‘The Bachelor’ Season 21 Finale Recap: Nick Viall Picks Vanessa Grimaldi

After eleven weeks of wondering if bachelor Nick Viall would finally find the love that has eluded him three times before in The Bachelor franchise, Bachelor Nation can finally rest easy.

THE BACHELOR FINALE, NICK FINALLY FINDS LOVE

The finale of this season of The Bachelor begins after Nick has said good-bye to Rachel Lindsay, the next bachelorette. With only Raven Gates and Vanessa Grimaldi remaining, Nick must choose between the two women that have clearly made him happier than any of the other contestants – despite his fear of messing it all up, he seems to have made the right choice for a final two.

Raven meets Nick and his family, whom have flown to Finland to meet the final two contestants. Having met them before earlier in the season, this meeting serves as a re-introduction and a chance to get a little deeper.

Raven has a one-on-one conversation with Bella, Nick’s youngest sister. The two of them get along very well and Raven assures Bella that she will hate the other girl that Nick will soon bring home.

When speaking with Nick’s father – who looks exactly like the bachelor only shrunken and grey – Raven becomes a little more thoughtful. With the light prodding of a therapist, Nick’s father asks Raven if she believes that Nick loves her. She does, although he hasn’t said it, she replies.

Nick’s mother – who also looks exactly like the bachelor only thinner and a woman – speaks to Raven about Nick’s romantic history in “seasons.” If Nick doesn’t find love now, this family may not be able to take it.

Raven leaves Nick’s family and the next day, Vanessa arrives.

It seems that from the jump, Nick’s father is infatuated with Vanessa. He laughs hard at all her jokes and he doesn’t break eye-contact with her. Nick’s mother looks wary of Vanessa – who looks a little too much like Nick’s former lover, Andi Dorfman.

Speaking to his whole family at once, Vanessa lays her heart on the line and talks about her relationship with Nick with extreme candor. The family eats it up and a few tears are shed.

When speaking with Nick’s individual family members, rather than take questions like Raven did, Vanessa asks for advice. For weeks now, she has become awakened to The Bachelor process and is not sure if she wants to get engaged by the end of the season. Nick’s family appreciates that she is taking the relationship so seriously.

Before Nick can make his final decision, he has to go on one more date with each woman.

The dates reveal nothing new. Vanessa voices concern over Raven, telling Nick that she doesn’t want to win because her relationship is only a little bit better than the one he has with Raven. Nick does his best to calm her down but when they make-out, she begins to cry.

Raven and Nick, on their date, have as fun a time as they always do, smiling throughout the entire segment and talking about nothing substantial.

The next day, Nick invites Raven to speak with him first. As a contestant, she doesn’t know she is first. As the audience, we know she’s getting dumped. Through tears, Nick thanks Raven for every thing and reminds her that he knows exactly what she is going through.

Raven, who was convinced that she was going to be the winner, doesn’t seem too shaken. Instead, she thanks him as well. When he walks her to the car Nick says, “I’m going to miss you,” to which Raven replies with a grin, “I know.”

Vanessa shows up at the cabin and Nick tells the story of why he loves her – and he finally says the three letter phrase he has avoided all season. She knows fairly early in the speech that Nick is preparing to ask her to marry him and she seems ready. When he does get down on one knee, Vanessa crumbles into a ball of glee and, with her hands over her nose and mouth, replies ‘yes’ to his highly-anticipated question.

“Let’s go start our life,” Nick says.

“Let’s do it,” Vanessa says before a pause. “Literally.”

Through all the heartbreak of previous seasons and through the descent into madness during this season, Nick has come out on top, in love and in tact. We will never have to watch him on a Bachelor franchise show ever again – although he will be making his debut on Dancing With The Stars this Wednesday on ABC.

On the live after show, host Chris Harrison first invites Raven out onto the stage. Much like her demeanor after being dumped, she isn’t heart-broken and is ready to move on this summer on Bachelor in Paradise.

Nick and Vanessa come out on stage and talk about the troubles they have already experienced. For the sake of the show, they have been unable to appear in public and it has taken a toll on their new relationship. Still, Vanessa has decided to move to the United States and now that the finale has aired, they can really begin to get to know each other.

Finally, Rachel is invited out onto the stage where she gets a very early surprise. For the first time in Bachelor history, Rachel will meet four of her suitors, live on television.

One man brought a ring and two plane tickets to Las Vegas. One man nods awkwardly and doesn’t know if he should hug her, shake her hand, or kiss it. One man comes on stage and announces, “I’m ready to go black and never go back.” He then can’t figure out which side of the stage to leave from. The last man recites a speech he wrote and dances with Rachel on the stage.

If all of next’s seasons contestants are this self-unaware and awkward, we are going to have a lot to look forward to.