The Kids Are Not Alright



This episode was heavy. Up till now, the kids have been pretty much relegated to the background as Gene and Shannon try to work on their relationship. At the urging of Gene, he ask his therapist to talk to the kids so they can voice their opinions on the situation at hand. Nick was the first to open up and get a lot off his chest. And what he had to say was pretty profound and shed a light on the turmoil that he is struggling with. Sophie on the other hand was more guarded and really didn't feel like opening up to a complete stranger. She, along with the rest of the family, had voiced that doing so on camera wasn't right. "It's a family thing that should be dealt with in private and not in front of TV camera's for the sake of entertaining people."

I don't know if Gene is ever going to "get it". He continually does and says things that are contradictory to what it is he is trying to achieve. At one point, he invites his therapist to watch the show (KISS Concert). I found this extremely inappropriate in blurring the lines of professionalism and entertainment. She knew this was wrong and immediately called him out on it. In the end, she agreed to watch "some of it". I think she did this just to placate him and move on.

But the coup de grāce of the episode was when Sophie, in group therapy FINALLY opens up and reads Gene the Riot Act. She has come a long ways and it was exhilerating to see how much she has grown. She tore into him and he had nowhere to go. He had to sit there, listen and take it all in. When this was going down, Shannon had a "holy f*ck" look on here face, which is exactly the same look on my face when watching it. Gene...classic Deer-In-Headlights reaction to what he had to hear from Sophie.

I think the debate of whether this "story arc" is fake or not has to come to an end now. It's real in my book.