“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!”

The nursery rhyme embodies what the Duggars stand for. Both of their TLC shows revolved around more than just their godly values and wholesome image. Cameras documented the 19 kids’ lives, which usually involved mundane activities…until now. 

With the new series Counting On, a crew documents the older sisters and brothers either courting, getting engaged, reading their vows, or birthing babies. Since the first season, the entire plot focuses on life events that seem less and less special with each passing season. After all, nothing new occurs. The vicious cycle of dating and babies continuously spins on a loop, and the consistency makes fans wonder.

Are the women really in love, or do they keep the show going through arranged marriages?

No matter the season of Counting On, one Duggar either dates, gets married, or gives birth. The plots feel old, worn, and used, not to mention forced. During the last season, Joy-Anna Duggar, a young girl who is only 19 years old, wedded Austin Forsyth, a man a few years older than her. While their puppy love looks precious, they’re both way too young for such heavy responsibilities, like marriage and (most likely) babies. They needed time to find themselves, yet Duggar’s expected to quickly wed a man.

Her other sisters modeled the same ideal; they each got betrothed in their early twenties, and none of them waited for more than a year, which oddly timed perfectly with each new season of Counting On. Even though the women seem like they found their prince, business deals go on behind the scenes. Unfortunately, nobody seems to question or care. TLC still films them, and people still watch them.

But maybe I’m a paranoid nut, so what do you guys think?