JP Gets Ashley, Ben Gets Pissed: The Bachelorette Concludes

I promised some brief commentary on last night's marathon finale, so here it is.  I'm working on about 4 hours of sleep, so if I start slurring my typos, I hope you'll forgive me.  The Husband has gone to bed already after downing some Nyquil. I think our 8 hour journey home from Mexico has gotten him sick.  And while this is supposedly my first full week off of the year, I have been working harder than ever with all of this Bach finale madness happening.  

So I'll discuss some of the highlights from last night in this post, which will then be followed by some of the highlights from my press call with Ashley and JP today in a separate post.  We will also be posting a video review of it all at some point this evening.  Then I'll give it a rest for a couple days before Bachelor Pad 2.  I'll do a modified blog for that show - making comments here and there but I can't promise to commit to it like I do for the regular seasons of Bach and Bachelorette.  It's just too degrading.

Some highlights from the finale:

1.  The Fiji Sweat Fest.  Did everyone see how completely uncomfortable Ashley's family was in the Fiji heat?  When her brother whipped out the sweat cloth, I knew it had to be hot.   Do they not have air conditioning in Fiji?  And if they do, why couldn't they have filmed the family scenes indoors?  I guess that defeats the purpose of flying them all the way there. Vomo Island looked incredibly gorgeous (particularly, the actual spot where the proposal took place) - straight out of a Disney movie.  I've checked out their website and rates at Vomo Island start at 1675 in Fiji Dollars which comes to $975.  That price includes taxes, meals and all the reenacting of JP's proposal / Ben's rejection you want to do.  The Husband thought Ashley's sister was hot in a Liv Tyler punkish way.  That was, before she opened her mouth and attacked JP to his face.  Speaking of which...

2.  Chrystie.  Holy cow, I almost thought she was kidding at first in her commentary on JP given how direct and harsh she was.  It sent poor Ashley into tears immediately.  How difficult when the person she looks up to the most and who claims to know her the best of anyone tells her that the guy she hopes to get engaged to is "not the one..." Of course as soon as she started saying things like Ashley was more herself with Brad, I knew she was flying off the handle.  Surely she doesn't want Ashley to be with Brad. Then she starts insulting JP that he's too old, wonders why he hasn't met anyone yet and that Ashley is too much for him.  This was a very surprising reaction to get from a family member this late in the game, mostly because it was so obvious throughout the season at how much these two clicked.  And while the sister wasn't privy to that information, she still shouldn't have treated JP the way she did. Yes, she was only trying to look out for Ashley, but one has to wonder if there may be some jealousy there. Luckily, she had the wits to apologize at the ATFR.

3.  Ben and Ashley Doing Their Dog Voices.  Yes it's kind of queer, but at the same time cute and quirky.  I loved how comfortable the two of them were together in front of her family.  While I did see more of a connection with JP throughout the season, if we're keeping score, I thought Ben and Ashley's chemistry seemed more on point then between Ashley and JP during the finale.  Besides the fact that Ashley's family seemed to love Ben and even despite Ben admitting that his mother is like Martha Stewart and goes with his sister for tea in the city (can't see Ashley being a tea and crumpets kind of gal), Ben's date with Ashley was top notch.  The helicopter ride to the mud bath followed by erotic mud rubbing all over each other was part 2 of last week's soft porn session from their boat date.  They even reveal Ashley specifically telling Ben she wants to reach lower (to his nether regions).  How Rated R!  Thankfully, JP admitted on the conference call today that he didn't watch the Ben F parts of the finale.  Smart move, JP. 

4.  Ben's Last Night With Ash.  Ah, so here's the part that gets confusing. Ben has asked permission from Ashley's family to marry her.  He then confesses his love to her, referring to himself and Ashley as "two kids in love" and that "based on (their kissing), Ashley is telling (Ben) she loves him the best way she can right now."  Oh man.  That's got to sting. But was Ben so far off in thinking that his love for Ashley was reciprocated?  Perhaps not.  So what gives?  Ashley certainly didn't seem to be uninterested when Ben was laying it all out there.  I found some clarity from Ashley's blog post today:

There were definitely times along this journey that I thought I could marry Ben and have a very exciting life with him. He is an incredible man – smart, charismatic, hilarious, warm and thoughtful. I pictured a life with him and knew we had a very special connection and comfort with one another that I want to have with my husband. But there was some feeling that was missing when I was with him that I always had with J.P. – and I knew I didn't want to lose that feeling. 

In the end, the heart wants what it wants.  Right?  But this is a good thing, because I think Ben F. will make an excellent Bachelor. They haven't announced it yet, but unless Ben is not willing to do it for some crazy reason, he's pretty much a shoe-in.  

5.  The Final Two.  Despite the ups and downs of this season, the annoyance that Ashley had fallen for a guy with bad intentions and the various insecurities that clouded Ashley's journey, I've got to give Ashley credit. In the end, she had two charming, smart, solid, interesting guys with great families who are emotionally mature, "available" and who fell head over heels for her.  For someone who doubted whether or not the process would work for her and whether any of these guys would be interested in her, she surely came out victorious.  In fact, Ashley's end result already seems well on the way to being a success.  The couple admitted today on the call that they don't want to have TV careers going forward.  How rare!  

6.  Neil Lane. As soon as this guy started doling out relationship advice to Ben and JP, I had to fast forward. I know Brad's therapist was not permitted to come on the Fiji ride, but enough's enough. That's what we have Chris Harrison for.  Interestingly enough, we didn't see the normal pre-final rose ceremony deliberation between Ashley and Chris.  There seemed to be plenty of drama to fill up the 2 hours of the finale, so I guess that footage wasn't needed.  Details on Ashley's ridiculously gorgeous engagement ring: 

A 3.5-carat, central cushion-cut sparkler accented with 162 small, hand-set diamonds around a platinum band. “It has a vintage, 19th-century romantic feel, with soft edges, but with a contemporary look,” Lane says of the ring, valued at around $60,000. “Whichever way Ashley moves her finger, she sees sparkles.”

 7.  Ben F's Clarity.  When Ben started saying things like, "Today is the day that I'm going to propose and she's going to say, 'Yes.'  Ouch.  It's like kicking a puppy hearing this.  Then he starts talking about his father and how he's lost a member of his family, but he's adding a new one.  Double kick of puppy.  But it gets worse...he starts giving Ashley the speech that was heard 'round the world.  Then the proposal, rejection and anger.  So many people questioned why Ashley didn't stop him.  On the call today, Ashley says the entire time during Ben's speech was like a whirlwind.  She was so emotional and was caught up in the moment, and extremely flustered because she didn't know quite what to say to him.  She said it's impossible to judge how to act in that situation unless you are in it.   Loved Ben's reaction when he said "you can't leave something like this on good terms...and good things don't end unless they end badly."  All true words and well said. This guy's anger is poetry.  What a great Bachelor he'll make and what a great redemption story to watch him fall in love.  

8.  JP's Proposal and Last Line of Finale.  Yes the proposal was romantic, stirring, charming - everything you could hope a Bachelorette ending to be.  He was definitely confident that he had this thing in the bag and now we know it was for good reason. But the best line of the whole finale was JP making fun of Ashley when they were walking along the beach and saying something like, "The initial cocktail party on the first night when you said that you knew your husband was in the room" and how he thought she was nuts.  That's some funny stuff. 

9.  Ashley's Finale and ATFR Looks. I absolutely loved Ashley's Randi Rahm finale dress.  I thought it was very elegant and a perfect look for her.  And at a bargain price of $16,750, I think I'll wear it to work on Monday.  Her shoes were Roberto Cavalli and her jewelry was by Cezua in Beverly Hills.  She had longer, sleeker and darker hair at the ATFR - it's funny how she likes to darken her hair at the reunion shows.  She almost looked Asian - such shine to her hair. I'm jealous!

 10.  JP and Ash's Chemistry on ATFR.  Finally - an ATFR we can feel good about.  There was no doubt. No questions about whether the two would move in together and no break ups since the finale. PHEW.  Let's hope it's true that the hardest part is behind them.  Let's also hope that the 3 hour season premiere of Bachelor Pad 2 has at least 2 people crying, 3 good Jake and Vienna fights and 4 make out sessions between random people.  

So there you have it. Bachelorette Season 7 is in the history books. I hope you were all satisfied that we got an official engagement out of this with an extremely happy couple, despite some big bumps along the way.  So now that the season is over, will you watch Bachelor Pad 2?  Do you want Ben F to be the next Bachelor? If so, please tell @fleissmaster on Twitter.com and @chrisbharrison as well. They claim to be listening...