Seeking to reunite her "family," Mary reached out to her husband and kids... I mean, Mary reached out to Sabrina back in Pennsylvania and offered to fly her out west to witness the wedding and hopefully smooth things over with Rebecca and Abe.
Once again, Sabrina -- still reeling from the loss of her two children -- reached out to her only reality TV friend: Matt! First, she spent some time discussing her decision to stop fighting to resume custody of her children so that they can settle someone else more stable, such as with her parents.
As usual, Matt was a rock during this conversation. He didn't judge Sabrina for how this went down. Instead, he accepted that her girls can no longer stay with her and commended her for continuing to take care of herself despite all of her current challenges. Sabrina noted that Matt has been her only consistent friend during this latest trial. Once again, I find myself wishing that he'd be allowed more regular access to Sabrina and the rest of the "Return to Amish" family. I mean, why not let us into his life again instead of just using his as a sounding board for Sabrina and her own struggles?
Later on after we learned that this season would be ending with a commitment ceremony, Mary reached out and secretly invited Sabrina to the wedding. This resulted in another visit by Matt for some advice! Sabrina is nervous about going to Vegas because Abe and Rebecca have been pretty nasty to her during their last few encounters. Matt was having none of that:
Are you going to let Abe and Rebecca keep you from going to Vegas? If they want to be pissy about stuff from the past, let them be. You're there for family. You're there for Jeremiah and Carmela. And Mary invited you. So that's why I would go -- if I was invited.(Jon's Note: Which he wasn't -- invited, that is... Which is a serious shame. I guess he should have bought more Tupperware from Mary back in Episode 2!)
Abe and Rebecca have their problems with Sabrina. But if Sabrina goes to Vegas, they might make up and become family again... I'm speaking from personal experience. Like, my family gave up on me when I came out, but I stuck by them. I didn't disown them. I was there for them. And maybe it's pay out for Sabrina to be there for the family.Personally, it would have been nice for Matt to offer to fly to Las Vegas with Sabrina given that she was heading into a volatile situation at a high-stress moment of her life. But that wasn't meant to be.
But Matt's prediction of reconciliation between Sabrina and Rebecca came true. They might not be best friends anymore, but the two women agreed to let go of their mutual hostility and genuinely seemed to have fun in each other's company! Which was a great way to de-stress this Elvis wedding!
Anyway, the wedding happened. Jeremiah and Carmela got some special Elvis cake. Mary got some advise from her husband to tone down her English behavior. And Abe agreed to let Rebecca continue studying for her GED. And thus the season ended.
I can't help but wonder what's gonna happen with the next season -- assuming there is another season. Jeremiah and Carmela separated following a very public domestic violence arrest. And Sabrina ended up going to jail again for a drug-related probation violation. I can't help wondering if these folks will be able to return to the show again or if TLC needs to back off and give them all some time to recover from their interpersonal and legal problems.
Once again, I truly hope that we'll see more of Matt next season. "Return to Amish" could benefit from some new blood -- and frankly, Mary has run out of kids to abandon their Amish roots! Maybe folks like Matt and Lizzie and straighten out Jeremiah and Sabrina and offer their own unique perspectives as ex-Amish and former Mennonite -- him for being doubly-shunned because of his sexuality and her as a fairly stable mother with a black husband and biracial child. I think that it could really shake up the show -- in a positive way.