‘Welcome to Plathville’ Fans Divided Over Ethan Plath’s ‘Frustrating’ Sit-Down With Mom Kim Ahead of Season Finale
Ethan Plath sat down with his mother, Kim Plath, for the first time after a two-year estrangement on the latest episode of TLC’s Welcome to Plathville to try and understand each other better. Mother and son came to an understanding of each other’s current situations during a long-overdue discussion. However, viewers found their interaction “frustrating” more than healing ahead of the series season 4 finale.
It’s been two years since Ethan and Kim Plath spoke
Kim Plath and her oldest son Ethan have not spoken for two years.
Difficulties arose in their relationship after Ethan married Olivia. Kim and her daughter-in-law didn’t see eye-to-eye, leaving Ethan to choose between his wife’s happiness or loyalty to his parents.
Tensions were already high during the show’s first season, as Ethan and Olivia broke away from many of the Plath family’s religious and conservative ways and found thier life path.
However, Ethan appeared torn at the thought of leaving his parents’ teachings and siblings behind.
Mother and son met at a local spot to discuss their differences and Kim and her husband Barry’s separation.
“I’m just more nervous than anything else,” Kim admitted. However, she was hopeful they could resolve their differences.
“The last few years, anytime I’ve thought about what it would take to bring us together again, my answer was always ‘It would take a miracle,’ and … this might be the day. It’s possible. This miracle is ready to happen.”
‘Welcome to Plathville’ fans are divided over Ethan and Kim Plath’s ‘frustrating’ talk
Kim and Barry Plath felt Olivia’s influence over their children usurped many of their family’s strict beliefs. Therefore, they began enforcing strict rules regarding Ethan and Olivia’s visits with thier children as the couple moved emotionally away from his family.
However, Ethan felt the pull to straighten things out with his parents. Therefore, after speaking with father Barry about his and Kim’s divorce, Ethan sat down with his mother for the first time in two years.
Fans were not impressed by their interaction.
“There’s something about Kim. It seems to me she’s trying to make the kids feel sorry for her choices. She says she dedicated her life to raising all the kids. Well, she chose to have all those children. It’s annoying listening to her try to play the victim,” wrote one viewer.
“This was beyond unproductive. Imagine raising nine kids by yourself and your adult son saying, ‘I feel like you didn’t even try,’” penned a second fan.
“It doesn’t sound like Kim took responsibility. Ethan told her about his pain, and she didn’t get it. I remember the time Kim wouldn’t let the kids go to the car to see Olivia. Regardless of her feelings for Olivia, she kept innocent children away from Olivia. That was childish on her part,” deduced a third Instagram user.
“I’m not a Kim fan. However, I think at the time, she did her best. She now sees things differently and realizes she made some mistakes in raising her kids. She has fallen out of love with Barry and has tried to explain why her feelings have changed. I think the change in her kids has given her a new perspective on life,” claimed a fourth viewer.
Mending fences with Kim may allow Ethan to let go of his childhood trauma
Think you know what's going to happen on the 2-hour season finale of #WelcomeToPlathville? Think. Again. pic.twitter.com/q0ll9ZTNpa
— TLC Network (@TLC) August 2, 2022
Ethan Plath has said that his upbringing has shaped many of his views today.
Nowhere was this more evident than when he, his wife Olivia, and brother Micah went to a strip club for Micah’s 21st birthday.
Ethan was extremely uncomfortable as women in various stages of undress danced for him.
After being raised to avert his eyes in public when a woman wore revealing clothing, being at this type of establishment appeared to be more than Ethan could handle.
In a teaser for the season finale, Olivia talks with Micah.
She admits, “I don’t want to have relationships that aren’t good for me,” she says, to which he replies, “You’re holding your husband from seeing his parents.”
Moriah Plath says in a confessional, “It feels like something is so tight it’s about to pop.”
The two-hour season finale of Welcome to Plathville airs tonight at 9 p.m. EST on TLC.
