Jon & Kate Plus Eight Recap

Jon & Kate Plus 8 returned to TLC with the first new episodes since the Gosselins announced their split in June. And considering how much drama has happened off camera, Monday’s shows were relatively calm.

In the first episode, which was shot in January nearly five months before their announcement, Jon and Kate put aside their disputes to work on a previously planned kitchen-remodeling project.

After Jon suggested “under the counter refrigerators,” Kate asked with her arms crossed, “What planet do you live on?” The comment sounds more scandalous out of context, but it was actually about translating contractor-speak. Still, you could cut the tension with a nail gun.

As the kitchen got dismantled and the kids grew tired of takeout, Mommy decided to take them on a vacation to Bald Head Island, N.C., where they could enjoy the sun and surf of the beach while Jon supervised construction back home. “I love the beach!” Aaden said. “I’ve been wishing about the beach!”

The kids’ excitement as they buried each other in the sand and nearly got knocked over by waves almost allowed viewers to forget their parents’ problems — just as Kate (almost) forgot about the remodeling project she left behind. “It would pop into my head and then I’d think, ‘No, no. I’m not thinking about the mess that’s going on there,’” she said. “It will all be fine when I got home.”

The second episode showed the Gosselins’ new life more directly. Jon was noticeably absent as Kate took on the role of a single mom. “My new attitude,” she said, “is that I am going to do new things that I have never done before.”

Since her kids wanted to go camping, that meant she had to pitch a tent in the family’s backyard. But it was Jon who usually led this activity and the children were unsure about how their mom would fare. The little girls shrieked that “Daddy knows everything about tents,” and “she didn’t know what to do,” while Mady spoke directly, saying, “She does a terrible job … I was afraid it was going to collapse in the middle of the night.”

Kate did reach her goal of setting up a tent and got help from production assistants with a second one, and soon the kids focused on the fun of making s’mores.

And later, as everyone slept through the night, it seemed that everything might turn out just fine for the Gosselins.
See photos of Jon And Kate's run in at a local UPS store below.
Source