Screen: MTV
Welcome To The World, Peyton! Your Grandma Is A Junkie.
Apparently, Summer's been so busy learning how to tell when her mother is high that she never got a chance to find out where Oregon is.
How sad is 16 & Pregnant by default? I'll tell you: the tale of an expectant teenager whose addict mother is probably about to be incarcerated is in the 95th percentile of episodes that make you think she might actually make it in life.
Summer may not have gotten a great start in life thanks to her mother Katrina's drug problems. But she made a good choice in her boyfriend DJ, who has nice parents who let Summer move in with them to escape the chaos at home. Frances, DJ's mom, has no illusions about how hard things will be for the couple, and she and DJ's dad (only seen once) are good enough parents to set expectations for Summer in exchange for their generosity: she just has to finish high school and graduate. Will she meet them! ...Well, see below.
Summer seems like a sweet girl who's learned some tough life lessons from her mom's addiction, which may have crowded out her knowledge of where Oregon is (unless she's kidding when DJ expresses a wish to move there because it seems like he never hears about anything bad happening there and Summer's like, "Where is that?" but...I don't think so), but who may just have a shot thanks to her in-laws' love and support, but exactly how typical is her story for the series?
| 16 and Pregnant-Y Element | Present? |
|---|---|
| Staged "reminiscence" about how the news broke. | DJ's mother refers to her feelings of anxiety for the couple when she heard about their unplanned pregnancy, but without much detail. |
| Pregnancy is due to ignorance about contraception. | Just general incompetence: Summer and DJ were using condoms when they first became sexually active, but then they ran out and didn't bother to get new ones, because why would you. |
| Alternatives to motherhood are mentioned. | "I never even thought about abortion. I never thought about adoption either, but definitely not abortion. We don’t believe in that." |
| Teen Dad is worthless and/or out of the picture. | DJ is a crappy painter and a poor money manager, but he seems like a good kid overall and from what we see is a dedicated co-parent. |
| Teen Mom has one or more friends who are already teen moms. | Not that we see. |
| Any of the baby's grandparents is a nightmare. | Summer's mother Katrina has "struggled with addiction" since Summer was in the fourth grade. Early on, she tells Summer she's been sober for around three weeks, but Summer doesn't seem that impressed and it turns out she's right to withhold her praise. Katrina also shows up to Summer's labour with Summer's aunt Martha who, from under her extremely inexpensive wig, proceeds to talk at length about the fact that childbirth is the worst pain Summer will ever experience (with Katrina chiming in to agree). |
| Teen Mom has unrealistic plans for keeping her life on track after baby. | Summer had promised DJ's parents that she'd finish high school and graduate, which I assume is a pretty reasonable goal. But after the baby arrives, she decides she can't, and aims to get her GED instead. |
| Teen Mom fights with Teen Dad. | Sort of? DJ gets a deal ($85) on a pit bull puppy from a lady who works at Village Pizza. First of all, don't pay for dogs, especially not pit bulls who are everywhere and have a hard time getting adopted. Second, don't get a puppy when you are about to have a baby. Anyway, Summer gently suggests that maybe there are more useful things they could spend that money on, but she's less opposed to the idea than his mom and sister are, and then he goes and gets the puppy anyway. So this is a pretty marginal checkmark. |
| Teen Mom fights with her parent/s. | When she tries to take Katrina for a peacemaking dinner, Katrina tries to make Summer kiss her while Summer's driving and hops out of the car at a stoplight to smoke and finally admits that before Summer picked her up, she took two Klonopin. As the episode ends, Katrina's waiting to find out about sentencing for having gotten caught writing bad cheques. |
| The baby gets a stupid name. | I spend a large part of the episode thinking Summer and DJ are planning to name their child Pagan. Fortunately, it's Peyton. |
| Gross-out factor is present. | Other than evidence on the rug that the puppy is not being housebroken, things are pretty shipshape. |
| Is Jenelle Evans still the worst Teen Mom of the franchise? | Summer may not know where Oregon is, but she's mature enough to parent her own mother and Jenelle. |
| 6 / 12 Final Score |
50% 16 & Pregnant |
| 25% Scared Straight |
|
| 25% Dog Whisperer prequel |