Spoilers ahead for the penultimate episode of The Bachelorette Season 17 on ABC.
Only one episode of The Bachelorette is left before Katie Thurston's reality TV search for love comes to an end, but the show delivered a major heartbreak in the penultimate episode that leaves me thinking that it went too far breaking her heart for her to have a believable happy ending by the time to credits roll on the finale next week. Greg Grippo went from Katie's frontrunner to the source of her biggest emotional blow of the whole season, and her reaction has set up a final rose that might not actually feel like it means that much.
Katie Thurston's hometown date with Greg Grippo seemed to be going well, as she was open with his loved ones that he would be getting a rose. Despite everything looking up from Katie's end and Greg kept talking about seeing her as his wife, everything went sideways when he opened his heart up to her, and she wasn't as responsive as he wanted from her. In a confrontation the next day, he made the point that he no longer cared about roses and rankings, and just wanted her to be real with him.
Poor Katie Thurston didn't understand what he thought she did wrong, and was clearly blindsided by his reaction. By the time Greg Grippo decided to walk out, Katie was an emotional wreck, and ultimately shut herself in the bathroom so she could sob off-camera. She finally opened the door to let co-host Kaitlyn Bristowe in for a talk, and that's when she dropped the comments that leave me believing that I won't be able to buy a happily-ever-after between Katie and whoever receives her final rose in the finale. After telling Bristowe that she felt "heartbroken" and "defeated" (between sobs), Katie said:
I feel like I literally shouldn't be here. Michael left, Greg left. And at this point, like, the confidence and the strength I thought I had is like destroyed. Destroyed. There's just no way. … Like every week when this shit is hard, I’m like, ‘It’s gonna get better, it’s gonna get better.’ And I’m at a point where there’s like, when does it get better?
Call me a grouch, but hearing a woman describe herself as "destroyed" and having lost all of her confidence and strength doesn't make me root for her to get engaged by the end of the last remaining episode. Even though Katie Thurston has strong connections with both Blake Moynes and Justin Glaze, she described Greg Grippo as her frontrunner and was heavily sobbing at his departure and sudden anger.
At this point, for Katie Thurston's sake, I'd be happy to see her giving roses to Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams, and the season ends with them eating ice cream and hanging out together in their PJs. Greg Grippo wasn't my favorite, but Katie saw a long future with him, and I can't root for her to choose either Blake Moynes or Justin Glaze when she's in such a vulnerable place.
Katie Thurston ended her chat with Kaitlyn Bristowe by saying that she feels like she wants somebody to book her a flight home, and I just don't want to see her have to choose between Blake Moynes and Justin Glaze unless there's a big time jump between Greg Grippo leaving and the beginning of the finale. Of course, the odds are that The Bachelorette will wrap with Katie picking a final guy, even if she doesn't necessarily end Season 17 engaged to either Blake or Justin.
Find out when the Season 17 finale of The Bachelorette airs on Monday, August 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The end of Season 17 doesn't mean that Bachelor Nation is going anywhere, however, as Season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise will pick up the very next week on Monday, August 16 at 8 p.m. ET. Another season of The Bachelorette, this time centered on Michelle Young and featuring Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams once more, will follow, with the next season of The Bachelor airing at some point in 2022.
