He Needs to Apologize Before the Final Rose

As we speed towards the Bachelorette finale, every little thing Nick and Josh do can be evidence as to which guy Andi prefers. So Nick fans were shocked and disappointed when he began to lose his easy lead over the rest of the men when he tempted Andi to send him home. In Andi’s weekly People.com blog, she blasted Nick for how he acted during their Marseille group date. Though Nick has still remained one of Andi's favorites, going into the Final Rose ceremony she still has doubts. Will he end up owing her an apology by season's end?

She was insulted that Nick called himself the “frontrunner" and implied that he was "winning" The Bachelorette. I think Nick’s earned enough benefit of the doubt to say fairly confidently that he doesn’t think of Andi, who he really cares about, as some kind of “prize.” But he does clearly think of this show as a competition, and in his mind he’s poised to win. Josh Murray called him out on this before, claiming Nick "analyzes everything," and "he knows every season inside and out."

While that calls into question just how genuine some of Nick's moves were (did he really have to sneak over to Andi's room, or did he just guess that it would make him more likable?), that doesn't mean he doesn't respect women, especially Andi. You just need to look at how Nick interacts with his mom and sisters to see that he respects women. It comes across as a lame excuse, but really, why would such smart women put up with a son or brother who didn’t respect them? (If anything, Josh is the one who has a problem with gender roles — sorry, Josh fans!)

Potential spoilers to follow.

For those who aren't spoilerphobes, videos have surfaced of an angry Nick sitting on an airplane blasting his experience on the show, presumably after he was eliminated. It wouldn’t hurt for Nick to apologize for that, too, during the live followup to the finale. That's a side of Nick that we rarely got to see on the show, and makes it possible to believe that he's the kind of guy who very well might plot out exactly how he's going to get Andi to fall in love with him.

End spoiler zone.

The bottom line is Andi’s feelings were hurt by several of Nick's actions, and seeing that while he was acting straightforward, he was actually courting her strategically could very likely have made her feel like she was being played. And the guys have no business talking about her like she's an object to be won. Nick’s biggest charm was that his quiet intensity made him harder to predict that the outgoing Josh, while in his mind he was playing a perfect Bachelorette contestant.

While Nick fans hope the two can end up together, you have to appreciate that we got Andi's angry blog about the event, which included an amazing ABC crossover between Bachelorette and Scandal.

Nick may not have meant any offense by what he said. But he's coming across as a real schemer. If he wants to make good on his relationship with Andi, he just needs to take a clue from Olivia Pope:

Best way to do that? Start by saying you're sorry, Nick.

Images: ABC; Giphy (2)