Counting On Season Two

[nst]

1 hour ago, Purrl said:

In the look at next week's episode, I found it interesting that Michelle is shown coming into Ben & Jessa's house with JB, Jinge & Jeremy and then she is shown leaving but she isn't shown taking part in the conversation. Not one bit, not even a glimpse and it's not because she's taking care of the baby. JB is holding him. 

They also show B & J trying to look more lovey-dovey and holding hands on the couch. It's just so obvious that they see people commenting about how B&J don't look like they even care for each other so they have them snuggling & holding hands on the couch. Either it's all for the viewers or Jessa's jealous and trying to prove she's as infatuated with her husband as Jinger is with Jeremy.

if you look at pictures Jessa is always the one that has an arm on him.  They have this thing in public they don't touch - they never do - even when they were engaged and on the show - they hardly touched. Opposed to the other couples 

these two I think like to be highly demonstrative behind the scenes or in the background - they are several scenes in the background of other people's moments -they are all over each other.  

[CharlieInCharge]

8 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

Snip

IMO fuck like bunnies on lots of birth control date all you want and when you find that one you want to be around all the time no matter if you are screwing or not, marry that one. 

Gonna have this printed on a poster and put it in my kids room for him to memorize. Thank you for this

 

He's not yet three and can't read, but that will just give it time to sink in. 

[Dandruff]

The "Counting On" title of the show vs. "## Kids and Counting" makes it clear (to me, anyway) that fetal Duggars, embryonic Duggars, and even alluded-to Duggars are valued well beyond the living, breathing variety.

[nst]

2 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

The "Counting On" title of the show vs. "## Kids and Counting" makes it clear (to me, anyway) that fetal Duggars, embryonic Duggars, and even alluded-to Duggars are valued well beyond the living, breathing variety.

or they figured out that Jill was hardly on last time and they all wanted to be featured to be paid 

it's all about the $

nothing else

[The limit does not exist]

1 hour ago, trustworthy said:

They've all been to the Creation Museum where they explain that the reason there are all these dinosaur bones around is because there WERE dinosaurs, but they all got swallowed up in the flood that Noah built the ark to survive. They were too big for the ark, so they all got killed but the bones are now left to discover.

For everyone wondering about the dinosaurs, here's a nice picture...

[YourGodIsNotMine]

Call  me crazy, but I worry that Jill's transformation from bubbly to terrified is due to Derick. His appearance and social media posts remind me of cult leaders who go bad. Maybe he is controlling her and not allowing her out. It's easy to do away from family in a foreign land.

[Arix]

18 minutes ago, YourGodIsNotMine said:

Call  me crazy, but I worry that Jill's transformation from bubbly to terrified is due to Derick. His appearance and social media posts remind me of cult leaders who go bad. Maybe he is controlling her and not allowing her out. It's easy to do away from family in a foreign land.

Dear god, I hope not. It's not like she can leave. :/

[HerNameIsBuffy]

22 minutes ago, YourGodIsNotMine said:

Call  me crazy, but I worry that Jill's transformation from bubbly to terrified is due to Derick. His appearance and social media posts remind me of cult leaders who go bad. Maybe he is controlling her and not allowing her out. It's easy to do away from family in a foreign land.

His appearance?  Long hair, unshaven, skinny guys in their twenties remind you of cult leaders who go bad?  I've got a couple of sons who fit that description at various times, but I've never seen signs of megalomania correlated to how infrequently they shave.

isn't their belief system horrible enough without jumping to crazy conclusions based on nothing?

[eveandadam]

I just watched the new episode and have to say I'm so confused by Jinger and Jeremy, just confused.

I don't know if I like the couple or not. They seem very much into each other in the epsisode but from the courtship announcement video and from the pictures I got the deer in a headlight impression from Jinger and the I don't know what im doing impression from Jeremy. I wonder if Jinger is just good at mimicking happiness or if she is really happy. Does she know the difference? How many shots did it take for the filmcrew to show us how truely happy she is with Jeremy in that episode?

 

And for other couples, I still haven't changed my opinion on them:

Jill and Derick seem like  a good , non-creepy match, like Gil and Kelly in a way,

Ben and Jessa: Ben should have waited another 5 years or so and then married Joy (better chemistry there, I thought).  Jessa was a victim of the show and JB, I think. JB thought that he needed a courtship for the show and Ben showed up and jessa (had to?) say yes (for the show to keep goind?)  I always thought Jessa was pushed into it.

Anna and Josh: No, just no, married too young knowing something is wrong with him. NO!

Even Michelle and JB are not that good a match, imo. Most of the time she seem disgusted by him physically.

 

 

 

[Antimony]

In the preview clip, Joy has informed me that apparently a courtship is "dating with marriage in mind."

I have not been asking for enough congratulations on my courtship! Gosh darn.

Jinger informs us that it's not a "cookie cutter" set of rules. And yet...somehow...I doubt her.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

40 minutes ago, Antimony said:

In the preview clip, Joy has informed me that apparently a courtship is "dating with marriage in mind."

I have not been asking for enough congratulations on my courtship! Gosh darn.

Jinger informs us that it's not a "cookie cutter" set of rules. And yet...somehow...I doubt her.

Of course it isn't a cookie cutter set of rules...cookie cutters produce delicious happiness ...

Spoiler

 

Those rules produce ....well, it's certainly not delicious happiness from what I can see.  

You don't have to wait for marriage for this kind of sweet fellowship...

Spoiler

 

[YourGodIsNotMine]

HernameisBuffy, my tablet won't let me quote or even reply correctly. But your sons are nothing like Derick. Derick, who got sucked into a cult after traumatically losing his dad, quit a decent job, became a missionary to convert Catholics, quotes scary scripture and had a DRASTIC change in appearance.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

@YourGodIsNotMine -  a drastic change in appearance =\= cult leader gone bad, which was my point.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

17 minutes ago, eveandadam said:

I just watched the new episode and have to say I'm so confused by Jinger and Jeremy, just confused.

I don't know if I like the couple or not. They seem very much into each other in the epsisode but from the courtship announcement video and from the pictures I got the deer in a headlight impression from Jinger and the I don't know what im doing impression from Jeremy. I wonder if Jinger is just good at mimicking happiness or if she is really happy. Does she know the difference? How many shots did it take for the filmcrew to show us how truely happy she is with Jeremy in that episode?

 

And for other couples, I still haven't changed my opinion on them:

Jill and Derick seem like  a good , non-creepy match, like Gil and Kelly in a way,

Ben and Jessa: Ben should have waited another 5 years or so and then married Joy (better chemistry there, I thought).  Jessa was a victim of the show and JB, I think. JB thought that he needed a courtship for the show and Ben showed up and jessa (had to?) say yes (for the show to keep goind?)  I always thought Jessa was pushed into it.

Anna and Josh: No, just no, married too young knowing something is wrong with him. NO!

Even Michelle and JB are not that good a match, imo. Most of the time she seem disgusted by him physically.

Did you just refer to Gil and Kelly as non-creepy?  Their mutual interests in advocating the abuse of infants and covering up sexual abuse are pretty creepy things to pair bond over, but I guess that's not a universal opinion.

And regarding Jinger and Jeremy - what are you confused about.  You mention it was staged.  Take any two people who aren't professional actors and ask them to recreate their romantic moments or expressions of love on camera and you're going to get all kinds of awkward no matter how they feel about each other.

I will never not be shocked by how much of a read some here think they can get on couples based on a scripted reality show.  It kind of reminds me of an article I read saying that back during the first season of Gilligan's Island the coast guard and Navy would get calls and letters telling them there were 5 people stranded on an island who needed to be rescued.

the Duggars are real.  The damage they and their ilk do is real.  But the packaging is scripted and edited and consists of non-actors acting on camera.  You're sense of them from watching this isn't coming from anything approaching real.

[YourGodIsNotMine]

12 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

@YourGodIsNotMine -  a drastic change in appearance =\= cult leader gone bad, which was my point.

But that change in appearance is combined with everything else I mentioned.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

5 minutes ago, YourGodIsNotMine said:

But that change in appearance is combined with everything else I mentioned.

You mentioned appearance and social media posts.  To me badly written social media peppered with bible stuff is run of the mill fundy.  Mileage obviously varies on this.

My point is that it's irresponsible to allude that he could be some kind of abusive monster who has terrified his wife based on no evidence.  And I don't think hi getting scruffy and posting crappy social media warrants it.  You see it differently which is of course is fine.

[YourGodIsNotMine]

10 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

You mentioned appearance and social media posts.  To me badly written social media peppered with bible stuff is run of the mill fundy.  Mileage obviously varies on this.

My point is that it's irresponsible to allude that he could be some kind of abusive monster who has terrified his wife based on no evidence.  And I don't think hi getting scruffy and posting crappy social media warrants it.  You see it differently which is of course is fine.

I don't mind agreeing to disagree.

But I was truly alarmed tonight at her overall demeanor. I didn't explain my thoughts well in my first post. In my second post, I listed the drastic changes that followed a traumatic life event for him.

Something is up. Whether that is in the marriage or something else, I don't know. But I do know domestic abuse victims, including my own mom and my sisters. And Jill's demeanor screams at me.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

6 minutes ago, YourGodIsNotMine said:

I don't mind agreeing to disagree.

But I was truly alarmed tonight at her overall demeanor. I didn't explain my thoughts well in my first post. In my second post, I listed the drastic changes that followed a traumatic life event for him.

Something is up. Whether that is in the marriage or something else, I don't know. But I do know domestic abuse victims, including my own mom and my sisters. And Jill's demeanor screams at me.

I appreciate the clarification.  I didn't see the episode and I am always skeptical about what can be determined from behavior on tv, but we all view things throguh out own lenses based in our own life experiences.

Im not defending Derek's life choices...if one of mine contacted JB as a prayer partner and quit their job to convert Catholics I'd be freaking out.  

I lost both of my parents within a few months of each other when I was not much older than Derek was when his dad passed.  I get being lost and desperate to figure out your place in this world when everything changes.  Especially when you're a particularly sheltered young adult.   If there were ever a time in my life where I would have been susceptible to being sucked into a cult it would have been then.

Loss like that changes you.  And it changes you permanently.  I just don't think it makes an abuser out of someone who wouldn't have been one anyway.  I don't know these people any more than you do...so I'm in no postion to know how he treats her.  I'm just cautioning agaiant speculating about abuse with no real evidence because of the seriousness of the allegations.  

But I can certainly agree to disagree.

 

[Bim]

2 hours ago, eveandadam said:

I just watched the new episode and have to say I'm so confused by Jinger and Jeremy, just confused.

I don't know if I like the couple or not. They seem very much into each other in the epsisode but from the courtship announcement video and from the pictures I got the deer in a headlight impression from Jinger and the I don't know what im doing impression from Jeremy. I wonder if Jinger is just good at mimicking happiness or if she is really happy. Does she know the difference? How many shots did it take for the filmcrew to show us how truely happy she is with Jeremy in that episode?

Honestly I hope Jinger is happy and is in love with Jeremy and mostly I believe it. 

BUT a good chunk of me is just thinking Jinger sees the freedom Jessa has now that she's married and wants in on that. A husband is usually a lot easier to work around than overly strict parents, especially when hubby is at work most days and not trolling around the house like Jchelle and JB. 

[CoveredInBees]

8 hours ago, nst said:

if you look at pictures Jessa is always the one that has an arm on him.  They have this thing in public they don't touch - they never do - even when they were engaged and on the show - they hardly touched. Opposed to the other couples 

these two I think like to be highly demonstrative behind the scenes or in the background - they are several scenes in the background of other people's moments -they are all over each other.  

I've worked it out! Jessa and Ben were the victims of the mini golf 'incident'. They have both been so emotionally scarred by it that they've decided they're never going to embarrass their own children with PDAs like that EVER................

 

 

[nst]

7 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

 

the Duggars are real.  The damage they and their ilk do is real.  But the packaging is scripted and edited and consists of non-actors acting on camera.  You're sense of them from watching this isn't coming from anything approaching real.

and this - will give you all peace once you realize they are real and anything they project on tv is NOT real. 

even anything they project on their social media is not real 

it's an act. 

they have just become highly trained fake actors. 

It's brilliant because it's pure nonsense

 

7 hours ago, Antimony said:

In the preview clip, Joy has informed me that apparently a courtship is "dating with marriage in mind."

I have not been asking for enough congratulations on my courtship! Gosh darn.

Jinger informs us that it's not a "cookie cutter" set of rules. And yet...somehow...I doubt her.

the pure non reaction of Joy speaks volumes imo 

and Jana well that make me all happy that she was no where in the room 

"Jinge" is a joke and she reinforces it next week 

[Whipple]

I don't think Derrick is a cult leader gone bad but  I do think that something might be wrong with him and Jill is dealing with that. I can't put my finger on what it is. His mental health...

Jill also had problems from the beginning. Remember when she could not get through the day without visiting Derrick at work?  And she and Dad pressured Derrick to quit his job. Something like working for others is evil.

As much as Jill and Derrick seem to be sympatico,  who knows it could be a dysfunctional cocktail. The two of them together isolated--making each other worse. Folie a deux? Probably not but I have always wanted to use that phrase in a sentence.

Who knows how any of this will play out. Duggar girls marrying preacher men = recipe for disaster.Maybe one of them is going to land a preacher man with a religious fixation related to an emerging psychotic disorder and let's see how they deal with that.  I waited a long time for the chickens to come back to their roosting place with regard to  this family and now that the natural consequences for  their behaviors seem to be setting in, they seem to have learned nothing. As others have remarked, just doubling down on the insanity.

Originally I had been one of the ones who thought TLC was going to eventually throw the family under the bus for the hate-watchers. How naive was I!

[calimojo]

 @WhippleI love that you used Folie a Deux in a sentence.  This entire family, and their close associates all have a shared delusion. 

Anyway,  I had the same thought you did in that Jill may seem more subdued because of her concern for Derrick.  Remember her post a while back that they have all had some bouts with illness.  It seemed to be a response to the social media posts about how sickly Derrick has looked and his weight loss.  She may just be worried about his health.  I don't think that Derrick has turned into some crazed cult leader.  But I think he is kind of in his element, living off grid to a degree and 'working' with locals, which as a single person, like he was in Nepal is relatively easy to do.  His needs, on his own were pretty simple.  But dragging a wife and baby, especially a wife who was raised in an extremely sheltered way,  along on his adventures is a whole new ball game. 

I feel for Jill.  Even though their home appears quite nice, even luxurious for the area,  living there with a daily battle of creepy crawlies  and intermittent water and power supply and a small child has to be rough for someone who isn't used to that.  Honestly I would not cope at all well with that myself.  I can live without internet, tv, and possible electricity some of the time, but no running water sucks.  And if Derrick is out all day converting Catholics, Jill, who is used to being surrounded by 20 other people all the time is likely quite lonely.  Add to that the real or imagined threat of harm to her or her baby, and it must be a very uncomfortable lifestyle for her, despite her mandate to follow her husband at all times. 

If Derrick is smart enough and sensitive enough to recognize that their current lifestyle is not well suited to Jill, then I commend him for it.  If he takes them back to that mission field, then I will be disappointed in him because it will be clear that he is serving himself and not the greater good of those who depend on him. 

 

 

Jill looked heavy to me.  Not pregnant, but thick through the middle.  I suspect her rectus adb muscles are still not recovered from her pregnancy and c section.  But a few months ago she did look thinner.  Not body shaming here,  but more that I find it interesting that Derrick just got thinner and thinner whilst in CA and Jill seems to have put on some weight, somewhat recently.  Fluctuations in weight can be a sign of stress.  Or not.  Perhaps if Jill has felt more housebound lately,  she has decreased the amount of activity she was getting or out of boredom is eating more.  (Something many of us can relate to, I am sure)

 

 

[Four is Enough]

I kind of think Jill's reluctance to go out is a combination of things.

She's not the media darling down there, so nobody notices what she's doing.

She's not the family darling down there. Again, nobody noticing anything.

She's pretty much alone. That would be lonely. 

Language barrier that she can't seem to overcome, whether it is from lack of understanding, or lack of trying.

I think she's discovering that her "burden for missions" is more "burden" and less "missions".

Haven't heard anything about her doing midwifery there, (thank God) so maybe she's come up against a number of regulations or, again, language barriers to preclude her "helping". Or, her very real lack of education has become known even to the local midwives, who do NOT see her as a white savior and instead see her as a nuisance. 

I'd stay inside, too.

[formergothardite]

8 hours ago, eveandadam said:

I wonder if Jinger is just good at mimicking happiness or if she is really happy. Does she know the difference?

Wondering this is just another reason that you shouldn't remain "neutral" on their really evil lifestyle. I'm still amazed when members here want to whitewash the evil that these families represent. 

Also, let us all hope that Jill and Derick are NOTHING like Gil and Kelly. Gil and Kelly are a very creepy and disturbing match. Those two freak me out because they can be so bad and yet are able to convince people that they are just normal conservative Christians.