We kick off the live three hour special by showing Emily reconnect with Ricki who’s wearing a fanny pack. Oh sweetie.
First up, Jef meets Emily’s family. Mrs. Maynard really needs to quit smoking, because her voice is pure terror. She grills Jef because of the way things worked out with Brad, but the thing is, Jef is lovely and Brad was dumb. Jef wows her with his answers and how excited he is to be a parent for Ricki, and she remarks that he has all the things that Emily has been looking for.
Next, Emily’s INCREDIBLY intimidating older brother Ernie chats with Jef and tells her how perfect Ricki (her former fiancé) was. Oh that’s a bit uncomfortable! And yet, with the skill of the most adept spin doctor, Jef turns the conversation and somehow ends on a positive note, talking about how much he loves Emily. Ernie too concedes that perhaps Emily has finally found love again in Jef.
Finally, Jef chats with Emily’s (not very good looking) dad. Jef asks for permission to ask for Emily’s hand (awww) and her father, convinced in his genuine nature, grants it. Love.
The next day Arie comes over to the Maynard’s villa to meet the fam as well. We’re off to a not super great start by Emily’s dad stating that he’s wondering why they’re even going through the motions of meeting another guy after meeting Jef yesterday. Arie is extremely nervous and is rambling like a fool. It’s a bit painful to be honest. Arie gives her family a handcrafted box full of all the roses Emily gave him all season. The whole family thinks it’s great but we think it’s a little on the strange side.
Emily’s mum grills Arie and comes away from the conversation loving him too. Ernie, starting off with the bad cop routine, too softens when he meets Arie and man does Arie just win him over. Ernie tells the camera that after meeting Arie he’s confused (not in that way!) and genuinely isn’t sure now who is the right one for Emily.
Finally, Arie asks Emily’s dad for his blessing as well. Great pause… And then he gives Arie his blessing too, stating that he thinks he’s a really nice, really genuine guy. Aw cute too! Then of course, they end the day with EXTREME making out. It was quite loud.
After two great dates the family lets Emily know that they love both of them, and would be proud to have either of them in their family. Emily’s looking for a yes or no answer, but her family can’t make that decision for her, and she gets a bit irrationally upset that they won’t make up her mind for her. Yes that’s quite reasonable…? Emily really wants to make sure that she makes the right choice for Ricki. But Emily also says that in the end she doesn’t want to be the girl who gets engaged three times and it doesn’t work out. (Having a bit of a Ross from Friends moment right there.) The whole thing makes her question whether or not she even wants to get engaged at all, or if she’s not sure who the right person is if she should continue at all.
Jef’s date:
They head to the beach and Emily wears a really cute neon maxi skirt, and they just sit and chat. Jef states that he would like to meet Ricki and Emily counters with how big of a decision that is – especially to meet two different guys. He’s respectful, and in the end Emily decides that he should just meet Ricki today. That was abrupt! But I think in the end, it’s probably a really good idea (not being a young mum myself, lynch mob leave me alone!) because this will be the deciding factor between who would be the best piece for their family.
OF COURSE Jef and Ricki hit it off big time and have so much fun playing in the pool. It really impresses Emily that Jef can be so inclusive and really involve Ricki in their day. I don’t really have anything else to say because my heart has actually melted and I’m dying from the cuteness of this.
Emily, with another adorable outfit, heads over to Jef’s apartment for dinner/drinks. Jef gets Emily a coffee table book about Curacao and says that it represents their relationship. We’re not sure why but it’s overwhelmingly nerdy and I like it.
The next day …
Emily calls Chris Harrison over to have a bit of a chat. She says that she woke up feeling so at peace after her date with Jef, and she says that this really tipped the scales for her, that she finally knows that Jef is the one that she wants. She’s not confused but she’s so torn up inside because she dislikes the thought of hurting Arie so much. As per usual, Chris Harrison is being a great friend but not really super helpful. Just a lovely calm presence.
We pan to Arie talking about how confident he is that he will be getting engaged and how in love he is with Emily – it’s all rather cringe-worthy! Emily walks over, as if she’s walking to the gallows, and they ask each other how the other is about eight times for lack of anything else to say. They sit down to chat and Emily bursts into instant tears. She somewhat noncommittally breaks up with him. She finally gets it out in the end, but just keeps repeating how she thought it would be she and him, which is likely really confusing. I mean she gets the message across but he ends up really pissed off. He wishes her luck, he hugs her goodbye and he gets into the car, slamming the door. I think that he’s allowed to be quite upset on one hand – his heart is breaking! On the other, it’s not like he didn’t know that she was seeing other people… In the end we think it was quite wise for her to have broken it off long before their date, or before he attempted to propose the next day. (I hope you’re taking notes Ashley.)
The final day
Jef meets with Neil Lane and then walks down the beach in bright blue skinny pants he clearly borrowed from John Wolf. Thankfully he changes into even skinnier trousers for the proposal. He actually fits into his suit though (I hope you’re taking notes Roberto). Emily professes her love for Jef, and I think she must have been studying that letter he wrote her because this is too adorable and happy to handle. Good lord. You know when the Grinch’s heart swells three sizes and breaks that little metal heart measuring device? This proposal is doing that to me and everybody all over the world who is watching this. Who knew that this long boarding guy would just crawl into our hearts? Just crawl right in.
In the end…
SHE SAID YES!
And… After the finale rose
They bring back Arie and he is very gracious. It looks like the anger has burnt out, and he can say with honesty, that he’s happy for Emily. And while that’s wonderful, it’s not very exciting tv. The most exciting part is the fact that Arie secretly flew to Charlotte after the show to get some closure, but decided better of meeting with Emily and instead left her his journal for her to read. What and why? Emily says that she didn’t read it (thank the lord, that’s probably wise) and Arie even admits that at the time it was crazy. Well, yes. He spoke with his really good friend from the house Jef, who helped bring him closure (by telling him to leave his fiancé alone?) but I’m glad that he’s mellowed considerably.
Then they bring out the love of our lives, Jef with one f, looking as skinny and hipster as ever. Again, not the most exciting tv, tbh. Of course we all died a little over the cuteness of them both which is great I guess. They’re going to settle in Charlotte, and they will be having a wedding. All Jef cares about is having that wedding, and being with his best friend. (Wait, Arie?). In the end, this was perhaps the most delightful season in Bachelorette history. Yes, Chris Harrison, you can quote me on that.
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