This is it, folks, the end of Bachelor in Paradise Season 9, and with the way this season’s been going, I’m personally heading into this finale like, “OK, maybe we can sulk for 5 minutes, and then we start forcing ourselves to have fun.”
With the slew of eliminations from the last episode, the remaining couples are Kat & John Henry, Sam & Peter, Mercedes & Jordan, Aaron & Eliza, Tanner & Jess, Olivia & Michael, and Aven & Kylie. In an effort to up the romance at the 11th hour, production is sending out a date card for Kat and John Henry.
Bachelor In Paradise Season 9 Finale Explained
So, on their date, Kat and John Henry go from one beach to another, and after hitting the water, they proceed to sit down for a serious chat where John Henry says, “I love just how caring you are.” Then, in true Bachelor fashion, they both unload a ton of information about their past traumas.
Now, Next up for the romance booster date is Aaron and Eliza, and at this point, Aaron is, hands down, Slam dunk, ready to drop to one knee and propose, which is great for Eliza. But Kylie over here is looking at that and then looking back at Aven like, “Come on, do something.”
So as Eliza and Aaron have their fire ceremony sweat lodge date, Eliza, after everything that happened in Paradise last year, is apprehensive about saying I love you to Aaron until, of course, Aaron says, “Liza, I’m falling in love with you more every day.” You know what that means: engagement is on folks, engagement is on.
Well, as love blossoms there, things are crumbling back on the beach. Jess decides that even though Tanner is interested in her, there’s just no point in sticking around for a fantasy suit, so she’s headed home.
Kylie Wants An Engagement, But Aven Doesn’t
But the real mind Boggler is Aven and Kylie because Kylie is adamant that she wants an engagement. However, the moment she brings that up, Aven’s like, “Why is it an engagement? Specifically, it is the only way to where you’re going to believe that I see a future with you.”
The ensuing argument here is so extra. Yeah, Aven gets defensive immediately, but also, Kylie, please just chill. It’s been, what, 3 weeks at most? And Aven is dumbfounded because he says, “Why can’t I say I want to leave here with you and have a relationship out of Paradise be enough?” But then Kylie is like, “It’s not enough for me.”
Well, Aven then goes to bed, and Kylie starts crying, wondering what more she could do to get engaged to this man after knowing him for less than a month.
Kenny And Marie Get Married
So, yet another relationship is in freefall. However, production has an ace up their sleeve by sending in Kenny and Marie from the Uber successful Paradise Season 7. And they’re here because they’re getting married today.
But no, I don’t believe them. Kenny and Marie got for real married in Puerto Rico last month. This wedding is going to be, well, something else. Like, look at this wedding, none of their family show up, but hey, the Paradise cooking staff is attending, the Paradise poop doctor is there. Come on, this is so unserious.
But the big deal is that Kenny has actually asked Blake to be his best man. OK, but what is going on with Kylie and Blake? Kylie couldn’t get her eyes off of Blake.
So yeah, Kenny and Marie get fake married, and I’m like, sure, get that honeymoon money, cause word is their wedding in Puerto Rico was their actual, legally documented, all the paperwork done, signed an official wedding. And whatever this is, it is more of a way to lure the remaining couples into a sappy enough state to really consider getting engaged in a couple of days.
Kylie Drama Continues
Now, after this, they go on to one of the most interesting wedding receptions ever, and again, this is so unserious. Unlike 95% unbothered, there’s still that 5% of me that’s angry at the attempt to pass this off as real.
Anyways, Kylie pulls Blake aside, and Blake tells Kylie to see things through with Aven, or else she’ll walk away with regrets. Now, even buy a little bit of time by saying, “I am falling in love with you at this point.” This earns him a nice little pat on the shoulder, but he’s not saying the magic engagement word.
People Leave The Paradise Like Flies
Now, next up is what’s usually the Paradise blood bath, the final day where Jesse Palmer comes out and says, “It’s time to decide if you’re ready to commit to each other and get a fantasy suite or leave paradise now.” A moment that Jordan and Mercedes don’t even bother showing up to because this isn’t even a thing.
So they hit the road, but apart from Eliza and Aaron and, incredibly, John Henry and Kat, do any of these other couples really want to head towards a possible engagement? I mean, there’s no hope for Aven and Kylie, who, by the way, is still trying to get this man to propose.
To which Aven says, “If I don’t propose, are we done?” Like he says, he wants to live in a committed relationship, but is it really a ring or nothing for Kylie? Anyway, this game of engagement chicken gets really tiring really fast. Eventually, Kylie caves and the girl does not look happy. I mean, I’ve seen Bros leaving together, single, looking happier than these two.
Then there’s Peter and Sam, who, every time they show up on my screen, I am surprised because I’m constantly forgetting that they’re here.
Anyways, Peter’s down for a relationship, and Sam is like, “lol, did we actually think something real was happening here?” So, these two go their separate ways, along with Michael and Olivia. And yeah, it’s kind of sad, like, I really felt bad for Olivia as she started saying, “I’m good.” I think most of us have been in the exact same position.
Bachelor In Paradise Season 9 Ending Explained: The Engagements
But unbelievably, here are our final two couples. Both get a fantasy suite, and both decide to spend the night together. As engagement day arrives, the big question mark here is actually Eliza because she is still apprehensive about actually getting engaged.
Also, a big thing for her is her family, whom Aaron hasn’t met, so she really isn’t sure if she’ll say Yes if Aaron proposes. However, when Eliza arrives, Aaron says that he had a conversation with her mom for 15 minutes. And that seemed like a huge deal for Eliza and the thing that might have tipped the scales for this. So Yes, Aaron proposes to Eliza, and she says Yes. So that’s one engagement so far.
As Kat shows up for her final rose, I don’t know if something’s coming over me. Am I so deprived of love on this show that I’m actually hoping for some kind of happy ending to cling to here? And as John Henry gets down on one knee, pulls out the Neil Lane ring, and goes, “Will you marry me?”. I had to stop myself because am I actually hopeful for these two?
Maybe it’s John Henry like the dude seems so, and I really don’t mean this in the negative way people will think, but he seems like such a simple dude. Anyways, the happy couples walk off into the sunset.
The Paradise Update Montage
There’s no Paradise reunion this season. But they do give us a couple of update montages, which is actually the best part of this whole episode. We see that Kylie and Aven are still a couple going strong. Olivia is still looking for a man to forever suck her toes, though she did object to this caption on her socials afterward.
Blake is under contract to become a Golden Bachelor in 30 to 40 years, Jess is glittering solo, Rachel didn’t want anything to do with this montage, and I don’t blame her.
Then, shocker one is that Aaron and Brayden are such friends now that they went on some sort of boat trip together, where the boat sank, and they almost died and had to be rescued. But Shocker, two is Brayden is in a relationship with Christina Mandrell from Zach season. Tell me why this couldn’t have happened in Paradise.
Who would have thought it? Kat and John Henry are the most successful, still going strong, still engaged couple to come out of the season, which frankly feels like what this season deserved.
They also give us updates on other Paradise couples’ marriages and babies, and they leave out Thomas and Becca, a former Bachelorette, by the way, who literally got married and had a baby this year.
