sara416

Season 6 and 7 are probably the only ones I haven't see a million times, so I think I'll jump in on a more structured rewatch with you guys now. I remember the Clay and Quinn storyline similarly, that it started out strong but then became just so insufferably cheesy.

That always bothered me! I think writing in a little brother for him must have been an afterthought, because that was just terrible. From what his little brother was like after he was killed, they clearly had a really good relationship, so why was he making Jamie into his little mascot?

I think it's successful for her, and pretty stable considering the shit show that the other girls turned out to be. I really thought she'd just be holding on to Adam forever and find herself in another abusive relationship that she couldn't get out of. I don't think living a fairly calm life in some rural area is anything to dismiss. It seems like she got what she wanted as far as a family and stability.

I mean, we'll never really know, unfortunately. I don't think she was correctly taught how to be a human. There are some really sweet interactions on film between her and Jace, and I think she would make an okay aunt. But I think her human emotion skills were just never developed because of her upbringing. I don't tihnk you are being a contrarian asshole, I just happen to be softer toward people in general, probably more often than I should be. I'm a therapist and I just see the potential in people more often than not. There really was a turning point with her though. Obviously we don't have any concrete evidence of anything before she was 16, but if someone could have gotten her away from the shitshow she was in, I still believe things could have been different. She reminds me a little of one of my good friends in high school. in some ways and some of the kiddos I have worked with over the years. Obviously, YMMV. On another note, watching these early seasons makes me remember that I though of all people, Chelsea was the last one I would expect to get her life together as much as she did.

She didn't tell it all to Hai until the last few years of her life though. She spent a lot of time holding that in. Shame can do terrible things to a person. I'm glad you feel settled and loved. I'm speaking from the point of what research and my experience with clients and a few friends have taught me, and not from lived experience as someone who is adopted. I didn't mean to step on toes at all.

I feel like a lot of the complaints I'm reading about this episode and the logistics of things is based on what we know NOW, in 2021. Things were very different in 1980. Drugs, adoption, prison reform...nothing was the same as it is now. I'm a therapist who has worked extensively with the adoption population and there were some things in this episode that I absolutely loved that they got so right. Adopted kids need to know their birth story. The brain will make up stories and fill in the blanks if we don't know all the answers. And for kids who don't know their origin, they will make up anything to keep from feeling lost. It completely makes sense that Randall feels lighter and happier after learning his story. It also completely makes sense to me that his mother would have so much self hatred that she wouldn't even try to find her son. She was a drug addict who felt immense guilt and shame for her actions. And without the proper help (something other than lake scream therapy, because that's not a thing) she likely just shut it away and never dealt with it. I want to know more about her parents. DId she really just go to her aunt's house and no one ever contacted them and she never ran into them? And did we ever get an explanation of why her parents and aunt were estranged? The way Randall (Sterling) just cries with huge tears running down his face without any sort of dramatics is amazing. The restrained sobbing is just like a gut punch. But the scene at the end with his ghost mom in the lake was a little too much, and I give this show a lot of leeway.

I think we all are.

I've been watching the old episodes on CBS All Access, because putting the first two on Netflix sent me down the rabbit hole. CBS All Access is so glitchy with both of the MTV shows I've tried to watch on there and it's really irritating. I've tried troubleshooting by clearning the cache and restarting and it's still happening. I'm really annoyed, but too stubborn not to finish this show. Anyway, I had forgotten what a piece of shit Dr. Drew is until I watched the reunions for season 2 and 3. He kept telling Chelsea to give Adam credit for being a good dad, and then he asked Leah what happened with her miscarriage in a way that was really blaming. Miscarriages happen all the time and sometimes for NO REASON, you dick! She already feels bad about it, stop shaming her! There was always something about Jennelle for me that made me feel so sad for her. If she would have had a different upbringing, I think things would have been so much different. I'm not blaming Barb, although she has made a ton of poor decisions of her own. I don't want it to seem like I'm saying "poor Jenelle". Every once in a while, in the early seasons, I see a glimmer of...something. Like if someone could just pick her up an move her away from all the trash and mentor her, things could have been so different. After season 3 it seemed to be the point of no return though.

I finished the reunion and felt the same way. I remember guys in my husband's fraternity "tea bagging" guys who passed out and feeling mildly uncomfortable with it 17 years ago, but looking back on stuff like this now...yikes. It's hard to watch everyone on stage laughing so hard at what E did.

This is amazing to rewatch. I've totally forgotten about some of these people. Why was Karamo a bad ass? They were all such babies on this show! This is going to be a fun rewatch.

Phil said that the race in high heels is the only one in the world, but I thought about a fundraiser that I had read about where men walk in high heels to raise money to combat sexual violence. It's not a race, per se, but it isn't like that is the only time men wear heels for a cause. https://www.walkamileinhershoes.org/

That was the exact thought I had. They took that penalty way too late. It seemed like that task was taking forever and if they would have strategically taken the penalty earlier they could have been ahead. Boston Rob did that on the season he ran and it definitely worked to his advantage.

I'm not Black, but I am grateful that they went with Bootleg Occupy as well. There are way too many wrong ways to do a BLM storyline and I'm certain that a 1/2 hour long sitcom is not going to be one of the ones to get it right. Plus, the financial aspect fit in better with the show in general.

Yep, Team Brooke for sure.

I didn't watch this show on it's original run, but I am aware enough of pop culture stuff to know some things. I knew there was a school shooting episode, but I had NO IDEA that Keith was going to die in it. Dan is a horrible person, and no matter what kind of redemption arc they give him in the future, it doesn't fly with me. I think Sophia Bush was great in that episode. I actually really like her throughout, but I think she conveyed her helplessness really well in the school shooting episode. She was supposed to be in charge but had no idea what to do because no one knows what to do. Columbine happened at the end of my senior year, so it really put a damper on things. I remember being off school that day for some reason (spring break maybe?) and watching it unfold on tv. Going back to school after that was tense. I know there were school shootings before that one, but Columbine changed everything. DAve Cullen's book about it is amazing if you ever want to take a deeper dive. I always thought the Haley goes on tour plot was dumb. I know we have to suspend our disbelief, but come on. High school marriage, then she becomes a rock star and goes on tour?