Can you believe that the first season of Bachelor in Paradise is already coming to an end?
It seems like just yesterday Lacy was flitting around the beach on day 1 of her journey, unsure of whether she liked Robert or Marcus more.
And now look at her! She is part of the Lacy/Marcus power couple that everyone assumes is going to get married and have tan babies.
Unless, of course, whatever twists Chris Harrison throws at the cast manage to somehow ruin the most perfect annoying B-list couple that Bachelor shows have ever produced. (Not likely.)
Let’s see what the final week has in store for our couples in paradise. Remaining on the island are: Marcus and Lacy, Graham and AshLee, Cody and Michelle, Christy and Tasos, Robert and Sarah, and Jackie and Zack.
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The Final Test
Everyone wakes up feeling scared and anxious, wondering just what the final test is that Chris Harrison warned them about.
Chris asks the couples to take a hard look at their relationships. Is it a relationship that will continue in the real world? If not, it’s time to break up and leave, says Chris.
Well, this is surely going to be an interesting conversation for both Christy/Tasos and Jackie/Zack, who basically just got together a few days ago. Awkward!
I’m not sure what the big deal is here. Any couple can say that it wants to continue to explore the relationship just to stay in paradise. How is this a difficult test?
Decisions, Decisions
All the ladies chat about what they are going to do, while the men do the same.
In the gals’ convo, AshLee spews some nonsense about definitely wanting to pursue a relationship with Graham so that she can love him to an even fuller extent and realize her goal of helping him not be selfish. Huh?
Michelle isn’t buying any of this. “I have to go talk to Graham,” she says, walking out of the conversation. It is hilarious how AshLee doesn’t seem to realize that Michelle is basically going to tell Graham that he should dump AshLee.
Michelle finds Graham and tells him that she doesn’t think AshLee is genuine. She thinks that AshLee is just putting on a show for the cameras. Graham takes what she says to heart and immediately goes to speak with AshLee.
AshLee thinks Graham is coming so they can make the decision together to be a couple. Nope!
He tells her that he doesn’t want to continue their relationship outside of paradise. “I knew it,” says AshLee, realizing how dumb all her Graham-obsessed confessional comments will now sound.
Once the deed is done (with shockingly no screaming or sobbing), Graham is surprised that he feels only sadness and no relief. Still, he says he feels that this was 100% right for both of them.
Michelle runs after Graham to comfort him on the beach, while AshLee cries alone. Finally, Jackie wanders over to offer some half-hearted consoling.
“I would be really embarrassed if I was AshLee,” says Lacy. “I think she was just delusional. I mean, she made it out to be like this wonderful, great, like, fairy tale kind of relationship, but I don’t think that was real.”
Speaking of being embarrassed, I would be embarrassed if I were Lacy and I saw what my confessional makeup looked like on TV. Is someone trying to sabotage her?
AshLee hops into a waiting car and cries to her taxi driver. Hopefully, she leaves that ridiculous ring-bracelet hand jewelry thingy in the cab.
Graham gets into a car five minutes later. Aren’t they totally going to run into each other at the airport?
More Breakups
Christy and Tasos’ breakup takes a mere 10 seconds to cover. It lasts about as long as their entire courtship.
Jackie ends things with Zack, who puts up a tiny fight but ultimately says he will respect her decision.
This leaves three couples left to decide whether to stay or go: Robert and Sarah, Marcus and Lacy, and Cody and Michelle.
Marcus and Lacy are obviously staying, and Robert and Sarah both commit to staying together.
Michelle is the wild card, unsure of what to do about her relationship with Cody. After some soul searching and an adorable phone conversation with her daughter, Michelle decides to give it a go with Cody.
So Now What?
Chris Harrison returns to tell them what the next step in their journey will be. Each couple will have one more date in paradise … overnight dates!
Again, the couples are told to have the hard conversations and decide (yet again) whether or not they want to stay together.
Michelle is the only one who has obvious reservations about what she will decide on the overnight date. Everyone else is just happy to go have alone time in their hotel rooms.
Sarah and Robert make out in their private hot tub and then turn the cameras away.
Lacy finally tells Marcus that she loves him. “It’s an amazing feeling,” says Marcus.
“He is the one,” says Lacy. “There is no doubt.”
So now we come to Cody and Michelle. Michelle warns Cody that he isn’t getting laid tonight (yeah right), but she still wants to go to the Fantasy Suite with him to “talk.” (And check out his Incredible Hulk. Eww. Was that necessary, Michelle?)
Post-Fantasy Suite Bliss
Everyone is all smiles following their overnight dates. Even Michelle! She announces that she has a boyfriend now! (Spoiler alert: it’s Cody!)
Wait one second there! Not everyone is smiling. As Sarah sees how happy the other two couples are, she realizes that her own relationship doesn’t have her grinning from ear to ear and leaving hickeys on Robert’s neck (ahem, Lacy and Marcus).
In her confessional, we hear that Sarah’s overnight didn’t go as she had hoped. Robert did not get physical with her and, in fact, slept with his jeans on. Ugh. Get rid of him.
So why does he act on-camera like he is all into her? Poor Sarah is now very confused.
“I wanted to stay up with Robert all night talking, being happy and in love, and it didn’t happen,” says Sarah. “You do not get an opportunity like the Fantasy Suite and have it turn out the way it did.”
Michelle, on the other hand, can’t stop talking about Cody. (By the way, they did sleep together and it was good.)
Different Pages
Sarah pulls Robert aside to tell him that she didn’t like how things went down last night. She explains that she didn’t feel loved and she wants to end things.
Robert is blown away. He thought that he was reading her signals right. He tells Sarah that he was falling in love with her.
The bottom line for Sarah is that he showed zero interest in hooking up with her. He didn’t snuggle, he didn’t touch her and he didn’t even want to stay up all night and talk.
Robert is upset and leaves. Sarah cries as she is left on the beach, alone. Michelle and Lacy come over to comfort her.
“I can’t pretend that his lack of interest in me is acceptable,” Sarah tells Michelle and Lacy.
Sarah sobs as she leaves, wondering if maybe she read too much into the weird Fantasy Suite vibes she got from Robert.
This is the End
Chris Harrison greets the final two couples: Marcus and Lacy, and Cody and Michelle. He tells them that transitioning to the real world will be difficult, so he has some experts to offer advice.
In walks Des and Chris, Jason and Molly (with a wretched blonde dye job), and Sean and Catherine.
The veterans question the new Bachelor in Paradise couples about whether their relationships are legit, but come to the conclusion that both Marcus/Lacy and Cody/Michelle are truly in love.
In case you were wondering, Cody gives Michelle his final rose and she accepts. Michelle then gives her final rose to Cody, who also accepts.
When it comes time for Marcus and Lacy to give their final roses, Marcus can’t stop sweating and asks Chris if he can have a second alone with Lacy first.
The couple heads out to the beach, as everyone thinks that Marcus is about to dump Lacy. I’m no dummy, though. I know what he’s about to do. I’m just wondering how Neil Lane snuck into the bungalow for a private ring meeting with Marcus.
Marcus cries as he tells Lacy that she is the greatest gift he has ever received. And then he proposes! Lacy, of course, says yes. The crew from the rose ceremony runs out on the beach to congratulate the newly engaged couple.
You would think the ring would be enough, but no, Chris reminds them that they still have to give out their final roses.
They both accept each other’s roses, and Lacy promises to be the best wife and mother for their future children.
“I couldn’t be happier with the decision I made,” says Marcus. “Coming here was the best decision I ever made.”
End of the show updates reveal that both couples are still together today. Ah, true reality TV love at its finest.
As Chris reminds us, we definitely did see it all on this season of Bachelor in Paradise. And with the recent news that BiP got picked up for a second season, we will get to do it all over again next summer!
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
