The Bachelor finale recap: Is Peter going to end up alone?

The Bachelor can't stop making bad decisions.

We’ve seen Peter Weber make bad decision after bad decision over the course of his season as The Bachelor, but we’re quickly running out of show time, and he may have already ensured that this season ends with heartbreak.

Peter’s two remaining options, Hannah Ann and Madison, met Peter’s family in Australia on Monday’s part one of the two-night finale, and for perhaps the first time all season, someone told Peter the unfiltered truth. After Hannah Ann aced her visit with the Webers and Madison’s time was mostly spent exploring the various ways in which she isn’t suited for Peter, Peter’s mother, father and brother tried to get him to realize that his choice should be very simple.

Peter’s family members, who presumably know him better than anyone, reminded him that faith isn’t nearly as big a deal to him as it is to Madison, and that Madison doesn’t match his social lifestyle. There’s a long list of reasons why a relationship between Madison and Peter could potentially fail, while Peter himself has described Hannah Ann as a perfect woman with zero compatibility issues. Blinded by love, or short-term satisfaction, Peter simply wants Madison more.

During their one-on-one date at Uluru, Madison wisely breaks off her relationship with Peter, explaining that she has to make the smart-long term decision given all their differences. This should have been the end, but Peter is attracted to conflict. He’s repeatedly prolonged doomed relationships (with Alayah, and later Victoria F.), under the guise that since he had to “fight” for it, it must be worth fighting for.

Instead, it was revealed in the final episode preview that Madison will return on Tuesday night’s show – which may be the big revelation that Chris Harrison makes to Peter.

So how does all this end? According to Harrison, even Peter doesn’t know the ending of the season, which will play out on stage in front of an audience. I have theories, though.

What seems most likely, at this stage, is that Peter will continue to pursue his relationship with Madison in Australia, spurning Hannah Ann. It’s fairly clear that at the time of filming, Peter wasn’t ready to commit to Hannah Ann, and I don’t expect him to reverse course just days after Madison broke up with him.

Madison, hopefully, will realize she’s making a mistake. She’s waffled on camera at times, but seems to know that Peter isn’t the right person for her. This would leave Peter to try and reconcile with Hannah Ann on Tuesday, and hope that she’ll settle for being his second choice. It’s possible though, that Peter will choose Madison in Australia only to be turned down, and he’ll try to win her over again on stage. The most surprising ending, to me, would be Peter offering his final rose to Hannah Ann in Australia.