Charity Lawson, the current star of The Bachelorette, made a surprising decision on who to boot from the show, but no one was more surprised than the recipient of that boot print.
Sean, who was dubbed by Brayden as “Prince Charming” due to his striking resemblance to the animated character from Shrek, was the exiled one, and he wasn’t fully able to grasp how such a Bachelorette fate for his charming self could be possible.
With Charity being forced to narrow things down to the final four, multiple suitors were set to get the axe. Sean and Charity — perhaps better called Charming and Charity — certainly had a real connection, but the truth is, almost all the men do at this late stage of the game (unfortunately, I use the word “game” very intentionally). The difference really comes down to how strong each connection is.
Sean is not a bad guy, but he sometimes leans into his confidence too much. He was one of the men who complained about Brayden for — let’s be real — being a threat to steal Charity’s rosey heart since she was extremely into him, at least for the first couple weeks. Sean decided that Brayden was disruptive and not there for the right reasons, though the real problem was that Brayden was simply too honest.
How Sean thinks of himself can likely be summarized in one hilarious moment from the previous episode.
Annoyed at Brayden’s inability to accept that Charity isn’t that into him anymore (hence why Brayden was sent home, which is usually a really good hint), Sean complained aloud to the other men about it. He saw Brayden as wasting everyone’s time, but he also added, “He’s walking back in here in flip flops and in a fu**ing scarf!”
The odd comment is further odd when you realize that Sean himself was wearing a scarf. In fact, the humor of the moment was not lost on the producers because later, one of them actually pointed out to Sean that he was also wearing a scarf, to which Sean replied by looking down at his scarf, holding it up to the producer, and proudly pointing out, “This is cashmere.”
Everyone watching ABC at that moment likely shook their heads back and forth as if we were all spectators at the mid-court of a tennis match.
However, it exposes Sean’s biggest problem, which is that he views himself as better than the others. If men are scarves, Sean is cashmere, and everyone else is just wool, even though wool keeps a woman warm (ok, that was lame, but you get my point).
Moving forward to this past Monday night’s episode, Sean was chosen to be on a two-on-one date, which usually means that one of the two men on that date will be sent home. Sean was surprised to be on such a date but was still confident.
“I really want that rose, I really do,” he told the cameras. “I’m gonna go into my competitive mode and be like, ‘I’m going to win.’”
The other man on that date with Charity was none other than Tanner, a very level-headed man who is almost quite the opposite of Sean and doesn’t even wear a scarf.
“Tanner’s a great guy,” Sean said. “He is a good guy but, honestly, I’m not worried about him.”
However, Sean’s confidence was about to change. When the date ended, which thankfully didn’t involve eating ice cream, Charity gave neither the rose but explained she needed more time to decide.
Tanner was mostly optimistic, saying, “Charity needs more time. She told us exactly what it was and respected us enough to give us more time.”
Sean? Not so much. “I was just banking on and, like, hoping and praying to get a rose on my chest before a Rose Ceremony, and yet here I am without it.”
Tanner even commented at that point, “Sean’s not doing too good right now. He’s clearly upset.”
The more Sean thought about it, the worst it got in his mind. While in the camera confessional, he even said to himself, “Yeah, I’m upset. I don’t understand how you can be happy in this situation.”
Here’s the issue. It’s not Charity’s responsibility to make every man happy every step of the way in this process. She has to rely on the men’s maturity to maintain their understanding of the situation and their respect for her and her emotions. Unfortunately, Sean is more concerned about not getting a rose. He determines that being happy is the only acceptable emotion at this point as if being hopeful is out of the question or being content for the moment. Perhaps being understanding will show Charity how wise you are when dealing with such situations. Even more so, that will show true confidence.
Meanwhile, Tanner showed exactly how a man should act. He carried himself with respect and dignity and didn’t lose himself or his emotions over Charity’s need for more time.
So what happened next? Sean was so unable to deal with the reality that Charity was not swooning over him that he took it upon himself to visit her in her hotel room the next night.
To his credit, Sean was mature when presenting his emotions in curiosity form to Charity and didn’t overreact, though his being in her hotel room uninvited just to find out what’s up might itself be an overreaction.
But then it got sad and embarrassing for Sean. First, he said, “I’m totally in the process of falling in love with you, and that’s why that rose meant so much to me.”
Charity’s initial response was, “Mmm-hmm.” At that point, everyone except Sean knew what was coming next. She explained, “From the beginning, you have shown me who you are as a person, but looking at it all and understanding the magnitude of everything this week when I look at it, there are connections that are stronger.”
Sean didn’t want to accept what Charity was explaining, replying, “I don’t want you to give up on us because I think this is something we should explore further. I feel confident that with the one-on-one time, we can get there.”
Oh, Sean. It’s not happening, man. You gotta let it go.
Charity took a deep breath and broke it to him, eventually saying, “I don’t think that I can. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s just what it is. I’m sorry. I really am so sorry.”
Charity cried and walked Sean out of her room. They embraced and said goodbye. Sean later admitted that he felt heartbroken and confused. “Dude,” he said to the camera, “I don’t get it.”
I understand that Sean was genuinely hurt, and I’m not trying to be insensitive to that, but what doesn’t he get? He has feelings for her that she cannot reciprocate – end of story.
Sadly, Charity also sent Tanner home. She knew how special he was and even told him afterward, saying, “You are truly an incredible person.” Though it’s not what Tanner wanted, he was mature in his reaction and ability to understand the situation, even telling the viewers, “That girl deserves the world. She is special.” That’s how a man handles it.
Maybe both Tanner and Sean will give Bachelor in Paradise a chance later this year.
While Tanner will do just fine moving forward and understands that rejection is a part of my life, Sean received a valuable lesson with this experience: Not all women like cashmere.