Daniel O'Brien
"Kids sort of lose their appeal after a few days. We're big into those Hawaiian lays, now."
The episode I watched was littered with moments of both parents saying things like "I can't take this anymore" and "I'm going to have a break down any second, I swear to God." It's not a show about coping with raising eight children, it's a show about two miserable people in a loveless marriage who are incapable of talking about anything besides their miserable, loveless marriage. All of this is happening right in front of the swarm of toddlers, who I have to assume are being supervised by the camera crew filming the series.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no expert on raising kids, but that's also precisely why I don't have any. Here's an exchange that perfectly sets the tone for the episode and, I imagine, the series: One of the girl babies was upset about her missing pony toy.
NAMELESS GIRL BABY Mommy, I can't find my pony toy, have you seen it? KATE OK, you're getting a little obsessive-ish... Stop melting down, I've got to go save the world. And then Kate proceeds to stand in front of her sink pretending to wash a single dish for a while before disappearing for the rest of the afternoon. And the world was safe for another day. In another moment, Jon is in the backyard with his dogs and children, cleaning up dog poop."This is the story of my life," Jon says, his voice coated with misery and regret, "cleaning up other people's crap." I've never seen two parents more blatant about their total resentment for their children. The show is compelling if for no other reason than because you want to make sure the kids make it out of the season.
