S09.E05: The Abbie Gown

[frenchtoast]

From the onscreen guide:

Quote

In Laredo, Jeremy is on daddy duty as Jinger runs errands; John and Abbie's wedding is just around the corner; John and the boys partake in a thrilling competition while Abbie tries on wedding dresses.

(Thanks to @Sew Sumi for the reminder!)

[Sew Sumi]

The "thrilling competition" was throwing bags of flour out of a plane to hit a tarp target on the ground. Snore. 

[jcbrown]

6 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

The "thrilling competition" was throwing bags of flour out of a plane to hit a tarp target on the ground. Snore. 

At this point, I think even the editors/producers/episode description writers are trolling them.

[allonsyalice]

1 hour ago, Sew Sumi said:

The "thrilling competition" was throwing bags of flour out of a plane to hit a tarp target on the ground. Snore. 

i am...whelmed. 

not overwhelmed

not underwhelmed.

just whelmed. 

[sATL]

Did I hear right???? Jinger has friends in Laredo?

Did I see right? They actually filmed a Duggar grandchild going to visit non-Duggar family members?

Did I understand correctly? Abbie didn't have time to go to KY but had extra time in AR and funds to fly someone in?

Did I guess right? Duggar men again making stuff they probably should have borrowed or rented. 5x7 foot mirror- just where do you put that afterwards?

[Annb67]

Jessa needs to be thankful she's not my sister. She needs her ass kicked.

[VioletNevermind]

I have been right there beside all of you for over a decade, making fun of these doofi- and viciously at times.  However, I must say in all sincerity, Jinger and Jeremy have the cutest baby I have seen in a long time.  Those huge eyes just melt my heart.

[Annb67]

3 minutes ago, Suzy Rhapsody said:

I have been right there beside all of you for over a decade, making fun of these doofi- and viciously at times.  However, I must say in all sincerity, Jinger and Jeremy have the cutest baby I have seen in a long time.  Those huge eyes just melt my heart.

And I'm glad, for once, they didn't show a bumbling, idiot dad.

[sATL]

I think for a quick second - Jed though the could just open the plane door/window to barf. Why not keep anti sickness pills if he  constantly flys people who have a issue?

[VioletNevermind]

That cut to Michelle’s bug-eyed ogling like a mental patient when they added the sparkle layer to the dress was all I needed to restore my snarking powers to their full glory.  God help me, I cannot stand that woman- and for so many reasons!

Edited March 12, 2019 by Suzy Rhapsody

[Annb67]

5 minutes ago, Suzy Rhapsody said:

That cut to Michelle’s bug-eyed ogling like a mental patient when they added the sparkle layer to the dress was all I needed to restore my snarking powers to their full glory.  God help me, I cannot stand that woman- and for so many reasons!

I literally busted out laughing. Like, wtf was that look?!

[Zella]

Oh I hope someone takes pity and screencaps it for those of us who can't access the episode! 😂

[Brown eyed girl]

We should have played a drinking game. Every time someone said sparkle or bling , take a drink. We would have been drunk halfway through the episode. 

If I were Jana I would have slapped Jessa over her comment saying let’s talk about your wedding Jana. Jessa’s A full blown bitch. 

[Brown eyed girl]

Just now, Zella said:

Oh I hope someone takes pity and screencaps it for those of us who can't access the episode! 😂

You’re not missing much. 😂 

[Zella]

3 minutes ago, Brown eyed girl said:

You’re not missing much. 😂 

Haha No doubt!

I just really wanna see Michelle's bug-eyed face. 

Edited to add: I will probably regret that wish. . . . 

Edited March 12, 2019 by Zella

[ThinkerBell]

51 minutes ago, Annb67 said:

And I'm glad, for once, they didn't show a bumbling, idiot dad.

. . . and they adopted a stray cat, a cat that Jeremy said they love (yeah, I'm looking at you Derrick). Jeremy and Jinger are pretty much okay by me.

Edited March 12, 2019 by ThinkerBell

[Gemma Violet]

Well, I've found something less exciting than watching a groom cake baking competition:  watching a flour bomb competition.  

[Twopper]

41 minutes ago, Brown eyed girl said:

We should have played a drinking game. Every time someone said sparkle or bling , take a drink. We would have been drunk halfway through the episode. 

and dead by the end of it.    

[Fostersmom]

Just in case I wasn't quite sure Miss Renee's dresses are ugly crap, the pink monstrosity and the dress with giant ass buttons down the back cemented my opinion. I know they are getting this shit for free, but at this point, Miss Renee should be paying the brides to wear her crap. 

Felicity is a living doll.                                                                                                          

[OpieTaylor]

48 minutes ago, Brown eyed girl said:

If I were Jana I would have slapped Jessa over her comment saying let’s talk about your wedding Jana. Jessa’s A full blown bitch. 

Details please! Why did Jessa say that?

[Jenilane6]

54 minutes ago, Annb67 said:

I literally busted out laughing. Like, wtf was that look?!

She looked like Momo.  Or maybe she has Graves Disease, poor thing.

[Gemma Violet]

23 minutes ago, OpieTaylor said:

Details please! Why did Jessa say that?

The producer asked if the Duggars were ready for another wedding or something like that (I thought he was talking about Abby & J.D.s upcoming wedding), but Jessa said something like, "Oh, yeah, Jana's getting married," with Jana standing right next to her.  Of course, Jana looked mortified, but played along with the joke, i.e. "Heh, yeah, I'm getting married..."

Edited March 12, 2019 by Gemma Violet

[sATL]

4 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

The "thrilling competition" was throwing bags of flour out of a plane to hit a tarp target on the ground. Snore. 

what a waste of good flour. Esp. given last week they tried to bake cakes. 

[OpieTaylor]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

I just really wanna see Michelle's bug-eyed face. 

Edited to add: I will probably regret that wish. . . . 

The Counting On Facebook page has a video up now of Abbie trying on the dress and Mechelle making the face 🤪

Edited March 12, 2019 by OpieTaylor
Added screenshot

[farmgal4]

2 hours ago, Suzy Rhapsody said:

I have been right there beside all of you for over a decade, making fun of these doofi- and viciously at times.  However, I must say in all sincerity, Jinger and Jeremy have the cutest baby I have seen in a long time.  Those huge eyes just melt my heart.

Dang it!  Now I’m bummed and wish I’d watched!  I have mad love for that little angel and eagerly await new pics of her on SM. 

[Zella]

13 minutes ago, OpieTaylor said:

The Counting On Facebook page has a video up now of Abbie trying on the dress and Mechelle making the face 🤪

You're doing the Lord's work! Thank you!

And on that note, holy fuck, is that creepy. Whoever compared her to Momo was on point.

[CPA1967]

2 hours ago, Zella said:

Oh I hope someone takes pity and screencaps it for those of us who can't access the episode! 😂

You’re welcome. 😂

[Zella]

27 minutes ago, CPA1967 said:

You’re welcome. 😂

😂😂😂

[MsJamieDornan]

Ugh, that woman shouldn't even be on the show.

[Spencer Hastings]

Jeremy looks like he really enjoys being a father.  It’s almost like he’s a grown man who waited to have children until he was ready and responsible enough to care for them.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Spencer Hastings

[JoanArc]

8 hours ago, OpieTaylor said:

The Counting On Facebook page has a video up now of Abbie trying on the dress and Mechelle making the face 🤪

Why is this Bitch on tv? Abbie is not her daughter. Fuck right off Michelle.

[Annb67]

7 hours ago, CPA1967 said:

You’re welcome. 😂

Oh god....😂😂

[Minivanessa]

40 minutes ago, JoanArc said:

Why is this Bitch on tv? Abbie is not her daughter. Fuck right off Michelle.

AMEN.

[Jynnan tonnix]

7 hours ago, CPA1967 said:

You’re welcome. 😂

She looks very like Jessa to me here for some reason...

[sigmaforce86]

I'm going to start with the good because there's so little of it and it's easy to get it over with:  All on the Laredo group, Felicity is adorable, her face in the jump-up was so cute, Jeremy seems like a good hands on Dad even if I allow for some of it to be just put on for the camera's, I love that they have Jake the cat and, last but most important, the kid is allowed to wear pants too and I see a lot of loosening of the Gothard standards and a swing toward more mainstream Christianity/living in that house.   Second place goes to Abby who at least said she's OK wearing scrub pants even though she could wear skirts and others at her work do that.  It show's a little bit of thinking for herself and being practical based on the activity (yeah)

As for the rest - Say it in big, red, glowing letters:  The. Waste!   The incredible, hypocritical, don't you buy used and save the difference WASTE.  A pop up dress shop with mannequins is bad enough but making a platform and a giant mirror too.  I don't care if Miss Renee or TLC production paid for it, it still comes across as indulgent and wasteful especially when you compare it to the thrift store make your own detergent ways they try to advocate.  And the flour bombing; gas for the plane and of  course the flour itself, what an over the top wasteful activity.   If they keep trying to one-up themselves by the time Justin or Jackson get's married it'll be "We're flying to Mt Everest where we'll jump out and para-glide from the summit, we'll then land directly on a pack of camels with saddles which we'll race across the Gobi desert, the first three across the finish line get to go to dinner at Applebees Honolulu"    (yes I know none of those things are near each other but the Duggar's don't know geography anyway so....)

Jessa really let her bitch flag fly in this one.  Even when she was unpacking the mannequins and said something like "it's really skinny".   I know it could just be a comment not a dig at Abbie but it comes across as a dig and there's just an undercurrent of everyone else is beneath me in nearly everything she does and says.  She has to go with the I and Me statements; when I was breastfeeding, at My wedding.  She has to pull attention to stay relevant and part of the show and, to me at least, she increasingly comes across as queen bitch / ace narcissist of the family. 

[Marshmallow Mollie]

We just got rid of cable, so I didn’t watch. I do want to point out that when I pulled up this thread last night, there were a mere 22 posts. I pull it up again now, it’s up to 34. Ouch. Of the TLC shows I follow on this site, Counting On has the least activity for episodes. Our boards are otherwise very lively. All that bad social media by the Duggars eclipses their actual show.

[LongDenimFrumper]

Someone is really laying it on thick for Jeremy at TLC and presenting him in only the best light. They are pushing Jing and Jerm as a lovable, everyday, mainstream couple. Adopting the stray cat, showing him vacuuming while holding the baby (men doing women's work!) and holding down the home place while Momma Jing enjoys time to herself alone at the store (any new mother's dream!). Jerm the trophy husband.  While they are my favorite couple, it seems they are really trying to "show" us that the cult doesn't treat their women badly. Their beliefs are still hardcore fundie but they want to appear mainstream christian. 

You can roll a turd in glitter but it's still a turd...

[libgirl2]

9 hours ago, Spencer Hastings said:

Jeremy looks like he really enjoys being a father.  It’s almost like he’s a grown man who waited to have children until he was ready and responsible enough to care for them.

That is because he is. He isn't some teenager or 20 year old who never saw the outside world regardless of his beliefs. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by libgirl2

[libgirl2]

4 minutes ago, LongDenimFrumper said:

Someone is really laying it on thick for Jeremy at TLC and presenting him in only the best light. They are pushing Jing and Jerm as a lovable, everyday, mainstream couple. Adopting the stray cat, showing him vacuuming while holding the baby (men doing women's work!) and holding down the home place while Momma Jing enjoys time to herself alone at the store (any new mother's dream!). Jerm the trophy husband.  While they are my favorite couple, it seems they are really trying to "show" us that the cult doesn't treat their women badly. Their beliefs are still hardcore fundie but they want to appear mainstream christian. 

You can roll a turd in glitter but it's still a turd...

If they are making them shine, why are they making the others seem so stupid? 

[JoanArc]

2 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

If they are making them shine, why are they making the others seem so stupid? 

Spin-Off Potential. I want it to happen just to make Jessa's head explode. Then be cancelled one episode in.

[LongDenimFrumper]

1 minute ago, libgirl2 said:

If they are making them shine, why are they making the others seem so stupid? 

I think Jeremy has negotiated a better deal with TLC than the rest of the family. Jim Boob was not in his paycheck equation. He's far more savvy with his marketability than the other family members. I believe he also knows he and Jinger are the most likable, relate-able  and in a way, most valuable couple on the show and has some leverage with his requests. "Make me look like an ass and I'll walk." There isn't much to work with on that show and I'm pretty sure he knows it. 

[libgirl2]

Just now, LongDenimFrumper said:

I think Jeremy has negotiated a better deal with TLC than the rest of the family. Jim Boob was not in his paycheck equation. He's far more savvy with his marketability than the other family members. I believe he also knows he and Jinger are the most likable, relate-able  and in a way, most valuable couple on the show and has some leverage with his requests. "Make me look like an ass and I'll walk." There isn't much to work with on that show and I'm pretty sure he knows it. 

Good point. 

[Churchhoney]

6 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

If they are making them shine, why are they making the others seem so stupid? 

Because while Jing and Jer are also kind of stupid, many of the others are about 100 times more stupid, so the production staff can't even with many of them? (Jessa, Meeechelle, et al, I'm looking at you...)

Just a guess ... 

[Churchhoney]

1 hour ago, LongDenimFrumper said:

I think Jeremy has negotiated a better deal with TLC than the rest of the family. Jim Boob was not in his paycheck equation. He's far more savvy with his marketability than the other family members. I believe he also knows he and Jinger are the most likable, relate-able  and in a way, most valuable couple on the show and has some leverage with his requests. "Make me look like an ass and I'll walk." There isn't much to work with on that show and I'm pretty sure he knows it. 

Very good point. And he's got an excellent reason to have done that, too.

Many of the others, who are very short-sighted, see the show as their paycheck (forever and ever amen and whatever the Gothard version of crossing yourself is), I think. Around here, people often talk about ways the various Duggarlings might be able to build on their fame to create much longer-lasting personal businesses. But aside from a little shilling and a few half-hearted attempts here and there -- mainly by Jessa -- the Duggarlings themselves don't show much interest in doing that.

Meanwhile, Jer has always seen the show -- from the moment he first spied Jingle, I would bet -- as a key part of the resume and qualifications he'll use to get a top job with a great paycheck somewhere in the conservative reformed-Protestant world.

I'd be truly amazed to learn that he hasn't always intended to subtly dangle his Duggar-related fame in front of people like John MacArthur and other people with major reformed-church jobs to offer, in hopes that they'll choose him for one of those jobs based on it.

I would literally bet my house that he's doing everything he can to position himself in that job market as the person who can leverage a great, very mainstream, attractive image on TeeVee and social media into a positive image and big-time media exposure for whatever church or other organization signs him up. 

Statistics show that even the biggest, most powerful of the conservative evangelical groups are very gradually losing their appeal for Americans, and their numbers are now doing no more than holding steady, overall, and even dipping a little in many places. They're all worried about sustaining their churches -- and that's a big worry, because what they really want to do is not just hold steady but grow. And the numbers don't look promising for that. 

Meanwhile, there have got to be at least hundreds and maybe more younger guys in Jer's position, hoping for prestigious (and lucrative) leadership positions in those churches in years to come. But with continued strong growth for those churches no longer looking like the sure thing it once did, that job market is looking a bit precarious. 

And in a precarious job market, your positioning is key. Whether it's true or not, by appearances Jer isn't too big on the pastoring part of the ministry. And while he does obviously love preaching, he's still not very good at it. But there's another big area in which he likely has a competitive advantage that no other young reformed pastor has at this point ..... 

At a time when the churches desperately want to get good marketing exposure to a broader audience so they can survive and grow, Jer offers them not just a built-in TeeVee and social-media audience but an audience to which he's striving to demonstrate his mainstream appeal. He may literally be the only young reformed pastor in the country who can offer that carrot to future employers at the moment.

"At least a million people follow me and my wife on tv and social media, and I keep all my antediluvian beliefs completely under wraps with that audience so my appeal to them is very broad (even among people who might be very turned off if they were aware of the things I really think and preach!)Hire me!" I think that could be a winning argument for him. Note their family suck-up visit to John MacArthur this week. Jer would love to step into his shoes.....

(Standing in the way of a lot of the possible jobs are the sons and sons-in-law and probably nephews and grandsons and grandsons-in-law of some of these older guys, of course....But they, too, lack the media following and high profile Jer's got, for the most part. So one of them could well lose out to him, I'd bet .... or at least he could slip into a second-in-command-type role at one of the big churches or organizations. That'd still be lucrative and prestigious, though, for as long as the overall appeal of the churches doesn't wane too much, anyway. )

Edited March 12, 2019 by Churchhoney

[RebeccatheWriter]

Ms. Renee is the most annoying woman ever. I would have to slap her if I was trying to buy a dress. Girlfriend is not haute couture. She's a seamstress from Kentucky who must have tried out and been cut from the cheerleading squad too many times. 

[OpieTaylor]

This talk of Jerm's vision and strategy brings to mind Jim Boob, who managed to parlay his beliefs and lifestyle into a lucrative income (for him and Meech anyway). And there was a time when Boob imagined he was going to have a career in politics, which didn't pan out but he still hit income gold. Now Jeremy is aspiring to be a bigwig in religion. Jerm and Jing may be the next Boob and Mechelle (gag).

[Zella]

I think that's a very astute observation, Churchhoney.

But I think what does Jeremy in with this plan is the fact he keeps his more fundie beliefs under wraps. It draws in social media followers, but I think a lot of more prominent leaders in the movement would see that as a problem. 

I used to work for a place that dealt with some of the prominent ministries. Those people were absolute assholes, but they were very proud of themselves for what they perceived as their willingness to stand up to the contemporary culture and be outspoken about their unpopular beliefs. Jeremy fails on both counts. He may want to court the reformed movement/prominent fundie pastors, but his calculations that make him appealing to more mainstream people will likely be perceived as cowardice and/or an insufficient "heart" for the mission.

Edited to add: they would be intrigued by his social media following but also very disappointing in how he has chosen to use it.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Zella

[JoanArc]

32 minutes ago, Churchhoney said:

But there's another big area in which he likely has a competitive advantage that no other young reformed pastor has at this point ..... 

I disagree. There's always another Jeremy type looking to make a name for themselves. He'll find that out soon enough. Ego monsters always overreach.

[Churchhoney]

21 minutes ago, JoanArc said:

I disagree. There's always another Jeremy type looking to make a name for themselves. He'll find that out soon enough. Ego monsters always overreach.

Oh, I completely agree that there will be tons of ego monsters in the race! And all doing everything they can. 

What I doubt is that any of the others will be able to boast a potentially ripe-for-picking tv and social-media audience of a million people, many of whom may find Jer dreamy or the like. (argh) I mean, currently, how many 20-or-30-something Calvinist pastors can possibly have that many tv and social-media followers? I don't see what venue any of them would have got it in. Because the big tv churches are all run right now by older guys, right? 

That's what I see him trying to use as his ace. Partly because it's the only ace he's got, and partly because of the real anxiety on the part of the people now in charge about whether they're going to see any more growth or a dropoff. And they badly want growth .... So somebody who could be a sort of a rainmaker for potential new recruits -- I'm sure that's very interesting to them....

I just think it's something somebody is going to be tempted to bite on. Because it's a potential source of butts in seats and bucks in the collection plate. .... I don't see who else of his age would bring that high number of potential new prospects.

Of course, if Jer does get a top job out of it, I think the next thing that might happen is that his really bad preaching and his lack of attention to any pastoring at all end up sending that particular church's numbers into a steeper decline....lol        Because somebody might think he's hot as a Duggar hubby but react to his sermons the same way everybody around here who's listened to one seems to have done....  ;  ) ... Of course, maybe they'd be smart enough to just use him as the smiling face of the enterprise and let somebody else preach! Then he may have a shot. Of course then there'd also be a battle-for-top-dog in that church, too.     Like Game of Thrones, reformed-church edition. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by Churchhoney

[Tikichick]

4 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

As for the rest - Say it in big, red, glowing letters:  The. Waste!   The incredible, hypocritical, don't you buy used and save the difference WASTE.  A pop up dress shop with mannequins is bad enough but making a platform and a giant mirror too.  I don't care if Miss Renee or TLC production paid for it, it still comes across as indulgent and wasteful especially when you compare it to the thrift store make your own detergent ways they try to advocate.  And the flour bombing; gas for the plane and of  course the flour itself, what an over the top wasteful activity.   If they keep trying to one-up themselves by the time Justin or Jackson get's married it'll be "We're flying to Mt Everest where we'll jump out and para-glide from the summit, we'll then land directly on a pack of camels with saddles which we'll race across the Gobi desert, the first three across the finish line get to go to dinner at Applebees Honolulu"    (yes I know none of those things are near each other but the Duggar's don't know geography anyway so....)

Jessa really let her bitch flag fly in this one.  Even when she was unpacking the mannequins and said something like "it's really skinny".   I know it could just be a comment not a dig at Abbie but it comes across as a dig and there's just an undercurrent of everyone else is beneath me in nearly everything she does and says.  She has to go with the I and Me statements; when I was breastfeeding, at My wedding.  She has to pull attention to stay relevant and part of the show and, to me at least, she increasingly comes across as queen bitch / ace narcissist of the family. 

When watching the construction of the "pop up shop" my assumption was production paid for it as a cost saving measure, for present and potential future use.  It's a savings not to have to deploy the film crew up to Ms. Renee's KY shop yet again -- that's been done several times now.  If they manage to use it in the future they'll (production company) really get their money's worth.  

Definitely seems really important for these families to hit that aviation theme hard.  It doesn't make a lot of logical sense to me, unless they think it seems very exciting and exotic for the TV audience.  As far as a bachelor party activity for JD, unless he truly loved the chance to get up there flying on production's dime, I thought the bachelor activity was sorry.  Even if he just loves flying that much, that flight didn't seem like it would hold any appeal for a pilot with his experience at this point. 

Jessa seems determined to keep marking her territory as the lynchpin castmember of the show at this point.   I do actually wonder if we aren't headed for the long awaited Jana announcement as this season's cliffhanger though.  

I felt a bit sad for Abbie when she was speaking about how much she would miss her family when moving to AR after the wedding.  Of course it's not even a question that JB is going to relinquish (financial) control over any of his minions that would ever make it a possibility for JD and Abbie to choose to live elsewhere.  It really sickens me how even marriage doesn't allow any of them to truly follow the headship concept -- except JB's.  Grossly exploitative for him to control absolutely everything as he does.  Jinger is very fortunate in that regard, with Joy being the only other married with any potential of not living perpetually under JB's control.

ETA:  Not that I'm in agreement with the idea of a headship in control.  But JB's perpetual headship over everyone is so extremely chafing to me.  

Edited March 12, 2019 by Tikichick