The Bachelorette Season Finale Recap: Charity Has A Tough Choice To Make — But Did She Make The Right One?
Charity has fallen in love this season on The Bachelorette — several times, in fact. Now comes the hard part: Which one of her beloved men will she actually choose in Monday's season finale?
As we enter the finale, Charity has two guys left: Dotun and Joey, both of whom she told she is in love with during fantasy suites. Well, no, wait, she actually has three guys left, because Aaron (who got dumped after hometown dates) flew all the way to Fiji to ask Charity for another chance. And she didn't exactly turn him away, telling him: "I don't know if I made the right choice." In the finale, she seems to entertain the thought of bringing Aaron back into the mix — and Dotun and Joey are understandably stunned to see him standing next to them at the rose ceremony instead of Xavier. But when it comes time to hand out roses, she pulls Aaron aside and says goodbye to him (again), saying that his late attempt "wasn't going to be enough" to make a difference and reassuring Dotun and Joey that they are her top two. Well, that's one big decision down, at least.
Now that it's down to Dotun and Joey, Charity admits she's in love with both of them, and she can't make her mind up. So she turns to her family, including her mom Vickie, of whom Charity says: "Her opinion means everything." Vickie has a diplomatic take on her daughter's decision-making abilities: "Decisiveness is a word that she really has to get comfortable with in life." (In other words, if you put Charity in charge of choosing where to go to dinner, you're going to bed hungry.) Charity brings in Joey first, and her family greets him warmly, with him and her sister Mia having a refreshingly frank conversation about the challenges of being an interracial couple. Vickie sees how at ease they are together, and so she gives Joey her seal of approval.
Then it's Dotun's turn, and her family loves him, too — because how could they not? He's very lovable! Vickie does raise a red flag, though, by noting that Dotun reminds her of the guys Charity usually goes for... and those didn't work out, obviously. Mia adds that she and Dotun may have chemistry, but "Joey makes you glow." Vickie encourages her daughter to go with her gut, and Charity says: "My gut doesn't exist right now." She's starting to spiral, and she pours out all of her anxieties to her family, growing more frustrated when they don't... make the decision for her? She point-blank asks Vickie to choose one of the guys, and when Vickie won't, Charity complains: "Why, though?" She pulls her mom outside for a private chat where Vickie emphasizes that Charity must know deep down inside which man she truly wants — but Charity insists she doesn't. Hmmm, then maybe you shouldn't be on a TV show where you have to pick a partner for life? She sums it up: "I'm a mess."
Charity heads into her final dates with the guys, first sipping Champagne and giggling with Joey, who had the poem from their New Orleans date framed for her. (Aw, that is sweet.) Her time with Dotun goes well, too, though, as he leads her on a treasure hunt commemorating every step of their journey together, telling her: "You are my treasure." So they're not making her decision any easier! (Why couldn't one of them pull a jerk move like Xavier did?) Dotun admits he's nervous about her not choosing him, and Charity even brings up her strong connection with Joey, which she hasn't done with him before. Heading into the final rose ceremony, Charity declares she has "no clue" how it's going to go... which is a pretty big clue that it's not going to go well. Jesse even warns that it's going to be "absolutely devastating." Oh, great!
Charity continues to hem and haw as the time to choose approaches and Neil Lane helps Dotun and Joey pick out rings. When she gets to the final rose ceremony, she seems to (finally!) have achieved some clarity: "I know what I need to do." But it'll still hurt to say goodbye to someone she loves, and that person is... Joey. He's confident walking in — and she lets him get through a whole speech about how much he loves her, for some reason? — but just as he's about to get down on one knee, she stops him cold. (Ouch.) She emphasizes him how special he is, but "I've found love that's deeper with someone else," she tells him before dissolving into sobs. He even comforts her! Joey insists he just wants her to be happy, but he looks anything but happy on his ride home: "I wanted to leave here with Charity. That's all I wanted." Jesse brings out Joey and Charity for a live relationship autopsy, and Joey seems very smiley and upbeat during it — which makes sense when Jesse later reveals that Joey will be our next Bachelor! Hey, no hard feelings, then!
But this is really about Charity and Dotun, and we go back to Fiji to see them at the final rose ceremony, with him lavishing her with love and praise and her tearing up: "I see you as my husband. I see it so clearly. I don't have any doubts." (Whew, thank goodness.) He gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him — and she says, "A million times yes." Charity and Dotun are adorable together when they join Jesse on the live show (looks like he's making her glow, Mia!), and we're definitely rooting for these two to go the distance... even though not many Bachelorette couples do that. But it all seems a bit anticlimactic, especially when Jesse quickly sends them off to Greece and then hustles them offstage to bring Joey back to promote the new season of The Bachelor, even plucking a girl out of the live studio audience to be a contestant on his season. As we know all too well by now, the Bachelor franchise never sleeps.
Now it's your turn, Bachelor Nation: Did Charity make the right choice? Vote in our poll, and then hit the comments to give us your take on the finale.