S07:E21 The Assanti Brothers

[ProTourist]

By the way, I read on another message board where Justin posts that the Assanti brothers have their mother's last name, because their parents were not married and their mother had custody of them. So it seems that Steven Senior's last name is a well-kept secret.

[Morgalisa]

10 hours ago, trashtvaddict said:

I apologise if I missed this in the live chat.. but towards the beginning when Senior first visits Junior... there are a few (what look like) pee pads in front of the fireplace. Senior asks Junior what they are, and he keeps saying, "Decorations". WTH?? Cupcake wouldn't be using them I wouldn't think.. and I didn't see a puppy...?unless the timing was wonky and Justin's Corgi was there..?

By the way Steven smirked when he answered I assumed the pee pads were used by Steven. I can't recall but Steven had some very disgusting acts around hygiene, i.e., deliberately soiling himself so the nurses would have to clean him. I have a vague memory of Steven urinating in unusual places. That family is so hard to watch so I play games while they are on.

[ProTourist]

Another post from Justin on that same board said that his father is retired now, so I guess he gave up his window-washing business, but that he's driving Uber to stay busy. And he stops by the hobby shop when he's done driving for the day, and works on building models.

[Azubah]

2 hours ago, ProTourist said:

So it seems that Steven Senior's last name is a well-kept secret.

It's Veillette. It's not that well-kept a secret.

[ProTourist]

Aha, 'tis true! I've found this old news item from 2015. Thanks!

Edited May 24, 2019 by ProTourist

[zengirl1215]

2 hours ago, Morgalisa said:

By the way Steven smirked when he answered I assumed the pee pads were used by Steven. I can't recall but Steven had some very disgusting acts around hygiene, i.e., deliberately soiling himself so the nurses would have to clean him. I have a vague memory of Steven urinating in unusual places. That family is so hard to watch so I play games while they are on.

He's SO vile and totally skeeves me out! I did not need another 2-hour episode of the Assanti crew. I hope the cameramen that have to follow Steven around get paid extra because that has got to be a nightmare of a job. Or the job itself might actually induce nightmares! The dad is an imbecile and Justin is just a mess, who would greatly benefit from therapy. 

[Toaster Strudel]

The Assantis should be riveting TV but somehow they fall flat for me.

Steven is too crazy to be relatable. Senior, is too irritating. Justin makes me roll my eyes when he shuts down. Was Toni his girlfriend or something? That whole consoling scene was odd - maybe it's because he was smiling, and it doesn't happen often.

I'm not learning anything about human nature watching these escaped mental patients.

[alegtostandon]

All 3 give me the  heebee jeebies.   They remind me of someone you'd see on Criminal Minds. Watching this episode today,  I just had the feeling that they hate women.   I am just shocked that some woman found anything attractive in the hooved Jr., especially his hair! Dr Now has brought up his poor hygiene more than once.  What's really scary is this woman has a child! 

The Hobby shop looked like it was attached to a house.  Wonder if dad built on so Justin did not have to travel so far. 

Justin is llike an 8 year old.   What 30 year old man punches his dad because he doesn't like what he's saying to him. He looked giddy like a child would look playing with that remote controlled truck. 

I hope this is the last we see of this disgusting,  dysfunctional family. 

Edited May 24, 2019 by alegtostandon

[Tabbygirl521]

I could not do it. I could not watch this. I saw Part 1 when it first aired and that was all I could take. I do remember thinking the dad had some major problems, and also his trying even then to force Justin to accept Steven. UGH. 

[Toaster Strudel]

6 hours ago, alegtostandon said:

What 30 year old man punches his dad

In Justin's defense, how can one not punch Steven Senior?

[Concerned]

14 hours ago, Snarkastikate said:

Biggest surprise for me was how Dr Now capitulated to Justin's demand that he wanted the surgery not after two months and losing 75 (?) lbs but instead in only one month and losing 40 lbs.  Dr Now had been justifiably tough on all the patients this season, he even told one of them who got too uppity that HE decided what was going to happen and when, not HER.  So it was weird that Dr now kissed this big baby's ass.

Dr Now was unprofessional throughout this episode. Made me wonder if he should surrender his medical license because he’s become senile. He failed to establish a doctor patient relationship with Justin, dealing mostly with the father. He performed surgery on Justin in A dangerous manner without Justin losing much weight because TV producers needed the drama. And he gave bizarre advice to the father about the father being the boss of the family and needing to command his 30 year old offspring. The patriarchy that underlies Dr Now’s advice might be appropriate in his native country, but not in America.

[Concerned]

6 hours ago, alegtostandon said:

All 3 give me the  heebee jeebies.   They remind me of someone you'd see on Criminal Minds. Watching this episode today,  I just had the feeling that they hate women.   I am just shocked that some woman found anything attractive in the hooved Jr., especially his hair! Dr Now has brought up his poor hygiene more than once.  What's really scary is this woman has a child! 

The Hobby shop looked like it was attached to a house.  Wonder if dad built on so Justin did not have to travel so far. 

Justin is llike an 8 year old.   What 30 year old man punches his dad because he doesn't like what he's saying to him. He looked giddy like a child would look playing with that remote controlled truck. 

I hope this is the last we see of this disgusting,  dysfunctional family. 

Referring to earlier comments that Steven may have sexually assaulted Justin, some victims become emotionally stunted at the age they were molested. If Justin acts like a perpetual 8 year old, that may be the age Steven raped him. Steven would have been a young teen.

[cynicat]

13 hours ago, ProTourist said:

When Justin explained that he couldn't remain that long, he asked if he could do forty pounds in one month (ten pounds more for the time period). I think Dr. Now agreed because Justin would have gone back home otherwise and he wanted Justin to have one more chance to have the surgery. And this does fit with pre-surgery WL goals he gave to patients in the early seasons, when people would just have to lose 25 pounds, or even less, in one month, so not unheard of.

At the end of the day, I think Dr. Now really cares about people in general regardless of whether they are pieces of shit, and knows that no one else will help them.  He clearly has a soft spot when it comes to the morbidly obese, and I'm sure that has a backstory in an of itself.  I imagine if Justin had NOT lost that 40 lbs he would have sent him on his way.

[WonTon]

These efffin guys again?!?! I tried twice to get through the first episode and couldn't. These people are repulsive. The fact that TLC is doing another episode on these dregs, makes me think they're about to give these pukes their own reality show.

[crazycatlady58]

5 minutes ago, WonTon said:

These efffin guys again?!?! I tried twice to get through the first episode and couldn't. These people are repulsive. The fact that TLC is doing another episode on these dregs, makes me think they're about to give these pukes their own reality show.

If that becomes true there is no hope for humanity .

[Elizzikra]

Quote

The father is thin and wiry

Dad has a belly, actually. You can see his paunch when he stands in profile to the camera. Next to his sons, however, he looks petite.

[alegtostandon]

3 hours ago, Toaster Strudel said:

In Justin's defense, how can one not punch Steven Senior?

I wasn't saying Senior was not punch worthy,  lol!  Most people at this age have learned how to control that instinct.   It must happen quite often because Senior did not even flinch.  

3 hours ago, Concerned said:

Referring to earlier comments that Steven may have sexually assaulted Justin, some victims become emotionally stunted at the age they were molested. If Justin acts like a perpetual 8 year old, that may be the age Steven raped him. Steven would have been a young teen.

You are right and if this is the case,  Justin needs serious help.  He has no control over his emotions,  the punching, crying, etc. He needs much more help than Dr Paradise or Lola are capable of giving.   Actually,  all 3 need serious help. 

[CousinOliver]

The elder Stephen can drop off the face of the earth.  It seems to me that he does not like his “wimpy” kid (Justin does seem emotional, obviously the worst thing a man can be /s), so he favors the likely source of Justin’s behavior: abuser and drug addict Stephen/John. 

Gifts of dogs and hobby shops can’t fix what he’s allowed in his home.  

Edited May 24, 2019 by CousinOliver

[KateHearts]

7 hours ago, Concerned said:

The patriarchy that underlies Dr Now’s advice might be appropriate in his native country, but not in America.

I don't consider it patriarchy, exactly; I think that Dr. Now had to take this a little further and stress to Steven Sr. that Justin is an adult, that if he wants help from Dr. Now that he can do it without father's interference, and that Dad needs to stop enabling his behavior because it is impacting his recovery and health.

In situations like this, a doctor has to get involved in the psychology of the patient. It's not just about doing a surgery to lose weight; it's so much more and family dynamics play a huge role in whether or not the patient does well or not. And if a physician is going to invest his time (and these are very needy patients), staff and resources to a patient, it's in everyone's best interest to address the dysfunction and psychological issues that are causing the problem in the first place.

I think Dr. Now knew there was no way at all he would get Justin to see a psychologist- Justin is too immature, manipulative and myopic to see that there are underlying issues that he needs to deal with.  "You beat me up!!" is as far as he can get, and his thinking is barely beyond the level of that of someone of single-digit age. So I'm thinking that Dr. Now was doing the surgery in the hopes that at least Justin might feel somewhat better physically so he could then address the plethora of social, family and psychological issues that plague him.  It was an optimistic move on Now's part.

[ProTourist]

3 hours ago, alegtostandon said:

 Justin needs serious help.  He has no control over his emotions,  the punching, crying, etc. He needs much more help than Dr Paradise or Lola are capable of giving.

According to Justin's posts on another message board, he was seeing Dr. Paradise while he was in Houston, and Dr. Now made a reference to his psychotherapy at one point. They did film during one of Justin's sessions, but none of it was used in the episode. In fact, he said a lot of his footage was not used, including filming done after his return to Rhode Island. But I agree that Justin needs more intensive psychotherapy.

[ProTourist]

51 minutes ago, CousinOliver said:

Gifts of dogs and hobby shops can’t fix what he’s allowed in his home.  

On that other message board, Justin said he purchased the dog himself, that the voice over by his father stating that he had purchased the dog for Justin was false. He also stated that he has financed the hobby shop all on his own, although he did have to borrow some money from his father at one point when his bank account was robbed, and he paid his father back a few days later once the bank had restored his account. He also said he had run an online version of the hobby shop for six years prior to opening the brick-and-mortar store, and that he is part-owner of the house he lives in with his father.

[KateHearts]

5 minutes ago, ProTourist said:

he did have to borrow some money from his father at one point when his bank account was robbed, and he paid his father back a few days later once the bank had restored his account.

Normally I would ask how someone could "rob" another person's personal bank account. But we're talking Assantis here, and I am sure that if either S Sr or S Jr were able to, they'd get the password and take from another person's account. Even their own family member's.

[lu1535]

7 minutes ago, ProTourist said:

On that other message board, Justin said he purchased the dog himself, that the voice over by his father stating that he had purchased the dog for Justin was false. He also stated that he has financed the hobby shop all on his own, although he did have to borrow some money from his father at one point when his bank account was robbed, and he paid his father back a few days later once the bank had restored his account. He also said he had run an online version of the hobby shop for six years prior to opening the brick-and-mortar store, and that he is part-owner of the house he lives in with his father.

Well, isn't his life peachy. 🙄 Defensive much?

It is just so hard to look at these guys............................🤢

[ProTourist]

1 minute ago, KateHearts said:

Normally I would ask how someone could "rob" another person's personal bank account. But we're talking Assantis here, and I am sure that if either S Sr or S Jr were able to, they'd get the password and take from another person's account. Even their own family member's.

Actually, he said it was one of the camera operators on the show who was the perpetrator. He didn't give details on how it happened, but It's possible that the production company has their bank account numbers if they use direct deposit for their payments. [I've known people who have had funds stolen from their bank account, before the days of online banking when there were no 'passwords', where the perps just had their account numbers.]

[ProTourist]

4 minutes ago, lu1535 said:

Well, isn't his life peachy. 🙄 Defensive much?

It is just so hard to look at these guys............................🤢

Defensive? Or defending himself by telling the truth?

If a lot of misinformation is spread about a person, it's natural to want to let the truth about yourself be known.

[Mothra]

On 5/23/2019 at 2:10 PM, calpurnia99 said:

I thought it was really funny when Dr. Now told the dad what to say to Justin, and he said absolutely nothing to him that Dr. Now told him to say! Dr Now said go out there and say: You are coming in for your appointment, period, no ifs ands or buts. If you don't I'm throwing you out on the street. Instead he says "Justin, would you like to come in? Could you do it pretty please? The doctor said he only needs to see you for a minute" LMAO. This man has always given in to these boys, it's insane. Dr. Now, as usual, saw right through that whole dynamic. But one speech was not going to undo a lifetime of dysfunction and communication dynamic between father and sons. 

Father Steven didn't get at all what Dr. Now told him.  Neither of the sons can function without the support, financial and otherwise, from their father.  Dr. Now told the father to tell Justin that if he didn't shape up and do what he was supposed to do, that support would end, and then do it--cut him off.  Those boys have never had to live with any consequences of their outrageously awful behavior, from Steven calling various authorities to "report" his father's "mistreatment" to Justin being a dick about coming in to Dr. Now's office for his appointment.

I can kind of understand Justin's refusal to cooperate with his father's nasty plan to throw him and Steven together yet again, after Justin has made it clear time after time that he does not want anything at all to do with Steven.  His refusal to move was just about his only weapon in that struggle.  But Dr. Now was right; Justin could have sat in the waiting room until Steven was back out in the car and then had his own appointment, and that's the choice his father should have offered him:  sit in the waiting room, or I stop supporting you and your hobby shop.

On 5/23/2019 at 10:04 AM, iwasish said:

Unless they took blood before Dr Now spoke to them, it appeared that Steven and his father left the clinic without having it taken. Dr Now leaves the room, the two of them wait a couple minutes and then  one motions to the other and they leave the room and  nonchalantly stroll out.  

I knew Steven was not going to allow Dr. Now to test him for drugs.  Dr. Now should have called Kassandra in before he (Dr. Now) left the room.

[Mothra]

6 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

Dad has a belly, actually. You can see his paunch when he stands in profile to the camera. Next to his sons, however, he looks petite.

You're right.  I didn't watch much of the actual episode, and I remembered him (perhaps incorrectly) from previous eps as being a skinny guy.  But he sure isn't now.

Hell, next to his sons the fat lady in the circus looks petite!

[CrazyInAlabama]

So since Justin is part owner of Dad's home, then he'll never be out from under dad's influence, unless he wants to give the house up.   

That all means to me, that dear old Dad will always have a way to push Steven on his brother.   My guess is when Dad kicks off, Steven will be the co-owner of the house too.   It will dear old Dad's last try to get his son's together, and it won't work.  

Edited May 26, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[ProTourist]

15 minutes ago, Mothra said:

Father Steven didn't get at all what Dr. Now told him.  Neither of the sons can function without the support, financial and otherwise, from their father.  Dr. Now told the father to tell Justin that if he didn't shape up and do what he was supposed to do, that support would end, and then do it--cut him off.  Those boys have never had to live with any consequences of their outrageously awful behavior, from Steven calling various authorities to "report" his father's "mistreatment" to Justin being a dick about coming in to Dr. Now's office for his appointment.

I can kind of understand Justin's refusal to cooperate with his father's nasty plan to throw him and Steven together yet again, after Justin has made it clear time after time that he does not want anything at all to do with Steven.  His refusal to move was just about his only weapon in that struggle.  But Dr. Now was right; Justin could have sat in the waiting room until Steven was back out in the car and then had his own appointment, and that's the choice his father should have offered him:  sit in the waiting room, or I stop supporting you and your hobby shop.

I knew Steven was not going to allow Dr. Now to test him for drugs.  Dr. Now should have called Kassandra in before he (Dr. Now) left the room.

Senior understood all right. But he didn't want Justin to keep his appointment with Dr. Now -- that's why he spoke to Justin in such an ineffective way, and it's one of the reasons that Senior brought along Junior -- to sabotage Justin's post-surgical appointment. Yes, Senior is that bad. But Justin should have gone in to the waiting room, and then waited to have a private consultation with Dr. Now after he was done with Junior. This wasn't just a routine checkup after all, and Justin was lucky that nothing was wrong after the surgery.

But no, Senior is not supporting Justin or his hobby shop financially, although he does help Justin in other ways due to Justin's disability and because Justin cannot drive. Senior has not given any kind of assistance to Junior for at least the past year, as far as we know -- since Junior moved to Iowa and married Stephanie Sanger.

[ProTourist]

14 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

[1] So since Justin is part owner of Dad's home, then he'll never be out from under dad's influence, unless he wants to give the house up. [2] That all means to me, that dear old Dad will always have a way to push Steven on his brother. [3] My guess is when Dad kicks off, Justin will be the co-owner of the house too.

1) It depends on Justin's income. If he has enough to afford an apartment, he could move out once he's mobile enough to take care of himself. And he would still be part-owner of the house, even if he doesn't live in it.

2) It's possible Senior will find some way, but I think those days are over. Senior has less and less leverage over Justin as time passes, and especially now that Junior is living completely independently of him in Iowa.

3) When the time comes, if both sons survive him, and if Senior does leave his portion of the house to Junior, they will probably sell it at that point and divide the proceeds between them. That's what the survivors usually do, what's been done in my family a few times when a house it to be split among two or more beneficiaries.

[Concerned]

1 hour ago, ProTourist said:

3) When the time comes, if both sons survive him, and if Senior does leave his portion of the house to Junior, they will probably sell it at that point and divide the proceeds between them. That's what the survivors usually do, what's been done in my family a few times when a house it to be split among two or more beneficiaries.

Best way to kill a junkie is to give him a pile of money.

[Mothra]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

So since Justin is part owner of Dad's home, then he'll never be out from under dad's influence, unless he wants to give the house up.     That all means to me, that dear old Dad will always have a way to push Steven on his brother.   My guess is when Dad kicks off, Justin will be the co-owner of the house too.    

This is interesting.  Only Justin is part owner?  Or both boys?  How did that come about?  Was their mother on the deed, and she signed it over to them?  And it's totally paid for?

If this is the case, the father does have a problem about enforcing rules on those guys.  Justin could demand that his father buy him out, or that they sell the house and split the proceeds.

I have assumed all along that Father Steven paid to set up Justin in his hobby store, and that Father Steven supported Jr. in everything.  After all, we see Jr. demanding that Sr. pay for his food, at least for his pizza.

How do we know about the joint ownership and the idea that these two sons are not totally dependent on their father?  I'm assuming that the sons must receive some kind of support from Social Security or some other agency, but other than that, where is their money coming from if not their father?

[CrazyInAlabama]

I bet the house was only the father's.   To put someone else on the deed, all you do is file paperwork at the courthouse.    

I would also bet that Dad's will leaves his part of the house to Steven Jr., as a last ditch effort to have his boys become friends.    That's a rotten thing to do, and I'm guessing it's exactly what the father will do.  

Edited May 26, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[ProTourist]

I've found a local government record that shows that Steven M. Veillette and Justin Assanti are co-owners of their house in Cranston, but it might be against the board rules to post it. If a moderator is checking in, can you give a go/no go?

Edited May 25, 2019 by ProTourist
correct typo

[ProTourist]

1 hour ago, Mothra said:

[1] This is interesting.  Only Justin is part owner?  Or both boys?  How did that come about?  Was their mother on the deed, and she signed it over to them?  And it's totally paid for?

[2] If this is the case, the father does have a problem about enforcing rules on those guys.  Justin could demand that his father buy him out, or that they sell the house and split the proceeds.

[3] I have assumed all along that Father Steven paid to set up Justin in his hobby store, and that Father Steven supported Jr. in everything.  After all, we see Jr. demanding that Sr. pay for his food, at least for his pizza.

[4] How do we know about the joint ownership and the idea that these two sons are not totally dependent on their father?  I'm assuming that the sons must receive some kind of support from Social Security or some other agency, but other than that, where is their money coming from if not their father?

1) According to the local government record I found and mentioned in my previous post, the only co-owner of the house is Justin. No idea how that came about, or if there is a mortgage. If anyone else knows, please chime in.

2) I don't know what 'demands' Justin might be able to make of his father regarding ownership of the house, but I'm sure he wouldn't do anything that's not in his own best interest.

3) No, Senior did not set up Justin financially in the hobby store, although he did provide other assistance such as driving Justin around and physically setting up the shop. Senior was providing at least some financial (and other) support to Junior for quite a while, as we have seen on the show, but at least not for the past year, since Junior moved to Iowa and got married.

4) I don't know if the boys receive any kind of public assistance, perhaps due to disability, such as Medicare/Medicaid, SSI or SSD, sorry. Since Justin has a business I would guess that he does not, although he may have in the past. I believe Junior has received in the past, according to videos he has posted online, and might currently receive unless he might be supported by his wife these days.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

11 minutes ago, ProTourist said:

I've found a local government record that shows that Steven M. Veillette and Justin Assanti and co-owners of their house in Cranston, but it might be against the board rules to post it. If a moderator is checking in, can you give a go/no go?

We do not allow the posting of anyone's actual address.  It can get a little stalkery.

[ProTourist]

9 minutes ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

We do not allow the posting of anyone's actual address.  It can get a little stalkery.

Yes, the record does indeed include the street address, so I will not post the link. Thank you.

[Concerned]

Steven Jr is likely left off the deed so he can qualify for Medicaid.

[AVM]

14 hours ago, ProTourist said:

1) It depends on Justin's income. If he has enough to afford an apartment, he could move out once he's mobile enough to take care of himself. And he would still be part-owner of the house, even if he doesn't live in it.

2) It's possible Senior will find some way, but I think those days are over. Senior has less and less leverage over Justin as time passes, and especially now that Junior is living completely independently of him in Iowa.

3) When the time comes, if both sons survive him, and if Senior does leave his portion of the house to Junior, they will probably sell it at that point and divide the proceeds between them. That's what the survivors usually do, what's been done in my family a few times when a house it to be split among two or more beneficiaries.

I doubt Steven and or Justin will out live their father,both are totally disturbed and neither of them have any resemblance of common sense or any basic survival skills..

[Colleenna]

16 hours ago, Concerned said:

Best way to kill a junkie is to give him a pile of money.

Reminds me of an old line from Richard Pryor, after he accidentally set himself on fire freebasing cocaine: "Cocaine is God's way of saying 'You have too much money.'" 

[CatherineM]

The average life expectancy of someone with fetal alcohol is 34. 

[Mothra]

17 hours ago, ProTourist said:

1) According to the local government record I found and mentioned in my previous post, the only co-owner of the house is Justin. No idea how that came about, or if there is a mortgage. If anyone else knows, please chime in.

2) I don't know what 'demands' Justin might be able to make of his father regarding ownership of the house, but I'm sure he wouldn't do anything that's not in his own best interest.

3) No, Senior did not set up Justin financially in the hobby store, although he did provide other assistance such as driving Justin around and physically setting up the shop. Senior was providing at least some financial (and other) support to Junior for quite a while, as we have seen on the show, but at least not for the past year, since Junior moved to Iowa and got married.

4) I don't know if the boys receive any kind of public assistance, perhaps due to disability, such as Medicare/Medicaid, SSI or SSD, sorry. Since Justin has a business I would guess that he does not, although he may have in the past. I believe Junior has received in the past, according to videos he has posted online, and might currently receive unless he might be supported by his wife these days.

Wow.  Thank you.  This puts a whole other spin on what we've been shown.  No wonder Justin is peeved about how he's being portrayed.  Thank you for this information--wonder if Dr. Now is aware that Justin isn't as dependent on Sr. as he apparently believes he is?  As you say, other than transportation services, it seems like Justin, at least, is pretty much on his own financially.   I don't really know what kind of leverage Sr. has on Justin to make him behave.

The only other thought I've had about Justin is that he seems reluctant to accuse his brother of more than constant beatings.  I used to beat up my little brother, probably not daily, but enough that I feel bad about it now.  I don't think this is unusual in siblings.  But Justin's unwillingness to be more specific might indeed indicate that there was sexual abuse involved, which he understandably might not want to talk about.  Depending on how serious the abuse was, and whether it involved sex or not and whether the father was involved/condoned/turned a blind eye to it, that might explain why Justin is on the deed for the house.  Kind of hush money.

[ProTourist]

1 hour ago, Mothra said:

The only other thought I've had about Justin is that he seems reluctant to accuse his brother of more than constant beatings.  I used to beat up my little brother, probably not daily, but enough that I feel bad about it now.  I don't think this is unusual in siblings.  But Justin's unwillingness to be more specific might indeed indicate that there was sexual abuse involved, which he understandably might not want to talk about.

Well, constant beatings would be bad enough. But if worse happened, and he is able to remember it -- meaning that he has not repressed those memories -- I for one would agree with his choice not to reveal it in the television program. The world doesn't need to know about that.

For what it's worth, on that other message board Justin mentioned that he has PTSD from his years of abuse from Steven, and that a producer on the show was fired when he/she refused to trigger Justin's PTSD during his filmed session with Dr. Paradise. Which may be why the footage was not used.

I do hope that Justin gets additional/better psychological counseling back home.

I've been wondering too why we haven't seen Dr. Paradise this season, except for this one episode that was filmed back in 2017.

[ProTourist]

The supersized version of this episode is scheduled for broadcast next Thursday evening, at 8PM. If anyone has the courage to watch it, please consider sharing info on the bonus scenes here, for those of us who do not have television or otherwise cannot tune in. Thanks in advance. 😊

[CrazyInAlabama]

I believe Justin also said that when Steven and Justin went to live with Mommy Dearest for a while, (they were pretty young too) she would leave a bunch of food out, and Steven would eat it all, leaving Justin to starve.   If he wasn't starting to have food issues before that, than I'm sure Justin did after.   

I'm not sure I can stand to watch the Supersize version next week, to find out the less than scintillating facts they post.    I still remember the one where the poundticipant was talking about packing to move, and the pop up said when the cardboard box was invented.    

I hope we've seen the last of the entire family, and Justin can get a better, healthier life.   

[ams1001]

8 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

and the pop up said when the cardboard box was invented.    

That's the kind of random trivia they would put on Pop-Up Video. It was funny there. (I miss Pop-Up Video.)

[AZChristian]

I remember Justin saying that Steven would hit him and "grab him" every single day.

I can only think of one thing that would cause a specific accusation of "grabbing" . . . seems to me that everything else would qualify as hitting.

(Trust me, I know the difference from personal childhood experience. My abuser never hit me . . . but he sure didn't avoid grabbing me anytime I was within reach.)

Edited May 25, 2019 by AZChristian

[CatherineM]

As to his owning half the house, it could be Justin has an income outside his store. He might have gotten an inheritance. He might be on disability. He might have gotten a judgment from a car wreck even. Dad might have needed his income to qualify for a mortgage. It would explain why he doesn’t just walk from Dad. 

[sagittarius sue]

On 5/23/2019 at 10:09 AM, Pepper Mostly said:

The window cleaning business made me snort. Anyone a fan of John Mortimer's "Rumpole of the Bailey" series?

Me...me!  Ah yes, the infamous Timson clan!

[Mothra]

59 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I'm not sure I can stand to watch the Supersize version next week, to find out the less than scintillating facts they post.    I still remember the one where the poundticipant was talking about packing to move, and the pop up said when the cardboard box was invented. 

I'm with you.  I don't think I'll be able to watch this again, especially knowing that the "supersized" version of these shows is often filled with extraneous information (or "information") that doesn't add a thing to our understanding of what's going on.