S15.E06: Daniel / Robert

[Tara Ariano]

Two brothers get help with addictions to heroin and pain pills after separate battles with injury and insecurity.

[Primetimer]

And his brother's, and his brother's fiancée's, as Jeff VanVonderen contends with a hat trick of dysfunction.

Read the story

[auntieminem]

I was very surprised that all three went and stayed in treatment.  I thought for sure we would see an update that someone had left and relapsed.  I would not have been surprised to see Robert was dead. Good for them.  All those parents made me shake my head.  So glad the brothers had such a great sister.  

[Toaster Strudel]

Brenda got on my nerve especially with the Kenzie Custody dispute... that she ended up "winning" because the other grandparents had the sense to stop fighting.  I found her overbearing.

[JennB]

"It was discovered that Renee had an eating disorder" is the least surprising info the BSOJ has ever provided.

If anything goes pear-shaped, I hope Ashley takes Kenzie and runs far, far away from everyone. She was the only stable, mature person in this whole mess.

[Chaos Theory]

Kinda boring episode. I think the best part was Jeff and his "I'm too old for this shit" approach to the family. Seriously with the two grandmothers and the wife I can see why at least one of the guys does drugs. And apparently he's the good parent.

[raiderred1]

Kinda boring episode. I think the best part was Jeff and his "I'm too old for this shit" approach to the family. Seriously with the two grandmothers and the wife I can see why at least one of the guys does drugs. And apparently he's the good parent.

JVV does look like he is feeling a bit tired and old, doesn't he?  He is my all time favorite interventionist.  

[Toaster Strudel]

JVV's talent is brevity.  Sure he has his formula, but it works and we could see it here.  Daniel stayed and listened because JVV made it sound like the whole intervention would be really short and he'd be done.  And then the two magic words "You going?" Bang.

[mythoughtis]

I have a feeling these pre-interventions last a long time.  I imagine the 'custody battle' argument lasted a long time.  I personally hope that Ashley ended up with the child more than the rest of them.  She appeared to have a child the same age, and seemed to be the more stable influence.  Maybe she is a single mother, and couldn't swing a second child full time.... but she said she would have her several days a week.  I don't know why the boys' Mom thought she was more stable than Renee's Mom  That Mom didn't knowingly give their child money to free up other money for drugs - she just believed her daughter when she said  they were broke.  I felt sorry for Renee's Mom, her heartbroken sobs in the car after seeing that room seemed very real to me.  Brenda just seemed like a drama queen.  

 

Is this the first time we have seen  Jeff let one of the family do a private intervention?  Maybe he let Ashley do it because Renee wasn't targeted ahead of time?

 

I gather from Jeff's question to Robert in his visit that Robert had gone home, relapsed and came back.  

 

I really liked all 3 of the addicts, and was very happy when reading the screen at the end.  Luckily I was watching it live, because my DVR likes to cut off at the last minute and I miss the final screen. 

 

I am somewhat surprise that the boy's Dad didn't get offered a spot.  However, he didn't seem interested, and 4 addicts in one show is a lot.

[lovinbob]

JVV's talent is brevity.  Sure he has his formula, but it works and we could see it here.  Daniel stayed and listened because JVV made it sound like the whole intervention would be really short and he'd be done.  And then the two magic words "You going?" Bang.

Yes. I noticed and particularly appreciated that he wasn't trying to debate with Daniel, who was spouting some lies and half-truths. Jeff didn't bother winning the argument, even though he had right on his side. He just said, Okay, so ... and kept moving toward the goal. I am dealing with a huge family battle right now and it is so hard to stop myself from debating my "opponent" point by point.

 

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but initially I thought the boys' mother seemed like a force for good. Single mom, raises the two boys on her own. Then she pulled that custody nonsense and I was floored!

 

The guys' transformations were astounding. Robert seemed fairly damaged still, unfortunately, but Daniel looked like a completely new person. 

 

Heartbreaking to watch those full-grown adults expose a child to that shitshow. I pray to god they remain well.

[pasdetrois]

The brothers' mother was indeed a drama queen. Her voice was really loud a lot of the time.

 

When Renee's mother discovered the filthy room, she seemed genuinely devastated. I wonder why she hadn't been made aware before.

 

Jeff steadfastly plowed through a triple header, and the sister was the quiet hero, both doing what needed doing.

 

As I watched the brothers, I thought of all the talent and joy that is squandered by addiction. One was a talented baseball player, with a shot at a career and/or coaching something he loves, and the other was a smart guy with a passion for design. I hope they can pick up the pieces; they are young enough.

[candall]

You know the subject has to be totally overwhelmed when he walks into the room and the red laser beam dots from everyone he knows hit him in the face. 

 

I always thought JVV's talent was making the whole intervention seem so simple and giving the addict some sense of comfort and control--if he can just hold on for five minutes, the whole bloody thing will be over.  All the other interventionists seem more disposed to let the full magnitude of the event wash over the respondents.

 

It's why I never minded Jeff repeating his "Crazy love, they say, you say, we're done" intro.  No need to fix what works.

[HelloOutThere]

Interesting episode. Rather mellow compared to some of the trainwrecks we've seen on the show recently, but that's not a bad thing. The two brothers seemed like good people at heart. Robert strikes me as extremely heartbroken, both over his past upwardly mobile life and his past relationship. He seems quite sad.

 

I had to laugh out loud when Daniel interrupted his sister as she was reading her intervention letter to him with, "Can I just say that this is FUCKED UP??!!" He really seemed to love his daughter (who was indeed adorable). 

 

Mom was a total drama queen. She probably drove the husband to drink with her BS. I almost got the sense that she somewhat enjoyed the drama provided by all of the addiction. The filthy room, the yelling and screaming, the custody battles. Now that everyone was going to get help, there would be less drama in the future (hopefully), so she had to have her grand finale drama fireworks show with all the child custody nonsense. 

 

The way the daughter interacted with the mom in the hotel ("What's your problem?!") indicated to me that the daughter was used to and tired of her mom's drama-fests. Renee's mom said she didn't want to fight. Mom escalated things immediately when she accused Renee's mom of telling the granddaughter that Mom is a "fucking bitch." It was hard to hear over the screeching, but Renee's mom did point out that Mom's sons and Renee often speak of Mom that way.  Addicted sons or not, maybe she just is a fucking bitch?

 

Renee's mom's voice reminded me of Edith Bunker. I was just waiting for her to lean over onto her husband during the scene in the car and let out an "Ohhhhhh Arrrrrrrrrrrchie!"

Edited April 19, 2016 by HelloOutThere

[IvySpice]

 

Brenda got on my nerve especially with the Kenzie Custody dispute... that she ended up "winning" because the other grandparents had the sense to stop fighting.

That's such an ancient story that it's actually in the BIBLE. In the Old Testament, no less! The one who gives up the kid instead of cutting her in half is the one that really loves her. Jeff Van Vonderen would make a good King Solomon: "You're hurting the kid. Cut it out."

 

I got the vibe that maybe Renee's parents/mom are Jewish, and that's why it was such a flash point that Brenda was taking her to church every Sunday.

 

Poor Kenzie. The up side is that if her parents manage to get well, she might not even remember any of this.