S20.E05: The Heroin Triangle: Chapter 5

[pasdetrois]

Looks like young Toni is the subject of this week's episode.

[Pondlass1]

I feel so sad for the cats and dogs stuck in this horrible desolate life with these crazed addicts.

[Azubah]

I know! I want to save all the pets along with the pets on My 600 Lb Life.

[Azubah]

I can't deal with Michael's neck tattoo. I keep staring at it.

[noveltylibrary]

There comes a time when you have to just let them go, and Allen's a good example of that.

[Enero]

So I tuned into this episode due to the synopsis about Toni. 

Her mom was insufferable, but thank goodness she put aside her self centered-ness to focus on her daughter and intervention. Speaking of the intervention some of the letters that were read seemed rather brief. Or perhaps those scenes were cut for time? A family member would say I love you and want you back, then jump to their bottom line. It was weird. 

Anyway, glad Toni accepted help. She seems to really want to get clean. I hope she makes it through treatment and has success. On the flip side, I think her partner (Allen) has just given up and is resigned to dying an addict. When his family tried to do the intervention he said as much. Sad. 

I liked the segment on Drug Court in Gwinnett County, but again it was way to brief IMHO to get a true understanding of the changes that had been made, how those changes were working and if they are making progress. They could’ve explored that more IMO and left off all the segments on the addicts in Alpharetta. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by Enero
Edited to add Allen’s name. Thank you noveltylibrary! ?

[mythoughtis]

Kiersten - another one of those addicts I just see no hope for.  She’s got no conscience.  Not sure about David yet. 

Hope Toni makes it.  

Allan wants his family right until he gets them. Then he isn’t interested.  He’s perfectly happy in his addiction, bumming hits from fellow addicts. And, by the way, sis, stop declining to give me money. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by mythoughtis

[Mr. R0b0t]

If they want us to get a full 360-degree view of the heroin triangle, then we need to see more than fleeting glimpses of moments like the cop who helped the addict in an earlier episode and the drug court successes featured in this episode.  Having said that, I do feel like Toni is just over the life she lives and ready for change (and for some reason feels like she could be likely to relapse due to the tumult the family brings).  I am pulling for Allen, but he does harbor a bit of a death wish in his lust for any and every drug.  I do wonder if there is some demon(s) he has yet to reveal that fuel this inside him.  It was good they were able to corral Billy and get him pointed in the right direction...His girlfriend/baby momma is toxic and I am not sure removing drugs from the situation will help that much (barring tons of therapy).

Edited January 24, 2018 by Mr. R0b0t

[Court]

There's a web series called the Town related to this that I like better than what they've shown us so far. It seems to focus more on what we actually thought the show would be about.

I've been to a talk by one of the ladies featured on there Missy Owen. Very informative. 

[pasdetrois]

Toni had such joy on her face as she headed off to rehab. We don't see that very often. Given the statistics, she may relapse, but if she can get away from her mother's dysfunction she has a chance long-term. Her sister has already learned those coping skills.

Speaking of that mother, her very presence just screamed personality disorder. She just radiated it and you could see her feverish brain trying to figure out how to make everything about her.

Allen tugs at my heart because he's far down the path of the disease. His body is just broken and he has no options. The only thing saving his life is that he can't get as much dope as he'd like. In addition to being in denial, I think he was ashamed and therefore angry about a public intervention. He wants to get better and look better before he sees his family and old life again. Maybe he'll relent off camera and go to rehab.

[Pondlass1]

11 hours ago, Azubah said:

I can't deal with Michael's neck tattoo.

Me neither.  It's like his head is sitting on a tree stump.   One has to wonder what he was thinking, not to mention - ouch - the pain!

I'm not sure I like this new format.  It seems all over the place and trying to tell too much in 43 minutes. I couldn't bring myself to care about Alan, he has resigned himself to die in the life but I'm rooting for Toni.

Not so much the pretty slim addict living with boyfriend's mom.  She came across as a conniving liar. She can rely on her pretty looks now to fool officials, but they won't last long. Scars, missing teeth and a long rap sheet are in her future I think.

[Chaos Theory]

Sometimes while watching this show (like with Toni’s mom) you wonder if the mother was always like that or if it was the kids drug use because if the mom was always that self  centered....you kinda get why the drugs.  

Also see David’s Mom.  That is his name with the girlfriend who lives with him who went to court.  Yeah she has issues and is very very sick but something about the way the mother talks about her son makes me cringe.

 

Michaels tattoos are jarring but I think they suit him.  

Edited January 24, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[mythoughtis]

I also find Michaels tattoo distracting.  I remember an old Crossing Jordan episode where the family advocate character has a tat removed because it limited binding with victims families. I would have trouble bonding with Michael if he was the interventionist for my family member. Yes, I know that says more about me than him. I’m older than dirt- Get off my lawn. 

He seems to be a very concerned, caring and professional interventionist.  I liked that he attended the drug court.  I liked how he handled Carla. Alison could have kept some of her digs at Carla to herself too.  She aggravated the situation in addition to Carla’s issues. 

[Soobs]

7 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Also see David’s Mom.  That is his name with the girlfriend who lives with him who went to court.  Yeah she has issues and is very very sick but something about the way the mother talks about her son makes me cringe.

 

She kept saying that no one will get between them. However, even a healthy son needs to separate from his mom by his age. I got the sense that the mom weirdly enjoyed driving them around even if it was to probation. It's like a mom driving a tween on his first date. She is not going to want all the changes that come with her son getting clean. She's likes his dependence on her.

Allen saying he needed a hundred bucks to look better, yeah right. I felt bad for his family who had to make the difficult decision to not enable him and then have that used against them as if they don't care and abandoned him. Been there and it sucks times 1000. Some people don't make it out. It might be too late for Allen.

[Azubah]

8 hours ago, Pondlass1 said:

I'm not sure I like this new format.  It seems all over the place and trying to tell too much in 43 minutes.

Yes, it takes some very skillful editing to make these stories work. The stories are all kind of intertwined, which is interesting, but if the editing isn't done just so, the viewer loses the thread quickly.

[goodbyeglittergirl]

I hope that drug court really works like that even when the cameras aren't there. It seems like a good program and I liked the judge.

I am really rooting for Toni. She has such a nice demeanor and she is just lovely - I am hoping she will clean up and have an amazing life.

Poor Allan. Sometimes I feel like there's a point of no return - for addicts, for abusers, for all kinds of things. I feel like Allan is sort of there. And I hate that for him, because I'm sure it's incredibly hard on his family and he seems like a guy with potential. But I can see how his family has maybe had to disconnect from him emotionally. I get that. I have had to do that with loved ones, too, rather than get sucked into the tidal wave of their issues.

[pasdetrois]

I'm also hopeful about drug courts. They seem like a small, brave note of insanity in the midst of the opioid madness. Didn't the judge quote some success statistics to the camera? And we need more jobs for these folks to go to during recovery - with employers who will take a chance on someone in recovery and who might have criminal history. That's a lot to ask, I know.  Maybe a drug court-to-job pipeline could evolve, like a program pipeline. The ones who are ready to leave drugs behind and function in society would view it as a lifesaver.

[Neurochick]

On 1/26/2018 at 5:27 PM, goodbyeglittergirl said:

Poor Allan. Sometimes I feel like there's a point of no return - for addicts, for abusers, for all kinds of things. I feel like Allan is sort of there.

I think sadly that type of attitude is why people don't get help.  If someone feels they've past the point of no return, then why bother?  If you tell someone they're totally hopeless, they'll believe it.