VioletNevermind

This show is starting to stray too far into "Sister Wives" well-worn territory. Jealousy! A wife wants to lose weight! The husband isn't spending enough one-on-one time with one or more of the wives! Yawn. I hate to say it, but as dysfunctional as this family is, I don't think they're dysfunctional enough to merit a reality show. Besides, the Browns already have quite a secure lock on televised polygamous dysfunction. Who the hell does Brady think he is, insisting on a weekly night in his "man cave?" Talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it, too. I know men with one wife and only a couple of kids who would love a weekly night of total solitude, but don't dare act on it because they realize that they have responsibilities. Brady has over two dozen responsibilities. He is beyond arrogant and selfish. I can't stand his holier-than-thou demeanor. Absolom made a comment above about how the numbers for this show are dipping low enough that cancellation might be in sight. I'm not surprised.

Oh, Amy. I'm certainly no Judy Garland, but Amy's voice simply isn't good enough for what they're trying to create for her. As Randy Jackson used to say, she's "a little pitchy, dawg." That song has gotten old fast. The music video segment at the end made me cringe for her. I can't tell if Amy is honestly pursuing this, or the producers are just using her. That Jamie guy is doing her no favors. Amy is a passable karaoke singer at best. I feel mean saying this stuff, but if she's trying to make a career of this at the age of 28, it might be time for a change in plans. At what point does Amy hang this crap up, create a resume, and get a secretarial job? Does Amy realize that, with enough money, anyone can buy studio time and "produce" a music video? This whole thing reminds me of kid's beauty pageants. They all think they're winning when they're actually paying ungodly amounts of money for what is nothing more than an expensive, pointless hobby.

I used to post about this show every week the moment it ended, but lately I find myself struggling to stay interested. It's the same thing every week . . . Tension between two or more wives. Am I pregnant or not? Should I try for a baby? Can I adopt a baby? Why can't I adopt a baby when we already have 20+ children? Why doesn't Brady pay me more attention? Did Brady react to that wife more positively than he does to me? Why is my son upset that I'm having yet another child when there are already far too many mouths to feed? It's all just so yawn-inducing. I don't blame Paul for his lackluster reaction to the baby news. For these poor kids, the news that a new baby is on the way must feel pretty absurd by this time. Is there any way we can get Paul and Jinger Duggar together? As for Rod, color me unimpressed. He lost me last week when he discussed his testicles in detail on my television amidst his Bigfoot calls.

Yep, every week.

* Okay, let's get this out of the way right from jump (and before I scream): Stop. Saying. Insta-mom. Just stop it. Once or twice was fine. Still stupid, but acceptable. This is ridiculous, though. If this were a drinking game, I would have passed out before the second commercial break. Daya has some serious nerve, chewing Brett out for "not being the man of the family." He shouldn't have to explain to a grown-ass woman that a small child needs to be approached with kindness, tender, loving care, and patience. Sounds like it's time for Brett to find a fun summer day camp for Cassidy. I can't even imagine being her mother, watching this nonsense. There is no way in hell that some random, rude, constantly chewing bitch steps off a plane, meets a little girl for the first time, makes less-than-half-hearted attempts to interact with her on her level, and earns the dubious title of "insta-mom." Daya is as much a mom as I am an NFL quarterback. (FYI: Not even a little bit.) * Jason and Cassia. Although I still don't like her, I have this weird feeling that Cassia isn't so bad in her home country. She's just such a fish out of water here, particularly in the sleepy retirement community where Jason lives. Her reaction to Jason's somewhat lackluster proposal and the ring he gave her was nice, but if we use Daya as a barometer, anything would have been nice. * Chelsea and Yamir. Oh, Yamir, honey. Maybe it's just my admittedly old-fashioned taste in music, but I didn't think his "audition" was all that great. I'm curious to see what other people think. (And since when is Chicago a big music town? Maybe I'm missing something.) I still like Yamir and am pulling for him. Again, Chelsea should have moved to Nicaragua and that's all there is to it. * Amy and Danny. I love Amy even more after seeing her mom's beautiful reaction to her wedding dress. You can easily see why Amy is such a sweet girl. The bachelorette party was cute. They seem like nice girls. I'm still unimpressed with Danny and wish Amy could have ended up with someone else. She's easily my favorite fiancé. * Danielle and Mohammed. We received a well-deserved break from this grifter and his dim-witted barnacle. I'm sure that means that we'll get a double dose next week. * Evelin and Guy Whose Name I Can Never Remember. Meh.

You NAILED it. Danielle needs so much more than Mohammed, or anyone else, can give her.

Same here. Bingo at noon, knitting club at 1, metal detecting at 3, then driving 20 miles under the speed limit to the buffet for dinner at 4, a Murder She Wrote rerun at 5, and it's off to bed. Cassia will not last long there.

Danielle and Mohammed. *sigh* I just . . . don't get it. Danielle's tears and fear disgust me. Both of them are deluded. Assuming his intentions are sincere (which they are NOT), Mohammed has every reason to regret his decision to come to America. Danielle can't even care for her underage daughters. She should be ashamed of herself for taking food out of their mouths so that her Tunisian gigolo can sleep on her couch, refusing to sleep with her under the pretense of respecting his religion. If I were her sister, I would have washed my hands of this craziness long ago, but not before offering for one or more of the kids to come live with me. Jason and Cassia. I don't understand this relationship at all. The whole nudie magazine storyline was seriously boring and ridiculous. Jason is 38 and lives in a retirement community in what I would describe as borderline squalor. I don't think a 23-year-old girl has any right to come marching into his house and demand that he get rid of some dusty old magazines. Come on, girl. (Side note: That dresser was $1,299?! Wow. It looks like my old bedroom furniture from 1985. Jason was robbed.) Chelsea and Yamir: Chelsea and her ferocious vocal fry still irritate me, but God bless me, I still find Yamir to be endearing. I think it's his vulnerability. He's so young and blinded by love, and therefore not thinking clearly. Hey, some of us have been there. I get it, but at a certain point, you have to grow up and consider the nuts and bolts of a situation before diving in headfirst. I hope he's okay. His old manager was absolutely right when he said that life would be hard for someone like him in Iowa. As for Yamir's band booting him and/or ceasing operations, what did he expect? Daya and Brett. Ugh. She's a bitch and judging by the previews for next week, it looks like Cassidy realizes it. Cassidy is with her father for a couple months per year. The last thing she needs is the disruption of some random woman in the house. If I were Brett and my betrothed called my daughter a "pain in the ass," she'd be on a plane back to her home country within 48 hours. He's a fool and aside from the impact on Cassidy, I really couldn't give a crap about their relationship. Justin and Evelin. I kind of don't care about these two. I find him off-putting, but I like her. Their relationship, or the failure of it, impacts no one in a serious way. Meh. (His mom seems like a genuinely good lady.) Danny and Amy. Amy is easily my favorite fiancé. I feel sorry for her. How must she feel in a strange country, unsure if she'll be accepted, and constantly bombarded by his family to the extent that she can't have any alone time with her fiancé? As sorry as I feel for her, I'm also the least concerned about her. Regardless of what happens, she seems to have a solid safety net back home and a good head on her shoulders. She'll be fine. As for Danny, I think he's fooling himself on a couple of different levels. I miss last season!

Wait a second . . . they have his mother in that bed, too?! I thought it was just Brett, Daya, and Brett's poor little daughter, which is insane enough. Cassidy's mother deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for tolerating that.

* Danielle will never not be ridiculous to me. How can she not see that Mohammed is taking her for a ride? In the totally set-up bar scene, the 40-something neighborhood hussy was driving pretty hard for Mohammed. His constant demure statements about how such things would never fly in Tunisia ring very false to me. There's no way he didn't know what hooking up meant. As for Danielle, her own family doesn't even seem to respect her. I would die if I were trying on wedding dresses and my children or siblings lined up on the couch in front of me said I looked like Shrek. I mean . . . goddamn. Those people don't exactly look like supermodels themselves. * Cassia and What's-His-Face. Come on, man. You're 38. At the very least, clean up your bedroom and get the green slime out of the pool before you bring someone home from halfway around the world to marry. I still like Dad, but coming out to meet Cassia in a clown suit was a bit much. Also, Cassia is deluded if she thinks she's going to come to America and just jump right into modeling. * Danny and Amy. I still love Amy and think she's a sweet girl who's in way over her head. I don't see Danny actually committing to taking time away from his family in order to get to know Amy one-on-one. He said it feels like too much of a weight on his shoulders to shift his attention from his family to his future wife? Suck it up, Danny. You brought her here to marry you. Time to act like it. * Chelsea and Yamir. I feel for Yamir so much. Yes, he's an adult who made his own decision to leave everything behind, but he just seems so vulnerable to me. He will absolutely regret that decision with time. I didn't see any ill-intent in Chelsea's mothers' suggestion that Yamir work at a meat-packing plant. What, exactly, are his options at this point? I can't help but think that if Yamir and his boy band had really been the superstars Chelsea claims they were, he probably wouldn't (and certainly shouldn't) have left Nicaragua. (Yamir's "Ho, ho, ho!" when he saw the chimney was adorable.) * Mama's Boy and the so-called "insta-mom." First of all, she is not an insta-mom to his daughter. If I were her mom, I would be furious at this situation, but hats off to her for keeping things civil for their daughter's sake. I'm divorced and I know precisely how hard it can be, especially when you're dealing with an irresponsible idiot who thinks it's okay to force his 6-year-old daughter to sleep in the same bed with some woman she just met. As for the ridiculous ring drama, I would have bypassed the jeweler's and dropped her ass off at the airport with a one-way ticket, black spot on the diamond or not. That was beyond wrong.

* That package. God forgive me, but I laughed and laughed as that poor boy struggled to wrap a simple square box. How do you reach the age of 19 without ever having wrapped a gift? How does JimBoob restrain himself from kicking Ben's ass just for fun every single day? * Mark this down as the second (?) time we've seen Ben in shorts. Love those bold knees! * Ben wouldn't have a chance in hell with Jessa in a non-fundie world. I wonder if he realizes that. How can she be this desperate? * Another "special" proposal, full of scavenger hunts and mysterious journeys? Does anyone just get engaged anymore without all of this drama? * You know damn well that Ben did NOT plan 90% of this overly complicated, cross-county proposal himself. He can barely string a sentence together. I have to wonder what a girl as seemingly shrewd as Jessa thinks when she watches him struggle to express a coherent thought. * Jessa's entire family was in on the proposal?! Wow. So much for intimacy. * Full frontal hug! Full frontal hug! Full. Frontal. Hug. It shouldn't be that momentous.

The first thing that occurred to me while watching this is that they almost seem to realize that their relevance is slowly drawing to a close. This episode almost felt like a swan song. How many times can we rehash the same old crappy stories from past seasons? It was "special" to see some of the kids, particularly the girls, act a bit more down-to-earth and real. As for J'Chelle's syrupy voiceovers, she would fit in great in a preschool setting (or any situation that involves Ben). I'm not too worried about the older kids' ability to move on with life when the show comes to an end, but I worry about the younger ones. This circus is all some of them have ever known.

Every single one of Michelle's references to and exchanges with Derick's mother have come across as totally condescending, especially after her cancer announcement. Her syrupy "bless her heart" during the public prayer in front of the cameras before the wedding made my skin crawl. God only knows what the Dillard family thinks of this circus. Michelle has no clue how easy she has it. It's been YEARS since she had the experience of taking care of multiple kids. She has no clue what it's like to attempt to hold a conversation with an adult while corralling three or more kids in a grocery store, or dealing with multiple sick kids, etc. She handed that off long ago. Her poor girls have more hardcore child-rearing experience than she ever will. I just wish that Jill had had a longer break from mothering her siblings before becoming an actual mother. Oh well . . .

I have to agree and I'm the first one to speak out in support of people bullying kids. Josie's parents have done NOTHING to help her, despite her being eligible for a boatload of services. It's maddening at best and criminal at worst.

At two damn hours long, I have to watch this episode again to feel like I really absorbed all of the nonsense. It was far. too. freaking. long and took everything I had to stay with it. * I bet my 14-year-old daughter $1 that someone would refer to Derick as Derickdillard within the first thirty seconds of the show. I'm enjoying my $1. * The constant references to Derickdillard and Jill's first kiss were icky and felt more gross and intrusive as the episode wore on. The even more icky references to their first sexual experiences and impending babies were just . . . yuck. Can these poor young people have any privacy? Has any Duggar ever heard of leaving things unsaid? * The jaw-dropping amount of people who helped and attended. I would love to get married (again) someday, but if it involves "crew sheets" and three digits' worth of volunteers, no thanks. * The reenactment of the proposal, complete with that shaggy-haired asshat's horrible song. I was so sure that I wouldn't have to hear that effing song again! Please, baby Jesus, make it stop! * JimBoob and J'Chelle's painfully phony *filmed* prayer for Cathy Dillard, complete with J'Chelle's syrupy "bless her heart." * The lack of actual food (or some kind of protein) for the guests. I understand that it's difficult to manage the serving of a plated meal to 1,000+ guests, but I shouted with laughter when they showed the popcorn machine cranking away. That takes "shabby chic" to a whole new level. * Brotherdillard's dour speech at the pre-wedding dinner. That guy is less than thrilled with this circus and has a hard time hiding it. * The frantic wedding march, as pounded out by Erin Bates. Jesus, woman. Dial it down a notch. * The two-second shot of the Bates family. Ya'll been sidelined, big-time. * Jill's irritating, ridiculous request for 3,000 (3,000!!!) root beer floats and the manufactured (?) drama about someone leaving the freezer door open and melting everything. *yawn* * Jill's barefoot walk down the aisle and JimBoob's "barefoot and pregnant" joke. Can't say I've ever joked with my dad about that. * Bin was in super-duper-ultra mouth-breathing mode throughout this episode. It was kind of surprising. * Jill and Derickdillard's first kiss. GodDAMN, girl! * Cathy's presence at the wedding, in a wheelchair, no less. Much respect to Miss Cathy. She outclasses this bunch of rubes by a country mile.

This whole conversation made me uncomfortable. Derick sounded so sincere in his motives to approach Jim Bob as a prayer partner, but Jim Bob came off almost like a pimp at worst and professional matchmaker at best. I hate that the girls can't find their own mates. Nothing will convince me that Jana or even Jinger haven't garnered any attention by now.

I'm watching it again on the second go-around. I just noticed "Derick Dillard's" brother's snarky comment about how "interesting" he thought it was that Jill and Jim Boob traveled halfway around the world to see Derick. He's never acted like he was completely on board with this whole thing. I feel sorry for Derick's mother. You can tell that she's merely tolerating this circus. I realize that the bride will naturally take the spotlight in any wedding, but this is ridiculous. (By the way, please mark this down as the 82nd time I've been subjected to Wannabe Keith Urban's awful engagement song. Please, please send him "all the way to Kathmandu" so that I don't have to hear this again.)

Let the Jill-fest commence! * J'Chelle needs to cut back on the spray tanning. She is incandescent orange. * Jim Boob used the word "compliant" when describing Jill's childhood demeanor. Hmm. * Jim Boob's little joke about what Jill and Derick are most looking forward to. Ugh. I guess I'm just not used to fathers making sexual quips about their daughters, silly me! * Poor Joy . . . she really is losing her mother. I feel so sorry for her. J'Chelle is absolutely shameless. Do you think she realizes how "lucky" she is to have successful beaten her daughters into emotional submission so that she can wash her hands of the vast majority of her maternal responsibilities? That's not a rhetorical question. I can't imagine pawning off my daughter on someone else. Joy will not only lose her mom, but she'll be pushed into the buddy-mom role for her younger siblings. * The focus on how Jill and Derick hugged. I am utterly sick of hearing about the vertical contact of two grown-ass people. * I don't think the elder Duggars realize what a shark-jumping moment this whole thing is. How can they possibly top this extravaganza with future marriages? We've seen it all by now, and I mean ALL. Like, ad nauseam, to the point of ridiculousness. Where can they possibly go from here?

I greatly enjoyed the first season of this show and hoped that the new couples would be just as interesting. I think that will be at least partially true. It takes me a while to learn the names of folks on these shows (*cough* Duggars *cough*), so I'll refer to them as specifically as possible. * The woman who is 15 years older than Mohammed made me sick. She has three impressionable teenage daughters (who already seem miles more mature than her) and she's not only sending money to some guy in his 20's, but she's bringing him here to marry him?! I have a really hard time respecting that. Unless she's a very wealthy woman, she shouldn't send him one dime. Her tearful performance all through the airport was shameful and awful to display in front of her daughters. Get it together, sister. Seriously. Also, Mohammed's statement in next week's preview that she was physically "acceptable" to him made me furious. That women is so desperate, she's willing to accept the fact that this guy is obviously not in love with her. I can already tell that she's going to piss me off every Sunday night. * The frat boy who looks nothing like Alec Baldwin (??). He was tossing some serious testosterone around that apartment when he insisted on leaving the dishes to his fiance and showing her the cleaning products. I'm sure some of it was for the cameras, but still. I don't envision that relationship lasting. * The guy who lives with two older women. His fiance seems like a total bitch. She complained about the type of flowers he brought her after he went to all the trouble to clean up his place and alter things to suit her preferences? I wonder about this guy. He seems to prefer the company of older women. I think he views them as his little crew of surrogate moms who help guide him through every decision he makes. I find him sweetly pathetic, if that makes sense. That woman is going to chew him up and spit him out. The preview of next week's episode where she talks about getting the ring checked to see if it's real is disgusting. He should have put her ass on the plane back to the Philippines immediately. I know I would have. * Chelsea and Yamir. I don't know what to think of these two. She seems kind of flighty and silly, but that's probably just her youth talking. Yamir acts like a lost little puppy, not at all in control of the situation. If he really is the Justin Timberlake of Nicaragua, then his manager was absolutely right: leaving the country is a step backward for him. The others didn't make enough of an impression on me to comment. I guess I'm here for the long haul . . .

Me, too. They haven't exactly respected Josh and Anna's too-small-houses. Remember when they all showed up for Thanksgiving en masse and a day ahead of schedule, expecting to be accommodated? Josh was right in the middle of creating Jim Boob and J'Chelle's custom-made love nest in the spare room, while the kids and their mothers pretty much slept on the bus or wherever they could stake out a patch of carpet in the house. *barf*

Exactly. Can you imagine how many newly married couples would be ecstatic even to receive Josh's old house? As big of an ass as Jim Boob is, Ben and Jessa should be on their hands and knees thanking him for giving them a place to begin their ill-fated, thoroughly ridiculous marriage.

HA, exactly. I thought the same thing. According to my father, my 14-year-old daughter was conceived via immaculate conception. I haven't corrected him and never will. You know, because we're normal.

I'm with you in the furniture auction with the exception of anything containing foam or covered in soft fabric- way too much bed bug risk. Antique or vintage tables and dressers can be gorgeous and are generally much better quality than the particle board crap of today.

They were bursting at the seams in their old house and unable to finish the new house for years without TLC stepping in. I would go so far as to say that the Duggar family would not be where they are today without TLC.

If only we could remember what Jessa's fiance's name is . . .