Chris Harrison, Peter Weber, Television, The Bachelor

The Bachelor Finale Part 1 Recap: Peter’s Mom Comes Through With a Truly Wild Twist

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It was Chris Harrison‘s time to shine, as The Bachelor went 15 percent live, 85 percent pre-recorded for part one of Peter Weber‘s season finale. We finally found out who Peter’s mom Barbara was crying about when she said “Bring her home to us,” the line that had taunted us in previews throughout the season. Peter’s mom’s tears are no fence jump, and I resent the show for trying to make that reveal into a fence jump. Her big dramatic moment wasn’t about who we thought, but we’ll get to that.

The action began when Peter met with his family and caught them up on his situation with Madi. They were very concerned with her reticence. She hadn’t even told Peter she loved him! But they weren’t going to meet Madi yet. Hannah Ann was first. Before the first commercial break, live Chris Harrison said no one knows how this season is going to end. And Chris Harrison is prone to exaggeration, but that seemed sincere.

The family asked Hannah Ann interview questions, like what her favorite part of the experience was and when did she know she was falling for Peter. Barbara said Peter and Hannah Ann reminded her of herself and Pete Sr. 30 years ago. Hannah Ann sat down with Barb and cried that it’s been hard to not receive reciprocal validation of love from Peter. She didn’t cry with, Pete Sr., who thought she was the bee’s knees. Sr. asked Jr. if he felt like he was leaning towards one woman or the other, and Peter said that his heart was split in two. “I have one who’s making it easy for me and one who’s making it not so easy,” Peter said. The poor guy didn’t know what to do.

As Hannah Ann was leaving, Barb told her she felt like she’d known her all her life. That’s a good sign for Hannah Ann, and a bad one for Madi. It’s definitely better to be the first contestant to meet the family, because the first one sets the baseline.

Peter and Madi checked in before Madi met the fam, and Madi said she wasn’t doing well. She felt like Peter put his wants and needs ahead of hers by sleeping with other women after she said she didn’t want him to. In so many words, he said she hadn’t told him she loved him and she gave him an ultimatum. He reminded her he wasn’t just in a relationship with her, and he had been in exactly the same position she was in just a few months prior. She said she was hanging on by a thread. It seemed like she was thisclose to walking out, but she stayed, telling him that her staying was her continuing the fight. She finally told him she loved him. Peter was so relieved. He couldn’t stop smiling. He brightened up like he had back pain and she gave him a shot of cortisone — but Madi still wasn’t over her struggles.

They went inside and met Peter’s family. They admitted that they hit a roadblock. What was that roadblock, they asked. Peter banging other girls, she answered. Okay! Peter’s parents were pretty unfazed, because they know their son likes to get it on.

Peter’s cute little brother Jack asked him if Peter could save himself for marriage. Peter kinda snapped at him, like “Of course.” Jack asked if Peter saw that they had different lifestyles. Peter was like “relationships are about compromise.” Barbara took the same line of questioning with Madi. She said she didn’t want anyone to change Peter. She brought up Madi’s ultimatum, and Madi got defensive. The day didn’t go how Peter wanted it to go. He felt like his parents didn’t get to see the real Madi.

After Madi left, Peter sat down with his mother, and she started sobbing. “She’s not there for you,” she said. But Barb said she prayed for him, and she felt that God meant for him to pick Hannah Ann. Madi was a “sweet girl,” but Hannah Ann was “an angel on Earth” who was madly in love with him. Peter’s mom talked to God, and he spoiled the end of The Bachelor.

Peter’s parents tried to get him to make the obvious choice with Hannah Ann instead of the difficult one with Madi. Peter got mad, saying that they didn’t understand the real Madi and he could see past this setback. His mom started crying. “Hannah Ann loves you with all of her heart, don’t let her go,” she said. “Bring her home to us.” Incredible twist, that speech being about Hannah Ann and not Madi. “You gotta stop doing this,” he said. “C’mon, this is insane right now.” He said it kind of flatly, like he was used to over-the-top displays of emotion from his mother. Suddenly, Peter’s need to see tears to know the girls’ feelings were real makes sense.

Her insistence on Hannah Ann made Peter certain he was going to pick Madi.

The next day was Madi’s final date. They took a helicopter over Uluru, the famous giant rock of Australia. It was a very beautiful date. Madi, in voiceover, said she loved Peter, but could see how different they were. “It’s kinda time to surrender,” she said.

Peter popped some sparking apple juice for Madi, who apparently doesn’t drink. Man, they really are living very different lives. Madi wasn’t sure if love could conquer all. “As much as we want this, I don’t know that we can give each other what we need,” she said. Part of being a great warrior is knowing when to surrender, she said, and she was surrendering, so he could find the right person for him. Peter didn’t know why she felt like it wasn’t her. He couldn’t understand how she changed her mind from feeling like they could get married a few days ago to now, but Madi wasn’t blinded by love like Peter was. She could see how different their lives were, and she didn’t want Peter to change who he was to be with her. She just didn’t see a way this could work in real life. That was it. They were swatting at bugs all throughout the breakup. It’s very buggy out there in the Australian outback.

Peter woke up the next morning for his date with Hannah Ann, who he can’t pick, because she’s going to watch this show and see that he wanted Madi, not her. Chris Harrison met him for a heart-to-heart, and he called him “bud,” the way that his parents do. Peter’s just a bud. Peter said he was mourning the end of the relationship with Madi, but he was still in love with Hannah Ann, and he was just completely torn apart. Chris Harrison asked him if he wanted to keep going, or was the show over. Peter didn’t know.

He showed up for his date with Hannah Ann, though. A guide took them to a kangaroo sanctuary. Baby kangaroos all over the place. Adorable. Baby kangaroos are called joeys, remember? Hannah Ann knew something was off with Peter, but she hoped that by the end of their date he would have the clarity he needed. If only she knew what was really going on.

Hannah Ann dressed up for the evening portion of their date in a sexy dress, but Peter was very casual in a gray t-shirt and hoodie. Not a good sign. Peter said this moment with Hannah Ann was “bittersweet,” and she’d always been a rock for him. He was being very weird and distant, and he was making Hannah Ann very nervous. He told her that he never doubted anything with her or questioned where her heart was, and he needed that so much, especially in this brutally difficult past week. He told her his heart was being pulled in two directions, and she told him that’s not what she wanted to hear. She respected his honesty, but it was very painful to hear that he was uncertain when she was totally certain. She felt like she was giving and giving and wasn’t getting anything in return. Sad. This poor girl deserves better. “I feel like my heart is already breaking,” she said.

For the last moment of the show, we cut back to Chris Harrison live in studio. “If you think you’ve seen the last of Madison, you haven’t,” Chris Harrison warned. Peter doesn’t even know how it’s going to end. Well, we’ll find out tomorrow. Peter’s mom better pray for us all.

The Bachelor‘s Season 24 finale airs Tuesday at 8/7c on ABC. Episodes are available to stream on Hulu the following day.

Peter Weber, <em>The Bachelor</em>Peter Weber, The Bachelor

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