Return To Amish returns in November with new cast additions
We’ve known for at least six months that the cast members of Return to Amish were filming for a new season, and TLC surprised fans during Sunday night’s Before the 90 Days Couples Tell All special by releasing the very first preview trailer that included the premiere date — as well as three new cast members who are just now leaving the Amish church!?
The brief clip starts off with Mama Mary Schmucker revealing that she wants to rejoin the Amish church, despite being shunned and unshunned more times than The Office‘s Jim Halpert. We then see troubled star Sabrina Burkholder say: “I’ve been blaming myself this entire time” and Jeremiah Raber follows that with: “it’s almost like somebody died.”
A new male cast member pops up and we hear his voice (I assume) say: “I want to leave and go to the English forever.” After that are two young women, and one of them states: “Everything from this point will never be the same.”
The clip is not yet available via TLC online, but cast member Jeremiah Raber uploaded a rough version to YouTube soon after it aired:
UPDATE – Here’s the full trailer just tweeted by TLC:
Catch up with familiar faces and follow new journeys when #ReturnToAmish premieres Sunday, November 18 at 10/9c! pic.twitter.com/zZmwXokrNC
— TLC Network (@TLC) October 15, 2018
I must confess that the addition of new cast members in the process of leaving the Amish church is a HUGE surprise! I’m not sure how they will be merged with the original cast, or even if there will be any overlap of their stories at all. Could it be that the Return To Amish OGs will be serving as mentors or guides through the newbies’ transition to English? I suppose we will all have to tune in on Sunday, November 18 at 10/9c to find out!
Meanwhile, I thought we might tackle a few of the topics brought up by the returning cast in the trailer. The biggest question after watching the clip is: Where are Rebecca and Abe Schmucker? When Sabrina confirmed the show would be returning for another season back in April, she said that all of the cast members would be back except for Kate, but Abe and Rebecca were nowhere to be seen in the trailer. The trailer was so short that I wouldn’t normally put too much emphasis on someone being left out, but Abe and Rebecca are the First Couple of the entire franchises, and I find it very hard to believe they would be left out if they are coming back.
As far as Mama Mary getting back into the Amish church, according to the Return To Amish Fans Facebook group, it appears as though her reentry bid was a success. The group, which has numerous ties to the cast members, posted on July 29: “Congrats to Mary Schmucker for being allowed back into the Amish Church.”
When Sabrina reveals that she has been blaming herself for something, I am guessing that is in reference to finding out that her mother didn’t actually commit suicide like she thought. Here is Sabrina’s Facebook post from July about finding out:
In case you missed it, things got worse for Sabrina before they got better, and she entered rehab for an extended stint back in August after she overdosed and had to be brought back to life by EMTs.
Jeremiah Raber talking about feeling as though someone died is probably in reference to his break up with wife Carmela. Not that break up, or that one, or that one, but THAT ONE when she stranded Jeremiah and ran off with $15,000 in cash. But, #Jermela would later reconcile yet again as he sold his house in Florida and relocated to Washington state to be near her.
When Jeremiah shared the news about the new season on his Facebook page, he wrote “The new upcoming season of #breakingamish #returntoamish will be one of the best ones yet!!!” — and I’m cautiously optimistic that he may be right!
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
