S09E04: Lose My Mind

[druzy]

Maci helps Bentley decide if he should go to his brother, Jagger’s birthday since Ryan will be there. Catelynn and Tyler work on discipling Nova while Amber makes a decision about living on Gary’s property.

Airs February 16, 2021

[teapot]

I think Nova should also move to Gary’s property.  They’ll take better care of her there. Vaeda should go, too.  Then Cate can chase the career-of-the-hour and Tyler can manically pontificate to his heart’s content

[heatherchandler]

Amber shut the fuck up.

”I own a home in Geist so I have expensive tastes...”  

“I’m wearing a sexy airman costume for my brother’s birthday”  

wtf???

[heatherchandler]

Let Bentley go to his brother’s party!  Jesus fucking Christ he WANTS TO GO!  He doesn’t care where it is, you guys do!  

Yeah Taylor you’re the bad guy.

Edited February 17, 2021 by heatherchandler

[FlowerofCarnage]

I can't with Sargeant Sloth.

Sounds like Bentley has had enough of Ryan's shit and is over it. Ryan isn't going to put in the effort to see Bentley  so it's time to stop forcing a relationship. 

 

 

[edie3]

She spent money on that costume for her brother's birthday?  Gee, thanks sis. And bless Leah's heart for thinking her mom might move in next door.

And it really worried me with that little kid eating grapes at the birthday party.  I need to get a life.

[PicnicLife77]

I'll do these chores for a DAAAALLER!

[Chris Knight]

Why does Amber wear a mask when she's alone outside in her yard ?

Cheyenne has a nice family. I think Cory has a right to question and give the ok for Cheyenne to bring a new guy around his daughter. I'm too old to watch The Challenge but Cory seems ok. I like that he interacts with Cheyenne's nephew.

I still think the truth in Maci's storyline is somewhere in the middle. Ryan's other children look well cared for, and his family seems close with each other. Maci imo is inventing this Bintley boundary storyline. And Taylor, shut up !

Cate and Tyler need to learn who is the boss in their family, Nova or her parents  ? Stop begging her to do chores (Novas Chores) and bribing her with $. Child, we are the parents and you will pick up your toys. There, done. 

I dont care about McKenzie. 

[heatherchandler]

34 minutes ago, Chris Knight said:

Why does Amber wear a mask when she's alone outside in her yard ?

We don’t have to see her face, thank god for small favors.

[Quilty]

Nova is not strong willed. She's starving for activity and attention from her parents. 

[Jeanne222]

7 minutes ago, Quilty said:

Nova is not strong willed. She's starving for activity and attention from her parents. 

She's probably to the age she doesn't want camera's in her face!  I'd scream too!

[SuzWhat]

What a thoughtful birthday gift Amber got for her brother.  Uh. WTF? 

[Mr. Miner]

Scumbag Amber looked high AF when she was on the phone with her shithead brother Bubby.

[Cosmocrush]

Another appearance of Maci's Big Pile O'Crap this week; the highlight of this episode for me and metaphor for her storyline.    For a while it was only visible in the far background because she and Bentley were on the couches but at the very end we got a good look behind Taylor at the dining room table.   Cracks me up every time.  Maybe Nova can fly down to Tennessee and pick that shit up, for a dollar of course.   

 

[Rebky]

To paraphrase Tyler's infinite wisdom re: child raising, "Parenting is, LIKE, you never know if you've done it right until it's too late to fix anything."

Ummm NO child. You figure that shit out before you have unprotected sex - and that is how many times now?? This is tantamount as to why children should not have children. You've had plenty of time to grow up at this point, and you STILL get it wrong continuously.

 

 

 

[chuckity]

Why in the hell are those nitwits giving Nova a choice on chores?

Some chores are your JOB for being a part of the household - like picking up your own damn toys.

Over and beyond can be used for allowance/incentive money.  

 

[FozzyBear]

20 minutes ago, chuckity said:

Why in the hell are those nitwits giving Nova a choice on chores?

Some chores are your JOB for being a part of the household - like picking up your own damn toys.

Over and beyond can be used for allowance/incentive money.  

 

Right? Of course Nova doesn’t want to do it. She has no concept of money. They did a terrible job of explaining this to her and she doesn’t understand. Just tell her she’s a big girl now and now that’s she’s so big and responsible it’s time to do chores. It might even work better if they offer her something tangible she can understand as a reward. Like if she does her chores for the day she gets to pick out a dessert. If she does them all week she gets a toy. She doesn’t even understand what they mean by saving up.

Maci is really annoying and such a martyr I need to be able to buy her candle, but I can’t quite move away from the idea she’s not actually doing anything to Ryan and his family. She’s not stopping communication with Bentley and from the previews for next week it seems Bentley does go to the party so what exactly is Ryan and Company’s complaint? Like what specifically do they want? Maci for all her shit, and she has much shit, has a clearly articulated plan. Ryan and Bentley should each be in therapy. It’s really not such an outrageous ask all things considered. I can’t figure out what Ryan and his parents actually want other than for Maci not to be annoying, which...good luck with that.

It is amazing to me that someone can have Amber’s life and still be so boring. I feel like her segments should be sort of interesting in a trash fire way. But it’s just dull.

Although not as dull as Mac or Cheyenne. Holly moly, that shit is like watching paint dry. Cheyenne especially. Good for her for sort of having her life together but it’s so dull.

[Cosmocrush]

33 minutes ago, FozzyBear said:

It is amazing to me that someone can have Amber’s life and still be so boring. I feel like her segments should be sort of interesting in a trash fire way. But it’s just dull.

Although not as dull as Mac or Cheyenne. Holly moly, that shit is like watching paint dry. Cheyenne especially. Good for her for sort of having her life together but it’s so dull.

Which is exactly why I called the Big Pile O'Crap the most interesting part of this episode.   Well that and Amber wearing a Halloween costume for her brother's birthday because that's "so much better than buying something extravagant."    But hey, since she's not filming inside her house at least she's off the couch a few hours a day. 

Points for Amber deciding squatting on Gary's yard was a bad idea.  But this should have been discussed without Leah - so points subtracted from Gary.  

Edited February 17, 2021 by Cosmocrush

[politichick]

Mackenzie and her family are both dull and depressing. I had to fast forward while watching on demand but did catch that her brother and father send texts to and call the dead mother. Yikes!

[BrownBear2012]

16 minutes ago, FozzyBear said:

Right? Of course Nova doesn’t want to do it. She has no concept of money. They did a terrible job of explaining this to her and she doesn’t understand. Just tell her she’s a big girl now and now that’s she’s so big and responsible it’s time to do chores. It might even work better if they offer her something tangible she can understand as a reward. Like if she does her chores for the day she gets to pick out a dessert. If she does them all week she gets a toy. She doesn’t even understand what they mean by saving up.

Maci is really annoying and such a martyr I need to be able to buy her candle, but I can’t quite move away from the idea she’s not actually doing anything to Ryan and his family. She’s not stopping communication with Bentley and from the previews for next week it seems Bentley does go to the party so what exactly is Ryan and Company’s complaint? Like what specifically do they want? Maci for all her shit, and she has much shit, has a clearly articulated plan. Ryan and Bentley should each be in therapy. It’s really not such an outrageous ask all things considered. I can’t figure out what Ryan and his parents actually want other than for Maci not to be annoying, which...good luck with that.

It is amazing to me that someone can have Amber’s life and still be so boring. I feel like her segments should be sort of interesting in a trash fire way. But it’s just dull.

Although not as dull as Mac or Cheyenne. Holly moly, that shit is like watching paint dry. Cheyenne especially. Good for her for sort of having her life together but it’s so dull.

Agree with everything you said...Tyler and Cate are just clueless about how to use currency (monetary and otherwise) to encourage Nova to do "chores" in order to receive a reward. It would have been better to call it allowance and tell her that she gets a flat rate every week if completes her chores. If she refuses to do them or only does a couple things, she doesn't get her allowance that week. But a whole dollar for every chore? Wow...maybe an even better way to get Nova to understand work/money would be if she had role models that actually WORK! THEY DON'T WORK! At some point, when she's a tween, she will say "why should I do chores for $$$ when you guys don't work?" 

Another completely absurd storyline from these two nudniks is this "should we have a another baby?" OMG! Is this the only thing these two know how to do? And why? They clearly seem stressed with two let alone a third...and when this show ends, which it will at some point, what will they do? They have no post high school education, no skill sets, no work experience but they will have three kids to clothe, feed and support financially and provide healthcare for. This la de da attitude about procreating when they have no other source of income except from the show is just irresponsible and selfish. Cate thinks when she's in her 50's or 60's she will be lamenting that she didn't have a third child is ridiculous...By then, she'll have five or six grandkids. How absurd.

I also have a ying yang thing about Maci. Frankly, I think that Maci, Ryan and Bentley should have family therapy. Maci and Ryan should definitely do therapy together so they can co-parent better. It would be the least Ryan could do to make the situation better for the son he clearly has no interest in. Ryan is a shitty Dad and loathsome human being...blames everyone else for his problems and has abandoned his son for a new family but blames his abandonment of Bentley on his ex...he still won't take ownership of his threat to Taylor's life. I can understand Maci's exasperation with Ryan and her anger with him but she needs to rein it in around Bentley. I also understand Taylor's frustration with Ryan...Ryan does nothing for or with his son...Taylor is in fact a father to Bentley in every way. Taylor has been there for Bentley when Ryan wasn't and didn't want to be. 

Amber/Gary/Kristina relationship mess is just weird and stupid. 

Cheyenne/Zach...he seems like he wanted to be back on the show more than wanting to be back with her...I don't trust his motives. What's with her sister? She had a baby but where's the baby daddy? 

Mac's Dad seems like a sweet person. I hope he is better now and is in better spirits. Rough year for this family.

[TheRealT]

13 hours ago, Quilty said:

Nova is not strong willed. She's starving for activity and attention from her parents. 

It's really sad how woefully inept Tyler and Cate are as parents. I know they didn't grow up with good parenting role models, but they could buy a book or watch some videos or take a parenting class. They could even afford to hire a private parenting coach if they wanted to. But I get that it probably doesn't occur to them that "parenting" is something one would learn or study; they probably think that as long as they aren't smoking crack in front of their kids or being dragged away by the police that they're doing a great job.

I think their ideal vision of what parenting could/should be like is the kids occupying themselves most of the time so T&C can be 90% focused on their phones. They're willing to look up once in a while to take scissors out of the kid's hand or pop some junk food into the microwave, but that's about it. Neither of them has a job, but they talk about taking basic care of their kids like it's a huge chore that they constantly struggle with. No wonder Cate can't figure out what her passion is when she has to change diapers, make lunch, AND entertain the kids all day! Why the fuck do they want to have another child? Well, I know it's because they want a boy, but don't they realize that boy babies need attention all the time too? Why would parenting suddenly be less arduous because one of the kids has a penis?

6 hours ago, Mr. Miner said:

Scumbag Amber looked high AF when she was on the phone with her shithead brother Bubby.

I have never believed that Amber was sober, though she may be primarily/exclusively on pharmaceuticals. Didn't Andrew say that she was high all the time (I think on pharmaceuticals and pot)? I think maybe she doesn't drive because she knows she's intoxicated most of the time and maybe something similar is going on with her being so scrupulous about wearing a mask. She might be hanging out with random people to buy/do drugs and know that she is at greater COVID risk than she lets on.

[Jeanne222]

Nova is starting to look more and more like Caitlyn's mother. 

[Cosmocrush]

1 hour ago, BrownBear2012 said:

..and when this show ends, which it will at some point, what will they do?

Oh come on, we are more than halfway to Teen Mom, Second Generation, or Teen Mom OG Grandmas.  

[Andyourlittledog2]

If I never see Ode to My Dead Mother again it will be too soon. Mac has milked that woman's death for every ounce of drama and angst she possibly can. I waiting for her to get MOM tattooed across her chest in memoriam. Just in case we ever forget the best mom ever. At this point it is just tasteless and annoying.  Let the poor woman rest in peace off camera and get on with the rest of your ridiculous Teen Mom life. And dragging her dad to the grave site right before his own surgery was awful.  Mortality, dad. You too could die tomorrow during surgery. Jeez.

Cate and Tyler's chore chart system was not a bad one it was simply the wrong one for the child's age. It was more for a teen and for additional chores, not basic ones you do as a part of a household.  For a child Nova's age you usually employ a gold star or sticker system for basic chores not dollar amounts and the whole saving up thing was lost on her completely. She has no concept of money, paying for things, saving for things. She is what, five? Save that for a few years later. Nova is bored and undisciplined really. I don't believe that children need their parents to entertain them, that's a fairly recent thing I don'[t actually approve of, but they do need some guidance and boundaries and attention. Nova doesn't seem to have much of any of that. Just like the baby endlessly placed in the high chair instead of crawling about and playing under supervision, Nova is just shunted off all the time out of the way. She needs some structure and some attention and some parental playtime (not constant or a kid never learns to entertain themselves and use their own imagination). I don't think Cate and Tyler had good role models. 

I will say this though. We all determine to do the best we can with what we know and try not to make our parents mistakes but end up making our own different mistakes in the end, things that we were completely blind to. So I will cut them some slack on trying but missing some things others of us see clearly. We all have our parenting blind spots that kick us in the end though so Tyler is right. You never really know how you did until its too late to fix it. We can only try our best and pray its good enough.

Cheyenne: Boring. Why is she here?

Amber: Stupid plot line. She never gets better with time, does she?

Maci: Still want to slap her silly. Poor Bentley.  Maci needs to get a TV life that is outside of Bentley's psyche and leave that poor child alone. It's like watching someone picking at a scab, you just want to slap their hand away and tell them to stop it.

[luvbadtv]

16 minutes ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

 I don't think Cate and Tyler had good role models. 

Understatement of the year.

[TheRealT]

2 hours ago, BrownBear2012 said:

I also have a ying yang thing about Maci. Frankly, I think that Maci, Ryan and Bentley should have family therapy. Maci and Ryan should definitely do therapy together so they can co-parent better. It would be the least Ryan could do to make the situation better for the son he clearly has no interest in. Ryan is a shitty Dad and loathsome human being...blames everyone else for his problems and has abandoned his son for a new family but blames his abandonment of Bentley on his ex...he still won't take ownership of his threat to Taylor's life. I can understand Maci's exasperation with Ryan and her anger with him but she needs to rein it in around Bentley. I also understand Taylor's frustration with Ryan...Ryan does nothing for or with his son...Taylor is in fact a father to Bentley in every way. Taylor has been there for Bentley when Ryan wasn't and didn't want to be.

ITA that Bentley should have family therapy with all of his parents, separately and together, but it seems like Maci is very insistent on framing Bentley's need for therapy as being about working on his issues with Ryan (NOT her/Taylor). She explicitly says that over and over. I think all of Bentley's family see therapy as a bad thing that one only needs if one has some kind of problem and they're all eager to point to one another as the problem rather than taking any kind of personal inventory or responsibility. In reality, even if everything in Bentley's life were "perfect," at minimum, it would be super understandable if he needed support dealing with his entire life being on a salacious TV show.

But Maci is really invested in a narrative in which she is an awesome Super Mom Against All Odds and her current family is Perfect, so the only "problem" Bentley could possibly have is what assholes his dad, stepmom, and paternal grandparents are (and the fact that he can't just cut them loose). I think Taylor is a good stepdad and a basically decent person (more so than Maci), but he also sees Bentley's attachment to Ryan/the Edwardses as a problem. I think Maci and Taylor would be THRILLED if Bentley told them he was no longer interested in seeing Ryan at all and that he'd be good with meeting up with Jen and Larry at a restaurant once or twice a year. And neither of them has any interest at all in exploring what problems Bentley might have with their family.

Ryan is beyond hope and his ideal scenario for Bentley is that he sees Maci as the "problem" and blames her for his estrangement from Ryan and any bad feelings he might have. I think Jen and Larry are only slightly more in touch with reality and they'd probably privately admit to Bentley that Ryan has "made some mistakes," but would love it if B would mostly go along with their program of pretending that Ryan is totally fine and that Maci bears (at least) significant blame for Ryan's (apparent (because of Maci's evil machinations!)) failures as a dad. That whole narrative is so gaslighty that I don't know how they can sell it to Bentley, or even Ryan's younger kids once they're old enough to see what's going on. There is so much film footage of Ryan ignoring or mistreating Bentley since B was an infant, as well as footage of him obviously high on drugs and even admitting that he shot heroin. How can all of that be blamed on Maci? (and I hate Maci)

Bottom line, Bentley is screwed (poor kid).

[Andyourlittledog2]

24 minutes ago, luvbadtv said:

41 minutes ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

 I don't think Cate and Tyler had good role models. 

Understatement of the year.

Yeah, I guess I fell into that one.  No. No they did NOT.  🙂

[BrownBear2012]

5 hours ago, TheRealT said:

ITA that Bentley should have family therapy with all of his parents, separately and together, but it seems like Maci is very insistent on framing Bentley's need for therapy as being about working on his issues with Ryan (NOT her/Taylor). She explicitly says that over and over. I think all of Bentley's family see therapy as a bad thing that one only needs if one has some kind of problem and they're all eager to point to one another as the problem rather than taking any kind of personal inventory or responsibility. In reality, even if everything in Bentley's life were "perfect," at minimum, it would be super understandable if he needed support dealing with his entire life being on a salacious TV show.

But Maci is really invested in a narrative in which she is an awesome Super Mom Against All Odds and her current family is Perfect, so the only "problem" Bentley could possibly have is what assholes his dad, stepmom, and paternal grandparents are (and the fact that he can't just cut them loose). I think Taylor is a good stepdad and a basically decent person (more so than Maci), but he also sees Bentley's attachment to Ryan/the Edwardses as a problem. I think Maci and Taylor would be THRILLED if Bentley told them he was no longer interested in seeing Ryan at all and that he'd be good with meeting up with Jen and Larry at a restaurant once or twice a year. And neither of them has any interest at all in exploring what problems Bentley might have with their family.

Ryan is beyond hope and his ideal scenario for Bentley is that he sees Maci as the "problem" and blames her for his estrangement from Ryan and any bad feelings he might have. I think Jen and Larry are only slightly more in touch with reality and they'd probably privately admit to Bentley that Ryan has "made some mistakes," but would love it if B would mostly go along with their program of pretending that Ryan is totally fine and that Maci bears (at least) significant blame for Ryan's (apparent (because of Maci's evil machinations!)) failures as a dad. That whole narrative is so gaslighty that I don't know how they can sell it to Bentley, or even Ryan's younger kids once they're old enough to see what's going on. There is so much film footage of Ryan ignoring or mistreating Bentley since B was an infant, as well as footage of him obviously high on drugs and even admitting that he shot heroin. How can all of that be blamed on Maci? (and I hate Maci)

Bottom line, Bentley is screwed (poor kid).

I've known a few guys like Bentley who grew up with divorced parents and the dad was a substance abuser. They all have nothing but anger or depression about their dads and the lack of love and friendship they never received from them. Bentley is lucky that he has a great step Dad that genuinely loves him and has a good relationship with him. Often times that is not the case and their step dads can be abusers both physically and emotionally. I don't hate Maci...I think she stepped up in a big way to be a good parent to Bentley when she saw Ryan imploding and then leaving them...however, I think she misses the mark with exposing these private and very personal issues her young son is experiencing in a very public forum. All of these kids should opt out of the show after the age of nine. Film the parents all you want but leave these older kids to deal with their issues privately. Certainly they can be filmed playing in a ballgame or hanging out casually with family and friends but this personal stuff should be off limits. Maci could have that option if she wanted it. In this regard, she is using poor judgment.

 

[MaggieG]

Amber and her outfit were ridiculous. 

I don't care for Mckenzie and her constant back and forth with Josh, but I do feel bad for her dad. That poor man seems completely lost without his wife. 

Ryder is still the cutest little girl. What was Cheyenne's sister wearing at the party? It looked like pajamas??

I'm confused on what the issue was with Jagger's party. They are planning to have a party at Jenn and Larry's that will be filmed and then a party at Ryan's that will not be filmed. Bentley is planning on going to the party at Jenn/Larry's and knows Ryan will be there. Jenn got her dates mixed up? Why is that a problem?

[SilverLake0315]

On 2/16/2021 at 10:41 PM, Chris Knight said:

Why does Amber wear a mask when she's alone outside in her yard ?

I thought she mentioned recently that people walk by her back deck and are pretty close and not wearing masks, so wearing one herself makes her feel safer. Am I completely making that up?  haha

[PicnicLife77]

I like McKenzie and her family, especially how close they are and how little drama there is between them (not talking about Josh, here) but yeah, way to GIVE your dad a heart attack! I wonder if he would've chosen that day to go to the grave (or "see her headstone", as they called it) had it not been for the show. 

At this point McKenzie and Cheyenne do not belong on the show. Really the only ones whose storyline have anything to do with young children at this point are C&T, and it's not even the original child they came on the show about. 

[TheRealT]

3 hours ago, SilverLake0315 said:

I thought she mentioned recently that people walk by her back deck and are pretty close and not wearing masks, so wearing one herself makes her feel safer. Am I completely making that up?  haha

I remember that too. I've actually looked at the distance from where she's sitting to the other side of the hedges/whatever that seem to separate her yard from the street and it looks pretty far, which could be deceiving and/or people have their own levels of comfort with that sort of thing. Her mask wearing has been more conspicuous to me when she's with Gary, Kristina, and Leah, who are effectively in her "bubble" and who are being regularly tested by MTV, even when they're in Gary's 5-acre yard or on a boat. It's possible that she just feels more comfortable wearing a mask around others most of the time and that's fine, but I do wonder since she doesn't seem super careful about other things.

[Vandy10]

On 2/18/2021 at 5:45 AM, MaggieG said:

Amber and her outfit were ridiculous. 

I don't care for Mckenzie and her constant back and forth with Josh, but I do feel bad for her dad. That poor man seems completely lost without his wife. 

Ryder is still the cutest little girl. What was Cheyenne's sister wearing at the party? It looked like pajamas??

I'm confused on what the issue was with Jagger's party. They are planning to have a party at Jenn and Larry's that will be filmed and then a party at Ryan's that will not be filmed. Bentley is planning on going to the party at Jenn/Larry's and knows Ryan will be there. Jenn got her dates mixed up? Why is that a problem?

It's the other way around. The party on the 9th for filming is at Ryan and Mac's house, and there's another party later at Jen and Larry's for people who don't want to film. 

When Bentley said yes, he thought he was saying yes to the party at his Mimi's house because that's what she told him. Turns out it's actually at Ryan's house. Jen claims she got the dates mixed up. Maci and Taylor don't believe it was an accident, and are not happy with Jen and Larry for disrespecting Bentley's feelings and boundaries with Ryan.

[PicnicLife77]

1 hour ago, Vandy10 said:

It's the other way around. The party on the 9th for filming is at Ryan and Mac's house, and there's another party later at Jen and Larry's for people who don't want to film. 

When Bentley said yes, he thought he was saying yes to the party at his Mimi's house because that's what she told him. Turns out it's actually at Ryan's house. Jen claims she got the dates mixed up. Maci and Taylor don't believe it was an accident, and are not happy with Jen and Larry for disrespecting Bentley's feelings and boundaries with Ryan.

Up until this season I liked Jen and Larry, but I don't believe she got her dates mixed up. I think she knew what she was doing. This also makes it so Rhine's interactions (or lack thereof) with Bintley won't be filmed, which is convenient for that side of the family.

I believe Maci would be vilified either way, so if I were her I would almost tell Jen he will come to the party at her house and not to the other, regardless of the dates. If Bintley truly does feel uncomfortable at Rhine's, of course. If it's just a control issue for Maci then he should go either way. Jen and Larry will still be at the other one to act as a buffer, right? Plus it won't be filmed. So are we to believe that he just doesn't like the environment enough to miss the party?

[Soobs]

Let's not forget last season when Maci got weird with Bentley about food and wrestling. Didn't she sort of withhold food from him? He needs therapy with Maci and his dad too. She's done a better job but there are issues too.

I wear a mask in my front yard when I'm out with my animals so I can't judge Amber on that. There are people walking or running (and huffing and puffing) unmasked. Had a guy walk by the other day, no mask, he sneezed really hard and then spit. I actually went inside after that, lol!

I haven't watched this season so far but I'm enjoying reading everyone's posts. Thanks y'all!

[Marisagf]

I have been fast-forwarding through Cheyanne and Mackenzie segments.  Cheyanne has no reason to be on this show, except for us to snark on her and for us to see the cuteness that is Ryder.  In my fast-forwarding, I did notice that she was having ANOTHER party with the requisite on-camera publicity to the organizer/supplier.  (I saw a shot of a card on screen.) 

When I do watch her, I've noticed that she wearing various "Black Lives Matter" themed shirts or the Raging Ryder shirts.  What the heck does "Rage Regardless Ryder" mean?  I know it is her organization for her daughter's VLCAD illness.  But what does that phrase mean, and why does she keep trying to make it happen?  Like "fetch," it will not!  She should NOT be on this show!  

I was rooting for Mackenzie, but I can't deal with her anymore.  She needs to dump that husband and come up with some real plans for her fitness business.  Not a bad business to pursue, but get serious about it.  I thought she was onto something with fitness and cheer coaching.  But that family is still processing the loss of the matriarch of the family.  They need to work on that and not be on this show.   I just don't watch her segments.

Overall, this episode just showed how boring this show has become.  In the segments I did watch, the big storylines were about Amber house shopping, Catelynn overusing the word "dollar" (dahller), and Maci's messy sideboard....I mean... Maci's dealing with Bentley's possible exposure to Ryan.  Seriously, I cannot take my eyes off that mess in Maci's house!

Amber's wardrobe for her call with Bubby (I can't believe that is a sentence that applies here), was so stupid,  And she even realized it!  She was kind of apologizing for it, so, hopefully, we'll never see it again.  And she was right to be cautious about living on Gary's property.  But I was kind of surprised at how decent some of those modular homes were.  Maybe it's not a bad choice for Gary to put one on his property.   Gary could move his mom or Kristina's parents in there in a few years.  But Amber?  No.   After this storyline, what else to they have going on?  They aren't going to discuss Amber's legal woes.  We barely see her interact with her kids.  Never see James.  So what?  She's going to go into business with Gary?  Can she get to know some other people?  Oh, if she does she ends up in a relationship with them.  

Catelynn's chore chart was okay I suppose, but the financial value for each item was ridiculous!  Nova would have about $50 a week if she did everything on that list every day.  Nice work if you can get it, Nova!  You can afford to buy a King Cobra at that rate!  And because I haven't said it in a really long time, "STFU, TYLER!"

Maci: lather, rinse, repeat.  I do cut her a little slack because she is stuck with Ryan.  Ryan has shown no interest or aptitude for being a father to Bentley.  Taylor is more of a dad to him.  Let it go with Ryan!  Jen, Larry, and Mac are so deluded about Ryan.  That is their cross to bear.  Maci doesn't have to be a part of it and she can help her son realize that.   Bentley doesn't need his personal anguish broadcast on MTV,   I wonder how much he even wants Ryan in his life?  He's getting to the age where he won't want to hang our with his parents or grandparents, anyway.  And Ryan is gonna Ryan, know what mean?  Maci and her family would be much better off cutting Ryan out and getting on with their lives.  Sorry, he's no father to Bentley.  Just a sperm donor.

All of these "teen" moms know that they can use this show for promotion.  Just look at the TTM, RRR, TR, and Body by Mac (or whatever it is) shirts they all wear.  Every "business" endeavor becomes product placement on the show.  So annoying!

[Cosmocrush]

28 minutes ago, Marisagf said:

Overall, this episode just showed how boring this show has become.  In the segments I did watch, the big storylines were about Amber house shopping, Catelynn overusing the word "dollar" (dahller), and Maci's messy sideboard....I mean... Maci's dealing with Bentley's possible exposure to Ryan.  Seriously, I cannot take my eyes off that mess in Maci's house!

 

I know!  It cracks me up every time.

I think Bentley loves his Mimi (Jen) so much that he would do anything she asked of him.  I think it's great they have that relationship but Jen needs to stop trying to make Ryan part of it.   Let Bentley come to her house - Ryan or not and I'm echoing what everyone else said about keeping his middle school anguish off TV.   

But speaking of Ryan (and Gary and Andrew and Taylor and Tyler) do these guys have actual jobs away from MTV?   Seems like Taylor did at one point but he never mentions it - not even the t-shirt thing from a year or two ago.   Gary seems to have invested his money in real estate but is he really living off all that and paying three mortgages?  Andrew is presumably living off Amber and Ryan and Mac don't seem to have any visible means of support outside of MTV and even then it's been years since we've seen Ryan upright on the couch much less standing.    

Edited February 19, 2021 by Cosmocrush

[Jeanne222]

I'd be scared to death to have Bentley around Jen to much!  She did raise Ryan and we see how that turned out!

[DangerousMinds]

3 hours ago, Cosmocrush said:

I know!  It cracks me up every time.

I think Bentley loves his Mimi (Jen) so much that he would do anything she asked of him.  I think it's great they have that relationship but Jen needs to stop trying to make Ryan part of it.   Let Bentley come to her house - Ryan or not and I'm echoing what everyone else said about keeping his middle school anguish off TV.   

But speaking of Ryan (and Gary and Andrew and Taylor and Tyler) do these guys have actual jobs away from MTV?   Seems like Taylor did at one point but he never mentions it - not even the t-shirt thing from a year or two ago.   Gary seems to have invested his money in real estate but is he really living off all that and paying three mortgages?  Andrew is presumably living off Amber and Ryan and Mac don't seem to have any visible means of support outside of MTV and even then it's been years since we've seen Ryan upright on the couch much less standing.    

Kristina is currently training to be some kind of medical aide or nurse, so at least someone is working. The rest of them, not so much!

[Cosmocrush]

2 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

Kristina is currently training to be some kind of medical aide or nurse, so at least someone is working. The rest of them, not so much!

I've never seen so many young men content to live their youth on the couch!  

[TheRealT]

6 hours ago, Cosmocrush said:

But speaking of Ryan (and Gary and Andrew and Taylor and Tyler) do these guys have actual jobs away from MTV?   Seems like Taylor did at one point but he never mentions it - not even the t-shirt thing from a year or two ago.   Gary seems to have invested his money in real estate but is he really living off all that and paying three mortgages?  Andrew is presumably living off Amber and Ryan and Mac don't seem to have any visible means of support outside of MTV and even then it's been years since we've seen Ryan upright on the couch much less standing.    

I think Andrew has done at least one short-term TV/film job since he's been with Amber and is, theoretically, a freelance cameraman (or whatever he does). I think he hasn't been able to work much lately because he has to be based in IN and he's been a single parent to a baby for over a year now. Gary is/was an auxiliary police officer (or something) and he owns and manages (I think) at least a handful of rental properties and runs his own small farm. I think he also does some small side businesses like selling pies and maybe some stuff he raises on the farm (on a small scale). Apparently, he's not that busy since he had time to drive an hour each way to do errands for Amber. Taylor had a job when he first hooked up with Maci, but he quit it a while ago. They still wear those stupid shirts in every scene, so I guess that company is still a thing, but it doesn't seem like a full-time job for either, much less both, of them. Tyler is "running their clothing company" (his passion!), but I think they said production was on hold a while ago. I believe that he takes primary responsibility for caring for their home/animals/kids, so there's that. I don't think Ryan or Mac has a job and I assume they rely on Jen and Larry and MTV for financial support. Ryan was living in his grandmother's house (not sure whether she died or had moved somewhere else) a few years ago, so that might be where they live.

[Cosmocrush]

1 hour ago, TheRealT said:

I think Andrew has done at least one short-term TV/film job since he's been with Amber and is, theoretically, a freelance cameraman (or whatever he does). I think he hasn't been able to work much lately because he has to be based in IN and he's been a single parent to a baby for over a year now. Gary is/was an auxiliary police officer (or something) and he owns and manages (I think) at least a handful of rental properties and runs his own small farm. I think he also does some small side businesses like selling pies and maybe some stuff he raises on the farm (on a small scale). Apparently, he's not that busy since he had time to drive an hour each way to do errands for Amber. Taylor had a job when he first hooked up with Maci, but he quit it a while ago. They still wear those stupid shirts in every scene, so I guess that company is still a thing, but it doesn't seem like a full-time job for either, much less both, of them. Tyler is "running their clothing company" (his passion!), but I think they said production was on hold a while ago. I believe that he takes primary responsibility for caring for their home/animals/kids, so there's that. I don't think Ryan or Mac has a job and I assume they rely on Jen and Larry and MTV for financial support. Ryan was living in his grandmother's house (not sure whether she died or had moved somewhere else) a few years ago, so that might be where they live.

Thanks @TheRealT for the updates.   I stand by opinion that Andrew is a low rent gold digger and am baffled as to why Taylor stopping going to work but maybe the t-shirt business is better than I think.  Not sure why Mac would continue to have kids with a guy to slouches around all day.  

[TheRealT]

1 hour ago, Cosmocrush said:

Thanks @TheRealT for the updates.   I stand by opinion that Andrew is a low rent gold digger and am baffled as to why Taylor stopping going to work but maybe the t-shirt business is better than I think.  Not sure why Mac would continue to have kids with a guy to slouches around all day.  

I feel like to the extent Andrew is a gold digger it's balanced out by his taking primary/sole care of their child since he was born. I don't think Andrew originally hooked up with Amber with dollar signs in his eyes, but I think once they "connected" he considered it a bonus that she had more money than him/enough to support them without either working. She got pregnant pretty quickly, which may or may not have been something they discussed/planned, but, once it happened, Andrew is the only one who significantly changed his life to accommodate their child. So it's hard for me to see him as some evil user who manipulated Poor Amber (not saying that's what you're saying, but that seems to be how Gary and Amber frame it).

I think Taylor is a basically not too ambitious guy who's ok with being somewhat submissive to his wife and she encouraged him to quit his job to focus on their family and family business and they had enough money to make that work so he went along with it. I question how successful their t-shirt business is, but Maci is still making 6 figures from MTV, SM, etc., so I believe that they're financially comfortable at this point. I think Taylor would/will be fine with going back to having a normal job if/when it comes to that, so their family will probably be better off than some of the other TM's when the MTV gravy train pulls into the last stop.

Mac slouches around all day too, so that's at least part of why she's willing to put up with Ryan. Apart from that, I think there is something wrong with her (to put it bluntly). She could have found a husband who had a job and wasn't a heroin addict, but, for some reason, she attached herself to Ryan, who was nodding out on his way to their wedding. Maybe he seems glamorous to her because he's on TV? Maybe she likes how Jen & Larry (and MTV) support them so neither has to work? Even that doesn't make sense to me because I would think she could find a guy with a long-term career to support her/them without her having to work and that would obviously be better than relying on the short-term MTV money. Ryan is like a 3rd/4th child to care for with no realistic hope (IMO) of him becoming a functional adult.

Edited February 20, 2021 by TheRealT

[heatherchandler]

On 2/19/2021 at 10:49 PM, TheRealT said:

 

Mac slouches around all day too, so that's at least part of why she's willing to put up with Ryan. Apart from that, I think there is something wrong with her (to put it bluntly). She could have found a husband who had a job and wasn't a heroin addict, but, for some reason, she attached herself to Ryan, who was nodding out on his way to their wedding. Maybe he seems glamorous to her because he's on TV? Maybe she likes how Jen & Larry (and MTV) support them so neither has to work? Even that doesn't make sense to me because I would think she could find a guy with a long-term career to support her/them without her having to work and that would obviously be better than relying on the short-term MTV money. Ryan is like a 3rd/4th child to care for with no realistic hope (IMO) of him becoming a functional adult.

I bet she was intrigued by him, as he was the "hot dad" on tv!  And he was hot!  Of course, he was always a lay-about, with a clear substance abuse problem who coasted on tv money.  

Kind of sad.  Of course, I am one to talk, as I used to have a real thing for hot lay-about substance abusers who coasted on family money, until I met my husband.

 

Edited March 16, 2021 by heatherchandler