Mama June Shannon was ready to come face-to-face with her daughters Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson and Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Shannon on the newest episode of Mama June: Road To Recovery.
The trio had gone more than a year without any face-to-face contact due to the coronavirus pandemic and June’s addiction struggles and legal troubles before finally agreeing to sit down together.
But the reunion was almost scuttled after June arrived at the meetup with her boyfriend Geno Doak in tow, even though Pumpkin had explicitly banned him from their first reunion.
Surprise guest: Mama June Shannon was ready to reunite with daughters Alana and Pumpkin on Mama June: Road To Recovery, but the presence of her boyfriend Geno Doak nearly scuttled the meeting
The episode opens with Pumpkin and Alana at their home in Georgia as they FaceTimed with Dr. Ish Major, who has been advising them on June’s treatment and how to get her help.
But Alana bounces up and down at the prospect of getting to see her mother again, so Ish says a meet-up might be how they could ‘start to rebuild some of that trust’ that has been lost to June’s addiction.
‘Are you sure that you’re up for it? You shouldn’t get your hopes up,’ Pumpkin asks her younger sister, who is just as enthusiastic about seeing her mother.
Not feeling it: Pumpkin is clearly hesitant about seeing June again at the moment, even though she appeared to have been sober after her rehab stint
Thumbs up: But Alana desperately wants to see Mama June again after more than a year apart
Pumpkin sets down some ground rules to stay in control: Geno won’t be allowed to take part in their reunion, and they’ll leave immediately if June seems to be on drugs.
Still, Pumpkin wasn’t looking forward to giving her mother a call on the phone.
Meanwhile, Alana’s father Mike ‘Sugar Bear’ Thompson is at home with his wife Jennifer when he opens up about his recent diabetes scare that left him in a diabetic coma at a hospital for five days.
He’s more focused on his mortality, though he chafes at Jennifer not letting him choose what he can eat.
Health scare: Alana’s father Mike ‘Sugar Bear’ Thompson is at home with his wife Jennifer when he opens up about his recent diabetes scare that left him in a diabetic coma for five days
Making amends: He wants to reunite with Alana because he wants to share the news about his diabetes and to warn her, as his doctors said the condition could be hereditary
‘I don’t want to be buried. My age is getting up there, but I still have a lot of life to live,’ he says, calling his diabetic coma a ‘wakeup call.’
On the last episode, Sugar Bear got so weak after a particularly unhealthy meal that he collapsed in a public restroom and needed Jennifer’s help to get out of it.
He also wants to reunite with Alana after their last fiery meeting because he wants to share the news about his diabetes and to warn her, as his doctors said the condition could be hereditary.
Back at Pumpkin’s house, she finally gets up the nerve to call Mama June, who sounds surprisingly snotty on the phone and spends the first minute or so just complaining that she hasn’t talked to her daughter recently.
Awkward: Back at Pumpkin’s house, she finally gets up the nerve to call Mama June, who spends the first minute or so just complaining that she hasn’t talked to her daughter recently
Left out: Geno seems upset and confused that he can’t come to the meeting, because he says he’s not getting high anymore so he doesn’t see why he can’t be there
Pumpkin pushes through and says they’re willing to meet up, but the two start haggling when she says Geno isn’t allowed to come.
June doesn’t understand why he can’t be there, but Pumpkin reminds her that she wasn’t ready to go to rehab the first few times they tried, and she’s also not ready to repair her relationship with Geno yet.
June agrees to leave him out of the first meeting, though her boyfriend is hurt when she tells him about the arrangement.
Geno seems upset and confused, because he says he’s not getting high anymore so he doesn’t see why he can’t be there.
‘My time will come,’ he says resignedly after agreeing to lie low.
Stunning: His discussion with June comes after she revealed previously that they spent over $1 million dollars on drugs in a single year, which shocked Pumpkin when she learned of the figure after filming
Breaking the news: Back at Pumpkin’s house, she tells her husband Josh about the arrangement for the reunion
It never ends: ‘Every time that you think you’ve got June out of your life, she just comes right back in,’ he complains
His discussion with June comes after she revealed previously that they spent over $1 million dollars on drugs in a single year, which shocked Pumpkin when she learned of the figure after filming.
‘When I hear that price and I hear it from the media outlets where she tells her story … it is very hard to hear that because I didn’t know how bad things had really gotten,’ Pumpkin told TooFab on Wednesday.
Back at Pumpkin’s house, she tells her husband Josh about the arrangement for the reunion.
‘Every time that you think you’ve got June out of your life, she just comes right back in,’ he complains in a confessional clip.
Bossy: Josh still puts his foot down and orders Pumpkin not to take Alana to see her mother
Pushed around: ‘Oh, you’re gonna try to tell me what to do?!’ Pumpkin shouts
He’s worried that June will be high at the meeting, but Pumpkin tries says that Dr. Ish will shut everything down if she isn’t sober.
Josh still puts his foot down and orders Pumpkin not to take Alana to see her mother.
‘Oh, you’re gonna try to tell me what to do?!’ Pumpkin shouts.
‘I appreciate that he might be looking out for me and what not,’ Alana admits after overhearing the fight, but says she wants to make her own decisions.
After she and Pumpkin talk it out with Josh, he relents and allows Alana to see her mother.
Open to it: ‘I appreciate that he might be looking out for me and what not,’ Alana admits after overhearing the fight, but says she wants to make her own decisions
Confession: But while the women are out of house, Josh is surprised to see Sugar Bear arrive unannounced at the door. He tells him about his diabetes and his desire to see Alana
In motion: Josh is moved by the conversation and agrees to try to set up a meeting with Alana later
But while the women are out of house, Josh is surprised to see Sugar Bear arrive unannounced at the door.
He admits that he fell into the diabetic coma and tells Josh that he wants to see Alana and talk about his condition, as he worries he might go to bed one night and never wake up.
Josh is moved by the conversation and agrees to try to set up a meeting with Alana later.
Meanwhile, Mama June and Geno have arrived in Georgia to prepare for her visit with her daughters.
Meanwhile, Mama June and Geno have arrived in Georgia to prepare for her visit with her daughters
The heart of the matter: Geno wisely tells June that her dislike of Dr. Ish is because he saw through her lies about her addiction, which embarrassed and angered her at the time
She can’t help but complain about Dr. Ish, whom she despises because he called her out when she was at the height of her addiction.
She doesn’t want Ish ‘dominating this meeting.’
‘It’s not about him,’ she adds, but Geno forces her to be honest and admit that they were getting high the last time they saw the family, which she denied even though Ish knew it to be the case.
Although he hasn’t always been the most introspective person on the series, Geno wisely says June is blaming her emotions and nervousness about seeing the girls on Dr. Ish.
‘I just want to see my family and I’m tired of people standing in the way of that,’ June says impatiently.
Can’t wait:
Surprise! Geno arrives with her at the meeting location and shocks Dr. Ish, but he says he’s not there to ambush the girls and promises to be gone before they arrive
But even after the two seem to be on the same page, Dr. Ish is shocked when he sees Geno walk into the meeting with June.
They’re meeting up at the show’s production offices in Georgia, but June was supposed to arrive early to chat with Ish before Alana and Pumpkin arrived.
But Geno says he’s not there to ambush the girls and promises to be gone before they arrive.
‘I do see the damage that I’ve done and the problems that I’ve caused. And I’m not asking for a free pass by any chance, but at least take into account that everybody makes mistakes and I would like to make forward,’ he says.
Fixing his mistakes: ‘I do see the damage that I’ve done and the problems that I’ve caused. And I’m not asking for a free pass by any chance, but at least take into account that everybody makes mistakes and I would like to make forward,’ Geno says
Making progress: Dr. Ish says the first step he could have taken toward moving forward would have been not to come to the meeting, but he keeps talking and presses Geno to admit ways in which his behavior harmed Alana and Pumpkin
Dr. Ish says the first step he could have taken toward moving forward would have been not to come to the meeting, but he keeps talking and presses Geno to admit ways in which his behavior harmed Alana and Pumpkin.
The episode ends with Alana and Pumpkin driving to the meeting.
They don’t know that Geno was briefly there, but Pumpkin worries aloud that June might be so overwhelmed by the reunion that she would want to use drugs afterward.
In true reality TV fashion, the long-promised reunion doesn’t even start by the end of the episode, leaving it for next week.
Taking their time: In true reality TV fashion, the long-promised reunion doesn’t even start by the end of the episode, leaving it for next week