It’s the question that’s been hanging over each of the past few Little People, Big World episodes.
As Matt and Amy Roloff have clashed more than ever on the latest season of this TLC hit, many fans have been wondering:
What does this mean for the future of the family farm? Heck…
… IS there a future for the family farm?!?
We’ve openly wondered whether Little People, Big World could be ending soon — and Tuesday night’s episode didn’t provide us with much reason for hope in this department.
“I don’t know what the future of the farm really holds,” Amy told the cameras very simply, adding this week:
“It’d be great to see the grandkids play here when they’re five years old, but in the back of my mind, I also know it’s a challenge sometimes with Matt and I living on the farm together, being divorced and everything.”
The stars split up two years ago, although it’s recently come out that they were living apart for a long time prior to their June 2016 divorce filing.
Matt and Amy still get along mostly well, but the former is dating Caryn Chandler and the latter Chris Marek.
The romances are very serious, causing extra awkwardness between all involved.
“Part of me just wants to sell the farm, liquidate it, and move on,” Matt actually said out loud for the first time last night.
The family patriarch recently confirmed that he’ll be moving to Arizona part-time, casting further doubt on the future of the series and the property.
How do Jeremy and Zach feel about this possibility?
Both have families of their own, but they recognize the special and unique position they’ve been in with the farm over the years.
“I prefer for there to be a Roloff legacy and not just see it disintegrate before our eyes,” Jeremy said, to which Zach replied:
“The farm is such an amazing thing that my parents built here, it would be sad to not see it go onto a second generation, then a third generation.”
Matt’s main issue seems to be the fact that, due to the terms of the divorce, Amy has been living in the family home this whole time… while he’s been relegated to the double-wide trailer not built for a little person’s needs.
Such an arrangement was only supposed to be temporary when he first moved out.
“I’m not into a buyout,” Amy told Matt in response to the idea of shacking up with Marek. “I don’t plan on moving unless we sell.”
She later admitted in a confessional:
“Divorce is hard. I think the hardest thing is the perception that I shouldn’t have the house, that I shouldn’t have any of this.
“No one says it, it’s just all of these different conversations and moments, and collectively I probably feel that way.”
It would help Matt and Amy decide what to do if either of their prominent sons (no offense to Jacob, who clearly isn’t an option here) stepped up and offered to run the farm.
But neither Jeremy nor Zach will make this committment.
“It’s hard to take over what someone else is doing,” Jeremy told his parents, explaining:
“It’s you guys’ place. So you guys need to figure out what you want to do, what your plans are. You’re the ones who are living on the same property.”
Zach said he would be “devastated” to lose the farm, but not enough to say for certain that he’ll dedicate himself to running it.
“I like the fact that they want to keep it in the family, but that’s easy to say,” Matt said at one point. “We still have a lot of things that we need to get resolved.”
Since this episode was filmed, the family has come together to accept a pretty impressive award.
This doesn’t mean any answers as they relate to the farm have been confirmed, however. The future is still one big question mark.
Little People, Big World airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on TLC.
