S04.E07: The Great Bates Clean-Up

[IndianPaintbrush]

Quote

It’s that time of the year again and the Bates are ready to clean house! With a big family, Spring cleaning is no easy feat. Kelly Jo leads the project and tries to convince the kids to get rid of their old junk and used toys. But when Gil gets sentimental he may make a mess of the whole endeavor. And while the family is working hard at home, Chad is hard at work at his job at the metal yard.

Eh, I could do without another clean-up episode.  But I do look forward to seeing Chad's latest project assigned chore.

[Absolom]

As interest here seems to be waning, so goes the relative ranking of the show: 149/150 cable shows for the day.

213K viewers and a .06 rating. 

[SongbirdHollow]

That's a shame. This latest episode was nothing great, but I do enjoy watching them. Always catch myself grinning like an idiot at some point in every episode.

[IndianPaintbrush]

There are plenty more interesting topics they could be covering - how Erin is doing in her second pregnancy, Tori's courtship, etc.  And I'd love to know more about the younger kids from Josie on down.

[Sew Sumi]

A poster on FJ who knows the Bateses pretty much has the same plea as I: LESS LAWSON, PLEASE. I could have done without his 52 pairs of shoes. REALLY, dude?

Seriously, this person says that what we have all suspected: Lawson is pretty until he opens his mouth. 

[Absolom]

I see that poster was deactivated. 

[Sew Sumi]

Oh? I hadn't checked that thread for a couple of days. Did she get chucked or leave on her own? Or could you tell? 

[Absolom]

I was told by someone who knows chucked as a likely fraud. 

[Sew Sumi]

Hmmm....just posted an hour ago, so this would be a very recent development! But yes, edited to recognize that I just checked her account, and she's gonezo, for now, at least.

She had some interesting personal factoids about where she went to school, etc. If she's fake, I'm glad she was caught early, but let's face it, we all feel this way about Lawson and his rodeo clown act. :D

I guess FJ is doing a check to see if she's legit? I know that they've done something similar before with people coming on saying they were so-and-so, or a friend of so-and-so (Cloak and Dagger and his ties to VF, for instance).

Edited July 16, 2016 by Sew Sumi

[riverblue22]

I found Lawson really annoying in this show.  He's just like a kid who doesn't want to move out and make it on his own.  52 pairs of shoes!  In a family that struggles!  Time for him to grow up and take responsibility for his life.  I just don't understand how these Gothard families want all this kidadults to hang around home forever.

I never noticed all the clutter and junk around the Bates homestead until now.

[cereality]

I didn't get the impression that Lawson had 52 pairs of shoes bc he was freeloading off his parents. Rather in an interview they gave to Nightline a long time back, Lawson was the only one who had his own business -- thus he started making money as a teenager. He said in that interview that he loaned Zach a few thousand for a car; Erin a few thousand for college; and his parents whenever they needed it. That interview even showed him going to the store and buying a few hundred in groceries for the whole family and paying for it himself -- specifying to ABC that his dad hadn't gotten a paycheck yet so he takes care of it and gets paid back down the road. So when it turned out he was a bit of a clothes horse, it's not like Gil and Kelly could say no -- it was his money that he was also helping the family with so certainly he could buy things for himself that the other kids may not have.

It was interesting in this episode to see Erin say anything even the least bit critical to Prince Chad. When the interviewer was asking what he'd do if he weren't at the metal shop/scrapyard and Erin said -- he could do anything. Chad did his usual -- I'm so humble, I'm so shy -- look and denied it and said something about how he could only do anything bc of Erin; and Erin directly said -- stop being so humble, be honest for once!! Then he finally coughed up the fact that he'd probably restore furniture and is starting a business with that.

It's interesting how "serious" the Erin/Chad relationship seems still - even though they've been married for a few yrs. That interview was a reminder that you only ever see them say syrupy sweet stuff to each other and never joke around as you'd expect a young couple to do. I mean you see Zach and Whitney calling each other out -- like when Zach said that he called home from the police academy crying a few times and Whitney jumped in with -- a FEW times, it was EVERY night and Zach laughed and said -- I wanted to look tougher than that!! Or when he joked that at the firemen supper she should have been so focused on HER man up on stage that she shouldn't have even known whether Lawson was there or not! In contrast Chad and Erin are so polite and formal with each other. It might just be who they are. Though I didn't expect it bc w/o Chad she seems fairly bubbly -- like when she was with Nathan's girlfriend in NYC doing the whole "I'll make noodles at this Chinese restaurant if you will" or jumping in when she and her mom went to Whitney's to talk about the nursery. Interesting contrast.

[Sew Sumi]

Great obsesrvations about Chad and Erin. I totally missed her saying that in the TH, although I definitely remember the scene you're talking about. It seems like they're still afraid that they'll disappoint the other if they let their guards down in certain aspects of the relationship, which seem to have everything to do with how Gothard says couples should relate to one-another. 

[trimthatfat]

I definitely think Whitney and Zach have a more honest relationship on the surface, likely because Whitney does not come from the Gothard world. I'm sure she's seen the dynamics of a "normal" relationship and carried that into her marriage. They also have a very natural chemistry and a similar sense of humor.

[cereality]

True - Chad and Erin have a more Gothard-esuqe "proper" relationship where they play their roles, but it isn't necessarily about fun. I don't know -- Gil and Kelly have a fun kind of marriage, so Erin has seen that. But maybe Chad is more from a prim and proper family that doesn't joke around. And as we all know, what the man wants in a marriage is exactly what'll happen -- even if that means that the woman has to change her personality. Thinking back, I do think Erin is reasonably outgoing. She jumped right in with Nathan's ex fiancé. Before Michael's wedding -- she point blank asked in front of a dozen others -- what are you more nervous about the wedding or after the wedding; and then with no embarrassment referenced the "whole big shebang" after her wedding. When she went to go look at churches with Michael and they were having trouble finding one that worked with Brandon's schedule -- she was quick to say -- that's fine, we'll take the church when it's available and find another groom. She has the same sense of humor as Zach; it's just that Chad doesn't so then she keeps it quiet and sweet ALL.THE.TIME. I just don't get it-- once you've seen your wife give birth, is there anything that you can joke about that'll be seen as too intimate or off color??

[BitterApple]

Lmfao, I missed Erin's comment about finding another church and groom. I wonder if that was a subtle dig at Brandon for being so ridiculously rigid over the wedding date. Either way, it's pretty funny.

I just saw on Erin's Instagram that they got a new puppy. Not sure if that's the brightest decision considering they're about to have a newborn, but to each their own. Hopefully the poor thing doesn't get dumped once the novelty wears off.

[3 is enough]

Quote

I just saw on Erin's Instagram that they got a new puppy. Not sure if that's the brightest decision considering they're about to have a newborn, but to each their own. Hopefully the poor thing doesn't get dumped once the novelty wears off

Yes, I saw that too.  My immediate thought was why get a puppy a couple of weeks before the baby arrives?  That's just crazy IMO.  But maybe they thought the puppy would be a distraction for Carson.  In a couple of weeks the little guy will be losing his only child status, and as young as he is, it will be difficult to understand why Mama can't give him her undivided attention anymore.

A newborn, 14-15 month old, and a puppy (which will need to be housebroken) at the same time?  That's a lot to handle.  I wish them luck.

[lookeyloo]

Who else predicts that the puppy will spend its life tied to a stake in the yard 

[BitterApple]

3 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

Who else predicts that the puppy will spend its life tied to a stake in the yard 

I do. I've yet to see a dog inside a Bates or Duggar home. Erin really doesn't strike me as an animal lover and Chad is busy between work and his indentured servitude gig at the Bateses, so I predict the puppy will be banished to the yard or quietly disappear within the next few months.

[3 is enough]

OMG, the comments! So many posts about "a boy and his dog".  "Dogs are important, ESPECIALLY for boys!"  WTF?  Can't a girl love a dog too?  I just can't.