‘Welcome to Plathville’ Fans Fear for ‘Brainwashed’ Lydia as Her Siblings Prepare to Leave Cairo
Welcome to Plathville viewers are worried about Lydia Plath. The fifth of Ethan and Kim Plath’s nine children — and the oldest who still lives at home — recently broke her parents’ rules by texting with a male friend. After her parents confronted her about the messages, Lydia apologized for disobeying them. But fans of the TLC show fear that her mom and dad are manipulating her and making her feel guilty for normal teenage behavior. Some hope she’ll follow the lead of her older siblings and break away from her parents’ strict rules, but others think that’s unlikely.
Barry and Kim Plath confront their daughter about secret text messages on ‘Welcome to Plathville’
Throughout this season of Welcome to Plathville, 17-year-old Lydia has been keeping in touch with a boy she likes. Kim and Barry aren’t exactly opposed to the relationship, but they’ve asked her to hold off on communicating with him until they can meet him in person.
In the Oct. 26 episode, Kim snooped on her daughter’s phone, and she didn’t like what she found. Kim discovered numerous texts messages between Lydia and the boy, leading to an awkward conversation between the teen and her parents.
Lydia ended up taking all responsibility for breaking her parents’ rules.
“I’ve broken their trust,” she said. “I’m probably disappointed more with myself than they are.”
Fans worry Lydia Plath has been ‘brainwashed’ by her parents
For Lydia, not being honest with her parents about the text messages was a major violation. But many viewers saw it as normal teenage behavior. On social media, they slammed Kim and Barry for making their daughter feel guilty about an innocuous activity.
“The daughter that still lives with the parents is so brainwashed, I feel sad for her,” one person commented on TLC’s Instagram. “She feels guilty and ashamed for no reason.”
“I was annoyed watching them go through her phone and making her feel bad for being a human and having normal feelings that a teenager has,” another wrote.
‘Welcome to Plathville’ viewers want Lydia to follow her siblings’ lead
Kim and Barry’s rigid standards have already caused a break between them and three of their older children: Ethan Plath, Moriah Plath, and Micah Plath, as well as Ethan’s wife Olivia Plath. Ethan and Olivia have no contact with his parents. Moriah and Micah have rejected many of their rules, though they still have a relationship with their parents. Ethan and Olivia have decided to move away from his hometown of Cairo, Georgia, to get away from his parents, and based on a teaser (via Twitter) for the season finale, it looks like Micah and Moriah are following suit.
Fans of the show think that if Kim and Barry don’t learn to lighten up, they’ll lose Lydia just as they did their older kids.
“The 17-year-old will be the next one to move out,” one commented. “They put so much guilt in her, because she likes a boy. Typical teenager, interested in normal teenager things. And they make it like it’s a bad thing.”
But others thought Lydia was unlikely to rebel like her siblings.
“I don’t think she will [leave] for a while,” one wrote. “She seems more brainwashed than the others.”
“She seems like a true believer to me,” another commented.
