Welcome To Plathville: 8 Ways Kim Plath Turned Into A Monster On & Offscreen (She’s Out Of Control)

Welcome To Plathville’s Kim Plath has been through a lot in her life, especially in her time on the show. Unfortunately, she’s become out of control.

Welcome To Plathville‘s Kim Plath has been through a lot in her life, especially during her time as the matriarch of the Plath family, but it seems as though she’s falling out of control in recent episodes of the series. Throughout the run of Welcome To Plathville, Kim has been with her now-estranged husband Barry Plath. Their relationship wasn’t something to aspire to, especially because of Barry’s controlling behavior, but the dissolution of their marriage seems to have changed Kim and sent her spiraling. Without Barry on her side, Kim seems to be pushing her children into difficult behavior and changing her own life for the worst.

While many have always considered Barry to be the monster in the Plath family, Kim has been showing her true colors throughout Welcome To Plathville season 5. With her husband no longer holding her back from expressing herself in the way she wants, Kim has acted out against her daughter-in-law, Olivia Plath, among others. Though her beliefs are only her own, she’s been pushing them on her children, turning them against the people she dislikes and making it difficult for the Plath family to navigate this difficult change in their makeup.

8Kim’s Turned Her Kids Against Olivia Plath

Kim’s biggest pain point on Welcome To Plathville season 5 has been her non-existent relationship with her daughter-in-law, Olivia. While Kim liked Olivia at one point, her relationship with Ethan Plath has changed over the years and Olivia has been pulling her son away from her. Though this is typical as children grow older, Kim sees it as an act of treason for Olivia. After dealing with her own distrust in Olivia, Kim has also put her daughter Moriah Plath in the middle. Kim has turned Moriah against Olivia, who she used to be close with, by spreading lies about Olivia’s behavior and poisoning Moriah’s thoughts about her sister-in-law.

7Kim’s Bad Habits Are Catching Up With Her

While Kim preaches about her faith and positions herself as a model citizen, she has some bad habits that have been catching up to her on Welcome To Plathville season 5. In late 2022, Kim was arrested for driving while intoxicated. She fought for months in court to have the conviction overturned, but ultimately was found guilty of driving under the influence. Kim, who often tries to act like she’s perfect, put her life and the lives of others in danger, but has yet to truly apologize for her actions or even admit to her mistakes, including her divorce from Barry.

6Kim Ditched Her Loyal Husband

Though Barry was a controlling spouse, he was tremendously loyal to Kim. Their marriage wasn’t aspirational, but after 10 children together and decades of time spent married, Kim chose to leave the relationship. Kim explained that she felt lonely in their marriage, and was hoping to find freedom outside of her relationship as an independent person. Barry, who was floored by the divorce, didn’t agree with Kim’s reasoning and found himself confused and alone after she decided to end their marriage. Divorce is typically frowned upon in strict religions like Kim and Barry’s, leaving many wondering if the backlash Kim has received for divorcing Barry has been worth it.

5Kim Started Breaking Her Own Rules

As a fundamentalist, Kim has followed strict rules and regulations about her style of dress and the way she’s able to appear in public. She’s meant to be more modest, wearing loose-fitting clothes not to show off her body and to keep her face relatively makeup free for purity’s sake. In recent years, Kim has become more interested in wearing tighter clothes and showing off her figure. She also wears much more makeup than she ever has, leaving many to question why she followed the stringent rules of her church in the first place if she was merely going to change her mind about them.

4Kim Ruined Her Kids Lives With Fundamentalist Upbringing

In a fundamentalist household, people are cut off from society and technology. Kim raised her children to be fundamentalists, meaning they were cut off from “normal” society, didn’t have much of an understanding of the outside world, and didn’t factor in modernity when learning or growing. When the Plath family entered modern society, Kim’s children were baffled by even the simplest notion. By keeping the children sheltered in the past, Kim has ruined their future by putting them at a near-constant disadvantage.

3Kim’s Midlife Crisis Wreaked Havoc

While Kim’s behavior has been going on for some time, it’s possible that it’s due to a midlife crisis rather than a complete change of heart. Kim, who’s currently 51 years old, lived the majority of her life under a strict edict that didn’t allow her many personal freedoms. As she’s grown older, Kim has become more aware of what she wants and doesn’t want out of life, which means she may be dealing with some tremendously conflicting emotions right now. Her monstrous behavior may merely be a side effect of the midlife crisis she’s having, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that she’s developing some awful habits.

2Kim’s Just So Sneaky

While some may say Kim’s just sneaking a way that parents are, she has displayed an array of sneaky behaviors on Welcome To Plathville season 5 that haven’t just been in response to her children’s actions. For example, Moriah was once performing at a concert and respectfully asked Kim not to come. She felt that having her mother there may make her nervous, so she asked for Kim to stay away. Kim declined to respect Moriah’s wishes, showing up at the concert and making things uncomfortable for everyone. She’s done sneaky things countless other times, showing it’s just part of her nature.

1Kim’s A Selfish Person

Kim tries to play the victim often, but when it comes down to it, she’s more selfish than anyone in the Plath family. From her behavior in general to the fact that she makes her younger children do all the housework for her while she doesn’t lift a finger, Kim’s displayed some tremendously selfish behaviors in the past. Though she tries to play herself up as a devout religious follower and often talks about the things that have happened to her in the past, her victim mentality just proves that she’s selfish at heart. Many hope to see Kim change her ways on Welcome To Plathville, but don’t count on it happening any time soon.

Welcome To Plathville airs Tuesday 10 p.m. EDT on TLC.