[S03.E03: Useful]

"

So, the whole point of that scene was just to force June to pretend that she couldn't read, right?  I was a bit confused."

I thought it was to put June in the position in which she had to choose between deliberately disobeying her commander's order, or revealing that she could read the title of the book.  If he's evil, it's to screw with her and rescue her at the last minute, which demonstrates his power.  But since he choses not to hurt her each month, I'm guessing its to look like he's hurting her and manipulating her in front of the other Commanders.  If he appears to be the kind of man who hates women (which his comments about the women indicated) they'd be less likely to suspect him of supporting the resistance.

And I do understand why he would throw away Cora - he'd be pretty pissed that she lied to him, plus he does need to completely trust his staff if he's going to support the resistance in his home.  

[S05.E08: Chapter Eighty-Nine]

the good:  seeing Alba so happy, and as always seeing the women in Jane's family support each other.

the bad: how utterly annoying Jane was with the stalking, and no Brooke Shields.   

[S09.E18: Family Portrait]

Wait - that was the season finale?  WTF happened this season?  

And yes, I'd agree with the above poster that "it pains me to say it, but The DeJesus girls were the most compelling this week."  Briana continues to look both incredibly stupid and manipulative, but how happy Stella is with Devoin shone through in their pictures.  

It really looks like MTV is just hoping to ride out Jenelle's marriage to David - they can delay filming the next season until the inevitable breakup, and then they'll have quite a storyline as Jenelle, Barbara and maybe even Jace tell all about the Dateline house of horrors David has created.  Lets just hope she divorces him before he kills her (or god forbid) one of their kids.  Oh, and I hope CPS has pulled David's daughter that he's "homeschooling"  because otherwise I really fear for her safety, since she doesn't have teachers to keep an eye out for her.

[S20.E22: Diss]

Boy these must be the worst detectives ever if it took them 20 years to learn that Finn's mother was murdered.  

[S09.E16: He Didn't Look Like a Prince]

"I agree that Chelsea was sheltered and coddled growing up. I disagree that is the reason why she was acting the way she was. She has anxiety. She's mentioned it on the show before, and as someone who also has anxiety, I can see a lot of myself in her reactions. I was not particularly coddled growing up, and I still ended up with anxiety. My college roomie had the hardest-ass, least sympathetic parents ever and her anxiety is through the roof. Point being, anxiety or a panic disorder is about brain chemistry, not coddling. "

The thing is that Chelsea and all the other Teen Moms have the financial resources to help mitigate their stress.  I have a friend who is  extremely financially successful, as is his wife.  They have a full time nanny for each of their children, plus a college student who comes to handle the night shift and nannies for the weekend.  If Chelsea can't handle three kids by herself, the MTV money could be used to bring in as much help as she needs.  And she can spend that time one-on-one with one of her kids or better yet in therapy.  But calling Cole, Randy and her mom all the time for help seems like a way worse way for her to live her life, and not a great example to set for her children.  She can hire a nanny and still stay very involved.

[S09.E14: Something We Said]

I am so disappointed in Barbara.  No, I don't care about what she said to Kail, but when she was defending herself she said, "I say it all the time to Jace.  I'll kill you Jace.  I'll kill you."  Jace is clearly a very troubled child, with behavioral issues.  The last thing in the world he needs is to bounce between the land with his abusive stepfather and sociopathic birth mother and spending time with  Barbara threatening to kill him.  There's really no hope for that poor kid. 

[S07.E08: OH BABY]

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I'm extra fired up about this because the news this morning reported that the "parents" (ugh!) of 13 kids in SoCal were expected to be in court today for "torturing their 13 children." I can't even read about animals in pain, so I instantly turned off the TV. I don't understand how it gets to that level without any warning signs or intervention(s) from anyone at school/CPS/law enforcement. I've seen plenty of documentaries about the victims of abuse and how they hide what's going on, so I know it does happen, but I'm still blown away when I hear about parents torturing their kids, whether it's one kid or 13. 

Those poor 13 children were "homeschooled" which is why I have so many concerns with homeschooling being allowed.  I'm sure there are loving, caring parents who do a very good job with their children, but there is no safety net for children being abused and  no one will supervise Sophia and make sure she gets socialization beyond meeting porn stars and mediating fights between her mother and grandmother.  I was a teacher at Stuyvesant during 9/11, and some wing nut mother showed up to the parent teacher conference three weeks later to tell me how upset she was with her lazy, misbehaving son (and prior to teaching at Stuyvesant I'd taught at another NYC public school where it wasn't unusual to have a parent show up on parent teacher conferences to tell me how awful their kids were.  But normally those were drug dealing gang members and I could understand why the parents had run out of patience.  This was a really good kid - and she said all of this right in front of him).  She said she was angry because her son just sat in his room and didn't do his homework.   I tried to gently explain that her son, along with all the other students, had seen people jumping from the world trade center 3 blocks away, and if he was quiet and not doing anything he might need to be screened for ptsd or depression.  I went to the administration to tell them we needed to get this kid some help, and they told me nothing could be done since wing nut mother was planning on pulling her kid and homeschooling him and under NY state law homeschooling is protected and no one could interfere.  

[S07.E08: OH BABY]

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If this is how he approaches the potential pregnancy, what's his plan when the actual kid exists?  Ugh, I hate him.

Tyler's plan is to drop the new baby off with Caitlyn's mom to raise while he pursues his famewhore dreams of becoming a business mogul running a trashy children's clothing line/ producing shows about reuniting adoptive children.  The only hope for this new kid is that Caitlyn and Tyler have enjoyed all their free time while Nova is in daycare, and seen Nova's daycare potty train her, so hopefully they will use some of the Teen Mom money to enroll their children in a high quality daycare full time.  Given Caitlyn and Tyler's upbringing, I could understand that they aren't capable of full time parenting, but I will never forgive them for not hiring caring, well qualified nannies or sending their children to good daycare since they have plenty of money for that.  Why they'd let Caitlyn's abusive mother raise Nova when they have the resources to hire caring, loving people to do that I will never understand.  They live in a community with a very low cost of living - with their MTV money they could afford good child care in an expensive city, but it can't possibly cost that much where they live! 

[S07.E07: RUNWAYS, REHAB, AND RETAIL]

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If a 23-year-old woman is going to sell her soul for financial security, she should probably be looking for a better situation than that. 

Poor Mac, too stupid to be a good gold digger.

I know the first poster to discuss her failures as a gold digger noted that she lives in Chattanooga, but honestly that's about a 2 hour drive or bus from Atlanta.  Maybe this is because I lived in NYC in my 20s when I was dating, but I really find it hard to believe that Mac could do much better than Ryan if she is a gold digger.  She's not very pretty, she doesn't have a career, doesn't seem to have any hobbies or interests besides wedding planning and she has a divorce and a kid at 23.  If she were a good, kind person it might be possible for her to marry a wealthy man (but she'd have a lot of competition from attractive girls) but I just don't see her having much to offer.  Being married to Ryan must be a disaster, but I think it was that or she'd be lucky to find a hardworking, kind man who works a minimum wage job (and even there I think she'd have a hard time competing with other women who are kinder and prettier than her).  

She's young, so if she has any working brain cells, she'll learn from this experience and after her second divorce she'll try to find a man like Gary - minus the Teen Mom money- but even then I think she'd have not the easiest time catching him because I don't see her as having much to offer besides a perma-bitch face.  

[Catelynn (and Tyler)]

My Facebook page is really private so I posted your comment asking for clarification about what the author meant by their being fault on Brandon and Tyler’s side.  Not sure they’ll answer but the question is there. 

[Mackenzie Edwards: Jesus, take the wheel.]

Ryan’s parents might just want more grandchildren so they can have a do over with their failure of a son.  Hot Ryan from years ago might have had a lot of options for a wife, but aside from teen mom money I’m not sure what Ryan has to offer 

[S07.E06: WHAT A RIDE]

Sofia’s situation demonstrates that it really sad that children can be homeschooled by any raving lunatic in this country. The best thing in the world for her would be to go to school and hopefully learn how to behave like a less feral child by her teachers and counselors.  Now she’ll spend all day long listening to her mother complain about everything, meeting porn stars, and preparing for her career as a model.  That’s a pretty insane career goal for an attractive child, but absolutely nuts for Sophia who would be laughed out of every modeling gig not looking for mtv cameras.  

 

And i I have no idea what mackenzie will do to fill her days after her second wedding is over.  Do you think she’ll hold a vow renewal at 6 months?

[S07.E05: HIGH HOPES]

12 hours ago, Birdee said:

 

Someone up thread asked if the magical Edwards Wedding 2.0 had happened, and based on the pictures I'm guessing yes. Or they just got dressed up and took photos. Both are equally possible. 

 

 

The caption on the first photo: “I promise to always try to give you a bit of my heart instead of a piece of my mind” ? love you so much @ryancedwards85"

 

Ryan, please don't give her a piece of your mind.  There's nothing left to give.

[S07.E01: ICING ON A CAKE OF LIES]

 "Ryan feels like he's never been given any credit, which she hasn't" - Mackenzie

 

Umm.. what exactly would you like Ryan to be given credit for?  

 

The following things don't actually deserve credit:

 

- not actually killing anyone while nodding off while driving higher than a kite

-showing up late/missing time with Bentley due to drugs

-being completely high and nearly incoherent at your wedding

 

I swear it wasn't like Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 didn't have enough completely delusional people on it and now we have more between this Nurse Rached famewhore and Brianna.

[S03.E05: I Never Want To See Josh Again]

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I enjoyed Paula and her family. I know Heather and Valencia said Paula is an inattentive Mom, but her kid are the same way. They all have a snarky sense of humor about family stuff, look out for their own self-interest, and roll their eyes about family bonding, but also got into the boardgame.

They're teenage boys.  No teenage boy wants to be smothered by his mother at this age.  They won me over during the abortion episode when one of them said, "I'll get the door mom because you had an abortion!"  They're funny, and care about her enough to wear pixie wings and play a girlie game for her.  They must really love her, which means she must be in some way a good mother (in between the stalking, inserting trackers into people, faking crimes and god knows what else she's done).

[S05.E01: Twinkle Lights and Grandma Shoes]

The fat suit was written in to accommodate the actress' pregnancy with twins.  I'd be totally opposed to this if she weren't pregnant, but since she is I'm willing to see how the show handles it.  

[S08.E17: In Sod We Trust]

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Yes.  I suppose it's all a matter of degree.  I don't think of dentists as being particularly wealthy.  

Randy (hopefully) has enough sense to help Chelsea set up a basic financial plan and pay her taxes which are not withheld since she is an independent contractor, and set aside a decent bit of her paycheck in savings for her family.   I normally like Randy a lot on this show, but I do worry about his judgment due to his twitter wars.  Randy might not have enough money to completely support all of his children and grandchildren permanently, but I have the highest hopes for Chelsea to remain financially stable when this franchise ends.  Nearly 70% of lottery winners are broke within 7 years, and that's likely to happen to Jennelle, Leah, Brianna, Catelynn, and Amber when this series ends.  I'm hoping Chelsea has savings, plus Randy can help at least a little, and Farrah works (although I'm guessing most of her outside income comes from adult entertainment products like cam work, and as she ages this line of work may become less lucrative) and beer isn't too expensive so hopefully Maci will also be okay financially. 

[S03.E03: Josh Is a Liar]

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ITA about how weird it was that Josh's friends turned on him like that, especially knowing him since childhood--wouldn't they want to check with him on that article?

Especially since some of Josh's friends have not appeared to be Rebecca's biggest fan club in the past.  I remember someone (maybe White Josh?) rolling his eyes and wondering, "why are all my friends in love with this chick?" when Greg and Josh were fighting over her.  Even if Josh's friend's liked her, the title of the article was "don't date him" and the first person you'd think about is an ex-girlfriend being responsible for that message.  And considering the fact that he'd just stood a woman up at the altar, it seems pretty likely that the source of the article was very untrustworthy.

 

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In passing, Heather has been attending a community college, right?

Can she take some or all of her courses to a 'real' university and go for a Bachelor degree, then a Master's and then a Doctorate?

If she's at a community college in CA, it will have an automatic admission program to local University of California campuses.  In most states, if she maintains a strong average, and completes certain courses that are clearly outlined on transfer websites she can automatically transfer into a nearby 4 year school.  In California, this means that  you can go to a community college, do well in the prescribed courses, and then automatically transfer into 6 University of California campuses.  Some classes at community colleges can be transferred to a 4 year school; others are lower level credit and won't count towards a 4 year degree.  If she had legitimately taken every course at the school, she could transfer two years worth of credits into a UC campus and would be halfway to her bachelor's degree.    

[S08.E12: Somewhere Else]

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If Barb is the custodial parent or guardian, doesn't she have to know or even grant permission for Janelle to take Jace somewhere on vacation?

Some custody agreements allow a noncustodial parent to take the child on vacation, and the parent with primary custody simply needs to be notified in writing a certain number of days in advance that this will occur.  The parent with primary custody does not need to grant permission; they simply need to be notified.  Jenelle mentioned that this was the case for her Jace's custody agreement in the last episode (not that she is an unimpeachable source, but it is possible that the custody agreement states that she can take Jace on vacation wherever she wants to go as long as it is during the time she has visitation and notifies Barb in writing).  Other custody agreements may require the permission from the custodial parent for travel; it just matters how the agreement was written.

[S08.E12: Somewhere Else]

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I think Kail's classmates hate her. Just sayin 

 At a school like Delaware state, many of the other students are parents.  A lot of students are balancing a full time job plus taking classes.  At great inconvenience and expense, they arrange child care so they can attend class.  If I were working at a minimum wage job and paying for a babysitter, I'd be pretty pissed off that Kail shows up to class constantly with her children in tow especially since she can easily afford a babysitter with her MTV checks  (and she mentioned in the car that the kids always come to her wed class, so this is a constant disturbance).  

[S08.E11: Swiping and Griping]

Dear Coven,

Nova is a very sweet little girl.  But when a five year old sobs and bites her nails through her graduation ceremony, it is a sign that you need to stop  trashing her biological father in front of her and talking about putting her unborn sister up for adoption in front of her.  

Since Briana had no intention of ever putting her baby up for adoption, she could have tortured Luis for "cheating" on her and violating the sanctity of their one night stand when Nova was out of the room.

[S08.E10: Welcome to a Puerto Rican Baby Shower]

I'm a professor, and I've had students bring children to class on rare occasion for emergencies.  But whenever this happened, my students were very proactive about supervising their children and minimizing disruption to the class.  Kail was sitting in a tiny class, texting on her phone (which is rude as hell to do during class by itself) when her two children started whining and crying.  Then she puts down her phone to start discipling them.  I'm happy to welcome most children into my classroom, but I'd have thrown her and those boys right out.  If you have an emergency and need to bring your kids to class, you focus on keeping them quiet and paying attention to the class.  You don't focus on texting your friends to b*tch about which one of your three baby daddies is pissing you off currently) 

[S08.E10: Welcome to a Puerto Rican Baby Shower]

I usually really like Corey, but good god, please stop letting Ali play baseball before she gets a serious injury.  I was worried that she was going to fall backwards with no helmet on after being hit in the face with the baseball by Aleeah  (although she was on grass).  I just wish they could find activities for her to enjoy that she will be able to do when the ms progresses.  It is really painful and sad to see her playing sports, knowing that this is going to have to come to an end soon.

[S08.E08: On the Hunt]

I think Chelsea is upset and went on a twitter rant since she seems - as posters above noted - a little cranky, especially with aubree.   I don't judge her for this at all since she has a 4 month old, and is probably just sleep deprived.  I'm sure I was worse when my kids were small   

 

I don't doubt that MTV cobbled together footage over a few weeks to make her look like she's always snapping at aubree.  And I believe she's a really loving mother.  It's just that it's hard to keep your temper always when kids push your buttons.  But that's the risk you run on a reality tv show and Chelsea needs to decide if the financial rewards are worth the invasion of privacy.  

 

And in other news, when you've been charged with as many crimes as jenelle and can't enter the medical field due to your record, you don't get to criticize the person giving up her senior years to raise your child drinking wine with dinner.

[CHECK UP WITH DR. DREW SEASON 6B (PART 2)]

I think Caitlyn got a "good edit" for many years, when MTV helped to hide her pot use (and god only knows what else).  Caitlyn likes being seen as a good, kind person who takes care of everyone else and tried to project that image on the show.      MTV has in recent seasons  been less willing to hide her flaws - plus she's really enjoyed ganging up on Farrah on camera with the other teen moms.  Her story used to be a lot more sympathetic when she was just the poor girl who was forced to give up her child for adoption or else she'd lose Tyler.  But now she's the mother of a fairly neglected child, whom she regularly dumps off on her abusive mother or crackhead grandfather.