Last night was the first Teen Mom 2 reunion episode of the season and featured Jenelle Evans and Leah Messer, the moms who need the most help. Too bad the doctor in the house – Dr. Drew Pinsky – didn’t offer them any guidance. Rather, he avoided any deep discussion with them and tried to convince everyone that David Eason has been a stabilizing force. Hang up the white coat, Dr. Drew, you’re done.
The reunion starts with all the girls on the couch watching highlights from the season. Dr. Drew asks what jumped out for them watching the recap. For Leah, it was hard to see Ali getting worse throughout the season. Kailyn Lowry says there hasn’t been an easy moment for her the entire season. Jenelle gives the non-answer that they can all learn from each other, which prompts Dr. Drew to bring up social media drama between Kail and Jenelle, who are now pretending to be in a better place (they’re also on opposite ends of the couch). Chelsea Houska, who also had her own issues with Jenelle, tries to avoid more Jenelle rage and simply says all the girls follow each other on Instagram and Twitter. Leah attempts to cut the tension by sharing how nice it is to have the other girls to talk to. Chelsea adds that if she needed something, she could talk to these girls. I just imagine the producers giving them a pep talk before going onstage: “Ok, girls, let’s all pretend we’re best friends and the greatest support for teen moms in their twenties is other teen moms in their twenties.”
First up for a one-on-one with the worthless doctor is Jenelle. He points out that she dealt with some major issues this season, primarily an assault charge and two custody battles, all of which are still ongoing. When asked about her relationship with Barbara Evans, Jenelle says a lot of anger came from Barbara and David not getting along. But they’re doing better now after going to dinner and having a talk and clearing the air over David calling the cops on Babs. Jenelle explains that she was in the bathroom doing her makeup when Babs showed up. But Babs accused David of holding Jenelle hostage and became defensive. David made it clear to her that if she didn’t stop yelling in front of his kids – “or the kids and his daughter,” Jenelle quickly corrects herself – he was going to call the cops to have Babs escorted off the property, but not arrested. Jenelle told him to do what he has to do. Apparently, Babs has since apologized for acting out, but it’s not clear whether David has apologized for calling the cops on her or if Jenelle has apologized for hiding out and letting her mother and boyfriend go at it.
Regarding the assault of Nathan Griffith’s girlfriend, Jessica, Jenelle claims her buttons were pressed for too long. Pretending he’s a therapist again for a second, Dr. Drew scolds Jenelle that it’s not okay to hit people. But he lets her off the hook when Jenelle explains that Jessica came after her. According to Jenelle, they had two or three prior altercations and Jessica was told not be on Jenelle’s property. Stirring the pot, Dr. Drew asks if she thinks Nathan had something to do with Jessica following through on the assault charges, because why else would anyone hold Jenelle accountable for her actions, right doc? Of course, Jenelle thinks Nathan had a hand in it to help with his custody case, which is pending mediation.
Speaking of Nathan, Dr. Drew asks about the meeting in the restaurant. Instead of asking why she seemed high or why she thought it was appropriate to drag David along, Dr. Drew notes that there appeared to be some tenderness between the two of them. Jenelle denies having any romantic feelings for Nathan, especially in comparison to David, who wants to settle down and is all about family. When Jenelle says David is hands on with the kids, Dr. Drew has the perfect opportunity to ask about “Creepy Uncle Dave” and the fact that he may be a little TOO hands on with Kaiser, after only being in his life for a brief time. Instead, Dr. Drew asks if David wants more kids. Jenelle doesn’t know how many David wants but Jenelle just wants one more. Dr. Drew points out that three is a lot, each one with a different dad. I mean, just tell her to stop.
Nathan comes out with his greasy slicked back faux hawk in a tiny ponytail and he and Jenelle sit as far from each other as possible. He claims he tried to make it work with Jenelle, but she was very toxic. The he alludes to her cutting her own wrists. Jenelle accuses him of trying to choke her, which he denies. “You never slapped me in the face when I poured water on your face when you were sleeping?” she snaps. I wonder what reason she had to pour water on his face while he was sleeping. Apparently Tori was there and bit Nathan’s back while Jenelle slit her wrist. Jenelle doesn’t really deny any of this; she just says that Nathan met someone new. If any of these accusations are true, Jenelle is somehow a bigger mess than I imagined.
Nathan takes offense to the insinuation that he cheated, so he calls Jenelle out on cheating on him with Kieffer Delp. Jenelle admits Kieffer was at her house at 4 a.m. when Nathan climbed into her bathroom window. Nathan also accuses Jenelle of talking to David around that same time, which Jenelle denies.
Onto a much more important issue, Dr. Drew asks about Kaiser. Nathan says Jenelle is keeping Kaiser away from him just like Babs keeps Jace away from Jenelle. He didn’t think sending pictures of highchairs and the other baby stuff Jenelle demanded he have would be effective, so he texted David and offered to buy everything in front of him. So he doesn’t have the stuff he needs after all and he doesn’t have a license either, even though he could have gotten it back in January. So why hasn’t he? It’s pretty clear now that if anyone is going to save Kaiser, it’s not going to be Nathan. At least he feigns concern about his kid being in an unstable environment with drug addicts. He saw weed in the background while watching the show. I missed it, but I guess Nathan knows where Jenelle keeps her stash. He also thinks she’s incapable of taking care of Kaiser with her mysterious illness. “Just like your lawyer wrote in the complaint that my sex is painful?” Jenelle snarks. “What does that have to do with Kaiser?” I’m not even sure what it means that her sex is painful. Nathan chides that she shouldn’t be discussing her sex life on national TV. Jenelle thinks Nathan is just upset because she doesn’t want to be with him anymore, but Nathan says he’s not interested because she’s gained 30 or 40 pounds. It’s a cheap shot, but they’re both horrible people so I don’t feel bad for her in the least.
After more bickering, Dr. Drew says he’s glad they’re not together anymore and asks Nathan if David has been a stabilizing force. Nathan doesn’t think so because David can’t see his own son and should not be involved with Kaiser. But Jenelle defends that David had told Nathan before they got on stage that he could see Kaiser after filming. How is this David’s decision? And if he’s just conveying Jenelle’s decision, why didn’t she say, “I will let you see Kaiser after filming”? She claims David is trying to be a mediator, but Nathan reads texts where David has called him a deadbeat and a female (because “female” is an insult to David). Dr. Drew kind of thinks it’s weird to put David in the middle of their relationship, but Jenelle just cannot deal with Nathan. “Let’s get my mom out here,” she says, but Nathan threatens to walk off set.
Barbara replaces Nathan on the couch with Jenelle and immediately goes in on Nathan. “He’s such a liah! And he’s an alcoholic. I’d go over to Jenelle’s and he’d have a bottle of vodka. He’d be doing shots morning, noon, and night, almost 24/7. He left, cheated on Jenelle, had a new girlfriend, was climbing in her windows, taking knives and slitting screens.” And about Kieffer being at Jenelle’s house at 4 a.m.: “He came to do a one night visit. Nathan was so angry, he was choking Kieffer so bad, he almost killed him.” They haven’t seen Kieffer since.
So how does she feel about David? Well, she doesn’t think you should call the cops on your girlfriend’s mother. But she does laugh about the whole situation. When the cops saw her, they were just like, “hi, Barbara,” because every cop in that town knows her and Jenelle. Babs and David have since turned things around.
Regarding her dating life, Babs says “they” tried to get her to use Tinder. She wanted to meet someone with a boat, but all these “sea captains” wanted to do was have stinky fishy sex on the boat. Changing the subject, Jace has been diagnosed with ADHD and ever since being put on medication, has been doing much better in school. He even made “Student Role Model of the Day.” Jenelle’s annoyed that she wasn’t involved with his doctors’ appointments and is afraid of him being on a controlled substance because – wait for it – his friends might ask him for some. And then there will be none left for her?
Before bringing out David, Dr. Drew asks again whether David has been a stabilizing force. No, he hasn’t! Stop pushing your agenda, “Dr.” Drew! David sits between Jenelle and Barbara and has a crazed look in his eyes, which is more or less just how David looks. He was watching backstage and some of what he saw made him mad, “some of it was comedy, some of it was sad.” #deep. He takes care of Kaiser every day, so he doesn’t understand why it’s weird for him to be involved in the Jenelle/Nathan/Kaiser situation. Dr. Drew points out that Nathan and Jenelle are Kaiser’s parents. “But they don’t get along,” David responds, still puzzled. So what does he think of Nathan calling him an addict and other unsavory things? He doesn’t like it, which is why he doesn’t like Nathan, but he wants him to have a relationship with Kaiser. He had his son taken away from him when he was incarcerated, so he understands it’s important for Kaiser to have a relationship with his dad.
Babs confirms again that she’s in a better place with David, but does not want him involved in discussions about Jace’s custody. That’s between Babs, Jenelle, and Jace. Jenelle says the only reason he asks why Jenelle doesn’t have custody is because he doesn’t know her (but he’s raising her kid) and doesn’t know the story. After eight months, isn’t it time to clue him in (assuming Jenelle’s telling the truth). Jenelle and Babs are still going to court over custody of Jace, which Jenelle is clearly upset about. Dr. Drew gave up on helping them a long time ago, so he just wraps it up by wishing them luck in settling it.
Next on the couch is Leah. She watches a recap of some of her scenes and looks shocked and upset when she sees Ali fall off the swing. She says it’s hard to look back and watch Ali do things that she can’t do anymore. Corey Simms’ family has finally come to terms with Ali’s illness and has lightened up on Leah since the custody matter was resolved.
Dr. Drew notes the awkwardness of her dinner with Jeremy Calvert. At that time, Leah still loved him, but now she’s over it. Unfortunately, they’re co-parenting situation isn’t going well. Leah has full custody of Addy and Jeremy hasn’t seen her much since moving to Ohio with his new girlfriend, Brooke. Leah says Jeremy wanted her to meet Brooke because they didn’t want to treat her the way Corey and Miranda Simms treated her. So even though she, Corey, and Miranda are getting along now, she still thinks they victimized her and doesn’t own any responsibility for her actions that led to how Corey and Miranda “treated” her. Leah’s disappointed that Jeremy isn’t spending more time with Addy because she knows what it’s like to grow up without a father, which is the reason she has abandonment issues. Dr. Drew says Jeremy has always been a workaholic, which has typically been his excuse for not seeing his family. But Leah says he got laid off when he asked to come out to the reunion. Dr. Drew detects BS – if he were laid off and not working, then what excuse did he have to not be there? Who knows, Leah shrugs.
Corey didn’t show up to the reunion either. Instead, he calls in via Skype sans beard, which looks better, but at the same time, it’s kind of weird to see him without it. Leah previously said Corey couldn’t come out because he was coaching the girls’ baseball game, but Corey says it’s because last season was stressful. Everyone is in a happy place now and he wants to keep it that way. He also feels like Dr. Drew has portrayed him in a bad light on numerous occasions and is done with his s–t. Dr. Drew apologizes to Corey and acknowledges that he has always stepped up as a father. Speaking of which, Remi is doing great.
Corey reports that Miranda and Leah are getting along well. Leah confirms and says when they’re all together for the girls, she feels so at peace and the girls seem to be happier as well. Dr. Drew asks where Miranda has been this season. Corey explains that last season wasn’t positive, so they chose to back off a bit this season. Smart. Dr. Drew asks Corey to turn the camera to Miranda, but she runs away before she gets caught.
Next week we’ll get to hear about Kail and Javi Marroquin’s divorce and Chelsea’s and Cole DeBoer’s wedding. Can’t wait!
Author: Hollie
TELL US – WHICH TEEN MOM 2 STAR NEEDS THE MOST ‘HELP’?
Photo Credit: MTV
