Welcome To Plathville: 10 Red Flags That Show Olivia Is The New Kim Plath

•  Olivia and Kim are both strong and bold women, constantly jockeying for power and butting heads on Welcome to Plathville.
•  Olivia often steamrolls her husband, but pushing too hard may jeopardize their marriage in the long run.
•  Olivia and Kim have big egos, and love pursuing their dreams, but they may never be fully satisfied. They always seem to want more.

In Welcome to Plathville season 5, Olivia Plath’s in the mix, bringing the drama, and there are so many reasons why she’s similar to her “monster-in-law,” Kim Plath. On the show, Olivia hasn’t had the easiest journey. Repeatedly, she’s clashed with her husband Ethan Plath’s parents, Kim and Barry Plath. Also, she’s had issues with her own partner, who often seems more interested in restoring cars than spending time with her. Olivia’s a survivor, so nothing’s going to get her down for long. She’s a strong and bold woman, just like Kim. The women are possibly too alike, as there can be only one queen in a court.

Welcome to Plathville season 5 has two queens. Kim and Olivia constantly jockey for position and butt heads. Both are committed to getting their own way. While Kim was typically the straitlaced one, she’s been rebelling lately, which makes her seem more like her free-spirited daughter-in-law, Olivia. The women do have differences, but both have a steely quality that stands out. While Kim’s still more traditional than Olivia, her evolution is basically turning her into a carbon copy of wedding photographer, Olivia. Will Kim keep getting more adventurous, or retreat into convention? Viewers will need to watch the new season to find out.

10Welcome To Plathville’s Olivia’s Stubborn, Just Like Kim

Olivia often steamrolls her husband. She’s definitely the one who’s in control. When she wants something and Ethan doesn’t, who’s likely to win? She is. However, winning certain battles may cause her lose the war. Her marriage may not endure if she pushes too hard. What kind of victory is it to continually force a partner to do things that they don’t want to do? It’s ultimately kind of a hollow win. Olivia showed her determination when she strongly encouraged Ethan to move to Tampa from his beloved Peach State home (Cairo, Georgia).

Welcome to Plathville‘s Kim Plath treated Ethan the same way, imposing her will on him. He was mostly meek and mild. However, underneath, some rage was simmering. Occasionally, he’d lose it, and who could blame him? Remember when he and Barry got physical in the driveway? While violence is never the answer, it’s understandable that taking Kim and Barry’s orders for years left him feeling undervalued and alone. That’s probably why he lashed out. As the saying goes, “hurt people hurt people.”

9Olivia’s Got A Big Ego & So Does Kim

Olivia, who sometimes plays the villain, has confidence. That’s a great thing, as her self-esteem makes her strong, and gives her the drive to succeed. However, now and then, she may love herself too much. When she bullies her husband into doing things, she shows an uglier side of her personality. As a rule, Ethan isn’t exactly hard to get along with. However, he’s become more irritable and bitter as time has passed, and some of that may be a response to Olivia pushing him around.

If she checked her ego more often while interacting with her husband, they might find life more peaceful. However, Olivia the risk-taker may not actually want peace all the time. It’s not inconceivable that she gets a buzz from conflict, as she seems to get involved in so many arguments with other people.

Kim has some narcissistic traits herself. She showed her ego when she made a power play outside of Moriah Plath’s concert. She was asked not to attend because Olivia was in the band. Naturally, Kim went anyway, lamely hiding in the parking lot with Barry and the crew. By failing to really listen to her child, Kim made it clear that she’s all about Kim.

8Olivia & Kim Think They’re Nurturers, But Maybe They’re Wrong

Olivia‘s affirmations often appear online, and in the one shown above, she implores her followers to, “Stay to watch the tree you nurtured grow.” However, Olivia’s more restless than most. She may love traveling more than putting down roots and babying her man. Ethan often seems like someone who wants a little bit of babying. He’s quite old-fashioned. Ethan might have really responded to someone who was genuinely nurturing, and didn’t put him down as much. In that situation, he could potentially bloom. His needs seem quite simple compared to his wife’s.

Olivia loves to roam, and her husband prefers to be at home. Ethan also loves working on cars and visiting relatives. Olivia’s taken some of that away from him. Of course, these two love each other, and no one’s perfect in a marriage. They’re trying, despite recent rumors that they’re on the rocks, which Olivia denies.

Kim thinks of herself as of the ultimate mother, who created an oh-so-pure Utopia for her children in Cairo, but maybe that rural oasis was really for her and Barry. Kim had a wild phase at college, and she seems to regret those party years. She possibly settled down and cut her kids off from the world because she wanted out of modern society. Kim got her wish, but the kids don’t seem that well-adjusted now. They’ve all struggled with the negative aspects of being raised with Fundamentalist values.

7Olivia’s Got Big Dreams, Just Like Her Mother-In-Law

Whether Kim’s trying to make the Plath family band famous, or get her dance studio off the ground, she’s always thinking big. Olivia also wants to live large. These two women have vision, but stumble a bit when it comes to follow-through. Kim’s dance studio doesn’t seem to be doing so well these days, and the Plath family’s musical group has disbanded.

Kim did get famous, and that was probably quite a coup for her. It was the culmination of years of “blonde ambition.” Now, Olivia’s making her mark as a wedding photographer, and she’s also a reality star. In America and beyond, fame is valuable currency. However, neither of the women ever seem satisfied. They’re always looking for more.

Will they ever change? Maybe not, as they don’t seem content most of the time. They’re always roiling, and each one causes her fair share of trouble. While they stir it up, they keep pursuing vaulting ambitions on and offscreen.

6Olivia’s Not Super Romantic (Neither Is Kim)

Olivia posts a lot about the romantic weddings that she captures with her camera, but she’s not quite as soft and sweet when she’s talking about her husband. She’s obviously thought about leaving him countless times. She did take a break from being with Ethan, and he was so sad. It was awful to see him on the show, wondering if his wife would come back.

Meanwhile, Kim’s marriage with Barry ended due to a lack of romance. He was surely to blame too. Kim and Barry were perhaps so consumed with playing their roles (uber-religious parents with fame) that they forgot to make each other happy. Kim was later spotted getting cozy with another man. Maybe the split was for the best, but it was hard on Kim, Barry and their children. It must have been especially tough for Lydia Plath, the most obedient of the older Plath children.

5Olivia & Kim Are All About Feuds With Family Members

In the new season’s premiere, Olivia was tangling with Ethan’s relatives, and said that he was, “caught in the middle.” He’s certainly occupied that uncomfortable position before. Of course, everything isn’t Olivia’s fault, but she isn’t known for backing down from fights. If she’s challenged, she will go to war. Olivia isn’t on speaking terms with Kim right now. Moriah moved out of Olivia and Ethan’s home (as previously mentioned), and there’s just so many feuds.

Olivia doesn’t get along with some of her siblings either. When one of them, half-sister Sophia Meggs-Roberts, said that she and Ethan were in the process of divorcing, Olivia responded, claiming she had no real bond with Sophia. That type of gossip will keep coming if Ethan and Olivia remain quiet about their marriage online. They’ve been more low-key lately.

Naturally, Kim is the queen of feuds. She’s really into long-term issues with family members. Kim never gave Ethan the kind of love that he needed, and had trouble accepting him for who he was. Then, she added insult to injury by rejecting his bride, Olivia. She brought Olivia into the drama, rather than just being glad that her son had someone to love.

Those feuds are important, and played a role in Olivia and Ethan’s problems. However, they just the scratch the surface in terms of feuds that Kim’s had. She clashed with Moriah and many other people, including her husband.

4Are These Two Women Selfish People?

“Dancing queen” Kim Plath isn’t so selfless. Remember when she made Lydia do most of the homeschooling of the little Plath kids? Lydia was frequently filmed washing dishes, which Kim probably helped to dirty. It’s like Kim had a ton of kids just to get some help with housework. That’s a joke, but it’s a similar vibe to the Duggar household, where kids do chores galore, and mom and dad seem to do much less. It could be a misconception, but it seems like Kim puts a lot on her daughter Lydia.

3Olivia Has Trouble Taking Accountability (Kim’s The Queen Of Denial)

Olivia likes to post about what people should be like, and some of her Instagram captions, including the one shown above, seem a bit passive-aggressive. By letting the world know whom she treasures, is she really trying to share exactly which characteristics her “enemies” are lacking? It’s not impossible, as Olivia does have a combative side. Plus, IG makes it so easy to express hidden thoughts through cryptic posts. Lots of reality stars post “cryptically.”

What Olivia rarely does is look at herself, pinpointing her own flaws and bad decisions. She may occasionally take accountability, but she’s more apt to cast blame on others. However, she’s sometimes had good reason to. For example, Kim was awful to her from day one, poisoning their relationship right from the start. There was really no way to come back from that, and Olivia was so young. Kim was definitely in the wrong. Kim’s the queen of denial, and nothing’s ever her fault. Divorce may force her to confront herself in a way that she hasn’t had to for years. Hopefully, she’ll grow from her pain.

2Olivia & Kim May Be Happier When They’re Single

Kim’s reportedly got a boyfriend, Ken Palmer, and Olivia claims she’s still with Ethan, but given the turbulent romantic histories of both women, they might enjoy single life more. If they were single, they could really lean into their hobbies, and they wouldn’t need to answer to anyone. While they might not want to be single forever, a break could benefit both of them. Olivia and Kim seem like women who are extremely independent, despite some significant family ties. Maybe both should fly solo for a bit and see how they feel. They might love it.

1Olivia & Kim Won’t Let Anyone Boss Them Around

Olivia’s a glamorous (as seen above) and successful woman. She has her own business, so she’s used to calling the shots. Her mother-in-law’s trying to be an entrepreneur too, although Kim’s dance studio seems to have closed. Possibly, Kim isn’t the most graceful dancer the world’s ever seen. She may have overestimated her abilities in that niche. While it’s great that she loves to dance, other instructors may have more to offer.

So, Olivia may be the true boss, while her nemesis Kim could be nothing more than a wannabe. Nonetheless, the two women don’t take kindly to being told what to do. These Welcome to Plathville stars want to be in charge. When they’re in control, they seem happier. However, the people in their lives resist their control on a regular basis, and may even scoff at their attempts to rule the roost. Some of their methods are definitely questionable. They need to put a little sugar on it. If they were nicer about telling people what to do, their loved ones might appreciate them a lot more.