The Bachelor: Peter is the true villain of season 24

Things I never thought I’d be writing: Justice for Arie (and Jason, but that’s been a given). Things I’m now saying after Peter’s finale of The Bachelor: Justice for Arie and Jason.

Well, that was…an experience. Peter’s season of The Bachelor concluded with…quite frankly, I’m not sure. There’s a cornucopia of issues to unpack with Peter’s problematic self after that Bachelor finale (including Peter’s parents, but that’s for another article), but we can start with him completely fumbling the ball with BOTH OF HIS WOMEN.

Oh, Hannah Ann, you will have the world in your hands come Paradise. But what you did NOT deserve was to be strung along and ripped from the volley, partially by your own volition (as Peter could not string words together in their last meeting). Peter did you wrooong.

Peter, here’s a tip: next time (hopefully there will not be), be a bit more forthcoming with the reality of your situation with your to-be-fiancée PRE-proposal. He absolutely effed up by failing to disclose to Hannah Ann that Madi was no longer in the picture; more so, that it was due to Madi leaving and absolutely nothing to do with him.

I would have fully respected Peter, and from their conversation, so would’ve Hannah Ann, had Peter owned up to what happened and said, “I have to be honest – Madi left two days ago and it’s been eating me up since. I’m not IN A MENTAL SPACE TO BE PROPOSING RIGHT NOW, but I am still here. It hurts, and I’m confused and partially in shock, but I’m still here, and want to give this a try with you.”

Pour one out for Hannah Ann

Instead? He completely blew that under the rug, phrased it mid-proposal as “Madi left two days ago,” insinuating that this was a mutual decision, mulled over this – clearly – for months (not to mention, reaching out to Hannah B.?? That was a bomb), and never gave Hannah Ann his heart nor a chance. I was living for her scathing roast of Peter in their safe house visit. He also barely broke up with her, leaving Hannah Ann to essentially physically end their engagement by giving back her ring. It was, for lack of a kinder term, spineless.

In all of this, Hannah Ann was the party most wronged. Per her words on After The Final Rose, he really never let on the extent of his turmoil nor what went down those final days in Australia. He was clearly not mentally well enough to be proposing to a woman that final day, Madi or Hannah Ann. Which would have been much more commendable than what he allowed to happen. Instead, we had three people painfully hurting on ABC couches tonight. Which leads me to my next issue (thank you for coming to my TED rant):

Where does this leave Madi and Peter?

Here’s where my weird defense of Arie enters the picture: Arie at least had the balls to firmly end things with Becca and run full-fledged in his pursuit of Lauren. His decisions and actions in doing so still remain questionable, but there was no sliver of a doubt that his sole intention was to win Lauren’s heart, and be with the person he truly wanted to be with. Peter, however? Are he and Madi even dating currently?

ABC certainly has a hand in letting this play out as murky as it did. They clearly leaned into the behind-the-scenes sleuthing of Kelley, leaving her out of Women Tell All and bringing her to the finale, bringing Neil Lane out, and repeatedly having Chris Harrison stare into our souls and say, “nO oNe kNoWs hOw tHis AlL eNdS, not even Peter.” Well, that last part is certainly correct.

I’m honesty unclear: Did Peter have any hand in Chris chasing down Madi? Was this solely him Papa-Chris’ing? Peter seemed befumbled when Madi came running out after him in the clips we were shown – was this what he actually wanted? That was never made clear.

This notion was only enabled further by his essential lack of commitment to Madi on ATFR – and absence of a backbone while his parents were crossing SO MANY BOUNDARIES on live television. Peter essentially let Madi, his supposed love, be raked over the coals by his mother and barely said a word until that uncomfortable segment transpired for a good 10 minutes.

Furthermore, when asked what he wanted with Madi in all this, presumably, oh I don’t know, an engagement possibly, Peter basically shrug-emoji’ed and bailed out of any commitments. He did tell his family that he loved Madi, yes, but words mean little when your actions, or lack thereof, imply otherwise.

I don’t see how the two of them have a remote shot after that bizarre segment. I am still processing how uncomfortable that was. I frankly think Peter and Madi have insurmountable differences and are ultimately incompatible, but I felt so hard for the girl when she was getting absolutely roasted by her potential mother-in-law. And Peter did nothing to stop that. Madi didn’t deserve any of that. I don’t think an engagement would have been healthy whatsoever, but Peter really lacked a sense of “fighting” for their relationship tonight – nor did he really define it.

I would say I’m rooting for them, but I truly think they’re better off with other people. That said, no one deserved what took place tonight, all parties included. But Peter was in the driver’s seat and could’ve handled things…well, completely differently. Instead, he sort of sat on stage like a deflated balloon and let really uncomfortable, inappropriate things unfold all night.

Mercifully, we were given a refreshing breath of fresh air, with Clare Crawley being brought out at the end. Here’s hoping her maturity and conviction shine through on her season of The Bachelorette!

Were you as shocked (and appalled) as I was watching Peter’s season of The Bachelor come to a close? Do you think he should’ve handled things differently? Let us know your thoughts!