Oh lordy, I forgot that the "dramatic and surprising" finale is actually shown with a live audience who will then stay for After the Final Rose. Chris mentions the controversy surprising Juan Pablo but really, is it controversy or just that ultimately everyone realized what a jackass he was when most other Bachelors are able to hide it longer? Chris also asks if JP was there to even find love in the first place. I can already guess that, proposal or not, there will be some long-winded answer that makes no sense but that ultimately JP will claim that of course he was, and none of us will believe it.
With that, off to Saint Lucia where JP is going to introduce the final ladies to his family. Mom, Dad, brother Rodrigo, cousin Rodolfo, sister Anita, niece Emi and of course, Camila, are all there. Clare is up first, and JP thinks the best thing to do is give no information about her whatsoever to his family, which really speaks to his feelings for her. Of course then he also reminds us just how physically attracted he is to her. Clare of course thinks JP is even hotter when he's on daddy duty, and she's as smitten as ever. Notably, when they sit down to eat, JP sits down with Camila while JP's dad is the one who helps Clare into her seat. While they eat, Clare tells them that she wants a big family one day. We keep seeing a little window with live shots of the audience but the shots are so dark that it's kind of pointless.
Clare then sits down with JP's mom, and after gushing about how much love she feels within the family, his mom asks semi-doubtfully, "Do you think you feel love?" This is a mama that knows her son, methinks. But of course Clare thinks she does and raves about him some more. When Clare asks if there are any personality traits that she should know, Mom warns that he is hyperactive, and then asks about their communication. Clare says that it is great and calls the Ocean Incident a "disagreement," saying that they worked through it and JP is great even when he says what you don't want to hear and twists his words to take no personal responsibility for anything ever, while making you take the blame and apologize for anything that happens. His mom is a little more direct and says that he can be rude, and the women bond over how he has made them cry, because that's healthy.
Rodolfo asks Clare a telling question: if JP wants to walk away will she love him enough to try and convince him to stay? Look, there's fighting for your relationship and working on problems, which is a real thing that happens in real life, and there's clinging on to a jackass because a bunch of glamorous vacations made you feel like you are in love while he just thinks you're hot in (and out of) a bikini, and Rodolfo seems to know this is the latter. Rodolfo then talks to JP and seems doubtful as he warns JP that she's so in love that she's practically, "begging for it." "It" is a proposal, by the way, you dirty things. Rodolfo and JP seem to agree that he needs someone that won't walk away, I guess because he likes to give up and move on to the leggy thing at the first sign of strife. I think Rodolfo might feel sorry for Clare already, given his somewhat worried tone.
JP's dad tells her how nice and mature she is, that if she joins the family he'd welcome her with open arms and that she'll always be in his mind if that doesn't happen -- basically, it's clear dad thinks JP isn't popping the question.
Before she goes, Clare tells JP that she can tell he was raised right and she can totally see herself as a part of this family. He very well was raised right, but obviously nothing actually stuck and he's going to run away at the first sign of strife. But hey, she's soooooo in love.
I love Chris. He again promises the most controversial finale ever, but does mock himself a little for his possible tiny, miniscule overuse of the word. He polls the crowd and they are overwhelmingly pro-Nikki. But seriously, at this point why is anyone pro-anything other than JP getting dumped and kneed in the junk?
JP reminds his parents that they have already met Nikki, but she's new to the rest of the family. Just like Clare, she wants to make a good impression and wants a proposal. JP tells us that she's going to talk to his family so that THEY can figure out if she's the one. I call that a Freudian slip and not a language issue, since it's so obvious he has no idea what to do and honestly I don't think feels anything other than lust for either woman. She tells the fam that this experience has been life-changing, and she's learned a lot about herself.
JP's dad asks how she feels about JP being a single father, and she gives the expected answer that it makes him who he is and she's looking forward to a relationship with Camila too. Dad then reiterates that JP is a completely selfish jerkwad, focused only on his own desires, and thinks he knows it all. No, seriously, he doesn't use the word "jerkwad" but that's the gist. Nikki swears she gets this and she's ready for this relationship.
Nikki then gushes to Mom that she fell in love with JP when she saw him with Camila in Miami. Mom asks her what she thinks a weekend with him will be like and she describes a very child-centric weekend doing fun activities but mom corrects that he'll want her to bring him breakfast and then will want them all to hang out at home and watch TV. Have any Bachelor parents given such a lackluster endorsement of their son before this? Nikki asks her if she thinks he's ready and after a far too-long pause, Mom says she's, "pretty sure." Mom says she thinks Nikki will say yes if he proposes, but carefully never says if she thinks this would actually be a good thing.