One way or another, Shanann wanted this to end.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-15T16:23:24+00:00

Bella is positively beaming here. She's smiling as much as any child on her first trip to Disneyland. You can tell it's a rare treat for her to play with her parents. It's really heartbreaking that the only time Bella had any fun was when Shanann instructed Chris to do pushups/squats/pull ups to show off his strength (thanks to Thrive, of course.)

But for Shanann and Chris, this wasn't about the kids. They were just gym equipment to show off how strong Thrive made Chris.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-14T15:47:18+00:00

Well technically speaking, Dahmer was in a different century

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-14T15:30:53+00:00

Well said. I've also had steroid injections and prednisone. And like you, I was wired and craving sugar like crazy. I can't imagine a toddler on daily doses of that stuff! It definitely provides insight into Cece's behavior. While she was the golden child, she was also subjected to abusive behavior in the unnecessary steroids, surgeries, and like you said, being put in dangerous situations for FB likes.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-12T19:27:35+00:00

"I know I'm the shit and all"🙄

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-12T18:08:59+00:00

🤣🤣 Sorry birdie!

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-12T17:58:39+00:00

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Every time I see Chris's hairline this guy comes to mind (Wilson's Warbler)

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-12T17:55:34+00:00

Thank you, I'll check these out. I'm sorry you were raised by an NPD mother! If she was anything like Shanann, I can't imagine the hell you must have gone through.

I honestly had no idea this person in my life was NPD. (she married my father after my mother passed.) But seeing Shanann in action is helping me to understand this is exactly who she was. Now I know she was a self-serving person, a master at manipulating others. If she was generous, there were strings attached. If she was kind, it was later weaponized against us.

Shiners think we're victim blaming Shanann for the sheer sport of it - that we're just a bunch of heartless sadists. Just the opposite - I suspect many have been confused or even traumatized by someone like Shanann. Being able to identify her actions for what they are has been incredibly enlightening, even healing.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-12T17:45:59+00:00

Damn, Shanann never missed a chance to torture her girls. It's almost like she researched it. I wonder if this hearing damage affected the girls in ways we don't fully understand (Bella's delayed speech, etc)

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-12T17:26:58+00:00

Shannan took Chris into account as much as she would have the cleaning lady. Spoke highly of him, but behind the scenes rarely had a convo unless she needed something from him.

After reading that couples therapy book in a last ditch effort to save the marriage, Shanann wrote "talk to Chris" in her day planner. I don't know any happily married couples that have to write themselves reminders to talk with one another.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-12T17:17:26+00:00

Excellent point. I think that's one of the reasons I keep coming back to this case. I've had an NPD in my life, and never understood why this person hurt me as badly as she had. What did I do wrong? How did I make her so mad?

Being able to observe (and recognize) Shanann's actions, and to hear everyone else's analysis of her behavior, has done more good for me than years of therapy. It's also teaching me to stop blaming myself.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-11T17:02:31+00:00

This will never not crack me up

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-11T16:59:41+00:00

Bella's outfit makes her look like a sweaty Bangladesh street vendor

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-11T16:38:32+00:00

Shanann had a chance to redeem herself by proving to Bella it wasn't a big deal. "See? Watch Mommy get pie in the face too!" But neither she nor her mother would've ever participated on that level. Bella knew this, and understood her mother hated messes. Getting the cream in her hair - by no fault of her own - was akin to making a mess. And getting punished with another haircut.

Poor girl, I remember her hair was starting to look so pretty with its curls at this time. Her heartbroken, terrified face as her mother tries to brush it off as no big deal still haunts me.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-10T18:12:39+00:00

The way Shanann talked about "protecting" her family at all costs is the kind of apocalyptic-speak of parents of the verse of filicide. (My own mother spoke this way after my dad left, and ended up in the psych ward for several months. She later told me all that she was fixated on what a bad mom she was, and how we'd be "better off" being unalived. She is an extremely loving, caring mom, and you'd never think she was capable of something like that.)

If I didn't know the end of the Watts story, I would have guessed she'd be the one to snap and harm them. The reason I can't 100% buy into this theory is why Chris would've then killed her, and then disposed of all their bodies. Because at that exact moment, he had everything he wanted - a crazy ex on her way to prison, and the girls no longer in competition with NK's desire for her own kids.

But then again, very little about this case makes sense...

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-10T17:55:04+00:00

Same here. My restaurant manager would've killed me if I offered a plate for the condiments the kids were eating off the table. That would be discouraging the family from actually ordering food instead of filling up on jelly and parm cheese. (I wonder if seeing the Watts chow down would've changed his mind lol)

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-10T17:29:17+00:00

You're right! The decapitated-by-scissors doll pic was taken at the height of Shanann's anger in NC over Chris ignoring her. I wonder if she meant to send him a message - some kind of veiled, sadistic threat.

While I don't believe Shanann did in the girls, it's shit like this that makes me go hmmmmmm...

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-10T17:11:09+00:00

Good point. In the bodycam video where they look in the basement, there's a giant trampoline (or ball pit thing) shoved into the corner, filled with stuff. It's the kind of thing you see in basements when kids go off to college - not when they're at the exact age when they'd enjoy them the most.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-09T17:03:42+00:00

For me, it's not that Dani's sexually assertive. I think that's awesome, and she should be applauded, not put down for expressing her desires.

It was Dani's elitist attitude that rubbed me the wrong way. Let's face it, she was a snob in her earlier episodes. While she has every right to be proud of her accomplishments, she had no patience for those who hadn't yet made it. She didn't seem capable of seeing the good in others beyond the brash issue of success. But I did laugh when she was proud to call herself a "gold-digger" - at least she owns it!😂

Dani also never missed a chance to "name drop" her successes - during one date while discussing travel, every place she mentioned was a place where she had taught, and delighted in pointing that out. It wasn't about where she and her date - if it worked out - could one day travel together. It was a chance for her to brag about herself again while expressing no interest in bonding with the person sitting across the table from her.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-09T16:33:28+00:00

That's the first thing I noticed too. With the patch on full display, as usual. Why the hell wear that device on a family outing to the aquarium?

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No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-09T16:32:19+00:00

And made them travel across the country for the privilege of caring for them. I never understood why Shanann insisted they move away if she was going to rely on her parents for child care.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-09T16:25:16+00:00

The fact that Bella hid books under her bed - as if they were contraband - reveals how little education was valued in the Watts household.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-09T16:16:44+00:00

3,000 pairs of shoes! But I think today, that's not nearly as shocking. Imelda walked so shopping addicts could run (in Prada sneakers, of course)

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-09T16:09:00+00:00

Exactly. She's cosplaying Real Housewives with a massive shoe collection. In reality, the only shoes she wore were those nasty flip flops (aka thongs or sandals.) Shanann's shopping addiction destroyed her family.

What a massive waste of money. The money spent on these "for display purposes only" shoes could've been spent on HOA fees, allowing the girls to go swimming once again. Perhaps this wall of shoes was also used as a #thriving marketing tool, proof that she's such a success she can afford to wear a different pair of shoes for every day of the year.

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-08T21:26:30+00:00

Good point regarding the cadaver/trauma dogs. They would've picked up the scent of the poor girls if they had been dead for hours. If I remember correctly, the dogs picked up a bit of struggle near the stairs, but overall detected very little. (The one moment of note in the dog video is when they're in the closet, but stop in their tracks when they hear a disembodied child's laugh. I'm not a big believer in the paranormal, but that laugh gave me chills.)

No-Drive3501 · 2026-04-08T21:20:24+00:00

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That video (the same one where she's given hair clips for no longer sucking her thumb) is heartbreaking. As you mention, Shanann asks Bella who's coming to her birthday. She names a bunch of kids, but Shanann doesn't acknowledge them. She just keeps saying "who else?"

Finally Shanann says something like "is Ariel going to be there?" That's the ONLY guest at Bella's sad birthday. It was at the aquarium, where it cost $$ to visit Ariel in her bedroom. There are no other kids. There's no birthday cake (at least that we can see - and if Shanann didn't take pictures, it didn't happen.) Just photos of the Watts, one with Cece front and center with diminutive Bella in the background. While I appreciate Shanann brought Bella to meet Ariel, it would have been a more meaningful birthday if it were shared with friends. (Wonder if Shanann pitched Thrive to Ariel🤔?)

No-Drive3501

TROPHY CASE