cereality

Why would anyone be interested in watching the lead up to the wedding in January, given that we've already seen the wedding? Let's hope Jinger is happy beyond the first few months of 24-7 sex. I don't know about this marriage. Nice to see Derek remains as douchy as ever with his man bun and needed to grab his wife away and kiss her in front of the church and walk her out of the ceremony. So who is this Austin guy? Is he from another mega family? Why else would Joy be allowed to be "friends" with him or know him for 15 yrs -- she's 18-19, so since age 3-4?? Hope it's a long courtship -- at least a yr or 2. Poor Joy -- I really don't want her to have to go through childbirth next yr -- which is what'll happen with a 3 month courtship, 1 month engagement and then a honeymoon baby. She's still a kid herself. Not even 5 yrs ago, she was running around playing tag with the boys and now she'll have to put on the subservient wifely act?!

Love that their individual candles were glued down and they lit their unity candle with a lighter. Seriously -- who thought an 8 ft train requiring 4 people to fix it at all times was a good idea. Ok lets wrap this up -- no need to be rubbing up against each other on the altar.

Is the preacher Jeremy's dad? WTH is wrong with him. He liked her, she liked him back - LOVE HER LOVE HER, we get it. And of course the wife should be a helper. They both look so ridiculously nervous standing up there -- like they are wondering WTH they just got into.

That dress is a monstrosity . . . as are the clashing bridesmaid dresses and the guys' mismatched suits. Can we say budget wedding?? Joy's courting a guy she's known for 15 yrs? They have guy friends? Since when? Hopefully he knows he's getting a woman who doesn't want to be a girly girl and he's fine with that. Maybe it's a convenience marriage -- both have parent pressuring them to marry and/or both want to get on with their lives, might as well marry a friend.

I'm sure you're right but I also get the sense that Derick's mom bites her tongue a lot when it comes to her son. Any other mother may have spoken up re the wisdom of taking a 1 yr old to Central America or staying in Central America despite all the danger or said to her son - your wife looks unhappy or maybe even clinically depressed, why don't you all see someone just to be sure or at least don't force her back to someplace she doesn't want to live. Instead she supports him in whatever he wants bc she probably fears losing him altogether to his crazy, overbearing inlaws and just says things like - I can breathe again - when he returns. So I can see a scenario in which she'd bring up Derick's weight and Jill would jump in and say - oh it's the dental stuff and Central America - and she'd drop it. And I don't see Derick being comfortable enough - at least not in front of Jill - honestly saying to his mom, yeah I'm kinda tired, so that she could encourage him to get checked and not just assume that weight loss is due to a lack of Chik Fil A - which Jill has said.

Do the Duggars believe in medical care besides for birthing when there's complications? I kind of wonder if some of Jill's many anxieties are stemming from worry that there's something wrong with him yet neither one feels they can do anything but pray? He's a 27 yr old young man whose had dental surgery and lived overseas where he probably wasn't getting the nutrition he needed and now he's lost a ton of weight. Chances are it could be something minor as a bunch of vitamins, minerals, thyroid have gotten out of whack and until they're fixed he won't look better. So why not find an experienced dr at a major health system like Arkansas and get checked and take meds if they prescribe you any? Instead of worrying about it and defending your husbands weight on IG as Jill has been doing?!

It was boring. The only things I noticed - Derick looked SO healthy back then and it's not like he's been married for 10 yrs. It's been 2.5 freaking years. I don't know if it's just the dental issues, but he needs to get himself to a doctor and have a physical. And Ben -- he looked sooo ridiculously happy and he had no problem being himself, even if he sounded dumb -- i.e. "the best part of a wedding is getting married." Though I guess back then he didn't have to worry about Jessa putting him down or mocking him. And seeing Michael Seewald, all I could think was about his smug blog post about how people are doing the wrong thing by not getting married until [gasp] 30 or 35 and God wants you to marry asap and make as many babies as possible. Wonder how he feels now -- just 2 yrs later, his 21 yr old is married with 2 kids, still no job or career, looks miserable with his bitch of a wife who puts him down constantly, and living off his father in law who has him by the balls. Hope Mike is happy he raised his son to believe that marriage at 19 and no job is just dandy.

And he's attractive? May not be everyone's type but I'm sure hottie Jessa was scared she'd end up with a guy who looks like her brothers -- pudgy, pale, hair issues by the time they're in their early 20s . . . .

Bc with Bin there was full disclosure - he was 18 yrs old with no job, so JB knew that if he said yes, he'd have to provide the kid a job so he could support his daughter. JB was fine with that bc he can afford to support their household and prefers it that way bc then Bin HAS TO dance to his tune bc he's taking his money. Jer - as of right now - won't be taking his money; so JB needs to make sure he is making "enough" and needs to insinuate that it can't possibly be enough to support a family + Jing's thrift store habit so that Jer can be on the defensive and "prove" his worth. And if this effort is successful as far as JB is concerned, it plants the seed in Jer's mind that he can't possibly support a wife and family and they needs to settle near JB and use his financial backing. That to JB would be the ultimate success -- another son in law who MUST live as JB wants bc he's under constant risk of the money being cut off otherwise. Definitely. If they repeated this statement to the older kids, I bet more than one would have to think about it -- and I bet they'd wonder "why would you have files in the marital bed? Meaning file folders? Does that mean a working wife or husband who brings his/her work home and reads it at night bc uh uh -- no WAY will I have THAT kind of spouse . . . ."

So Derick has substitute taught since he got back!? He posted a picture on his IG saying it felt good to be BACK in the classroom at some high school -- and the pic just looks like a regular old public (parochial? private?) HS. And then Jill posted a pic within the last half hr gushing about how great it is to be back in Stillwater Okla for OSU's homecoming. For the love of God, Derick needs to run with this. He married a little girl who could not bear to be away from her family for a minute. And yet he was itching to get the hell away -- probably bc they are overbearing and he likely doesn't want to be around the molester bro in law, nor raise his kids near him. Knowing his wife would NOT move 2 hrs away to start their own lives and only visit her family once every month or two -- without having a breakdown, he instead jumps into the mission field to get the hell away, knowing that he can play the whole "the Lord is leading us here Jill, what can we do, do you want to disobey HIM?" And yet NOW, having spent a few month in CA and hating it and being scared for her life (rightly or not - I have no idea), now I feel like Jill may be a LOT more amenable to moving 2 hrs from the TTC to a place like Stillwater. Sure it still isn't optimal - which for her is probably living IN the TTC - but it sure as hell isn't as far as CA and you don't have to worry about your safety, you can go out after dark, and drink all the tap water you want. It may be that Derick just does not want a desk job and thus will never want to use that accounting degree 40 hrs a week. Maybe he does derive more energy being around people and teaching. That's fine. He's a college grad -- he can substitute teach while working on his certifications, which he'd have no problem attaining; and then he could get himself hired as a regular teacher someplace in Okla. and can keep up the whole Godly thing by running youth group on the side and/or taking mission vacations each summer. Honestly JILL should be the one seeing this as an alternative road and should start putting it in his ear that that's what is in her heart bc it will allow her to not be in the developing world every 6 months for the rest of their freaking lives . . . .

I know everyone loves Prince Chad but every since he arrived on the scene 3 yrs ago to start courting, I have been blown away by how freaking "formal" him and Erin are with each other. He has spent the majority of his time choked up and teary eyed over (i) asking Erin to court in the exact right way so as not to mess up her dream moment; (ii) same for the wedding; (iii) not having a baby within the first 15 min of marriage; (iv) having to see Zach and Whit have a baby when they didn't; (v) Carson's traumatic birth etc. etc. It's like they never just chill and joke around and have fun like a young couple. I feel like I saw it for the FIRST time in this episode when he was joking about fleas, teasing Erin that now she has fleas etc. He even seemed lighthearted when he was talking so seriously (and teary looking as always) re how much his mom misses grandbabies and how special they are, and then he acts like a normal 26 (28? 30?) yr old, busts out a true smile and says she probably misses him too . . . . For the love of God these two need to relax a bit more and not spend their entire marriage in some kind of polite existence . . . . I know some fundies do that [ahem - Duggars], but Erin comes from a loud, fun family and there's no reason her own nuclear family must be SO serious.

Yep. The Bates don't have any kind of empire -- they NEED their kids to figure out a job or whatever bc they know they can't give each kid a house. On top of that the Bates take the view of "normal" religious people. Kelly has said on their show -- this is how we raised our kids and these are the rules of our house, but when the kids are adults with their own homes they can make their own rules. That has led to Zach owning a TV. To Alyssa wearing pants and tank tops. To Erin (whether she was serious or not) saying this is child number 2 of 2 due to scary medical complications; now whether she sticks with that or not is up to her but her parents had nothing to say about it. Can you imagine if Jill or Jessa said I'm super scared of laboring again due to the C-section or transfusions or whatever last time, so this kid is an only or maybe one more and that's it. JB and Michelle would shame them to death and convince them they were going to hell. Gil and Kelly seem more "confident" -- i.e. we raised our kids with faith and we know they are faithful so we aren't worried they'll stray (too far) so we don't have to approve their every move. Even though I think Derick WANTS to do missions and live abroad and not work a 40 hr week, I have to imagine that some small part of his thinking is to NOT be in Arkansas bc he doesn't trust Josh near his kids and he doesn't trust his wife and inlaws. In a "normal" family with a situation like molestation, I feel like a husband COULD say -- I know he's your bro, but he is not welcome in our home and our kids are not to be left in your parents home without us, ever. And I feel like most wives would "respect" that. Here -- I imagine the whole family has already forgiven Josh already because . . . Jesus camp. So I can see Jill just ignoring Derick and/or JB telling Derick he's being ridiculous and Derick gets strong armed into a situation where his kids are around Josh all the time and he spends the whole time wondering . . . did anything happen or could it have happened!?

I’m not a fan of any of the sons in law including Jer, but when you see them vs. their spouses or even vs. the Duggar boys, you see how huge of a difference there is between the Duggars and even other fundie families. While they were all raised batshit, it still seems like the Dillards, Seewalds, and Vuolos retained some interests besides God and have some sparks of enthusiasm about life. I feel like all 3 sons in law are curious about the world and about people. Bin shows it with his friendship with Flame and even at the football camp/pre game dinner. All of those guys have told Bin there stories re football, music, growing up etc. and Bin seems genuinely interested and curious about what it’s like; he doesn’t seem at all turned off or intimidated or wanting to run away bc they aren’t white country boys like him. Derick – he lived in Nepal for a few yrs and unlike his wife he also looks comfortable in Central America; he may not be doing much but it seems like he does like wandering the street, talking to locals etc. and just seeing what their lives are like. Jer – he has actual friends; both friends that we saw were of minority backgrounds and it seemed like he gets along with them and is close with them like true friends – not made for TV relationships; I believe he played soccer overseas for a while; Korean BBQ is his favorite etc. And we see the same thing with other fundies on TV – the Bates kids have a lot of personality and individual interests; and so do the Bates’ sons in laws who are from other fundie families. Somehow only the Duggars have instilled this fear of – having any interests or friends other God and family is a sin . . . and now the Duggar kids aren’t exactly adjusting well to the world . . . .

I don't mean to give Derick the benefit of the doubt, but I feel like there's a very real possibility that he's overwhelmed with Jill and doesn't know what to do -- so he ignores the situation, prays about it, and convinces himself that the Lord is putting them thru this "test." Here's a guy with ZERO game. He wasn't able to attract a girlfriend despite going to a big state u in the south and hanging out with the football team, cheerleaders, and band his entire 4 yrs there. He needs an arranged marriage. He likely believes -- if I get an arranged marriage to the type of girl with the same values as me, whose family approves, and we are both committed to the marriage -- it will work and we will grow to love each other; I'm from an Asian culture where there are still (some) arranged marriages and this is the rationale -- that with enough common values, faith and family blessings, you grow to love a partner picked by your family. So ok -- he gets Jill. Little does he realize though -- he's getting a girl (not a woman) with an 8th grade education at best; with no friends except her sisters; with no hobbies or interests of her own - though I guess midwifery and birthing might count; with no joy or happiness in her life; with no exposure to the world - even TV or foods like hummus; who had been molested by her brother; and with the view that the husband is the headship and she will do whatever he says. So he marries her, realizes how she's more like a 12 yr old -- does what he can to expose her to Nepali food; football; his friends etc. to show her regular life. His lifelong goal has been to be a missionary and he likely shared those with her when they were courting and she talked a big game about how much she LOVED her 4 days in Nepal and would LOVE TO live abroad and convert the heathens. So he takes her word for it, seeks out a mission and only after he gets there he realizes she's scared TO DEATH by everything probably since she doesn't go to Walmart without her sisters and now has to navigate life many hours away from them. Yet if he asks her, I bet you she -- thru her tears -- says no, no it's fine, this is where the Lord wants us. Only reason I think this is bc he directly asked her, what are your goals for next yr and without missing a beat she says -- the same as yours, what are yours. Um -- ok -- well my goal is to continue a mission, is that ok; um -- totally. Any "normal" woman -- even a fundie -- would have said (off camera), look I know this is your passion and I've dealt with it for almost a yr, but I'm not enjoying it and my goal is to be back in the US fulltime. And then husband and wife would discuss it, compromise -- maybe they decide to do it for x more yrs and that's it; maybe they decide back to the US, but the husband goes back a few times a yr for mission trips, or whatever other compromise. But with him being overwhelmed by so many things re her emotional state and having zero intuition about women + her forcing herself to say she wants whatever her headship wants -- I can kind of see how they ended up this way . . . .

Glad the sons in law (Derek) spilled the beans on the ridiculous 50 pg questionnaire. WTF is wrong with JB!? The ONLY guys who are even approaching are the losers sitting at home who for some reason can't attract a girl otherwise. Even fundie guys meet their women in "regular" ways -- church; their sisters' friends; college; [gasp] a job. The Duggar girls don't have that advantage since they can't ever leave the home for these activities. I could even see [barely] a guy that you got friendly with in college that you wanted to date (or were secretly dating) being told -- well you have to ask my dad and let me warn you he requires 50 pgs of personal info; I could EVEN see a boyfriend putting up with that bc he has gotten to know this girl is awesome and has spent a few yrs with her and sucking it up and dealing with the personal intrusion by JB. But a stranger who merely sees a cute girl on TV!? Um -- no -- he won't even bother. And the only guys who will bother are those who desparetly need a wife bc they can't get one on their own, which is the case for all 3 sons in law. Derick has ZERO personality or game but he knew he'd be parent approved and be assigned a wife bc he was a fundie with a college degree. Ben was 17/18 yrs old with no way to support a wife -- so he was like WTH, I'll give I a shot maybe I'll make the cut. And Jer -- appears to have personality issues and is a famewhore so again, worth it for him to deal with the questionnaire. How hard is Jill praying that she gets pregnant bc that means they don't have to go back to Central America?! Does health have anything to do with male fertility? Derick doesn't exactly look healthy enough to get her pregnant right now. If Jill scares so easily that a shower rod falling sends her running to the safe room and emailing people for prayers -- maybe Central America isn't for her. I mean she is DISTRAUGHT that they had to talk about "plans" for what to do if something happened. I know it's unnerving, yet I know people who work for Exxon and such who are given corporate briefings before Central American travel bc kidnappings/ransom/extortion are real risks. I mean the US Olympic swimmers were held up in Rio and shaken down for cash. You can tell Jill feels "inadequate" that Jessa is pregnant with child no. 2 first. What was with the look on Jinger's face when asked about children -- she just looked at Jer super concerned as he spouted off about the Lord. Worried already?! He's an east coast Italian with 2 siblings -- he may not be down with "as many as God gives us." So Jana bought an old tattoo parlor? Or I guess daddy did? Good for her -- she seems to enjoy that stuff, so I HOPE she gets to do some of the reconstruction/remodeling -- not just JD. Though knowing this family, the boys will do the actual work and Jana will be brought in on the last day to stage the place so that when potential retail tenants come in, there aren't paint cans all over the floor. I feel bad for how sad Jana looks ALL THE TIME. Maybe an interior design business IS what she wants and yet of course she can't have it bc she doesn't have an MRS.

Well now we know why there haven't been decent takers for the daughters. Any guy -- even a fundie -- with any self respect and with any game is NOT going to fill out a 50 pg questionnaire in order to be able to talk to (or group date) his daughters. The only guys who'll jump thru that many hoops are guys who have something wrong with them -- can't attract a fundie girl; personality issues; and/or unmarriable for some reason like no career or money. Where does it stop? Does he ask about their medical history in that questionnaire? I mean doesn't he NEED to know if his daughter's intended has a heart murmur? Do they need to give a sperm sample so a dr. can make sure the swimmers are ok? Does he require a below the belt exam so a dr. can certify that the potential husband can get it up?!?

Jer came off a lot less weird to me in this episode -- probably bc he was on his home turf and didn't have to worry about impressing anyone. It's pretty clear though that he has lived on his own for a while - not in mommy's house or a dorm but in his own apartments - and thus does things a certain way. Nothing wrong with that - we all do. But given how much he wants a traditional marriage where he's the headship for a meek wife with the maturity of a 12 yr old -- I have a feeling Jinger is about to get a LOT of "training" from Jer about how to make the perfect coffee; sandwich; lasagna; how he likes his laundry; how he likes his trash taken out or his grocery shopping done. After all even though he's doing these things for himself now, I'm fairly sure he'll want his meek wife to take over such wifely duties after the wedding night. Nice to see Jer with real friends, not made for TV ones like the Duggars. You can tell him and Luis have some real friendship - even if they don't see each other daily anymore. Just by their interactions - Luis on bended knee when Jer opens the door; Luis saying - we're still going for Korean BBQ after the engagement right, that's really the only reason I came; and after Luis grilled at his house, Jer saying -- can I say I made some of this stuff?? You can tell they joke around like regular guys. Not that'll it'll EVER happen but how nice would it be if the Lord put it in the headship's heart that after getting 1-2 yrs of experience in Laredo, he should work in the NY-NJ-PA area. Though reality is he actually will have to WORK if he wants to be in NY-NJ-PA -- whether it's for a real church or another real job with a paycheck; those areas aren't cheap -- there aren't $400/month apartments like in Laredo; so in order to make at least $1000-1500 rent for a VERY modest, old apartment, you have to pull in some income. While the NJ/NY suburbs aren't the city, it's the closest Jinger could get to her fantasy of life in the city. They are densely populated suburbs with hustle and bustle, amenities galore and more coffee shops than anyone could want; plus she and Jer could take NJ Transit into Manhattan like every weekend to go explore and Jinger would actually feel like she knows city life beyond the 2 days here and there than she gets treated to be TLC and/or NBC/People. Though I feel like if Jinger is as shrewd as Jessa, she COULD convince Jer in a few yrs that the Lord is putting it in her heart that they should return to the NY/NJ area to be near HIS family etc and unless Jer is REALLY averse to working (he could be, he is wanting to be a Duggar after all), he could want to go back and buy into it.

May post more later -- but Jer has friends? Who aren't all white and not all married to white women? Not shocking -- if you are from NY/NJ and don't homeschool, you will have Asian friends. But so refreshing to see on this show . . . someone talking to someone that isn't a sibling.

By no means is Joy or any of her siblings a genius, but I think she is taking to heart the "advice" that I'm sure she is getting from her married sisters and Anna that guys only like girls who are dumb and thus need a big strong headship. Even if she knew a thing or 2 about football, I think she thinks it's better to play the damsel who sits there saying "a 2 point conversion, oh heavens I don't know what that is at all -- my big strong headship will teach me." And she probably realizes that demonstrating too much knowledge of any "male" interest, be it football or airplanes or whatever, will make her look "unladylike" and we can't have that, esp. now that she is of age. I think she -- more than her other sisters -- hides her true "self" the most. She doesn't like shopping -- yet she goes along to watch the kids. On that dumb retreat she said she doesn't like wearing dresses and she doesn't know what she will do on her wedding day. Before she could even finish the thought Anna -- the best person in the WORLD to give guy advice -- jumps in talking about how there are sooo many types of wedding dresses that aren't like traditional dresses and many with skirts -- and of course Joy jumped back in with how she'd find the perfect thing for wedding. As much as the parents break the kids in this family, the kids break each other too. Like Anna with Joy re the wedding dress. Or back in the day on that dumb segment re what each girl want in a husband and Jinger says she wants a city boy and Jill IMMEDIATELY jumps in that -- it's ok if you don't get a city boy bc then you know the lord is trying to put it in your heart, blah blah. Or at the same earlier retreat when Jana says she wants a manual labor guy -- and immediately Jessa chimes in that when you meet the right one, you don't even ask his job. Um -- yeah -- most of us normal folks in fact DO know what our significant others do for a living, and I know I have had situations where certain jobs were dealbreakers bc I know they wouldn't work with my professional goals/demands.

Man -- this family -- so likeable despite being fundie. So funny to see the way Zach freaked out when Whit went into labor the first time -- running around searching for socks and shaving so he could look good for the baby and then crying bc HE was nervous and Whit had to comfort HIM. It was nice to see how much he cared (and still cares) for his wife that he was scared and cute to see Gil -- who had been thru this 19 times -- playfully laugh at him. I really do think Kelly was honored to be at the birth but did not have any expectations and would not have made any kind of fuss if Whit didn't want it. Also nice to see how much Gil cares about his whole family. You just don't get the sense that the men view the women as broodmares at all. When Kelly was talking in the interview about how Whit started to get scared when they were going to bring her back to either flip the baby or do a quick C-section -- you could see Gil wiping away tears. Also nice to see that Gil and Kelly just aren't ME ME ME all the time. After Kaci had been born and they had seen her and spent a few min, Gil and Kelly both say -- ok, we're going to go now, you both need to rest - w/o Zach or Whit having to give any kind of indications about it. Same thing the next day with the family, they let the 15 or so siblings at home visit but Gil and Kelly were quick to put a limit on it and say -- ok we have to go, they need to rest. We've seen other fundie families that would just let their kids swing from iv poles and not even notice or care that their daughter in law looked tired or whatever.

Right - it IS very hard to provide for 19 kids, which is one of many reasons that people - even fundies - don't have 19. Ben comes from a family of 7-8, as does Chad Paine, as does John Webster, Brandon Keilen, and Anna. At some point those families limited their child bearing and probably didn't actively try. If JB found it so hard to provide, he could've done that. Since he didn't care how the kids were provided for or effected and wanted fame and easy money, he went the TLC route - also his decision as headship. But why should TLC - a business - care? That's the parents' job. TLCs job is to make money, not to care that 12 yr old Jackson reads at preschool level and the older girls could benefit from therapy.

Gotta say -- I don't think it's TLC's problem, it is JB and Michelle's problem. TLC is there to make a show that viewers watch such that advertisers will advertise on it and TLC will make money. TLC isn't holding a gun to JB or to Jessa/Jill's heads to make them film this show. If JB REALLY thought the harm to his children was too much, he could have refused to renew the contract at any time and found some other way to provide for 19 kids. I mean didn't Jon Gosselin (at least for a long time and during the divorce - not sure now) put his foot down and would NOT give permission for his kids to be on TV bc he didn't like the effect it was having?? Didn't Bill and Jen totally put their foot down and tell TLC no shooting for x number of MONTHS after they adopted each kid so that they could have time to bond with their family without TLC folks filming every tantrum or smile? I'm sure they did that knowing that TLC could walk for good, but they did what they needed to for their family. Over the yrs there have also been families of multiples who've gotten lucrative offers to film their home life/child rearing and as tight as money was, some said no bc they did not want their kids' childhoods to change in any way -- the Dilley sextuplets come to mind; until the kids reached 18, they'd give 1 interview to ABC on GMA every few yrs and that was it, they absolutely refused even 1 season of a show even though lots of people wanted to watch their lovable kids and they certainly could've used the money.

I think Bin may be growing on some of us a bit bc he is now starting to act like who he was raised to be. Don't get me wrong - he is also from a batshit fundie family, but it's a family with "only" 7-8 kids that seems more "normal" than the Duggars. The mom seems tight with the kids -- I mean SHE was the one who cried when she saw Jessa in her wedding dress, not Jessa's own mom; Ben apparently used to stay up and hang out with his sisters - so I don't think they have the hard boy/girl divisions as much at their house; the dad apparently works 60 hrs a week and does whatever jobs he has to do to make money -- while the Duggar men don't roll out of bed before 10 am. I think Ben has friends -- probably from his homeschool coop/football team; in fact I think his best man at his wedding was a friend, not a brother. And just seeing him interact with people -- I think he likes people, doesn't shy or run away from them even if they are different. I mean -- Flame!? I know it's a made for TV partnership but he doesn't seem at all put off or nervous or fake around Flame and they are as different as can be -- a country bumpkin and an urban black man. Even at the coaches dinner -- he had to feel out of his depth with all these NFL and college players and yet you could see him intently listening to their stories. The first few seasons -- I'm sure he was overwhelmed by the cameras, Pa Duggar, and his bitchy wife. He looked like he was trying SOO hard to please and be sweet; and in the THs he often looked zoned out -- so he wouldn't say anything, so as not to contradict Princess Jessa or to make her mad and to avoid a put down. Now I feel like he'll joke around in the THs even if they are corny jokes or he'll talk even if his vocab isn't the best bc he doesn't care as much what Jessa says. I will say I never understood the Jinger/Bin chemistry thing -- but when he was at the house at 4 am asking her if she got any sleep, the smile/eagerness on his face was unlike any I've ever seen in the Duggar home, ever. I mean guys and girls barely speak to each other. And here he is talking to his sister in law in a very FRIENDLY and familiar way. Hopefully for all involved, no chemistry - but this is his real persona, how he talks to his own sisters . . . .

Bin is a dim wit, I get it. But not everyone in the world is a genius and they somehow manage to make a life without their fathers in law's financial help and without a TV show. With that said, I REALLY wish Bin would do SOMETHING. He seems to like people and jumps in with them in a way that the Duggar progeny can't -- we saw it with Flame and his wife; the football coaches; the kids at the camp etc. He's got an AA degree. Can't he freaking do 2 more years of college and get a BA and a certification and be a phys ed teacher and/or coach? As I recall from my elementary/middle/high school days, those guys were sporty (in their young ages) and yet they weren't geniuses by any stretch. They were people who simply wanted to "play" for a living. I have even known people who had businesses and then were employed with a school district and would show up at 3 pm daily to be a football/wrestling/baseball/whatever assistant coach. That's often a foot in the door which may even be doable with just an AA degree. Kind of feel bad that the one person in that family who COULD do something on his own and without his father in law's/TLC's money isn't doing it. Agree with the poster above, Jer ALWAYS sounds like such a suck up. And then there were the Duggars being Duggars -- spaghetti vs. linguine - uh I don't know ey-talian food! Even Ben mimicking an Italian accent talking about gnocchi and linguine and quesadillas before realizing that the latter aren't Italian. Jer's Italian grandma (and mom and aunts and cousins) are going to be like WTF did you bring home to us, why do you want to marry her and marry into that family!? Having grown up amongst them, Philly Italians can often be very traditional -- still eating traditional foods, doing weekly Sunday family dinners etc. They are not people who will be amused by tator tot casserole or a Dixie cup of ice cream at a wedding reception - they will either be disgusted and/or talk smack about the bride and her family for the REST OF THEIR LIVES.

Probably bc Amy and Deanna are normal - relatively speaking. Christian and church going, I'm sure. But they also seem ok hitting up a mall or a coffee shop without feeling like they'll be defrauded by seeing a dude in a tank top or with blue hair or by seeing someone who is obviously not Christian and feeling like - oh no, they are damned for eternity. I feel like they can try on some shoes at Macys (or even pants - gasp) and grab a latte without the weight of the Lord's purpose on their shoulders. Also seems like Amy and Deanna can make independent choices without sitting around what the Lord is "purposing" for their lives.