Sam Fang
This season of 1000-lb Sisters has been a whirlwind, from Tammy Slaton’s brush with death in a nursing home facility to Tammy’s successful weight loss surgery and shortly thereafter, relationship that turned into engagement and just two weeks later, a wedding! As last week’s episode ended, Tammy’s family had a lot to discuss about Tammy’s hurry to rush down the aisle — with Chris throwing out the possibility that an unplanned pregnancy may be the cause for it all.
Pregnancy so soon after gastric bypass surgery is especially risky; something that Amy herself learned after waiting much longer and getting pregnant. As the family heads to the wedding at the nursing home, they discuss their reservations with Tammy’s hasty marriage.
Chris feels like the intense questioning he gave Caleb (Tammy’s fiancee) was a positive experience, and even calls Caleb ‘golden,’ though he adds that he still doesn’t agree with things being so quick. The family jokes about who should be the one to stand up and object to the ceremony. Amanda definitely seems the most likely based on personality, and she admits that she’s the one that likes to tell the truth. “She don’t [sic] want the truth. She wants you to go along with it,” Misty reminds her.
With all that said, Amanda feels like perhaps Chris’s talk with Caleb wasn’t stern enough, so she plans one of her own, saying that family is the last line of defense for Tammy.
Meanwhile, Tammy is very much still in puppy love (which makes sense, considering the relationship is still fairly new), and she admits she worries what Amanda will do at the ceremony. There’s been a change of plans for the ceremony, due to cold weather, it will now be held in the nursing home’s dining room.
The family has to wait to start decorating the room because of a bingo activity currently going on — which just goes to show how rushed and haphazard the wedding has been thrown together.
Running with this, the family solemnly asks Tammy if she’s pregnant and that is the reason for the shotgun wedding. “Nobody’s having a shotgun wedding,” Tammy says 100% seriously. (?!) She’s not pregnant, and sticks to her guns that the wedding is so quick because she wants her friends at the facility to be able to attend before she is sent home.
A few hours before the wedding, Tammy, Amy and Brittany head to the facility’s salon where stylist Dana preps their hair for the ceremony. Chris, Amanda and Misty head to have a sit down with Caleb. “I’m gonna f**k around and find out,” Amanda says to Caleb, immediately letting him know she means business and won’t be as easy on him as Chris was in last week’s episode. Considering Caleb admitted himself he only checked himself into this specific rehab facility was because he knew Tammy was there and wanted to be close to her, Amanda is easily taking the right approach. “If it’s a snake in the grass, we just cut the head off. That’s how we roll.”
They bombard Caleb with big questions — including whether he’ll sign a prenup to which he agrees. Caleb, of course, has all the right answers that they want to hear and they believe he’s in love with her because, well, the two do seem like they’re in love — at least for now. Whether their whirlwind romance will stand the test of time is what remains to be seen — and undoing a wedding will certainly complicate things compared to if the couple had just taken a few months to a year to get past that puppy love phase before such a big commitment.
After the bingo game ends, there’s little time for the family to get the dining room wedding-ready — which involves placing some thin tablecloths and autumnal decorations on the wall and table tops. The Slaton family has never been lavish, but this seems a little underwhelming given the occasion. Though given the venue and how rushed the ceremony was, it makes sense.
To make matters worse, the clothes Amy got for Caleb don’t fit him properly. When Amy messes up Tammy’s hair, she starts crying in fear that Tammy will be upset, but Tammy’s new outlook on life has her in a much more positive headspace. Caleb, though, is freaking out about his clothes not fitting, and his nursing aides try to calm him, asking other patients for dress clothes that fit. It’s not the traditional wedding attire he wanted, but he doesn’t really have a choice at this point.
The wedding ceremony begins and, as typical for a reality show, there’s drama teased of Tammy getting cold feet, but it’s all exaggerated and she arrives on time and happy as ever. As the show cuts to Tammy and Caleb talking about each other happily while the rest of the family discusses wanting Tammy’s happiness despite their reservations, it mixes in some shots of the ceremony and the facility that really hit home just how rushed and soon all of this has happened.
It may just be my own cynicism, but the excessive testimonies of how in love the two are, coupled with the fact Caleb’s presence in the nursing home was completely driven by a desire to be near Tammy (whom he knows because of the reality show) really makes it seem like Caleb is after his fifteen minutes of fame or perhaps the medical connections that come with being on the show.
Everyone remains silent during the part of the ceremony that calls for objections (despite a hilarious cut to Amanda making a wide-eyed face of temptation.) Caleb breaks down in tears during the vows, and the two are wed.
At the reception, Amy gives a speech acting drunk off of fake wine (or maybe she had her own drink from somewhere else…) “We’re not the Slaton sisters no more [sic],” she cries. “I know it’s your big day, but it’s kind of both of our day,” she remarks. It’s an oddly selfish moment from Amy to bring any of the attention to herself (and Caleb appears completely unamused by it.)
As the season wraps up, the family members discuss their goals, and Amy remarks how both she and Tammy have hit the goals they wanted when 1000-lb Sisters first premiered. Amy now has her children, and Tammy has had her weight loss surgery.
While Season 5 of 1000-lb Sistershas yet to be announced, Season 4 seems like a nice ending point for the series — though Tammy beginning her married life certainly could provide the show with lots more drama to come, should new seasons be on the horizon.
Loading…