“Do I have a choice?” cried Jenn Tran in the final episode of The Bachelorette, when she was asked by host Jesse Palmer if she should watch the proposal with him after being dumped by this season’s winner.
This season of The Bachelorette left its fans and heroine disappointed, disturbed, and even distraught. Being picked as the first Asian-American Bachelorette, Tran knew her role was to make good choices and make her community proud. She started with 25 seemingly eligible bachelors, but in the end, she was left with one childish boy. Sadly, Tran didn’t reach her happy ending, and fans were left angry with the winner and furious with the producers of the show.
In The Bachelorette premiere on July 8, 2024, viewers were introduced to all of the men of Jenn’s season, but the men were surprised to see Jenn. In some seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, the contestants do not know who the lead is for the show; they just have to go in with an open mind. Maria and Daisy were in the final four during season 28 of The Bachelor and were fan favorites, leading the men to assume that one of these women would be the next Bachelorette. However, the producers were left with their fifth choice, Jenn, when both Maria and Daisy turned down the role. This decision disappointed the men and led the audience to question whether the contestants were truly there for the right reasons.
This started to unfold in the sixth episode of The Bachelorette, during a group date at a radio show where the contestants were asked questions about Jenn. Sam M, one of the more controversial bachelors, was chosen to speak one-on-one with Jenn to get more clarity on their relationship. Shockingly, he said R right in front of her face, “Okay, this girl is not my type. I thought the Bachelorette was going to be Daisy or Maria.” Not only did Sam tell Jenn the flat-out truth, but he made her feel insecure and like she was the second option.
As the show progressed, it seemed like the producers didn’t cast the right men for Jenn. It left me wondering: Did they pull these men from a dumpster at the last minute when Daisy and Maria backed out? Did they ignore Jenn’s wishes to leave toxic relationships and red flags in the past? Did they even consider her abandonment issues, knowing her dad left her mom? Despite her clear intentions, the producers seemed to overlook this, casting men who shared similar broken-home backstories, which brought unnecessary drama and emotional baggage.
Marcus, the former military veteran and runner-up, was initially loved by fans but later faced serious allegations of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. One woman even said he got her pregnant, and she had to get an abortion–real marriage material, right? Fans and Jenn’s brother sensed early on that Marcus wasn’t emotionally available, but it took Jenn all season to figure this out for herself. Sam M, on the other hand, had issues with expressing himself verbally and relied heavily on physical touch as his love language, which often led to misunderstandings and conflicts because he couldn’t articulate his feelings properly, not even with Jenn. Then there was our winner, Devin, who may have displayed the most two-faced, villainous behavior Bachelor Nation has ever seen. Throughout the season, he charmed everyone with his smooth words,acting like he was the only one truly there for Jenn and dismissing the other guys. You could tell he had a dark side from little parts in the show, but it really showed in the finale.
In the finale, viewers were eagerly waiting on the edge of their seats to find out who would propose to Jenn. However, before the show went to commercial break, host Jesse Palmer announced that ABC wouldn’t be airing the proposal due to the fact that Jenn had something important to explain.
Jenn started crying hysterically and later revealed that after she and Devin left Hawaii happy and engaged, things took a turn for the worse. Just days after they left, her fiance became distant and ultimately called off the engagement, telling her that he had doubts and didn’t love her anymore.
Devin clearly was in it for the prize, but the prize wasn’t Jenn– it was the fame and attention.. Jenn was heartbroken and spent the rest of the show crying. Then, they brought out Devin, and the two went back and forth about their relationship. Jenn’s tears were overflowing from embarrassment and heartbreak. The audience’s heart broke for Jenn, and by the end, we were all content to never look back at what happened on the beach in Hawaii.
So you can imagine how confused Jenn and the audience were when Jesse Palmer suggested watching the actual proposal after saying they he was not going to show it. When he asked for Jenn’s thoughts, she expressed, “Do I have a choice?” As a viewer, I found it painful to watch. Jenn was clearly being manipulated and mistreated by ABC. The producers, in the quest for good TV, had disregarded her feelings and exploited her vulnerability for ratings. As the first Asian-American Bachelorette, she was supposed embark on her own journey to find love and independence. Instead, everything was planned for her, and she ended up having no voice or choice in the matter.
Ultimately, ABC didn’t just give Jenn a group of broken men with broken pasts; they set her up to fail from the start. Jenn deserved better, and so did the fans.
