Spoilers ahead for the March 10 finale of Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor.
The end has come for Peter Weber's search for love on The Bachelor, but it didn't end without some confrontations in the live finale. First, Hannah Ann Sluss unloaded on Peter after he pulled an Arie Luyendyk on her, and then Peter's happy reunion with lady love Madison Prewett was tarnished by his mom, Barb Weber, not exactly hiding her dislike of the match.
Barb had been seen in trailer footage from very early in the season, tearfully begging Peter to "bring her home." It wasn't until the first half of the two-part finale this week that it became clear that Barb was talking about Hannah Ann. Barb showed a clear preference for Hannah Ann over Madison, even though the episode made it look like the family only had a few minutes with each of the women.
Basically, there wasn't that much for fans to really understand why Barb was so firmly Team Hannah Ann over Team Madison. Fortunately, Barb shared her feelings during the live portion of the finale on March 10. Barb initially stated that the previous episode didn’t show everything, and that her love for Hannah Ann came because Hannah Ann "embraced" her with love and "was so organic." Barb already loved Hannah Ann, so what happened with Madison meant she had a clear preference.
So, what happened with Madison? Barb explained:
The next day we met Madison, and it started on a rocky road because she had us wait three hours for her to come in. She didn’t want to meet us. So we were there three hours, we had just come across the world and we were exhausted. We were just getting used to the time there and we had to wait three hours. When she did come in, the whole family, we didn’t get an apology from her. And when I proceeded to ask her if she was madly in love with my son, she said no. And that she would not accept a proposal in four days. So how do you expect a mother who loves her son with all of her heart to take that? My whole family, my son Jack, my husband Peter, and myself, you didn’t see that. And as a mother, that wasn’t what we were expecting and therefore when I said that I wanted Hannah Ann so badly was because I knew that we just clicked right away. We did not have unfortunately that connection with Madison.
When The Bachelor filmed the build-up to the final rose ceremony in Australia, Barb and the rest of the Weber family obviously wasn't watching the season and didn't know Madison's mindset. Waiting three hours and then not apologizing didn't come with any context, and Barb's expression indicated that even the context that has come with the season airing didn't endear Madison to her.
Of course, it probably didn't help that Madison's expression turned dismissive and irritated at Barb, which really painted a picture of a sympathetic mom wanting the best for her son and a rude young woman. Is that really how it was? Viewers can decide for themselves which woman is more sympathetic.
It's hard to blame Barb for not falling head over heels for the woman who wouldn't commit to loving her son when Hannah Ann was right there warmly professing her feelings, in my book, although this escalated pretty quickly. For their part, Peter tried to insist to his family that their love is what matters and Madison tried to say that these issues should be discussed between her and Peter, but Barb wasn't done yet:
We want the best for him and I have to tell you, completely two different people. One was willing to compromise, the other one has not. And to me, you need both to compromise. And only one is compromising. Earlier Peter said, when we were with Hannah Ann, showing the show, he said ‘I gave my heart to two people.’ At that place, only one gave his heart to him. And that was Hannah Ann. So to me of course my love went to Hannah Ann because anyone that loves your child, your son, your daughter, you love them dearly.... He’s gonna have to fail to succeed. That’s it. Chris, all his friends, all his family, everyone that knows him knows that it’s not gonna work. So we’ve been trying to help him. Would we want it to work? Yes.
Tell us how you really feel, Barb! Honestly, Barb's speeches to Peter and Chris Harrison about Peter explained why Barb was seemingly siding with Hannah Ann when Hannah Ann went off on her son. Barb is apparently Team Hannah Ann to the bitter end! Somewhat hilariously, Barb seemed far warmer with new Bachelorette Clare Crawley than with her son or Madison.
Barb's husband, Pete Sr., was a little more diplomatic than his wife, but he made it clear that he sees the fundamental differences between Peter and Madison, and feels that the beginning of a relationship should be the fun, struggle-free part, which it was not for Peter and Madison. Peter himself acknowledged that they're facing a "million and one obstacles" and the battle will likely be uphill.
So, will Madison and Peter become a Bachelor Nation success story? Based on their reactions to Peter's parents, part of me thinks they'll stay together just to prove they can. Only time will tell, though.
For now, Bachelor Nation fans can look forward to the series premiere of The Bachelor: Listen To Your Heart as the first music-based spinoff in the franchise. The Bachelorette will follow, with Bachelor Nation veteran Clare Crawley distributing the roses. The Bachelor: Listen To Your Heart premieres Monday, April 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Unlike Clare Crawley's season of The Bachelorette, Listen To Your Heart presumably hasn't been affected by coronavirus.
If you're in the market for some shows now that The Bachelor has wrapped for the season, be sure to check out our 2020 midseason TV premiere schedule.
