handshakefulness

You're right. I've never thought Jana and Jill look alike before, but she does look like a softer Jill here. I think it's the atypically high angle of the picture making everything look narrower. Jana and Meredith seem to have a strong bond, which I suppose happens when a SAHD has such a heart for other people's children. Wait -- does John David fit into this topic? He certainly seems like a lonely J. I was thinking recently how acutely lonely he must have been during and after everything that happened with Josh. Suspicion must have naturally been cast on him too, the family was divided up by gender, and there are no other boys that close to him in age. Josh was shunned, JD's own twin sister was off limits for bonding, and it seems that for a time at least, the older boys were encouraged to stay away from the little kids too. Not allowed to befriend anyone close to your age in the family, and you're also not allowed to have any friends outside the family? Poor John David.

I recently watched 14 Kids and Moving into a Death Trap or whatever the first show was, on YouTube. Young (and shockingly slim) Joshy narrating nauseatingly for the camera. I wanted to reach through the screen and throttle Josh when I heard him narrate in a cheerful, sing-songy voice: "Poor Jessa! She's in charge of the laundry." Cut to a shot of the laundry room, and little Jessa throwing around some huge sacks of laundry in it. The laundry room, where we know Josh attacked one of his victims. This show was filmed after that incident. I didn't think anything Josh, or the rest of the family, did could shock me after everything that's happened but that was one of the most tasteless and upsetting things I've seen them do. Healing from the past, my immodest ass.

Of course Blessa's idea of "healing" is to smirk while presenting the Godly Diamond on her sister's head. It's very Susan-Sarandon-in-that-Soap-Opera on Friends making sure she takes up as much of the camera's shot as possible. At least the other three barely-recognizable sisters have the good grace to look somewhat serious!

Agreed. I think it's more that Ryan seemed disdainful of Bintley's wanting to keep his clothes clean (and said "don't be a girl"). Bintley looks a lot like his mama, and naturally has picked up on some of her mannerisms. (Saying "seriously?" when Ryan threw the pumpkin guts on him was classic Maci.) It's interesting that we used to hear so much about racing or moto-crossing or whatever that sport is called with the three-wheelers and four-wheelers, and Bintley used to have a little car he raced around in, but now that he's older he seems to be playing more civilized sports (baseball, basketball). But overall, I don't think Ryan is thinking this much about it at all. As someone astutely pointed out upthread, he generally treats Bintley as you might expect him to treat a kid brother -- sometimes jokingly, sometimes affectionately, and sometimes with a nasty, bullying undertone. It's not surprising when his parents have done the bulk of Bintley's parenting at their house, turning him into more of a baby brother than a son.

I watched Maci's 16 & Pregnant recently. (Big organizing project, television necessary...) It was fascinating to see both Maci and Ryan, in a very the-child-is-the-father-of-the-man sort of way. They are just so recognizable. Maci is a mix of responsible (preparing for the baby) and weirdly risk-taking (four-wheeling at nine months pregnant). Ryan is sleepy and disengaged. I mean, some of the dialogue could have come from any episode this season ... or last season ... or the season before. Baby Maci was full of the same sort of bravado she still has now: she is the busiest, most productive, most sensible, and most hardworking person around. And I don't dislike her! I just find myself exhausted not by her actual circumstances but by her constantly reminding me just how exhausting her life is.

No love here for April or Butch, when they were using and tormenting Catelynn about the adoption for sport. Those years were hard even to watch -- can't imagine living them, and unsurprised that Catelynn has continuing issues. But regarding the fight that led to Butch's imprisonment, I watched that episode recently, and April says that a neighbor called the police. April also showed Catelynn and Tyler a dent in the bathroom wall where Butch slammed her head (...) and marks on her neck from his choking her with a towel. April said that Butch was clearly on something and not himself, and that he had never attacked her before (and then the camera cut, interestingly, to Kim's very expressionless face). While I don't doubt that April and Butch have gotten into it more mutually (and less destructively) in the past, the incident that sent him to prison was apparently violent enough to surprise the whole family. That said, April's insistence that Butch wasn't himself seems to be how she herself feels about -- she hasn't acted like she's afraid of him, and certainly she seems to have encouraged, and is continuing to encourage, Butch's non-legal relationship with Nick. I'm of two minds about Butch's reaction to the parties. Part of me thinks he was trying to take responsibility for the fact that he'd gone to prison and it was his fault; part of me thinks he was deflecting blame and was frustrating he couldn't take part from the start. But it wouldn't be the extended Lowell-Baltierra-[April's maiden name] clan if there weren't some mumbled, unclear sentiments about past or previous drama, so there's that. Nova didn't look too happy with the cake. In general, she looks much more like Catelynn to me, while Carly at that age favored Tyler. A not-very-nice part of me wonders if that has in an unconscious way affected the way her parents feel about her.

Breaking my lurking streak to say I recently rewatched Catelynn's 16 & Pregnant episode (I know, I know) and spotted a long-haired Ashley shooting hoops with Tyler and discussing the pregnancy. So she goes back at least to that point. I don't recall seeing her in previous seasons of Teen Mom, though. Regarding Dawn's presence at the wedding - could it be that if they showed her, they would have to pay her? Meanwhile, I hope and assume that she was there because of her importance in C&T's lives, though a part of me wonders if she didn't also want to be there for the big meeting just in case anything went wrong....