"Teen Mom's" Reason of the Week to Always Wear a Condom (Oct. 14, 2013)

Josh actually shows some emotion this week!

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This week on Teen Mom 3, the girls dealt with their own respective issues—in fact, there wasn't really an overwhelming theme. Briana and Brittany pursued birth control to ensure they wouldn't get pregnant again, Alex realized that she needs to make an effort to deal with her stress in a healthier fashion, Mackenzie discovers that Josh has been lying to her this whole time about bronco riding, and Katie realizes that maybe she and Joey aren't a good fit after all, despite their daughter Molli. Still, the episode did focus on the perils of being a mother before your 20th birthday, which ensured that this show is still the best condom ad there is on TV.

Briana

One positive that came out of not practicing safe sex before: Briana is now well aware of the dangers of not using birth control or condoms during sexual intercourse. This week, Briana decides that she never wants to be caught off guard by another unexpected pregnancy again, so she suggests that both she and her sister Brittany (who also got pregnant before, but had an abortion) both go on birth control. Brittany is adamant that she doesn't need it because no one who isn't David Beckham is having sex with her, but when she gets a call from a cute co-worker named Derek, Briana doesn't budge—the two of them need birth control.

Before they can make it to their gynecologist, though, the two sisters go grocery shopping at their local supermarket, and Briana, who is thinking a lot about starting to date again, suggests they pick up some condoms too. They look around, only to find that they're all being kept behind a counter in the front of the store, and you need to ask for assistance to actually get them.  Is the supermarket trying to shame people by making them ask for condoms? Briana grows nervous, but Brittany just shrugs and asks the man for a pack of the magnums, then tosses them in the cart.

When the girls eventually do get to the doctor's office, Brittany refuses to go through with the appointment—she doesn't want the doctor touching her. Later, Brittany reveals why: It's been a year since her abortion, and going to the gynecologist brings back memories of that experience. Briana and their mother urge Brittany to remember why she chose to have the abortion, but Brittany maintains she's going to need time before she's ready to visit any doctors again.

Alex

This week wasn't terribly kind to poor Alex. While all of her drama with Matt seems to have calmed down substantially, Alex is now stuck dealing with the stresses of holding down a job, going to school, and working on her dance class—and things are not going well. Alex spends $300 on dresses for an upcoming performance that her dance group is going to be participating in, but not even a week later, the dresses are gone, and Alex fears her mother may have accidentally thrown them away believing it to be trash. She flips out, screaming and yelling that she now has to buy them again with her own money, and that if something happens to her car, she won't have the money to fix it.

Alex's mother (and her little siblings who, once again, prove how much more mature they are than her) tells Alex that she needs to work on managing her temper, but Alex is having none of that—instead, she refuses to talk to her mother until she's able to pay her back for the dresses, because that is absolutely how adults should handle situations like this.

The rest of the episode is basically Alex screaming a lot until her family intervenes and tells her that ignoring your own mother isn't how you should treat your family. By the end, mother and daughter duo make up, Alex gets new dresses, and her dance group wins second place in their competition. Though Alex is still left dealing with her stress and anger management, it's a happy ending for now.

Mackenzie

This week, Mackenzie was still dealing with the aftermath of Josh's major brush-off on Father's day—and the fact that he's still nowhere to be found in her or Gannon's life. Mackenzie's mother suggests that they call Josh's trainer Les, who he's supposedly spending a lot of time with training during the week, but Mackenzie refuses—that's Josh's business, she says, and she doesn't want to snoop. Mackenzie's mother calls anyway, though, and it's a good thing she does because Josh's trainer drops a pretty shocking piece of information: Josh hasn't actually been to practice in weeks. Mackenzie's mother is stunned that Josh would lie to Mackenzie like that, let alone actually talk long enough to tell a lie. She promptly tells Mackenzie, who doesn't know what to make of it.

The two then go off to see Josh, who is sleeping on his couch at home—not at practice, and unemployed. Mackenzie tells him that they know he's been lying, and she asks him if he wants to be with her at all. Josh reveals that, yes, he's been lying, but he needed some time to figure things out. Their relationship is pretty much hanging by a string by the time Mackenzie leaves.

There was one surprise, though: Later, with friends, Josh reveals that he really does love Mackenzie, and it breaks his heart to lie to her—he just doesn't know what he wants. It's kind of understandable, considering he's a 19-year-old kid who has been faced with the responsibility of taking care of a kid, but maybe he should have thought of that before having unprotected sex with his girlfriend. 

Mackenzie, upon realizing that Josh is taking her for granted and probably doesn't think she can find someone else, takes off her engagement ring and sets it on her sidetable. Will these crazy kids ever work things out? 

Katie

For Katie and Joey, this week was just another great big crack in the foundation of their relationship. It's Katie's 19th birthday, and to celebrate, Katie decides that she wants to go to Salt Lake City for the weekend and try on wedding dresses with Joey and Molli there. Joey doesn't really know why, but the family goes anyway—only to end up fighting in the car about money. Once they get to Salt Lake City, tired from the drive, Katie calls her mom and tells her what happened, before uttering this heartbreaking line: She believes if Joey leaves her, she won't find anyone else, because "who wants a fat stretch-marked bitch with a baby?" This is not a reason to stay in a relationship that is not working.

The couple eventually call a truce for the weekend, and actually have a pretty good time wedding dress shopping—Joey even tries on a tux, which Katie is elated about. The two also go sightseeing, and don't scare off other tourists with any public fights. Things are going well.

That is, until they leave. Once they're in the car driving home, Katie makes a comment about driving by the school she was supposed to go to in Salt Lake City, and the two end up fighting about money again—this time, Katie says she doesn't know if the two should get married when they fight like this all the time. Joey tells her that she's welcome to move out, and she should get out of his life if she wants to so badly. Things are looking grim.

Teen Mom's reason of the week to wear a condom

As aformentioned, there wasn't really an overall theme this week, but the episode did do a good job of illustating the stresses and hardships that come with getting pregnant at such a young age—whether with Katie and Mackenzie's inability to maintain a stable relationship with their significant other after, or with Alex and Brittany's inability to deal with their stress in a healthy fashion.

Which brings us to this week's reason of the week to use a condom: Wrap it up, and you won't have to worry about learning how to meditate in an attempt to handle all the stresses in your life, whether it be dealing with a dude who lies about spending time bronco riding so he can sleep on his couch midday, or staying with someone who won't even take their hat off when they're tuxedo shopping. So, don't be afraid to ask that dude behind the counter for that pack of magnums, because Teen Mom 3 proved it first: Your life is better off. 

Also, anyone who did take my suggestion last week of putting money on this episode being the one where Josh shows some real emotion: Congratulations, you win. Josh cried.

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