It's that time of year again, the time when the bachelorette must choose from among her eligible suitors to be her one true love.

Who can forget when DeAnna Pappas was on the other side, vying for the heart of He Who Shall Not Be Named?  Now it's her turn to make the fateful decision.  Will she choose Jason?  Or Jesse?  Or Neither??

Whatever happens, I'll be here throughout the entire two-hour season finale of The Bachelorette with live thoughts.  Keep checking back!

The episode opens with Jason voiceovering his thoughts about his desire for DeAnna and a look back at the past season with the two of them.  Jason is kind of adorable, and his son is pretty dang cute too.

Now it's Jesse's turn for his retrospective.  He's kind of a goofball.

Tonight, DeAnna goes back home to Newnan, Georgia and will be bringing both Jason and Jesse home to meet her family.  (Due to the experience with Brad Womack, the family will not be as open and kind and will be grilling him like a piece of meat.)  Unbeknownst to either of them, they will be arriving at the homestead at the same time.  Awk!  Ward!  DeAnna preps her family before Jason's arrival.  He shows up a basket of goodies and flowers, and meets DeAnna's dad, brother and sister.  Everyone immediately starts grilling Jason.

DeAnna's sister Chrissy takes Jason aside, while DeAnna dishes with her bro.  Jason does his best to convince Chrissy that he's 100 percent in love with and committed to DeAnna.  Then DeAnna's dad Greg takes Jason outside to talk.  Jason asks Greg's permission to propose to her, and both men immediately become douchebags in my eyes.  No one has ever asked him that (maybe because it's freaking 2008!!), and Jason wouldn't have it any other way.  Because, of course, marriage is merely a transaction of property, passing the daughter from the father to the husband.

After the one-on-ones, the family tells DeAnna about their conversations.  They all report that they love Jason.

Now, it's Jesse's turn to arrive.  Jesse is extremely nervous meeting everyone, and Greg Pappas, is initially wary of Jesse and his long hair and vagabondish snowboarding.  How does he expect to support his little girl as a snowboarder.  Jesse's at a huge advantage with respect to the family because he doesn't have the track record of committed relationships that Jason has.  Oh geez, Greg threatens Jesse with bodily harm if he doesn't bring DeAnna back to Atlanta to visit a lot.  Greg is clearly biased toward Jason, and isn't pleased that Jesse didn't ask for permission to propose.  DeAnna is very torn, however.

The next day, the extended Pappas family gather for a big ol' Greek family gathering.  Jesse comes first this time and gets settled in.  The doorbell rings, and Jesse gets a look of fear in his eyes.  At the door is Jason!  They are meeting the family at the same time!  The guys are seriously not happy to see each other.  DeAnna is also kind of weirded out that she has two suitors with her in front of her family.

In the kitchen, Jason shows off his Greek culinary skills, and Jesse teaches the old folks how to "nug."  Various family members take each man aside to ask what his intentions are.  DeAnna's yaya, Lilian, chooses Jason, but the sisters seem to be rooting for Jesse.

Eventually, Jesse makes his way to Greg and asks for his blessing and permission to propose to DeAnna.  (Harrumph!  Another douchebag!)  Greg asks him if he's ready for marriage.  Greg eventually gives him his blessing, as long as he promises to keep his hair short.  Right, because that's the important thing here.

After dinner, it's time to say good-bye to the dudes.  DeAnna walks them out, and Jesse offers for Jason to say good-bye first so that he can get the last kiss.

Chrissy is pulling for Jason because he's more mature and knows what he wants, but Crystal is rooting for Jesse because he is more of a free spirit like DeAnna is.

Now, it's back to the Bahamas.  DeAnna finds out that Jeremy wants to talk to her again.  She's very empathetic toward his plight, so she agrees to grant him an audience.  Jeremy shows up at her door and tells her that she's making a big mistake by letting him go.  She cries softly while he explains his feelings.  She tries to let him down easy, but eventually, he gets the picture that he's not worth keeping around.  She will not lead him on or drag it out needlessly because she's not in love with him.  See ya latah, Jeremy!

The next day, DeAnna has a date with Jesse.  They board a little puddle jumper to view the islands.  They make out some too.  They fly to a tiny, secluded island, and they spend a romantic day on the beach.  At night, they go back to the hotel, and Jesse presents her with a gift, a book of thoughts.  It's a little scrapbook of random pictures and notes that someone dictated to him.  He reads the book to her, and then tells her that he's ready to settle down with her.

It's time for Jason's date.  They are going scuba diving and swimming with sharks.  Is this a metaphor for their relationship?  At the end of the day, Jason gives her a gift.  It's a boardgame that he made himself that reenacts their televised courtship.  Kind of cheesy, but I think that in a contest with the "book of thoughts," the boardgame wins, hands down.  Jason tells her that he loves her and that there isn't a doubt in his mind that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.  After her date, DeAnna confessionals that she is definitely in love with two very different men, and she doesn't know how to decide.

Morning dawns on the final day, and DeAnna repeats all the same old same old that she's been saying for an hour and a half about Jesse and Jason.  Jason goes ring shopping because he knows he's going to propose by day's end.  And oh look!  Jesse goes ring shopping too, but stops to dry heave out in the parking lot before going into the store.

Finally!  Good God, there is like twenty minutes of content stretched out to two hours tonight.  Everyone assembles in his or her proper position for the final rose ceremony on the beach.  After another commercial break, the men finally arrive in their limos.  Jason gets there first and walks up the path to DeAnna.  He gets down on one knee, and she immediately says, "No, I can't."   Uh oh!  She launches into her speech about how he's perfect and safe and dependable, but she's in love with someone else.  She swears that she meant everything she said to him, but her heart is somewhere else.  He rides away in his limo and he's all, "Doh!  But I even bought a ring!"

OK, we know what happens now, but still The Bachelorette is drawing out the ending.  It's finally time for Jesse to make the walk down the lawn to DeAnna.  He looks like he's going to start puking again inside the limo, but he makes it without spewing.  He makes a speech about how he believes that they are soulmates, then he gets down on one knee and asks her to spend forever with him.  She says yes, and they kiss.  She finally tells him that she loves him.  It's a happy ending for The Bachelorette, I suppose, but I have a feeling that fans aren't really going to like this outcome.



-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)