “I love you” even if it was said to him. He did share with the audience that he didn’t want to say “I love you” until he was saying it to the woman he proposed to, but because of the situation of the show (and only because of the situation of the show), I think it would’ve been fine for him to say “I love you” to multiple women.
All of this leads us to the season finale! The finale was repeatedly advertised as a crazy ending and “something that’s never happened in Bachelor Nation history!” which, as a first-time viewer, meant nothing to me. The wild twist at the end was the final two women, Daisy and Kelsey A., seeing each other and talking before the Final Rose (Joey’s proposal). In a very heartfelt moment between the two, Daisy expressed that she felt like something was off between her and Joey while Kelsey shared that her and Joey’s connection was growing stronger (two things very clear to everyone watching). Going into the Final Rose, it was very obvious who Joey would be picking. Watching Daisy do the heavy lifting for Joey and essentially break up with him before he had a chance to do it to her was the most emotional moment in reality TV I’ve seen in a while, especially with Joey explaining how special Daisy was immediately after. While I was a season-long fan of Daisy, I am ultimately very happy for Kelsey – and look forward to keeping up with Kelsey and Joey to see if they actually stay together (because most Bachelor couples don’t). I’m rooting for them!
After the Final Rose, the upcoming Bachelorette was announced: Jenn! One thing I do have appreciation for within the franchise is that it's circular - the Bachelors and Bachelorettes are all previous contestants, giving them insight as to what their group of potential spouses are going through while on the show. There was a lot of speculation as to who the next Bachelorette would be, with almost no one guessing Jenn. Most votes went to Daisy or Maria, both allegedly declining the role. Personally, I would’ve loved to see Kelsey T. as the next Bachelorette. She was fun and personable, and during her time on the show she shared with Joey the story of her unfortunately distant relationship with her dad. The story has come to a happy ending, though, with Kelsey T. and her dad sitting together in the audience at the finale premiere! With this newly mended relationship, I feel like her being the Bachelorette could cause potential strain.
All in all, I have become enthralled with Bachelor Nation™ and yes, I will accept this rose.
