Seeing the Roloff family in its first two episodes of season 5 last night was a bittersweet experience. It's great having them back in the regular TLC lineup again (giving us a much needed break from Jon and Kate and the eight), but I was stunned that there was so much talk about divorce, whether jokingly or semi-seriously.
In the "Molly's Castle" episode, Matt decides to finally finish the castle after years of procrastination. Only problem is that it costs a handsome ransom to complete, and it causes Amy to question Matt's other plans involving the family's expenses along with their futures.
In the second of the two episodes, the boys and Molly prepare to attend the high school winter formal. Although a bit less contentious, Matt and Amy are shown bickering over little things. And the final scene in the restaurant, where the couple has a meal while the kids are at the dance (no mention of where Jacob is), is a bit uncomfortable to watch--as the couple discuss their future plans, which apparently are not in complete alignment.
These two episodes, coming on the heals of the announcement of the demise of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (or Kate Plus 8, as the replacement series was to be called before Jon and his attorneys put the kibosh on the entire deal), make me question TLC's motives. Could the TLC network really have been making an effort to garner some viewers, especially those who were Jon-and-Kate-come-latelys, who may not have been regular viewers of the show, but chose to tune in to see the family fall apart on national TV? Maybe TLC figured that by introducing those viewers to another family experiencing marital tension, those people would stick around to see if the Roloffs self-destruct as well.
If that's not the case, then the Roloff family may also be in trouble, or at least be on a bumpy ride.
My wager is on the theory that the network pieced together as much of the typical stress that comes naturally when couples are experiencing changes in their lives, and when each individual has different dreams and different plans, and a whole different way of looking at life than the other.
Amy mentioned more than once that the twins' being in their last year of high school has caused her to contemplate not only their futures but her own. I think some of that was the impetus to a lot of the bickering. Only time will tell.
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This weeks episode was billed as "Finale", not "Season Finale". Are they not coming back? I hope they aren't going the way of the Gosselins. However Matt and Amy are a more mature than the Gosselins. Hope they work it out. You would have to be blind not to see the tension between Matt and Amy. Personally I think Matt needs to be not so self-centered. Seems to me that he puts the family on the back burner a lot. Yeah, he's a business man, but he needs to step back and take a good look at where he's headed in the way of his family.
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