S05.E10: I Am Not Bound To Please

[Guest]

Quote

Ethan leaves Olivia behind in Minnesota as he heads to Cairo to pick up his cars and reconnect with his family; Olivia talks to her friend about her marital issues and her struggle to stay true to her vows; Kim comes clean to Amber about Ken.

 

[JayDub1987]

Minimal thoughts from tonight’s snooze fest. 

Barrys lip snarl when he mentioned Olivia was obvious. Fortunately for him and Kim, they fucked these kids up so much in their youth, they’re all crawling back for more. 

Oh, and Mariah is still annoying. 

[Quof]

All reality tv is scripted, but the illiteracy in this family is really shining through in their inability to deliver their lines.   Mumbling, bumbling, stuttering.  

[Fouts]

We're finally getting down to the nitty-gritty of what's really been happening here.  

1.  Moriah is grieving her parents' divorce and trying to figure out the causes.  She is unfairly assuming some of that burden.  "Maybe it's my fault for pulling away from them in the past," she thinks.  That's too painful.  Moriah shifts.  "Hmm.  Maybe I should instead blame Olivia for pulling me away.  So, gosh, my family's implosion is really Olivia's fault!  Yay!"

2.  Moriah's recounting of her recent texting with Ethan to Lydia conveniently left out her "I forgive you" blame-shifting nonsense.  

3.  Moriah needs therapy desperately. 

4.  Micah told Ethan, "Olivia was manipulative and tried to force the siblings to take sides."  No, Olivia found Kim too toxic of a person for her to share airspace with, likely on advice of a therapist well-versed in dealing with people with narcissistic personality disorder.  Olivia never demanded anyone else not be around Kim. 

5.  Ethan gets credit for one thing, and that's clearing up this whole nonsense about Olivia stealing Moriah's music.  I loved his 'Moriah couldn't figure it out on her own after she blew off Olivia and her expertise, so she just went to the darkest and most unfair assumption.' 

[Ziggy]

14 hours ago, Fouts said:

5.  Ethan gets credit for one thing, and that's clearing up this whole nonsense about Olivia stealing Moriah's music.  I loved his 'Moriah couldn't figure it out on her own after she blew off Olivia and her expertise, so she just went to the darkest and most unfair assumption.' 

Yes!

Of course Olivia tried to deal with it all before they left for Europe. Who would want to be trying to explain all of this to Moriah during a trip to Europe.

Why would Olivia hold the music “hostage?” What did she have to gain be doing that?

It’s just sad that Micah would even think that.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Ziggy

[JayDub1987]

47 minutes ago, Fouts said:

5.  Ethan gets credit for one thing, and that's clearing up this whole nonsense about Olivia stealing Moriah's music.  I loved his 'Moriah couldn't figure it out on her own after she blew off Olivia and her expertise, so she just went to the darkest and most unfair assumption.' 

Did you see that dumbass look on Micah’s face when Ethan said that? He doesn’t know what to do since everyone in this family blindly believes whatever story they heard first. 

[ezzy4]

12 hours ago, JayDub1987 said:

Oh, and Mariah is still annoying. 

^^^^ this ^^^^^^

She actually said, "I take 100% of the blame...BUT Olivia...." 

That girl is as dumb as a box of rocks.

And what is she mad at Olivia about?  According to her it's because of "the way she treated my family".

Uhm...isn't your story that she STOLE your wonderful and hugely PROFITABLE music? 

Soooo...now it's cause of how she treated others?  Mariah needs to look up the word TRIANGULATION in the dictionary.

---

Who would have guessed that Ethan was the talented singer of the family!!

[surfgirl]

14 hours ago, JayDub1987 said:

Minimal thoughts from tonight’s snooze fest. 

Barrys lip snarl when he mentioned Olivia was obvious. Fortunately for him and Kim, they fucked these kids up so much in their youth, they’re all crawling back for more. 

Oh, and Mariah is still annoying. 

Barry is a passive aggressive piece of shite human. I remain disgusted that TLC has given him the martyr edit this season when in fact he is 50% of the cause of his children being so fucked up. He is gross.

6 hours ago, Fouts said:

We're finally getting down to the nitty-gritty of what's really been happening here.  

1.  Moriah is grieving her parents' divorce and trying to figure out the causes.  She is unfairly assuming some of that burden.  "Maybe it's my fault for pulling away from them in the past," she thinks.  That's too painful.  Moriah shifts.  "Hmm.  Maybe I should instead blame Olivia for pulling me away.  So, gosh, my family's implosion is really Olivia's fault!  Yay!"

2.  Moriah's recounting of her recent texting with Ethan to Lydia conveniently left out her "I forgive you" blame-shifting nonsense.  

3.  Moriah needs therapy desperately. 

4.  Micah told Ethan, "Olivia was manipulative and tried to force the siblings to take sides."  No, Olivia found Kim too toxic of a person for her to share airspace with, likely on advice of a therapist well-versed in dealing with people with narcissistic personality disorder.  Olivia never demanded anyone else not be around Kim. 

5.  Ethan gets credit for one thing, and that's clearing up this whole nonsense about Olivia stealing Moriah's music.  I loved his 'Moriah couldn't figure it out on her own after she blew off Olivia and her expertise, so she just went to the darkest and most unfair assumption.' 

Oh @Fouts where have you been all these seasons?!? Spot on in every point.

5 hours ago, Ziggy said:

Of course Olivia try to deal with it all before they left for Europe. Who would want to be trying to explain all of this to Moriah during a trip to Europe.

Why would Olivia hold the music “hostage?” What did she have to gain be doing that?

It’s just sad that Micah would even think that.

^this^ and this:

5 hours ago, JayDub1987 said:

Did you see that dumbass look on Micah’s face when Ethan said that? He doesn’t know what to do since everyone in this family blindly believes whatever story they heard first. 

and this:

2 hours ago, ezzy4 said:

That girl is as dumb as a box of rocks.

And what is she mad at Olivia about?  According to her it's because of "the way she treated my family".

Uhm...isn't your story that she STOLE your wonderful and hugely PROFITABLE music? 

Soooo...now it's cause of how she treated others?  Mariah needs to look up the word TRIANGULATION in the dictionary.

Moronah needs to accept that her 'music' is no more talent than a cat in heat yowling in a back alley. There is absolutely zero 'value' in any of her music files that could have yielded Olivia and sort of monetary value, hence there is no reason for Olivia to hold such awful music hostage from its maker. And as others have said, Moronah was too lazy and entitled - her M.O. - to be bothered to learn how to record and upload her own music files, so Olivia, being the surrogate big sister, did that for her. One of the biggest mistakes Ethan and Olivia did was take in M & M and give them refuge in their own home. They should have left them to figure shit out for themselves, but hindsight is 20/20 as they say. I wonder what would have happened to E&O if they had just left Cairo early on, gone to MN and lived their lives. I think part of Olivia's growth has been forced by the toxicity of the Plath family, so for that I think she should consider herself lucky that she dodged having a child with Ethan and being tethered to that family forever, and also for the way the family dynamics catapulted her into dealing with a lot of things that all those kids should be dealing with.

I thought there was a glimmer of hope for Amber, but seeing how mealy mouthed she is with Kim, I'm not so sure.  I'd like this family off my TV after this season is over, and I would prefer to see how Olivia navigates life after the Fundy Family...maybe one or two seasons, then she can go live her life in Normalville with the rest of us!

[Gharlane]

On 11/2/2023 at 3:02 PM, CuriousParker said:

Kim comes clean to Amber about Ken.

I'm mildly curious about how that went down.

 

7 hours ago, Fouts said:

Micah told Ethan, "Olivia was manipulative and tried to force the siblings to take sides."  No, Olivia found Kim too toxic of a person for her to share airspace with, likely on advice of a therapist well-versed in dealing with people with narcissistic personality disorder.  Olivia never demanded anyone else not be around Kim. 

Didn't Olivia demand last season that they don't attend the annual visit to the grave of the sibling Kim ran over?

[Fouts]

To my memory, Olivia never demanded they not attend the grave visit. 

The Plath siblings originally told Olivia that Kim would not be coming or invited.  Olivia had a panic attack when she learned at the last minute that Kim was at the gravesite.  Being confronted with a malignant narcissist who considers you their primary target will do that to a person.  Olivia decided to wait in a car with the show's producer while sending Ethan down to join the family at the gravesite. 

Olivia never threatened or demanded anything of anybody.  She was simply trying to protect herself from further abuse.  Some of the family interpreted it much differently and pushed their false narrative with Olivia as their convenient scapegoat.  

[JayDub1987]

1 hour ago, Gharlane said:

I'm mildly curious about how that went down.

 

Didn't Olivia demand last season that they don't attend the annual visit to the grave of the sibling Kim ran over?

A: Like the wonderful mother she is, Kim decided to have a very personal conversation with her teenage daughter on TV. 

 

B: No. Olivia said she wasn’t going if Kim would be there after being told that Kim wouldn’t be. 

[peacockblue]

Old nut from the butt, Ethan is a P A azzclown like dear old dad 

[For Cereals]

4 hours ago, surfgirl said:

Moronah

🤣

I can’t imagine my husband telling me he wants children but not with me or that he didn’t want them to think like me.  Just reinforces that Ethan was just going along with Olivia’s exploration thinking she’d come to her senses later.  I’m glad he at least defended Olivia to Micah but maybe only because it was black and white.  

[Meow Mix]

The thing that really irritates me about Micah's behavior is that Moriah told him a couple episodes ago that Olivia didn't steal her music, that Moriah panicked and it was somehow all Olivia's fault because reasons.  So Micah purposely repeated a lie because he wants to take swipes at Olivia.  The person who took him in when his parents threw him out while he was still a minor.  Olivia is well rid of these people.

Barry is just as manipulative as Kim in his own way.  He told Ethan that the only thing missing when they went to see Micah in California was Ethan.  That was such a big guilt trip and drove an even bigger wedge between Ethan and Olivia because now mean ole Olivia wouldn't let him go to California.  Whatever Ethan and Barry.

Kim "upping her communication game" was disgusting.  It was just another reason to talk about her dating to her kids who don't need to hear all this.  I got the sense Amber knew more than she was letting on, but that she figured there was no point in confronting Kim.  Kim is so selfish.  She sees her kids are hurt, but her happiness is all that matters.

I'm trying to figure out how Ethan was going to square staying married to Olivia when he didn't want children with her or children who thought like her or whatever.  Is he going to get a sister wife to have and raise the kids he claims he wants?  That's the crossover no one asked for.  Also, him saying he's a bad communicator doesn't make his poor communication OK.  And nothing makes the constant lying OK.  I thought the Bible was pretty clear on that sort of thing.  

As much as she irritates me, Moriah is a mess.  Sadly, it is common in fundie families to blame the "rebellious" child for everything that goes wrong in the family.  But of course Moriah is lucky because she can shift the blame onto Olivia, so it's all good.  Girl needs some serious therapy or things are not going to end well for her.  I think they are all running back home hoping that they will feel better because the adult world was too hard.  But they will soon find that that won't work for long.  

[Jeanne222]

What a mess it all is!

[Salacious Kitty]

I've really come to dislike Micah more and more. He lies almost as much as Ethan and Moriah. I used to think there was hope for him in the real world, but no more. 

All three of them will be back in Cairo permanently by the time they film (or have already filmed) the next season. 

[surfgirl]

6 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

All three of them will be back in Cairo permanently by the time they film (or have already filmed) the next season. 

And all three if them deserve the hillbilly hell they'll be living in for the rest of their miserably small-minded lives, all while Olivia is traveling the world and growing as a human being and hopefully finding real love with an emotionally mature man.

Edited November 9, 2023 by surfgirl

[SabineElisabeth]

Ethan seemed to have moments of genuine happiness while spending time with his family.  His smiles actually reached his eyes, and there were little glimpses of the "old" Ethan, who found joy in the simple things and was innocently carefree.  

 In other news, Moriah continues to think the world revolves around her. I'm not sure if she sincerely believes she's responsible for their family fracturing or if that was just another way for her to get attention/praise/affirmation.  If the former,  it reminded me a bit of the kind of "magical thinking" children display (having yet to become fully aware that they aren't the center of the universe, they natuarally then believe that their thoughts, wishes, etc, influence the external world when in fact, they're entirely unrelated).  Not a therapist, so I don't know the right way to say this exactly, but it seems like a lot of the older Plath children have some level of arrested psychological development.

[Guest]

On 11/8/2023 at 2:08 PM, surfgirl said:

thought there was a glimmer of hope for Amber, but seeing how mealy mouthed she is with Kim, I'm not so sure.

I view Amber as a 14 year old not willing/wanting to challenge her mother.  

She picks her battles and because she cannot change this situation; she is not willing to kvetch...

[Meow Mix]

On 11/11/2023 at 9:58 AM, artisto said:

I view Amber as a 14 year old not willing/wanting to challenge her mother.  

She picks her battles and because she cannot change this situation; she is not willing to kvetch...

that's how I see it too.  She said that she knew Kim was dating Ken because they were hanging out together all the time.  She knows more than she lets on because there is no point in arguing with Kim.  She may even suspect that Kim cheated on Barry with Ken.

[Fouts]

Yeah, I just loved that clip they replayed of Amber questioning Kim:  "Why should Daddy have to move out when you're the one who wants to split?" 

Amber trembled with fear calling out the obvious there, but probably figured out she could get away with it while cameras rolled.  Watching Kim squirm brought me joy.  

I suspect Amber got an ear-full privately from Kim about that afterwards.  "You're not supposed to question Mommy and you're certainly not supposed to notice my utter hypocrisy of what I've preached to you your entire life compared to my current selfish and likely immoral actions." 

But Kim has always been a do-as-I-say and not a do-as-I-do kinda gal, hasn't she?

Amber's likely learned to bide her time as a result.  For now.  I hope Amber's collecting notes for her tell-all book one day.  She would go from the kid who was so ignored that until recently her name was "one of the little girls," to the daughter who noticed everything while everyone forgot she was in the room.  

[magemaud]

Did Olivia’s new BFF say anything besides “mmm hmmm”? 

[Fouts]

Deleted

Edited November 15, 2023 by Fouts
Moved to next episode thread.

[Gharlane]

Quote

"I Am Not Bound To Please". Ethan leaves Olivia behind in Minnesota as he heads to Cairo to pick up his cars and reconnect with his family; Olivia talks to her friend about her marital issues and her struggle to stay true to her vows; Kim comes clean to Amber about Ken.

Slogged thru another ep. Sometimes, being a completist has its drawbacks.

• The happy married couple rehash what happened last week, namely that Ethan decided to visit his family and return with Micah while Olivia was out of town. I kept wondering about the logistics of two people driving two cars back. 
• After hearing what Ethan told Olivia, I am surprised she stayed with him. It sounds like she has matured while he has regressed. 
• I suspect that Moriah couldn't figure out how to get into her account, panicked, and then told everyone Olivia "stole" her "music" and "money". 
• I had totally forgotten Moriah still lives in Tampa, so seeing the establishing shots there confused me. How is Lydia able to visit her so often? For that matter, how can Olivia and Ethan afford to move to a new place every two or three years? 
• I found it amusing that Amber had already figured out what Kim was about to tell her. She probably knows Kim was seeing Ken before the separation/divorce. I did enjoy seeing the footage in which she made Kim squirm when she asked Kim why she thought she expected Barry to move out when she's the one leaving him and their kids? I bet Kim gave her an earful about that!
• Ethan tells Micah his side of the "Olivia stole Moriah's music and money" story. Apparently, Olivia gave Moriah the account information so she wouldn't have to deal with it while she and Ethan were in Europe. Moriah didn't know how to navigate the site with her "music" and blamed Olivia. How the hell are they transporting two cars with that U-Haul truck? I have my doubts there's a car inside of it!

 

 

[the-grey-lady]

10 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I suspect that Moriah couldn't figure out how to get into her account, panicked, and then told everyone Olivia "stole" her "music" and "money". 

"Money" and "music" made my day. Maybe my week.