Charity Makes Her Choice: Bachelorette 20, Episode 9
For the first time in a long time, I actually believe in the final couple's love story.
I’m still on a high from seeing Beyoncé, so I settled into this episode with high expectations and honestly, it didn’t disappoint. Right up top we have Jesse giving us the rundown of this THREE-HOUR finale and it’s a lot, so let’s jump right in.
A Second Chance
We’re back on the beach with Aaron and Charity and she’s spiraling because he’s back and she saw a future with him and now that he’s in Fiji she’s confused and wondering if it’s a sign.
Serious question: what is the point of Aaron being here? This is not romantic, this is not a sign of Aaron’s long-term commitment abilities, it’s selfish. Aaron’s grand gesture is just producer manipulation. And what was going through Charity’s mind when she invited him back? As a viewer, it felt like she was more touched by someone “chasing” after her than Aaron himself.
It feels good to be wanted and chased, but what always confuses me at this stage with leads is why they still act like they are just on a TV show and not picking someone to share a life with, if even for only a few months. I’m sure Aaron’s gesture felt super special given all that was going on, but as a viewer, it’s easy to take a step back and realize how easy it likely was for Aaron to hop on a flight to Fiji when he 1) likely quit his job to go on this tv show and 2) didn’t have to pay for said last-minute flight.
And Then There Were Two
Charity heads into the rose ceremony with three different men than she went into the week with. Dotun and Joey still think they’re competing with Xavier and it isn’t clear if Aaron knows who’s left. To make matters worse, she’s told two of these men she loves them and although she got extra time with Aaron, she didn’t get overnight time.
The first rose goes to Joey, which truly shocked me. Then, she says Aaron’s name but asks him to go chat. She’s dumping him, again. LMAO. How awkward. Is this what Aaron needed for a Bachelor edit? Is that the reason for this? Y’all we truly didn’t need any of these segments with him. I would’ve preferred to see Aaron at the Men Tell All being petty and rude toward Brayden.
We get back on track and Dotun gets the final rose.
After the segment, Aaron gets a hot seat with Jesse. We get an emphasis on the 12-hour flight Aaron took for like the fifth time in this episode before we ultimately find out that Aaron is headed to Paradise. I’m sure he’ll give Aaron Clancy vibes but with at least five more brain cells.
Joey Meets the Family
Charity’s family is here to meet the final two men on this journey. While Nehemiah is noticeably missing, we go have her mom Vickie, her dad David, and her sister Mia.
She shares with her family that she’s in love with both of her men and her mom’s antennas immediately go up. She says Charity may like saying that she’s in love with two people, but at the end of the day she had to make one choice. No matter what, a Black mama is always going to bring you back to reality and Ms. Vickie said ‘We ain’t having no throuples over here!” 😂
The meets Joey first and he’s feeling very confident. He tells her family the process has been smooth and easy because Charity has been such a calming presence.
First, Joey speaks to her sister. She asks what he and Charity have in common and he says that they have a deep care for family and to build their own. But is that true? Joey abandon his family and everyone he knew back in Philly to play tennis at the Four Seasons. A great decision in my opinion, you really do only live once, but it certainly isn’t a decision that screams ready to settle down and have a family.
He also takes this time to acknowledge that if chosen, he and Charity would be in an interracial relationship and he wants to make sure he supports her and is there for her always despite their differences, some of which he’ll never fully understand. I didn’t quite understand if the question he asked was more rhetorical or if some context was edited out, regardless I like that this season we’ve gotten several acknowledgments of the different challenges and experiences interracial couples go through, especially when one member of the couple has never dated interracially and when they’re doing so for the first time on national TV.
Joey connects with Charity’s mom as well and even talks sports with David, Charity’s father. The pair leaves their date feeling confident about what’s next and of course they don’t leave without exchanging I love yous.
We get this quick segment where we meet one of the women who will be on the next season of The Bachelor. I can’t remember the woman’s name, but she was gorgeous, young, and currently living in LA, but from Hawaii. She says dating in both places have been terrible, so she hopes Bachelor does the trick (lol, baby girl, BFFR). The fact that she highlighted being from Hawaii made me think Joey was the Bachelor at this point.
Charity’s Family Meets Their Future Son-in-Law
Let it be known I wrote this title before I knew the ending.
Dotun’s first moments with Charity’s family really focus on the leap of faith he took to be on the show and what he sacrificed to be sitting in front of them.
Dotun speaks with Vickie first. They chat about the connection he has with Charity and how she’s made him feel throughout the process. They’re really making Dotun seem like he’s talking too much and it’s not coming off well.
Vickie says his swagger is familiar and she wonders if it’s easier for Charity to fall for him because it’s what she’s used to a comfortable. When she shares this with Charity, it scares her. It feels like her mom has doubts about Dotun and it’s making her wonder if she should have doubts too.
Charity’s sister says that she and Dotun have chemistry and that they laugh hard together while with Joey she seems really comfortable and they share a lot of PDA moments. This tracks. Charity and Joey’s love has always come off as falling in love on a TV show and like puppy love, that tends to come with a lot of PDA, at least in my experience.
Besides these ominous messages from her family, we’re getting dramatic music and tense cuts of doubtful facial expressions, and I refuse to fall for it. They gave Nayte from Michelle’s season the same edit and he ended up being the final pick.
At the end of the date, Charity says she doesn’t have the clarity she thought she would given where she’s at in this process. She says goodbye to Dotun and goes back to debrief with her family.
Charity is looking for the opinions of her family and they’re not really interested in that. Charity feels stuck and her family doesn’t want their opinions to sway her one way or another. This moment felt like Xavier asking his family if he was ready for marriage. Charity, no one has to be in this engagement and marriage, but you. Of course, our loved one’s opinions matter to some extent, but no one can make decisions for us and even if they do, we’re the ones who have to live with it.
Charity and her mom step away to chat away from the cameras, but she’s still mic’d, so we hear everything. This disagreement felt familiar. As if Charity and her mom often fight about decision-making. Charity wants direction and values her mother's opinion, while her mother wants her to stand in her truth, listen to her intuition and make the choice by herself.
The Final Dates
I’m not gonna even hold y’all, both of these dates were mid.
Joey and Charity chat through meeting the family and agree that they all got along great. Before the night ends, Joey shares a gift with Charity. It’s the framed poem that was written for them in New Orleans. A very sweet gesture, but damn it he’s not Dotun!
They end their date exchanging I love yous and Charity says she’s gotten all that she needs and there’s no doubt left in her mind 😬. Given the decision we saw her make in the end, I can’t help, but wonder if she knew at this moment that it wasn’t Joey and said some things that alluded to that, so that Joey wasn’t completely blindsided and we just got the end of that conversation. Because it’s wild to go from “I have no doubts about us,” to “I’m sorry, but you’re not my person,” in like 48 hours.
We take a break for a Paradise promo and it looks like another mess of a season. A lot of appearances from leads, some constipation issues, and of course lots of tears. It premieres Thursday, September 28 alongside The Golden Bachelor. That’s a lot of Bachelor content on at once and I haven’t decided exactly how I’m going to recap it. If you have ideas, throw them in the comments!
Charity and Dotun recap their time meeting the family and Dotun admits he still needs to work on her mom but is committed to winning her over.
Dotun also has a surprise for Charity. They’re doing a mini treasure hunt, which was really just a series of items that recap the special moments they’ve had throughout the last few weeks. As if that wasn’t enough, he gives her a locket with both their baby photos in it. Excuse me??? 🥹🥹🥹
This is the first time Dotun seemed shaken in this process. He hasn’t been bothered by the other relationships Charity was forming, but Charity mentioning Joey on their final date certainly doesn’t help.
The Proposal
Aaron B. isn’t the only one who flew 12 hours to Fiji, Neil Lane did too! What would we do without his extra tan, leathery skin, and shiny diamonds on our screens?
Despite the back and forth all week, Charity says she’s ready to make her decision, but she gets out of the car, sees Jesse, and breaks down at the decision she’s about to make. I often say this in my season finale recaps, but I really wish they’d let leads dump the loser the day before. Seeing Rachel Lindsay and Peter Kraus's tearful goodbye/last night together days before she married Bryan was great TV. We can still get the tearful drama and goodbye without it having to happen the same day the final couple gets engaged.
Joey is the first out of the limo and suddenly true love on TV seems possible again because I swear what we’ve seen between Dotun and Charity has been magic.
Was it just me or was it more awkward than usual to watch Joey’s speech to Charity knowing he wasn’t her final choice? My goodness, it was awful and cruel. As if that weren’t enough, Charity struggles to get her final words to Joey out. In the end, her tears speak so much louder than anything said. Baby girl cried her lashes and foundation off.
So of course we get this extended heartbreak/Joey goodbye to set him up for the Bachelor. Back in the studio, Joey joins Jesse on stage and he looks like he aged five years (in a good way). He’s got scruff, his hair is shorter and his face looks more chiseled. He’s doing a great job at deflecting Jesse’s questions about heartbreak, he’s definitely giving us “I’m healed, and ready to be The Bachelor.”
Charity joins Joey on stage and they acknowledge how awkward it is for them to be speaking for the first time after such a tough breakup. After acknowledging the awkwardness, they make sure to name that they “have love,” for one another still, but are not in love with one another anymore. I’m not going to pretend to understand or believe that, but good for them.
A Fairytale Ending
On his way to meet Charity, we get a voiceover from Dotun saying as a small child, all he wanted was loved, but struggled to believe he deserved it.
I have no words for what we witnessed next, just tears. If you’re someone who only reads recaps and doesn’t really watch, please just watch this.
Charity and Dotun are in the studio together for the first time and they are beaming. Jesse asks the usual After The Final Rose questions (how good does it feel to be public, how are the families getting along, etc.). What really matters out of all these pleasantries is that Charity and Dotun are gifted a pre-honeymoon trip to Greece! Love that for them.
If that wasn’t enough, Charity is also offered a spot on Dancing with the Stars, keeping her in LA a bit longer after this season. I believe Dotun is in the LA area, or at least California, so they’ll be a lot closer to one another.
I’ve loved watching Charity and Dotun’s love story over the last few weeks. Dotun’s been calm and even presence on this show and I love that production gave us so much of them together throughout the season. It made the ending of this season all the better. Now, I hope they do their mini press tour and then get out of the spotlight (beyond DWTS and other contractual obligations) and just enjoy one another. I feel like every final couple’s downfall is feeling like they have to be on, create content together and seem super happy to appease Bachelor Nation. Fuck that. I hope they go live their lives with little to no influence from any of us. I’ll be rooting for them from afar.
The Next Bachelor
I don’t know why I was so convinced John was going to be the next Bachelor, but I was. Instead, it’s Joey!
Joey’s updated look is doing it for me. With so much shake-up and trying new things in the franchise, I can’t say I’m shocked that they went with the easy Bachelor choice for the next season. I think Joey will be great and I’m hoping we can see more of his personality during his season. This was the first season without Mike Fleiss at the helm and even the little changes that were made to share Charity’s personality were great.
To bring the night full circle we are re-introduced to Leah, a woman in the crowd who will be on Joey’s season of The Bachelor. She’s from Hawaii, and he lives in Hawaii, and I guess that connects them. I like that we got to meet someone from his season during this episode, but this segment was awkward and forced. Joey may be on an island with a bunch of POC, but he does not give off the vibe of someone willing to intentionally date outside his race. Maybe his season will prove me wrong.
Before Leah is sent on her way, Jesse hands her a card that she can’t open until she’s inside the mansion. It is not a date card, but whatever is on her card will allegedly change her journey on night one. Ok, twist! I see the creative juice flowing on production.
And that’s it! Joey will begin filming in a few weeks and I’ll be patiently awaiting the premiere of The Golden Bachelor! Talk to you all in a few weeks!
Thank you for all the recaps, especially this one so soon after the Beyoncé concert.
I’m also rooting for Charity and Dotun - it really does seem like real love.