S06.E08: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Jazz seeks emotional well being at a spiritual retreat while Greg and Jeanette seek relief from their concern over Jazz's emotional wellbeing.  Although still $5K short of her financial goal of $25K, Noelle moves forward with her gender affirmation surgery.

Original air date 2020.03.17

[Concerned]

Is this two parter the series conclusion?

[Sew Sumi]

3 minutes ago, Concerned said:

Is this two parter the series conclusion?

No, it's a 2-hour finale.

[galaxychaser]

Feels like this show will never end 

[gingerella]

2 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

No, it's a 2-hour finale.

The only reason I will watch two hours of this bullshit is because of Covid-19, fucking pandemic has made me lower my TV viewing standards enormously! I even taped Sister Wives just in case I need to watch something literally stupid.

[Quilty]

Now she's wasting her brother's time with the song BS. He's so patient with her. 

[Quilty]

Is Janette still in drag? That eyeshadow. Yikes!

[Concerned]

Jazz dodged a bullet by not going to Harvard. The school has closed for Coronavirus. The family would have paid $75,000 to take University of Phoenix style classes at home.

[Granny58]

I was only half listening.....did kaci just say that her hardest part of going toCollege was how hard it was going to be for jazz?

 

 

 

[VioletNevermind]

Dear, sweet Noelle.  I’m actually crying.  She deserves this so much.  Frankly, this is who should have a documentary.  She is grace and maturity personified and is an example to so many other struggling young people, not just trans people.  Take notes, Jazz.  This is how it’s done. 💜

Edited March 18, 2020 by Suzy Rhapsody

[Emmeline]

I am sure people would really be willing to support Noelle, she is very well liked. I was tearing up with her, prior to surgery.  It’s refreshing to see someone who really can appreciate something and wasn’t handed everything on a silver platter.

The real question is, where in the world does Jeanette find those horrible glasses she was wearing in the hospital?

Edited March 18, 2020 by Emmeline

[Concerned]

The girl with Sander said she was “interested in continuing their friendship.” Ouch. Sander might find it difficult finding somebody who wants to get involved with somebody from such a weird family.

[patty1h]

34 minutes ago, Suzy Rhapsody said:

Dear, sweet Noelle.  I’m actually crying.  She deserves this so much.  Frankly, this is who should have a documentary.  She is grace and maturity personified and is an example to so many other struggling young people, not just trans people.  Take notes, Jazz.  This is how it’s done. 

I don't know if I could watch a show (maybe a documentary) focused on Noelle cause she's kind of flat and looks so sad whenever I see her onscreen.  I know she's faced some trauma and negativity but I don't think I could get pulled in to a show with a lead who seems so depressed.

I didn't like how the cameras got that dramatic and tearful family scene in Noelle's house (convenient/lucky for TLC), just in time for Jazz to show up for the trip to the hospital.  Not set up at all, no no no!  Happy that Noelle got the surgery but I hate that Jazz gets the savior award for the drag show benefit, but no one will be able to convince me that the producers didn't fund most of it.

Edited March 18, 2020 by patty1h

[seasons]

I sincerely hope that this surgery brings Noelle happiness. Jazz too.

 

For the love of God, Jeanette LOSE THOSE AWFUL GLASSES!!! She so needs an update/makeover. Now that jazz has had her  surgery, maybe she can focus on herself.

 

Sander is adorable.

[seasons]

Oh no. Poor Griffen starting to lose his hair.

 

not sure about grandpa driving an rv...

[Concerned]

Pretty sure that was the final episode of the series. Really summed it up in the last few minutes. Jazz had a moment of clarity in her comment about delusions of grandeur. She should forget Harvard and go to the same college as her brothers and sister and Greg and Jeanette should hold onto their house because a couple of those kids are going to move back home and stay for a while.

[patty1h]

Cringe moment: Jazz all excited to tell groggy Noelle that they were able to create a vagoo that went 6 inches deep!  Later, they showed the friends shopping and Noelle confiding that dilating was no fun but now that she had her girl part installed, she was ready to go to college and get herself a "boo".

[TomGirl]

I just love this entire family.  YMMV

[iwasish]

30 minutes ago, patty1h said:

Cringe moment: Jazz all excited to tell groggy Noelle that they were able to create a vagoo that went 6 inches deep!  Later, they showed the friends shopping and Noelle confiding that dilating was no fun but now that she had her girl part installed, she was ready to go to college and get herself a "boo".

Don’t forget the doctor proudly telling her parents that her new vagina is “pretty”

Just what every dad wants to hear. 

[Gramto6]

I am a Reiki Master/Teacher and what was shown was not how a session goes...I call fake fakety on all of it!

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Gramto6

[gingerella]

I find myself saying ‘Just shut.the.fuck.up. Jazz’. I really can barely stand to watch this show anymore because Jazz is so deluded and so in need of therapy, and her parents are fucking idiots. Yeah, sending Jazz and her paid friends to a spiritual camp is just feeding her bullshit. Therapy is where she should have been, not what looked like a spiritual place where they’re filling her head with bullshit about how she can overcome her depression and anxiety herself, because she can’t. She has zero skills to deal with this as of yet undiagnosed depression and anxiety. I’m just so over the gross misrepresentation of what a responsible response to depression and anxiety looks like on this show.

Loved all the Noelle parts but could have done seeing that’s WITHOUT Jazz butting into everything. 

The family vacation was the usual TLC producer driven nonsense. Completely unneeded and a waste of my life time, and the way they ended it did seem like a series ending but I just don’t understand why they wouldn’t be up for rent and say that unless the family wants to leave the door open for more of this. I think in the end, the Jennings ended up getting a lot of us to dislike them for the seemingly shitty decisions they did or did not make - mostly with respect to allowing Jazz to be a lazy, self absorbed brat who runs away at the first whiff of failure and who refused therapy when she so clearly needed it. So in a way they got what they’d wanted because I don’t hate watch this show because Jazz is transgender, I hate watch it because it’s incomprehensible that a family could allow one person to take them over the way they let Jazz has, and not take action when their child is so clearly in need of mental health assistance. So kudos Jennings family, you’re just as fucked up and dysfunctional as any other cis gendered family. *slow clap*

ETA: The only bright spot this whole season, other than Noelle, was tonight when Jazz admitted to believing her delusions of ‘grandoor,. It sounded like maaaybe she is admitting that she need professional therapy. I sincerely hope so because I don’t see any positive path forward for her without accepting and embracing therapy. 

[Bastet]

For the first time in quite a while, I watched a few minutes here and there of this episode, and it seemed to - in contrasting Jazz and Noelle's physical and emotional situations at the time of surgery - encapsulate what this series has been talking about all along and why I've continued to read here for updates on Jazz despite my long ago disgust with turning this from a documentary series into a reality show.

When the Jenningses, upon realizing all their "corrective" measures didn't work and what they had in their youngest toddler wasn't a confused boy but a transgender girl, went looking for a transgender community to connect with for support and guidance, they found almost exclusively adults, and who hadn't transitioned, in any way, until after puberty and suffered tremendous psychological damage having to undergo the wrong puberty and continued damage - both psychological and to their physical and financial safety by the resulting ongoing difficulty in "passing" - and thus lamented having to go through the wrong puberty and talked about how life could have been/be so different without that.

So they ultimately sought to alleviate that by medically inducing the right puberty in Jazz.  And that indeed solved some problems, but also created one, with the physical difficulty in not having as much tissue to work with as desired in conducting bottom surgery.

That's what was on display here - Jazz, with her early hormonal correction, is better able to "pass" (which, of course, is not just cosmetic, but potentially a matter of survival in our society) in terms of her physical self the public sees (those who don't know anything about her via the show), but has a tougher time in terms of obtaining what she wants for the genitalia she sees and any sexual partner will see, while Noelle and most of the transgender girls Jazz is friends with have more to work with in creating a "typical" vulva and vagina, but have facial features that do not as well comport with the desired "feminine norm" and instead look more like what is traditionally described as "masculine" (and had to spend longer looking at - and disguising via clothing - a penis that caused such psychological discomfort and potentially physical danger from others.

There is no clear path Jazz and her parents, Noelle and hers, or anyone should have taken, no definitive right with anything else being wrong.  And Jazz doesn't doesn't seem to get what was right for her isn't automatically right for everyone else, but it's also not hard for me to imagine why - with her very existence/identity under societal (and some personal) attack as long as she can remember, and the predominant sentiment she heard from her adult counterparts, she feels that way.

 

[Koalagirl]

I love Noelle’s parents. Her mom is great, but her dad is a rockstar.  It was so apparent how much he adores Noelle.  

[bichonblitz]

Is Jazz going to be jealous because Dr. Bowers told Noelle several times that she had a pretty vagina? Isn't that was Jazz always wanted and harped on endlessly but instead got one that was all hacked up to the point to where she can't even pee normally? 

So Janette likes to get her drink on. Who knew. 

That strip club scene with grandma included was embarrassing. 

Now that they are empty nesters Greg wants to move to a high rise condo on the beach and enjoy his golden years with his wife. Good luck with that, Greg. I have a feeling Jazz will be around for quite a while longer still sucking all of her mother's attention. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by bichonblitz

[Kid]

The end of the episode really did feel like the end of the series. And that is probably a good thing.  Jazz is ending statement was probably the most sincere she has ever appeared.  And I’m glad she gets it and I hope that she can become more than just being transgender. Because, I think she has a lot of gifts.

Edited March 18, 2020 by Kid

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

I only caught the "vacation" part of this episode. Oh and for the record, South Florida skies look like that every afternoon  (i.e. the black skies with rain). It passes in about 10-15 min). But what I did notice how miserable Jazz looked in the family parts. The rest of the family was all happy-pappy and she looked like she was "over it". Which makes me wonder about the dynamics of a family where one member is struggling (for whatever reason) and the rest gets invested so much that they are holding her up instead of encouraging her to see a real therapist. Again, just my opinion. 

[readheaded]

3 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

I love Noelle’s parents. Her mom is great, but her dad is a rockstar.  It was so apparent how much he adores Noelle.  

And, I respect him a ton because I think that he took it hard, but chose love and acceptance.  

[Honey]

4 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

I love Noelle’s parents. Her mom is great, but her dad is a rockstar.  It was so apparent how much he adores Noelle.  

When he said that Noelle was his hero, I kept thinking how different life would be for some transgender people, if they could only have parents like that.  Noelle is very lucky, and the wonderful thing is that Noelle absolutely knows it.

Tipsy Jeannette is pretty funny...Matt Boner indeed.  Hee.

[Twopper]

18 hours ago, patty1h said:

I don't know if I could watch a show (maybe a documentary) focused on Noelle cause she's kind of flat and looks so sad whenever I see her onscreen.  I know she's faced some trauma and negativity but I don't think I could get pulled in to a show with a lead who seems so depressed.

I didn't like how the cameras got that dramatic and tearful family scene in Noelle's house (convenient/lucky for TLC), just in time for Jazz to show up for the trip to the hospital.  Not set up at all, no no no!  Happy that Noelle got the surgery but I hate that Jazz gets the savior award for the drag show benefit, but no one will be able to convince me that the producers didn't fund most of it.

I am grateful on behalf of Nicole if TLC funded her surgery.   The only docu I could see her doing is where she spends time with Dr Marcy getting advice on looking more feminine.  I think the doc looks good for her age, and she didn't have puberty blockers.   Jazz doesn't need to discourage Noelle from voice lessons.  Maybe I am too shallow, but I think Noelle could use lots of help with her appearance, and maybe having had the "bottom surgery" she will have time/motivation  to work on it.

I don't believe that Jeanette is ready to move to a condo especially since Jazz is not ready to move out on her own.   Even if she ends up at Harvard or Pomona or UF, she will be probably be coming home for a few more summers.  I forwarded thru that.  I haven't seen many beach condos that have room for an island in the kitchen. 

[jacksgirl]

Haven't watched yet. To be honest, have been hate watching for the past 3 seasons. I remember reading the forums last season when a lot of people thought that the hot air balloon ride with the fam would be a great end of series moment. Now, again. Time to pull the plug on the show let Jazz have some privacy in her life and hopefully get some therapy. The other three kids can finish school and work on their careers and Jeanette can get a huge makeover and quietly go away.

[Fostersmom]

2 hours ago, Twopper said:

I am grateful on behalf of Nicole if TLC funded her surgery.   The only docu I could see her doing is where she spends time with Dr Marcy getting advice on looking more feminine.  I think the doc looks good for her age, and she didn't have puberty blockers.   Jazz doesn't need to discourage Noelle from voice lessons.  Maybe I am too shallow, but I think Noelle could use lots of help with her appearance, and maybe having had the "bottom surgery" she will have time/motivation  to work on it.

I don't believe that Jeanette is ready to move to a condo especially since Jazz is not ready to move out on her own.   Even if she ends up at Harvard or Pomona or UF, she will be probably be coming home for a few more summers.  I forwarded thru that.  I haven't seen many beach condos that have room for an island in the kitchen. 

See, I think Dr. Marcy looks, well, not good. Haggard and wrinkly. Noelle just needs a better hair cut, or at least to part her hair on the side, not down the middle, and a bit of makeup. She had some skin issues, and even just coverup and some loose powder would make a big difference. Maybe a bit of mascara. She should ask Jazz's BFFs, they looked very natural, pretty, and age appropriate. I would tell her to stay clear of any makeup tips Jazz gives her, since Jazz seems to follow the Jeanette school of packing it on. Ari would also be a good person for Noelle to talk to, she always looks so naturally pretty. Too bad her mom and sister haven't clued in. 

Did anyone else think maybe Jazz and Noelle hadn't see each other in ages when they met to go to the gym? Poor Noelle just seemed so uncomfortable and they both acted like they were on the outs almost. 

The spiritual retreat was ridiculous at best. And all Jazz took from it was basically she doesn't need to do real work on her mental health. Awesome. Has anyone found the song she supposedly posted and raised the last of the surgery money with? It's not on her Instagram or YouTube. And given how she pretty much gave up with Sander after 12 minutes, I'm gonna need to someone to say they've seen it to actually believe it. 

 

[seasons]

Still confused as to how jazz was valedictorian of her class. Not necessarily doubting her intelligence, but the emotional impact that we saw on the show these last few years, not going to school, etc. - I can't see how any young person could go through what she did and still reach that highly covered and competitive achievement. Was she in honors/AP classes? Schoolwork didn't seem to be much of a priority during the last few years?

[Granny58]

On 3/18/2020 at 5:40 PM, Twopper said:

I think the doc looks good for her age, and she didn't have puberty blockers.   Jazz doesn't need to discourage Noelle from voice lessons. 

agreed.  I think the doctor looks very feminine. 

[xls]

On 3/17/2020 at 11:29 PM, patty1h said:

Cringe moment: Jazz all excited to tell groggy Noelle that they were able to create a vagoo that went 6 inches deep!  Later, they showed the friends shopping and Noelle confiding that dilating was no fun but now that she had her girl part installed, she was ready to go to college and get herself a "boo".

That and Jazz suggesting a 'dilatation' party.  

[Twopper]

25 minutes ago, xls said:

That and Jazz suggesting a 'dilatation' party.  

Oh, gross.  I missed that although I recall her asking Noelle what size she was using.  I  am usually multitasking while watching so I miss things.

[gingerella]

6 hours ago, xls said:

That and Jazz suggesting a 'dilatation' party.  

The weird thing is, I don’t think Jazz was necessarily kidding, but Noelle looked horrified.

[msrachelj]

On 3/17/2020 at 10:36 PM, seasons said:

I sincerely hope that this surgery brings Noelle happiness. Jazz too.

 

For the love of God, Jeanette LOSE THOSE AWFUL GLASSES!!! She so needs an update/makeover. Now that jazz has had her  surgery, maybe she can focus on herself.

 

Sander is adorable.

Well to do Florida women and well to do New Jersey women (looking at you housewives)have THE worst taste in make up clothes, accessories😳 And there’s no excuse,  they’ve got the bucks to get a complete makeover. 

[msrachelj]

On 3/18/2020 at 12:16 PM, bichonblitz said:

Is Jazz going to be jealous because Dr. Bowers told Noelle several times that she had a pretty vagina? Isn't that was Jazz always wanted and harped on endlessly but instead got one that was all hacked up to the point to where she can't even pee normally? 

So Janette likes to get her drink on. Who knew. 

That strip club scene with grandma included was embarrassing. 

Now that they are empty nesters Greg wants to move to a high rise condo on the beach and enjoy his golden years with his wife. Good luck with that, Greg. I have a feeling Jazz will be around for quite a while longer still sucking all of her mother's attention. 

I was afraid her wig was going to come off!

[Fostersmom]

1 hour ago, msrachelj said:

I was afraid her wig was going to come off!

I loved when the producer told Jackie to put a hat on at the camping store. Jackie seemed well in on the joke, so it was funny. 

[princelina]

On 3/18/2020 at 11:35 PM, seasons said:

Still confused as to how jazz was valedictorian of her class. Not necessarily doubting her intelligence, but the emotional impact that we saw on the show these last few years, not going to school, etc. - I can't see how any young person could go through what she did and still reach that highly covered and competitive achievement. Was she in honors/AP classes? Schoolwork didn't seem to be much of a priority during the last few years?

Maybe that's why Jeanette was too busy until now to go out drinking and to strip clubs 😈

[gingerella]

10 hours ago, msrachelj said:

Well to do Florida women and well to do New Jersey women (looking at you housewives)have THE worst taste in make up clothes, accessories😳 And there’s no excuse,  they’ve got the bucks to get a complete makeover. 

Hey, I resemble that remark! It's only a certain ilk of Joisey, like the trash on the Ho'wives show!

[Twopper]

11 hours ago, msrachelj said:

Well to do Florida women and well to do New Jersey women (looking at you housewives)have THE worst taste in make up clothes, accessories😳 And there’s no excuse,  they’ve got the bucks to get a complete makeover. 

I think that is true for south Florida, but coming from an old NW Florida family (I have a second home there) we do not resemble that remark.  We look more like women from NOLA and Mobile and Savannah and Charleston.

I am confused about what was in this episode and what was in the last one as I have erased them both, but I thought there was at least a reference to shopping with the grandparents in this one.  She did have few new outfits picked out, but I bet there was a personal shopper involved.   She would have done better to go shopping with Jojo or some of her other friends or her sister Ari.  

I am truly tired of her therapist relative Debbie.  They must get a family discount to use her, but they are certainly giving her  a lot of air time.  I wonder if some of the depression Jazz has is trying to figure out how  to live away at school without the camera crew;  she may have become quite attached to some of them. 

On 3/18/2020 at 1:51 AM, gingerella said:

Yeah, sending Jazz and her paid friends to a spiritual camp is just feeding her bullshit. Therapy is where she should have been, not what looked like a spiritual place where they’re filling her head with bullshit about how she can overcome her depression and anxiety herself, because she can’t. She has zero skills to deal with this as of yet undiagnosed depression and anxiety. I’m just so over the gross misrepresentation of what a responsible response to depression and anxiety looks like on this show.

I thought when they said spiritual retreat she was going away for a weekend;  this looked like a couple of hours in a new age boutique.   They can't really show a true therapy session so maybe they figure sending her to a retreat would quell the viewers concerns/criticisms about her lack of self awareness or something.  The camping in the backyard was an even worse joke.   I am not sure how well any of them will deal with reality when the cameras go away.   Ari will probably be fine as well as the twin that isn't Sander.

[xls]

22 hours ago, gingerella said:

The weird thing is, I don’t think Jazz was necessarily kidding, but Noelle looked horrified.

Noelle was definitely uncomfortable  with that.

Jazz needs a bumper sticker that reads: "Ask me about my dialator" 

[woodscommaelle]

6 hours ago, xls said:

Jazz needs a bumper sticker that reads: "Ask me about my dialator" 

Should say ‘ask my mom about my dilator.’ 😉

[princelina]

19 hours ago, Twopper said:

I thought when they said spiritual retreat she was going away for a weekend;  this looked like a couple of hours in a new age boutique.   They can't really show a true therapy session so maybe they figure sending her to a retreat would quell the viewers concerns/criticisms about her lack of self awareness or something.  The camping in the backyard was an even worse joke.   I am not sure how well any of them will deal with reality when the cameras go away.   Ari will probably be fine as well as the twin that isn't Sander.

I think they're all just idiots in search of an "interesting storyline".  We don't have to view the therapy sessions for her to attend them, and I'm sure most viewers would be fine with a couple THs about how she's going and whether or not she finds them helpful.

[retired watcher]

On 3/20/2020 at 11:10 AM, msrachelj said:

Well to do Florida women and well to do New Jersey women (looking at you housewives)have THE worst taste in make up clothes, accessories😳 And there’s no excuse,  they’ve got the bucks to get a complete makeover. 

They are stuck in time.

[BellyLaughter]

The glorious contrast of Jeanette getting trollied and ogling strippers as Jazz was burning grains and chanting mantras at her retreat is what this show has needed for a long time!