Tonight's the night! Errr, sort of. Tonight is part one of the "shocking" conclusion to Desiree Hartsock's quest for love as The Bachelorette.
Previews have shown all three remaining men, and Des herself, in tears and The Bachelorette spoilers promise a shocking ending!
Just which of these eligible bachelors will Desiree choose? Let's narrow them down now in our THG +/- recap!
Des said "fairy tale." Minus 4. Recap of the entire season after we just recapped the entire season last week during the Men Tell All episode. Minus 10.
More of Chris' awful poetry. Minus 2. More of Drew who, let's be clear, doesn't exactly scream straight male in this "for all the right reasons." Minus 5.
And then there's Brooks. Desiree's feelings for him are "set apart" from her feelings for the other guys. Everything about this opening says that she chooses him. Everything.
Except the fact that he's apparently unsure of the fact that he's expected to propose to her at the end of this. So that's not good. (Or it's smart and very good because it means he's serious? Who knows.)
They're in Antigua for the overnight dates and Drew's date is first.
Drew really feels like if they were married and going on vacation, they'd definitely be doing things like going to Antigua and hanging with the locals. And doing the limbo. (But not, perhaps, the horizontal mambo?)
They head down a trail for a picnic overlooking the water and talk about his family and hometown date. Bringing her home to meet his family and his sister was one of the happiest day of his life.
Drew calls Desiree his "soul mate" and hopes tonight will be the night he can tell her.
The show cuts to commercial with the two of them kissing. When it returns, they're still kissing. Plus 12.
Because of the rain, she takes him to the fantasy suite and then gives him an invitation to the fantasy suite. An invitation which he accepts. Plus 4.
Drew tells her he's ready to propose to her that night. Then he tells the camera crew it's time to leave.
It strikes me just how awkward it is that she can invite all of the men to the fantasy suite on consecutive nights. Isn't that a deal breaker for any of them? So, so awkward.
But hey, what happens in the fantasy suite, right?
Brooks needs to go home to visit his family before he can go on an overnight with Desiree. He's not to the point yet where he can tell Desiree he loves her because he doesn't know if he loves her.
He's uncomfortable with the idea of proposing to her at the end of this and can't answer the question "do you love Desiree" without feeling like he's saying something wrong.
His sister says if he's at this point and he can't say it, he knows the answer he's looking for. He gets quiet.
Brooks has a tough week ahead of him.
Chris, however, is ready to go on his date with Desiree. He's "truly, madly, deeply" in love with her. Plus 5.
They take a helicopter ride to see the island and he says he has no doubt that they're sharing the same feelings of love together. He's so...syrupy sweet.
Nice make out session in the waves in their swim suits which is something that just doesn't happen because SAND IN THE BATHING SUIT. Minus 13.
It doesn't rain out their dinner, so they get to eat and have a conversation about the future. Which Desiree awkwardly brings up.
He's found a job he really likes in Seattle. And he'd like to raise a family in Seattle. But he doesn't know if Desiree wants to be in Seattle.
She's willing to make the sacrifice for the person she loves and would definitely be down with moving to Seattle. Plus 8.
They talk about making eye contact over dinner and she gives him the fantasy suite invitation. He thinks the suite is a great opportunity to spend more time with her and...watch the stars. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?
He wrote her another poem. This one tells her that he's ready to spend his life with her forever and ever. As long as they can watch the stars. Minus 7
Gratuitous shot of Desiree in a bikini getting dressed. Minus 25.
Finally, Brooks has made it to Antigua for his date with Desiree. Her feelings for him are deeper than her feelings for the other guys and she's not just falling in love with him. She's in love.
Before their date, Brooks sits down with Chris Harrison. Brooks' head tells him he's in love with her, but his heart doesn't.
He doesn't want to jump into this because it's a big deal.
Chris asks "are you not sure, or are you telling me I'm not in love with this girl" and Brooks goes "hmm. I don't know."
Brooks has thought about everything and he doesn't think he's going to feel it if he doesn't feel it yet. Desiree isn't the love of his life.
But he has this crazy love for her. But she's not the one.
He's ready to commit, but not to Des.
Chris tells him to man up. If he's going to break Desiree's heart it's better that he does it sooner rather than later. After all, she'll have to pick her second choice dude to fill Brooks' shoes.
It's time for him to go and meet Desiree and he's got to stop off and cry under a tree first. Desiree thinks today is going to be stress free, no worries. Ehhhh....
He's crying as he walks up and asks her to go have a talk with him.
He loves that they had such an amazing first date. And that she's a much better person than he is. And she can see the writing on the wall that this is a break-up and not a profession of love.
He really wants to be madly in love with her, but...she starts to cry and he begs her not to cry. WHY DO MEN DO THAT? Minus 100.
She can't even look at him and she asks the question "why now?" He tells her he didn't know. He thought more time would make it happen.
Through tears, she says "I love you." And he wants to know why she didn't say it earlier. She says she did with their silly running, skipping, jumping analogy, but apparently he failed that part of school.
She's never felt completely loved by anyone in her life. He tries to soothe her broken heart with "I do care about you."
He doesn't think doing anything differently would have changed things and keeps talking. She tells him to just stop talking because it's just breaking her heart more to rehash it all. Minus 35.
In his one-on-one, he says he didn't want to leave her and he didn't expect to feel that. He didn't expect to want to stay with her.
After continuing to say how sorry he is, he asks if they can just walk for a little bit. She says she wanted him to meet her family and he asks her what she's going to do now. He doesn't know where she was with the other guys.
Best exchange of the night:
Brooks: I'm sorry. I'll shut up. I'm not helping.
Desiree: No. Not at all.
Whatever mascara Desiree's wearing? It really lives up to its waterproof claims.
Brooks stops to cry by some more trees while Desiree's salty tears find new homes in the ocean.
Brooks misses all of the moments he and Desiree shared already. He was banking on the fact that she was more in love with one of the other guys and his breaking her heart wouldn't be quite so devastating.
He was wrong.
EPISODE TOTAL: -172 SEASON TOTAL: +238