TheRealT

Isn't Braylee Kailyn's sister's daughter's name? Is that a thing now? Seems pretty odd that two TM's would have nieces named Braylee.

I'm really impressed with Olivia and how she's worked at and succeeded in keeping UBT out of her son's life. If Nathan weren't so fucked up, he could have done/could do the same for Kaiser.

I hate them both, but Jenelle is actually being pretty hypocritical with that comment. She has never been a very "hands-on" mom, ever. She abandoned Jace when he was an infant, first while she was living with him, then even more so once Barb threw her out. She has never seemed particularly eager to take care of her two subsequent offspring either. It's clear that UBT, fucked up asshole that he is, is BY FAR the more hands-on parent to all of the kids, including Kaiser (and Jace when he's there). I actually think Amber is a better mom than Jenelle. (Which, wow, just contemplate that for a moment.) Amber is only barely functional as a parent (at times), but I believe that she has some affection for her kids. I think she would have to be in a really, really, really bad situation to even consider, say, killing one of her kids or helping her boyfriend cover for having done so. Jenelle? Not so much.

Yes, UBT is too stupid to understand that sabotaging his, and now Jenelle's, MTV careers will leave them without an income. I actually want an explicit statement from MTV that Jenelle's pay for the season was cut dramastically since she's down to only appearing via Skype. There's no way she should be getting the same money as those who have to endure the crews in their homes for days/weeks. The mere thought that she might still be getting paid substantially pisses me off to an irrational degree. Exactly. I think her sister already sees through her. Their staged conversation on the patio was really awkward. I think that when Kail invited her to go to NYC for a "bonding" trip and was making such a big deal about wanting to get close, she was kind of weirded out by also having to film scenes that were essentially scripted by Kail to make herself look good. That would be especially weird with a relative you didn't know very well. On top of that dynamic, Kail was her usual self-involved self during that trip, obsessing over Chris. The sister (can't remember her name. Mikaila?) was probably thinking that Chris sounded like an asshole, their "relationship" sounded fucked up, and she wished Kail would STFU about him while Sis was trying to enjoy NYC. But still, she tried to be nice and support Kail. Then Chris showed up at the event and Kail dropped her like a hot potato in 1.3 seconds. They were probably supposed to hang out after the event, but Kail totally blew her off and didn't contact her until she needed her to film the scene rehashing the drama at the event. I could totally see Sis sitting in her hotel room all day waiting to hear from Kail, only to be summoned to perform for MTV (possibly with Chris sitting in the corner refusing to film). Then when the scene was done, Kail was like, "Thanks. It was good to see you. The producers will get you a car to the airport." Then she didn't hear from Kail anymore until she wanted to come to TX to... film scenes for the show. And THEN she had the nerve to try to give "big sisterly" advice, throwing shade on Sis's relationship. Their relationship has barely begun and Kail has already shown her true colors. She can't help it.

In all fairness, I think that Brittany actually has her own place, separate from the Coven, but they all pretend to live in that apartment for the show. Even so, ITA with what you're saying. The De Jesuses are definitely WAY too enmeshed and Briana is seriously lacking as a parent. With that being said, I get where Roxane and Brittany are coming from because Briana is very dumb and, if left to her own devices, it's 99% certain that she would put herself and her children in bad situations over and over. They're trying to prevent that (with limited success), which I get.

Totally. Briana is very, very stupid, so she doesn't realize that Nova, who is much smarter, has almost certainly figured out what's going on with her mom suddenly going to NY every other weekend to visit "a friend," then this "friend" showing up and everyone acting weird around him before her mom goes somewhere to spend the night with him. Plus, it's pretty likely that Roxane and Brittany discuss this issue along with all of their other business in front of/within earshot of Nova. Is anything in their apartment out of earshot? So Briana is making the whole situation more difficult and confusing for Nova by lying to her about it. Are Briana and John still together? I didn't realize that Leah and whatshisname have already broken up and she's back with Jeremy (which, WTF?).

UBT is SO FUCKING THIRSTY. It's sad, really, except for how completely hilarious it is that he pissed away his reality TV career, which obviously meant SO MUCH to him. And the best part is that it was 100% his fault and 100% because of how stupid/crazy he is. He thought he could get away with all the threatening behavior, then, when that failed, he really thought he could bully them into letting him back on the show. I would assume that he's also entertained deluded fantasies about getting his own show apart from MTV (after they betrayed him). I guess that's what the SM sparring with other cast members is about? Or maybe he thinks he can drum up enough controversy to convince MTV to bring him back? It's completely obvious to everyone who's not totally delusional that his ticket is 100% punched with MTV, forever and ever and ever, but he doesn't seem to get that. Doesn't Jenelle have a manager or agent or whatever? Wouldn't that person have explained to them that there's pretty much no way UBT will get back on the show and that, if there were the remotest chance of that happening, he would have to stop publicly showing himself to be an angry, violent asshole for at least a couple of months? Obviously, they don't listen to anyone, but it shows how far gone they are. He can't even fake being "normal" on SM for a few months (or a few days, probably).

Yeah, they must have pet sitters when they go away, right? I wonder why the pet sitter didn't discover the robbery before they got home (unless the robbery happened shortly before they arrived).

Not only can they afford a security system, but people who follow them on SM probably know in real time every time they leave the house to go to Target, and know all about their vacations weeks in advance.

Yeah, I can't really understand saving up for a luxury item that's not even a luxury item, especially as a financially struggling single parent. It's not like a C&C diaper bag is an heirloom piece that will last through 2 or 3 kids and be a valued vintage item in 20 years. It's a pleather bag in a trendy (at best) design. I would assume that there are many cuter/better made/etc. diaper bags on the market. With that being said, I can understand why C&C signed on since it seems that the venture requires almost nothing of them. I guess I'm more mystified about why the company sought them out. Maybe they got rejected by all the A, B, and C list celebrities they approached and C&C were the first to bite.

Yeah, maybe I just don't understand marketing, but it seems unlikely to me that the type of mom who could/would buy a $170 diaper bag would be particularly inspired by Chelsea and Cole. I can see how they're a cute couple, but they're hardly aspirational to those type of people. I imagine that most of C&C's fans are younger, less educated, and have less money than the Lululemon/yoga mom set. I don't even see how a nice diaper bag would be a splurge item since it's not significantly better than a backpack from Target on a practical level. I imagine that most "normal" parents would rather splurge on a nice stroller or something. I would think that people who are already Chelsea fans or who would be drawn the image she and Cole present would be a much better market for baby/kid t-shirts with cute/annoying sayings or something like that.

No tea, no shade, but what makes you think C&C have any particular aptitude for or interest in designing? Their situation is literally having a company approach them (I don't believe the story that Chelsea approached them) saying, "Hey, would you be interested in attaching your names to these baby products we're making? We'll give you some money. You don't have to do much besides pretending to work with us on your reality show and plugging the stuff on your SM." So they said yes, filmed some fake scenes for the show, and now they're collecting whatever money the venture is making. I don't see why they wouldn't have taken the deal. They've already sold their privacy and the diaper bag thing is far less of an intrusion into their lives than MTV. In the unlikely event that it takes off and becomes wildly successful, they can figure out whether they have some interest in designing/how they can maximize the opportunity and go from there. Frankly, neither Chelsea, nor Cole, seems particularly stylish to me and I doubt that they will ever be on the cutting edge of fashion in any sphere. I also doubt that their "brand" will ever catch on in a big way, inspiring millions of C&C fans across the country/globe. That's not who they are and I think they know it. I think they're grateful/surprised to have thousands of fans who genuinely think they're awesome and to make whatever money they can from that. They also have thousands more SM followers who aren't necessarily that into them, but they make money from them too. I think they're well aware that this won't last for long and they're making the most of the opportunities while they can (as they should since they've already sold their privacy).

Seriously, why is this even a show? This might have been the most boring episode ever. We're reduced to Leah going to the gynecologist with her boyfriend as an actual storyline? Really? And the most "interesting" subplot was a senior citizen getting drunk with her mentally ill daughter and talking shit on SM. Millions of dollars were spent producing this crap?

I thought about that too. Jo and Vee literally spent years working to build a "positive" co-parenting relationship with Kail, eating TONS of shit and giving her a million second chances while she only marginally gained self-awareness and minimally expressed gratitude for all that they did for her and forgave her for. I'm sure that Vee, especially, found it very hard to set all of Kail's assholery aside and truly embrace their "crazy blended family" and even support her daughter getting close to Kail. Then, the first time Jo doesn't bend to her will (in a situation in which Kail was totally wrong), Kail goes ballistic in 2.0 seconds and is quick to turn on them, even Vivi. What the everliving fuck? Personally, I would be very reluctant to encourage any type of relationship between Kail and Vivi after that. How will it affect Vivi when she's 5 or 8 or 11 and Kail, someone she's known all her life, whom she's been taught to view as family, suddenly severs all ties with her because her parent(s) did something to piss Kail off? And the thing is, Kail isn't just some random neighbor or friend whom the Riveras can let drift out of Vivi's life. She's always going to be around and she's always going to be an important figure in their lives. If Kail weren't such an asshole and so immature, she'd realize that too and try to maintain at least basic civility with them. But, as we saw with her behavior at Isaac's basketball practice, Lincoln's soccer games, etc., etc., she doesn't give a fuck how her petty bullshit affects her kids. So that puts Jo and Vee (and Javi and Lauren) in the position of having to accommodate her as much as they can stomach ALL THE TIME because they know she has no problem making everyone, including her (and their) kids, pay if she doesn't get her way. I feel bad for Jo, Javi, and their partners because their future with Kail won't be pretty. I think we have already witnessed her best years as a mom and it's going to be mostly downhill from here. Once she reached a point where she didn't need a man to support her, she showed herself to be into a "bad boy." If I were Jo or Javi, I'd be very worried. After Chris gets done using her, I'd assume she'll look for other "bad boys" who treat her/her kids like shit and generally cause chaos in her life (and, therefore, the lives of her kids and their dads). When she's not making $300K+, the chaos will be a lot worse for everyone.

I don't think Randy is a "bad person" overall, but I give major side eye to his petty bitchassness/trolling on SM and his general famewhorishness. It's downright embarrassing for a "professional," father of 4, and grandfather of however many. So, no respect at all on that level. IMO, he has nothing to be particularly proud of/brag about. Kudos to anyone who's a basically good parent/person and manages to get through life without racking up an alarming criminal record/majorly damaging their kids, but still. I know he's put a lot of time and effort into being a "great dad," but, IMO, he would have better served his daughters and grandkids by teaching them that women can be competent and independent and not dependent on a man and by challenging his daughters to stand on their own feet and figure out how to take care of themselves/their children without depending on some Captain Save a Ho like Cole (or Randy). I'm sure he feels "vindicated" in his coddling of Chelsea because she's now found a "prince" to take care of her and she's even managed to make some progress in being able to take care of herself and her kids (mostly due to MTV, but also in some part due to her prospects as an aesthetician or whatever), but I don't think that he's positioned Chelsea and her kids in the most advantageous way. If Chelsea were to lose Cole, she'd be just as helpless and useless as she was when she was a teen mom "pursuing her GED" for however many years. She's probably more mature now (the passage of time is pretty good at that), but she probably hasn't grown much in other ways.

No.

And am I crazy for thinking that UBT embraces the term "honky" in order to preemptively give himself cover for using racial slurs against POC? Again, he is so incredibly stupid on top of being racist/misogynist/homophobic/ignorant/sociopathic/fill-in-negative-adjective. He shows who he is over and over and over, then he has the lamest, stupidest, most tired and easily refuted arguments ever for his actions. It's so incredibly tedious and IQ-loweringly stupid, on top of how offensive it is. Sigh.

I don't think Chelsea is particularly thoughtful or self-aware (even with her 10-y-o daughter), so it's not surprising to me that she doesn't think much about how her OTT Coleeee worship affects her family members (or comes off in general). I would also think that the general family dynamic that creates isn't helped by Randy's OTT famewhoring. Chelsea and Randy (and Cole) seem like generally "nice" people, but I don't really admire any of them and their smugness/self-absorption/famewhorishness is distasteful. Still, obviously, Aubree and Chelsea's other kids are way better off than most of the kids on these shows. (not that that's saying much)

I was just coming to ask whether people who have a chicken coop or a vegetable patch count as "farmers," especially in a rural/semi-rural area where (I assume) real farmers exist? And, question on a separate issue, is "honky" generally considered an acceptable moniker? I'm no "honky" by any estimation, but it doesn't seem to me like the type of thing most people of European descent would choose as an IG handle. Am I missing something?

Yeah, it seems that Randy/the Houskas have a general view that it's good/normal for men to take care of women (be they their daughters or wives). So Randy, with 4 daughters who weren't the most independent women OR necessarily able to find "good guys" to take care of them early in life, struggled with being the "good guy" for his wife, daughters, and grandchildren and would be understandably grateful for any "good guy" son-in-law/baby daddy who stepped up to care for Randy's progeny. We saw how he was with Chelsea since Aubree's birth (and I don't think he was faking it for the show), so imagine that times 4. He had two daughters who became moms as teens and we know that Adam wasn't an awesome dad/caretaker for his baby mama and, presumably, the other dad wasn't super awesome and involved either. So, in that field, compared to Adam and at least 2 other "bad baby daddies," Cole would seem super, duper awesome. Which I think was no small part of the appeal of Chelsea/her whole situation for him. Which is fine because everyone evaluates partners/potential partners on multiple levels (consciously and subconsciously), but my point is that I think Cole very much enjoys his "Captain Save a Ho" status and Chelsea very much enjoys having landed a guy who's so awesome(!) compared to her sisters' (and her general community's) partners. So, IMO, that's very much a part of C&C's general dynamic/their dynamic within Chelsea's (and probably Cole's) family(ies). Which is fine, mostly (who doesn't want to feel that their partner is so awesome! (whether others agree or not))? But it's a little grating to me with them, for various reasons.

Also (don't get me started with Kail), do you think Kail EVER gave Jo and Vee some money/goods when they took Lincoln (and now probably Lux)? I think J&V probably wouldn't accept it anyway, but would Kail even be like, "Here's $X (or a gift certificate to a local restaurant); I want to treat you all to a nice dinner while the boys are with you." or "Hey, I got you guys a water toy for the yard/a game system/whatever to thank you for having Lincoln over so much. No, it's nothing. He loves spending time with his brother over here and it will be fun for all the kids..."? Do you think when Javi took Isaac took Isaac to FL (or wherever else) Kail thought to get a gift for his mom/sisters who would be helping to take care of Isaac and Linc during the trip or get something for the kids/family to enjoy? OF FUCKING COURSE NOT. All Kail was concerned with while Javi took her kids on vacation was spending time with Chris and coming up with some way to get him to propose to her. She most likely gives gifts, money, etc. to HIS relatives, just to butter them up or to compensate them for watching Lux while she tries to get Chris to propose to her. She probably doesn't speak to Javi or Jo's relatives (though they take care of her kids) because they somehow slighted her years ago or don't kiss her ass enough when they see her these days. She's such an asshole.

Also, Kail has used Jo's child support money to pad her lavish lifestyle for years. She was only receiving the money due to a technicality. If their actual arrangement were official, she would have been paying money to Jo. Instead, he covered all of Isaac's expenses while he was with him AND paid Kail monthly, though she didn't need any help covering her Isaac-related expenses. I'm sure his child support was peanuts to Kail, but she took it anyway and spent it on whatever she wanted. If she had been putting it all in a college fund or something, I have no doubt that she would have made that known. So that was a nice little cushion for her for years while Jo was struggling to make ends meet (even once he reached "middle-class" status). I think that's what Jo and Vee were talking about when they were complaining about needing a new air conditioner for Isaac's room. Kail makes hundreds of thousands a year and spends it on frequent vacations, expensive cars, etc. So, effectively, Jo was paying for her hotel room on one of her vacations (where Chris was welcome, but he wasn't), a few pairs of ugly ripped jeans, etc., etc. while he was struggling to provide everything that he wanted to give Isaac. It's not that it was a huge hardship for Isaac to sleep on the couch, but Kail never had to feel like she wasn't providing the best for Isaac because she needed money or go without to to provide for him. He could have used the money he was paying to Kail to get a new air conditioner or, even better, have kept that money AND received additional money from her to cover the air conditioner as well as a nice trip for his family.

For some people, there's a stigma attached to men taking money from women, even when it's completely legitimate child support. Kail takes advantage of that. She's was making mid-6-figures for years while taking child support from working/middle-class Jo, which she was able to do because she technically had full custody, though, in reality, Isaac was spending 50%+ of his time with Jo. When Jo finally felt comfortable addressing the issue (only because he had gotten legal 50-50 custody at that point), he only asked her to stop making him pay her child support, not to pay child support to him (though he was legally entitled to receive it). Even so, she was still an asshole and "didn't get around to it" for a year. If a man did that to his baby mama (who was nice to a fault, took care of his child by another woman at times, etc., etc.) no one would question the long-suffering baby mama finally standing up for herself and getting the support she was entitled to. I also don't think Jo should feel bad for taking child support from Kail because he's likely to be far more responsible with the money (at least we know he won't be spending it on some fuccboi). Kail's income is going to drop precipitously when the show ends, so Jo's income will likely be higher than hers within a few years. The second that shift occurs, Kail will be in court shamelessly pursuing every penny of child support that she's legally entitled to. She won't care what her actual expenses are or how much time Isaac is spending at Jo's (she never has before).

That's kind of what I meant. It was a silly, meaningless conversation. How could any parent of two babies, with plans to have more, strike a deal that he or she won't deal with vomit or poop? It's like, "Honey, will you promise to always make everything better?" "Of course, my angel, because I love you sooooo much!" "You're the best! How did I get so lucky?" Obviously, both of them will deal with shit and vomit because they're parents who don't have full-time staff to care for their children. I get that Coleeeee is "perfect," but even "perfect" husbands and fathers can't shield their wives from ever having to face their children's vomit. It just seems silly and childish to me. It's not even a big deal, but it came off as very fake to me and Chelsea's beaming, "Will you always be there for the puke since I don't like it?" was nauseating. Again, we. get. it. Coleee is the most amazingly perfect guy ever. Give it a rest. I believe that they're happy and in love, but I also believe that their fake behavior on the show and a lot of their SM content is driven by a conscious desire to be aspirational as a couple/family. Which is weird to me.

And I love how Jo and Javi have "taken advantage of her," but Chris hasn't. The same Chris she has previously accused of doing unspeakable things to her and who didn't see his baby son for months. Jo and Javi provided housing, military benefits, supportive extended family, etc., etc., for her and her kids for years. Yet, when things are "good" with Chris, suddenly they're bad guys and he's a prince. I don't even buy that Chris is paying her child support, though she's said that he is multiple times on the show. I think he probably got her to drop any legal proceedings and agree to an "informal arrangement," which means he gives her what he wants when he wants (and she does accept payments in dick).