Well, here we are. We're almost at the finish of Clayton Echard's run at the helm of "The Bachelor," and my run as someone who recaps it! It feels like my days of counting kisses out of morbid awe are a lifetime away. It's been a fun past few weeks learning how this show works, and I must admit: I'm gonna be back next season out of morbid curiosity.
Clayton has worked himself into a pretty difficult situation going into his season finale. On one hand, there's Rachel and Gabby, both teetering on the edge of heartbreak. Rachel is so hopelessly in love with him that she's put on a brave face in the hopes that he'll choose her in the end. Gabby has gone against her instincts and stayed around, though Clayton is set to prove her initial misgivings right soon enough.
And then we have Susie. The woman Clayton loves "the most," who he coldly sent away after he refused to accept her serious misgivings about him being in love with two other women and sleeping with them, all a week before their supposed engagement is set to take place. Turns out, she's still in Iceland, and Clayton is determined to win her back.
What happened last night?:Clayton Echard struggles to let go of Susie, even after catastrophic rose ceremony
What happened last week?:'Fantasy Suites' dates end in disaster for Mizzou football alum Clayton Echard
Women Tell All:Mizzou football alum Clayton Echard rides the apology carousel
We are primed for an explosion of heartbreak and disaster, but it all boils down to this one question:
Who, if anyone, will be with Clayton when all is said and done?
Let's dive in!
What happened on 'The Bachelor' this week?
After Clayton's realization on Monday, Jesse Palmer shows up at Susie's hotel room and asks her to go see Clayton that day. Clayton, back with his parents, tells them what he loves about her before she actually shows up, sharing an awkward hug with Clayton before bring Clayton outside to talk. It's tremendously awkward.
Susie tells Clayton that the way he turned on her and treated her changed the way she looked at him. She wonders how he could humiliate her the way he did if she really was someone he loved. Clayton offers a bumbling and weak apology and takes back everything he says, saying he had just been scared.
Clayton breaks up with Gabby and Rachel
Clayton realizes that he now has to break up with the two women he tried so hard to convince to stay just days before. Back at the hotel, Gabby and Rachel are both at a loss as Clayton arrives and apologizes to them.
He tells them it's not possible to be in love with three women, in fact. And he can't love them the way they deserve, because he loves Susie, so he has to send them home. Yep, he broke up with them both at the same time.Rachel looks shell-shocked, while Gabby just looks done.
Good job, Clayton. Your ridiculous understanding of love and self-centered worldview now has two more casualties.
Gabby leaves on her own terms
Gabby and Rachel don't meet his eye, and Gabby dismisses him, saying he could have handled things better, and just walks away calmly. Clayton leaves Rachel and follows Gabby to her own room.
She tells him she's angry because she could have spent the past two days back with people who actually care about her. She says he asked her to say because his pride was hurt because Susie left. He took the decision out of Gabby's hands when he convinced her to stay, and he's ridiculous. His selfish actions were for his benefit and all at their expense. She refuses to let him walk her out.
In the live studio show, Jesse Palmer brings out Gabby, who immediately hugs her grandpa with a big smile on her face. She admits watching the show back has brought back a lot of emotions, but has also given her clarity and closure. When Clayton is brought out, Gabby sits as far from him as she can, and tells him that he misled her when she wanted to leave. Clayton says the first of what I expect to be many sorrys. She tells him that he made it more of a competition than it needed to be, and that he had picked Susie long before. He tries to say he truly loved them again, but Gabby tells him that he didn't, in the end.
Gabby, as always, has immense clarity about the situation she was in and knows exactly what she deserves. She knows that Clayton handled things poorly, and is steadfast enough to stand by her convictions against Clayton's bumbling apologies. And we love her for it.
Rachel blindsided by breakup
When Clayton returns to Rachel, she recounts their date in Houston, and how her mother liked him, how she felt after their Fantasy Suite date. Choking on her tears, she tells him he told her he would fight for her, and she's fought for him, but he never fought for her. He walks her out, and she tells him he gave up on them.
Rachel's dad in the live studio audience looks like fury incarnate.
Also in the studio live is Rachel, in tears again watching it back. She says it was so difficult to watch the past few weeks knowing what we, the audience, have known for weeks. She's angry at the disrespect shown to her and Gabby both. Her tears, she says, are for her blindsided past self, robbed of the chance to stand up for herself. She has no feelings for him anymore.
When faced with Clayton, Rachel calls him selfish and says she and Gabby deserved better respect. Clayton tries apologizing again, and Rachel flatly tells him that she doesn't believe him. Rachel's parents have nothing good to say about Clayton as he tries apologizing to them.
I'm proud of Rachel for moving on. It can be so hard in the moment to realize when you're being treated wrong, but she's emerged on the other side of it all knowing that she deserved better.
Clayton throws a Hail Mary
Clayton, back in Iceland, knows it's a long shot, but he's ready to propose to Susie in an act of absolutely clueless insanity. Jesse Palmer brings Susie a letter from Clayton apologizing again to Susie saying he's nothing without her, and he wants her to meet him in the countryside.
Ring in hand and rose ready, Clayton waits. Susie arrives in a beautiful white gown (subtle, producers). Clayton tells her that he's been blown away by her since the moment he met her, and he doesn't want anyone else but her. He will never stop fighting for her, and he's so serious that he holds up a ring box. He wants to be the man she deserves if she will give him the chance.
Susie tells Clayton that she believes him, and she knows he's a good person. She loves him, and it's real.
BUT ... she doesn't think the love she has for him is what he has. She just isn't there, and she wants to leave Iceland alone, as devastating as it is. It's over, she says.
Who wins Clayton Echard's 2022 season of 'The Bachelor'?
Susie is the winner of Clayton's season — despite her own rejection of his proposal.
At the live studio, Clayton says that he wishes he could have done things differently, but he was following his heart. He grew a lot over the span of the show.
Clayton admits that he feltlike he failed — he was leaving as alone as he arrived.
He left Iceland, he says, but then to his surprise ... Susie reached out to him. She says she needed time apart from him, and that they are back together. They've been together for four months. He's about to move in with her in Virginia.
After she chose herself when he proposed, they both took steps back and were able to move forward at a better pace.
Basically, the only way for them to start an actual relationship would be away from the cameras.
They both expect backlash, but they want people to know they love each other. Clayton finally gives Susie the final rose, and she accepts.
This is so disappointing. I won't pretend to have been there when the cameras weren't rolling, but oof. I, personally, cannot imagine moving past behavior like Clayton's. This show has not shown me anything proving that this man deserves a fairytale ending. But at least he isn't proposing.
Who will be the next Bachelorette?
If the Susie reveal took the wind out of your sails, worry not, because we won't just have one Bachelorette to root for next season.
Meet the new Bachelorettes: GABBY AND RACHEL! Yes, BOTH of our independent queens! I am in a much better mood now. Their support for each other in Iceland is what sealed the deal.
Their journey kicks offMonday, July 11 on ABC at 7 p.m. CT.
How do I stream 'The Bachelor' online?
You can watch it onfuboTV with a 7-day free trial, onHulu + Live or through YouTube TV. If you have cable, you can also stream the show onabc.com/watch-live/abcor on the ABC app available oniPad, iPhone, Android, Roku, Chromecast, Samsung SmartTV or Kindle Fire.
Who is Clayton Echard?
Imitation vanilla-looking Clayton Echard is a man who must feel an absolute whirlwind of emotions watching these episodes back with the benefit of hindsight.
The former Missouri football player has lived quite the life.After going undrafted in 2016, he signed a free-agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks.He played in all four of Seattle's 2016 preseason games andmade it past the first round of cuts. As NFL teams shaved down rosters to 53 active players, Echard was cut.
According to Echard's LinkedIn page, he's worked in sales for medical device companyStrykersince July 2016.His first 18 months with the company were based in St. Louis, but he has been based in the Columbia area since January 2018.
Thanks for following along. I really appreciate those of you who have read every week and stuck with me. it's made all the weirdness, the shrimp drama and the righteous fury worth it. I'll be around on social media to watch the next Bachelorettes' journeys.See you then, Bachelor Nation!
Gabriela Velasquez is a planning editor for the Springfield News-Leader and Columbia Daily Tribune, based out of Columbia, Mo. Follow her on Twitter at @not_gabriela.
