S01.E06: Race to the Altar

[Drogo]

Ex-gangbanger Lamar meets Andrea's Mormon kids and they fear for her safety; Johnna's dad doubts Garrett's proposal; James races to confront Alla and what he finds shocks him. 

[usernameG]

I imagine being single with kids is incredibly hard. It makes me so sad to watch Andrea force her kids on Lamar and refers to him as Papa. I feel like her kids have more sense than she does. This woman is just a fool.

[Neurochick]

1 minute ago, usernameG said:

I imagine being single with kids is incredibly hard. It makes me so sad to watch Andrea force her kids on Lamar and refers to him as Papa. I feel like her kids have more sense than she does. This woman is just a fool.

I'm confused about this.  Didn't Andrea say that her children's biological father was around?  Do all three of her children have the same father? (I ask because of their ages)

[usernameG]

4 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

I'm confused about this.  Didn't Andrea say that her children's biological father was around?  Do all three of her children have the same father? (I ask because of their ages)

I believe she said only the little one doesn't know what its like to have a father so it made me think their father wasnt around.

Edited February 17, 2018 by usernameG

[AZ Curls]

I was gonna go to the Andrea/Lamar thread to ask but since we are talking about it here, I missed the first episode where they introduced us to Andrea so did they explain anything about her kid's father?  Tonight she said she has been talking to Lamar for 6 years, but that little girl is only 5.  The only theory I can think of is Andrea was married, had the first two kids, got pregnant, the husband died during her pregnancy and she started talking to Lamar the minute all that happened.  She has basically brainwashed that little girl her whole life to think Lamar is her dad. 

[Spiderella2]

3 hours ago, AZ Curls said:

I was gonna go to the Andrea/Lamar thread to ask but since we are talking about it here, I missed the first episode where they introduced us to Andrea so did they explain anything about her kid's father?  Tonight she said she has been talking to Lamar for 6 years, but that little girl is only 5.  The only theory I can think of is Andrea was married, had the first two kids, got pregnant, the husband died during her pregnancy and she started talking to Lamar the minute all that happened.  She has basically brainwashed that little girl her whole life to think Lamar is her dad. 

Yeah, I’m curious to this as well. That was actually why I came here. Andrea is stupidly putting her children in danger to fulfill her fantasy. She already knows that Lamar has anger problems, and why is she trying so hard to create an instant family? For her teens to exercise more caution that she is tells me that there is something very very wrong with Andrea emotionally.  Maybe she never processed her grief. Having her first hubby die would explain why she erroneously thinks adding Lamar would instantly make the family whole. 

[cooksdelight]

What bothers me the most is that Sharp Entertainment signed up Andrea and her kids and put it all on TV. This is very disturbing to me. I didn’t watch last night because the entire premise of this show is not right. I feel awful for watching thus far.

[Princess Sparkle]

The two smartest people on this show are Andrea’s two oldest kids. Her son and older daughter are extremely measured and mature for 15 and 12. Between Nyla getting a new bathing suit and $40 from her mom just for going, to her just straight up asking Lamar “We’re you a gang member? Are you a drug dealer”, she’s my new favorite person. It’s sad, but I’m getting the vibe that Tennyson and Nyla have had to be the adults in that family for awhile. 

Runner up for smartest person is James’s friend, who immediately said “Uh, duh, she relapsed.” when James was telling him about Alla’s “pregnancy”. I can sympathize with not having experience with addiction, but if you know you’re with a recovering addict, why in the world would you not study up on what the signs of relapse are?

Andrea’s insistence on her youngest calling Lamar “Dad” was giving me shades of Nicole/Azan from 90 Day Fiance. 

[lasandi]

Not that Garrett is any prize but why in the world is he hitching his wagon to that shrew Joanna?  I cant believe she interrupted him at work to question him about if he truly meant that proposal.  He will be miserable and actually so will she if they walk down that aisle.  She seems very controlling and very spoiled.  He needs to live a little unattached before he settles down, imo.

Andrea thinks being a family will solve everything.  She seems off to me and I cant figure out why.  Her two older kids clearly have more sense then she does so she cant be that bad because she raised them.  Andrea seems controlling to me too, the way she carried on last episode.

The guy with the inmate who got caught with a phone. I have no words at his throwing huge amounts of money at someone incarcerated trying to buy love,  Did he say he has sent her $20,000.  I must have dreamt that because what in the world is she buying in prison?

The woman whose man just got out of prison let him decompress first.  She is ready to run him down the aisle.  I get that she's been waiting 6 (?) long years but he might have gone thru some stuff in prison and his mindset is not to plan a wedding, run down the aisle and live happily ever after.

The season finale is next week.  That was fast.  I didnt have time to learn everybodys names. LOL

Edited February 17, 2018 by lasandi

[usernameG]

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

What bothers me the most is that Sharp Entertainment signed up Andrea and her kids and put it all on TV. This is very disturbing to me. I didn’t watch last night because the entire premise of this show is not right. I feel awful for watching thus far.

I was doing some googling trying to figure out the daddy situation (she was divorced in 2011) and found out that she has was previously on a show called Stage Moms. Her kids are probably going to hate her later in life. 

 

Quote

Runner up for smartest person is James’s friend, who immediately said “Uh, duh, she relapsed.” when James was telling him about Alla’s “pregnancy”. I can sympathize with not having experience with addiction, but if you know you’re with a recovering addict, why in the world would you not study up on what the signs of relapse are?

Right? James is wearing rose colored glasses. He thinks he lined up some model arm candy but he just lined up a junkie.

[Neurochick]

Wait, who said Andrea’s first husband died?

I don’t think this is Sharp Entertainment’s problem.  If Andrea wants to be on this show with her children, then they’ll be on the show.  I think it’s a shame that Andrea and her children are on this show, but I wouldn’t want some entity like the government saying a person does have the right to put their family on a reality show.  The father of Andrea’s minor children could have done that.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Neurochick

[Empress1]

6 hours ago, Princess Sparkle said:

The two smartest people on this show are Andrea’s two oldest kids. Her son and older daughter are extremely measured and mature for 15 and 12. Between Nyla getting a new bathing suit and $40 from her mom just for going, to her just straight up asking Lamar “We’re you a gang member? Are you a drug dealer”, she’s my new favorite person. It’s sad, but I’m getting the vibe that Tennyson and Nyla have had to be the adults in that family for awhile. 

Runner up for smartest person is James’s friend, who immediately said “Uh, duh, she relapsed.” when James was telling him about Alla’s “pregnancy”. I can sympathize with not having experience with addiction, but if you know you’re with a recovering addict, why in the world would you not study up on what the signs of relapse are?

Andrea’s insistence on her youngest calling Lamar “Dad” was giving me shades of Nicole/Azan from 90 Day Fiance. 

You can tell Andrea's two oldest kids have been the adults in the family. They're smart and insightful and mature in the way that kids who have seen and/or had to do too much tend to be. Andrea was making me so angry. Even leaving aside the fact that Lamar is an ex-con, which certainly is not immaterial, you do not marry someone your kids have never met. They literally do not know him and are telling her to her face, in very plain, understandable English, that a) they are not comfortable with the situation she's forcing on them and b) that they are NOT going to be a family because they don't know the man she's marrying. And she's straight up ignoring them. It's awful. I get that she's probably had it pretty hard working two jobs and raising three kids alone, and I get that she's lonely. She deserves to be happy. But she's putting herself above her kids and it was really making me angry to see.

Also, I wish somebody WOULD tell me I had to go on a long-ass road trip at 3 AM the next day. No ma'am.

James's friend is a good friend, although James won't see it that way. He's a "come to Jesus" friend and everybody needs one. Alla is high as fuck. 

I would put Johnna's dad on the "smartest person" list because he clearly thinks Johnna is a spoiled fool, but he also raised her. You can tell he's thinking "Goddammit, Johnna" every time he talks to her.

Dominic clearly has some kind of PTSD that they're just not dealing with and I don't understand what he sees in Mary, but okay.

I don't know the older guy's name, the one whose girlfriend is looking at 8-12 more years, but I fell out when his plain-spoken friend was like "Well, maybe you should send her some money." I feel bad for him because he's lonely, but he has made some shitty choices.

[lezlers]

16 hours ago, Spiderella2 said:

Yeah, I’m curious to this as well. That was actually why I came here. Andrea is stupidly putting her children in danger to fulfill her fantasy. She already knows that Lamar has anger problems, and why is she trying so hard to create an instant family? For her teens to exercise more caution that she is tells me that there is something very very wrong with Andrea emotionally.  Maybe she never processed her grief. Having her first hubby die would explain why she erroneously thinks adding Lamar would instantly make the family whole. 

Wait, do we know if Andrea's husband died, or are we just assuming?  You'd think that would be something she'd disclose on the show, as it would make her very sympathetic.  I think it's much more likely she just has crappy taste in men and chose fathers for her children that didn't stick around.  Her behavior on the show so far seems to support the latter theory more than the former. 

[lezlers]

3 hours ago, Empress1 said:

You can tell Andrea's two oldest kids have been the adults in the family. They're smart and insightful and mature in the way that kids who have seen and/or had to do too much tend to be. Andrea was making me so angry. Even leaving aside the fact that Lamar is an ex-con, which certainly is not immaterial, you do not marry someone your kids have never met. They literally do not know him and are telling her to her face, in very plain, understandable English, that a) they are not comfortable with the situation she's forcing on them and b) that they are NOT going to be a family because they don't know the man she's marrying. And she's straight up ignoring them. It's awful. I get that she's probably had it pretty hard working two jobs and raising three kids alone, and I get that she's lonely. She deserves to be happy. But she's putting herself above her kids and it was really making me angry to see.

Also, I wish somebody WOULD tell me I had to go on a long-ass road trip at 3 AM the next day. No ma'am.

James's friend is a good friend, although James won't see it that way. He's a "come to Jesus" friend and everybody needs one. Alla is high as fuck. 

I would put Johnna's dad on the "smartest person" list because he clearly thinks Johnna is a spoiled fool, but he also raised her. You can tell he's thinking "Goddammit, Johnna" every time he talks to her.

Dominic clearly has some kind of PTSD that they're just not dealing with and I don't understand what he sees in Mary, but okay.

I don't know the older guy's name, the one whose girlfriend is looking at 8-12 more years, but I fell out when his plain-spoken friend was like "Well, maybe you should send her some money." I feel bad for him because he's lonely, but he has made some shitty choices.

Not only is she not listening to them, she's getting irritated at them when they're asking completely appropriate and reasonable questions.   She's also guilt tripping them "the older you get the harder it is to be a single mom!"   I can't with her.  She makes me so angry.  

I felt bad for Scott (is that his name?  The one "engaged" to Lizzie) until he 1. blamed himself for her having to potentially do 12 more years for having contraband and 2. talked shit about public defenders.  As a public defender it shouldn't bother me considering most of my clients and their families look for anyone else to blame for their predicament other than themselves.  I still wanted to throw something at the T.V when he said it, however. People don't typically get eight years in prison for a DUI unless they've got a substantial rap sheet to begin with.  Lizzie also doesn't seem to have one iota of remorse for her crime ("I don't know how I got eight years for driving drunk and running over some guy's foot!").  That tells me she's a career criminal who spends more of her life inside prison than out.  That's no one's fault but Lizzie's.   It's also HER fault she was caught with contraband she knows she's not supposed to have, not Scott's fault for buying her a cell phone (he knew she wasn't supposed to have.)  He's an enabler and both of them constantly blaming others for their situation isn't cute.   He deserves whatever he gets.  Keep being a stooge, you jerk.

Edited February 18, 2018 by lezlers

[cooksdelight]

19 hours ago, lasandi said:

Did he say he has sent her $20,000.  I must have dreamt that because what in the world is she buying in prison?

Drugs

[psychoticstate]

There is only one more episode to this season?  Damn it!  This show has been my guilty pleasure.

Andrea is divorced.  She mentioned in her first episode that her ex sends her child support but that's the limit of his involvement with his kids.  

Tennison and Nyla are definitely far more intelligent and full of common sense than their mother. They can come live with me.  Andrea is Alla-levels of high if she thinks her teens are going to just accept Lamar, no problems.   They don't know him and he's been in prison for longer than they have been alive.  I think Andrea is co-dependent.  I also think that, like Johnna, she probably prefers her man being incarcerated so she knows where he is at all times.

Johnna is becoming crazier by the week.  She could have gotten Garrett fired because she just had to drop in to his work and confront him about the sincerity of his proposal.  Geez, Johnna.  You only live together.  Why not ask him at home?   She really does want to push him away.   I'm not sure she's really in love with him anyhow.  I think she wants to get married to get married and also to prove a point to her dad, her exes and her friends that have probably given her grief over the years for getting involved with an inmate.  Run, Garrett.

Scott.  Oh Scott.  Lizzie being caught with heroin and a cell phone is a GIFT for you.  Listen to your friend and run as fast as you can away from Lizzie.  You aren't really in love with her.  And she certainly is NOT in love with you.   She is using you for your money and kindness and I'm certain she's got several others just like you. 

James needs to listen to his friend.  And he probably should be talking to someone in NA.  Shouldn't Alla be getting drug tested by a PO or somebody?  

I really feel for Dom.  He's very obviously been traumatized by prison and Mary only wants to have her wedding.  Here's a thought - - why not focus on helping him re-acclimate to being outside of prison, focus on him successfully leaving the halfway house, getting a job and getting on his feet and THEN start thinking about the wedding?   Ugh, I just can't with her and her ridiculous shoes and lips.

[cooksdelight]

I’m hoping James and Scott have come to their senses since this was filmed. I kind of doubt it, though. Scott has a lovely woman right in front of him!!!

Who among you have your kids drinking their soda pop out of Waterford crystal? I was waiting for the little one to knock hers over.

I can’t watch Mary and Dom. Remember what your Mom told you about your face freezing that way? Too late for Mary.

Andrea is an idiot. Her kids are ten times more mature than she is.

Johnna is off her rocker. And I hate her red fuzzy steering wheel cover.

[Neurochick]

20 hours ago, Empress1 said:

They literally do not know him and are telling her to her face, in very plain, understandable English, that a) they are not comfortable with the situation she's forcing on them and b) that they are NOT going to be a family because they don't know the man she's marrying. And she's straight up ignoring them. It's awful. I get that she's probably had it pretty hard working two jobs and raising three kids alone, and I get that she's lonely. She deserves to be happy. But she's putting herself above her kids and it was really making me angry to see.

My problem with Andrea is that her children are still MINORS.  That means that she is responsible for their welfare until they are legally adults.  I get that Andrea is lonely and wants to have a family.  But when you have minor children, you can't just think about just you.  

[Spiderella2]

On 2/17/2018 at 5:45 PM, lezlers said:

Wait, do we know if Andrea's husband died, or are we just assuming?  You'd think that would be something she'd disclose on the show, as it would make her very sympathetic.  I think it's much more likely she just has crappy taste in men and chose fathers for her children that didn't stick around.  Her behavior on the show so far seems to support the latter theory more than the former. 

Thank you for that correction. I don’t know why I thought her husband died, the way she was acting so immaturely must have made me think she was married for a while. Plus her desperation for them to be a “family” also made me think that she must have had that in the past which is why she is trying to recreate it. She is a hot mess and I feel so sorry for her children. 

[ExplainItAgain]

On 2/17/2018 at 9:21 PM, lezlers said:

Lizzie also doesn't seem to have one iota of remorse for her crime ("I don't know how I got eight years for driving drunk and running over some guy's foot!").  That tells me she's a career criminal who spends more of her life inside prison than out.  That's no one's fault but Lizzie's.   It's also HER fault she was caught with contraband she knows she's not supposed to have, not Scott's fault for buying her a cell phone (he knew she wasn't supposed to have.)  He's an enabler and both of them constantly blaming others for their situation isn't cute.   He deserves whatever he gets.  Keep being a stooge, you jerk.

She's had several DUIs, at least one with an injury to someone else. I swear her title card on the show says bribery too so she must have tried to bribe a cop after one of the stops. I have no sympathy for anyone who has multiple DUIs. I hope the show was a wake-up call for Scott.

[zenme]

If Scott would shave and cut that hair off, I don't think he'd be 1/2 bad looking. All he needs to do is clean himself up a bit. He seems like a nice enough guy--gullible, but nice.  Lizzie is just a user, and doesn't give a shit about him. She's just gonna take him for all he's got.

[eatsleep]

Lizzie isn't going to be that pretty and shapely forever; she needs to stop playing these men and get going while the going is good. 

On 2/17/2018 at 1:21 PM, lasandi said:

Did he say he has sent her $20,000.  I must have dreamt that because what in the world is she buying in prison?

Cell phones every six months, her extensive sneaker collection, commissary, phone calls, fines, legal fees and maybe DRUGS?

 

On 2/17/2018 at 8:45 PM, lezlers said:

Wait, do we know if Andrea's husband died, or are we just assuming?  You'd think that would be something she'd disclose on the show, as it would make her very sympathetic.  I think it's much more likely she just has crappy taste in men and chose fathers for her children that didn't stick around.  Her behavior on the show so far seems to support the latter theory more than the former. 

Andrea is divorced. Divorce can be traumatic for some people, so the same sympathy can be shown, I suppose.

[lezlers]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 7:42 AM, ExplainItAgain said:

She's had several DUIs, at least one with an injury to someone else. I swear her title card on the show says bribery too so she must have tried to bribe a cop after one of the stops. I have no sympathy for anyone who has multiple DUIs. I hope the show was a wake-up call for Scott.

Oh, she's got to have a LOT of DUIs to get eight years prison.  At least in California, you've got to have 4 DUIs in a 10 year period for it to even be a felony (unless there's injury which, considering she ran over a guy's foot, could definitely be the case.)

[Calamity Jane]

On 2/17/2018 at 6:57 AM, cooksdelight said:

 I didn’t watch last night because the entire premise of this show is not right.

My first reaction when I saw promos for this show (which I have never actually watched to date) was that it seemed to me there could be a world of liability if something really bad happened to one of the people taking a risk with people just out of prison.  I hope they did very deep, careful background checks.  I was so creeped out by the entire idea that I can't bring myself to watch.  

[cooksdelight]

4 hours ago, Calamity Jane said:

 I hope they did very deep, careful background checks.

It’s Sharp Entertainment, ain’t happening. They make participants sign their life away. Look at the 90-Day Fiance people who’ve tried to sue, or complained they weren’t portrayed accurately.

[Calamity Jane]

8 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

It’s Sharp Entertainment, ain’t happening. They make participants sign their life away. Look at the 90-Day Fiance people who’ve tried to sue, or complained they weren’t portrayed accurately.

I'm sure they do, but I still think if physical harm came to one of the participants, contracts might not be enough to protect them.  It shouldn't, anyway.  It just seems so, so dangerous. No doubt the prisoners' convictions were not for violent crimes (right? right??), but there can be other stuff in the past that didn't make it onto the records.  Arrrgh, guess I'll just go back to ignoring it.  :-/

[cooksdelight]

They have committed violent crimes. Look up Lamar’s rap sheet in that forum. Dominic from Canada was involved in a very violent brawl.

[Reality police]

On 2/17/2018 at 4:10 AM, Spiderella2 said:

Yeah, I’m curious to this as well. That was actually why I came here. Andrea is stupidly putting her children in danger to fulfill her fantasy. She already knows that Lamar has anger problems, and why is she trying so hard to create an instant family? For her teens to exercise more caution that she is tells me that there is something very very wrong with Andrea emotionally.  Maybe she never processed her grief. Having her first hubby die would explain why she erroneously thinks adding Lamar would instantly make the family whole. 

I didn't know about the first husband. How did I miss that? Where did that come from?

[cooksdelight]

I’m hoping and praying that this show is so fake (Dom & Mary, for example) that her kids are indeed her first priority and it was made to look otherwise. Why else would a woman be jumping up and down on the side of the road in bedroom slippers?

[nr65000]

On 2/16/2018 at 7:54 PM, usernameG said:

I imagine being single with kids is incredibly hard. It makes me so sad to watch Andrea force her kids on Lamar and refers to him as Papa. I feel like her kids have more sense than she does. This woman is just a fool.

It's not that hard and it's certainly not hard enough to make me try to force my kids to call my prison-boo "papa".  *Note, I don't have a prison boo.