LibertarianSlut

There was no glamour to this season. I feel foolish for talking skin surgery—skin surgery when they can’t even afford makeovers?!? I crack myself up. Yes, Jim lost a lot with 144, but not a single other person broke triple digits? Every single one of them is still overweight. Teri and Kristi had big results, in addition to the three finalists. Meghan, I’m glad she won the take-home prize over the standoffish brunettes, but she really doesn’t look like a different person, as she contended; on the contrary, she looks remarkably similar, just less puffy. It looked so foolish for Meghan and Jim to talk to their original images as if they were other people. I can only imagine how foolish they felt. They lost weight, but they didn’t get lobotomies! Can we talk about the elephant in the room? That several of them didn’t look like they lost a pound since they left that house (Kim, Katarina, Dolores, Dominico, Robert)? Dolores already told the story about not requesting the cheesecakes at her hotel room when she left the show. There are no new developments since then? I guess that’s why they opted to only weigh six people, which drives me bananas!!! I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Phi actually put on weight. What happened to that one year membership to Planet Fitness and an at-home nutritionist? Why did those fail so many of the contestants? I love the specificity of the health results—for several of them, obesity-related deaths are no longer “staring you in the face”? Is that a medical term? Robert’s breathing “only” stops 15 times per night? I mean, it’s great that his sleep apnea has decreased, but it’s not a really cheerful bearing of news. I don’t know why they wouldn’t have everyone go to the studio and give their big reveals there and then show them being visited at home and giving their story since they left the house, and then weighing (all of) them, but maybe they only rented that studio for an hour or two. Of course I think it’s great overall what they did—that goes without saying—but a lot of people didn’t pull their own weight, and if this is their big “honesty” season, why not delve into that? Why not weigh Phi and let her tell her side of the story? Because there is another side to managing weight problems, and that is failing. Why can’t we talk about that? Is it verboten that some people might not have been able to do this at this moment in time? Can we discuss anything that shows Bob or the trainers in anything but a flattering light? Micah, great job, obviously, for losing 99 lbs, but this is the thing about forgiveness and apologies—Micah’s mom can only be publicly forgiven and she can only publicly apologize if she publicly owns up to what she did, which she never did, I was listening. It’s awful storytelling to have a big tearful apology and not know what it’s about. I mean, I can fill in the blanks. I would assume she was on drugs and she was neglectful at the least. But if there is a reason she can’t admit that on TV—if she’s currently raising minors in her home or something—then just leave that part of the narrative out, and talk about Jim’s deceased family, which is a story that can be told in its entirety. Bob, please never again say, “it doesn’t get better than that” or any derivative thereof! It’s getting redundant! Is he starting to look like Joe Biden to anyone else?

I’ve been watching reality TV since 4 pm (on March 19th), and the Grease skit was the best thing I’ve seen so far!!

None of the women looked particularly well put-together at the Hate Kristen party. Raquel probably looked the best. Cute top. I noticed since last year’s reunion that she really knows how to balance out her huge shoulders. Every time I see Charli, I notice her outfit and note to self never to order it online, as it may be tainted with Charli-sweat. Charli made an ok point about why Lala would be coming for Raquel so hard. Raquel held her own, while Lala stood there like the Wife of Dracula, comparing herself to a Michael Vick Pitbull. Just me—just me, no one else—I think it’s a little too soon for Mike Vick jokes. He did one of the lowest things of anyone I can name who is still living, and I don’t think what he did should be mixed into pop culture as if he just made a sex tape or something. That’s my opinion, so agree to disagree in advance! Jax pronounced “homage” correctly. Most people say It like “hom-midg,” but Jax actually said “ah-mag.” Be still my heart. Brittney did the thing to Kristen that I didn’t like that she did to Lala last season—she brought up a really uncomfortable situation. Last year, it was all, “Lala, I feel so awful I didn’t put you in my wedding,” and this year it’s “Kristen, I felt really weird that I was at a party you weren’t invited to.” Like, Kristen isn’t shy. She’ll bring it up if she wants to bring it up. Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about it. Don’t force her for camera time. That shitty table and chairs at Tom and Ariana’s are rented?? From whom, a homeless person? Ariana didn’t want to drop $100 to just buy them? How much less could the rental be? She couldn’t rent halfway decent furniture? Maybe don’t buy a 1.8 million dollar home in the valley if the furniture looks distinctly worse than that of the average grad student who is driving a Ford Focus. Ok, so I hate pranks. But if Randall is going to go to the expense of hiring fake police with fake cop cars, to arrest Tom for a prank he actually committed, at least he’s going for it, so I give him a modicum of credit for going the whole nine yards. And, more importantly, it reminds me of Arrested Development and the Hot Cops constantly going around enforcing law and having hilarious mishaps! Flat Iron was a good sport. Ariana and Katie on the other hand? Jesus, this is getting tiring. I’m not surprised that neither of the Toms seem to be getting any these past few years. Schwartz getting aggressive and telling Beau to “sit down on this one” is perhaps the most I’ve ever liked him. In addition to refusing to TP Jax’s house, and calling Ariana an idiot (finally it’s Tom Schwartz being blunt with Tom Sandoval’s partner and not the other way around), this might be his best episode yet.

James is the boy who cried wolf. He’s lied about his drinking so many times on this show, like more than two dozen. It was the subject of every episode last season. “James, have you been drinking?” Drunken, bathed in coke-sweat James: “No!” I’m open to believe he’s been sober since the AA meeting, not a day before. Those riding pants were not forgiving. Not flattering on Lisa or Ariana. Judgment alert: I think it’s really disturbing for people to be sexual and romantic with animals, and Lisa does both on a pretty regular basis. I also don’t like that she’s suddenly speaking French, when she hasn’t spoken French in the last 10 years that we’ve known her. It strikes me as yet another gambit for attention. Scheana begging another man to date her when he makes it crystal clear he’s not into her. And she is definitely a “fuck girl.” She said last season on WWHL that she is hanging and banging, and now she’s saying it again. How is she not a fuck girl? And, no, she’s not middle-aged, but I think it’s funny how much that got under her skin, so I’m glad Brett said it. Three cliches not 30 minutes into the episode: James is lying about substance abuse, Lisa is trying to get attention, Scheana is desperate. Katie is starting an all-out war against Kristen. Why? Because she won’t break up with her boyfriend? Is that not the most middle school thing ever? Oh, wait, hold that thought, Flat Iron is TPing someone’s house as a joke 😒 So Schwartz is now the mature one? I have to agree with Jax that it’s not funny. It’s just stupid. Grow up. There are 550,000 people who subscribe to Brett on YouTube? This explains so much!

So, if Catelynn’s friend, who is a drug addict looking at time, jumps bond, she is on the hook for three grand? Hell no. That’s how friends turn into debtors and creditors. In this case, it’s turning friends into jailers and prisoners, if Catelynn has to be responsible for her. Sometimes the best thing an addict can do is dry out in jail. Also, they will say whatever they need to say to get their way at the time. I wouldn’t let her stay in my home. There is no way of knowing who is after her for a drug debt, or what she would steal or put in jeopardy to get drugs. It’s not fair to the kids. Hit up a single person. Suddenly Josh wants to discuss and work on things in order not to get a divorce? He hates MacKenzie and makes her feel ugly. She has been bending over backward to accommodate him. Clearly this divorce, for whatever reason, is his Achille’s heel and it’s the only thing getting his attention. I wish she would have held firm. There is no fault divorce in all 50 states now. Josh doesn’t have to “agree” to the divorce. She should absolutely divorce him and if he wants to start from square zero, and regain her trust over a period of years while she’s dating other people, he can try to do that and maybe they can go to the couples’ retreat once he’s been a saint for five years. More than anyone else on this show, sometimes even more than Amber, I want to say “fuck OFF Josh.” Who does he think he is with his beady little eyes, mumble mouth and rodeo buckle, Tim McGraw? Mackenzie, yes, would be coming into any new relationship with the baggage of three little kids, but I bet a man in his 30s or 40s who is widowed or divorced would scoop her up on a dating app (or by sliding into her DM’s) in a second, and give her a nice lifestyle, to boot. Josh doesn’t love her, and makes her live in a shitty little ranch house. Boy, bye. And now that she didn’t hold firm? I don’t care about her either, so, girl, bye. I just feel bad for the kids. They should have at least one parent who can assert themselves and set a model for their kids. They’re turning into Catelynn and Tyler by putting the show before anything and going on a couples’ retreat so that there’s something to film for the almighty MTV. I’m skeptical that “turning Chattanooga teal” would lead to any major medical accomplishments in PCOS. I am not sure Taylor, or Maci for that matter, feels very differently from me. Plus, I’m pretty sure the ob-gyns know about it by now, so I’m not sure exactly what she’s trying to accomplish. Amber lost nine pounds in one week. Good start. I wonder how much money Cheyenne’s event actually netted for “the newborn screening test” in support of “Ryder K,” as the emcee put it. He couldn’t be bothered to name the disease, lol. Cori is stupid and simple and he’s clearly kissing Cheyenne and Matt’s asses so they’ll leave him alone with Taylor, but sometimes (often) he lays it on really thick and it’s off-putting. I don’t think Matt has a ton of respect for him. Gary and Kristina really need to draw boundaries with regard to Amber. They like the bread that’s coming in from the show, but that’s not where their priorities should be at all. I support Andrew’s bid to be paid higher to be part of this toxic waste dump. Of course he’s going to say he wants a full Teen Mom salary, because you don’t start a negotiation with what you’ll settle for, you start with the highest bid you can say with a straight face. If he’s going to participate in this charade after facing what sounded like attempted murder and Amber withdrawing any financial support she’s been contributing, pony up some coins, show.

Watching this episode again, I can’t help but observe three things: Not only did Ken bring one of those little Giggy dogs to the wedding, but he lets it rest its front paws on the table at the reception. Klassy In addition to Brittney and Jax, everything that is wrong with the world is epitomized in Lance Bass, and he just might be worse, because I recognized it in him right away, whereas it took me a few years to realize Brittney’s awful My favorite part—the part where Jax said he shared “a lot of the same similarities” (as opposed to “different similarities”) with someone—didn’t make the cut when they edited It down to 60 minutes 😩

I guess this all goes back to what is “girl code.” I think it should be localized, as in, particular to every friend group. Friends don’t all have the same needs and expectations, and their “codes” should reflect that. What bothered me the most was that Stassi was freaking out and having a meltdown because of the perceived loss of control that would come if Kristen had slept with Jax when they weren’t together. It wasn’t about a mutual caring and respect and a loss of esteem in her beloved friend for betraying her. Jax got that signature tattooed on his arm, and Stassi got to run him (without any reciprocity) while she pondered indefinitely whether to take him back, which was just a power play to see how much he would grovel. Jax sleeping with Kristen humiliated Stassi so much because it proved there was a limit as to how much Jax was willing to operate under her microscope, when previously she thought she was in firm position to be the humiliator, never to be the humiliatee. In Stassi’s world, she called the shots. I don’t even think Stassi was upset about the sex per se; I think she was upset that neither Kristen nor Jax had her pre-approved, written, notarized permission to do what they did. And she wasn’t just upset that someone would make a move without her input, she was furious that people would do things without considering her feelings as their first and only priority. I know all this stuff about her, because that was how I operated and acted when I was around her age, or a little younger, so I recognize every play in her book. If it were me, I’d be angrier with Jax, because he made the Faustian bargain to basically be faithful to Stassi without being in a relationship, and he broke that. Even though it was a shitty deal, it was a deal Jax made. Kristen wasn’t a party to that deal. I also think a big reason Stassi wasn’t mad at Jax was because it permanently closed the door on them getting back together, which was a relief for both of them, and they were completely free to move on at that point. It’s not that he didn’t break her trust; it was just a net positive that he broke her trust, so his behavior was forgiven, because its effects were positive, even though the motivation behind them was just as sloppy as Kristen’s. Sandoval didn’t love or want Kristen, and he completely had his eye on another woman at the time, so Jax kind of did him a favor. I’m not surprised at all that they made up, and I think Sandoval just felt like he had to do violence against Jax because Jax technically embarrassed him, not because he was actually appalled that Jax slept with Kristen. Like I said, I think girl code should be local. I’d never be in touch with an ex, TV show or no TV show, so it wouldn’t come up, but if one of my best girl friends did sleep with my ex, I’d take it on a case by case basis. I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that she was the devil, because I don’t care about my exes. If I was ‘on the verge’ of getting back together with the guy after he’d cheated on me 🤮 as Stassi kept claiming in order to take the high ground, I’d be relived his true colors had been revealed prior to my taking him back and putting myself at risk for some kind of crazy STD. I’m not sure how angry I’d be with my friend. I’d take it on a case-by-case basis, and there would probably be at least a part of me that would want to sit down with her and be like, “girl, what would motivate you to sleep with him?” (sort of how Stassi is with Jax now). Seeing as how easy it would be for that conversation to go left, I’d probably just leave it alone and not talk to her, but I definitely wouldn’t be angry enough to commit violence. I’m not surprised Kristen forgave Stassi, because Kristen was Stassi’s minion, but Stassi committed violence against Kristen, which isn’t even in the same family as sleeping with an ex, IMO. The two of them (the four of them, actually, if you count Jax and Sandoval) probably should have quietly parted ways, but that wouldn’t make for good TV, I guess. Stassi doesn’t get to commit violence and be the victim, though. That’s not a position that I would even recognize, let alone support.

The fact that the hospitals’ linens are pure white inspires a lot of confidence that they’re at least heavily bleached, and I would assume there would be so much blood on the linens following a birth, that bleach likely wouldn’t do the trick, thus necessitating new linens following a birth (as opposed to, say, new linens every time someone comes to the hospital for an asthma attack). I don’t know the AMA’s best practices, nor do I know exactly how closely hospitals follow those practices, as I’ve never worked in that field, which is why I took pains in my original post to say that while I think the linens at the birthing center are gross, maybe hospitals aren’t as clean as I’d like to think, they just seem clean. There are also safety issues about the birthing center about which I expressed concern. And apparently other posters felt the same ickiness about the birthing center. Soooooo, my conclusion is that there was some je ne sais quoi about the place that rubbed people the wrong way, not just me:

I guess I’m wondering why Maddie doesn’t plan to go to a hospital at all, even when she’s ready to deliver? She had so much pain and trouble last time that I would insist on being in a hospital this time if I were her (I’d insist on it every time). It seems like a really strange compromise to go to a place that seems like someone else’s home. So lots of other women gave birth in that bed before her? There were linens on those beds! I doubt they buy a full set of new linens each time. 🤢 I guess it may not be as sanitary in a hospital as I might think, but at least a hospital gives the impression of being clean. To me. And, yikes, that midwife didn’t inspire confidence. I totally get listening to the mom-to-be, as doctors often talk right over their patients, but it seemed to me that this midwife was kind of asking Maddie to do her job for her, and then it was just like, “see you next week!” What are the credentials of the midwife? Does she have admitting privileges? What happens if the umbilical cord gets wrapped around the baby’s neck and it starts turning blue? Can she perform an emergency c? Part of this is me stating a preference, and part of me is wondering how this works and whether it’s safe. I thought in this day and age, everyone went to the hospital to give birth, except for super crunchy granola types and, for some reason, famous people, like Gisele Bundchen, who always seem to be doing something differently. I really hope Maddie’s birthing decisions weren’t for the sake of the cameras at least.

This was such a funny episode! Meri freaking out on Christine and Robyn was Christmas coming early, complete with non sequitors such as, “this is what great grandma Lizzie painted”! and Kodi saying “you don’t have enough room for your grandmother’s table” apropos of nothing. And, yes, Robyn your situation is exactly the same as evacuating for a fire! No one is worthy of the sacrifices you make. Kody having a low-grade emergency, such as having to move in a hurry or for a fire makes him more useful than his usual, which puts his usefulness somewhere slightly above 0%. It’s like a chaotic situation is his raison d’etre. It was a good way to see the family come together, though, almost like they should have had a fire coming since day one... This is the most likable I’ve seen Maddie in years. It’s like something about losing that mucus plug eased her jaw open. Even at eight months pregnant, I think she looks better in the face, without glasses, and there must be something I hate about the way she applies makeup, because I think she looks much better without it. I cannot believe she was in labor for 86 hours last time and she still doesn’t want to go to the hospital. That midwife didn’t seem all that...confident. My disdain for Caleb remains firmly in place. Christine tells Meri she’s “welcome to come over” in the event that Meri’s house burns down. With sister wives like these...(not that I’m not saying Meri didn’t make her own bed, but they’re nothing like sisters, in addition to being nothing like wives). I can’t believe Robyn is pretending she wants a rental “halfway to Sedona.” How many times does she want to move her kids? And she can’t understand God’s reasoning on not giving them a six-bedroom rental? Girl friend, He let Moses wander the desert for 40 years!

^^^ Ugh, that would make me crazy! I haven’t spent much time in DC, but it’s clear not to everyone resides in Georgetown, the way the media seems to portray it. When I was watching this show last night, it jogged a memory for me when my friend and I were going to get pizza in lower Manhattan late one night, and I when I drunkenly but nicely asked another patron if the food was good, he took that opportunity to deck my friend in the face so hard that my friend bit off a part of his cheek and had to spit it into his hand. Where is that New York, Ben? Because it’s alive and well... This past episode was not good. I would have loved to see the puppet thing go farther. That was cool. I disliked the portion with the red-headed person, because I thought it was extremely unrealistic. We are supposed to believe the red-headed person went into a trance or trip like that from three squirts of nasal spray prescribed by a doctor? Who is this doctor, and is he taking new patients?? I don’t like it because I feel the show has an agenda—pot is great, all other drugs are evil—which is a message with which I utterly disagree. And their agenda is kind of right there on the surface. Last season, when that Asian vet was micro dosing, I was like, “let me guess where this is going to go,” and, of course, it did. Meanwhile, micro dosing has had fabulous results. Horrible things can happen from smoking pot. I’ve seen it rob people of their ambition, just like alcohol can. And, I don’t really care if this sounds controversial, but if people are responsible with their drug use, “hard” drugs can provide a great time, which has been my experience. I feel just a little bit lectured to every time I watch an episode like this. Oh, and The Guy really had to shame someone for having failed to quit vaping last night? And this season he’s carrying around a jar, because “fuck plastic”? I watch this for a story, not a lesson, thanks! (Just to end on a positive note, I thought a really good story last season was the one with the gay contraction worker who couldn’t really speak English, and the coffee guy taught him how to order a “coffee regular,” and they had a bit of a romance. That is the kind of thing I tune in to watch—just things that happen in interesting ways, not instructions on how to live my life).

Mike giving the summation of the drama of the season thus far is the most useful he’s been in life in any capacity. Reza and Adam didn’t go to Arizona to support Destiney; they did it to keep Destiney in their camp, so that if Destiney ever says something in support of MJ, Reza can cry hysterically and rage in her face and point and say, “I-I-I w-w-was there for you in Phoenix!,” so that she’ll be emotionally blackmailed to get up and hug him at the reunion. This is 100% part of his MO of alliance building. Those cheerleaders were so amateur! I would never hire Destiney—she can get so much work done on herself, but not even a spray tan to be found amongst the talent?? Does Destiney think the higher the pitch of her voice, the more anyone will find sympathy for her? Because I’ve got none. It also really bothers me when she refers to MJ exclusively as “Mers,” with a pronounced accent on it. Everyone calls her Mers, but they rotate it with MJ and Mercedes. It just seems like part of her continued desperate bid for authenticity. I am sort of starting to understand why Sara would rather have everyone think her brother is a man-whore that is fucking all of Vegas than someone who is dating Destiney. I am so glad Nema called out Destiney’s bullshit in his talking head. I bet she thought it was going to be a lot easier to come on this show and get everyone to buy her poor little vulnerable girl approach, and they’re not, and I’m here for that. I didn’t find a retirement party for Vida where everyone had to dress as Vida to be at all interesting or amusing. Everyone just looked very silly. I didn’t see a point in it, except to fill time to show Mike and Nema shopping for the costume, and possibly to get the party to air. Doesn’t take much these days. Even though it’s been explained probably twice this episode, I am still unclear as to why Reza got mad at MJ (prior to Tommy’s vandalism). Was it just that Destiney told Reza that Ali told Destiney that MJ was talking about Adam’s infidelity? Can someone please explain this to me so that I can understand? I feel like I might need to make a flow chart.

I finished watching season two today, and I’m shocked at how much control Stassi tried to exert over Jax’s life when he wasn’t even her boyfriend. I probably should have known this, but Stassi wasn’t even going out with Jax when Kristen slept with him. You know what that makes him? Single. It was so bad that Stassi and Sandoval resorted to real violence to solve their problems. Every single person was in the wrong there. It got me so irrationally mad that Stassi suddenly started kissing Ariana’s ass as soon as she realized Kristen was off her rocker. You don’t have to support Kristen’s relationship, but you don’t have to consort with the enemy either. Schwartz pouring a drink over Katie’s head was so uncalled for. And then he made fun of her for crying! He was disgusted by her. They probably should have broken up then, and not gotten married. Scheana continues to be a garbage human. Her music sucks hard. Shay didn’t see this nightmare coming? Stassi was talking about dipping dildos in acid and fucking people with them back then too. It’s so boring how often she brings up that particular torture technique, and how much satisfaction it gives her. I wound up really liking Kristina, and I wonder how it would have turned out if she stayed. Would she have become a giant fame whore too? I wonder if she would have gained weight, like Stassi, Kristen and Katie did, or if she would have stayed the same, like Ariana. It’s hard to picture her any differently. Those photo shoots were so creepy!! James was in the one in the finale lol. Ariana continues to be the worst one to me. There’s something extra awful about someone who wants to be accepted for something about themselves that is “other” when she smirks and rhapsodizes about Kristen’s alleged mental illness constantly. It’s so hypocritical. If anyone else were to say anything half as insulting about someone with a mental health problem, she’d be all, “Dude. Like, I’m sorry, but that’s like (long important Ariana pause), I’m sorry, but that’s really like not cool. Like...people...really....struggle...with their mental illness.” Ugh, she is such a slow talker who never has anything interesting to say. I just didn’t know quite how much of a jerk and a liar she was until watching this again. Now that Ariana is on this depression journey in season eight, are the viewers supposed to feel any pity? Because I have zero pity. I think it’s fitting. To think I found her likable and sympathetic last season. Re-watching early seasons of reality TV should be required, so I don’t make mistakes like these again. I wonder who else I was totally wrong about!

I already decided if Margaret comes back next season, I’m going to be checking for her. She presented herself as the take no prisoners Joan Rivers type, but looking back at the time she joined the show, it was super easy to slide in against Siggy, who was unhinged. It was kind of like how Siggy joining the show was a breath of fresh air, because when Siggy came on, Jacqueline was losing her shit. As soon as Teresa didn’t need Margaret to fight a battle, Margaret kind of collapsed in on herself like a dying star. She’s shown some nasty, weak, immature and abrasive traits that have been quite disappointing.

I re-watched just to be sure, as this is apparently my life now, and I think Lala would have to know and she was just trying to stir up trouble, but it doesn’t detract from how dumb Raquel was in making the truth (which was in her favor) somehow look like a lie: At the scene in the coffee shop Raquel tells Lala that “yesterday” she took James to his first AA meeting, and it was a big deal for him. At Villa Rosa, James tell Lisa that he went to an AA meeting yesterday, his first meeting ever. Then, in the next scene, Brittney says the extra party will be “tonight.” At the extra party, Lala tells Raquel that James was at a party at which Logan said he saw video of “everyone getting fucked up” and the show flashes back to “six nights earlier” when James tells Raquel he was going to a birthday party that night. When Lala brings the info to Raquel, Raquel just says “shut the fuck up” and “that’s not even true” and that she thought Lala would have her back and not spread this rumor. I know that things are filmed out of sequence sometimes, but only going on what the show gave us, the birthday party occurred days before James “got sober.” If he and Raquel weren’t so defensive and such big liars, they could have said, “yes, that happened, and James is turning over a new leaf. Why are you spreading rumors now, Lala?” Turn the tables on her! The truth will set you free. No one believes James wasn’t getting fucked up at that party, do they? So the lie just casts a shadow on all of their (Lala’s, James’s, Raquel’s and Logan’s) characters (Raquel says talking about her character is fair game, so I guess she’s cool with this), when it was an opportunity to make Lala and Logan look exclusively awful. Raquel and James could have gotten a mulligan off this one and came away with the high ground, to boot, if they would have thought more and lied less.

I totally agree with my fellow posters on the one hand, since I still think this show is good. On the other hand, I guess I just I kind of bristle at the suggestion that was made up thread that people can just turn off their TVs if they don’t like it. I think it misses the point of what we’re trying to achieve here. I think if you have a good reason that a show should be cancelled, it’s valid, even if millions feel otherwise. I think Law & Order: SVU should be cancelled by the network, because I think its misinformation has a horrible effect. So I can imagine that some people would think HBO should hang up this show so they can go out on a high(ish) note. That’s not my head space, but I sympathize with others who feel this way. Does anyone know if Larry plays golf in real life? Because I re-watched The Ugly Section last night (yes, I’m already doing a season 10 re-watch, and it is funnier the second time, save for You’re Not Going to Get Me to Say Anything About Mickie) and LD definitely got the angle of the putter wrong. Then again, in the second episode, Larry attributed “Millions for defense, but not one penny for tribute” to the Revolutionary War, when it actually came out of the XYZ Affair (yes, I’m bored enough that I looked it up!) Richard is amazing on the season 10 rewatch. His one-liners are so good. At one point he asks Larry if he’s his Jewish puppet master. Then, when Larry is pushing a scone on him, Richard accuses Larry of being “like an 18th century president on the back of a train,” telling the people there would be a chicken in every pot. How does he come up with this? It’s so funny! To tie this all together, I just think it’s funny, so it stands on its merit, even if there’s a trend downward. I respect everyone else’s opinion.

Hmm, no one said they “need” to look hot. I posited that I “kind of” want them to look hot. I already gave the reasons why it’s self-evident that the show wants them to look hot, which means at least some of the other viewers want them to look hot—the positive visual impact, the idea that someone can go from morbidly obese to hot is inspiring, for them and for humanity, as well as the drama of the aesthetic. I wonder why the idea that one would want something positive for this group of people who have literally worked their asses off would be met with hostility.

That is just the show making New York look probably how the show wishes New York was. Having lived in this city and lived elsewhere, I can probably make the following statement with some accuracy: Real New Yorkers are stressed out, busy, get-to-the-point type of people. These big, happy collaborative meetings people have at work don’t happen this way in NY. Everything is cutthroat and bottom line, at least in private enterprise. I can’t speak for what it’s like to work for the government, though the court system is very hurried and unfriendly. Some New Yorkers are calm, but none of them are jolly. I think you can get kicked out of the city for being jolly. I think the vet, the one who painted the portrait of Feau-Meau (which I thought was good) was about the only person I could see actually living in New York. The Lainie character seemed like she would be bicoastal, but I’d buy her as New York, very few others. Also the apartments are just way too nice. I kept getting distracted by the apartments—how does a dental assistant with a disabled husband and a daughter in school afford that apartment? That awful couple that called each other “Smoothie” couldn’t have afforded that apartment on her salary from public radio, unless he was some kind of doctor, lawyer, executive, etc (which I wasn’t getting), and even then it would have been a tight squeeze, unless they were pulling in a good six figure combined salary. (What would probably be really helpful would be if they would identify which neighborhoods they were in, as that has a huge effect on price, but I get the impression that they’re mostly in Brooklyn—Bushwick was mentioned at one point—and lower and midtown Manhattan. I doubt he’s going to Staten Island, or distant parts of the Bronx). One of the most realistic depictions of New York I’ve seen on film came from the movie Election, which takes place in Omaha, ironically enough. There’s a scene at the end of the movie where a main character moves to NYC, and he lives in a below street level apartment, in maybe two hundred square feet, for $1,200 a month (plus utilities) in 1999 dollars. It’s a tough existence, and it’s reflected in the way people interact with each other. My husband and I are both from New York, but he’s only lived within commuting distance of the city, and when we were binge-watching this season, I looked at him at one point and said, “you know New Yorkers are nothing like this?” And he’s like, “oh yeah.” The party that The Guy got invited to at his compost garden when they were watching YouTube seemed somewhat realistic, for people who are very bohemian and very wealthy. I think when people are wealthy, it’s much easier to rise above life’s banalities and defeat stereotypes. If you don’t have to wake up at 5 am to take the D train to the A train to walk seven blocks to your office in heels, you’re not, perhaps, as keyed up as others.

There’s also hate-watching, which is totally valid. I’m not there yet with Curb (found this season to be anywhere between mediocre and high, but a downward departure from the past nine seasons), but I’ve managed to get there with Shameless. A lot of it has to do with FOMO, for sure. But I think people who want the show to be cancelled have just as much of a voice as people who want it to stay. It’s the validity of the reasons supporting the comments that I look forward to reading, not the stated position. It would be like an echo chamber if only people who praised the show talked about it.

Yes, and there is always the idea that sex can be counterintuitive. People can get turned on by things just because they’re scandalous. I think Miranda from Sex and the City said it best when she said, “I once masturbated to a bus boy who was rude to me.” So, yes, Jax probably does jack off to all sorts of subversive and surprising elements, but I would think he would want his wife to be perfect from the vantage point of society. Some guys even have the virgin-whore complex—they can’t fuck their wives, because they think they’re too pure for their penises. I think Jax is a long way from that, but I don’t think he would be mellow if Brittney got much bigger, unfortunately. Which is on him. “For better or for worse” is supposed to mean something. I don’t think Jax would divorce Brittney if she ballooned up, especially if she had his kids, but I think he’d be that asshole at a party muttering behind a sweaty drink about what a fat-ass his wife is, sending her home early in an Uber, and fucking the 100-lb, barely 18 cocktail waitress in the bushes to compensate. He’s not good enough of a person to get a clean divorce. Just the impression I get.

OMG, thank you for putting into words exactly how I’ve been feeling for at least the last 2/3s of the season—though be careful calling Chase a “sort of guy” 😉 I would love to know how he’s actually making a living doing right now—not what he plans to do, but how he, as a 29 year old man, is supporting himself. Why do I get the distinct feeling that a lot of the checks he’s been cashing have been written by “Mom & Dad, Inc”? The timing of this proposal is interesting. Maybe a certain someones threatened to cut him off after a certain landmark birthday... The show is called “My Big Fat Fabulous Life.” I’m assuming the “My” refers to Whitney. So, yes, show, excuse me for wanting to focus on and know about Whitney’s life. Considering the “reunion” was called “The Engagement Party,” why wasn’t there more of an emphasis on the development of her relationship with Chase, from inception to the engagement? It’s my opinion that there was no development, but giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe the show simply didn’t show it. Because, yes, it was so important to make sure we got footage of Buddy wiping his ever-sweaty brow, mumbling that he feels “squirrelly,” traveling to Charleston alone to tell a sober bro that he feels “squirrelly,” and then having a night of “improv” to which Whitney didn’t even show. And he was having inorganic roommate issues with Tal, y’all! Super interesting! My husband and I definitely dated longer than Whitney and Chase before he proposed, so we would have more to film time-wise, but we didn’t have the budget Whitney and Chase had either, so it would have been harder to catch us having Fabulous moments, unless you call going to arena football Fabulous. I guess I am just wondering, “why?” Why him for her and her for him? It seems so random. They didn’t give us a “why.” It feels more like a “why not.” All the emphasis on Buddy makes it seem like maybe the show knows something we don’t—that Buddy will be around, whereas Chase may be off creating a different sort of life a year from now. By then he’ll be 30. I wonder if he’ll have made up his mind about having little bruhs when he’s 30, or if he’ll still be “too young”. 🤔

Teri, I feel like I hardly knew ya. It’s bad editing/storytelling that everything I learned about this woman came out in ep one—former beauty queen, weighed 107 lbs when she won Miss Missouri, is currently some type of flying nurse. Nothing interesting transpired the whole time. I think, judging by Teri’s follow-up video, she has about reached the peak of her weight loss. Maybe she’ll eke out another 20 for the finale. A year from now, she’ll probably be the same amount she was when she left the show. She lost a good amount—they all did—but I would be surprised if anyone showed up to the finale slim, as they’ve done in seasons past. I know this seems like a nitpick, but it’s really not—I don’t think Micah should go to an AA meeting when he gets home. He’s been sober the whole time at the ranch, no? He can go to a SMART meeting when he gets home, which uses cognitive-behavioral techniques to get people to end their destructive behavior (usually drugs, but it can be anything). It’s based on logic and reason. He can go to SMART to deal with his eating too. And SMART doesn’t care if you show up to their meetings. It’s all about your choice as a rational adult. AA, on the other hand, wants you to join, encourages you to join immediately, strangers ask you for your phone number at your first meeting and all the strangers of the same sex give you their numbers before you leave, so they can get you to “keep coming back,” which means admitting that you’re powerless over alcohol, that you have an incurable disease that you will have for the rest of your life, and the only way you can arrest it (one day at a time) is to turn your life and your will over to the power of God...this doesn’t sound like something Micah needs. It would be like getting chemotherapy for a head cold. I think there are a lot of misconceptions about AA, one of them being that you can get help by going to “a” meeting. AA, depending on which experienced person you talk to, is anything between a “secular” religion and a cult, but there is consensus that you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound. When people encourage others to check out “a” meeting, they either have no idea how it works, or they are setting you up to become a member until you die. Some people consider it switching one addiction for another. I have never seen an exception, and I’ve put a fair amount of research into it. It’s their modus operandi. I feel like someone who knew something about addiction should have been there to explain some of this to Micah, or he can find himself, 30 years from now, going to a meeting every day, standing up and saying, “My name is Micah and I’m an alcoholic,” and taking endless phone calls at all hours of the night, all because he was drinking two four-locos a night at 23 years old. I feel kinda bad, but I’m not super excited about the finale. I don’t think we’re going to see the kind of weight loss and fabulous body transitions that we’ve seen in the past. Like I’ve posted upthread, Micah is definitely going to need skin surgery in order to have a normal body, and I don’t think the show is going to provide that, because I think they are operating off of a very limited budget. Kyle is looking kind of haggard and saggy too. Jim will begin to look that way when he’s lost more weight. Skin just stretches and doesn’t bounce back when there’s been a 100+ weight loss. These people may be so much more healthy now, but very few of them are going to look hot without the skin surgery. And I kind of want them to look hot. The show wants them to look hot, too, or the finale wouldn’t have them get all glammed up. If it was all about health, they would just weigh them in their sports bras and shorts, no hair and makeup in sight. So...get them some cosmetic surgery as a reward. It would have such a positive visual impact.

Just in case anyone skipped past the “reunion,” which is becoming more and more bullshit, I’ll put my comments about that in a separate post and just go over the interesting parts, which were few and far between: Chase makes Buddy wear his pants when he’s at home. Quelle horreur! When they were about to play their first super-fun game, and there were an uneven number of guys and girls, Todd immediately shouted out, “Whitney counts as two!” And then he goes, “because of your intelligence!” Where has this Todd been all season? So Whitney outed Tal for wanting to fuck Whitney at some point when they were drunk. We know that Tal is currently sober. I wonder if that was what behaviorists call “the activating event”? Anything said about a Buddy love triangle makes me want a shower. He is disgusting. I have no idea what people see in him. It’s not just because he’s (really, really) fat. Roy was fat, and completely pleasant looking, and I could understand why women would have wanted to be with him. Buddy is a complete loser. Also, during one game, Whitney made sure to give a shout-out that Buddy is one of her exes. I get a dispute about whether there was ever a drunken hook-up, but how in the hell is there confusion about whether Whitney and Buddy were in a full-blown relationship? Whitney said at one point that she’s uncomfortable with all the confusion buzzing around about Buddy and Chase. No, bitch, you are loving it. That is your comfort zone. She doesn’t want reciprocal, undying love, she wants minions. She wants men vying for her. Whether the men in question are capable of taking a good shave for an appearance on national TV is another story. I just fail to see what’s titillating about a woman in a relationship acting a fool with Buddy? It’s about a half-step away from cheating. Chase is signing up for a lifetime of this (allegedly)? I have to wonder about Ryan supposedly “saving Whitney’s life.” Does it count as a life-saving if she would have beached at some point? I mean, she would have dog-paddled to the shore at some point, right? I can’t swim, and I don’t think I would have died out there. You know what would have been good? If they would have asked Whitney and Chase the questions that the government asks of people who are trying to get a foreign-born person into the country by marrying them. Like, I wanted to know just how many times they’ve got out. Has she met his mom? How often does she go to Wilmington? How often does he come to Charlotte? What exactly is going on with these two? The newlywed questions/answers convinced me they’ve never had sex. Question: “When does Chase try to have sex with you?” Whitney: “Uh, um, oh, um, well, it’s...when I’m ready to go to sleep, so...after midnight?” This is not some blushing virgin who’s afraid to speak about sex on TV—all she talks about is sex on TV! If she were having sex on the regular, we would be inundated with details until our ears bled! I thought the most real part of the talk was who would be in the wedding party, and Ashley actually seemed hurt that she wouldn’t be maid of honor. So, ok, looks like this wedding is real. Didn’t see that one coming. Do I think he has the feelings for her that a husband should have for his future wife? Hell no.

There is no chemistry between them!! There is chemistry coming from Whitney’s end, but nothing from Chase, you are so right! A few things bothered me about that dinner in the hotel room. Of course the wanting to have kids was not about kids, it was about Whitney being desirable, just like Buddy’s amends were about her and how sexually viable she is. Did Whitney really say she thinks it’s the PCOS and the age gap thats making Chase hesitate? Like, her terrible personality and morbid obesity and lack of hygiene are neutral factors? “My fiancé Chase.” I wonder how many times a day she works that one into a conversation. Ryan should have decided at the beginning whether he was going to do the dances, whether it was on brand for him, not be an asshole about it and say afterward that it’s a conflict (which it’s not; the more they have going on online, the bigger their social media presence). I have to wonder what Smail’s first reaction to the group was. If Ashley—who is getting bigger and there’s no evidence she exercises—can climb the Eiffel, it’s not some mean feat for Whitney. I question whether they really did it in 45 minutes.

Not to state the obvious, but Amber doesn’t care about kid she has that she’s allowed to see (Lia). She was crying that if she lost the court hearing, she would go from “every day mom to every other day mom” to James (dissolves into tears). She’s not even an “every other day mom” with Lia! Catelynn and Cheyenne have most annoying voices In completely different ways. I hate when they yell their voiceovers. Amber is a big offender there. Rhine still seems fucked up. Such weird energy with Bentley, as was commented upon. Josh sucks. What in the world could have been more important than his son’s eighth birthday party? Sad. Cori’s right: he and Cheyenne should be on the same parenting page, precisely so that one parent isn’t “the bad guy.” Did he really say they should “try” to keep Ryder’s bedtime to 9 o’clock, as in 9 pm? So she usually goes to bed later than that? I thought kids that age went to bed at 7:30. I don’t think my bedtime was 9 o’clock until I was eight. I still think Catelynn’s doctor was being too easy on her. I’m sure she’s on a shit-ton of medication, but I’ve never heard of anything taking more than months to kick. Once people start talking in terms of years, a short-term stay at an in-patient rehab is usually recommended. Oh wait, Catelynn would never leave her family for any significant period of time 🤔...the fact that the doctor and the patient kept referring to postpartum depression as “postpartum” (which is anything that happens after giving birth, good, bad or indifferent) made me weep for the English language. Mackenzie was actually showing a ton of self-awareness that Josh doesn’t love her, which makes it so she has no love to give (back). I think it’s time to call this one.