Mothra

"This is the place"--oh my. The place to what? I agree, not a good idea. Her other design idea, which she seems unable to get enough of, is those upholstered pieces she puts up against the wall behind banquettes. They don't look good and seem like they'd be really uncomfortable. In their hotel, I noticed they added big square cushions (they look like seat cushions) in front of the upholstered things. I think they might work if she made them more fully upholstered, adding a really thick layer of padding? And I notice they didn't put those things in their own houses!

I love this show and just finished watching the hotel eps. I wonder if/when they are/will extend themselves too far--vacation rentals, regular real estate sales, that misbegotten "wedding" venue space (where do they do their wood working now?), the stupid rolled ice cream thing (is that really a thing? I'd never heard of rolled ice cream before and I don't like the looks of it), and now this hotel. Some of their renos are definitely more successful than others, but I do like the fact that they're saving these old houses. My main beef is when they install "art work" that looks to me like it would be hard to remove (or at least a pain in the ass) if the buyer didn't like it. In one episode, they installed wooden pieces shaped like old tiles they found for the kitchen backsplash, and that strikes me as insane. Their refinishing of shiplap wherever they find it is pretty much OK with me because the old wood is generally lovely, but when they leave vestiges of old paint I wonder how long a buyer could live with that. Anyway, a new season is supposed to be starting soon, and I'm looking forward to it. I hope more people will be posting here!

I stopped watching sometime during the Geno days--did he ever get that cyst taken care of?--and hadn't planned to watch any more. I saw June being given every chance in the world to clean up her life and become a healthy, kind of normal person, and she just couldn't do it. Or wouldn't do it. I think June's delight in life was being shocking and horrible, but I think she also genuinely wanted to stop looking like a giant thumb. (the creatures in Spy Kids 1 or 2? she wouldn't need a costume) I chanced by the show on a surf and saw Anna's cancer turban and watched the first ep of the new season. How the hell did Alana (apparently, via preview) get a $20,000 scholarship to *any* institute of higher learning, much less a well-respected, *genuine* school? Did she get good grades in high school? Wasn't she home-schooled for much of her life? And I'm sorry, but Alana is still fat fat fat. Pumpkin seems to have taken some weight off, and June's body is heavy but mostly weirdly-shaped, I guess from surgery. Alana has a boyfriend with legal troubles, but she is being allowed--apparently--to make his location the deciding factor in whether she's going to go to college or not. Pumpkin at least got her this far without a pregnancy, and if Pumpkin supervised her education to the point where Alana is college-bound, that's a miracle and stars in Pumpkin's crown. The best thing in the world would be for Alana to go to school, live in a dorm, eat in the school cafeteria, and make friends with classmates instead of living her life as something to be looked at, judged constantly, and made fun of for her looks, her history, her family and her life. She needs friends who are unaware of her and her mother's histories. I'm not hopeful but I'm curious, so I'm going to try to watch this season. God have mercy on my soul.

Me, too. But you know what? I love watching them, over and over and over. I sit there in my recliner, occasionally hitting "rewind" because I can't believe what I just saw/heard. TLC could make a fortune just replaying these "Look Back" shows for eternity. I'd watch. From my Kidney Planet, I'd watch.

I think the cruelest (and therefore best) thing the OGs can do to the Dynamic Duo is to laugh at them. I hope hope hope there's another episode that shows Kidney's reaction to the OGs making fun of him and Crybrows. The meanest and most effective way to treat a tyrant is to laugh at him. And don't forget the lure of being on TV as the youngest and fittest of the wives, plus all that easy TLC money. Poof! All gone! The exit of the OGs just screwed CB over good, and she's facing life *legally married* to the biggest ass in town. Oh, if only she could cry!

Announcement: I am no longer referring to Kotex as "Kotex." In my book, he is now and forever Kidney Brown. Or maybe Knifedkidney Brown. Nope. Too long. Kidney Brown. Knifed Brown? No. Kidney is better. Kidney Brown. Rolls off my damn tongue. Acknowledgments and appreciations to Merry Brown. Thank you for your kind attention. Mothra

Again, thank you. I do not recall the Brown parents explaining about their sealings. I do not have the world's best memory, so I probably forgot, or maybe wasn't watching if it occurred early in the series. At any rate, you've set me straight, and I feel like I owe Kotex et al. an apology. Ask me about snake handlers. That I know about.

Thank you again for all this fascinating information. It had never occurred to me that post-Merry weddings would have been official Mormon/FLDS ceremonies--sealings--because they all seemed so casual about observing their religion in other ways (did any of the children go away to serve as missionaries, for example?). What they presented, to me at least, was "normal" American wedding stuff, with the exception of Kotex being the officiant of some services. How crafty and deceitful of them! It would have been a simple matter to announce that cameras were not permitted at the "real" Mormon wedding, and then moved on to the reception, which we apparently *were* invited to. If the goal was to demystify polygamy, that's another big fail. Not not showing the ceremony but in trusting the viewer to accept that there is a sacrosanct part of the religion that outsiders are not welcome to participate in. I think we are adults enough to understand that someone's true religious beliefs might not be something they want on TV, especially since those beliefs or misinterpretation of those beliefs have led literally to people dying in their defense. I mean, trying to understand how multiple wives work out in real life was enough for me. I got enough Mormon mysticism from Big Love. It's where Harry Dean Stanton showed us how to talk to god via a big black hat.

Well, see, Kotex didn't promise to *love* them, so he's in the clear, soul-wise.

Thank you very much, General, especially for the video of an actual temple wedding. I think it was a lovely service. And Kotex did wear his white suit for a couple of his weddings, but not the hat--it looks like a turban? And I think you're right; the TLC money and promotion made Crybrows' wedding what it was, but it still was wrong for Kotex to have anything to do with choosing the dress. Somebody said of her famous father (Theodore Roosevelt?) that he was the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. I think that's true of Kotex as well.

I want to talk about Crybrows' wedding dress. First of all, Kotex picked it out? They don't know that this is the girly stuff that helps create bonds among sister-wives? Second, as I recall, did any of the other wives have a wedding-dress shopping spree like Crybrows did? I can't remember what Janelle wore; I think Merry had a read wedding dress, and Christine wore some home-made ugly thing. Third, this was Crybrows' second wedding. This would've been the time to wear a gorgeous cocktail dress or even an evening gown, but really, for a second wedding? I hate these people with the heat of a burning sun, even old Christine, but I sure do like watching them. Since I've been gone, Live Chat has disappeared from my screen. That's the best reading--can anybody point me to it? Tnx.

It really is hard to imagine how a 20+ person Zoom call would work, especially since some of the adults probably wouldn't feel Safe, the little kids wouldn't know what they were supposed to say, and the older kids apparently are holding grudges (justified or not). Did Crybrows think that this made her look like a peacemaker or something? "I tried so hard to get us all together for Christmas, and they all just hate me so much...<dissolve into dry tears>" At this point, Christine has made it clear that she doesn't give a shit and just wants Crybrows to butt out of her life; Crybrows continuing to try to insert herself where she doesn't belong I guess *she* thinks makes her look good.

As I recall, there was a significant amount of time when Merry's go-to was "I don't feel safe" talking to Janelle. Then something I can't remember happened, and Merry was pre-empted as the keeper of the safe. Of Christine singing *anything* at her wedding: have you heard Christine sing? Even after lessons? Angels in heaven stick their fingers in their celestial ears.

She-Ra is the female counterpart to He-Man of the 1980's cartoon series. Does this make Kotex He-Man? Then is Christine Skeletor, and Merry Man-O-Arms? I'm confused. I wonder if there was any problem getting an endorsement from a representative (or whatever official has to nominate a kid for the service academies) to send a kid from an (illegal?) polygamous family to the AFA? Does anybody know who his sponsor was?

I gathered that it was just a fun thing they did, but Jebus it seems like Crybrows took it as a personal assault. I mean, my husband gave me these tests over the years, and I'm Mussolini, and you just have to embrace it.