The season finale of "The Bachelor" is here, and we're finally going to learn why Joey Graziadei was crying at the start of the premiere.
The cast of 32 has been whittled down to Daisy Kent, a 25-year-old who grew up on a Christmas tree farm like Taylor Swift, and Kelsey Anderson, a 25-year-old from Louisiana.
Host Jesse Palmer calls Joey's "the most surprising, dramatic, and heart wrenching ending, ever." Will this one actually live up to the hype? Read on.
Meet the parents
We open in Tulum, and Joey seems torn. He can see a future with Kelsey, who is "so stinkin' cute," but Daisy has "this light in her."
Will his family help him pick? He thinks so. "I know I couldn't do this without them," Joey says. Ellie and Carly, Joey's sisters; Nick, Joey's father; Cathy, Joey's mom and his brother-in-law Zack.
His family has fears, too: Carly worries he'll propose and it'll be "for nothing."
Daisy's out first, following a technical audio flub that had Daisy speaking. Daisy opens with her hearing loss and cochlear implant.
"Being able to explain that to him and how he reacted, how kind he was and caring, it changed everything for me," she says, then credits Joey's family with his disposition. "I just wanted to say thank you," she says, making his mother cry.
She then promises his sisters that she would "pick him."
Onto Kelsey! Joey is confident that his family will be able to see how Kelsey brings out a "different side" to him. Kelsey says she knows "how amazing" Daisy is and is concerned that they'll be compared to each other. Opening up to his family, she speaks about losing her mom.
But when speaking to his sisters, Kelsey couldn't commit to a proposal. She said, "I think so." This leaves Carly concerned. Kelsey was "amazing but she wasn't able to give the same response that Daisy was," she says. But speaking to Joey's dad, Kelsey cries at the idea of losing Joey.
Their last dates
Daisy is having a rough time. She wants to tell him that she loves him but instead is in a hut doing what Joey calls a "spiritual experience." She tells producer it "hurts" because even though she's sure of him, "he's not sure of me."
She's finally able to tell Joey he loves her. "That's so good to hear," he says, with a side smile. She feels she didn't get any "validation," but that would've been nice.
Daisy seems to pick up on the distance. "Something's a little off. He's not talking about that potential future with us. I feel like he's being measured and careful," she says.
He thanks her for "being her." He then says he has to go. Daisy thinks there's something "missing" from him. "If I'm being 100% honest, I don't think it's me."
The in-person audience seems to have thoughts about this interaction, based on former Bachelorette Rachel Recchia's expressions.
Daisy, resigned, fades into the B Plot of the episode and Kelsey takes center stage.
“It’s supposed to be you and I,” Kelsey says. "The thought of it not happening is terrifying.” Joey says he feels "very lucky" to have met her.
Kelsey makes her plea. "I want you to know how much I love you and how clearly I can see you and I at the end of this and after this and in 10 years from now," she says. He leans in for a kiss rather than responds.
The question is: Does she feel any more reassured than Daisy? Yes. She leaves feeling “reassured,” she says.
The proposals are different than usual. Here's why
Joey says thinking about the proposals is "scary." The day of, the girls are shown preparing for the proposal. Daisy, by then, is spiraling.
Rather than go to the proposal, she marches to someone's door. “As hard as it is right now, I know it’ll be the best thing for me,” she says of her decisions.
It's not Joey's door, but Kelsey's. Daisy asks Kelsey to recap her week. Kelsey says she felt "validation," which seems to validate Daisy.
"I'm going to be completely open and honest with you," she says. "Our date felt a little bit off. There was something missing between me and Joey. There was no form of validation and confirmation. It was hard and it did hurt."
Daisy recognizes they're both in love with him. But it seems like Daisy's hurt is stronger than her love. "It shouldn't feel this way," she says.
Cut to the two women in the car holding hands. In a breach of protocol, they are together in the SUV. Joey has the radiant cut ring in his hand, getting ready for the proposal.
Daisy's out of the limo first with a surprise: She calls him out. She knows that he's not going to choose her. When she says that outright, he starts to cry.
"As much as that hurts, I know you said you want the best for me, so I'm going to do what's best for me, and I'm going to go," she says.
Joey says "his heart is leading him" toward something that's "more special than someone else." He calls this the "hardest thing" he's had to do.
"You don't understand how special you truly are," Joey says.
When he offers to walk her out, she says she can do it on her own. In one of the show's sweetest moments, she hugs Kelsey outside the limo and invokes her mom.
"I know your mom's going to be looking down at this moment and be so happy," she says. Kelsey cries.
So, who does Joey pick?
Daisy's chess move leaves one woman: Kelsey, appropriately wearing wedding white. Finally, Joey is able to tell her that he loves her.
The two look at each other with love in their eyes as Joey tells Kelsey he didn't know how beautiful life could be until he met her.
She tearfully accepts his proposal and says, "I'm so happy!" In the audience, Kelsey's dad tears up.
She is "literally a fiancée." And with that, another season comes to a close.