'Teen Mom' Recap: Amber Portwood Rages At Gary Shirley

by UInterviewAugust 22, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

It was another drama-filled episode of MTV's Teen Mom, littered with custody battles, breakups and old flames. The episode kicked off with Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley, who addressed the custody battle over daughter Leah. Due to a no-contact order, the three of them cannot all be in the same room together, which makes family visits not only rare, but quick. It has also been a particularly rough time for Amber, whose house was recently vandalized, and she is strapped for cash. Fortunately, Gary footed the bill for Leah’s preschool payments and their daughter was able to start school. The smiles quickly faded, though, when Leah broke down upon seeing her mother drop Leah off at Gary’s house after preschool (Child Protective Services will not let Leah stay in a vandalized home). This prompted Amber to consider giving Gary full custody of Leah so that the no-contact order could be ended. But when Gary suggested to Amber that she needs to deal better with her depression and anger, Amber went into a rage, screaming at both Gary and her mother.

Things were a bit better for Farrah Abraham who, while fresh off an awkward split with squeeze Daniel Alvarez, returned home to Florida exhibiting a renewed focus on her well-being and a commitment to her daughter, Sophia. In a display of true compassion, Farrah was brought to tears when she had to part ways with Sophia, who left to stay with Farrah's mother, Debra, in Nebraska for a month.

Now, back to the mayhem. Maci Bookout, who’s dating Kyle King, decided to stir the pot with her former boyfriend, Ryan Edwards who, lest you forgot, is the father of Maci's son, Bentley. In preparation for her son's birthday, Maci manipulated Ryan into coming to Bentley's birthday by having Bentley ask Ryan to attend on the phone. When Ryan, who is in a relationship with Dalis, arrived to pick up Bentley from the birthday party, he was furious with Maci for not adhering to their agreement of throwing separate parties for Bentley, and he began swearing up a storm.

On a more amicable front, Tyler Baltierra’s mother Kimberly sought out a therapist to deal with her struggles over not being able to see Carly, despite being the girl's biological grandmother. Tyler supported this decision and, along with Catelynn Lowell, convinced Catelynn’s mother April to see the therapist as well. It came to light that April was 60 days sober and in the process of getting over her ex and Tyler’s dad, Butch. At the session, therapist Dawn informed Kimberly that she needed to be cautious about entering Carly’s life because adoptive parents aren’t going to be quick to let in biological parents, let alone grandparents.

There are still plenty of loose ends left to be tied up heading into next week, which will be the series finale of Teen Mom. Teen Mom airs Tuesdays on MTV at 9 p.m. EST.