Hoarders (on A&E)

[Ladybug]

Dawn was seriously messed up. She needed therapy and her kids needed to be in a safe environment. I hated the way she just had these expletive filled breakdowns in front of them. That's really unhealthy for kids to see their parents that unhinged. Everybody gets mad and curses once in a while, I do it myself, but Dawn was really scary.

She freaked out over the "Darth Tater" Mr. Potato Head almost as badly as she freaked out over the Twin Towers replica. I did wonder why they were trying to make her throw away the banner that she made for the firefighters. It seems like they should concentrate on getting her to get rid of her trash instead of a craft that she'd made herself. I guess they were trying to get her to let go of some 9/11 stuff.

Linda was a very manipulative person. What a nightmare to have her as your mother. The daughter should just get her dad out of there. She needs to cut that woman out of her life. She had no regard whatsoever for her husband's health. She didn't even want to make him food! I believe there are people on this show who have legitimate mental issues, but so many of them, like Linda, seem to just be selfish assholes.

Matt Paxton, the professional cleaner/organizer who helped Linda, gets into confrontations with almost every hoarder he works with. He really confronts them with their bullshit excuses. He and Gerrilyn are my favorite organizers.

[chonies]

I did get kind of a co-dependent, passive/aggressive a-hole vibe from Linda's husband, though. I'm not blaming him, and I know it must be stressful to have a chronic and debilitating health concern but he was ranting all through the parts of the interview that are supposed to showcase why it would be helpful to have a clean house. Also, at the end when the mission of moving him downstairs for health reasons was accomplished, the screen said he complained about loss of privacy. I can see that, sure, maybe he didn't anticipate that, but it came across to me as whining and manipulation. That family was an epic mess.

I'll have to come back to to Dawn later. But for now: wow. I hope the FDNY sends Dawn a cease and desist letter.

[Deleted]

Dawn HAD to be on something -- booze, pills, the crack pipe. SOMETHING. Her word slurring, the way she held her mouth, and, oh, the total psycho behavior. Jesus.

And how come she never named the "cousin" who allegedly died on 9/11? His name wasn't even plastered over that cracked out banner art she created.

I loved the Darth Potato edit. Crazy, awful woman.

[Ladybug]

My DVR cut out at the very end of last night's new episode. Did they give updates on Tami and George?

[Babycakes]

Oct 19, 2010 10:10:46 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

My DVR cut out at the very end of last night's new episode. Did they give updates on Tami and George?

I think they said that George paid his fines and was getting counseling along with his wife. As for Tami, they never found the ring, and she has refused any counseling. Some people are bound and determined to remain rooted in their sickness.

The next episode looks to be a loo-loo. The expert walks off the job.

[margojata]

Oct 12, 2010 14:47:06 GMT -4 @littleediebeale said:

Dawn HAD to be on something -- booze, pills, the crack pipe. SOMETHING. Her word slurring, the way she held her mouth, and, oh, the total psycho behavior. Jesus.

And how come she never named the "cousin" who allegedly died on 9/11? His name wasn't even plastered over that cracked out banner art she created.

I loved the Darth Potato edit. Crazy, awful woman.

Finally catching up with this one - yeah, she just reeked of substance abuse. 9/11 was nothing more than an excuse for her bad behavior. I have a few friends who thrive of drama and tragedy. This chick loves every minute of the 9/11 mourning. Who knows if she really even knew her cousin.

[dwanollah]

I know this is a serious issue (I've mentioned, I have a friend who's a hoarder), but watching this show, and watching some of these parents/partners, all I can think is "What a selfish effing asshole." Five minutes of Mary Ann and Angel, and I have no idea why these two people even share walls and a roof.

[Deleted]

Mary, the consignment store owner, is doomed to hoard until the day she dies unless she sells that store. I hope the aftercare therapist convinces her to. The psychologist was right; it's like an alcoholic owning a bar. Her nephew looked thoroughly unimpressed with Mary's progress, since he said she'd cleaned before and gone right back to hoarding. I got so pissed off at her wasting her inheritance on the hoard. I know it's a mental illness but dang it! My parents sure aren't going to leave me a four bedroom home and a quarter of a million dollars but she seemed to have no problem burning through the cash and trashing the house.

Has anyone noticed that the clean up days never attract attention from the neighbors? Ten 1-800-Got-Junk trucks on the street, piles of crap on the lawn, mental patient melting down at top volume and not one of the neighbors ever swings by to check out what's happening.

[Mutagen]

Well, sometimes people are assholes underneath legitimate mental illness. That's how I feel about some of the hoarders - some of them seem like relatively nice people whose problem has just spiralled, but others are just monsters. The worst that I can remember was Andrew, the dude who got his brother cut out of their dying father's will, so that he could have the house to himself to continue his hoarding. (Am I remembering that situation right?) I tell you, if the brother had just flat-out shot the guy and I were on that jury, he'd never see the inside of a prison cell.

That was also the episode where a homeless dude had taken up residence among the hoarder's shit, and even he was like "We need to clean this fucking mess up already!"

Regarding Darth Tater: I am going straight to hell for how hard I laughed at that. That was also after "Don't touch my 9/11." In a situation where you can either laugh or cry...

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2010 11:45:13 GMT -4 Mutagen said:

Andrew, the dude who got his brother cut out of their dying father's will, so that he could have the house to himself to continue his hoarding. (Am I remembering that situation right?) I tell you, if the brother had just flat-out shot the guy and I were on that jury, he'd never see the inside of a prison cell.

You're remembering it right, and I'd be alongside you on that jury with two thumbs up. I know the therapist was trying to deal with Andrew's hoarding first and the sibling issues had to take a back seat but the brother had a legit point. Andrew was crazy like a fox and had finagled his brother out of half of a $500K home, only to completely trash it. Talk about twisting the knife!