Literata

Also, yes, Amy can be a bitch. But here are a few things to keep in mind. 1. Nine times out of 10, she displays that bitchiness in response to Matt's mindfuckery. 2. Matt and Caryn had an affair basically right in front of her. (Disagree with me? Go back and find the "Amy doesn't have a key to my office" episode.) Now she has to watch Caryn basically act as stepmother to her kids and grandmother to her grandkids. That's hard. 3. Jeremy and Audrey clearly disapprove of her relationship while having their noses up Matt's ass in spite of his infidelity. Say what you will about Amy; she was a devoted mom. And the fact that Jeremy essentially has turned on her has to be hurtful. Would I want to be Amy's bff? Nope. But I think it's pretty clear that Matt's the instigator, and she's left to react. She doesn't always react well, but he's a manipulative little prick, and I probably wouldn't be too charitable, either.

Because it's HER HOUSE. The house in which she lives her life, and in which she had planned to grow old. Matt changed the game plan, as he certainly had the right to do. But Amy is in no way obligated to change HER life because of Matt's decisions.

Clearly. My point is that it's no one's business WHY Amy feels she needs a big house. She's on a reality show; she can't cry "foul" about not having privacy in her house, for example. But she's not obligated to justify WHY she wants to stay in that house. It's her fucking house.

If Amy chooses to live in a cave or in Windsor Castle or in her existing home, it's no one else's business. The house was given to her in the divorce. Any issues Matt had with that arrangement should have been taken up at that time. Amy didn't want the divorce and indicated as much for months. Of course, she had the option to refuse to give Matt a divorce, but that would have made the marriage pretty crowded, as Caryn was a part of things by that time. Matt initiated, constantly worked to justify, and pushed hard for the divorce. In the end, Amy had little choice. Anyone has any right to the opinion that Amy's a whining bitch, but facts are important.

Nothing sinister, no. But pimping your side business via your baby is in pretty bad taste.

Exactly. And the fact that Ember (which my iPhone corrects to "Elbert" every time, and that makes me laugh) is a walking "Always More" ad makes me think that although Audrey no doubt loves her daughter, she loves monetizing her daughter even more.

OMG. What beautiful children. And Caryn doesn't appear to be much older than they do! Her kids ARE very nice-looking, and she's an attractive woman. But as this latest revelation has proven, she's manipulative, vindictive, and pretty much soulless, which, come to think of it, makes her an ideal partner for Matt. Oh, and as far as when they actually got together: My guess is around the time Matt made sure Amy didn't have a key to his office.

Love the entire post, @Rap541, and the paragraph above sums it all up. I've been on the "Matt's the much larger problem -- why can't you all see that?" train for quite some time, and I appreciate your take on the whole mess. Because I'm way more interested in this than any rational human ought to be, I ordered Matt's book "Against Tall Odds" (for $1.74!) online. I read through it in a couple of days, and in light of the tales told in that book, ALL this makes so much sense. Matt's ego is entirely predicated on how he's viewed by non-LP individuals, and the fact that his LP brother married an average-size woman was an obvious jealously issue for him. The fact that Karen -- average-size, attractive -- showed interest in him was all it took for him to jettison his LP wife and not look back. Caryn's willingness to be in a relationship with Matt legitimizes him -- in his own mind, certainly, and he also probably feels it elevates him in Jeremy's eyes.

Exactly. I, too, marvel that Matt's consistently rude and incendiary behavior earns him pass after pass while Amy's reactions cause her to be branded a shrew who was undeserving of charming, adventurous Matt Roloff. And, yeah, poor Chris. If I'm going to split hairs over something superficial, Amy is much more conventional-looking than Matt.

Here's what precipitated that: Matt and Amy were already separated, perhaps divorced. Matt sat down at the kitchen table, alone, and was pouting about the fact that Amy didn't have dinner on the table at EXACTLY the time she said she was going to, because he had somewhere to be. He made a couple of snarky comments about not being surprised that Amy was late with dinner because that's the way it always had been, or some such. He clearly had a date and wanted everyone to KNOW he had a date, and he was insufferable. And Amy, who A. was not required to serve him and B. likely knew he was worried about being late to meet the woman he had begun fucking while he and Amy were still married, was 110% justified in telling him to shove the dinner up his ass.

I suspect Caryn has no problems with Matt because Matt treats her well. My guess is when the bloom is off the rose, Caryn might have similar challenges.

I sincerely hope she has, and I sincerely doubt it would faze him. Where does this keep coming from? Amy wanted to remain married. Matt wanted the divorce.

Matt didn't give two shits about putting time and energy into raising those kids. He couldn't be bothered to attend Zach's soccer games because doing so "wasn't a good use of (his) time" -- an issue that had a whole episode devoted to it. School events were also Amy's territory. And even his tangible contribution to his children's childhoods -- the farm and everything on it -- had its origins in his own narcissism, as he explained that he deserved such a wonderland because he'd spent his own formative years in hospitals. Meanwhile, Amy made sure her kids were loved, and that their practical needs were met as well. She cooked and coached and taught and put in the damned time. And yes, she justifiably expressed frustration at a husband who didn't lift a finger, didn't finish a single thing he started, harangued Amy constantly about her housekeeping deficits -- and earned a couple OWIs for good measure. The result -- Jeremy is so far up Matt's ass that I don't think he'll ever find his way out, and I'm sorry to say Zach, who's usually my favorite by far, isn't behaving much better. MATT LEFT AMY, and yet he and his side piece are accepted while Amy is treated like an irritant. Or worse. I can't believe how incensed I am on behalf of someone I don't even know, but Zach and Jeremy should be ashamed. Jeremy, especially, is a piece of shit for being openly condemning of the mother AND trying to force her off the farm. For fuck's sake. Is no one in Amy's real life going to stand up for her and tell Jeremy to treat his mother with the respect she deserves, or simply stay the hell away?

Well, I think so. Recall the first time that he and Amy went away together and he told her that he was wary of her going off on him, like he has seen her do before with someone else? Correct me if I'm wrong, Zenme, but I think you were referring more to the possibility that Chris could be concerned that Amy still has feelings for Matt, or is not "over" the dissolution of her marriage -- not that he fears Amy would "go off" on him. I remember the earlier conversation here about the concern, actual or imagined, that Amy's some frightening harpy with no control over her emotions -- and I'm among those who don't buy it. As I mentioned earlier, Amy's fine when left to her own devices. She reacts to Matt's manipulation or idiot behavior, and people cry foul.

"Yes" to all of this. Tori and Zach are attentive parents; there's no way they would have forgotten the pacifier, and no way they wouldn't have taken Jackson out of the restaurant or walked him or tried to feed him. Just a dumb, dumb storyline.

Audrey is lovely in that dress ... but as my grandma used to say, "Pretty is as pretty does." I look at her and can't get past the fact that she's a narcissistic shrew.

If he'd done the flipping himself, it's safe to assume the project would have been executed with the same speed as Molly's Castle, the pirate ship, the tree fort, the little church ... and on and on... ? My hope is he wrote the check, but stayed out of the way.

...just as Amy had no interest in divorcing in a hurry, and Matt had to rush it through because ... why, exactly? My guess is Caryn told him she wasn't waiting forever, and being with an average-size woman is clearly a boost to his already outsize ego, so he wasn't about to risk letting her go. My 6-month-old grandson is all about immediate gratification. If you're spooning peas into his mouth and wait a few seconds before loading up the next spoonful, he gets upset because he wants to eat RIGHT NOW. Something obviously happened in the course of Matt's development to have prevented him from progressing past that stage. He's always been attracted to the next big thing, as evidenced by his inability to finish projects. Seeing something through isn't nearly as much run for him as the adrenaline rush that comes from the new-and-shiny. Amy's more careful and, IMHO, much more of a grown-up. No one's perfect, but I see any and all of Amy's most disagreeable character traits exhibited in reaction to Matt. That's why I've never clearly understood the Amy-hate; you leave Amy to her own devices, and she really just kind of does her thing.

She clearly loves the farm because of what it represents to her. But it has to be difficult when people you love -- people you've raised -- are joining forces to pressure you and don't seem to value your presence. It's a moot point, though. Matt gave up the house so he could hurry and extricate himself from the marriage. He may be feeling remorse about the agreement he made, but no matter. It's Amy's house, and she doesn't have to decide anything tomorrow, the next day, or the day after that.

Yeah, her lack of self-esteem makes me sad. I absolutely get it; we're all insecure about something, and growing up as a little person in pre-diversity-conscious days would have been hard. Amy and I are the same age, and there were no kids in my school who looked different from anyone else. As ashamed as I am to say it, I'm sure I would have looked at Amy strangely, or would have been afraid to approach her. I remember two sad stories from old LPBW episodes: First, Amy was afraid "someone" would come and take her babies away because they'd perceive her as being unable to care for them. Second, when she was in college and arrived at a hotel in a different state for a hospitality internship, management took one look at her and told her there was no internship. And I'd venture a guess that Matt didn't make her feel especially good about herself during their marriage. And then he began spending a lot of time locked in his office, to which he pointedly said Amy had no key. And then he built the DW. And then he insisted on a divorce. And then, voila! He was suddenly involved with someone Amy had no doubt trusted as an employee, and maybe even as somewhat of a friend. And that takes us to the current day, and at least one of Amy's sons has turned out to be a colossal ass with an unpleasant wife who has a narrow and selfish world view, and they clearly don't show Amy much love. I'm meh on Chris. I don't dislike him, and I'm not a huge fan. Clearly, we don't know anything about their relationship IRL; maybe he's smitten and we just don't see it. At any rate, I sincerely hope he doesn't hurt her. There are things that bother me about Amy, but not nearly to the degree I'm bothered about Matt. And I'd like to see this next chapter be a little kinder to her. YES! It's HER FREAKING HOUSE. Plan that she's going to continue to live in HER house, stop pressuring her, and get on with your lives, Jeremy and Zach.

I'm no Jeremy fan, but the way he's holding her doesn't concern me in the least. I have a grandson who's 6 months, and when he wants to be held facing out, I have to hold him with a hand under his crotch to keep him stable. It's a pretty typical way to wrangle a baby.

Yes! This is what a whole lot of people seem to be missing. You may not like Amy; you may think she's a shrew. I'll give you that; she wasn't always the most pleasant -- but I sure as hell wouldn't have been, either, if I'd had to deal for years with a narcissistic man-child who refused to lift a finger to help with the kids and constantly started expensive projects he had neither the time nor the inclination to finish. That said, she poured herself into those kids and has always been a committed, loving mother. They're treating her abominably, and they deserve to be called out for it.

So what's happening with Amy and Chris in this episode? As others have mentioned, Chris was quick to be all like, "YOUR house, YOUR plans, YOUR farm, YOUR future," but they shared a knowing, smirky glance at the end of that convo, AND he was a fanboy as he basically skipped and galloped all over the farm -- "There's so much to do here, it would have been so awesome growing up here," etc. He's still all over Amy's social media, so if he's not in it for the long term, Amy either doesn't get it or is hanging on and hoping that changes, OR they've tricked all of us and he's moved in.

Agree entirely, and I'm pretty sure that includes Tori. The tension was thick on the beach trip. I think each couple finds the other's baby somewhat of an irritant.

Why can't it simply be that Amy just doesn't want to move, as is her right? She's abiding to the terms of the divorce; end of story. Why should she have to "let go"? She and Matt built the big house with dreams of retiring there and watching grandchildren run around the farm. He changed those plans. She didn't. The way Matt and the twins ganged up on her in this episode was all kinds of reprehensible and flat-out sexist. I despise sanctimonious Jeremy with a fiery passion, but I'm usually in Zach's corner. Not tonight, though. Matt has proven time and time again that he's unscrupulous, so I'm not surprised by anything he does. But the twins? That's their mother, whom their father left, and now they're helping him try to push her out of her house. They should be ashamed. With all due respect, that's ageist. Amy's healthy and in good shape. And 55 is far from old. She's entitled to want what she wants.