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After nearly three months of build-up and suspense, America cast its final and most important vote tonight. When the dust of 11 weeks' worth of episodes had settled, Hank was the last man standing, much to the delight--not to mention relief--of Lisa Shannon. But in a shocking final twist, Hank said he cared too much for Lisa to marry her in front of a national television audience. Love may have been in the air, but the wedding was definitely off. For now, anyway. The final episode of CUPID began with a look back at the 11 previous weeks and the long road traveled by Lisa and her many Suitors. But by tonight's show, there were only four guys left vying for Lisa's hand in marriage, as well as the million-dollar dowry she comes with, provided she and her hand-picked match get married and stay married for at least one year. Before bringing the final fab four on stage, Brian welcomed back the six finalists whose hearts--and arrows--had been broken in their quest for Lisa's heart: Rob, Scott, Paul, Ken, Joe and Renda. And then came the four possible grooms themselves: Evan, Hank, Robert and Dominic, followed by the two women who had given them so much good grief over the past few months, Laura and Kimberly. Last but certainly not least, we were once again introduced to, possibly for the last time as a single woman, the potentially blushing bride, Lisa Shannon. With the full cast reassembled on stage, it was time to check in with the goings-on at the bachelor house, whose occupants seemed to be in a playful mood as their time together drew to a close. ROUGHHOUSING FOR THE LAST TIME This week's "House Reality" segment began with the four remaining guys remembering their latest fallen roommate, Renda. Dominic had a little rap for the departed poet, "Yo yo Renda, it was fun spenda time with you." But after the kind words, it was business as usual for the final four, which meant in this case a heated ping pong competition with Lisa's heart going to the winner, or so Evan proclaimed. Dressed as a Samurai warrior with a tie around his forehead, Evan promptly lost to Dominic. The eventual winner was Hank, who eked out a victory over Robert in the final match. Evan then presided over a make-believe wedding ceremony, with Dominic playing Lisa and Robert standing in for Hank. While the real Hank appeared mildly amused watching from the sidelines, Robert and Dominic exchanged vows and a newlywed kiss--on opposite sides of a ping pong paddle, that is. But Evan wasn't finished with the hijinks. After conducting the faux ceremony, Evan came over to Hank and leaned down heavily on his shoulders. "Feel that?" he told Hank. "It's called pressure." Hank tried to laugh at the joke, but his eyes seemed to betray his increasing awareness that he was, indeed, the one on the hot seat. THE WAY THEY WERE Laura and Kimberly then checked in with their votes for which guy they felt belonged up on the altar with their friend Lisa. Not surprisingly, they both chose Hank, in accordance with the wishes Lisa expressed on the previous week's show. They both acknowledged the other great guys on stage, but as Laura put it, "In my heart, I always truly felt that Hank was the best." Before finding out who'd be the first to go, we were treated to a video retrospective of the final four's dating lives with Lisa. Robert was first up, as his often painful series of dates with Lisa was replayed for the audience. Despite his admitted ups and downs, Robert repeated his assertion that he "was not here for the show. I was here for [Lisa]." Responding to Laura and Kimberly's persistent criticism that he was too young for marriage, Dominic admitted, "At some points they were right with my age and where I am in life." But he, too, stuck to his guns: "Let's just say there's a connection, [so] what difference does [our age disparity] make?" Hank, meanwhile, called his three month journey "surreal," but said meeting Lisa had made all the bumps along the way more than worth the trip. Sensing that he might be the eventual winner, Hank concluded, "I really am looking forward to exploring a life with [Lisa]." Even if he hadn't ended up with Lisa, Evan sounded like he had no regrets, admitting that "meeting Lisa has changed [him] a lot." As the early footage demonstrated, Evan often seemed to have trouble taking the dates, or himself, all that seriously. But by the end, all that had changed: "In all honesty, I came in here a boy, and I was forced to mature really quick." JOINING THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB Brian then asked all four guys to join him onstage; it was time to let the first Suitor go. After everyone, including the studio audience, had waited patiently and anxiously, Brian finally announced that Dominic had received the lowest number of votes. As the audience groaned in disappointment, Dominic raised his hands to calm his fans, "It's okay. It's okay." Before leaving the stage for the last time, he told Lisa "You're a great person, and you've got a great future ahead of you." He also acknowledged that Laura and Kimberly had been giving him a hard time about his age, then added, "You know what? You're right." His admission drew lots of hollers from the appreciative women in the audience. ( Goodbye to Dominic  )
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