After rewatching Ethan and his ex-wife Olivia’s relationship has been one of the main focal points of the series, even though the rest of Ethan’s family is a huge part of the show. Ethan, now in his mid-twenties, met Olivia when the pair were just teenagers. They knew each other for a few years before getting engaged at 19, and by the time they turned 20, they were married.

Ethan and Olivia’s marriage has been a major part of Welcome To Plathville through the years. Although their marriage became too difficult for them to continue pursuing, it was one of the highlights of the series' early seasons. Throughout Welcome To Plathville’s run, Ethan and Olivia’s marriage has brought drama to the family, which has made its way into the series from season to season. While the early seasons brought Ethan and Olivia together as they pushed back against Kim Plath’s criticisms, Welcome To Plathville season 6 saw their final moments together and proved Ethan’s to blame for their divorce.

Ethan wasn’t comfortable defending Olivia, even when she was doing what was in his best interest.

Ethan Never Stood Up For Olivia

He Let His Family Bash Her

Although Ethan and Olivia’s relationship became an issue the longer it lasted, they had a major issue from the beginning that often reared its ugly head in Ethan’s mother, Kim, and her poor behavior. Ethan and Olivia got married at just 20 years old at the insistence of Kim, who wanted them to be able to move into the next chapter of their lives whether they were ready or not. While Olivia had come from a fundamentalist background in the same way Ethan had, she didn’t have any family after leaving her family behind to make her own way.

After their marriage began, Olivia began finding herself included in the intimate moments of the Plath family, good or bad. While Kim was quick to bring Olivia into the family, the moment she began stepping out of the mold Kim had set out for her, the Plath family matriarch snapped. She often dragged Olivia into the middle of her drama or berated her because she attempted to make Ethan push himself for independence. While Kim and the rest of the Plaths were often coming for Olivia, Ethan never stood up for his wife, instead blaming her for his family’s outbursts.

This was never more apparent than with the major Welcome To Plathville credit card scandal. After marrying into the family and beginning to combine finances, Olivia realized that Kim had been using a credit card under Ethan’s name and collecting the rewards on the card without his understanding of what she was up to. When Olivia demanded that Kim give up the card and allow her and Ethan to maintain their finances, Kim tried to spin the drama around. Rewatching the show, it’s clear Ethan wasn’t comfortable defending Olivia, even when she was doing what was in his best interest.

Ethan Wanted Olivia To Change Herself

He Wasn’t Okay With Who She Was

Although Ethan and Olivia grew up in similar environments, it was clear from early on that while Olivia was looking to shed her fundamentalist past, Ethan was comfortable living in a similar environment to the one they’d grown up in. While Olivia was ready to spread her wings and find her independence, Ethan didn’t feel comfortable with the freethinking woman he married. While I felt like Ethan tried to accept the way Olivia was for a while, it became clear during Welcome To Plathville season 5 that he couldn’t manage her personality.

Ethan made it clear that he would be quick to disappear when the drama started.

Ethan made it clear that he wasn’t happy with Olivia for quite a while before the couple called it quits. Sharing at one point that while he wanted to have a family in the future, he didn’t want kids with Olivia the way she was, Ethan was blatant with his lack of interest in the way Olivia was developing. Although Ethan made sense when he opened up about the issues he saw in his relationship with Olivia, he often didn’t appear to understand that he couldn’t demand her to stay the same and expect results.

Ethan Disappeared When Trouble Started

He Refused To Stick Around

Although Welcome To Plathville features plenty of moments of drama where the Plath family engages with each other, Ethan’s response to conflict and drama is different than the rest of his family’s. Throughout the show’s run, Ethan made it clear that he would be quick to disappear when the drama started, only to return once it was over. During Welcome To Plathville season 4, when there were major issues between Ethan & Olivia and Moriah Plath, Ethan often simply left the conflict when it got to be too much. He did the same thing with Olivia, consistently breaking her trust.

Source: Ethan Plath/Instagram