I was not a Bryan fan for most of the season, but I was convinced that she was going to pick him after their date in Oslo. However, I like what I've seen on SM and in interviews - Bryan looking so genuine, and Rachel looking so happy, It made me go back and re-watch some of the season.
Here's what I noticed:
1. Once I decided that Bryan wasn't the worst person in the world, I could actually pay attention to Rachel's responses to him. She practically swoons every time he makes a declaration. I thought she was going to fall out when he told her that he was in love with her after their Miami HTD. I completely missed that a few weeks ago.
2. I'm so mad about the finale format. Making Rachel watch the break up was cruel, and then immediately making her speak to Peter on live television was awful. She had no time to collect her thoughts, and now people think she's a horrible person because she had normal reactions to watching someone being so emotionally manipulative on TV. Plus, 40 minutes (not including commercials) on the breakup was WAY too long.
3. After watching the clip of the final rose ceremony, I really feel like Rachel was robbed. Not only was it crazy windy, but had we not spent an hour rehashing Peter we could have seen how sweet the engagement really was. The words she and Bryan exchanged seemed sincere and heart-felt, she also seemed genuinely pleased, and not just with the ring. As a viewer, it was really hard to go back to Rioja after all of the realtime studio drama. I'm pretty sure I was still yelling at the TV during most of the frc. The moment/engagement deserved better.
Rachel deserved better.