Maci and Taylor both regularly drink light beer. I don’t seem mentions of him being an alcoholic, just her. I think maybe the (American) audience aren’t used to seeing a woman causally drink bottled beer on tv. I don’t see any signs of her having a problem in her behaviour etc. She has 3 kids, runs 2 businesses, coaches a sports team and films for TM…there’s never been any signs of intoxication or problems like not being able to film due erratic behaviour.
I see her issues with Ryan differently. In earlier series she was expressing a lot of concern about his drug use and that his family were ignoring it. She was worried about Ryan specially because of the danger of a heroin overdose and Bentley losing his father, plus although she trusted his grandparents to lol after his safety generally she had concerns that any lapse in their judgement due to how they pander to their son could put her child in danger. Her expressing these concerns publicly is what caused the major fall-out. They were all on fairly good terms before that.
Why Jen/Larry/Mackenzie were so angry isn’t actually clear…because it seemed like a king it public is what got Ryan into rehab the first time, and once it was in the open they all talked about it on camera. When Ryan completed rehab Maci was not convinced he was staying clean…he would not consent to any drug testing. On camera it also wasn’t obvious by his demeanour either way. Her relationship with their entire family never recovered.
He was clearly using heavily for a significant period before his overdose and second stint in rehab, meaning Maci had to be concerned for Bentley’s safety around him. She never stopped him from doing things like attending his sports games, it appears she always made either his or the grandparents aware of those opportunities.
I think Maci’s ‘love’ for Ryan is all about ensuring Bentley does have to go through the heartbreak of losing his father. I don’t think she has any specific feelings for him herself, however as the situation has been going on for their entire marriage, it clearly could be putting strain on her relationship with Taylor.
The person in that family I feel sad for is Jen. She appears to be constantly doing her best and is very loyal. Unfortunately she has mothered Ryan too much enabling his problems, and her love for her grandson getting into a situation of being the co-parent has put her in harm’s way because she to an extent lost that when things went wrong and also with Bentley growing up and not wanting to be with his grandparents every weekend. If anyone is an alcoholic, I’d put money on Larry having a problem. There are scenes where he is showing an underlying short temper, erratic emotions and he has the red face of either a medical or alcohol issue. There was an episode where Maci mentioned that Larry was being erratic at Bentley’s sports game which upset him…she said he was screaming at him and climbing onto a fence. I think Jen has no idea what she has done wrong and why she is in this situation, she has genuinely tried to do her best for her family. However if we look at how Maci has raised Bentley…he has been raised quite strictly, doing chores, high expectations for schoolwork, enrolled and encouraged in a lot of sports. I think she is making sure history doesn’t repeat itself and has observed how Ryan was raised and is doing the opposite. Bentley isn’t going to get time or opportunity to go off the rails, and isn’t going to get an easy ride if he chooses not to work like Ryan did.
it wasn’t mtv who made it though I’ve got vh1 in my head or some sort of channel like that. I’ll have to have another look online see where the uk has it lol I’m sure farrah did it and might have done a family one too with her crazy mother xx
