TheRealT

Yeah, this was like the Toddler Abuse Episode. It seems that Kloie is expected to entertain (and, I guess, potty train) herself all the time so her parents can focus on their work (or "work" in Sean's case) and themselves. They never seem to play with her or even engage her in positive conversations. It's all, "Stop that! Stop! Why are you doing that?! You're going to your room!" while she's like, being a toddler. Then the whole, "She's making us look like bad parents when, really, she's a demon child!" It's heartbreaking. And Brianna sees her toddler having an uncharacteristic meltdown over the prospect of being left with the stranger Bri keeps telling her is her dad (so she has to be nice to him!) and chooses to yell at the kid, then force her to be alone with the stranger. Also heartbreaking. Then Bri stages a ridiculous scene with her next baby daddy where she contemplates what she's going to do to legally limit Luis' access to Stella (knowing that he has no legal access to Stella, he only sees Stella (rarely) because Bri allows him to (because it helps to create a storyline for her reality show (even if it's at her toddler's expense)). These people are disgusting.

Not to be a jerk, but I don't necessarily believe that Kail has PCOS (or has been "officially" diagnosed with it). I can maybe believe that she had some kind of symptoms and her doctor/the internet told her that it could be PCOS and she just ran with it. I think she likes having an excuse for her weight gain that "shuts up" the haters and/or makes them look like assholes for criticizing her. She's also into this narrative of her fertility being in question (despite the ample evidence to the contrary). She claimed that Lux was a miracle baby after she had been told that she'd need to do IVF, etc. to get pregnant (not sure whether she claimed Creed was a miracle baby too). She's also obviously in search of storylines that enable her to hide what's really going on in her life and she's seen how Maci has made hay of her (alleged) PCOS diagnosis. She may have imagined partnering with Maci to be a spokesperson for PCOS or they may have even discussed it. Maci has connections in the PCOS community to hook Kail up with speaking/spokesperson gigs. Pure speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Also, in an episode a couple of episodes ago there was a quick clip of Briana saying "De-vOIN" (pronouncing it correctly) in a sarcastic manner, which struck me as particularly egregious since she's been called out for mispronouncing his name. If it was an "honest misunderstanding," she could at least pronounce his name the way he prefers without making a sarcastic show of it. To me, that indicated that she thought Devoin was being stupid or unreasonable in asking/hoping that she and others would pronounce his name the way he prefers. Obviously, Briana is extremely stupid and essentially incapable of thoughtfulness, but I don't think that gives her a pass for being an asshole.

Yeah. Sean is certifiably useless (though I believe he means well). His rationale for getting into a fistfight with Jade's dad during her 29 intersecting crises was, "Yeah, I overreacted (to my toddler telling me someone "threw" a credit card at her), but any dad would do that..." Well, no, not really. A "reasonable" dad would be attentive and concerned about his toddler's report that someone threw something at her, but he would A) assess what the child's "report" was and B) rationally determine whether her report was reasonable. If the child is reporting that her grandfather (essentially) "threw" a credit card at her, that really doesn't make any sense. Even if "granddad" did throw a credit card at her, that would be messed up, but it's highly unlikely/impossible that she would be injured by being hit with a credit card, so the appropriate action would be to comfort her, reassure her that she was ok, and tell "grandpa" not to throw things at her anymore (without getting into a fistfight with him in front of Kloie). Saying, "Yeah, it was all a big misunderstanding based on the "report" of a 2-y-o who was in a really stressful situation with her mother absent/disabled and her other caretakers fighting all the time while neglecting her..." isn't a "good excuse" AT ALL. Yeah, it's weird/bad how the moms are relying so much on storylines involving their kids in order to give themselves more privacy while continuing to collect the MTV paycheck. It's great to support Isaac in exploring things he might be interested in, but the whole, "I really want to help Isaac find his passion" thing is weird. I would think that most "normal" parents faced with Isaac's indoor sport (basketball?) being canceled because of Covid would just enroll him in an outdoor sport like the ones his brothers were doing. Not so complicated. Isaac doesn't have to have a deep passion for a sport he's playing when he's 11 (at a time when he's longing for socialization with peers). But glad we got to avoid any coverage of Kail's (repeated) domestic violence! Priorities! I'm not even super into birthdays/etc., so I find the TM girls' emphasis on every. single. person. in their kids' lives being there for every birthday, first day of every grade, purchase of a new pair of shoes, etc., etc. to be weird and problematic. If the dictates of Jeremy's job mean that he can't be there for every "major event," it's better for Addie to just accept that and not feel sad/neglected every time he's not there for a birthday party. Who the fuck cares anyway? Most people have lots and lots of birthdays, so everyone who cares about them can't be there every time (nor do they need to be). Having a birthday isn't like going through life-threatening surgery (and even then everyone who cares about you can't be there). I just feel like the TMs set their kids up for disappointment and heartache making SUCH A BIG DEAL of their random baby daddies (not that Jeremy is random) being there for every special day. That's part of how life is, especially when your parents aren't together (and haven't been since you were a very young child). My parents split up when I was 5 and I don't remember any birthdays with both of them present, but I also don't remember caring. They both acknowledged my birthday, whether I was physically with them or not, so it wasn't really a thing. In most people's normal lives, every single person who cares about them isn't physically present on their birthdays (and doesn't even necessarily acknowledge the day from afar). It just seems weird to set up this expectation that if everyone who loves you isn't there for your birthday it's reasonable to be sad.

I wonder how much Jade's ambulance ride and subsequent hospital visit cost since it's highly unlikely that any of that was part of whatever free or discount package she was offered for the surgery. It was such an incredibly stupid decision to do the surgeries and this outcome, nightmarish as it was, isn't even close to the worst case scenario. If Jade just couldn't resist an offer of free plastic surgery, she should have settled on one or two procedures that she really wanted.

I thought it was pretty blatantly unethical for Jade's doctor to do the surgeries for so many reasons, not the least of which is that it seems unlikely that the mother of a toddler would opt to get all of that work done at once if the work weren't being done for free (and, presumably, getting it all done at once was a condition). Plus, everything else. On top of all of that, it was... stunning to see Briana walking around in those leopard skin leggings shorts and realize that Jade was doing all that to get an ass that looks like Briana's. And I'm a big ass fan (and possessor), but still. And Jade's mom has an even bigger (though, presumably, natural) version of Briana's ass, so Jade can probably look forward to developing it naturally over time. Just, why??? I rewound it and that's what I heard too. I'm sure manufacturers of high-end wheel chairs price the hell out of them. There's a limited market in general, but probably even more so for child-sized chairs and they're probably almost always paid for by insurance.

Yeah. The OG girls (on both shows) have become adept at hiding their actual drama/problems from the cameras unless they don't realize that it will come off badly. Instead, they try to be filmed doing activities that they think will show them in a good light (working on their "businesses," volunteering, looking at real estate, being "cute" with their kids, etc.). That stuff tends to be boring and to come off as phony and staged. Sadly, that seems to have led to a secondary strategy of featuring the kids' very personal stories so they can create "compelling" storylines while protecting themselves from public scrutiny and criticism. IMO, the kids should only be featured in very innocuous storylines (well, really, I think they shouldn't be on the show at all). The footage of the kids playing, doing hobbies, or having non-ultra personal conversations are ok (though still needlessly exploiting them and invading their privacy without their informed consent). But the stuff about their relationships with their families, their emotional or academic problems, their approaching puberty and learning about sex and changes in their bodies, etc. is very, very ick. Just, no. I was also shocked that, after her older daughter was traumatized by getting her period with zero knowledge that it was going to happen or why, their mom still didn't bother to discuss the issue with her younger daughter, who was only a year or 2 younger (I think). It also seems odd that Victoria (I think she's older?) wouldn't have told Leah about the big M secret, even accidentally, since it seems likely that they shared a room/lived in close quarters and they seem to be pretty close. I know Leah is probably too dumb to have read about menstruation in a novel, much less a non-fiction book, but you would think that hanging around her older sister and her friends the topic would have come up. These people's lives/decisions are so stupid that it gives me a headache to listen to them talk. As Jade was going on about all the complications and difficulties with her taking her whole family to FL to get plastic surgery, I kept screaming, "Why are you doing this?!?!" Why get plastic surgery to move your fat around at all when you're 24, but especially during Covid, in another state, etc., etc.? Why do all that when you have extreme anxiety? Why bring your drug addict parents and bf to "help" you? Why trust drug addicts to pick up your pain prescriptions? I know the real answer is "because the surgery was free and it created a storyline for the show," but still. Same thing with Ashley whining about the difficulties of being engaged to a guy with an ankle monitor and no license (who just got his GED and doesn't seem to have any job or specific ambitions outside of MTV). Why?!?!? In the past episode where she was talking about how she really hoped he was serious this time about getting his GED, I couldn't understand why she agreed to marry him when he hadn't even done that much to prove that he was ready to be a responsible husband and father. And I didn't even know about the ankle monitor and the DUI. Now she's whining about how hard it is to focus on planning an engagement party and a wedding with all of that going on. SO WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IT? I honestly don't get what the rush is if she wants them to be "normal, responsible" adults approaching their wedding and marriage.

Wow, this show is like... why does it exist? Who are these people? But, more to the point, why am I still watching? Don't really have an answer... Good for Jade for being leery of marrying Sean. Unfortunate that Ashley (is that her name?) isn't similarly scrupulous. I continue to love Isaac and agree with someone(s) upthread that Kail should have let him be more involved in picking stuff for his bathroom from the store, rather than from her pre-curated choices. Typical Kail. That's all I've got. Honestly, I'm not even 100% sure of who's on this franchise without thinking about it/looking stuff up. I only watch the new girls' segments because it's too annoying to FF them. Sigh.

Briana didn't put either of her baby daddies on the kids' birth certificates because she doesn't want them to have legal rights to the kids. That also means that they have no legal obligation to provide financial support for the kids. If Briana established either/both as the kids' legal fathers, they would be entitled to visitation and have some say in decisions about the kids. Briana prefers having total legal control to having the state mandate and collect child support payments. I don't feel sorry for her because this is a conscious choice that she's making. She's lucky that Devoin and Luis have chosen to give her some financial support. Legally, they owe her nothing. Obviously, it's on D and L that they haven't taken steps to have themselves declared the legal fathers of their kids and they're both lame asses for that, but Briana is not a victim who has reasonable expectations of getting whatever kind of support (financial and otherwise) that she wants from her kids' dad. She seems to want a situation where the dads would cover 50% of expenses related to the kids and be available for childcare/chauffeuring/etc. whenever Briana wanted them to while having no parental rights. If either of the dads were together enough/had enough desire to be 50% parents, they'd also be together enough/have enough to desire to get legal custody. Briana's vision is a ridiculous fantasy. If she admitted that she has chosen to not have her baby daddies be legal parents and accepted that that meant she had to make do with whatever help they were willing to give her and that she had to tolerate their lameness to facilitate her daughters having some kind of relationship with them, I could respect that. But the ridiculous "Woe is me! I do everything on my own! Why are my baby daddies so trifling?!?!" over and over, in front of the girls, is just too much.

To me, "parenting his and Amber's kid" is pretty significant and a legit job. It's far, far more than Amber has ever done. I also can't hold him responsible for "triggering Amber to violence" since all anyone has to do to accomplish that is breathe and because, no matter what he did/said (while taking 100% responsibility for caring for their son, animals, home, etc.), AMBER is responsible for her (habitual) violent behavior. If the sexes were reversed, it's hard for me to imagine anyone saying that a mom who has pretty much done 100% of the work raising her toddler and who got to live in her ex's house and receive child support after the ex physically abused her and their child was a golddigging grifter and the abusive/neglectful ex was somehow the victim. (And the ex "earned" his money by mostly being high and incoherent on TV and didn't even have consistent visitation with the kid.) Would it be better if Andrew had to move into a shitty studio, get a crappy job, and spend 50%+ of his pay on childcare while Amber chilled in her house in the "rich neighborhood" getting high and blowing off visitation? Why does Amber "deserve" to live better than her son and her son's sole parent? And it's not even like she's suffering, living in some shitty studio. She makes a lot of money, enough to support two comfortable households, and she does ZERO parenting of either of her kids, so why should James (or Leah) suffer in order to be "fair" (or whatever) to her and/or allow her to spend more of her money on drugs and sleazy boyfriends? Again, who would feel sorry for a man who had a parade of sleazy gfs while neglecting his kids?

When Gary first got chickens Amber made a comment somewhere that he only got the chickens to spite her because she always wanted chickens (or something). People took to calling them Gary's spite chickens, now extended to his spite garden. (Everything is really all about Amber.)

I know it seems weird that someone who has been making 6 figures for several years didn't have or understand health insurance, but I think we have to take into account how dumb Leah is and how few people she has in her orbit who are much more intelligent and/or aware of what not living in constant economic crisis/poverty is about. I would have thought that she would have gotten a financial advisor at some point and that that person would have talked to her about health insurance, but maybe not, I guess. Sadly, I can imagine someone who grew up as she did thinking that health insurance is some special thing that people get if they have certain types of jobs, but most people don't have. I see that as more an indictment of the for-profit healthcare industry in the US than of dumb poor people like Leah.

Why the makeup motif for a 6-year old? Does Emilee wear makeup?

Amber's solution to Leah realizing that Kristina is a better mom is for Kristina to stop being such a good mom, not for Amber to be a better mom. She has said several times, before and during the reunion, that Kristina needs to "move over" and that Kristina is somehow preventing Amber from mothering Leah because K beats her to the punch. We know that Amber has no interest in real parenting and only minimal, sporadic interest in "fun big sister" stuff like coming over to show Leah how to put on makeup. So I guess she thinks that, in order to support her and protect her feelings, Kristina should keep Leah at arm's length so that Leah will be more needy and more appreciative of Amber's minimal efforts. That's how much of a toxic, narcissistic asshole she is. She would gladly drive Leah's real mom away altogether and doesn't care at all how that would affect Leah or Gary.

Yeah, why would it take someone with no job or any other responsibilities 8 years to complete a 4-year degree? It's not even like she's saying, "I'm in no rush to finish school and I'm also pursuing my dream to sail around the world, so sailing takes up a lot of my time too." When she's not taking classes/studying (ha!), she's doing literally nothing. Not visiting with her kids, not cleaning her house, not doing errands. Just sitting on her couch/bed. The most "work" she does is posting crazy rants on IG.

Maybe it's mean, but I feel the need to reiterate how I DON'T BELIEVE FOR A SECOND that Amber is doing anything substantive to "pursue her education." At all. I doubt that Amber even tuned in for online lectures, but if she did, I 100% don't believe for ONE SECOND that she took a single note. As if!!! I'm not even sure what a picture of a notebook is supposed to prove. It would be hilarious if people with knowledge of her reading lists posted questions about the readings asking for her answers.

ITA. I have hated Maci for a a long while, but her using Bentley's pain over his (non)relationship with his dad for a storyline is a new low. Taylor wasn't factually wrong about anything he said, but Drew was (shockingly!) right when he said that Taylor's tirade wasn't in Bentley's best interest. Blind people in Siberia (as well as Jen and Larry) see that Ryan is a shit dad/person. It's totally unnecessary to call him a "worthless excuse for a human being" (or whatever Taylor actually said) to his parents (and, by extension, his bioson Bentley) on international TV over and over. Yes, we get it, Taylor (and Maci). Ryan is a piece of shit as a human being and as a father. He's a drug addict and his whole life is a facade. Maci and Taylor are FAR BETTER PARENTS (because they're parents at all). Ryan is a total loser. He sucks. WE GET IT. Jen and Larry get it. Bentley gets it. Deaf-blind people in eSwatini get it. It's super fucking clear. It seems pretty clear that what they want is for Bentley to repudiate Ryan, as well as Jen and Larry, in order to embrace the wonder of McKinney fabulousness. Fair enough, we all have our fantasies. But it seems that Bentley feels a connection to his paternal grandparents, and even to Ryan and Ryan's other kids. B is struggling with how to sort all of that out now, but, from what we've seen on the show, it doesn't seem like he's landing at a place of "Fuck Ryan-- and Memaw and Papaw!" So let him be. Let him figure out what relationship he wants to/can have with his paternal family. That's what super awesome and supportive parents would do, regardless of how it made them feel to see Bentley give his family "undeserved" chances or benefits of the doubt. Though Larry's "where were you for the first 4 years?" comment was dumb, it resonated in terms of how J&L's commitment to/love for B originated long before Taylor even knew B existed, which does/should count for something.

It was interesting that Jen and Larry (inadvertently) kind of dropped the "Ryan is fine!" conceit. Jen's tearful comment that she knew Maci would never abandon Bentley if he were an addict and Larry's vehement insistence that they never let Ryan threaten Bentley's safety were telling. I think Larry meant Bentley's physical safety and was responding to people worrying that they would let Ryan drive B somewhere or something, which, apparently, Jen and Larry at least tried to prevent from ever happening. But Ryan is supposed to be a sober and loving dad, so why would that be necessary? Ryan might cuss them out because, according to him, they should have said that Ryan has turned his life around and it's horrible how Maci lies about him and tries to make him look bad. They're very dysfunctional and they need to go to Al-Anon, but I feel bad for Jen and Larry. They are caught in the middle and Ryan is a horrible, manipulative person. Some addicts are lovely, kind people, but he's just an asshole. Larry seems like kind of a dick, but Maci and Taylor are dicks too.

Ok, that makes sense. I was confused about why Amber thought what Kristina said was so bad. Amber's not even going to attempt to complete her college courses, really. In the beginning, she may tune in for completely passive stuff like watching a pre-recorded video or maybe even attending a zoom lecture, but she won't do any reading and if she turns in any assignments they will be done by someone she pays. Once school gets more intense, like requiring her to participate in classes herself (even if it's done remotely) or have conferences with professors, she'll bail (blaming her illness(es), Gary and Kristina, haters online, or what/whomever else). I have absolutely LOATHED Drew ((TM) Devoin (pronounced the way it's spelled!)) since his Loveline days, but it's really gotten to the point of utter ridiculousness with him now. On top of being a quack and a famewhore, his takes are just ridiculous most of the time. As much as I hate Amber and agree that every single criticism of her was more than deserved, she had a fair point when she called Drew out for saying she was "shit-stirring," both because that was a totally unprofessional (ha!) way for him to phrase his point and because it was kind of letting Gary off the hook for engaging in behavior that he knew was wrong and putting the blame on Amber, who everyone acknowledges is mentally ill and everyone knows has a boatload of issues. Again, I hate Amber, but Gary touching her in a way that he explicitly said he didn't want Kristina to know about, in light of his knowledge of how fucked up Amber is and the fucked up shit Amber has been through (as well as just in general) is fucked up. Giving him the maximum benefit of the doubt, maybe he just felt that Amber needed to be held or whatever, but still. Explicitly saying, "Please don't tell Kristina" is fucked up in and of itself. If he wants to treat Amber like his "teenage daughter" (which is fucked up), he needs to recognize her issues/limitations and maintain appropriate boundaries with her. Amber also had a fair point when she called Gary out for laughing. Again, it kills me to give her any credit, but she was right. Gary can't both acknowledge that Amber is mentally ill and effectively his "teenage daughter" AND laugh off the problems that causes in Leah's, his, and Amber's lives. It's not a joke and he shouldn't ever treat it as such. I looked it up and Cheyenne was 24 when Ryder was born in April, 2017, going on 25 the following October. Which means she and Zach never had sex until over a year after Ryder was born. So the framing of Zach as Cheyenne's "ex-bf" when she first came on TMOG was, apparently, based on them having dated (apparently briefly) when they were in high school and having been platonic friends for several years since then. Maybe I just got it all wrong, but my understanding was that they had dated on and off for years (and that Zach was, therefore, some kind of "legitimate" love interest before and after Corey). But it seems that the actual story is that Zach was a platonic friend whom Cheyenne dated pretty briefly after Ryder was born and that their relationship fell apart because of her prioritizing/(and, arguably, being hung up on) Corey. Then when Corey moved on with his new baby mama, she went back to Zach to use him as a sperm donor/way to try to move past Corey. Ok. At any rate, I wish them well, but I find them boring and Cheyenne annoys me.

SHOCKINGLY, Amber did a crazy, drugged-out IG live in which she called Leah a liar and went in on Kristina and Gary, blaming them for all of her problems with Leah and calling K a whore. She also said that K doesn't take care of Leah and that she's upset about how G & K spoil Leah. She did all of this knowing that Leah looks at her SM. Which isn't really surprising because Amber has no fucks to give about Leah's feelings or well-being, but still. I know, right! Leah is amazingly smart and articulate. I hope she's able to stay on a good path and overcome the trauma from her horrific birth mom. I get where Gary's coming from telling Leah that she shouldn't write her mom off , but Amber is so toxic that it might be in Leah's best interest to sever all ties or have a very limited relationship with her. It's one thing for a kid to put effort into a relationship with a mentally ill parent who actually cares about them and is willing to do the work to build a good relationship, but Amber is a toxic, narcissistic mess who is probably incapable of being a positive presence in Leah's life. I think Ryan successfully "therapist shopped" to find one who didn't require him to take responsibility for his addiction or bad behavior and, instead, agreed to (and got Ryan's family to buy into) a narrative in which Ryan is basically fine and everyone else is responsible for his issues. He did drugs because his parents "triggered" him (so they have to learn how to stop triggering him). He was a shitty father because Maci is a bitch (so he doesn't have to be a better dad until Maci stops being a bitch). He can still drink and do prescription drugs even though he's "sober" and everyone has to understand that that's fine, no matter how obvious is that he's high all the time and not a functioning adult. So he wants to do the same thing with Bentley's therapist and find someone who will work with Ryan to convince Bentley that it's somehow all Maci's fault that Ryan has been such a shitty dad and that any bad feelings B has around his relationship with Ryan are a result of him being confused and falling for Maci's lies. I feel really bad for Bentley.

Is Kristina really in nursing school? I ask because they seem to be so fast and loose with labels for her educational experience. "Nursing school" is a bachelor's program (at minimum, but I don't believe Kristina has a bachelor's degree, so that's what it would be for her). If she's in a bachelor's program to get a nursing degree, I imagine that she'd start with very rudimentary science/nursing courses as well as stuff like English 101. Her photo in scrubs is kind of mystifying under those circumstances.

Amber didn't take care of Leah's physical needs when Leah lived with her. She often/always left her in a filthy crib for hours. She also technically physically abused baby Leah when she assaulted Gary while Leah was in his arms and she certainly psychologically and verbally abused Leah screaming at/attacking people in front of her. She did the same to James and child abuse was part of her charges in both cases (as it should be).

Telling quotes: How SHOCKING that Amber equates having pictures of your kid on IG with being a great mother. There just are no words. Wow, how SHOCKING that Leah's seeing Amber's old (and probably new) MTV footage! I hope that the person or persons who showed her the footage are being held fully responsible. How many ways and how many times will Amber be victimized?!?!

Wow, Amber ordered some Easter stuff for James online (at best) or got someone else to do it. Apparently, she didn't get Leah any type of Easter gift since Leah is in the doghouse with her, but at least Amber posted a cute picture of them. Mom of the Year!

Andrew won't allow James to be on the show, but we've heard that Amber blew off many of her visitations with him (she was sick!) and, when she did see him, did so at Gary's house (I think maybe even leaving him there sometimes while she went elsewhere). Amber hasn't had overnight visitations with James, but he's about the age where there is more leeway with that in IN and she petitioned to have overnight visits with him. I imagine she'll mostly blow those off too and just wants to have the right as part of her "I'm a Great Mom!" delusion. Hopefully, if poor James is ever forced to spend the night at her filthy house she'll hire someone to look after him; otherwise who knows what kind of nightmare the poor kid will endure.