Little Women: L.A. Season Finale! Friendtervention

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It’s the end of the baby race! (Please let it be the end. Please.) On last night’s Little Women: LA, Briana Manson faces big decisions in her questionable relationship with Matt, Terra Jole and Joe Gnoffo get news about their baby, and Todd and Christy McGinity Gibel bicker about losing weight. Elena Gant launches her fashion line for little and average sized people, despite the advice of her designer mentor. And the season ends with Traci Harrison Tsou and Tonya Banks throwing a baby shower for Terra, during which the gender of the baby is revealed and fences are mended (for now) among the ladies.

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We pick up with Terra, 7 months pregnant, welcoming Joe home from his month-long tour. The ladies are planning a co-ed baby shower for Terra. They’re also (Terra included) doing a background check on Briana’s fiancé, Matt. Multiple alarm bells went off for Terra from the background check including domestic violence and a past bankruptcy filing. Terra wants to tell Briana before she commits to live her life with this new guy. Question: Hasn’t Briana done a background check on Matty boy already? Or at least heard the cliff notes from her family, who’ve already done their own background check? If you’re going to meet someone online, background checks are a girl’s best friend.

Traci and Tonya are planning Terra’s baby shower, but can’t decide on a theme, venue, the cake, or anything else. Traci wants “whimsical” and Tonya just wants some air conditioning. Traci wins the battle, as we’ll see later.

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Briana and her daughter Leiana are moving into their new condo (without Matt), and Terra, Tonya, and Traci show up unannounced to “help” her (cough, cough: intervention!). Christy arrives to round out the group. For the first time all season, Terra and Christy are a united front and are both ready to confront Briana about Matt’s sketchy past. Tonya starts the conversation by asking if Matt has ever raised his voice at Briana and she admits he does drink a bit too much and can escalate. Briana’s family still refuses to meet Matt based on their reservations. Traci admits they’ve all done a background check on him and are concerned about the violence in his past.

Commercial Break! Little Women: Terra’s Little Family is advertised for the first time! The season premiere is April 8. I am in!

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Ok- back to LWLA. Briana admits she’s conflicted about the background check because Matt’s already admitted his “bad boy past” to her. Terra astutely points out that a domestic violence arrest doesn’t point to Matt causing a scene with strangers; it highlights the fact that he escalated (who knows to what level) with someone he “cared” about – a partner, most likely. The women don’t want to see Briana – or her little daughter – in a similar situation in the future. Other charges like “malicious mischief” (WTF is that!?) and property destruction. The domestic violence arrest is what they consider the main red flag though. Briana says that Matt’s coming to visit in a couple of days and now she’s confused about what to do. She seems sheepish and sad, and frankly I feel for her. She seems like a naïve child.

At dinner later, Christy and Todd discuss Todd’s weight which has become an issue of concern. Being overweight is an “epidemic” in the little people community, Christy says, and she doesn’t want to see Todd get diabetes or meet an early death because of his obesity. She tells Todd she’d rather get Todd healthy than have a baby right now. Todd’s reaction is not, uh, the smoothest. He tells her she’s hypocritical and no supermodel herself, so she should focus on her own weight issues. Ouch!

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Elena is at a photo shoot to capture the looks of the three complete outfits she’s designed for her new fashion line. Against advice, Elena still wants a line targeted toward little AND average sized people. Big mistake in my book. Tonya and Elena will be the little models, but Tonya is confused when she hears that the line will include average size people as well. She thinks little people deserve their own focused fashion line. Preach!! Elena is still not hearing it. The pantsuit Elena models is awesome! A bathing suit, tunic, and leggings later, they’re all done. I wish her the best.

Over at Todd and Christy’s house, Todd comes back from the grocery store with healthy foods and is ready to turn over a new leaf. He agrees he needs to change and sees that Christy cares about him and doesn’t want to lose him. Even with all of the drama, it seems like Todd and Christy know how to move through an argument in a healthy way, landing firmly on the side of resolution each time. Good for them!

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Matt’s here. Uh oh. Briana tells him that she’s not even talking to her mom anymore because her mom is so concerned about Matt. Her friends are also concerned which makes her question the whole relationship at this point. Matt says there was no problem until Briana’s parents “crawled up her ass” (nice, Matt) and he “doesn’t give a f*ck” about her friends because they all treat her badly anyway. Briana interviews that she wants a love like Bonnie and Clyde. Hmmm. Does she know they get gunned down in a bloodbath at the end of their “ride or die” love affair? So. Matt then asks Briana if she wants him to go so her life will be easier. Briana just cries and doesn’t answer.

Then! OMG! Briana actually BREAKS UP with Matt! She bawls through the whole thing, but says she’s not strong enough to handle this. She says she needs to be on her own. Matt says, “So you’re done with me?” Briana just nods. They hug and he leaves. Wow.

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Terra and Joe are at the doctor’s office. Terra & Joe still don’t know what their baby might be diagnosed with. She’s 28 weeks along and asks the ultrasound technician to write down the gender of the baby so they can reveal it at the baby shower later. Dr. Jake tells Terra that the baby’s head is measuring a bit bigger than her week marker, which he says means the baby probably has achondroplasia (Terra’s form of dwarfism). The baby might also has a 50/50 chance of having a mixture of both Terra and Joe’s dwarfism (he has psuedochondroplasia), but will not be an average size person. The doctor can’t be sure that the child doesn’t have double dominancy – a fatal genetic condition – but he’s leaning toward achondroplasia. Joe interviews that he hopes the baby is a “mini me” of Terra. (*Side note: Terra and Joe actually announced just yesterday that their HEALTHY baby girl, Penelope, was born Monday and she’s doing well! YAY!!!!)

It’s the day of the baby shower and it’s raining. Which is not ideal since the shower is outside at a park. “I told you so” Tonya is pissed that they’re not inside (drinking shots?) like she suggested, but they make the best of it. The party is very sweet and homemade, which is a welcome change on a reality show, given the obnoxious Real Housewives over-the-top theme parties we’ve been subjected to over the last million years. #normalpeopleparty

Briana shows up and immediately tells the group she broke things off with Matt. She didn’t want to end the relationship, but needed to heed the advice from her friends and family. She says she loved him more than anyone in her life and she’s heartbroken. The ladies hug her and Briana makes a pact with herself to not make the entire baby shower about her troubles, but to be there for Terra’s special day. They all sit down to hear the announcement of the baby’s gender & pink balloons pop out of the box, signaling the birth of a girl! Awww. Since we all know baby girl Penelope was born healthy, all the more reason to celebrate.

Terra and Joe interview that they’re committed to each other on the rest of this journey. I hope for Penelope’s sake they truly are. Post-season blurbs about each of the ladies tell us where they are now. Tonya continues to see her boyfriend, Jaa. Yes, “Jaa.” The second “a” is silent, apparently. Elena is working on her clothing line in New York called “EG Couture.” Christy and Todd have lost over 30 pounds (each? together?) and Christy is working on becoming a recovery coach. Briana is not with Matt, but she is still at odds with her family over him because she considers him her soul mate. Eww. Traci is not pregnant yet, but she & Erik continue to try. Terra interviews that she’s scared about her baby being healthy, but she can’t wait to see her and is excited to be a mom. “It’s like I’m a gown up now,” Terra says. Yes. Let’s hope so.  

TELL US – THOUGHTS ON SEASON 1 OF LITTLE WOMEN: LA?  ARE YOU EXCITED FOR TERRA’S SPINOFF AND THE NY SPINOFF?

Photo Credit: Lifetime

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