S05.E13: If I Lose My Honor, I Lose Myself

[TwirlyGirly]

Barry and Ethan have a heart-to-heart; Olivia takes a trip to get some clarity on her marriage; Moriah crashes boys' weekend and comes face to face with Ethan for the first time in nearly a year; Ken pops an unexpected question to Kim.

Air date 11/28/23

[surfgirl]

BOR.ING.

[Salacious Kitty]

I do look forward to Moriah's ambush. If there's a constant with this family, it's their utter lack of communication. 

[surfgirl]

On 11/24/2023 at 3:02 PM, Salacious Kitty said:

I do look forward to Moriah's ambush. If there's a constant with this family, it's their utter lack of communication. 

Yup. Ethan deserves to be ambushed in the same ways he has ambushed Olivia countless times. I hope it's uncomfortable as hell for both Ethan and Moriah, BUT I also hope Ethan continues to hold her to task with her deluded lies about her stolen music and Ethans credit cards. It's amazing how when he flat out told her that she knew Olivia hadn't stolen her caterwauling files all she could do it whine 'yeah but I was so scared, I panicked...'  Yeah bitch, you know who deserves your apology? Olivia, that's who. And ditto when she was whinging about the credit card and Ethan flat out told her that Olivia was yelling the truth. She still cannot stop. I honestly think Moriah has some sort of mental stunting or something, she ain't right in the head. Maybe mother of the year Kim dropped her on her head as a baby...hey, it could happen. 🤔 

Edited November 29, 2023 by surfgirl

[JayDub1987]

Early observations:

WHO TOLD THESE PEOPLE THEY CAN SING?! 
I can go to any bar around my city and find 10 people on a random Tuesday who sound better. 

[MamaGee]

10 minutes ago, JayDub1987 said:

Early observations:

WHO TOLD THESE PEOPLE THEY CAN SING?! 
I can go to any bar around my city and find 10 people on a random Tuesday who sound better. 

A to the men. I am so sick of this whole "music is my dream" shtick that Moriah and now Lydia are pursuing. And the people who are indulging them ought to be ashamed. 

[TwirlyGirly]

Dear Micah,

Shut up.

You don't know as much about Ethan and Olivia's marriage as you think you do.

Signed,

TwirlyGirly 

[JayDub1987]

Later Observation

”Can we talk” is a yes or no question. “Can dad come” is not a real response. Holy fuck, go have a conversation with this brother you claim you want to talk to. 

[Suzee2]

The timeline on this show is so annoying. Ethan goes to California, and Olivia goes to Florence, Italy to do some writing?? Was this a trip planned in advance, or did she decide to go to Italy when Ethan said he was going to California? 

So Olivia thinks Ethan should be the one to say the marriage is over, not her. They both clearly have reached the conclusion that there is no path forward for them. Take the initiative, make the decision and tell him so you can both start moving on to whatever comes next. It seems disingenuous on her part to put the onus on Ethan when she's just as responsible for determining the fate of their relationship as he is. 

[Quof]

I have come to the conclusion that this entire shit show is a poorly scripted "reality" show written by Dr. Phil, full of misused psychobabble and self help buzzwords.  

Problem is, the Plaths aren't smart enough to give a convincing line reading.  

They all need to crawl back into their isolated world, where there is no recording equipment or musical instrument for Moriah or Lydia to abuse.  

[Fouts]

My notes from last night's episode:

Micah

1. Just shut your trap, especially in regard to your obsession with Olivia.  Their marriage is not your business. 

2.  You are hardly a relationship expert.  You fail at that more than eyebrow acting.    

3.  Manipulating Ethan to be forced to talk to Moriah before he's ready.  

4.  I'm still rage-y at Micah for real-time suggesting publicly that Olivia may have been a cheater when there's nothing to suggest such a thing.  I'm thinking this betrayal may actually have been the final straw for Olivia.  How can you be part of such a cruel family that would do something like that to you?

Barry

1.  One step forward by encouraging Ethan to work on his marriage. 

2.  Two steps back by calling Olivia "toxic" in his solo interviews.  Just what is toxic, Barry?  The lies that Moriah and Micah reported about Olivia and you believed?  Maybe you've not heard how Moriah now begrudgingly admits she made up the credit card and music theft stories?

Ethan

1.  Didn't irritate me so much this week  

2.  Liked his boldness in asking Barry if he and other family members were secretly hoping Ethan would divorce Olivia.  (Loved watching Barry's immediate physical squirm at that question.)

3.  Actually tried to call Olivia. 

4.  Didn't let Moriah off too easily with her lies and blame game, at least so far. 

5.  Hoping he holds her feet to the truth fire in next week's episode.

Kim

1.  Somehow don't really care that much about her as she's becoming increasingly irrelevant. 

2.  Does anyone buy the idea that Ken's scene of suggesting the shack-up wasn't totally arranged, planned, and rehearsed by them both?  Laughing at Ken saying he had a couple extra rooms Kim could use...yeah, right.  As if those two hadn't been knocking boots already for some time.  And Kim vacillating because of the kids?  You've already demonstrated just how much you care about your minor children's well-being, Kim. 

3.  This all from the same woman who once shamed and punished her older teen/obedient slave for simply texting a boy a few extra times.  

Olivia

1.  Looked the knock-out walking around Florence. 

2.  Ethan will be full of regrets.  But now he gets all the time he wants now with his family, many of whom actually are toxic.  Choices have consequences.  Hope they're worth it.  

 

[Meow Mix]

1 hour ago, Fouts said:

My notes from last night's episode:

Micah

1. Just shut your trap, especially in regard to your obsession with Olivia.  Their marriage is not your business. 

2.  You are hardly a relationship expert.  You fail at that more than eyebrow acting.    

3.  Manipulating Ethan to be forced to talk to Moriah before he's ready.  

4.  I'm still rage-y at Micah for real-time suggesting publicly that Olivia may have been a cheater when there's nothing to suggest such a thing.  I'm thinking this betrayal may actually have been the final straw for Olivia.  How can you be part of such a cruel family that would do something like that to you?

The bolded can't be said enough.  What is Micah's problem?  Why is he so invested in trashing Olivia even beyond the events of this episode.  Implying she cheated (I don't believe either of them did, that wasn't their problem) was low.  I hope he enjoys his fame while it lasts, because I have a feeling a hard fall is coming for him.

Moriah and Lydia need to quit caterwauling because they scared my cats.  And Moriah's I hate Olivia song was so juvenile.  I hope Olivia just ignores that nonsense and goes and lives her best life.  Moriah was offkey in several spots during that recording session.  And once again we have the Plath way of wanting to keep it light unless they are the one with the grievance.  Why is it OK for Ethan to demand a conversation with Moriah, but it's not OK for Olivia to demand one with Micah?

I wonder if Moriah got a dog without consulting anyone in the house or looking at the lease.  She did say she had the dog before she moved out.  Were pets allowed?  I thought on the white board where everyone's bills were accounted, there was payment for damages assigned to Moriah.  I suspect that out of control dog was the problem there.  

I'm glad Ethan made Barry squirm.  And Micah saying that Ethan wasn't a bad communicator after whining to Barry that Ethan was ignoring his calls was really something.

I skipped Kim's segments because those two gross me out.  They are an example of water seeking it's own level, however.

[Madding crowd]

I want to know how Olivia can afford to go to Europe every month. I follow her on Instagram and she is staying in lovely hotels with scenic balconies, eating in fancy restaurants and going to museums and tours. She just spent a month in Paris and two weeks in Norway and Sweden. I just came back from a trip to Italy and we saved up for years. She does frequent Q&A’s on Instagram because her ‘fans’ want to know her favorite color, what she eats for breakfast etc. I don’t think she is wrong in a lot of this but I think she is full of herself and thinks she is better than Ethan and his family. 

[Chalby]

I have to admit, I love Moriah's song "Circus".

As for Kim, as soon as I heard her new man tell her he'd like to financially contribute towards her upkeep, I knew she found what she was looking for.

To be fair, I find Barry's personality unattractive. He always speaks/ mansplains as though he thinks the world is ignorant and uneducated. Meanwhile, his kids struggle to even appear somewhat enlightened.

[b2H]

On 11/29/2023 at 1:25 PM, Suzee2 said:

The timeline on this show is so annoying. Ethan goes to California, and Olivia goes to Florence, Italy to do some writing?? Was this a trip planned in advance, or did she decide to go to Italy when Ethan said he was going to California? 

So Olivia thinks Ethan should be the one to say the marriage is over, not her. They both clearly have reached the conclusion that there is no path forward for them. Take the initiative, make the decision and tell him so you can both start moving on to whatever comes next. It seems disingenuous on her part to put the onus on Ethan when she's just as responsible for determining the fate of their relationship as he is. 

Olivia is still trying, unsuccessfully, to get Ethan to grow up and accept responsibility.  He is the one declaring he doesn’t want children with her.  He is the one insisting that she has changed for the worse.  Then absolutely make him step up and end the marriage.  He was, is and will be a coward by letting Olivia put that stake in the ground.  Take some responsibility, man.

[Salacious Kitty]

Moriah's song Circus (that she sang in the episode) dropped today. It's pretty awful. 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Salacious Kitty
Tied it to the episode

[surfgirl]

25 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Moriah's song Circus (that she sang in the episode) dropped today. It's pretty awful. 

Awful song from an awful person, makes sense to me.

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Moriah's song Circus (that she sang in the episode) dropped today. It's pretty awful. 

When they were recording the song, I kept hoping that one of the recording studio guys would tell her she was flat and suggest singing lessons.  I know those kids have led sheltered life, but somewhere along the line,  someone needs to clue both Moriah and Lydia into the fact that they're not very talented.

Of course, since Moriah performed the song on the show, I'm sure she'll get some fans to download it.  Circus did seem a bit more melodic that some of the other stuff she's done.

[Salacious Kitty]

Her voice, tho. It could shatter glass. 

[Lisa418722]

I know there were people commenting about how wonderful Moriah's song was and I just sat there thinking auto-tune can make just about anyone sound decent. If she were at an open mic night, you would realize how bad she really is.  I freely admit I can't sing, I won't even sing at church, only in the car if I'm by myself. But I have never deluded myself by paying people to tell me I can sing and "let's download a song for people to buy."  I know there will be fans that will download it and I can only hope she can get that $10 herself and not blame Olivia for taking her music and her money.  

[Notabug]

3 hours ago, Lisa418722 said:

I know there were people commenting about how wonderful Moriah's song was and I just sat there thinking auto-tune can make just about anyone sound decent. If she were at an open mic night, you would realize how bad she really is.  I freely admit I can't sing, I won't even sing at church, only in the car if I'm by myself. But I have never deluded myself by paying people to tell me I can sing and "let's download a song for people to buy."  I know there will be fans that will download it and I can only hope she can get that $10 herself and not blame Olivia for taking her music and her money.  

Moriah's voice is not only terrible, she clearly has no vocal training at all.  It is so thin and reedy, she'd need massive auto-tuning to even begin to sound halfway decent, let alone like a pro.  She sings through her nose, not from her chest/abdomen and that's something that she should've learned long ago.  I know almost nothing of singing, except what I learned in glee club and choir as a kid; yet, even the nuns who taught us music taught us how to use our voices to project the sound properly.  I presume Kim, the mistress of the dance, was also in charge of her music education which is why Moriah has no idea what she is doing.  They used to travel the country playing music and singing, you'd think Moriah would've learned something just by hanging around other singers.

Their sister, Hosannah, is a professional musician.  She plays violin and sings with her husband who has a lot of formal piano training and is quite good.  You can find their stuff online and it is pretty obvious that he and his family took her in hand and taught her about musical performance and how to get them most out of her talents and she is miles ahead of her sisters in that area.

[Meow Mix]

You could tell how much autotune they had to use to make Moriah sound even half way decent.  At one point, they cut to just her singing in the booth with no processing, and she was so off.  Then they cut to the processed song and it sounded better, but still not great.  Then the guys in the studio had to gush just like the people who were taking modeling pictures of that idiot Micah.  I also remember Kim in an earlier season blowing smoke about how she had prepared Moriah to be a professional singer.  When there are no more cameras around, I suspect someone will tell her she isn't as good as she thinks she is.  

[Salacious Kitty]

She reminds me of Lawson Bates, another reality show alum who is deluded into thinking he has the talent to become a country singer. 

They're both wasting money on studio time. 

[Chalby]

On 12/1/2023 at 6:12 PM, Notabug said:

When they were recording the song, I kept hoping that one of the recording studio guys would tell her she was flat and suggest singing lessons.  I know those kids have led sheltered life, but somewhere along the line,  someone needs to clue both Moriah and Lydia into the fact that they're not very talented.

Of course, since Moriah performed the song on the show, I'm sure she'll get some fans to download it.  Circus did seem a bit more melodic that some of the other stuff she's done.

Moriah doesn't have the greatest voice, but I'm a fan of 'lyrics' more than anything, and I really appreciated her writing. I don't mind the song at all. (Not enough to buy it, though). But good on her.

[Quof]

Moriah is another Taylor Swift wannabe - teenage angsty lyrics, and thin, shaky voice.   

[Ziggy]

Mariah and Micah and Berry are often telling Ethan that nothing's more important than family and that they love their family and they'll do anything for family, and all season it has just really bugged me.  When does Olivia become "family?"

As Mariah goes on and on about family, Ethan finally says to her, "I'm a little confused, because where does Olivia fall into that?"  Mariah responds, "Um, I think we all know?"

Yes, I realize they will never consider Olivia to be family, but I'm glad Ethan finally said it.  I'm curious as to where the conversation will go next week.

[JayDub1987]

On 12/4/2023 at 12:47 PM, Ziggy said:

Mariah and Micah and Berry are often telling Ethan that nothing's more important than family and that they love their family and they'll do anything for family, and all season it has just really bugged me.  When does Olivia become "family?"

As Mariah goes on and on about family, Ethan finally says to her, "I'm a little confused, because where does Olivia fall into that?"  Mariah responds, "Um, I think we all know?"

Olivia could never be part of the family because she wouldn’t join the cult. The only children Barry and Super Bitch want to associate with are those that bend the knee and kiss the ass. That’s why Micah and Moriah had to run back to their parents to rebuild the relationships. Barry and Kim weren’t going to go first. 

[Fouts]

My notes for this week’s episode, which I'm putting here because there's still no thread started for the newest one—

Moriah:  

Scored a tiny bit of credit by admitting she “over-reacted” about the supposed music thievery, but then immediately lost it by refusing to acknowledge how Olivia shared the passwords before they left for Italy.  (I totally believe Ethan on this one.  Moriah’s already proven herself to have horrible recall about such things.)

Moriah appeared a little grieved at the thought of Ethan suffering with his marriage because of the family drama, but I suspect that inwardly she’s thrilled to hear of his trouble there.  Her sudden willingness to be “civil” to Olivia is much too little, too late.  Even Ethan was like, don’t bother. 

Moriah, your new tattoos aren’t helping with your unfortunate fashion sense, one that has taken an otherwise cute young woman and made her look trashy and haggard.  You can recover from your sorry clothing and fried hair when you finally figure it all out, but dealing with your sad ink choices is going to be a more painful and expensive hill to climb.  But you do you.  In the meantime, you should just go get a bunch more similar tats.  

Ethan:

I liked that he didn’t let Moriah off the hook by reminding her how she’d already had a terrible relationship with Kim well before Olivia entered the picture. Moriah didn’t seem to appreciate hearing that.  Good on Ethan for bringing up how marriages need to take priority over other family (a very biblical concept) but of course Moriah didn’t want to hear that, either. 

Also score for Ethan for finally not being afraid to have difficult conversations with either Moriah or Olivia without running away.  

In Ethan’s summit with Olivia, he started out making sense about their differences of values when it came to big ticket issues like religion.  But then he went and blew up all sympathy by suggesting that Olivia return to her family of origin to get some reminders of her family’s old values, including those good old patriarchal ways!  Like how women-folk need to cook three meals a day because that’s how it has to be plus it works for him and proves her love as “one of the only keys to his heart”…    Oh, Ethan.  

Judging by Olivia’s face during this exchange, I think that’s the very instant she knew it was hopeless.  Then she doubled down by reminding Ethan of his lack of honesty, communication, and care for her.  

Ethan, you screwed up big-time in a whole lotta ways and it’s going to hurt for a long time.  

Olivia:

I give both Ethan and Olivia credit for talking in a calm and mostly rationale manner about such deep and painful stuff.  Too bad that this willingness to communicate has come years too late on Ethan’s part.  

The whole break-up scene was one of the most heart-breaking, raw, and real moments I’ve ever seen on television. 

Olivia, go off somewhere beautiful for college and live your best life.  It’s not too late for you.  

Kim:

Pretty low of her to snide about Barry wanting to sell the house for money reasons when she’s the one who blew up the family and made it all necessary.  Actions have consequences.  I know it must come as a shock, but you no longer hold all the cards with the Plath family, including Barry.  

Kim, just go away.  Enjoy your man who has so many marbles in his mouth that he needs closed-captioning. 

Barry:

Good for you for not automatically saying you’d take Kim back.  You surprised me with that but I’m sure it will shock Kim even more when she hears those words come out of your mouth.  

Isaac:

Somehow Isaac turned into a hot teenager overnight.  How did that happen? Good on him with his plan to go to college.  

Run, Isaac, run, and never look back—for your sake as well as any woman in your future.  

Micah:  

I don’t recall too much about him from this episode except for his crazy eyebrow acting making another appearance.  I was just too distracted by those eyebrows to pay attention.  You're not nearly as cute as you think you are.  

Micah, you used to be an attractive young man but your nasty personality now trumps your looks and you come up negative. 

Lydia:

Good on you to keep your new beau private so far.  But please don’t move too fast and it’s a shame you’re not going off to college first like Isaac, because you would thrive at a small conservative Christian college.  

Edited December 6, 2023 by Fouts

[Quof]

3 hours ago, Fouts said:

Kim, just go away

Damn, Kim, you have apparently never learned the rule "your skirt should not be wider than it is long".   

(Trust me, ladies, stand in front of a mirror with a towel around your waist. Pull it higher and higher, and you'll see what I mean. Bonus points if you have a 360 mirror and can see yourself from the rear.)  

Remember when they dressed modestly?  Now Kim's butt cheeks are hanging out of her skirt that's 2 sizes too small, Moriah dresses like a 2 1.5 bit hooker, and "the littles" are wearing spaghetti straps.  Lydia, however, keeps sweet.

[Fouts]

I noticed that about Kim's skirt, too, Quof.  Does she not own a mirror?  The woman is so delusional in a number of ways.  

BTW, I love how Kim mentioned something about how nice Barry has been with the family, and that she might have stayed had he been like this in the past.  

Hmmm... wondering if Kim is already experiencing some regrets?  You are no Barbie, Kim, and your Ken is no Ryan Gosling.  

[Back Atcha]

On 11/29/2023 at 6:48 PM, Madding crowd said:

I want to know how Olivia can afford to go to Europe every month.

• Consider that we've watched her there.
• That requires some sort of filming...like maybe a TLC film crew?
• Voila.

On 11/29/2023 at 6:48 PM, Madding crowd said:

I think she is full of herself and thinks she is better than Ethan and his family. 

I don't think Olivia is "full of herself," but she is doing some good self-assessments.  She IS better than Ethan...and (probably) ALL of his family.  I have high hopes for Isaac's success in college; he will become a new kid...a new man.

[Back Atcha]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:06 AM, Notabug said:

I presume Kim, the mistress of the dance,

Too precious for words.  I LOVE THIS!!

On 12/4/2023 at 10:47 AM, Ziggy said:

When does Olivia become "family?"

I don't think this "family" will ever accept anyone into their coven.  Any spouses will always be outsiders.

[b2H]

6 hours ago, Back Atcha said:

Too precious for words.  I LOVE THIS!!

I don't think this "family" will ever accept anyone into their coven.  Any spouses will always be outsiders.

Could explain why Hosanna is having nothing or almost nothing to do with the family.  Maybe she faced the same crap when she was married.  Pure speculation on my part.