Season 24, Episode 3 PART 2
Chantel, Joey, Jordan, Tim, Christine, and maybe Joe?
Location: Garden Grove, CA
Addiction: Fentanyl
Official Synopsis: When Christine’s brother died in a tragic accident, she turned to methamphetamine and her seemingly perfect family spiraled out of control; interventionists Ken Seeley and Sylvia Parsons team up on the biggest case of their careers.
What’s Memorable: I don’t know yet! Posting this early so you can discuss it when it airs, will replace when I see it. -Dizzy
Interventionist: Ken and Sylvia
Date Aired: June 28, 2022
Oof. What an episode. Dylann is an amazing, strong young woman; loved her. Joey looked so great in the follow-up. When Chantal closed with “I’m back to using but I still want my son so blah blah blah”…then you should have stayed in treatment dumb***!
omg that part about Chantal, I thought the same!!
Was she smirking?
I thought it was so interesting that Joey, who was the most initially reluctant of them all, was the most successful (so far).
I just made the same observation—the two who resisted the hardest wound up being the only two who made it. I thought it spoke volumes that they didn’t give Christine or Joey a sobriety date, and they didn’t say anything about Joe specifically at all. So heartbreaking.
Did I miss any update on Joe at the end I don’t recall one.
Cheering for Joey to keep being so strong when 2 of his siblings left treatment. Has to be so damn hard!
I don’t think there was an update on Joe, unfortunately.
There should have been, as he was just as much in denial as anyone else, really. Joey, though, came through. I am so so proud of him. I didn’t think he’d come through in rehab.
Joe was the dad, right? Sorry, I got their names all mixed up. I also found it strange there was no update but I reckon he is still visiting and enabling them. I hope he quit ruining himself at least. I feel very sorry for his daughter and partner (?).
They said only Tim and Joey stayed sober, so I’m thinking he didn’t. He was in way to much denial.
Jesus… The mom’s behaviour made my blood boil. I don’t understand how she could keep the kids after the divorce. Was no one thinking of reporting her?? I don’t care how many problems you have, you have no right to destroy your own kids, especially by using drugs when you’re pregnant. I really don’t have much compassion for her.
Chantal is one of the scariest-looking addicts I’ve ever seen and I struggled to watch her. I wish them all the best and even though it seems unlikely, I hope at least some of them will make it.
Yes, Chantal looked very strange.
Chantel, sadly, appears to have physical & mental benchmarks for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Obviously I am not diagnosing her, but it’s plausible given her mother’s proclivity.
Tim is a piece of work
Yes, but he completed the program despite Christine quitting. I hope he stays sober and doesn’t go back to her.
I love Sylvia!!!
For being a 2 episode intervention…that ending really left a lot unanswered. What happened with Joe? I’m assuming he left as well but we’d never know because they didn’t say anything about him, and he was a big part of the whole thing. They did say Tim was sober but did no interview with him (I know he was a minor part, but still) and they said Christine went back for 30 days but no follow-up interview with her either? The whole ending just had me going, “what the hell?”
Anyway…Joey looked great at the end, good for him for staying in treatment. He should never go back home. And their sister Dylann is such a beautiful, strong, compassionate young woman, they really should feel lucky to have someone like her in the family. I do also agree with the way Chantel looks, something is off and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Just seemed strange.
I thought they said Joe went to sober living after treatment.
Tim went to sober living; they didn’t mention anything about Joe. I remember thinking, “What about Joe?”
I think that this has to be one of the most frustrating episodes I’ve ever watched. I felt there were so many unanswered questions. I understand that the storytelling was limited by documenting so many addicts in a two-part episode, but the finished product made this family so one-dimensional that they were difficult to relate to or even root for. Making a big deal about Joe, Christine, and Chantal participating in the process of convincing Joey and Jordan to go, then suddenly sending them out ahead really underscored that even Sylvia and Ken didn’t have high expectations for success. It almost feels like the episode avoided building rapport between the audience and the subjects by refusing to dig any deeper because the outcome was so dismal.
I inferred Joe left treatment— which wouldn’t surprise me. It would be interesting to know if Christine go sober the second time she got treatment.
I feel real sorry for anyone that would sink to the depths this family did. They don’t do anything but drugs. The multiple failures in treatment didn’t surprise me. I was surprised at Joey’s success – although there was no indication he kept up with his success. The Mother (Christine) failed and went back – but we don’t know how she ended up faring, either. All we know is she completed 30 days of treatment. Chantal seemed like a phony to me. Using her son as an excuse. The other boy (Jordan), I could tell he was looking for an excuse (to exit treatment) as well, and he found one. Probably the most interesting one is the Father. I could certainly be wrong here but I’ll still give my take. I don’t think he was an out and out addict. I think Meth was like coffee for him. He was a completely functioning, responsible person. I didn’t think he was using his family’s drug use as an excuse to use drugs himself. I really believe he loved them and was trying in some way to connect with them. As far as the enabling – I think in his mind he was taking care of his family. I felt sorry for him at the barbecue. He’s outside eating by himself while his family is in that cramped quarters eating and doing drugs. I really think, in his mind, he feels doing drugs is a way to connect with them. He wants to be a part of their lives. He can’t see any other way other than joining in. But joining in on a level that he manages to keep control of himself. He’s not so far gone that he is going to sit in a room and do drugs all day. I think he’s a real good guy in a very confused situation. Just my take……
That was how I felt about the dad too. I feel like he just used meth as a way to connect with his family. I think for him the co-dependency and addiction to not losing his family was more of an issue than any kind of drug use itself.
Hi Anna – yeah I watched the episode again to be sure. I’m with you RE: The Father. This guy was more addicted to his family than anything else. Or maybe co-dependent as you said. I felt sorry for him. How else can he connect with them other than occasionally chiming in? We’re talking about 4 people that do nothing but drugs. Maybe he should have tried harder to get them all to stop. But on the other side of that – he may have felt he’d lose them all for good if he pressed the issue. It’s a strange situation.
I know it isn’t parents responsibility to care for their grandchildren. But I do have to wonder where both Joe and Christine’s parents were when Christine had relasped on meth, Joe left her and didn’t even fight for his kids who were living with a mother who was using. I wonder how far back the addictions go? There just seems like a huge disconnect.
As for Chantal. There is something really off with her. I don’t know if the smirking is her coping mechanism, but it was offputting. It’s sad for her son that she couldn’t get clean. It is probably best that he stays with his paternal grandparents, because his maternal family is full of dysfunction and it’s his only chance to not repeat the cycle.
I hope Joey is doing okay still. He has the support of his younger half sister. I had thought Jordan was going to get clean because he seemed to have the most awareness of how bad the addiction was. I do wonder if he has some kind of intellectual disability.
Somebody has to ask it, and I guess it’s me; WTF was up with the grandma’s wig?
You just said what I didn’t have the nerve to 😆
I honestly didn’t mean to come off as look-shaming but that thing was a choice.
Totally channeling Brian May of Queen.
I thought she was channeling Weird Al! But I see Brian May in there too.
I noticed that too! I think it would’ve looked nice on an older Black woman but it was odd to see a white woman wearing it
I was able to find some of their Facebook profiles: doesn’t seem too hopeful. I saw a comment on one of Dylann’s posts from Joe and he said something about how he moved to Colorado to get a fresh start, and how Ken “and his minions” brainwashed her and the family. From the sounds of it, Dylann doesn’t have contact with her dad (understandably so!). https://www.facebook.com/100009265594454/posts/pfbid02TCJe7p7HdzBcxJ7VxmHUzxSBNn8VR6wCxC3n65FXcDEAo1LYXNFT76zBjpGTzG8Pl/?d=n
She was such a strong, loving, courageous young woman. Her dad’s comments are so grossly self-serving. He couldn’t even admit he was smoking meth, and kept trying to redefine his use until the very end. The denial was probably among the most extreme the show has ever featured.
Did you find Joey’s FB profile? Would love to hear an update. I’m so hoping he stayed away from his family.
Disregard. I found his profile. Unfortunately, he is still in touch with his mom.
This is one of the most disturbing episodes and the most disappointing ending! That family was so sick and some of them in such denial (dad)! The moms indifference is sickening! She’s ruined all 3 of her children’s lives! To see those 2 young men so messed up and far gone is beyond heartbreaking! The only bright side was seeing Joey in recovery! I was so very concerned for his mental health during the episode! He was in complete psychosis from the drugs, scary to watch, and so sad because he’s so young with infinite potential! Seeing him stick it out in rehab was AMAZING! He looked GREAT and clear headed, like a young man his age should be, full of life! I pray he stays in recovery and reclaims his life! As for the rest, I had a feeling they would leave treatment, I find the mom insufferable. My prayers are with them all!
I was so happy to hear about Joey, S24E3. I wanted him more than anyone to get help. My heart went out to him. I hope he is still doing well..
A few things…all the kids and mom are living off the dole, so the tax payer is funding their addiction and apparently Christine and Chantal’s beauty regimens (mom is not a natural blonde and Chantal’s spider lashes aren’t covered by food stamps). They drive under the influence, have massive amounts of drugs in their apartment and commit fraud to supplement their “income” – how about a call to the police and social services? That would be no different than an enabling family member kicking out the user and cutting off financial support.
I feel especially bad for the boys, they never had a chance and I hope they all get clean but odds are if one of them gets clean and stays clean – that’s a win.
This was heartbreaking. Of all the family members, the one who was the most difficult intervention & least likely to go to treatment stayed in treatment the longest. I was so sad to see this play out because I want to see him stay sober & healthy. But it will be impossible if he returns to the family.
I have seen every single episode of Intervention and this one was hard to watch. The way drug use has been so normalized in this family was unbelievable. Zero boundaries and so enmeshed. I actually said aloud “this is so fucked”. I understand grief but it seemed wild to be that the mom could spiral this far just from the loss of her sibling. 20+ years of hardcore drug use, using while pregnant, and having all her children fall into the same pattern. Maybe she has attempted to get clean before or there’s more to her story but the level of codependency and seeming lack of guilt floored me. I don’t blame any of those children for using with the lack or parenting or having to take on the role of a parent.
The fact that the youngest son could be as ill as he was and the other family members could just be annoyed with him for using their stash or “scaring them” shows just how low the bar is set in this family for what is healthy can not. Joe’s denial was some of the worse of ever seen. Saying that he just takes a few puffs and doesn’t even inhale demonstrated how normalized the drug use has become as well. Like you’re smoking meth with your kids?? So so sad and shocking that Jordan was the only one that seemed to get better. They are so entangled with each other that if they are not all sober then there’s not even a point to trying to get well? Yikes.
In addition to her brother dying, her dad was an alcoholic and at a young age, Christine would drink with him. I’m sure there’s more to this story.
i’m all over the place with this one. addiction is a very serious thing and you kinda don’t think straight most of times, but the way christine made de bed for her kids to use drugs is upsetting. the boys literally never had a chance. i cried along during the the boys intervention and i saw how the eldest one start crying right away. joey was so out of it, the way christine and joe didn’t do anything to help him made me really pissed. i don’t know, i’m upset, it’s depressing to see how their lives took them to this prison that is addiction. wishing them the best
This one reminded me of Susan from last season- the Mormon family that was all enmeshed with drug use and enabling. However that episode was a bit more compelling, but maybe just because it was SOOOO out there. It almost seemed like the interventionists were trying to take lessons learned from that episode and apply them here- ie more than 1 interventionist, trying to get ahead of everyone’s addiction story, taking the interventions in turn- but everything still fell apart.
i think in Susan’s case (the Mormon family) the addiction didn’t start with her mother, it started with Susan herself and “spread” in a way. Susan also seemed very level-headed and genuinely WANTED to quit, while nobody in this family seemed to have that same drive besides Joey who came through out of nowhere.
Just finished this one and wow.. I think Joey wasn’t quite fully aware of his surroundings the whole time and once he detoxed and the psychosis lifted he realized that he could have his own healthy life. Rooting for him. The mother is just appalling. Felt like I was left with more questions than answers after two episodes..