SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Season 2 finale of The Golden Bachelor, including who Mel Owens proposes to.
Mel Owens might just get down on one knee Wednesday night, but there is quite a bit of drama to wade through first in the Season 2 finale of The Golden Bachelor. So, let’s get into it.
ICYMI, let’s get you up to speed from last week’s part one of the two-part finale: Peg and Cindy are both falling for Mel, and they’re each worried that his connection is stronger with the other. Going into their final days before a potential engagement, both are looking for clarity — but they are not really getting it! Every time they try to press Mel for answers on how he feels about them, he seems to deflect. They were willing to put up with it for a while, but neither seem like they’re looking to move forward without some truth.
The live finale picks up right where we left off, at the end of Mel and Cindy’s dinner as she’s pressing him on what a future might look like together. The silence is quite deafening before Cindy asks, “so what do we do from here.” Mel, a man of few words, simply says, “well, where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
What does that mean?! Cindy says she’s trying to remain open and present despite the lack of clarity, but it’s getting increasingly difficult. Mel acknowledges the situation she’s in, but all he can offer her is that he likes her a lot and thinks she’s great.
Then, he drops a bit of a bombshell. He tells her that he’s not even sure if he’ll be ready to propose at all. But hey, maybe in two years, he’ll be ready for marriage. Who knows! Naturally, Cindy is not on board with that plan, and she says as much. “It’s a short process for sure, and maybe you don’t have all the answers…but I kind of want my guy to feel like he got struck by lightning and can’t live without me,” she says.
“That’s fair,” he replies. Short and sweet.
Well, Cindy decides she’s not willing to put her life on hold until he’s ready to commit, so she’s outta there. Mel is left reeling, apparently not expecting that outcome.
Jesse Palmer tries to point out that all 23 women started this journey expecting to potentially get engaged at the end of it, but for whatever reason, Mel thinks “that’s not true.” The way he sees it, if he’s not ready for marriage, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t want to continue to date and strengthen their relationship beyond the show.
He also says he truly didn’t know who he was going to choose, and he’s disappointed that Cindy didn’t stick it out to the end. It still could’ve been her!
Well, Jesse tells Mel that Cindy is, in fact, still there, so he might have one last opportunity to convince her to stay. But, before we get to see what happens next, we cut back to Jesse in the live studio who, after a commercial break, welcomes Cindy on stage to talk about it. So, I guess we have our answer…but, for the record, Cindy says Mel didn’t go find her, and she wouldn’t have wanted him to anyway.
So, back to the final days before the potential proposal, and Peg is ready to meet Mel’s sons after a great fantasy suite date. Before she can head out to meet him though, he intercepts her in her room to tell her that Cindy is gone.
Mel tells Peg that he still wants to pursue things with her, but he still isn’t sure if he wants to get engaged. Naturally, that puts her on edge, too. “There is a little bit of a concern…I’m here to really find somebody who knows how to commit,” she says in confessional.
But, at least for now, she’s sticking things out till the end.
Things with Mel’s sons go pretty swimmingly. They seem to really like Peg, telling her she seems like “the perfect gal” for their dad. The conversation is enough for them to give their stamp of approval on the relationship. It appears the feeling is mutual too! At the end of the day, Peg tells Mel she loves his boys.
Before they know it, the time has come. Mel needs to make a decision about whether he’s going to get down on one knee.
And…he does!
Well, sort of. He proposes while standing on two feet and offers Peg the final golden rose. Same outcome.
Mel says he thinks that, even though Cindy’s departure was shocking in the moment, this was how it was always meant to be, and he’s ready to commit to Peg. After a wishy-washy few days, Mel Owens is an engaged man.
