Spoilers ahead for the most recent episode of The Bachelorette, the Men Tell All special. Look away until you've caught up!
Well, a LOT happened on tonight's episode of The Bachelorette, including Luke P. trying to explain his actions during the season. But, for those of you wondering how the teased rose ceremony after the fantasy suites went, things were so crazy that they had to start off with that. So, let's dig into it!
Last week, we saw that even though Hannah kicked Luke to the curb (finally) after their revealing sex before marriage chat, he was going to continue to disrespect her feelings and show up at her damn rose ceremony. While Hannah is preparing to head out to see Pete, Tyler and Jed, saying that she believes she knows what she's going to do, Luke is in a car all dressed up and with a fucking ring in his pocket to crash the ceremony.
And, what does Luke tell us while he's on his way to show up somewhere totally uninvited? As could be expected, he says lots of things that show (once again) that he doesn't really listen to Hannah or respect her. The biggest sign he gives us of this? Well, it's when he says "I know Hannah hasn't said she loves me yet, but I know she does." OK, bro. Right.
Luke is super smart about how he crashes the rose ceremony, too, though I will admit that his impeccable timing is likely due to a producer's assistance. Remember that Hannah's not in front of the guys, so he just walks into the site like he still belongs there and waits for Hannah to come out. None of the other guys knew that he'd been dumped at this point, so there was no reason for them to be alarmed...yet.
When Hannah showed up, she tried to remain calm but was clearly pissed and shocked that Luke was there, and he immediately went over to talk to her saying he wanted closure. Anyone who saw their breakup last week can probably guess what happened. They argued, with Hannah getting more and more agitated and Luke continuing to say things he really shouldn't have said.
Keep in mind that all of this was going on as Tyler, Jed and Peter stood by watching and wondering what the hell was happening. When Luke told Hannah that he was going to stand there all day if he had to in order for her to talk to him, Hannah literally picked up the rose stand and moved way in front of Luke to try to drive the point home that she didn't want anything to do with him.
When Hannah tells him to go because he shouldn't even be there, the others realize that she has already dumped him and step in to try to get Luke to leave. Things are looking pretty tense, so Chris Harrison steps in just in case a fight starts. So, what will get Luke to leave? He needs Hannah to look at him (again) and tell him that her feelings for him have changed and she wants him to go (yeah...AGAIN). Hannah does and he actually says "that's all I needed" and walks away. Ugh.
Now let's get to that Men Tell All. We had heard rumors that things would not go well for Luke on the special episode, and those rumors were right. Chris Harrison jumped right into things and started with Luke in the hot seat, but it was clear that no one was on his side, because when he was introduced, the audience barely applauded for him. The first question? Why did Luke go back after Hannah dumped him?
Luke tells Chris and the audience that he wanted clarity (the catch word of the season) or closure because he felt like Hannah "didn't let me speak my heart" when she dumped him, adding that he "didn't expect her reaction and felt blindsided" by her feeling judged at what he said about her having sex with others in the fantasy suites. When Chris wants to know why he didn't just walk away, Luke says:
I made a mistake. I made Hannah out to be this perfect woman with all the qualities of my perfect wife...It wasn’t the fact that she had sex that made me want to leave her, I felt she was making a mistake. These feelings are real and they're real for her.
I don't know about you, but this sounds a lot like Luke expected Hannah to be perfect, and when he realized that she might do or believe something that he didn't agree with, he couldn't take it. But, also, still wanted to get his way and brow-beat her into being with him, because why else show up with a ring to try to propose to someone who told you off as soundly as Hannah did? Oh, wait, here's why:
Coming here on day one I felt like I was on a rescue mission for Hannah.
Oh...NO. He tried to explain this away when the audience gasps at his arrogance and Chris asks him if he thought Hannah needed saving by saying, "Ok, let me back up (people laugh nervously). I mean from them, the guys." Man, dude cannot stop from putting his foot in his mouth by just saying exactly what he's really thinking.
Luke spent most of his time in the hot seat taking a lot of awkwardly long pauses to try and carefully formulate his answers, but it almost never worked in his favor. Like when Devon said Luke seems to want a woman he can control so he feels better about himself and Chris asked if that was true. His. Pause. Was. So. Looooong. Much of the audience was rolling their eyes, because if your immediate answer isn't "No," then you've already lost them.
There was a lot of taking Luke to task, and when he apologized to the guys, Mike stepped in and said he wouldn't accept it because while they were backstage they heard him tell Chris that he wouldn't change a thing about what he did while on the show. And, that is a fair point to make.
When Hannah came out, she made a point of explaining why she kept Luke around so long.
Going into this, it's hard to know who's really going to be there for you. Luke said that first night that he was here for me and I thought, 'Ok at least one guy is here for me,' and I held on to that hope a lot longer than I should have. I deserve more.
She also told everyone that she "wanted a man of God, but that faith was almost weaponized against me," and said she didn't feel that having sex in a windmill was some "scarlet letter" that should lead anyone to write her off.
Right as they came back from commercial break, Luke got up and left without saying another word. If you're tempted to feel bad for him, think about what Mike said to Luke when he tells the audience that he felt like he had a target on his back from the beginning: "We didn't put that target on your back, you put that target on yourself." True that, Mike. True that.
We still don't know who Hannah eliminated in Greece, so we'll have to catch up next week to see who her final two suitors are, and who wins her heart. For a time, at least. The Bachelorette continues Monday on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.
