Teen Mom 2: Moves, Lawyers, Fights, Jobs

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Is it just me or is it hard to believe that this season of Teen Mom 2 is almost over already. Similarly, is it just me or does everyone agree that little-to-nothing even happened this season? I mean, let's look at it - Isaac turned one, Kailyn got her own place, and she files for child support. That's really about it. Jenelle and Kieffer fought, broke up, got back together. She got kicked out of her mom's house, moved back in, moved out voluntarily, then moved back in again. Maybe it sounds like a lot, but it's really the same ol', same ol' with her. It gets even worse from there... Chelsea got back with Adam but he dumped her, she moved to a new place, and she got a job. The first part is pointless, the second point hardly matters, but great on the third part. Corey wants a change in careers, Leah gets a full-time job but ends up only working one day a week, and Ali doesn't have MRI problems or a known genetic disorder. For them, this is basically just an update, not a season of stuff. Am I being too hard on the show?

Teen Mom 2 "The Beginning of the End" (S02E09):
Leah: They go to look at some land where they could put a new trailer. It's $5,000, and closer to town, schools, and doctors. [sounds like a big improvement.] Corey likes it, so Leah goes to her mom's house to use the internet and look for a mobile home. [moving ahead, good idea.] But, Corey then tells her that he's been thinking and decides that he doesn't want to move right now - they can save more money where they are now. [it IS a good point.] Corey talks about getting a new truck now and a house later. [not the worst idea, until we learn some more...] Leah mentions that they had made this decision together, and asks why is he going back on that, but he just says that this was his thought process. Leah's friend helps her bathe them in a tub that's downstairs, cold, and doesn't really have a proper faucet. [it also looks like an accident waiting to happen... as soon as the girls are slightly more independent!] Leah has lunch with her mom and stepdad while Corey takes the girls to his mom's. Leah talks about Corey's priorities, and it comes out that Corey has only had this truck for like four months. [well, now they're not living in a safe environment AND there seems to be no reason to upgrade the vehicle.] Her stepdad says that he'll help her find a place to live. So reasonably, she tries to reason with Corey, telling him about the problems around the house and whatnot, but it comes down to her telling him that she's going to move, whether he comes or not. [wow... look at her taking charge! It's impressive though that she might leave him over this.]

Photo by MTV

Kailyn: her semester is going well. [remember? she's the only one on this show who is working on her education.] She gets a copy of the letter Jo wrote that says why he doesn't think he should pay $488/month in child support. Kailyn calls Jo to ask him why he's appealing the child support order, and he says that it's too high, she should get a better-paying job, and won't even tell her if he's getting a lawyer. [I don't know that the better-paying job would make that much of a difference... Jo would still pay quite a bit.] She meets with a lawyer who tells her that Jo's amount is 63% of what was determined as the cost to raise Isaac. She suggests that Jo would try to go for "downward deviation," claiming that he can't afford it, that he gave her some support already, and that she needs to work harder. But, the lawyer sees no grounds for these things. [does the fact that he supported her in the past factor in at all?] Kailyn pays a $350 retainer and now she has a lawyer.

Chelsea: she hasn't started studying for GED. [still. I've got nothing... her mom clearly will watch Aubree whenever. Her dad seems more than willing to help on weekends. how has she not gotten to study AT ALL yet?] Adam broke up with her, so she complains to her mom that Adam "just doesn't like me anymore." [cry me a river.] Her mom basically tells her to move on. Similarly, when she complains to her dad that all she can think about is Adam, he doesn't know what to tell her, as he's said it all before. [girl. you're not in the 8th grade. get over it.] Chelsea starts her job, and her mom picks up Aubree... and we learn that Chelsea puts lipgloss on her one-year-old. [that can't be good.] She puts on her uniform, clocks in, then starts filling out paperwork. She learns how to check-in people and how to clean the tanning beds. She'll work at least 15 hours a week.

Jenelle: Barbara and Jenelle go to social services and Jenelle is ordered to start paying $30/week in child support. [really? Jenelle asks her mom to turn off the windshield wipers when it's visibly raining out?] Jenelle complains that she hasn't slept in two days, and Barbara reminds her that Kieffer just isn't good for her, which, of course, makes her yell for a moment. See, Jenelle heard that Kieffer has been talking to other girls, and things only get worse when he won't tell Jenelle who he's texting. She actually drives off to a random location and leaves him there. [I don't know that this girl thinks. ever.] She goes home to complain to her roommate, and Kieffer shows up at her place to get his stuff. [why does she immediately have to complain?] Kieffer shows Jenelle his phone, and it was his ex-girlfriend whom he was texting. Jenelle and Kieffer get into a fight, and she slams some doors while crying about how nobody cares about her. [if she wasn't currently living in a different location, they pretty much could have used stock footage for this.] Oh, but Jenelle finds even more to be angry about... one of her housemates has had friends over all afternoon. [...what's so wrong with that again?] Jenelle then argues with Tori and says that she's going to move out, since she's not getting money for groceries and stuff. [how did Jenelle even get money to front for such things?] Jenelle goes into Tori's room and demands her clothes back. Tori asks Jenelle to leave the room, but she won't. Well, they get into an all-out girl-on-girl fight... and then the boys do, too. When it ends, Jenelle just yells about how everyone needs to leave her alone. [sound familiar?]

Teen Mom 2 "A Closer Look" (Special): not much was actually revealed in this thirty-minute presentation, so don't get your hopes up.

Chelsea: Just why can't she move on from Adam? She takes everything personally and wants to know what Adam doesn't like about her so that she can become the person that he's after. [really? you want to change into what he'll like? GET OVER IT.] She doesn't want Aubree to have a stepmother figure. [not only does she cling to the past, she's completely against the future. not a good sign.] Chelsea says that it's a misconception that she's a pushover - that only happens around Adam. [thanks for clearing that up, because you do indeed seem fairly useless in society.]

Jenelle: She says that living with Tori and Tori's boyfriend was like living in a frat house and it wasn't a good thing. She had never previously been in a physical fight with Tori. She says that it's a misconception that she's a bad-@$$ and hard to get along with. [...really?]

Leah: Corey has never bathed the kids downstairs. [wow. NEVER??] Leah says that the idea that she's a "cheating whore" is incorrect.

Kailyn: She's quit the job she had working with Jordan. [well, that's new.] She feels that Jo didn't tell her if he had a lawyer so she'd spend the money to get one, sabotaging her. [at first I thought that this was a bit of a stretch, but then I thought about it... it could be just the sort of thing that Jo would do!]