‘LPBW’ Season 23 Premiere Recap: ‘The Roloff Crazy Train’

LPBW - YouTube

The LPBW (Little People, Big World) Season 23 Premiere airs tonight on TLC. Those with a Discovery+ subscription, however, have the opportunity to stream the episode a little early. Titled “The Roloff Crazy Train,” here’s TvShowsAce‘s recap of the LPBW Season 23 Premiere.

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS from tonight’s episode. 

Jackson Roloff - Tori Roloff Instagram
Jackson Roloff – Tori Roloff Instagram

Zach and Matt Roloff fell out prior to filming

The beginning of the LPBW Season 23 Premiere reveals Zach and Matt sat down to negotiate the purchase of the north side of the farm weeks before they started filming. The episode kicks off with both Zach and Matt telling their sides of what happened. Supporting what her husband says, Tori chimes in a little but mostly just agrees with Zach as he does the talking. Caryn Chandler, however, did give her point of view on how things went down and fell apart.

According to Matt’s life partner Caryn, Matt Roloff came into the negotiations with his business hat on. Zach, however, came into the meeting as more of a lifestyle and family meeting. Caryn believed the meeting started out badly because they weren’t both approaching it from a business standpoint. Caryn noted that she believed Zach and Tori were a bit wishy-washy on what they wanted.

LPBW - YouTube
LPBW – YouTube

Matt Roloff explained that the biggest problem is the fact that he isn’t sure Zach (or any of his other children) are passionate enough to do the work that comes along with having the property. He noted that Zach and Tori wanted to live on the property with their children. But, they didn’t really want to do the work that went into maintaining the property.

Using Lilah and Jackson left a bad taste in Matt’s mouth

Zach Roloff ended up bringing Lilah and Jackson into the business meeting. He asked his father how much it was worth for him to have his grandchildren growing up on Roloff Farms. Matt admitted it left a bad taste in his mouth that Zach brought his children into it. Both Matt and Caryn agreed that it wasn’t right or fair for Zach to play the grandchildren card to tip the negotiations in his favor. Matt and Caryn love Jackson and Lilah.

But, at the end of the day, this was a business meeting. And, Matt did not think it was fair to his other children if he just gave away a slice of the pie to Zach and Tori. Likewise, Matt argued that Zach and Tori were still expecting him to do the bulk of the work and that wasn’t what he wanted.

LPBW - YouTube
Lilah Roloff – YouTube

Zach Roloff puts distance between his children and father

After the trying to work out terms for Roloff Farms fell through, Zach and Tori took the kids and left. Matt and Caryn admit a lot of time went back without seeing Jackson and Lilah. This was difficult for Matt and Caryn because they used to see their beautiful grandchildren several times a week. Matt said that he and Caryn were their go-to babysitter. And, now they hadn’t seen them in weeks.

Zach tells the cameras during the LPBW Season 23 Premiere that he wasn’t happy Caryn Chandler was involved in the business meeting. He wanted to work the details out with his father. And, he didn’t like Caryn speaking on behalf of his father. Matt, however, explained Caryn was just an extra pair of ears to make sure Matt’s best interest was protected. Matt Roloff added that he can’t always hear everything and he needed Caryn to help support him.

Zach Roloff - YouTube
Zach Roloff – YouTube

LPBW Season 23 Premiere: Amy and Chris Marek enjoy married life

Amy and Chris Marek are happy as can be as they soak up their married life. Chris tells Amy he wants to take Matt up on his offer to buy them tickets to Arizona. Amy is down for it and thinks going in February is a great idea. Chris ponders what Valentine’s Day dinner across from Matt and Caryn will feel like.

Amy Roloff also tells the cameras that she’s not sure what pumpkin season will look like this year. She doesn’t own any part of Roloff Farms and isn’t sure if Matt wants her involved. Likewise, she isn’t sure if Zach and Tori will be a part of pumpkin season because she knows they aren’t on speaking terms. Amy tells the cameras she isn’t surprised they had a falling out. She clarifies she doesn’t have all the details and is trying not to get in the middle of it.

Amy Roloff - YouTube
Amy Roloff – YouTube

Zach and Tori Roloff ready to separate from his family

Tori Roloff notes that their entire life has revolved around Zach’s family. Both Zach and Tori admit they are ready to start living for themselves and stop making decisions based on what’s good for everyone else. So, they make the decision to make an offer 45 minutes away from where they currently live. They know it will be scary to move so far away from everything they know. Likewise, Zach and Tori know both of their mothers will be super upset if they move away.

Zach notes that he expects his father to be furious even if he doesn’t initially react to the news. After making an aggressive offer on a house in another state, Zach and Tori’s realtor call them to congratulate them on their offer being accepted.

Zach Roloff - YouTube
Zach Roloff – YouTube

LPBW Season 23 Premiere: Amy and Chris react to big news

Zach and Tori decide to have Amy and Chris Marek over to break the news. Amy Roloff and Chris Marek are speechless when they announce moving to Battle Ground. Amy shifts gears and tries to be supportive. Chris Marek, however, seemed really bothered by this news. He questions if they are serious and wonders why they would want to move so far away from everyone and everything they know. Tori Roloff chimes in to remind him that 45 minutes isn’t really that far away.

Amy Roloff tells the cameras she was “surprised” and a “little bit sad” that Zach and Tori were moving away. Zach’s mother adds that it is “sad” Matt couldn’t dial back his businessman approach to working out deals enough to reach an agreement with his son regarding the property. Chris Marek admits he had no idea Zach and Matt were in such a bad place. Chris added it was disappointing, but he didn’t want to speak too much on the issue because he only had one side of the story. He, however, agreed with Amy that Matt seems to go a little hard when it comes to business deals. And, he isn’t sure that’s the right approach with his own family.

LPBW stars Chris and Amy
[Image @amyjroloff/Instagram]

Zach and Tori break the news to Matt and Caryn

Zach and Tori visited Matt and Caryn for the first time in weeks. Both couples admit the entire exchange was awkward. Zach makes the strange decision to use Jackson to break the news. Both Caryn and Matt tell the cameras they were surprised and offended that Zach would use Jackson. Caryn even got vulgar noting “who the f*ck does that.”

Zach Roloff explained during the LPBW Season 23 Premiere that he used Jackson to tell the news with the hopes of softening the blow. He was hoping to see some real emotion from his father by using Jackson. He also thought it would be harder for Matt to be angry. Zach admits he was disappointed when his father had such an emotionless response to the news.

Matt and Caryn - YouTube
Matt and Caryn – YouTube

LPBW Season 23 Premiere: Matt Roloff and Caryn lost, unsure

The episode ends on a pretty sad note. Caryn Chandler explains that they still want to have a relationship with Zach and Tori. Zach and Tori, however, are the ones that decided to walk away. And, she feels that Zach and Tori are the ones who need to walk back into the relationship. Caryn notes she and Matt never went anywhere. It was Zach and Tori that left.

Tori Roloff - YouTube
Tori Roloff – YouTube

The episode comes to a close with Tori noting: “This is why we are moving” in response to Matt and Caryn’s cold and awkward reaction to the news.

Have you had a chance to watch the LPBW Season 23 Premiere just yet? Let us know what you think in the comments down below. And, keep coming back for more Roloff news!

Allie Johnson

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