This season of Teen Mom 2 was so ding-dang long (and jammed packed with ridiculousness) that they had to split the Reunion into two parts. While they have done this for past seasons, this time they decided to talk to the girls solo during the first part (click here to read The Ashley’s recap of that mess), and then bring out their assorted baby daddies/ex-husbands/random girls from other shows to talk on stage with them.
Oh, and we also get to talk “wif” Briana, who didn’t really get any screen time during Part 1. Sadly, though, her mother Roxanne (and her assortment of flying footwear) has not made an appearance on this Reunion yet, which makes it almost not worth watching.
Part 2 kicks off with Briana’s solo chat with Dr. Drew Pinsky. Drew makes note that it’s been over four years since he interviewed Briana, during the first and only Teen Mom 3 Reunion. Oddly, though, Dr. Drew seems to be wearing the exact same outfit he was wearing the last time they chatted.
“A lot has changed since that time,” Drew says (obviously not referring to his sport coat selection), “but a lot has remained the same. Briana’s still living with her mom and sister, still having trouble with Devoin and, once again, dealing with an unplanned pregnancy!”
I see that subtle shade, Dr. Drew…and I like it!
“It’s ridiculous…my life,” Briana says.
Well, yeah….that may be the only thing Briana has ever said that actually makes sense.
Dr. Drew also asks Briana how she’s settling in with her fellow ‘Teen Mom 2’ castmates and she tells him she’s getting “high school vibes.” Drew, never one to let any slice of the drama pie go uncut, asks if there is anyone in particular…anyone at all…who has been more unwelcoming than the rest.
Briana hesitates to say who is the most horrible.
“I just think ‘certain people’ are salty about ‘certain things,’” she says.
Obviously, Briana is referring to Kail, who she implies is salty over Briana’s “connection” (via groins) with Javi. Drew looks like he wants to say, “Well, geez, you’re trying to hump her ex-husband, girl!” but he refrains.
Briana says the other girls don’t want to be her friend because of their loyalty to Kail, even though she and Javi are “just friends.” (Fun fact: Javi and Briana made their made-for-TV love official during the taping of this Reunion, so there very well may have been humpage going on during this time.)
“It’s not going to work out,” Briana says of a friendship with Kail. “We tried today and it didn’t work out.” (This is likely the incident she’s referring to here, by the way.)
Briana then tells us Baby Daddy No. 2 Luis has stepped up and finished his trucking school. She says he’s throwing some money her way but hasn’t really been showing up to reclaim his spot on her couch.
As for Briana’s OG baby daddy, Devoin, his monetary contributions continue to be little to none and Briana says she’s pretty much numb to the fact that her girls have bottom-of-the-barrel dads. Well, it’s back to the club to hunt for a more stable Baby Daddy No. 3, Bri!
Devoin then makes his way to the stage and tells the doc that he’s a changed man…sort of. He says he knows he’s important to Nova but he isn’t coming around more often because Briana calls the shots and because he still doesn’t have a driver’s license. (Surely he’s allowed a bus pass, though?)
Devoin wants Nova to come over to his house so she can get to know his family. But, as Briana told him before The Great Ale House Throwdown of 2017, she’s not down with his proposed arrangement.
Dr. Drew states the obvious, that Nova can’t get to know Devoin’s family if she’s not allowed to visit them, but Briana is standing firm (“in her power,” as Leah would say) and tells him it’s their own fault for not being “active in her life.”
In addition to Briana’s fears of stranger danger, she says she also doesn’t want Nova to know what jail is, specifically that her dad has been an occasional occupant.
In an attempt to defend his time behind bars, Devoin reminds Briana that he was in jail, not prison, therefore there’s no shame in his orange jumpsuit game.
“It’s not a felony! I’m not a felon,” Devoin protests.
(Hey—bein’ a felon ain’t illegal!)
At this point we start to see Briana get heated, but maybe it’s just that pleather jacket she has draped over her shoulders in attempt to make her look “more classier.”
Because Dr. Drew is a glutton for punishment, Roxanne and Brittany join the group next. Given the fact that she closed the season standing up in a booth and yelling at her granddaughter’s father in a crowded restaurant, Roxanne tries to redeem herself and play nice, at least for now.
She tells Dr. Drew that she doesn’t want to argue with Devoin because she knows Nova is the one negatively impacted when s**t hits the fan/Roxanne’s feet hit the seat of a restaurant booth.
Back on the topic of Nova visiting Devoin and his family, Briana (who clearly had time to think of more excuses during the commercial break) tells Devoin that Nova is shy and the family reunion process is one that needs to happen gradually and not all at once.
“You have to inch your way in, you know?” Brittany says.
Oh he (and Luis and possibly even Javi) know all about that, Brit.
Devoin says he doesn’t understand why Nova has to go to school instead of spending time with him. Surely Devoin holds the wisdom in his dome to teach his daughter all of life’s important lessons, like how to duck when a vase is thrown at your head, or how to come up with cool Twitter alias names. (#PapiChuloForever!)
Even though Luis is busy “doing the trucking” (and probably DJ-ing at random truck stops in or around the Orlando area), the group is still forced to talk about him as if he’s there. When Dr. Drew brings him up, Roxanne and Briana surprisingly act like he’s Father of the Year because he “got his s**t together” (i.e. he gives Briana some cash and doesn’t ask to see his kid.)
Brittany reminds the group that Luis “is, like, 35” and should have his life together. It seems to irk Britt that Briana and Roxanne are patting Luis on the back while trashing Devoin.
Finally, Devoin has had enough. He decides to stand in his power and gets snarky with Briana. He asks why it’s OK for Briana to work and still live at home, but not him.
Oooh. In.The.Face.
Roxanne interrupts and tells him the difference is “jail,” while Briana says it all comes down to consistency. Briana says she takes care of her kid and Devoin doesn’t, to which Devoin argues again that Briana won’t let him.
The two go back and forth about Devoin’s absence from Nova’s birthday parties.
“Well, I’ve been in jail for two of them,” he says. (Perhaps he could have asked for a special leave from jail to attend the parties as everyone’s favorite birthday party entertainer, Convict the Clown?)
Devoin says he didn’t attend the parties he wasn’t behind bars for, because he wasn’t invited. Briana calls him a liar. Roxanne reminds Devoin that he becomes the Groundhog of ‘Teen Mom’ fairly often, going underground for long stretches of time and only resurfacing when there are no pending child support charges against him.
At this point, Dr. Drew remembers that he’s hosting a show and rejoins the conversation, telling the group that there’s room for improvement with Nova and the relationship with Devoin and his family. He also volunteers Brittany to shuttle Nova back and forth to Devoin’s house since she’s currently the most mature of the bunch (congrats…?) Brit agrees to do it.
After a little more arguing, Briana gets frustrated and threatens to pull a Jenelle and make an early exit from the stage. Then she remembers she still has to solidify her spot on this show and refrains from going full diva (at least this season) and sits back down.
Although her feet don’t run, her mouth continues to, naturally. She also expresses her desire to “throw s**t” at her ex. (A shoe? A vase? A basket of Ale House mozzarella sticks?)
In order to prevent this Reunion from turning full-on Jerry Springer Show, they hustle Briana & Co. off the stage and bring up the next girl.
It’s Kail, who is joined by Javi. They tell the doc that things between them aren’t great right now. (I guess that season of Marriage Boot Camp was a waste, eh? That’s quite the shocker.)
Kail says she’s tired of Javi trying to use the fact that she squatted out some random dude’s kid against her.
“He tells me, ‘You had a whole baby with another man!’” Kail says.
When asked about rumors that they may rekindle their relationship, Kail says talks have been ongoing for weeks, and they’re back and forth on whether or not they’ll make it happen. (Spoiler alert: they haven’t.)
Javi says he has trust issues when it comes to Kail and her male friends, which is totally understandable considering she did make a baby with one of them. Kail says she doesn’t trust him either. The two agree with Dr. Drew when he calls their relationship “complicated on an emotional level.”
To add to the overall complicity of these two and their situation, they both say they aren’t attracted to each other. Even Dr. Drew points out that this revelation makes little sense given the fact that they sort of, kind of want to get back together.
Dr. Drew suggests Kail and Javi enlist the help of Jo to sort out whatever nonsense they’re going through. (Oh, I’m sure that’s just what Jo wants to spend his free time doing—playing referee between Javi “All About Those Teen Moms” Marroquin and Kail “He’s Just a Friend” Lowry. Did you ever think, Drew, that perhaps Jo wants to use his downtime to resurrect his long-lost rap career?)
Speaking of Jo, it’s time to bring him out on stage so he can earn his paycheck.
Being the patient-to-a-fault human that he is, Jo sits down and offers his ear to Javi if he ever needs someone to talk s**t about Kail to. Although Jo’s demeanor is as cool as his reunion getup, he does admit to Dr. Drew that Kail having Lux affected him, just as it did when she had Lincoln. This causes Kail to get emotional, and she tells Dr. Drew that she’s obviously not good at relationships and it hurts to hear Jo say that her situation has bothered him.
“I don’t like seeing her with other men,” Jo reveals. (Ooooh, I’ll bet somewhere backstage Vee is sitting there with her eyebrows up, Roxanne-style, going, “Excuse me?” Jo may be sleeping in the hotel lobby tonight!)
He quickly clarifies, stating that it’s not a love or attraction thing, and it’s about Isaac.
Kail quickly recovers from her bout of the feels as the conversation switches to her future career and living situation. Kail says she plans to stay in Delaware because her gaggle of baby daddies reside there. However, the lack of job opportunities (other than appearing on reality TV, that is) has her considering New York or LA as possibilities.
No. 1 and No. 2 are both unhappy about this plan, so it looks like Kail will not get a chance to live out her big city dream until at least Isaac and Lincoln are out of the house.
Mercifully, it’s time to move on to the next girl.
Leah hits the stage next, and Dr. Drew gets right down to business because he’s been filming this reunion for 12 hours and he’s hoping to make it over to the Burlington Coat Factory before their sport coat sale is over.
Leah is joined by Jeremy via video chat. (It’s amazing what they can do with The Internets these days, y’all! They can beam your baby daddy(s) right into wherever you are!)
As soon as Jeremy’s face pops up on the giant screen, Leah can’t help but smile and turn red.
Dr. Drew asks Jeremy about his busy work schedule and ever-so-slyly finds a way to turn that into a conversation about the disaster that is Jeremy’s relationship with Brooke. Despite being educated in the “not well” schools of West Virginia, Jeremy isn’t as dumb as he looks. He knows exactly what Drew is trying to do, and he shuts things down real quick, telling the doc that the topic of Brooke is off the table.
Leah happily discusses her ex’s relationship, though, and tells Dr. Drew that Jeremy and Brooke’s dumpster love life has had an impact on Addie. Leah is especially bothered when Jeremy takes what free time he does have to spend with his lady friend(s) instead of his butter-loving baby girl.
Dr. Drew comes right out and asks if Leah and Jeremy are rekindling things. They both deny the romance rumors but admit that they have a “healthy relationship.” They also revisit the infamous bar photo that was taken in the midst of one of Jeremy and Brooke’s many breakups, and again the pair deny anything happened after that Kodak moment.
Jeremy tells Dr. Drew that he and Brooke are, once again, “on a break.” Dr. Drew takes this news as a cue to ask Leah and Jeremy again if they might get back together, but this time they both stay silent and leave it on a “so be it” note, according to Jeremy. Umm… all right.
The next to be subjected to the horrible lighting and bad angles of the video chat is Corey. Dr. Drew talks to Corey about Ali’s health issues and his acceptance and proactive approach to her diagnosis as well as Gracie’s need to see a therapist.
Since that’s not very entertaining (since no one is yelling “Monkey!” this season), they move things right along to the next girl.
Chelsea is back on the stage, and because her baby daddy is unavailable (and/or unconscious) currently, they throw her up on the stage with Maci of Teen Mom OG. Dr. Drew tells viewers “he” wanted to take an opportunity for the girls to share their similar experiences of co-parenting with someone struggling with an addiction. (Well, yeah, that and…let’s be honest, MTV knew this would pull some decent ratings getting the two favorite ‘Teen Moms’ together.)
Maci tells Dr. Drew that things are good with her and her brood, but she doesn’t really know what’s going on with Ryan.
Chelsea talks about seeing Mr. Ryan’s Wild Ride on TV and how it made her feel better about her decision to set boundaries when it comes to Aubree and Adam. Maci agrees, telling her that when your child is involved, you can never be too careful.
Chelsea said sharing her story was tough because she doesn’t want to rock the boat with Adam’s parents and also because she knows Aubree will likely see the footage one day. Despite her concerns, she says it’s important to talk about because others are going through similar situations with substance abuse. (Dr. Drew even points out that a bunch of the ‘TM2’ and ‘OG’ cast have had problems getting too high! high! at one point or another.)
As for Maci, she says her relationship with Ryan’s parents isn’t at all what it used to be because she believes they felt betrayed by her decision to talk openly about Ryan’s problems. She says even though things aren’t great at the moment, she thinks everything will be fine down the road, calling this an “emotional and tender time.”
In typical ‘Teen Mom’ Reunion style, Dr. Drew closes the show by bringing out the whole circus – the girls, kids, extended family, current/former spouses and any other willing participants… or at least those who didn’t storm off the stage earlier in the show. (Looking at you, David. Well, we mean we WOULD be looking at you if you had recovered from your hissy fit and returned to the set.)
On that note, props to Dr. Drew for making a point to condescendingly thank Jenelle for coming back to the studio.
Before signing off, Drew talks to the kids and asks Kaiser to end the show.
“We’re done filming,” Kaiser announces into the microphone, which was surely met by much laughter by the MTV producers backstage who know this cash cow isn’t coming to a halt anytime soon.
Until next season kids!
To read The Ashley’s previous ‘Teen Mom 2’ recap, click here!
(Photos: MTV)
28 Responses
Gee Briana, I don’t know why Devoin’s family hasn’t made an effort to truck it over to the She Rah Man Hatin’ Clubhouse to see Nova. It couldn’t possibly be because they felt they weren’t welcome… Though Brittany is on her way to getting kicked out if she keeps pointing out that Devoin is really trying and Luis best have his crap together because he’s practically a member of AARP, so maybe Devoin’s mom could stop by Brittany’s new home when that happens.
Briana is only interested in being a martyr – life is so haaaaard. She’s all aloooooone. She’s got 2 kids that she has to raise by her seeeeeelf. No, we don’t want to know about how Devoin is trying to better his life to see Nova more. No, we don’t want to know about how Devoin wants to get Nova to have a relationship with this family.
And Devoin wasn’t saying Nova should go to his house instead of school – he was pointing out the inconsistency of Brianna’s reasoning of Nova being able to go to school and be surrounded by strangers, but couldn’t possibly set foot in Devon’s family’s house. I believe that is probably oranges and tangerines – but I don’t think he was suggesting that he homeschool her or anything.
LOL at Roxanne trying to tell us that they support Devoin and are behind him. If those are the people in his corner, Devoin should be looking for a new corner because those broads be crazy.
Although I like Jo – I cannot “adore” him as a father because he does not have a JOB. This show pays for his life but he still needs to show his children how parents provide for their families. He should have a skill (even retail sales is a skill). Go and work a few shifts somewhere Jo so the kids can see you coming home from work. Vee should do the same once their little girl goes to school. The whole family will benefit in pride and a feeling of accomplishment.
he apparently flips houses or does something with income properties
the ~trendy thing~ for mtv “employees” to do
That’s how it should be. Absolutely on your very best behavior when you are the new person.
Now that the kids are older, I wish we could hear more from the kids. They are old enough to speak for themselves and I’d be interested to hear from them – not on anything controversial, just an extension of what they already get asked by Dr. Drew (talking about their hobbies, interests, etc.). They get two minutes in the entire reunion and, at least now that they’re older, I’d rather hear more from them and less from Briana and company.
It’s true, OG Bentley will be TEN next year (Leah too), oldest on Teen Mom 2 is Jace, they are almost all 8 years old, it’s not like they can’t speak for themselves, they are not little kids anymore, they all go to school.
-Briana needs to go. She’s actual trash. With that attitude only one season in, she’s going to end up worse than Jenelle, and that’s saying a lot.
-LOL at Kail and her shitstorm of a life that SHE created. I don’t feel bad at all. Javi is gross for getting with the queen of trash, and I still can’t believe how much I’ve grown to adore Jo as a father over the years.
-Leah is doing much better than she had been in any other season, and I’m really proud of how far she’s come as a person.
-Love the Maci/Chelsea hangs, but I’m upset that it has to be over something as difficult as dealing with a drug addicted baby-daddy, and their families who are too proud to admit their child needs help.
-Jenelle, as always, you’re a mess, your soulmate is trash, you don’t deserve any of your children, and Babs is a saint.
All I could focus on while watching the reunion epi was Janelles tight braids in her hair. Then I seen that her friend tori, who was arrested for heroin after janelles wedding, had the same braids in her hair in her mug shot. The same tight braids. Just means they are obviously still hanging out and I’m sure doing drugs together. I was an addict before, and if you’re committed to sobriety, you don’t have other ‘active’ addicts around you. It just doesn’t work.
Also a former addict and one of the first things I always ended up doing before relapsing was getting back in touch with my old using buddies. It never ended well.
Briana-I’m pretty sure she learned from Jenelle how to disable a baby daddy that he can’t see his child. Yes, he might not have tried in the years before and wants to be on TV now but you’re still disabling him. I’m still convinced she wants Javi for baby daddy #3. And seeing how he is a good father to Lincoln and even to Isaac, we will know for sure she is disabling him if he won’t see that child. Run, Javi and fast!
Kail, ofc he is bothered. What did you expect?! You hurt his male ego with having a baby with another dude while you didn’t want one more with him. At least Jo is on good terms with her now, maybe in a few years they will be fine too and Chris will be the one she will be mad to. (Or any other subsequent baby daddy, I’m not buying it that she doesn’t want more children)
Chelsea and Maci, I congratulate them for puting kids first. That’s not what the others are doing and I’m glad they are not trying to sugarcoat their ex’s addiction. I hope at least Ryan will be a decent father now, Adam is a lost cause.
Won’t there be an EX’s special with only Jenelle’s men? LOL, this reunion was too short to feature them all (and the one she is with now acted like sh*t)
Briana’s attitude was really getting to me. I don’t know about the rest of you but when I’m the new girl, I’m on my best behavior to try and set a good first impression.
Jo’s music career is about to go off. Wait and see.
Remember when Briana tried to act mature by asking Devoin to have Nova be around his family so she could see other people who look like her?
Well that was a lie since she still won’t let him be alone with Nova.
He’s dumb though, should have filed for proper visitation.
Also in that last caption: Jenelle’s braids look like horns on her head, which seems to be very fitting!
She looks like the dark haired version of the Cynthia doll Angelica had on The Rugrats!
Your caption of Kaiser ending the reunion is gold!
Briana is such an asshole. I really cannot stand how stupid she is…plus she always has this dumb look on her face. Devion is not perfect at all, but thats the guy she decided to have a baby with so she needs to deal with it. Nova needs a relationship with her father and if he’s willing to have one with her, then Briana needs to let that happen.
She reminds me of my grandparents: a love for complaining but when someone hands you a solution you go out of your way to make that solution go away. You don’t want a solution (i.e. Briana taking Nova to see Devoin and his family for the first time, or even Brittany for that matter), you just like to be a victim of the situation. With my grandparents it was the fact that my grandmother couldn’t walk well from the car to other places like restaurants. We suggested a scooter that you can fold, especially made to bring in the back of a car, but when she had it she never tried it once and kept complaining.
Brittany, Drew and Devion gave that girl every option in the book so that Devion would be able to spend more time with Nova….even offered to take baby steps with the Briana and have supervised visits at his house so that he could build trust with her…but Briana was like NO!!! IM A STRONG, INDEPENDENT, SINGLE WOMAN!!!…AND IF YOU KEEP COMING UP WITH WAYS TO SEE NOVA WITHOUT PAYING ME, IM GOING TO THROW SOMETHING AT YOU!!!!
I actually liked her during her 16 and pregnant episode, she seemed VERY naive but Devion did her dirty….but NOW Devion isn’t asking for custody, just more time with his child…I don’t see anything wrong with Brittany taking her to his house and staying for an hour….and on top of that…the amount of abuse Devion is getting from Briana and that wackadoo mother of hers, and he’s still coming around after being assaulted and screamed at….he deserves a few hours of alone time with his daughter.
kail is quite emotionless,very monotone..
I thought she looked like my dog when it does wrong. Just half sit-standing looking into the distance, away from the problem(s) it caused.
The editing on this reunion was the worst I have ever seen I feel like we were left with more questions than actual answers none of it made sense
YES!! Thank you, those were my exact thoughts too. What the hell were we meant to get from this? Two reunion episodes and I’m more confused than ever
I believe we’re meant to get that life, not unlike the schooling in WV, is not well.
You spelled Rine’s Name wrong.
Kaiser should have closed with “Feed Me!”
What the hell is going on Briana’s elbow when she is shaking her finger at Devoin?!!? It looks like she has an open wound/scar with dirt around it!
seems to be an ugly ass tattoo of a tree or something