MiniCap (Part 2): 16 and Pregnant

Okay, let me get this out of the way. It applies to the entire MiniCap and subsequent Recap, as does my apology for saying it.

STFU, Katie.

Girl needs some older friends. She needs people other than her mom to tell her that life, by its nature, hardly ever goes the way we want it to. And as adaptable humans, we do what we need to do, and we try to make the best of it, and eventually good things happen to balance out the bad. I get that she doesn’t know this ‘cause she’s a teenager. I wish that made it less annoying.

This dude is no way important to the ep, but he fulfills the Stupid Hat Quota nicely.

I would have preferred Mackenzie Part 2: If I Can’t Bronc’ Ride, How ‘Bout Four-Wheelin? Or something similar. But, you know, little disappointments. I’m moving on.

Katie has this dream of going to college in Denver, as well as the super-ambitious idea of being called Dr. when she gets her Master’s degree. Not sure if she understands the part about doctors, especially psych docs, being empathetic and helping people. She graduates from her Wyoming high school before her baby is born, which puts her ahead of the game education-wise, as this show goes. She’s also got a job in retail, which, hey, how about a little gratitude to not have to work around grease and hungry people, and for it not to be a huge deal if you sit down sometimes?

Katie lives with her babydaddy Joey, Joey’s mom and stepdad, and Joey’s brother and sister. It’s a crowded home, but it seems happy. Katie’s mom, Luci, is a realist who comes off as a naysayer since Katie’s so one track about her irrevocable life plan. And Luci’s got this face that always looks disapproving regardless of her mood. The eyeliner placement doesn’t help, I’m just saying.

Katie goes to Prom with her girlfriends. There’s a series of dresses being tried on that should have been done in silly, jerky, sped-up motion. But they save that for the housekeeping sequence later, the better to teach us an Important Lesson about Growing Up Too Fast. Prom seems pretty disappointing, and hey, props to her friends for forgoing, or at least delaying, drunken Prom sexcapades to have milkshakes with her.

Back in my day… people actually looked better. Not gonna lie.

As is her wont, Katie has large and important plans about how she and Joey are going to get their own place and Baby Molli’s gonna have a nursery. We find out during a fight that her real motivation is that she feels bad living off Joey’s parents and she wants her and Joey to be able to support themselves and not be dependent. Well, why didn’t you say that? That sounds much less assy and entitled than just “the baby [who won’t know or care for awhile] has to have a nursery!” Also, does she thank any of the parents at any point during the show?

Joey and Katie take a break for a few weeks, but once she goes into labor, he’s at her side and things are better. He gets a job in the mines that pays well, exhausts him, and makes his face dirty. They rent an apartment, and the baby gets her nursery.

She has the kid with no painkillers. Here’s a medal. Can I call you Medal-Haver Katie?

The baby is adorable and excellently styled.

Joey’s mine job kind of precludes Katie’s plan to jaunt to Denver and be a college gal, ‘cause it’s not like he can just transfer to a Denver mine. I think she thinks it’s a possibility, and there are no mines where I live, but I’m thinking that sounds a little optimistic.

I forgot to get the phone number for Coal HR. My bad.

So with this dark cloud of staying in Wyoming hanging over her head, she has to be home alone all day and cook and clean and have no one to talk to. This makes for a barrage of complaints when Joey gets home. He reminds her that he gave up stuff for the baby, too. It’s not like he’s out partying every night, or ever. It kind of looks like the baby is more top priority for him than for her. Which is good, because the baby should be top priority for someone.