Her saying “You got to see all of me, I didn’t get to see all of you” resonated with me. I’m not the type of person who likes to be in the dark about anything—even if it’s unpleasant, I would rather know all the information so I can make INFORMED decisions based on that. It’s in this sense that Jed manipulated her and her actions and, as I said over at Flare, on a way larger and more insidious scale than even Luke. At least with Luke, what you saw was what you got. He was a pathological liar who genuinely believed his own (sometimes cartoonish) lies. But with Jed, he’s the type to make white lie after white lie, KNOWINGLY, and for no reason other than convenience and to preserve his image. The two are equally terrible, just in different ways. It really highlights the hypocrisy in Jed’s concern for Hannah during Fantasy Suite week, about her potential to end up with someone who could hurt her.

Look, the side of me that is phobic of regret (the feeling of regret is a legit fear of mine—it’s the reason I have no tattoos) feels a bit for Jed. I have no doubt that if he could go back in time and do many things differently, he would. I doubt he’d pull a Luke and say he has no regrets. I also think that he did not come close to doing enough research on this show before coming on, in terms of rumors and magazine articles and the power an ex, no matter how “unofficial”, would have to make his life a living hell. But this conversation was truly a fail of the most epic proportions, and it was precisely what I was holding out for before I formed my opinions on the guy. (Like I said, I want all the information so I can make informed decisions, and form informed opinions!) The opportunity was his to seize, to mend things as best he could, to take responsibility, grovel a bit, show remorse. He squandered that opportunity by doing none of those things. Worst of all, in his defense of his image, he seemed to think he was outsmarting Hannah (and all of us) with his half-baked lies. I have zero sympathy for the guy.

AFTER THE FINAL ROSE

It’s finally After The Final Rose, where Hannah and Jed go back and forth (with Chris Harrison’s help) and Hannah makes it abundantly clear that things are over between them. Jed’s showing here wasn’t bad; it was clear he went in with either genuine remorse or a strategy to display genuine remorse. Either way, it was far too late. His awful handling of the above filmed conversation was and forever will be his initial (and likely most authentic) response, try as he might to salvage his relationship and image. Actually, I personally believe that he was displaying an attempt to salvage the relationship IN ORDER TO salvage his image—that’s how distrusting I am of him at this point.

Leave it to Chris Harrison to manage to make terribly awkward situations infinitely more awkward. I couldn’t help but laugh when he (unnecessarily) recapped Hannah and Jed’s relationship and engagement as being over, with both of them still sitting right there, talk show style…