By: Maci Taylor, Guest Writer

The Bachelorette finale just aired a concoction for mayhem: lies, drama, scandals. What more could a viewer want when watching a reality dating show? 

The 21st season of The Bachelorette ended after a lengthy 3-hour finale on Tuesday, Sept. 3rd. The first Asian-American Bachelorette, Jenn Tran, was left man-less and emotionally broken. Similarly, viewers turned off the television feeling baffled, shocked and heartbroken. 

One might ask what happened to cause all these negative emotions? Four words. Devin Strader and ABC. 

Before that devastating finale, going into this season, Tran had lofty expectations to find her “ferocious love” after Bachelor Joey Graziadei bid her farewell before the hometown dates on The Bachelor’s 20th season. 

 As the 21st Bachelorette, Tran was an unexpected surprise choice for Bachelor Nation. The fan base had been betting on widely-loved Bachelor contestant Daisy Kent or Maria Georgas to fill in the role from Joey’s Bachelor season. However, after Tran was announced as the next Bachelorette, the fan base welcomed her with open arms. 

As Tran is the first Asian-American Bachelorette, she worried about the history she was making. “There is a lot of responsibility,” Tran said, “I want to be able to make my heritage proud.” This extra pressure added a complex layer to this season. 

The show began with Tran meeting the 25 men pining after her heart. After a round of introductions, Jenn made the bold proclamation that her future husband was in this group of men. 

In true Bachelorette fashion, this season had men who caught Tran’s eye, extravagant dates and multiple heartbreaking exits. It was not until the finale that viewers saw unprecedented events in Bachelor/Bachelorette history. 

The finale featured a live audience with some of the men who had not made it into Tran’s final two bachelors. The stage was surrounded in candlelight, setting the dramatic scene. Suddenly, before the audience was shown the highly anticipated engagement decision Tran had made, Jesse Palmer took it upon himself to shut off the tape and bring Tran and finalist Devin Strader out to the live audience in real time. 

Then, the drama was revealed. Tran, barely coherent between choked up sobs, confesses that she got engaged to Strader, but recently split up with him. The split was not mutual. It was ended by Strader ending the relationship during a 15-minute phone call. Then, seemingly moved on from Tran, Strader the next day, followed previous Bachelor contestant Maria Georgas on Instagram. 

Tran, through her sobs, scolded Strader for his poor decisions in their relationship while the audience gave supporting claps and whoops.

Palmer asks a still sobbing Tran, if she is ready to see her proposal to Strader while sitting next to him. She bluntly replies, “Do I have a choice?” as the screen faded into the proposal scene. As the viewers from home watched the happy couple share their feelings for each other, there was a live feed of Tran in the corner, crying hysterically as she watched the proposal unfold. 

The producers have been receiving heavy backlash for their controversial decision to force Tran to relive that moment while she was clearly heartbroken and sitting next to her ex-fiancé. 

“They could’ve had an empowering story of the first Asian bachelorette and yet they give her a terrible edit all season, terrible men, and set out to embarrass her on the finale. She deserves so much better than this,” X user, @greysbachelors, stated.

Similarly, sophomore biomedical science major Paris Williamson stated, “I feel like they put her in a horrible position to live through a moment that reminds her of the man she thought she was going to marry while he sat next to her emotionless.”

So, the questions have to be asked, did the producers go too far, or is this level of drama a requirement for reality television? Was Strader the one that got away or did Tran dodge a bullet? It’s Bachelor Nation’s decision.