First, let's not forget the first 20 minutes of this episode. The Luke saga has been fascinating to witness. As a Psychology major I continue to be blow away how Luke constantly follows the traits of a Narcissist and a toxic boyfriend. Some people have been defending Luke by saying that the scenarios have been played up for drama by Chris and the show, but pay close attention. Yes, they allowed him back on at the rose ceremony, but listen to Chris quietly explaining why he did it with Hannah: explaining that he had been adamant, insistent, he had a ring and was ready to propose. That is the sort of behavior you expect from someone who is so caught up with "winning" the relationship, who believes that no matter what he does there is always some combination of actions and words that allows him to get what he wants. Watch how many times Hannah tells him to leave, and how he continues to push. Notice how he writes off what she told him last night as "a few emotional minutes" and "not the real you."
On the one hand, there is a certain sense in which this makes for good drama, but but on the other hand consider what has been captured on screen. A authentic, toxic relationship shown all the way from the when they first wow you with attention and praise, them when they begin to isolate you by turning you against your other relationships (the "stay in your lane" mini saga) then the gaslighting ("I didn't say that, let me back up" even when it's exactly what he said and has been caught on tape) and finally when they use their relationship to start issuing Ultimatums ("if you had sex with anyone I'll go home," which obviously he only said because he thought it would make her behave the way he wants, since she told him she did and he kept coming back).
At the men tell all I thought Luke had center stage for far too long, however. Other than asking him if he had any regrets there was little value in taking away from everyone else's chance at center stage. With a person like that they perform all sorts of mental gymnastics to believe they are faultless (see South Park's "Fish Sticks" for another instance of this). "She didn't need to be saved from me: I needed to save her from everyone else." "You all just hated me because I was the front-runner, not because of the "stay in your lane" saga." At some point you don't give a person like that any more attention. I'm grateful that he was able to be captured on screen, so that the red flags can be identified in their natural environment for an entire generation to see, but I'm also very glad that it's over now.
On the one hand, there is a certain sense in which this makes for good drama, but but on the other hand consider what has been captured on screen. A authentic, toxic relationship shown all the way from the when they first wow you with attention and praise, them when they begin to isolate you by turning you against your other relationships (the "stay in your lane" mini saga) then the gaslighting ("I didn't say that, let me back up" even when it's exactly what he said and has been caught on tape) and finally when they use their relationship to start issuing Ultimatums ("if you had sex with anyone I'll go home," which obviously he only said because he thought it would make her behave the way he wants, since she told him she did and he kept coming back).
At the men tell all I thought Luke had center stage for far too long, however. Other than asking him if he had any regrets there was little value in taking away from everyone else's chance at center stage. With a person like that they perform all sorts of mental gymnastics to believe they are faultless (see South Park's "Fish Sticks" for another instance of this). "She didn't need to be saved from me: I needed to save her from everyone else." "You all just hated me because I was the front-runner, not because of the "stay in your lane" saga." At some point you don't give a person like that any more attention. I'm grateful that he was able to be captured on screen, so that the red flags can be identified in their natural environment for an entire generation to see, but I'm also very glad that it's over now.