We finally have a preview trailer and a premiere date for the new season of Return To Amish! We also have some rather shocking cast news as it is confirmed Kate Stoltz will not be returning to the show this season.
First, here’s the preview trailer, which highlights some of the drama viewers can expect this season:
HOLY MOLY!! That’s A LOT to take in all at once!! Let’s see if I can’t put together a preview recap for you. (More on the absence of Kate in a minute.)
Mama Mary remains reality television’s greatest “fish out of water” and it appears that TLC has her flopping around at a male strip club — and behind the wheel of a Knight Rider era Pontiac Trans Am! Oh, and she also apparently has a gambling problem — which will most certainly be exacerbated by a cast trip to Las Vegas.
By the way, if you watch the trailer closely, you will Mary actually reaching into a male stripper’s underwear. So much for her only liking her meat out of a jar! #ZING
Ah, but watching other strippers isn’t all Magic Mary is up to — she actually takes a turn on a stripper pole herself:
What drives Mama Mary to the Sin City Magic Mike Knight Rider life? It’s her ongoing issues with her Amish church, which has shunned her once again and even prevented her from attending her own father’s funeral. Meanwhile, Mary’s husband Chester remains sincerely (and charmingly) befuddled by all the craziness. Let’s hope Chester doesn’t find out about Mama Mary’s budding acting career:
Mary’s son Abe Schmucker and daughter-in-law Rebecca Schmucker continue to have issues in their relationship, the latest of which is an argument over Rebecca wanting to get her GED, which Abe thinks is a waste of time. (Of all of the things in the trailer, this one seems the most contrived to me. I genuinely don’t believe Abe would actively try to prevent Rebecca from getting her GED.)
SPOILER ALERT – Rebecca does continue to pursue her GED, and her latest update on Twitter indicates that she is VERY close to getting it! “Well now I just have to pass my math so I can get my GED!” Rebecca tweeted on April 6. “I passed 3/4 so far!” Another spoiler is that the Trans Am we see Mary driving in the trailer appears to actually be Abe’s. 🙁 But perhaps that leaves the door open for Mama Mary to eschew the whole Knight Rider thing in favor of the Mamas of Anarchy.
In what looks to be the most emotional story line this season, Sabrina High struggles with having her daughter Oakley taken away from her by CPS for the second time. And on top of that, Sabrina is pregnant again. We’ve covered Sabrina’s story extensively over the years, and you can find out more about the events leading up to her losing Oakley a second time here, and you can meet Sabrina’s second child here.
I have to confess that I am biting my nails anxiously about seeing Sabrina’s story unfold. She has all but abandoned social media, so it’s unclear what the outcome was — or will be.
Newlyweds Carmela and Jeremiah Raber appear to have some rather major issues as they try to make their young relationship work. Adding stress to the situation is that the couple is relocating across the country from Washington to Florida! (You can find out more about the couple’s Florida home here.) Perhaps a honeymoon trip to Las Vegas will do them some good? (Unlike Mary.)
In addition, there is a tease that Jeremiah and Carmela are trying to get pregnant, and there is a scene where she is shown getting a sonogram. A close up of the sonogram shown indicates that it was a fertility check, and not a baby. Oh, and at one point Carmela suggests that their marital troubles might be because of the curse that was put on her when she left the cult she was raised in.
SPOILER ALERT – Carmela and Jeremiah are still going strong, at least judging from their very active social media accounts. There has been no announcement about Carmela being pregnant, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t. I’m guessing that a lot of fans of the show didn’t think Jermela would last this long, so it’s nice to see them proving the haters wrong and continuing their happily ever after. 🙂
UPDATE – After the trailer was released, the cast was bombarded with the usual negativity. Carmela took to Facebook to ask that folks please reel in the hate — and to her credit, she handled it WAAAAAY better than Jeremiah has in the past:
Pretty Please no negativity. We’re sharing our life with everyone and although yes we may not be perfect but it’s our life and our loved ones so yes it hurts when people say bad things about us.
If u ever by chance met anyone of the cast members in person you’d see how loving and amazing they are and yes everyone has bad days so does every human being that’s alive because if we were so perfect we’d be in heaven. So unfortunately we have to accept the bad with the good and encourage the good more than the bad. I’m not trying to be mean just starting to see not so nice messages ❤️❤️❤️❤️
With that being said to everyone who supports us and especially the ones who has messaged me and talks with me about their experiences with the cult i seriously had no idea how many people were affected by branham even his own family. Your stories seriously empower me and love that we pulled through and now we all were brought together even if you had a great experience still in some way together with each others support we will get through because god is a loving god and with him and each other we will be strong.
UPDATE – It appears that Jeremiah is still an ass after all. He was arrested in Florida on April 22 and charged with domestic violence. In a deleted Facebook post after his arrest, Carmela reveals that he treated her HORRIBLY. Click the link for more information.
Meanwhile, Kate Stoltz is nowhere to be seen in the trailer, and Carmela confirmed on Facebook that she will not be on this season. Kate’s absence should come as no surprise to fans of the show as she has been VERY vocal in the past about how unpleasant the experience has been — due in large part to how producers “bullied” her and edited footage.
Someone on Twitter noticed Kate’s absence from the trailer and commended her for not coming back. “Thank you?” Kate responded. “I am thrilled to instead be prioritizing my education & pursing career goals that will make me a stronger designer?.”
So how is Kate doing? She continues to kick ass. She’s still in New York City pursuing her modeling and fashion design careers, as indicated by her tweet. Her health and the well-being of others remain a top priority for Kate, as evidenced by her recently completing a half marathon for charity.
Ran my 2nd #10krace this morning benefitting the #uaehealthykidney ???? pic.twitter.com/jDGEMf5t5a
— Kate Stoltz (@kate__stoltz) April 9, 2017
I am VERY happy for Kate, but as a fan of the show I have to say I ‘m disappointed we wont get to see her this season. I always thought she was a vital ingredient in the show’s success, and her successes outside of reality TV are refreshingly inspiring. Perhaps she and producers will be able to work out their differences and she will make a return next season. 😉
Also absent from the trailer were Abe’s brother Andrew Schmucker and his wife Chapel Peace Schmucker. Chapel and Andrew’s troubles on and off screen have been well documented over the last couple of years, so I think it’s pretty clear why they are (probably) not going to be back this season.
Return To Amish premieres Sunday, April 30th at 8/7c on TLC.
