S10.E04: Mike's Journey

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Mike was born with a talent for sports -- and an omnivorous appetite to match. After his football dreams were dashed by multiple concussions, he packed on over 700 pounds. Now he must find a new purpose in life to avoid succumbing to pain and regret.

Original air date 2021.11.24

[jacksgirl]

Making 3 desserts, missed Live Chat. Ff'ed through Mike. Seems like a good guy  wish him success. Editing monkeys had fun with Big Mike and Little Dr. Paradise. Weird camera angles.  Love how Dr. Paradise made a football analogy with Mike. He's such a smart guy.

[Gemma Violet]

3 hours ago, jacksgirl said:

. Seems like a good guy  wish him success. 

Me too.  It was so refreshing to see a nice person on the show who gets along with his family and isn't bitter.  I kept waiting for an argument to break out, but no...everyone gets along fine and seems to really care about each other.   And I love that his mom and dad are so supportive.  

[crazycatlady58]

6 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

Me too.  It was so refreshing to see a nice person on the show who gets along with his family and isn't bitter.  I kept waiting for an argument to break out, but no...everyone gets along fine and seems to really care about each other.   And I love that his mom and dad are so supportive.  

Yes, some people complained about it being boring but this is what I like to see. Someone who does their best with a family that cares.

[libgirl2]

I was cheering him on. I don't mind an occasional train wreck but I love episodes and people like this. 

[ams1001]

3 hours ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Yes, some people complained about it being boring but this is what I like to see. Someone who does their best with a family that cares.

I said in chat that I was nodding off (which was true, but more just because I was tired) but I prefer these people to the ones with the over-the-top drama that pisses me off. Junk food TV shouldn't be that stressful.

[edie3]

It really bothered me that his ex wife wouldn't work with him with custody. I looked at it like if he was going to a drug rehab. He was doing what was best for him and his kids.

[ilovebeaarthur]

@poeticlicensed In live chat, you asked how much Ohio State swag a family can have. 
I went to Ohio State (gave no shit about football though, sorry!), still live in Columbus, and the diehard OSU fans are…a lot. A man in my neighborhood flies an OSU flag next to his US flag, has his house painted gray with red accents, OSU sign in his flower bed. I’m sure the inside of his house looks like a shrine! 
The funny thing is, most of these people never went to OSU!

[Hellga]

I wholeheartedly agree that success stories are better than train wrecks (very few of the train wrecks are actually entertaining, most are simply facepalm-inducing).  This guy was just unlikeable for some reason.  I am glad he did well, and I wish him all the sucess in the future, but I could get behind him like I usually do when poundticipants apply some effort...

[CrazyInAlabama]

On 11/25/2021 at 2:29 PM, Hellga said:

I wholeheartedly agree that success stories are better than train wrecks (very few of the train wrecks are actually entertaining, most are simply facepalm-inducing).  This guy was just unlikeable for some reason.  I am glad he did well, and I wish him all the sucess in the future, but I could get behind him like I usually do when poundticipants apply some effort...

I agree with you.     Everything was someone else's fault.     Everything with the divorce was his ex-wife's fault, the divorce couldn't have been that much of a surprise, and I bet she only stayed because he agreed to go to the treatment program, and failed at that too.       I find it interesting that he had very minimal visitation, and think there's more to that than he said.   If he could get an IT job with everything remote, why couldn't he hunt for jobs in the time he spent in his parents' basement, doing nothing?    My guess is being unemployed means no child support.     If he's so devoted to his kids, and working by remote, then why couldn't he move close to where the kids are?   Then go to their school events, and games or whatever they participate in.    

I agree with the ex-wife, and wouldn't allow kids of mine to go visit in Houston.     No guarantee they would come back to where the mother lives without a custody fight.  Better Mike flies back to see his kids for visitation where he's from.   Plus, he didn't have to stay in Houston that long after surgery, so why would the kids disrupt their lives going to Houston, when Mike could fly back to see them?         And would the kids want to leave home to visit there anyway?   I'm sure they have all kinds of activities at their ages, and probably don't want to fly back and forth, and hang out in some hotel room for days.    

Edited November 27, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[jacksgirl]

On 11/25/2021 at 3:51 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I agree with you.     Everything was someone else's fault.     Everything with the divorce was his ex-wife's fault, the divorce couldn't have been that much of a surprise, and I bet she only stayed because he agreed to go to the treatment program, and failed at that too.       I find it interesting that he had very minimal visitation, and think there's more to that than he said.   If he could get an IT job with everything remote, why couldn't he hunt for jobs in the time he spent in his parents' basement, doing nothing?    My guess is being unemployed means no child support.          

Kind of half-watched, but I see your point. Maybe his depression really was a factor in all of this. I'm not sure if he ever was diagnosed with depression or just used it as his reason for total life inertia, but depression is a horrendous thing.

[Scratches19]

The labored breathing in that first scene. He talks about his pain and thinking as he goes to sleep - will this be the time I don’t wake up. Just heartbreaking to see the effects of depression turned into self mediation with food. 
 

(My other half points out - “But at least he’s got a pink Himalayan salt healing crystal.” So there’s that. 
 

 

[LuvMyShows]

On 11/25/2021 at 2:00 AM, Gemma Violet said:

Me too.  It was so refreshing to see a nice person on the show who gets along with his family and isn't bitter.  I kept waiting for an argument to break out, but no...everyone gets along fine and seems to really care about each other.   And I love that his mom and dad are so supportive.  

As I said about last week's episode...how did these people ever make it through casting?!? 😉

[LuvMyShows]

On 11/25/2021 at 4:51 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I agree with the ex-wife, and wouldn't allow kids of mine to go visit in Houston.     No guarantee they would come back to where the mother lives without a custody fight.  Better Mike flies back to see his kids for visitation where he's from.   Plus, he didn't have to stay in Houston that long after surgery, so why would the kids disrupt their lives going to Houston, when Mike could fly back to see them?         And would the kids want to leave home to visit there anyway?   I'm sure they have all kinds of activities at their ages, and probably don't want to fly back and forth, and hang out in some hotel room for days.    

We actually never heard them talk about visitation...they were talking about custody, but still, it doesn't make sense.  Why would he lose custody for moving temporarily to Houston for his health?  And since he was able to keep custody by only moving for 2 months, what was the difference to the court between 2 months or 10 months?  Especially if he agreed to come back for visits and not have the children go there?  Given how infrequently he saw them, I agree that there was probably something more we didn't hear about.

[Scratches19]

“Maybe his depression really was a factor in all of this. I'm not sure if he ever was diagnosed with depression or just used it as his reason for total life inertia, but depression is a horrendous thing.”

 

A couple of thoughts on that. First, I’m wondering what was going on with him in early life. Seems like the story was he was a big eater even as a child. But was there some trauma that triggered that? 
 

 We never got at that with the Dr. Paradise segment. But I wondered if there was more to this story that couldn’t be told (or Mike couldn’t tell). I’ll stop short of speculating more. 

There other thing is, the concussions, or traumatic brain injuries, in football. They wouldn’t explain depression up to that point but they could account for it afterwards. 

 

I do hope he continues to make progress on his physical health and on his mental health. At some point moving out of the parents basement and becoming a grown self supporting adult would be the goal. 
 

 

 

[edie3]

Well, I guess Mike's dad is not happy. Ohio State got beat today. Made me think of his house.

[CrazyInAlabama]

5 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

We actually never heard them talk about visitation...they were talking about custody, but still, it doesn't make sense.  Why would he lose custody for moving temporarily to Houston for his health?  And since he was able to keep custody by only moving for 2 months, what was the difference to the court between 2 months or 10 months? 

At the first, when he said his kids lived 90 minutes drive away with the ex-wife, he said something about going there to visit them, and I think once a month.       There was probably a lot they didn't show, or talk about.     IF he wants more visitation, or partial custody, then the only sensible way is to have a place of his own, where the kids can stay in the same schools, and activities.    He'll also have to pay child support too, and I bet when he was unemployed, he wasn't (that's just my guess, nothing was said about that.)

I'm betting part of his depression was that it was all of his identity, and it made him important to his parents, and others.   When he couldn't play any more, he didn't keep up going to school, until he went for IT.       I'm wondering if he was the bully when he was so much bigger than the other kids when he was younger?    

I hope he continues his 'journey' to health, and keeps working, and finally moves out of his parents' house.     

[steff13]

On 11/24/2021 at 10:20 PM, jacksgirl said:

Making 3 desserts, missed Live Chat. Ff'ed through Mike. Seems like a good guy  wish him success. Editing monkeys had fun with Big Mike and Little Dr. Paradise. Weird camera angles.  Love how Dr. Paradise made a football analogy with Mike. He's such a smart guy.

I wish Dr. Paradise was my therapist.  Or my husband.  I'm not picky. 

 

I liked Mike.  I know there are two sides to every story, but the way he described his ex wife (you can't get a good job without a degree, I'll leave you if don't stop eating so much, etc.), she doesn't sound like a nice person.  I hope Mike is successful, he seems nice, and his family seems nice.  

[Tuneful]

I tuned into the Mike bonus episode as he was bringing the Chinese food to the table, and I lasted 10-15  minutes until they got the hotel 2 hours from Houston. The Chinese food display was for me truly sickening. And why did he gain like 140 lbs. in the first month (if I have that right) of living with his parents? I thought he was getting out of an unhappy marriage.  He is lucky he has parents who would take him in, I can’t say the same for my parents--except for just one of us, GB (Golden Boy)…I couldn’t take listening to Mike whine nonstop before and during the trip. Two hours left to Houston? It's not like YOU'RE driving. Get out, stretch, eat (of course), get back in, take a nap, and two hours goes by fast. And it looked like a big enough vehicle to set the back up as a place to lie down. But nooooo, Mikey made a scene and stuck Dear Old Dad with yet another bill (extra hotel night plus extra meals) along with everything else. No good deed goes unpunished.

[Caoimhe]

Whinging Mikey was too much for me to sit through the first time never mind supersized. 

[TazDevil]

On 12/2/2021 at 9:07 PM, Tuneful said:

And why did he gain like 140 lbs. in the first month (if I have that right) of living with his parents? 

In a bonus scene later in the episode, he told Dr. Paradise that he would drink 24 cans of soda a day.  While playing video games and doing no physical activity.

[PA SweetPea]

On 11/25/2021 at 12:27 PM, edie3 said:

It really bothered me that his ex wife wouldn't work with him with custody. I looked at it like if he was going to a drug rehab. He was doing what was best for him and his kids.

I don't know, there seems to be a lot of missing context about their divorce and custody situation. I mean, he had no idea there were problems in the marriage until she called him and said "we're getting a divorce"? And the way he phrased things, like she "took" the house, "took" the car instead of them being granted to her by the courts. He places all the blame on her and uses words painting himself as pure victim. He also said he "wasn't allowed" to see his kids. Courts don't let that go on without reason. Something also seemed pretty hinky with his claim that a temporary move out of state and the court won't grant shared custody. Shared custody isn't necessarily about the kids living with both parents, but to give the non custodial parent a legal say in things like education and medical decisions, etc. Courts typically want both parents to be as involved as possible, even if they're out of state. My ex-husband and I lived in different states, he hardly saw his children (by his choice), and the courts maintained his shared custody status the whole time. Mike had very little contact with his kids. I'm thinking there's a reason for that. 

[edie3]

58 minutes ago, PA SweetPea said:

there seems to be a lot of missing context about their divorce and custody situation

Those are all good points.  We will never know.

[Hellga]

5 hours ago, PA SweetPea said:

Mike had very little contact with his kids. I'm thinking there's a reason for that. 

And his older kids weren't that young, if he had a strong relationship with them, they would want to maintain it at least by regular calls, modern technology makes even video calls easy and cheap.  I think the answer is that his 'relationship' with his kids was limited to him sitting as a blob and asking them to bring him snacks and drinks. 

[hookedontv]

On 11/26/2021 at 11:50 PM, Scratches19 said:

(My other half points out - “But at least he’s got a pink Himalayan salt healing crystal.” So there’s that. 

Haha,I thought I was the only one who noticed that!