Grifter Lives

And, they created the false expectation that a bride must pay a minimum of $5000 for an acceptable wedding gown. And every bride-to-be has a sob story which inspires the consultants to find the dream dress. I do like Randy. OK, back to this show - I better not see any crossovers for SYTTD.

I swear that they photoshopped Ryan into the Stephanie-Ryan couple picture, and the Stephanie solo picture is the original.

I got my first Pfizer vaccine yesterday. No side effects, except an unexpected elation that I got the shot.

Tonight I realize that Non Jovi's pompadour is intentional. His sides and back are short.

Which? 90DF or the Golden Globes?

Season 8 premiered on December 6, 2020. Stephanie and Ryan filmed their entire story over two weeks in October 2020, according to a self-identified middle-aged woman on Reddit (below). Salons and personal services shops in Michigan were allowed to reopen on June 15, 2020. Filming lasted two weeks, and every scene was done entirely at the Victoria House resort. They recreated different parts of the resort to look like they weren't all at the same resort, because it was right after Belize reopened. The "tentpoles" of their story are real, and Stephanie and Ryan were a real couple, as were Stephanie and Harris. They produced the storyline down to fit their production schedule. Stephanie and Ryan had probably already broken up by the time they were actually filming the dinner scene where Stephanie confronts him about her psychic. They didn't interact at all between scenes, or seem like a real couple or at all in love. Stephanie actually did seem into Harris between their scenes. The dinner scene was filmed on Sunday. The doctor wouldn't let her film on Monday, because she had been eaten alive by sandflies. Harris arrived on Wednesday. Stephanie lost her scheduled day off for her sickday.

They both may perceive themselves as damaged goods because of their past marriages. But they stay together out of desperation or resignation. However, at least one of them should be able to articulate and attempt to address their greatest struggles. Instead, they just broadly attack and insult each other. I'd almost want to see Yara or possibly Julia speak to Natalie for a moment of truth on the season tell-nothing - just like Alla and Anfisa. I wouldn't buy Discovery+ for it.)

See Page 5 of their Couples thread. Natalie is desperate to become a mother and thinks that Mike's her very last shot. As soon as she was introduced in her first season, she proposed to Mike that he impregnate her on his trip to Kiev. That trip was unplanned; he was going to investigate and resolve whatever administrative snafu with her visa application. He told her that it wouldn't be a good idea and he wanted the full father-to-be experience. When he arrived, Natalie's mother focused all her conversations with Mike on his and Natalie's starting a family, the joy of parenthood and her yearning to be a grandmother. Natalie is so desperate to become a mother that she will perpetuate the gene pool of Mike, a fat, dumb, uncultured, unhealthy, drunk, carnivorous, alien-believing slob with an uncle who's his cousin.

This was posted on a Reddit thread, Instagramreality, 2 days ago. Even though we know and talk about her face-tuning all the time, the contrast remains shocking.

I have to add that she's not a runner or athlete, despite her early claims and demonstration in Kiev. Every episode, they manage to show her from behind - at the sink, hugging a tree, running out of the car in a parking lot - and the camera stays on her. She has a square, office ass and little visible definition. She wears that cropped white sweater in most episodes, and in the last two, the cameras have stopped on her stomach pooch. Of course, she looks like an Olympian and beauty queen next to Mike and the townies, but I almost wonder if the producers are conjuring pregnancy rumors or how much they dislike her (much less than they dislike Andrew, obviously). I think that Natalie will age like her mother. The family resemblance is strong. I'll also add - Will Jovi and Yara recognize their baby if the child resembles pre-plastic-surgery Yara without Jovi's teeth? Jovi will be demanding a paternity test.

Ugh! And, she was crying - actually shedding tears - supposedly for 2 or 3 days after she spoke to the stepmother. She had to stop her elliptical workout to shed a tear. But, she waited awhile before she called again. I didn't think that she saw her son that often in the first season. I thought she missed him, then, too, because she didn't have custody. But now they act like she has shared custody with the father.

It's not great testimony to help her shill her MLM. Or, maybe she's studying Gut Health 101 at Plexus U. madison_rose11: School? Anything other than keeping babies alive? forget it! There was no way I could tackle both school and motherhood and homemaking. I now thrive through motherhood, I don't feel so overwhelmed and now attend school. I have a part-time job, I run a social media platform and I'm the primary homemaker. All because I started looking into gut health and found products that worked for me! So I'm here to basically say... What's the harm in trying?

This trip shows how little TLC spends on and values the Browns. They drove in one car overstuffed with suitcases and random running shoes. Meri should have said that she needed to drive herself because she was going to spend an extra day or two to check in on her inn, and Christine should have claimed that she was tacking on a visit to Aspyn or Mykelti, just to avoid that miserable car ride to and from Utah. Imagine the original carpool: Christine, Meri and Janelle would have been crammed in one backseat for 8 hours. They probably wouldn't fit. (I noticed how big Christine was in her 7-minute Darger hug.) The older children must have watched the younger children in Flagstaff while the adults were away. I wonder if Robyn's children were self-contained, or if Christine's daughters had to babysit. Also, how does Kurly think that he can look cool driving down the highway: windows down, wind blowing off his hairplugs and ruining his curls? And, does Robyn sleep until noon on trips?

I mentioned the information below (from Wikipedia) in the live chat, because their crying about Kody's going to jail and their ongoing persecution was so fake, it was offensive. Based on the size of the Chicken McNugget on Janelle's face and Joe Darger's mentioning legislation (not law), this episode had to be filmed about a year ago, pre-OVID, of course. The Browns challenged Utah's criminal polygamy law in 2011 and prevailed in district court in 2013. The US Court of Appeals ordered the case dismissed on standing in 2016, because the Browns had no credible fear of prosecution. (Utah only prosecuted polygamy when there was evidence of victim or fraud.) Polygamy was decriminalized in May 2020. The show producers had contacted the Utah Attorney General's office months before the series was broadcast, in anticipation of legal scrutiny. The AG had not ruled out pursuing a case against the Brown fambly, but also stated the office did not have the resources to go after polygamists unless they are suspected of serious crimes such as child abuse or child trafficking. Nobody in Utah had been prosecuted for practicing polygamy since 2001. In September 2010, on the day after the show's premiere, the Lehi police announced they were investigating Kody Brown and his wives for possible charges of bigamy, a 3rd degree felony, which carries a possible penalty of 20 years in prison for Kody and up to five years in prison for each wife. The charges were dropped in 2012.

It looks like Meri's changing her LulaNo wardrobe frequently on these episodes to sell them later.

This whole conversation and storyline are so contrived. You'd think that these polygamists would know it. The Browns filed their case in 2011 and prevailed in district court in 2013. The US Court of Appeals ordered the case dismissed on standing in 2016, because the Browns had no credible fear of prosecution. (Utah only prosecuted polygamy when there were associated crimes.) Polygamy was decriminalized in May 2020.

Joe Darger received the assignment this week to recite the Browns-Fleeing-Utah-Under-Investigation revisionist history.

Joe Darger married his wife's twin, after the twin divorced or her husband died. And, I think he married one of the later wives on the same day as an earlier one. Joe got a gut. The wives have aged less than the Brown women.

I think that his speech from last week could be read that way. He said polygamy was hard on women, but he loves his life, except when the wives' complaining brings him down. And, he wants to marry someone for love, not obligation. (He is no longer in love with Robyn. He loves the pursuit.)

Robyn's minivan just happened to have no child seats installed.

I'm trying to imagine three of them fitting into a backseat.

C'mon. Which one of them is supposedly a runner? As if the one pair of running shoes makes packing a car impossible. Also, I didn't think that the Browns are friends with the Dargers. I think these grifters are trying to capture the halo effect off of Joe Darger. He was really boots-on-the-ground for the protests, etc.. Maybe they'll visit Aspyn and Mitch or possibly Mykelti and Tony in Utah, or maybe not, since they're Christine's daughters. (Maybe they're ditching Christine in Utah, and she doesn't know it yet.)

Nevermind her children. Gabe seems to have actually flourished in Arizona. This time, she didn't protest at the possibility of tearing Savannah out of a new school yet again for yet another unnecessary move. Mother of the Year.

Nobody believes that the Browns are on the FBI's Most Wanted List, although that's how they're acting.

They also gave up on Kody's Plyg Palace on Prairie Dog Plague Flats. The Dargers happily share one house and one kitchen. There's nothing to see there.