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Monday, July 23, 2012

‘The Bachelorette’ finale recap: Emily Maynard gets engaged to Jef in Curacao, sends Arie packing


The single mom faced the tough task of choosing between her two remaining men - and her ultimate decision didn’t come without more than this season’s share of ugly cries.

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 After her broken engagement to Brad Womack, single mother Emily Maynard risked everything for a second chance at love, searching not just for a husband but for a father figure for her six-year-old daughter, Ricki. Now, after surviving some stunning twists and turns, Emily has narrowed down the 25 bachelors to two fabulous guys, Arie and Jef. Although her two relationships have progressed at different speeds - passionate and steamy from the start with Arie, while the other with Jef just grew out of a playful crush - Emily is completely in love with both men. She hopes her family, now on the beautiful island of Curaçao, will offer some crucial input on which bachelor would make the better match for her. Emily is totally torn between her two suitors and whether she even should introduce Ricki to them. Which man will she choose to leave paradise with and to share her life? Or will she decide not to hand out a final rose?

The Bachelorette/ABC

Emily Maynard looks at her final rose to hand out during the season finale of 'The Bachelorette.'

It must’ve been the puppets that did the trick.
Emily Maynard faced the tough task of choosing between her two remaining men - race car driver Arie and entrepreneur Jef - on the season finale of “The Bachelorette” Sunday night, and her ultimate decision didn’t come without more than this season’s share of ugly cries.
Luckily for her, Jef was there to wipe away her tears - with the help of young Ricki’s stuffed animals, of course.
That’s right, good ole Jef (with one “F”) was given the rare opportunity to meet Emily’s precious 6-year-old daughter prior to the momentous proposal day, a gesture that spoke volumes about Emily’s confidence in their relationship.
So did poor Arie ever stand a chance?
The short answer: Not really.
Emily kicks off the last leg of her journey in Curacao, where her parents and brother are flying in to meet her and her two reality show suitors.
The single mom worries about what her family - mom Suzy, dad David, brother Ernie and future sister-in-law Bethenny - will think of Arie and Jef, because she’s been having some trouble in the decision-making department recently, and their opinion could make or break either of her relationships.
No pressure or anything.
Jef is the first guy up to bat, and saunters over to the family’s borrowed Curacao palace in a plain white T-shirt, pompadour billowing in the wind, flowers firmly in hand.
BACHELORETTE24F_2_WEBEmily accepts Jef's proposal in Curacao. (The Bachelorette/ABC)
After a few curt introductions, Suzy steals Jef away to have a chat with the happy entrepreneur.
“There’s not a single ounce of me that would leave her ever,” he reassures Emily’s lookalike mother, which is exactly what Suzy needs to hear.
Now onto gruff-looking brother Ernie, whose expression finally softens after Jef launches into the grand inquisition, turning the tables on him and asking why Emily’s past love connections never took root.
The answer: Because since Ricky, Emily hasn’t really found anyone who measured up to her former fiance. And because of that, no man had ever gotten so far past the bastion of approval as One F has right now.
He beams.
The last hurdle to tackle is Emily’s dad David, who readily smiles after Jef formally asks for Emily’s hand in marriage. Looks like Jef’s well on his way to non-bachelorhood!
Arie, on the other hand, has a very tough act to follow.
After Jef’s outstanding rapport with Emily’s family, they are skeptical about another man, and David even quips that he doesn’t know why they’re just going through the actions of meeting another guy when Emily’s mind is already clearly made up.

  So this is what Arie walks into.
The race car driver does his best to impress the Maynard clan, trying to lighten the mood by talking about fishing (too bad neither David nor Ernie bit the bait) and revealing a keepsake box he’d kept of all the roses that Emily had given him in the past season.
Suzy is charmed by his gift, but still guarded. Ernie is more straightforward.
“You seem so practiced and rehearsed,” he tells Arie as they sit down for a chat. But speaking of rehearsed, Ernie cracks a grin that spreads into a forced, huge smile when Arie admits that he’s fallen for Emily. Good for TV, bad news for a genuine engagement.
Even Emily’s dad seems to have been coerced into giving his blessing to Arie for Emily’s hand in marriage. David wasn’t kidding when he talked about just going through the motions.
After meeting both men, Emily’s family members claim they can’t decide who they think is a better fit, which throws the bachelorette into a tizzy. What if there’s no guy for her at the end of all this? What if she’s that girl who is always engaged, never married?
The_BacheloretteEmily and Arie during 'The Bachelorette.' (ABC)
Maybe her two last dates will settle her fears once and for all.
The next day, Emily heads to the beach for a picnic and her final date with Jef. One F says he’s not stressed out at all, because he’s so confident about their relationship, which probably makes Emily feel like even more of a nervous mess.
“You have everything I’ve ever wanted in anybody, and it’s so amazing,” he tells her. “But I haven’t met Ricki, he biggest member of your family...”
A delicate piano tune starts up as Emily fusses over what to do. On the one hand, she wants to make sure they could be a good family unit together, but on the other - well, she can’t just keep introducing her daughter to these strange men.
“Just because I haven’t met her doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about her every day,” he says gently.
That does the trick. Emily makes up her mind and takes Jef back to her resort, where she makes the introductions - Ricki, to her “friend” Jef. And the two hit it off immediately, with Jef’s quirky humor bringing Ricki out of her shell.
“So surreal,” Jef repeats over and over again. “She was nervous, but I was nervous too!”
At dinner that night, Jef gifts Emily with a book about Curacao, with a few little cartoon stick figures penned into the pages. They giggly over their journey together, and say their goodbyes.
The next time they’ll meet, he might be dropping down on one knee. Things are looking pretty rosy for One F.

  But for Emily, things just got a little more interesting.
She summons for Chris Harrison the next day, prior to her date with Arie, and admits that she’s totally fallen for Jef - and wants to spare Arie the humiliation of getting dumped on national TV during a romantic proposal. She wants to do it before their final date even begins.
So, as her race car lover prepares a love potion for her, Emily makes her slow, torturous way toward Arie in the giant SUV of doom.
“Tomorrow, I am getting engaged,” Arie hums to himself happily, spliced with shots of Emily looking stressed. Reality TV emotions don’t get tenser than this.
When Emily finally arrives and they’ve gotten their requisite lip-locking out of the way, Emily sits Arie down on a bench and starts - or rather, squeaks - to laud him for his many great traits.
Which means, of course, that she’s going to dump him.
And dump him she does, and Arie tries his best not to cry. In the rejection van, he keeps a brave face.
“I am f--king confused. I feel stupid. I feel naive, you know? That I had that dream for us,” he mutters. “It’s just so unreal that it’s over. I was so sure. She’s always made me feel so secure in us and that’s just what’s so painful.”
Thankfully, Neil Lane injects some much-needed happiness to follow up on Arie’s heartbroken monologue.
The diamond expert chats with Jef about possible engagement rings, and One F can’t stop beaming.
The next day, the soft-spoken entrepreneur approaches Emily and launches into a long, heartfelt confession of his love, including this gem:
“I promise you, Emily, that if you let me into your life and Ricki’s life, you will never feel lonely ever again.”
Then Jef drops down on one knee, pops the question, and the rest - as we can only hope - is happily ever after.

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