The finale of season 21 of “The Bachelorette,” a dating show where a group of men compete for the love of one woman, recently aired on Tuesday, September 3. In yet another season marked by tumultuous relationships and colorful characters, Bachelorette Jenn Tran got engaged to contestant Devin Strader. However, the final episode took an unexpected turn when, instead of showing the engagement, the episode cut to host Jesse Palmer.
“You [the audience] won’t be seeing the proposal,” Palmer said, “Because of what transpired since that day in Hawaii, we’ve [producers] decided it wouldn’t be appropriate for anyone to see it until we hear from Jenn.”
Tran then sat down in front of a live audience to announce that Strader had called off the engagement after just a few months. Tran tearfully described what happened after the engagement, recounting how Strader began acting distant immediately after filming and eventually broke up with her over the phone.
Producers brought Strader out to speak with Tran regarding their relationship as the pair had not spoken since the breakup. In the conversation, Tran heavily criticized Strader’s actions, showing strength and resilience as she was made to rehash her difficult relationship. Tran was backed up by applause from a supportive live audience, some being contestants previously eliminated in her season.
In one of the more controversial moments from the season, Tran and Strader were asked to watch the footage of their engagement together; it was a heartwarming scene in which Tran proposed to Strader, marking the first time a Bachelorette has proposed to a contestant.
Making Tran watch the proposal back for the first time, sitting next to ex-fiancee Strader, showed a stark lack of sensitivity from the production team. Tran’s emotions were heavily disregarded by the production team in this episode and throughout the season. While it is well known that reality TV embellishes and sometimes manufactures drama, the tears and emotions coming from Tran were very real.
Tran was first introduced to Bachelor Nation on season 28 of The Bachelor. She made it to week 7, getting eliminated just before hometowns. Many assumed the next Bachelorette would be runner-up Daisy Kent or fan favorite Maria Georgas, who was eliminated after hometowns, so it came as a surprise to viewers when Tran was announced as the Bachelorette, the first Asian-American to be chosen for the role.
This, however, was no easy feat. Immediately, Tran’s Instagram comments were flooded with criticisms of ABC’s choice. Many of these comments were racially motivated, and Tran had to come forward several times throughout the season to condemn this harassment. Neither ABC nor The Bachelorette producers made any efforts to regulate or criticize this behavior.
Another rocky aspect of this season was the overall lack of quality among the contestants.
Strader, the eventual winner, got off to a bad start with some of the other men. On the first group date, which consisted of Tran and eight men, Strader pulled Tran from the group and insisted on taking her to get ice cream. Many of the other men on the date took offense to this, as it was the first time they were getting to spend time with Tran. During the main part of the date, a stand-up comedy show, all of the men called Strader out.
Later that night, during the date party, Aaron Erb pulled Strader aside to further criticize his behavior. During Erb’s time to speak with Tran, Strader interrupted them by bringing ice cream as a reference to their time earlier in the day. This led to conflict between Erb and Strader, as they continued interrupting each other, taking time and focus away from Tran with the drama. The conflict escalated further when Erb gave Strader a fake self-help book, encouraging him to evaluate himself and his actions. When Erb left the show in episode 3, he warned Tran that some men were not ready for an engagement and were not on the show for the correct reasons.
Erb was not the only one with whom Strader had conflicts, as he also had disputes with Thomas Nguyen and Sam McKinney that spurred from the same group date incident.
McKinney, one of the early frontrunners, was awarded the First Impression Rose, a rose given by Tran to the contestant who made the biggest impact on the first night. He seemed to stand out as one of Tran’s early favorites being the only one she kissed on night one. It was very obvious throughout the season that McKinney and Tran had a strong physical connection. However, McKinney’s behavior soon changed, starting a conflict with Strader and some other contestants.
In week six, McKinney was part of a group date in which Tran and other men were on a live radio broadcast. When McKinney was asked how he would describe their fantasy suite, which is the one overnight date in the show, he said “Aggressive.”
When McKinney was asked why he was interested in Tran, he could not formulate an answer. After many questions, McKinney said that he has a ferocious, selfless love for Tran, but could not justify his feelings or give her any reasons for why he loves her. Tran sent McKinney home after this, realizing there was no emotional connection.
Another favorite, Marcus Shoberg, sparked controversy mid-way through the season as allegations emerged on Reddit surrounding Shoberg’s mistreatment of women in his past relationships. Multiple women have come forward via Reddit to recount past incidents involving Shoberg, including stories of sexual assault. While the Reddit thread is extensive and includes multiple first-hand accounts from different people, these allegations have not been proven. Neither Shoberg, Tran, nor any member of production has commented on the accusations presented.
Nevertheless, it is unsettling that a man with such serious allegations was allowed onto the show and made it to the final two. This brings up a larger complaint with the Bachelor franchise as a whole: they fail to take these issues seriously and joke about them or sweep them under the rug. The issues surrounding both McKinney and Shoberg are examples of this.
The season took another turn when Tran’s ex, Matthew Rossi, showed up mid-way through filming. Rossi allegedly contacted producers and flew to New Zealand, where the show was being filmed at the time, at his own expense. Rossi and Tran had been broken up for three years but had maintained contact. He then confessed that he was still in love with her. Tran was in disbelief about this, questioning why he did not tell her before she came on the show.
Tran, at first, allowed Rossi to stay, but later that night sent him home, in pursuit of her relationships on the show.
Despite all this drama, Tran stayed focused on finding love. Tran’s season was marked by a significant amount of drama between contestants and multiple men who did not treat Tran as a main priority. She had to go through multiple dramatic and tumultuous relationships, and in the end, both the franchise and the contestants showed little respect for her as a person. However, it is admirable that she was able to stay strong and true to herself, becoming a role model as a powerful Asian American woman who knows her worth.
