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The Bachelor 13th Edition
RealityFreakWill:
Jason: ‘I’m Not Proud of What I Had to Do’
He had no choice.
That’s Jason Mesnick’s explanation for publicly dumping his fiancee, Bachelor winner Melissa Rycroft, in favor of runner-up Molly Malaney on Monday night’s finale.
Jason says he would have preferred to have delivered the news to Rycroft off camera, but the contract he signed with Bachelor’s producers spelled out that he had to make his painful declaration on TV.
“That was part of the deal. I signed up for it in my contract. Your relationship is — good and bad — in front of everybody,” says Mesnick, who talked exclusively to PEOPLE about the surprising turn of events.
“If I could have, I would have seen Melissa the night before. It killed me. It kills me now.”
The single dad, 32, proposed to an overjoyed Melissa, 25, in the two-hour finale. But on After the Final Rose, which was shot six weeks later, he gave her the boot and confessed he still had feelings for Molly, 24, who agreed to give him another chance.
Mesnick, who was rejected by DeAnna Pappas on The Bacherlotte last year, says he knows what Bachelor viewers must think of him: ” ‘That guy is a jerk.’ But I’m not proud of what I had to do.”
Soon after The Bachelor’s cameras stopped rolling, the euphoria of his engagement to Melissa began to fade. “After we got back into the real world, all of a sudden, we had less to talk about and I didn’t know why. I started thinking wow, what’s happening? Why aren’t we communicating the way we did when the show was going on?” says Jason, who held off on sharing his doubts with Melissa.
“I didn’t say something right away because I wanted to figure out what was going in inside of me,” he says. “There was part of me that wanted things to work out with Melissa so bad. But the whole other piece was I had these crazy feelings for Molly.”
Finally, Jason says, he could not deny the truth: “Melissa and I just have different ways of communicating. We’re not right for each other.”
http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/03/03/jason-im-not-proud-of-what-i-had-to-do/
pledge:
Watched the show last night......OK I had read the spoilers :-[ so I wasn't surprised at what happened. I can understand Jason being confused ....... when I was in college I fell for two different guys ..... it was hard because I cared about both of them ...... what I did not like was that Jason broke up with Melissa on National TV ....... although I think maybe they had already broken up.....and just maybe they had to do this due to their contracts. It was hard to watch.....give Melissa some respect (hopefully Melissa got some sort of satisfaction from all of this) Jason and Molly.....thought maybe they could have "cooled" the kissing somewhat......Afterall he had "just broken his engagement". Will be interesting to watch the show tonight. Hopefully they are all doing great.
I do like happy endings. : )
RealityFreakWill:
From Reality Steve...
That Was Pathetic to Watch. Really, It Was.
No need to gloat really. I told you what their shocker was going to be on January 27th, and it happened. Doesn’t matter how I know, who told me, or how it all came to be. The bottom line was I ruined ABC’s surprise for the season and I’m glad I did. Especially after that abortion they showed us on television last night. I will be honest with you and say I’m sick to my stomach. I mean, the two hour finale was nothing. We all knew what was happening there. But that ATFR show was downright painful. I felt AWFUL for Melissa. Still do. The debate will rage on from this day forward what you want to believe about Jason and Molly’s performance. Was he put up to this? When did he know? When did Molly know and what did she know? That’s all up for each individual to decide. Judging by the message boards and my comments, seems like we’re running about 99% in favor of Jason being named King A-Hole sometime in the near future. Hey, you know all my answers to this. No need to go over it again. Fifty years from now when I’m asked about the Jason Mesnick season of the “Bachelor”, I will firmly believe he was told to do this and agreed to it to create this shocking finale. And no matter what BS Chris Harrison wants to whine about in his blog today, or how many times Jason and Molly want to deny they’ve never contacted each other in the two months he was engaged to Melissa, or how ABC now admits, “Well, we expected it to get leaked”, NOTHING will change my belief of what went down this season.
So basically what I want to mention today is Chris Harrisons blog, and an email I received last week from a completely different source than the ones who gave me all my other information. Lets start with Chris, since apparently he has a hard on for me now. I love how its killing him that he constantly has to address the rumors that I started, yet won’t mention me by name. Hey Chris, how about the fact that in US Weekly last week, not only are they quoting me, but also the “source close to production” that echoed everything I said? Why am I the bad guy here? How about you guys start checking under your own noses for leaks. Hell, the “source close to production” said a hell of a lot more than I did in that article. And oh yeah, all of it was true again. Apparently Fleiss and the gang are all super sleuths now because, according to Chris, “we know how that happened and we know who’s responsible.” Ummm, I hate to tell them this, but they don’t seem to know much of anything. And there’s more than one person leaking stuff considering the email I’m going to show you later on in this post I had never even heard from until five days ago.
Chris is also shoveling the BS that because they’re a TV show, and because they always want their audience to know, good or bad, what’s going on, that’s the reason they televised the break up. According to Chris, “the fact is everybody knows when they sign up for this show everything about their story will be public. It’s a TV show and that is not a big secret. They are well aware of what they got into.” Oh, so that makes it right? That’s just sickening. Go sell that somewhere else. I can’t believe they’re trying to justify televising the public embarrassment of Melissa with a “Hey, that’s just TV. They know what they sign up for.” Well, I guess if these contestants actually read their contracts they would. But half of them just want to be on TV, they don’t realize that they are signing their life away so you can embarrass, humiliate, defame and portray their character in any way you choose, without one ounce of responsibility falling on ABC and the production company. Trust me. I’ve read the contract. I have that in my possession too. The show is f***in sick joke. I had no idea the lengths they go to in that contract to make sure ABC and the production team aren’t held liable for anything that happens on this show. It’s unfreakinbelievable. Yet, we’re supposed to believe this is “real human emotion?” Please.
Chris says that Melissa was not blindsided and that she knew when she arrived at the taping, because of the talks her and Jason were having as of late, that it just wasn’t working. Chris says he doesn’t know if Melissa knew she’d be getting dumped on the show, and that you’d have to ask her. Well, Jason said on Jimmy Kimmel last night that Melissa and him were broken up by the time they arrived at the ATFR taping, and the only question he had was was she going to wear her ring there. So which is it? Were they broken up or not? And Jason, if you and Melissa were already broken up, like you admitted last night on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO DO A WHOLE SONG AND DANCE AND GO THROUGH THE BREAKUP YET AGAIN??? You guys were broken up. Fine. Move on. But for thirty minutes, we have to sit there and listen to you do it over again while cameras were rolling? Look, ABC can claim they’re gonna show everything, but please. We all know why that ATFR was filmed. Because they knew they had an ending they’d never had before, and they knew they had an ending they could promote as a “shocker” and “one of the best we’ve ever had.” Can you believe that? You wanna know how little Mike Fleiss and ABC thinks of Melissa? The fact that they promoted last nights finale as the “best we’ve ever had.” It was? I’m sure if you ask Melissa that, she’ll tend to disagree. For shock value, utter embarrassment, disgust, and pure cruelty, yeah sure, best ending you’ve ever had. You don’t give a crap about how Melissa feels as long as 11 million people are watching I guess. Appalling.
The reason they’re saying they decided to film it was because at the time of the ATFR 1 taping, they were a few weeks into the show, still six weeks away from the finale, and they’ve gotten word that their happy couple is now on the rocks. So what do they do? Chris says, “Do we let all of America just keep going along with this happy little fairytale only to find that in the end it all blew up a month and a half prior? It’s not like Jason was breaking up with Mel and just going away. He was asking for a shot with the girl you saw him break up with in New Zealand.” So they figured by taping the ATFR show, they would let America see what happened between their engaged couple. Ok, fine. Problem is, Jason didn’t say sh**. He went from spinning Melissa around, telling her he loved her 100 times in a row, telling Molly “I think you’re wrong” when she told him he was making a mistake, to him just saying, “Uhhh, things changed. Chemistry changed.” Can we get some examples here? This is your fiancé supposedly, not some bimbo you dragged home from the bar. Of course Melissa was pissed, this douche broke off an engagement because why? I still don’t have an answer. Well, other than the one I will always believe which is, there wasn’t an answer. He was just being told what to do.
They’re still trying to shove the “these are real people trying the best they can to deal with real issues.” I’ll give you that its real people. Finally, something truthful. As far as I know, this show hasn’t gone the way of casting androids, but I’m guessing that’ll probably be up Fleiss’ sleeve next season. “Watch Jillian pick from a pool of 25 computer generated d-bags with no human emotion whatsoever!” I might actually tend to believe the “real issues” part if Jason could’ve actually given us examples why he couldn’t last more than two months with his fiancé that he was sooooooooo in love with when he left New Zealand. The whole thing just doesn’t make sense. Once again, if you’re that conflicted in New Zealand, and Jason made a point to tell us a zillion times that he fell in love with two women, well, then how can he propose to one over the other? That’s completely illogical and narrow minded. “Well, its because that day I believed Melissa was the one for me.” Too convenient. That’s such a cop out answer. Totally left the door open for what he eventually ended up doing.
I just want you people to see here that there’s more than meets the eye. When Jason was on with Kimmel last night, they talked about the last time he was on, which was during the first week of the show, so around Jan. 5th. Kimmel asked him point blank, “Were you engaged then?” Jason said, “Yes. Melissa and I were engaged and things were great.” So, if the ATFR 1 taping was on or around Jan. 18th, and two weeks prior on Kimmel you guys were engaged and things were great, that doesn’t leave much of a window for that engagement to go to hell in a handbasket to the point where you call it off because you want to try and get back in Molly’s pants. So you either lied to Kimmel in the first week of January that things were great, or, you just lied in general about the whole relationship since you were never as in love with her as you claim to be. I will always believe the latter. One last note about Jason before moving on to Molly. Jason told us at the ATFR 1 taping before Melissa came out, “I care so much for Melissa that I need to talk to her.” On national television? Really? Apparently you guys were talking privately and were having problems, and according to you, were already broken up. Hmmm, nice guy. “Hey, I know we’re broken up, but ummmm, since ABC didn’t have any footage of it, think we could gather you up to fly out here and we can get this so 11 million people can see for themselves? Thanks. You’re a trooper.’ How Melissa didn’t punch him in the face during that taping is beyond me.
As for Molly, look, we can go back and forth all day every day for the next century trying to figure out what she knew and when she knew it. Only about four people know the honest answer to this, and they’ll never tell us the truth anyway. Hey, a few of you asked me last week why haven’t any former contestants who were on the show years ago ever come out and said anything if this is all so scripted and manipulated. Ummmm, because they can’t. If there’s nothing else you take from this column today, I want you to take this bit of info. As you know, all contestants are under contract with ABC for a year from when their finale airs. But that only covers interviews, appearances, etc. Everything has to run through ABC. So yeah, Megan didn’t really do that when she got the interview with me, but, that’s ok. Some decide they’re pissed off at ABC enough they’ll do what they please. And she did. However, and I can’t stress this enough, every contestant who’s ever appeared on this show signs a LIFETIME confidentiality agreement which essentially states that you can never give away the show secrets or else you can get sued for $5 million.” Oh yeah, I have that contract in my possession also. So why do you think in sixteen seasons, not one person has written a tell all book? Because they can’t. So that’s why you’ll hear stuff on message boards, from friends, etc. These people talk. They tell friends and family and what not, but nothing will ever publicly get traced back to them or else they’re in deep sh**. So if you have nothing to hide, and everything about this show is clean, forthright, honest, and truthful, why is everyone part of this show threatened with a $5 million lawsuit if they ever speak publicly about what really goes on? I’d say that’s pretty telling.
So that’s where I’m essentially banging my head against the wall. I can’t prove any of this, and they’ll never admit to it. If they do, their show is yanked for being a complete farce. So ABC/Jason/Molly/Fleiss and Chris Harrison to a certain extent, are the ones who have to wake up in the morning and look at themselves knowing where the real truth lies in all of this. Will we ever know? Probably not. But all I want to do is get everything out there for the public to see and have them make their own decision. Judging by the emails I’ve gotten and response, it sounds like people are starting to catch on. However, it’s not like I think the show is going anywhere. If not, they’ll thrive off this and continue to produce more crap for us to watch. And yes, I’ll be front and center watching and writing about it. More on that tomorrow. And oh yeah, Molly, when Jason told you to your face in New Zealand, “I love someone else more” and “I think you’re wrong”, when you told him he was making a mistake, that was awfully quick of you to either forget or forgive him for saying that. Not ten minutes after this guy lets his fiance go last night, does he and the girl that he dumped in New Zealand have their tongues jammed down each others throat. Really? You couldn’t wait til maybe you got off stage or something? Yeah, and they had NO contact in those two months? Uh huh. And I’ve been wrong about everything since Jan. 27th.
So, since that time in January, I’ve been giving more and more information little by little that’s all proven to be true. I’ve had a few minor details wrong, but basically for the most part, I’ve told you what to expect this season. Well, last Wednesday I got this random email from someone who claimed to work in LA. I verified it based on the information given, but obviously I will keep their occupation private. This person then proceeded to tell me they have contacts over at ABC, and those contacts essentially had a map of how things went this season on the show. Well, here is that email. This was sent last Wednesday, and obviously you can see most of this stuff ended up playing out. I’m showing it to you because this was never my original source. In fact, Id never even gotten an email from this person EVER until five days ago. So this is what someone at ABC is leaking to their friends, who then passed it on to me. Here’s what they wrote:
“Ok, so let me break it all down for you as I understand it:
Absolute fact:
1) Jason proposes to Melissa in NZ
2) Jason sees Melissa roughly twice a month from end of NZ (they stayed three days together after FRC) to the emergency taping
3) Jason tells Melissa it is over.
4) Melissa flips out. Screams. Yells. Cries. Calls him a bunch of names, etc. etc. Basically a total meltdown.
5) The second ATFR is like normal. Jason/Molly happy, Melissa okay — it was all for the best, yadda. though obviously I don’t know the exact language.
The following things I’m going to tell you are more complex than stone-cold fact, however I trust my source and STRONGLY believe that everything I’m about to tell you is true because I mean…some of it is too unbelievable and detailed to just pull out of total fabrication.
1) Your interview with Megan, which I listened to late yesterday, corraborated what I had heard about Melissa. She was a bubbly spit fire, however she barely spoke to Jason for the first week.
2) Jason made an instant connection with Molly, and despite her poor edit there are several things during the season (tent date, long walk alone in Seattle) that point to that fact. Yet, it wasn’t over the top because that is not Molly’s personality.
3) Just prior to the Final Five, Jason informed producers that Molly was the one.
4) The plan was formed. Producers asked Jason who he liked second best and he told them he had taken interest in Melissa — had a lot going for her, sweet, attractive, etc. They told him to bring her to the Final Two, pick her at the FRC for drama and that she would get America’s love and attention — aka a set up for The Bachelorette. They convinced Jason that he would do no irrevocable harm to Melissa, because she would get the popularity.
5) I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that Melissa fell in love with Jason. In fact, my source said that is who Chris Harrison and the rest were “cheering for and were happy when they saw her bond with Ty.” Period. Nothing else is true. Melissa fell in love with Jason, the staff saw it and rooted for it and were happy for them.
6) Which leads to this fact. Only three people (Mike Fleiss, another top-level showrunner (Martin), and Jason) knew about the plan until AFTER THE FRC. Immediately after the FRC, Chris H and the rest of the staff was informed of the plan and what would go down at the ATFR. No idea how they reacted, and really it isn’t a big part of the story.
7) Immediately after Jason returned to Seattle he got in touch with producers and they put him in touch with Molly. Molly did NOT know about this plan before the FRC, but DID know about it just several days after the FRC. How do you think she was able to take him back? Because she knew. My guy also told me she will play this off at the ATFR as, “Jason is a good man who was in a high pressure situation. Once he got away from the camera, his heart changed. And I loved him.”
8) Now, this is the slightly disturbing part but my source said he heard this from reliable people. Remember that I said Melissa was head over heels in love. She saw Jason every other weekend and told Jason she was planning on moving out to Seattle, loved Ty, wanted to start a family. Jason made all of this seem great. He is playing the game, before finally realizing after one of these “heart to hearts” that Melissa was seriously falling for him.
9) He called the producers and they moved up the show for him but told him he had to do it, per the agreed “twist”, on camera.
10) Hence everything you will see at the ATFR show.
If you have any questions, let me know. But it’s pretty self-explanatory. My source said that ATFR was still in post-production until either earlier this week or late last week. I have no idea how they will spin it, but they will for damage control.
How does the truth get into the mainstream? You said something about some mysterious e-mails before. That would help. As would someone saying “sue me, I’m talking.” From what I’m told Melissa is “better” but still is taking this very hard.
No idea if she will follow the company line on Ellen and the talk show circuit. Also, the whole parents thing was way overblown. They just were private people and didn’t want to participate. I’ve heard they are very religious. Not sure what that has to do with being private. But they just didn’t want to be on the show. No other conspiracy theory to that.
Hope you enjoy the carnage. Because it is coming!”
So just so we’re clear here. This email was sent from someone at ABC to a buddy, who then passed it along to me. So when Chris Harrison talks about they know where the leaks are coming from and know who’s responsible, I’d say they don’t. So just wanted to add this fuel to the fire that more people knew about this than ABC wanted to believe. I was just the only one to come out with it as early as I did. Doesn’t matter who told me, how many people were involved, or how I got it, the fact is I wanted to beat ABC to the punch on their “shocker” for this season, and I did. I’ve never done that in the 15 seasons I’ve been covering this show because, well, I’d never gotten tipped off like this before. I’m sure they’re not happy because this was going to be their gem, and they definitely didn’t want the public forming an opinion before the finale but, oops. Sorry.
I would like nothing more than to speak with Melissa so we can get an answer to a lot of these questions. Put it this way, she knows I’m looking for her. The invitation is out there. All she has to do is accept it. And what better place to come to share your story than here, where all I want to do is get the truth out. I feel the public has been misled enough by this show, and seeing Melissa get taken behind the woodshed last night was gut wrenching to watch. Something tells me however that she is done with this whole process and would just like to move on. Of course she doesn’t want to be the next Bachelorette. Would you after what just happened to you? Melissa was the perfect candidate. She has America behind her, she’s likable, she’s cute, and she already has a built in audience. There’s a reason Jillian is out next Bachelorette. It’s because Melissa doesn’t want any part of this mockery any more. And can you blame her?
I’m still working on transcribing the Megan interview, so I’ll have that up in a couple days. As for the Jason and Melissa email conversation done after the ATFR 1 taping was held, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to release them. I’m leaning one way right now, but I’ll have a definitive answer in the next day or two. Until then, enjoy tonights fluff piece as ABC tries to shove down our throat “Hey, Jason’s just living his life and don’t be mad at him for following his heart.” Blech. Makes me want to vomit. The guy made his own bed and now he should have to lie in it. And going on Jimmy Kimmel and immediately becoming defensive about what he did isn’t helping his cause much either. Back tomorrow with more stuff. Any questions, comments, emails, praises, criticisms, or more Jason/Molly backlash, email me at steve@realitysteve.com. And please, don’t be offended or keep sending emails if I don’t get back to you. I get and read ALL your emails. I just have to pick and choose which ones to respond to due to the 200-300 or so a day I’ve been getting recently. Thanks for your patience. Enjoy tonight. If that’s possible.
http://www.realitysteve.com/
RealityFreakWill:
‘Bachelor’ breaks two hearts in season finale
Jason picks Melissa over Molly, then changes him mind in reunion show
There have been many break-ups of the couples who met during the 12 previous seasons of ABC's "The Bachelor" and four seasons of "The Bachelorette." But until Monday night, none of the couples broke up while the show was actually airing.
Jason Mesnick, the single dad whose heart was broken by DeAnna Pappas at the end of "The Bachelorette 4," broke two hearts, not counting viewers who are dismayed by the way he chose Melissa only to dump her during the "After the Final Rose" special and pick Molly, who he'd rejected earlier.
The closest the show has ever come to this kind of conclusion is when Brad Womack rejected both of the final two women, and then later faced an angry studio audience at the reunion. Some viewers, it seemed, couldn't fathom that someone would refuse to make a lifelong commitment to a TV date.
In New Zealand, Jason told us, “I can see a life with both” Melissa and Molly, and struggled with his decision. “I am completely torn between two women. After everything I've been through, I've never been so conflicted about a decision in my entire life.”
DeAnna was no help. Her long-teased visit to Jason was over in minutes, and although previews made it appear as though she wanted him back and left him in tears, in reality, she just told him she screwed up by not picking him, and gave some greeting card advice: “I wouldn't say follow your heart, I would say lead it. I followed my heart.”
Jason and his heart dumped Molly and picked Melissa, and he proposed to her, although not before bawling after Molly left. Minutes later, but six weeks in real time, Jason reunited with Melissa and dumped her.
During the audience-less reunion, he told her, “We're not right for each other.” She said, “I don't believe you. I thought things were perfect,” and then started to talk about herself in the third person, which is never a good sign.
Eventually she got mad — “You're such a bastard” — and walked away. “Don't call me, don't text me any more, leave me alone, please. Thank you,” Melissa said.
A not-so surprising finish
As shocking as the ending may have been — ABC has been teasing it for weeks, and both Harrison and the show's executive producer, Mike Fleiss, have hyped it in the media — it was not a surprise. A little less than two weeks ago, the ending was revealed by a blogger known as Reality Steve, which also claimed that the ending was “fabricated,” although the blogger later admitted, “All the stuff I've speculated about (planned from the beginning, Jason doing what he was told to do, etc), I can't prove.”
In an Entertainment Weekly blog post, “Bachelor” host Chris Harrison insisted producers did not and would not did not fabricate or pre-plan the shocking ending.
That Jason would participate in a scripted conclusion seems highly unlikely, especially because he doesn't appear to be a good enough actor to fake his obviously genuine emotions both during the finale and during the “After the Final Rose” special.
(Conspiracy theorists might argue that his emotions were about what he was doing or had been asked to do to Melissa, but that's how conspiracy theories work: every piece of evidence can be spun to support the theory.)
If anything, that the ending was scripted by producers seems like a comforting alternative, as it serves as some explanation, reason, or excuse as to why Jason did an about-face on both Melissa and on his reputation as a good guy.
That Jason would do this was the shocking part. He was totally devastated last season, so he knows what it's like to be on the dumped end of “The Bachelor.” And to hurt both women, even at different times, seems unlike him.
Jason wasn't without emotion, though. After dumping Molly in New Zealand, he cried on the balcony of the house before proposing to Melissa. And during the reunion, he admitted, “What I did to [Melissa] was horrible. But I don't want to live my life with any regrets.”
Trashing his good-guy reputation
His only regret may be doing all of that on national television, as his “horrible” actions have trashed his reputation, at least to some viewers. It seems like he bailed on one relationship because he knew he had another option — Molly — standing by. Although she told Jason, “we still have a lot to talk about,” Molly seemed into him, as her “feelings never went away.”
Earlier, Jason told Harrison, “I had to give Melissa her chance,” but said that “Since this all ended, things have been different, and we're not right for each other.”
Considering that Jason discovered that in just a few weeks, Melissa had a point when she said that Jason “didn't want to fight for our relationship, he didn't want to try.”
Then again, this is love forged on a reality show, with camera and crew and an environment — never mind that the star dates multiple women at once, and this season, like many before it, fell in love with two simultaneously.
The biggest surprise, then, is that Jason couldn't make up his mind and switched when he could, but that this hasn't happened before. How many “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” stars were similarly conflicted but stuck with someone for the sake of their television reputation, at least until they could break up away from the cameras?
Although Melissa is clearly hurt, the odds said she and/or Jason would have been hurt eventually. All but three of the 16 “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” couples broke up, and one of those couples, Charlie O'Connell and Sarah Brice, broke up but reconnected a year later.
That it happened on TV is what's different this season, and along with accusations that Jason conspired with producers and criticism of his hurtful decision, maybe Jason should get a little credit for demonstrating on television that “The Bachelor” experience usually isn't a fairy tale.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29481521/
RealityFreakWill:
'The Bachelor' recap: This is (Not) Your Wife
It really was the most shocking finale ever, as Jason, the biggest tool in ''Bachelor'' history, breaks the land-speed record for relationship flameouts by dumping Melissa ''After the Final Rose''
Okay, so here's the good news: For once, the hyperbole was true — it really was the ''most dramatic season finale in Bachelor history.'' And now for the bad news: As it turns out, Ty's father is an even bigger jackass than we thought. Honestly, my heart just breaks for that kid.
It's not like we hadn't been warned by Reality Steve. Still, up until tonight, I couldn't quite believe the rumors were true. After all, the producers have promised ''heart-stopping'' shocks countless times before and they've never delivered, so why would this time be any different? I'm not a conspiracy theorist, though, and I don't believe producers scripted this or any other finale — if they were in the habit of fixing the Bachelor's ''journey,'' they'd make sure it ended with an insane twist every year. Nope, I think this season they just got lucky — lucky enough to find a Bachelor with a spectacular lack of judgment and self-awareness, and they simply edited his idiotic actions into the most compelling, surprising narrative possible. Once team Bachelor learned that Jason wanted to dump Melissa, did they encourage him to do it on-camera rather than in private like a decent human being? I'm sure they did. But he didn't have to say yes. As annoyed as we all may be at the outcome, my friends, the producers were simply doing their job: making good TV. Jason might be contractually obligated to have a final rose ceremony — as former Bachelor Brad Womack contests — and he's no doubt obligated to appear on the After the Final Rose special. He is not, however, contractually obligated to act like an a--hole — I believe he managed to do that all by himself.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to the beginning of tonight's ''journey'' and work through our feelings about The Great Bachelor Implosion of 2009 together. We open on a beautiful New Zealand beach, where Jason and Ty have a tearful reunion in the sand. The poor little dude has been shipped half way across the world to meet one of the two ''ladies'' his daddy is thinking about marrying. ''It's so important that I make the right choice,'' says Jason. ''And I'm just at the point now where Ty, in his own way, will help me figure it out.'' Melissa is first to take the toddler test, and though she is nervous about meeting Ty, she gives off a cuddly, kindergarten teacher vibe that kids respond to — and she was also smart enough to come prepared with an arsenal of knock-knock jokes. Ty seems comfortable enough with Melissa, even when Jason leaves the two of them alone while he fetches a lamb off camera. During those 30 seconds, she manages to keep Ty from choking on his own tongue or otherwise harming himself, so I'm pretty sure that makes her Bachelor-certified stepmom material.
The real test is next. Once Ty goes down for his nap, Jason brings Melissa to meet his mom, dad, brothers, and sister-in-law. Jason's family grills her on all the predictable topics: meeting Ty, moving to Seattle, her feelings for Jason. They all eye her warily, especially when the topic of her MIA parents comes up. Melissa's defense: ''Am I OK that they potentially could not meet him before this process is over? No.'' Once they're alone, Mama Mesnick continues to hammer Melissa about her family, prompting the anxious ex-cheerleader to start talking really fast about how close she is with her parents and what ''happy people'' they are.
Jason's brothers are skeptical because DeAnna screwed Jason over before, and here comes another olive-skinned brunette who says she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. ''In the previous show he got DeAnna's dad's blessing,'' Sean tells Melissa. ''And without your parents... meeting him, potentially he's not going to propose.'' Papa Mesnick's resolve softens a little when Ty toddles out and says he wants to play with Melissa. ''You and Ty have such a magical chemistry going on, you know, to bring someone into your life like Melissa would only just make it explode even more than it is.'' Though I'm not 100 percent sure what he means, it's going to be hard for Molly to top an endorsement like that.
She's gonna give it a try, though. Here comes Molly bouncing out of the SUV, chipper, bright-eyed, and ''excited'' to meet Ty. Jason explains that Molly ''is not somebody who's been around little kids a lot,'' and it shows. Children are like dogs — they can smell fear — and Molly is giving off the unmistakable stench of terror. Ty won't give her a high-five or even say hi to her, but it doesn't really mean anything — he's three, and while he has more social skills than his father, sometimes he's bound to be cranky. ''I was freaking out,'' says Molly. ''But I just had to be confident and give it my best.'' Her best involves relentless smiling and nodding, and eventually Ty allows her to hold his hand as he romps in the water. Molly is almost convincing when she says, ''We're kind of a little family right now. This is how life could be, and it's so fun to think like that.'' (Good try, toots.)
Hopefully the Mesnick clan can be the tiebreaker. Jason takes Molly to meet the family, and she responds by turning her perky levels up to 11 — which is a little disturbing because her smile and eyes are so wide at this point, she's beginning to get crazy face. (And I know it's windy out there, but couldn't she have run a comb through her ponytail before entering the house?) Jason's brothers want to know if Molly's ready to transition into the life of a domesticated stepmom, and she says, ''F--- that! I'm packing the brat off to boarding school!'' Oh, wait, sorry — she actually tells them what they want to hear: ''I want to settle down with someone now. I've been there, done that.''
But can she convince Jason's mom? Mama Mesnick, unlike her son, has a pretty inscrutable poker face. During her couch time with Molly, she's not giving up anything other than a steely gaze — especially when Molly says she's fine to move because ''I can still have my career in Seattle.'' Later, when a weepy Jason asks her for help with his decision, mom defrosts a piece of advice that she's been keeping in the family freezer since the 1950s: ''Here's a young lady who says she loves you to pieces, and yet she has a career, and career's important to her. But I think foremost for you, you want somebody who is family oriented, and who's going to be there for Ty and you.'' Yes, that's right, Donna Reed: Never mind that your son is making his second (soon-to-be-failed) attempt to find a stepmom for Ty on a reality TV show — the real threat to his future happiness is that he may marry a woman who works outside the home.
With the deadline approaching, Melissa calls her parents in an effort to get them to talk to the Bachelor on the phone. They agree, but for whatever reason Melissa waits until the end of her rainy-date date to tell Jason. During another prone make-out session, he gives her the closest thing to an ''I love you'' that the Bachelor Code of Conduct allows: ''I've never felt this way either, okay?'' When it's Molly's turn to prove her love the next day, she is ready: ''I just need to put it all out there for him and let him know how I'm feeling.'' And by ''put it all out there,'' she means mounting him on a rented massage table and tenderizing him with baby oil like the big piece of beefcake that he is.
Once he's hosed off, Molly hands Jason a homemade dossier called ''A Fairytale Love Story.'' It opens with a note that looks like something a fifth-grade girl would pass to her crush in homeroom — she even the draws the ''o'' in ''once upon a time'' as a little heart. The rest is a scrapbook of plane tickets, date cards, the lyrics to her now-classic ditty ''Jason (You Give Me Butterflies),'' and the acceptance letter to The Bachelor — which I transcribed, because I am a total dork:
''September 25, 2008
Dear Molly,
Congratulations! You have been selected to be a part of ABC's prime time series ''The Bachelor.'' We are very excited about your participation and look forward to seeing you in Los Angeles. You should be ready to be entertained in the most unforgettable places, dine in a style reserved for the elite, live in a luxurious mansion, and experience exotic, high-action adventures. This experience will take you from California to Your Town, USA. Be prepared!''
She must have cut off the last line: ''P.S. — Don't bother packing your dignity. You won't need it.''
Wow, both ''ladies'' really brought their A-game. What's Jason going to do? Call Melissa's parents, that's what. He tells them that he ''completely'' understands that they didn't want to be on camera, and while The Bachelor is ''a crazy way'' to meet someone, he wants them to know that ''it's so real.'' It seems to go well enough, and Jason tells us that the conversation gave him ''closure, so I can move forward.''
So all's well, right? Oh, hells no. As ominous music plays, a black station wagon snakes up the driveway. The door opens, revealing a woman's toned legs... and what's this? Aw yeah — the bitch is back, y'all!!! Of course the only one surprised about it is Jason, since ABC has been pimping this moment in promos since January. The producers are working hard to make it seem like DeAnna's mission is to get Jason back — ''I came here because I lost out on a great man,'' she says — but it's pretty clear that that's a gross exaggeration, at best. In their awkward chat on the couch, DeAnna tells Jason that she ''got caught up'' in the excitement of the Fun Guy, even though she knows a successful relationship is built on more than fun. Jason says he's facing the same dilemma — and in hindsight, he completely telegraphs what's going to happen on After the Final Rose: ''I'm faced with two girls, right? And one of them is everything that I was looking for when I came in here... And then there's the other girl who is more of a wild card, who could be extremely amazing but I don't know — versus, like, the safer, like, I know bet, you know?'' The bottom line, TV Watchers, is that Jason fell victim to human nature and his own immaturity — he tried to make the ''safer'' choice with Melissa, but was ultimately seduced by the risk involved with choosing the ''wild card,'' Molly. And the American viewing public will reap the benefits of his mistake.
DeAnna tells him as much, saying she chose the ''wild card'' and paid a steep price for it. ''If I would have chose you, it would have worked.'' But honestly, if she really wanted him back, I think she would have tried a little harder than this: ''I could see myself having a relationship with you. You haven't proposed yet. You still have a chance. And that's why I'm here. [Unconvincing shrug]'' DeAnna may have had some residual feelings for Jason, but most likely she was just doing the producers a solid by agreeing to come to New Zealand and share her regrets on camera. (Remember, at this point the producers were banking on DeAnna's Big Return to be their shocking finale moment.) Anyhow, DeAnna didn't look too broken up — or even fazed — after Jason shot her down, did she? When Jason says he's going to ''follow his heart'', she offers a quick correction: ''I wouldn't say follow your heart — I would say lead it. I followed my heart.''
At last, the big day has arrived. Some blonde lady named Emily arrives with a briefcase of engagement rings by Neil Lane, and Jason chooses a monstrous sparkler that'll likely give his chosen ''lady'' carpal tunnel. But he still doesn't know what he wants. ''I've never been so conflicted about a decision in my entire life.'' Somehow, after less than a minute of voiceover rumination — all the while standing on the balcony staring at the ring like Frodo at the edge of the lava pit — Jason suddenly is struck with a moment of clarity: ''I've made my decision. I know what I'm going to do.'' That doesn't mean he's not going to cry about it, though. ''I never thought I'd be sitting here right now this hurt.'' No time to listen to your gut, pal — just throw a bowtie around your toddler's neck and go make some bad decisions!
It seems a little pointless, not to mention cruel, to recount what happens next, so I'll try to be quick. The first limo rolls up the driveway, and Harrison, God bless him, is there to greet poor Molly with his pleasant-but-completely-unreadable expression. After she joins Jason at the proposal post, the Bachelor tells her she is (what else?) ''amazing,'' and then he starts to lose it. ''I don't know how I could ever let you go — but I have to.'' For once, Molly stops smiling. ''I think you've made a mistake — a big one.'' (Kids, this is called foreshadowing.) Once Jason sends Molly off, we finally get that balcony breakdown scene that's been taunting us all season in the promos. It's a good thing he ends up dumping Melissa, because Jason would have some serious explaining to do about his post-Molly meltdown if they were still together. Meanwhile in the reject limo, a stunned Molly keeps repeating her theory, which will prove all too true: ''I just think he's making a huge mistake.''
Oh, look who's here! It's Ms. Pinky Ring herself! As soon as Jason, who's managed to get it together by now, tells Melissa that he's ''completely in love'' with her, she hops up and down and squeals with glee. Of course, you know the rest: ring, kissing, ''Will you accept this rose?'' And then sweet little Ty comes running out in his bowtie... Happily ever after, right? I rarely feel bad for people who choose to go on reality TV shows — strike that, I never feel bad for people who choose to go on reality TV shows — but for Melissa's sake, I really do wish the ''journey'' had ended here.
Cut to six weeks later. As Harrison warns us, ''A lot has happened since then.'' He brings Jason out on stage to an empty studio — no applause, no squealing women. All it takes is a simple ''What's on your mind?'' from Harrison, and the Bachelor breaks down. Tearfully, Jason admits that since the show ended, things with Melissa ''have been different.'' And then comes the bombshell: ''Over the last few weeks I haven't been able to stop thinking about Molly.'' These are his ''real, honest true feelings'', and he swears he hasn't talked to Molly about anything. (What about texts and emails? Unclear — Harrison doesn't ask.)
Harrison, who calls Jason a ''good guy,'' spells it out for us: ''You are about to officially break up with Melissa. How do you think that's going to go?'' I'm guessing the answer is ''not well,'' since good guys don't dump their fiancées on camera. And now it's Melissa's turn to come out to an awkwardly empty studio. While she doesn't know exactly what's going to happen, her tight smile makes it clear she knows whatever's coming isn't good. As Melissa blinks back tears, Jason explains that ''the chemistry just started changing.'' Rightfully, she explodes, blasting him for wussing out once it became clear that their relationship might not be all roses and champagne and fantasy dates — that it might actually take work. ''Something happened!'' she demands. ''And you have yet to be honest.'' Finally, Jason spits it out: ''I do still have feelings for Molly.'' Their fight goes on awhile longer, but I think Melissa sums it up for all of us when she says, ''You are such a bastard!''
So once again, Melissa is the dumpee. She turns to the disgraced Bachelor and issues this withering warning, ''Don't call me, don't even text me, leave me alone, please.'' Possibly the most tragic thing of all is that Melissa comes out of this whole experience thinking it's her fault: ''There's something wrong with me,'' she moans, riding away in the reject limo. The only thing wrong with you, sweetie, is that you thought The Bachelor could find you a good guy. I just wish she had kept the ring, sold it on eBay, and sent herself on a nice long vacation courtesy of ABC.
Meanwhile, Molly's been backstage in an isolation booth or something — Harrison says she has no idea what just went down. Before he brings Jason out, Harrison asks Molly if she's still in love with the Bachelor. ''All I wanted since I've been back,'' she admits, ''is for him to call me or knock on my door and say, 'I made a mistake.''' She's about to get her wish. Jason skulks out from backstage, and 'fesses up that he wants her back. Molly — convinced that she's the victim of the meanest Punk'd prank ever — looks from Harrison to Jason and back again. Finally, she manages to speak. ''Um, but, what about Melissa?'' (Yeah that's right, girlfriend — what about her? If he's doing this to her, what makes you think you'll be any different? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WOMAN, RUN!!) By the end of the commercial break, she's turned toward Jason. ''I'm very confused,'' she says. ''I think we still have a lot to talk about...'' And now her hand's on his knee... ''I think we can see where things go... My feelings never changed for you.'' Aaaand now they're sucking face. It's over, folks. Cue the orchestra — the circle of crazy is complete!
Okay, let's all take a deep breath and digest what just happened. Was this the best Bachelor finale ever, or did it completely annihilate the ''integrity'' of the franchise? Once you've vented in the comments area, be sure to read Chris Harrison's exclusive blog on PopWatch, where he gives us a timeline of how this whole debacle went down. Finally, check out our exclusive extended scene below, in which Jason's sister-in-law grills Molly about the moment she fell in love with him. (Surprisingly, the answer is not ''When he dumped my rival on television.'') Okay, everybody, let's talk Bachelor!
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20262579,00.html
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