Let me just start by saying...
I think he's corny and rehearsed, and get the vibe that he's one of those guys whose ex watches him with his next girl thinking, "Wow, he said those exact same things to me."
But, in acknowledgment that my personal negative opinions toward Bryan are not only irrelevant but also pretty baseless considering I don't actually know him, I'll put them aside while I list reasons that he shouldn't have "won."
Here are 10 legitimate reasons Rachel shouldn't have picked Bryan:
1. Rachel's "I love you" to Peter
She told Peter she loved him while literally crying her eyelashes off one day before getting engaged to Bryan. I'm pretty sure "love" doesn't just go away in a day and that you probably shouldn't be committing the rest of your life to someone when you're also in love with someone else.
2. Rachel and Bryan's last date before the engagement
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Bryan called the date "awkward" and Rachel attributed that to her confused feelings about Peter. Think about it this scenario in the real world: Your friend tells you she can't focus on even having a conversation with her boyfriend because of how much she cares about another man... then, next thing you know, she's engaged to her boyfriend. SUS. Weird.
3. Rachel's a 'no BS' kind of girl and Bryan lives in Fairytale, La La Land.
I bet you are Bryan. I'm sure it's great there. But, here in the real world, always saying the right thing or acting like everything is perfect doesn't make for the perfect life. We don't say ridiculous things like, "From day one I felt she was my girlfriend." Here, someone who you've had no more than two conversations with in your life or discussed titles with who is dating two dozen other men is NOT your girlfriend.
4. Playas play on
She expected Bryan to be a smooth-talking "douchebag" and player. Then, news (which they surprisingly didn't acknowledge on the show or reunion) actually comes out that he was on another reality series called "The Player," a dating show of sorts that followed self-proclaimed players and ladies men in a competition to prove who had the most game. So, um, that's that.
5. Rachel's sister's reaction to Bryan
Her family loved both of the other guys and got along with them so easily... yet they weren't feeling Bryan. Rachel's blunt sister Constance thought he was disingenuine (as Deanie Baby would say) and the whole encounter, in general, resulted in Rachel getting into an argument with her family. It wasn't exactly a promising start for the new member of the family.
6. Rachel's mom's reaction to Bryan
Rachel's mom described seeing where Rachel and Bryan were at in their relationship as "scary" and "uncomfortable." Meanwhile, when she met Peter she said he made her feel good and when she met Eric she DID "feel comfortable" with the idea of them. And moms usually have an intuition about these kinds of things. Just saying.
7. PETER!!!!!!!
*feels no need to elaborate*
8. Eric's heartfelt goodbye
Eric's goodbye was one of the classiest, sweetest goodbyes Bachelor Nation has seen throughout the years. It came off more genuine than anything Bryan said the whole season and made you realize how disingenuine (another shout out to Deanie Baby, please marry me) Bryan comes off. The goodbye had everyone, including Rachel, wondering if she was making the wrong decision.
9. Rachel's reason for not choosing Peter
You don't just drop someone you love from your life because they won't marry you AFTER KNOWING YOU FOR LESS THAN A YEAR. We all could easily tell by watching the finale that Rachel wanted Peter to say he'd propose so badly. I wonder how Bryan feels watching the show and realizing that the reason he's with his fiancé might be because Peter wanted to wait to get down on one knee.
10. BRYANS A CORNY CORNY CORN BALL
This isn't even an opinion. It's a fact. Good luck listening to "John Tucker Must Die"-esque, repetitious one-liners for the 'rest of your life,' Rach.
