Counting On Season Two- Part 3

[nst]

8 hours ago, Mothership said:

Forget the Nielsen ratings--the biggest sign that Counting On is being counted out is that we can't even post enough snark to fill a thread!  Boring is just boring for humpers and haters alike.

 

it's bigger than that. 

I watched the episode - Jeremy is just beyond cheezy and obnoxious I find -.   Jessa I think is not jealous of Jinge at all. She wants her best girl friend to have the husband as well. Ben is the same - these two are so obvious in what they want for their friends.  It's boring.   Jessa is boring. She has no personality imo.  She acts like she does but she doesn't.   The Flame storyline was amusing in the sense it wasn't a storyline.  It was a joke. So  really nothing to say.  

I love how Jessa saunters in and makes her sisters and brothers just do stuff like the trained seals they are. 

Meredith and Mikey or was it Marcus were around - thank God - no Anna or Josh. 

 

[sunshine]

Can I say that my favorite response line from Jinger to Jeremy is: 'whatever you want to do?' #cheeky

[nst]

1 hour ago, sunshine said:

Can I say that my favorite response line from Jinger to Jeremy is: 'whatever you want to do?' #cheeky

only because it shows two things - 

1 - she has no personality apart from him - she has to be the stepford to his alpha 

2 she was trained to say it 

so how is it cheeky? 

[LawsonBatesEgo]

On 9/23/2016 at 11:31 AM, nastyhobbitses said:

I'm not one to speculate on the psychological effects of an obviously traumatic thing that happened to the Duggar girls; Jessa's behavior with Ben when he was being all goo-goo over her reminds me a lot of my behavior when I started dating a guy who behaved in a similar way (over-the-top pronouncements of love, tons of gifts, constantly texting, etc.). I like a little romance, but it was just so cheesy and over-the-top and too much for me. It felt false and made me uncomfortable. And when I'm uncomfortable, I'm guarded and stiff. I'm guessing that the improvement in chemistry was because either Jessa got better at Keeping Sweet, or Ben finally got it through his thick skull that Jessa isn't into the whole puppy-love crap.

Yes! I'm the type who'd act in a similar way to Bin's 

Luckily for me, my current boyfriend has nailed it. He does know how to be romantic (I mean, he's from France, so of course he does!) but he knows I don't like the really corny, really public, really gooey stuff. It embarrasses me and makes me want to want to crawl into the corner and die. Jessa reminded mea lot of my myself....someone embarrassed by these huge corny grand public displays of love. Everyone expects every woman to be into it, but not every girl is.

I prefer the more subtle way my boyfriend shows he loves me. Like if I've had a really bad day at work or Uni and have told him over text or whatever, he doesn't come running down there with 200 roses to cheer me up in front of everyone. I'll come home to find he went and bought a tub of my favourite icecream or see a bunch of my actual favourite flowers on the counter when I come home. And he's arranged a really nice day tomorrow for my birthday later in the week. 

I get the impression for other reasons that Jessa and Ben are well and truly out of the honeymoon stage and I have my suspicions they married just to get it on and now the novelty has worn off a bit, they've realised they are stuck with each other, jumped into this thing but now have a baby and another on the way. But I can't really judge a whole relationship on how much Jessa likes big goopy public displays of affection. plenty of women who love their partners would still hate that. I know that of my boyfriend started doing that kind of stuff (he wouldn't but you know), I'd be like 'Olivier. I love you. But PLEASE don't do this in front of everyone' because it's not my thing, no matter who does it. 

[sunshine]

37 minutes ago, nst said:

only because it shows two things - 

1 - she has no personality apart from him - she has to be the stepford to his alpha 

2 she was trained to say it 

so how is it cheeky? 

By cheeky, I am meaning amusing. Jinger being stepford, please. I have been around a stepford and has yet to ring that bell. Let's see what happens after the wedding, if the show last that long. Maybe her line is scripted, but I thought it was interesting for her to say and for a second I wondered what Jeremy was thinking. Ha.

[Alachantal]

On 21/09/2016 at 0:51 AM, alba said:

Jinger's ring size is 5.5 and Jeremy just happened to find the perfect ring in her size? Yeah, right. I'm a 4.5 and we had to wait a good week for my engagement ring (we were all modern and went to pick it out together ) because the smallest size the shop had wouldn't have even fit my thumb.

I'm pretty sure it's standard for rings to come in large sizes (tungsten excepted, as it can't be re-sized) because it's easier to make them smaller than bigger.

I'm actually not too surprised about this one. Fiancé and I went to pick mine out together and he said when we left the house "when we find one that fits that we both like we know it's the one"... and we did at the 2nd shop we went to. We were told the standard is between sizes 6 and 7 so I didn't think we'd find one, but we did.

But of course, this is the Duggars, and being that it was filmed I wouldn't at all be surprised if Jeremy had asked off camera to only see rings that were size 5.5 or had picked it out on a previous off camera visit.

[NotAnIncubator]

Something I found really... Odd. He is assumed to be pure/'virgin'. JB&M never outright say it but with their beliefs I don't see them letting their daughters anywhere near less-than-virgin suitors. For Jeremy to have not only a king sized bed but one with a LARGE mirror in the headboard, for a single man supposedly sleeping alone, why the large California-king size mirrored bed?

Me thinks the women that got 'a pieces of his body heart' are gonna come out of the woodwork sooner or later. With him being a pro-athlete, college educated man who has admitted to worldly experiences, it might be why JBoob wants to slow things down or get inbetween them.

[apandaaries]

20 hours ago, Alisamer said:

PP doesn't have a huge church yet manages to keep himself and his large family in organic butter along with grifting occasional trips to various places, so maybe Jeremy can manage it too. Hopefully without being as terrible a person as PP.

PP and Zsu have a huge internet presence, a donation button (formerly PayPal, until his bullshit got too inflammatory for any mainstream company to be affiliated with him), and tons of materials available for purchase online in a variety of languages.  He works at selling his hate far and wide, and unfortunately there are people who want to pay for his message.  Jeremy, as far as I can tell, has a small church and a small online presence.  His webpage seems to be heavily influenced by his new Duggar fame. He likely is a fame whore, since no one comes near a Duggar daughter without that trait, but it's subtler than some of the other fame whore fundies we follow on FJ.  

 

10 minutes ago, NotAnIncubator said:

Something I found really... Odd. He is assumed to be pure/'virgin'. JB&M never outright say it but with their beliefs I don't see them letting their daughters anywhere near less-than-virgin suitors. For Jeremy to have not only a king sized bed but one with a LARGE mirror in the headboard, for a single man supposedly sleeping alone, why the large California-king size mirrored bed?

Me thinks the women that got 'a pieces of his body heart' are gonna come out of the woodwork sooner or later. With him being a pro-athlete, college educated man who has admitted to worldly experiences, it might be why JBoob wants to slow things down or get inbetween them.

From the impressions I get on the show, they seem to not be focused on his state of purity.  I imagine it's been quietly considered, but he's stated (on the blog, with his faith testimony) that he had periods of serious sin/crisis where he realized just how wretched he was without Christ (one of these was age 5, so still very fundie).  I'm betting he repented from these periods and now he reborn a virgin...or something like that. 

As for JB getting between them, he is doing a shit job at it.  Love how he comments about Jeremy having his arm around Jinger while JinJer just smile and nod without moving an inch.  Hopefully all the other future courters continue to break JB's rules right in front of his eyes. I find it gives me great pleasure to watch that.  

[nst]

there is something hair raising that I get from Jeremy - I can't put my finger on it.  But all these episodes so far - it's like he is acting for the camera.  That and he has obvious disdain for JB.  I don't believe he is as in love as Jinge is with him.  Ben seems to love him...

I don't have siblings and am not married.  But is it common when you have a CLOSE sibling like jessa has with her slave Jinge is it common to want them to have what you want...? What is the purpose.  I had one friend in school who was superclose to her sister and the same thing did happen, she got engaged and the sister got engaged,,,blah blah.  But the sister ended up divorcing the husband.   

I didn't feel genuine emotion in the taco shop from jessa as JInge blathered on about Laredo. More of I am making money here - I don't really care.   

 

[socalrules]

I have finally made it up to the episode where Jinger goes to Laredo. I am grateful for my DVD so I could pause, roll my eyes, and then fast forward. I don't see the sexual chemistry everyone is talking about. I felt embarrassed for Jinger during the entire Laredo episode. The continuous "babe" was annoying. I felt like she was acting how she thought someone in a relationship was supposed to act. Jeremy has a pretty average apartment, with a nice bookcase, but you would have thought it was a Park Avenue apartment the way Jinger reacted. I think Jinger doesn't realize that people who date normally can go out with others, especially their parents, and not be practically rubbing up against each other to show their love exists. I get the idea that the majority of their conversations involve Jinger praising Jeremy.

Anyone else get the feeling that Jeremy's mother was not particularly thrilled with all this madness? She looked like she was just going through the motions. Jim bob was annoying and the only thing Michelle contributed was too much out of control hair. 

On a positive note, Jeremy did not annoy me as much this episode, although I still don't trust his assertions of love. He appears to love being in front of the camera. 

I was so mad when Joy said something to the effect that her brothers are going to start businesses and she will help her mom with the kids. She has no idea she is capable of great things, rather than raising her siblings because her parents are too lazy to do so. 

[nst]

7 minutes ago, socalrules said:

I have finally made it up to the episode where Jinger goes to Laredo. I am grateful for my DVD so I could pause, roll my eyes, and then fast forward. I don't see the sexual chemistry everyone is talking about. I felt embarrassed for Jinger during the entire Laredo episode. The continuous "babe" was annoying. I felt like she was acting how she thought someone in a relationship was supposed to act. Jeremy has a pretty average apartment, with a nice bookcase, but you would have thought it was a Park Avenue apartment the way Jinger reacted. I think Jinger doesn't realize that people who date normally can go out with others, especially their parents, and not be practically rubbing up against each other to show their love exists. I get the idea that the majority of their conversations involve Jinger praising Jeremy.

Anyone else get the feeling that Jeremy's mother was not particularly thrilled with all this madness? She looked like she was just going through the motions. Jim bob was annoying and the only thing Michelle contributed was too much out of control hair. 

On a positive note, Jeremy did not annoy me as much this episode, although I still don't trust his assertions of love. He appears to love being in front of the camera. 

I was so mad when Joy said something to the effect that her brothers are going to start businesses and she will help her mom with the kids. She has no idea she is capable of great things, rather than raising her siblings because her parents are too lazy to do so. 

I think Jeremy is just using jinge to further his "church" 

Jinge is going to be in for a rude awakening if she marries him and stays in that apartment. 

can we say first "Duggar' annulment

Michelle never contributes anything.  As for Joy - pathetic answers   

[feministxtian]

I caved and watched a couple of episodes on youtube. What seems to be a little "offputting" about Jeremy is that he seems totally unwilling to put up with godboober's bullshit. I think he's a bit more liberal than boob and j'shelle. 

we'll see...

[montyollie]

17 hours ago, amandaaries said:

From the impressions I get on the show, they seem to not be focused on his state of purity.  I imagine it's been quietly considered, but he's stated (on the blog, with his faith testimony) that he had periods of serious sin/crisis where he realized just how wretched he was without Christ (one of these was age 5, so still very fundie).  I'm betting he repented from these periods and now he reborn a virgin...or something like that.

I am fairly certain fundie families don't care NEARLY as much about a man's purity than a woman's.  Men have always been given a pass, as there is no bloodied wedding night bedsheet to prove his virginity.  Plus you can "forgive" his indescretions like they did Josh's, but like Elizabeth Smart will tell you in those PSAs she made after her abduction, a touched woman is chewed chewing gum in those religions.

[Fascinated]

For those of you doubting Jessa's current feelings for her husband, I did some research.  Notice the little comma type things around the words.  These denote quotes.  (I wanted to be sure to catch all the nuances of this complicated young man.)

 

'Our first thought was, like, wow, like, you're gonna look at rings, like, are they at that place?'

'...what matters the most is like, that you, like, thought about it, you picked it out and it's something that, like, you can say, hey, this, this reminded me of you and I, you know, this is specially for you.'

 

Ok, I was going to go through the rest of the episode but, well, I just don't want to. Plus my husband just walked in and I simply would not know how to explain this project to him. Anyway, from these meager samples I am sure we can all agree that, well, how could Jessa's NOT be totally, like, into this guy?

 

[Buzzard]

On 9/24/2016 at 10:13 PM, socalrules said:

I felt like she was acting how she thought someone in a relationship was supposed to act. Jeremy has a pretty average apartment, with a nice bookcase, but you would have thought it was a Park Avenue apartment the way Jinger reacted.

I'm just going to say it - his apartment was NOT even a little impressive. A simple google search of Laredo brings up some really nice looking apartment complexes, where they were was NOT one of those.  The place looked like something that was pretty run down and the owners slapped some tile and paint down and called it "renovated."  Couple that with the comment at the taco place that this was the "upgrade" so he had 2 whole bedrooms and Jessa can come visit and I was pretty shocked this was acceptable to the Duggars in any way.

A building like that is going to be pretty exposed.  In an apartment complex there may be a gate or something that would prevent people from stopping by.  I dont think any of that will exist in this world.  

He may be a "preacher" but he's pretty much on par with the other loser Duggar husbands.  He'll never be able to provide for the brood that they will create and they'll spend their lives sucking on the Boob, which is exactly how he wants it.

[MsSaylor]

I thought Jeremy's apartment was nice. It was better, in terms of furniture, decor and cleanliness than any of my past or present attempts at adulting. I thought it was nicer on the inside than I thought it would be from the outside. Jingers reaction to it was over the top but I thought she was genuinely impressed. I would have been. I remember being impressed when I first saw my now husbands apartment. It was a complete hole in the wall dump (old rundown large house made into apartments). But I was thoroughly amazed that it didn't smell, he had a glass coffee table and two house plants. I'm not sure what I was expecting but some dudes live like animals. So I think Jeremy is doing a'ight

[JMO]

I think Jinger's enthusiasm came from 2 places.  1) anything and everything associated with him is A+++ in her book. She's a love struck girl with her first crush.  2) you can see the gears turning in her mind that soon this will be her new home. She is deliriously happy at that thought. 

[EmmieJ]

Considering that none of Jinger's brothers have moved out (except Josh), it's not surprising that she seemed impressed with Jeremy's apartment.  To her, he must seem quite accomplished.  College education, was on a pro soccer team, then he saw the light, turned to God, and now is a preacher.  Attractive, living on his own, not cowed by her father.  A chance to spread her wings and get out from under her father's thumb could make everything look rosy.

[calimojo]

I think we all need to remember that Jeremy sought out a relationship with the Duggar Clan,  He Did this at the same time that the family was immersed in truly disturbing scandals,  And he apparently considers Ben to be one of his 'close' friends.  These facts alone should tell us way more about Jeremy than just about anything else. 

 

While the show has sort of shown him perhaps not falling completely instep with JB,  make no mistake that this is an intentional strategy plotline for the show.  We are all supposed to see this mature man falling for sweet and innocent Jinger and the hesitancy some of the others feel about this storybook whirlwind romance.  This is their weak attempt at trying to generate a storyline.

Jeremy might truly love Jinger, and Jinger is clearly crushing on him.  And Jeremy is more of the world than the Duggars in terms of dress and life experience.  But he didn't just happen to meet Jinger at a coffee shop and strike up a flirty conversation with a pretty young woman and then found himself falling in love with her.  He started hanging with family, immersing himself in the culture, and for some odd reason, actually socializing with the likes of Ben. 

I have serious doubts that Jeremy will independently support Jinger.  Not because he wouldn't be able to do so, though obviously on a much smaller budget, but because while he may talk about leading a humble life as a pastor serving others,  he definitely wants to be a bigger fish than that.  I suspect somehow he is planning to use this to launch him more into the 'celebrity' pastor scene.  I suspect that at his core, he probably finds a lot of things about the Duggar ways silly, but he is playing along.  Overtime, he will hopefully move Jinger away from the insane belief system, but I don't think this will be an overnight thing.  And I doubt we will see Jinger sporting cute little shorts, jeans and sundresses like Alicia Bates does.

 

 

[SassyPants]

4 hours ago, EmmieJ said:

Considering that none of Jinger's brothers have moved out (except Josh), it's not surprising that she seemed impressed with Jeremy's apartment.  To her, he must seem quite accomplished.  College education, was on a pro soccer team, then he saw the light, turned to God, and now is a preacher.  Attractive, living on his own, not cowed by her father.  A chance to spread her wings and get out from under her father's thumb could make everything look rosy.

Until she is saddled with 1,2,3...blessings and there is little time for Jinger or JinJer.

[nst]

44 minutes ago, calimojo said:

I suspect that at his core, he probably finds a lot of things about the Duggar ways silly, but he is playing along.  Overtime, he will hopefully move Jinger away from the insane belief system, but I don't think this will be an overnight thing.  And I doubt we will see Jinger sporting cute little shorts, jeans and sundresses like Alicia Bates does.

 

 

I think he has his own belief system and it may be more intense than the Duggars. He is just hiding it better.   That's what I feel with Jeremy.   Jinge is in for a rude awekening after the wedding.  I get that impression. 

As for Ben being Jeremy's close friend - I look at like this - 

Ben needs hangerons - Jeremy was a hangeron - he is now becoming family.  He may be more established than Ben - but Ben sees something in Jeremy that he can use.  Plain and simple. 

[calimojo]

I hope that Jinger will not conceived quickly like her sisters.  I don't mean to imply I wish infertility on to her, but I am just saying that it isn't at all unusual for someone with no birth control to still take awhile to get pregnant.    If she really does end up moving to Laredo,  she is in for some culture shock.  She and Jeremy need some time to really figure shit out before popping out kids.  Jinger will need someone who can be patient and gently introduce her to her new life.  With Jessa, she just moved a mile or two away and from the looks of things is at the TTH nearly as much as she is her own home.  Jill definitely had some adjustment issues when she and Derick were first married as evidenced by her clinginess, driving him to and from work, meeting him for lunch and often having some of her buddies with her.  And she still was physically close to her family and likely spent  a lot of time with them.  Obviously she had more culture shock again when they went to CA, but at least it was a shared experience between she and Derick.  They were fish out of water together. 

If Jinger moves to Laredo,  she will be on her own.  Jeremy is already established there.  And as a fairly normal person,  he is used to living alone and fending for himself. 

 

NST, my only thought is that instead of Ben seeing something in Jeremy that  he can use,  I think it is more that Jeremy saw something in Ben that he could use.  No way,  in any other setting would Ben and Jeremy be besties right now.  I mean, in a few years if Ben matures,  perhaps, but right now Ben is a dud.    But I think Jeremy saw that by forming a friendship with Ben he could ingratiate himself with the Duggars and they had at least 2 single women that he could pursue.    Just as I felt with Derick,  Age-wise Jeremy is a more appropriate match for Jana, but I am beginning to think that Jana is pretty smart and sees these guys for what they are.  Jinger, who was left behind by her Jessa in exchange for "marital bliss" was ripe for the picking.  And she is so clearly grateful that someone is paying attention to her in this way.    Ben may see Jeremy as a way to move into becoming a preacher.  I could see him having an idea that he and Jeremy could co-pastor a church plant.  But again,  I think Jeremy is the one with motive and enough smarts to maximize his opportunities.  What is there to lose?  He gains a pretty and likely very compliant wife, gets his 15 minutes of fame with hopes that it might just kickstart him to the next level of celebrity pastor and he earns relatively easy money by selling out his life for a while. 

 

As to Jana,  like I said, I think she is smart enough to sense these fools coming in.  I really hope she meets someone at the local hardware store or plant nursery and just starts getting to know them.    And I really hope that she meets someone who will honestly tell her "honey- having kids is up to you.  You have raised several already and I would understand if you are done, or just want one or two. Whatever you decide, I will  support and I will be a partner to you in parenting and in life".   

[nst]

13 minutes ago, calimojo said:

NST, my only thought is that instead of Ben seeing something in Jeremy that  he can use,  I think it is more that Jeremy saw something in Ben that he could use.  No way,  in any other setting would Ben and Jeremy be besties right now.  I mean, in a few years if Ben matures,  perhaps, but right now Ben is a dud.    But I think Jeremy saw that by forming a friendship with Ben he could ingratiate himself with the Duggars and they had at least 2 single women that he could pursue.    Just as I felt with Derick,  Age-wise Jeremy is a more appropriate match for Jana, but I am beginning to think that Jana is pretty smart and sees these guys for what they are.  Jinger, who was left behind by her Jessa in exchange for "marital bliss" was ripe for the picking.  And she is so clearly grateful that someone is paying attention to her in this way.    Ben may see Jeremy as a way to move into becoming a preacher.  I could see him having an idea that he and Jeremy could co-pastor a church plant.  But again,  I think Jeremy is the one with motive and enough smarts to maximize his opportunities.  What is there to lose?  He gains a pretty and likely very compliant wife, gets his 15 minutes of fame with hopes that it might just kickstart him to the next level of celebrity pastor and he earns relatively easy money by selling out his life for a while. 

 

Ben thinks Flame is a good friend - so it looks like Ben is grasping at everything.   I think Jinge will be in severe shock living in that little apartment not going outside waiting for Jeremy.  It's the illusion that perhaps Jinge likes opposed to actual reality.  Even when Jill was newly pregnant at home cleaning the McMansion stairs - she looked lost.  They go from these massive homes to another home that is "their's" and bam reality sets in.  

Jana is whole other kettle of fish 

I agree about Jeremy selling out for a time - 

[Front Hugging Fiend]

On 9/25/2016 at 5:39 AM, nst said:

there is something hair raising that I get from Jeremy - I can't put my finger on it.  But all these episodes so far - it's like he is acting for the camera.  That and he has obvious disdain for JB.  I don't believe he is as in love as Jinge is with him.  Ben seems to love him...

I'm seriously hoping he's just one of those people who can never act 'normal' on camera or in front of people he doesn't know well. It would be comforting to hear that he's just awkward around cameras, partly because I'm desperately hoping that this relationship will ultimately be good for Jinger.

Probably wishful thinking, but hey.

 

Also - I'm absolutely loving Jeremy's big FU moments to JB. It's the closest thing to a middle finger we'll see in Fundieland.

[calimojo]

22 minutes ago, Front Hugging Fiend said:

 

Also - I'm absolutely loving Jeremy's big FU moments to JB. It's the closest thing to a middle finger we'll see in Fundieland.

Except that I think this is all staged.  I don't for one second believe that Jeremy had no idea what the courting standards were, just as I don't believe that JB was caught by surprise that Jeremy was buying a ring.  Jinger has been promised to Jeremy.  A transaction took place and none of this is coming as a surprise to anyone.  Now,  Jeremy may indeed have plans to rebel against JB at some point in time, but not now.  This is all done for a plot point right now.    I have no doubt that the producers as well as JB and M, know that many 'fans' have a soft spot for Jinger and that there is a website called Free Jinger.  They are pandering to us by giving Jinger a prospective spouse that might look like a way out for Jinger, but c'mon.  That is not going to happen.      I hope  I am wrong, but I don't think I am.