As Welcome to Plathville returns to TLC and streaming on Hulu for its seventh season, it’s with a further juggling of the Christian family dynamic that has defined the Plaths since we met them way back in 2019. The parents, Kim and Barry, are in the middle of getting a divorce. The oldest, Ethan, is now divorced from Olivia, which caps – for now – some of the biggest blow-ups of recent seasons. And wild child daughter Moriah has moved back to the Florida-Georgia Line region the Plaths call home, looking to start a new chapter. But hey, there are a lot of other Plath kids, too. And Barry is suddenly walking around all swole. So there are lots of options for where things might go as Welcome to Plathville begins its seventh installment.
Opening Shot: So where are we at in Plath Town? Kim Plath and Ethan Plath are smoking cigars and telling us. About Kim’s ongoing divorce from Barry Plath. About Ethan’s divorce from Olivia, now official. And about a concert featuring the Plath family band, which tried to end Season 6 on a high note.
The Gist: According to Kim and Ethan, it was second-eldest daughter Moriah declaring she’d gotten back together with her dirtbag ex that started the drama phone ringing at that family band gig. But life goes on, as it has for many seasons on Welcome to Plathville, and what came before has evolved into new forms.
It’s been some time, and Kim no longer has her boat (Ethan: “The Turd”), where she was living post-separation. She’s got a new house in Crawfordville, Florida, where the younger Plath sibs have gathered for a dinner, and while Moriah couldn’t make it, at least she’s single again and working on her next move. Micah, the second-oldest son, is at the party. But he lives full-time in Boca with girlfriend Veronica, who we first met in Season 6. And Ethan, “at peace” and a “free man” after his divorce, is living in Minnesota but planning a family visit. With his wooly beard and post-marriage motorcycle trips and typical Ethan tone – that blend of sarcasm and arrogance – it feels like Plathville Season 7 is prepping the oldest Plath child as a bringer of new chaos.
At Kim’s party, the most surprising guest is Barry Plath. “We’re not in a great place right now,” she says of her husband. Their divorce is still unfinalized, and it’s going on years. But they are each trying to sustain relationships with the children. Isaac Plath, 19, lives with Barry in Cairo, GA, where it all began for Welcome to Plathville. But Isaac is also making moves. He’s driving tractors on a farm, and we’re also introduced to Kaylynn, 21, his girlfriend of a few months.
It might actually be Lydia, 20, who is the Plath kid most ready to bring Season 7 main character energy. She was always the junior caregiver, the quiet daughter alongside Moriah’s various versions of acting out. But with a few church mission trips under her belt, Lydia has now seen some of the world. And she’s brought boyfriend Zac Wyse home to meet the family. It’s been a few weeks. They’re crazy about each other. (In the eyes of the Lord). And Lydia is anticipating Zac’s big ask of Barry. “It all depends on what my dad says…”
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Speaking of long-running TLC reality series, Sister Wives just closed out its 19th season. And have you kept up with that drama? It usually boils down to somebody being pissed at Kody Brown, the polygamist at the center of the show. Could be Robyn, his current wife, or Christine, Meri, or Janelle, his previous “spiritual union” wives, or one of their dozens of children together.
Our Take: Is it just us, or does Barry Plath, who now comes complete with creatine arms, sometimes seem like he’s the conductor of a choir only he can see? Are we the only ones who think Ethan Plath is terribly combustible like his father, but skillful in hiding it, which also makes him highly capable of becoming a reality show villain? (Somebody get this dude on The Traitors.) And it can’t be just us: doesn’t anyone else think this show has been manipulating Moriah’s emotions and freak-outs for so long, it might be beneficial for her to just touch grass somewhere and live off-camera for a while? Welcome to Plathville, like so many shows on the TLC slate, was always easy to drop in on for its spectacle. But by this, the beginning of Season 7, the original spectacle – a very large family, a Christian POV, no pop culture or TV – has splintered into so many little spectacles, we’re not even sure if the series itself has its next direction sorted out.
Watching Plathville now, it’s about managing each Plath’s issues, and how they relate to the larger group. But it’s also about comparing those core Plath Fam tenets to the lives the siblings continue to lead. What kind of adults they are becoming, and how they continue to unpack their upbringing, inside new life spaces where there maybe isn’t a lot of room. With Ethan’s marriage to Olivia and how it ultimately exploded, there was also friction generated by outsiders added to the Plath contingent. As the sibs’ lives continue to change beyond the fam and the farm, that friction isn’t something that can be controlled internally. Not fully, anyway, no matter what choir Barry thinks he’s conducting. And Veronica, Micah Plath’s girlfriend, makes an interesting comment to that end. Her disagreements with Barry and the family have convinced her she is only a character to them, “and my character is a liar.” Are the Plaths the way they are because of how they were raised? Or because they were raised as characters on camera?
Sex and Skin: The Plaths and Welcome to Plathville itself have been associated with Quiverfull, the pro-natalist Christian movement, and there’s no question that the church and Christian teachings are a big part of their lives. But that dynamic has not stayed static as the show has evolved along with the older siblings’ lives outside the family. In just one episode, you’ve got Kim telling the camera about her current love life. (“Ken and I are still friends, but that’s it; we don’t kiss, we don’t have sex. At least for now.”) You’ve got Ethan, with his contentious marriage to Olivia in the rearview of his vintage 1970s sedan, saying “I’m just looking for big boobs.” And you’ve got Lydia introducing her boyfriend of a few months with a Christian hymn and some background on their mutual stated commitment. “He has committed, and I guess now I have committed, to saving our first kiss for our wedding day.”
Parting Shot: Angry with the Plath fam and on a self-imposed freeze-out from Micah, Veronica explains how she’s reaching out for an external lifeline. It’s a Welcome to Plathville Season 7 bombshell we won’t spoil here.
Sleeper Star: Well, in a family with many children, featured on a reality series across 7 seasons, there is always another kid positioned to age into the drama. What knock-on effects could occur from Micah’s girlfriend Veronica bringing Amber Plath, 15, into her personal circle of influence?
Most Pilot-y Line: We’ll take Kim Plath’s update on the state of her marriage in full, complete with TLC’s closed captions. “Barry and I are not divorced yet. It’s been over three years, and it’s really hard [sighs, inhales deeply] just to pretend like everything’s fine.”
Our Call: Stream It if, like us, you’re continually amazed by the Plaths and Welcome to Plathville. Season 7 has some old fallout to contend with even as its newest dramas – wedding bells? – are just setting in.
Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.