Heathen

Your kindergartners -- the first group -- probably don't live in a bubble consisting of their parents and 63 siblings. I knew my parents' names at that age, but I didn't live in a bubble, either. Kelly and Gil really screwed over their kids, didn't they? It's a damn shame.

That's what happens when you're in the middle of a shitload of kids, and you never ever go to school or anywhere without family. She didn't know his full name (if that scene wasn't entirely faked) because she never had to learn it, or fill out forms that asked for it. And also because she's a fundie dingbat, but that goes back to my first point.

The whole ER schtick about doctors and nurses was that ONLY the main, featured characters cared about their patients, so they worked in a crappy hospital for crappy pay. All other medical professionals were only in it for the money, dag nab it, and they'd skip out on their patients at the first opportunity. With that plot line, of course Peter would have to sacrifice caring for Reece since he was the only surgeon there at any given time. Or the others were so blindingly incompetent that Peter (or Corday or Romano or Dubenko) would have to dash in and save the day, and the patient. (I'm surprised the writers didn't make Abby a surgeon to further her god complex -- it seems like an obvious choice.) It all was total nonsense, of course. But that was the storyline throughout the series' run. Remember the bit about how Carol, ER nurse manager extraordinaire, was so underpaid that she could only afford a falling-down house, with holes in the roof, under the El tracks? Or Mark, an attending physician, could only afford an apartment where things "scurried about in walls"?

He should have bought them both a freaking clue. My snark brain says that Carlin's "oops" was done on purpose so that she wouldn't have to help with dinner anymore, or again. Giggle giggle, look at me -- I can't even tell the difference between sugar and salt! What POS she and Evan are.

Carla didn't meet Roger until after Reece had been born. He was not named on Reece's birth certificate, and as Carla's husband and Reece's stepfather, had absolutely no default right to Reece. As Peter's lawyer explained at one point, since Carla named Peter as Reece's father, she could not have contested his parenthood if she had lived. Roger could and did because neither he nor Peter was Reece's biological father, and thus they were on equal ground as far as custody was concerned. I hated and still hate that storyline. I know the writers needed a way to get rid of the troublesome Lisa Nicole Carson, but did they really have to engage in such nasty tropes about Black people, and Black women in particular? And why did the storyline have to have such a ludicrous ending, with Peter telling a big fat lie in court and miraculously getting sole custody of Reece? It's so bad, it rivals most of Abby's idiotic storylines for stupidity. As far as your question about why Susan's storylines were so bad the second time around, I'd like to know. I can only guess that it was because the writers just sucked by then, or because the writers needed to fill in the gap before St. Abby came along and ruined saved the day.

I meant, the beat-down old crappy Duggar house survived the move? Not that the Duggars move entire houses -- lots of people do. But not usually that kind of house; in my experience, people move historical houses like Victorians.

It actually survived being moved? Huh. The things you learn.

Trace and intelligence are like Clark Kent and Superman. Never seen in the same place at the same time.

Yes, she's got braces in the photo. I guess the Rods, like the Duggars and Bateses, either grift the braces or find a way to pay for it themselves, because they'll need to put her up for sale in a few years. Countenance, y'all. Tessie's eyebrows also appear to have been born again.

She's smart enough to request the test and then exaggerate the results to get attention. That's part of factitious disorder, too. "Factitious disorder symptoms can range from mild (slight exaggeration of symptoms) to severe (previously called Munchausen syndrome). The person may make up symptoms or even tamper with medical tests to convince others that treatment, such as high-risk surgery, is needed." https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/factitious-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20356028#:~:text=Factitious disorder imposed on another,the intention of deceiving others.

Reddit has it that checking for lead is part of routine bloodwork for kids. The super-duper, ultra-cynical part of my brain thought factitious disorder imposed on another.

I wonder if newly married fundie women expect that someone else will do the work for them, like they and others did for their mothers. I mean, Carlin is ninth, I think, in the Bates lineup. By the time she was born, Kelly wasn't doing a damn thing except incubating (and whining). She likely doesn't remember a time when her mother did anything else, so she probably got married and had Layla while thinking that her maid would show up any day now. Habits are hard to break. That's probably more credit than Carlin and Evan deserve. I think they're mostly just lazy doofuses. As for Hello Fresh and other meal delivery places, unless the Stews got a hell of a discount, it might be more than they can afford on a regular basis. Hello Fresh gets pricy (and they'd still have to cook it). Not that "what we can afford" has ever played a significant role in other Stew decisions.

The Bateses are Duggars-lite. They may not tie the adult kids to them with businesses and property (because Gil and Kelly have neither businesses nor properties to spare), but they certainly pressure the kids to stay in the cult, continue the baby-making, and follow their "modesty" rules (at least the girls). The Bateses are nothing more than Duggars with less money and in more aesthetic packaging.

Lawson: googles "submissive fundie-lite brides with money"

My guess: Low self-esteem and/or Boredom and/or frustration with her career and limited roles for Asian actors and/or Wanted to get married and have children and/or Wanted a change, period = Enter Lawson. Where and how did they meet?

He's got a big exhibitionist streak in him. Remember him groping her ass at their wedding? I would bet that he encourages her sexy-fundie photos.

In the birth episode, I think Elizabeth says that she'd been sitting around for a few weeks already. Maybe she used up some of her allowed time off before Ella was born. Scoot over in that handbasket. How a hot mess like Abby managed to get any man to fall in love with her -- let alone well-off, good-looking doctor after doctor after doctor -- is beyond me. Half the time, she looks like the female version of pre-haircut Chuck. At least, we can be grateful that it wasn't Smell-o-Vision.

I was just thinking that the Stews are the people duh-isms are made for. Don't use Drano on your face? DUH! Don't use the hair dryer in the shower? DUH! Take the cap off the pen to use it? DUH! Homeschooling for the win!

Not soon enough.

"Miracle" baby courtesy of a fertility specialist. I wish William a long and happy life, and a quick escape from the cult as soon as he's legally able.

What does the thumb-in-pocket thing mean? Fingers pointing toward their crotch? (Ew.)

I think the reality (haha) is that kid problems are relatable, but there is nothing relatable about unemployed lazy doofuses -- with unemployed lazy doofus husbands -- getting cosmetic treatments. The ridiculous expensive salon hair coloring isn't relatable, either. Use a box, Carlin. The Skin Edit should do a before-and-after of the Bates sisters. Wouldn't that be a riot?

You'd probably recognize the expression. Big, puffy lips with a tiny hole in the center of their mouth, either on purpose or because their lips are so big that they can't close their mouths completely. Exaggerated keyhole: https://theskincareedit.com/renee-zellweger-before-and-after#gid=ci02b98f3d50002712&pid=at-the-1998-new-york-city-premiere-of-one-true-thing Another way you can spot lip fillers is if the upper lip is as big as or bigger than the lower lip. That doesn't happen in nature. https://theskincareedit.com/nicola-peltz-before-and-after A third way to spot fillers is if the lips are bumpy or uneven: https://theskincareedit.com/priyanka-chopra-before-and-after

Josie gets lip fillers, too -- same keyhole. I doubt either of them can ever pass a mirror without primping.

If they use the Gil Bates method of financial planning, they're not planning to pay their ER bills anyway. I would not be at all surprised if that's what they're doing. They've got a mortgage and a(n overpriced) car, so they might have decided their credit rating isn't so important now. Plus paying ER bills would cut into their fun money, ya know.