‘Welcome to Plathville’ Recap: Ethan Stunned By Lydia’s Quick Engagement, ‘Shotgun Wedding’

Ethan Plath wasn’t sure of sister Lydia Plath’s whirlwind romance during the Welcome to Plathville season 7 premiere — especially after his own marriage ended in divorce.

The Tuesday, July 22, premiere focused on new beginnings for the Plath family. Ethan, 27, and sister Moriah Plath were newly single when the cameras picked back up in fall 2024, while Lydia, 21, and Issac Plath were happy in fresh relationships.

Micah Plath, meanwhile, revealed he had “tension” with girlfriend Veronica Peters after she and Moriah, 22, experienced a falling out between seasons.

While Isaac, 19, said he was “in love” with girlfriend Kaylynn, it was Lydia’s fast pace with then-boyfriend Zac Wyse that worried Ethan.

“What the f***? You meet a guy for three months and you tell me you’re going to get married?” Ethan told the cameras after learning that Zac had just gotten their dad Barry Plath’s blessing to propose. “It doesn’t make sense. Like, I get that he makes her happy, that’s obvious. But it is pretty quick.”

Ethan, who was informed about the relationship update the same day he was officially introduced to Zac, was taken aback by the fast pace of the romance.

“I think we kinda dropped a bomb on him,” Lydia confessed, referring to her older brother’s reaction. “I don’t know if I want to know what he’s thinking.”

As Ethan stood in the family kitchen, the couple revealed that they already set a date for their impending nuptials, just three months from that night. “A shotgun wedding?” Ethan jokingly said, before acknowledging that the timeframe was “so damn quick.”

Lydia, however, wasn’t fazed by her brother’s uneasiness over her timeline. In fact, Lydia didn’t understand what Ethan was insinuating with his “shotgun wedding” comment.

“A shotgun wedding is when usually the family insists that they get married, so they hold them at gunpoint till they get married,” Lydia explained to Zac, before the producers told her that wasn’t the correct definition.

The real meaning of a “shotgun wedding” implies a rushed wedding “based on pregnancy,” but Lydia didn’t buy it. “So, you’re not thinking of an actual shotgun at the wedding? Well, that’s what I’m thinking of,” she confessed.

After the bombshell was dropped on Ethan, and he learned more about Zac meeting Lydia at a church in Colorado in August 2024, he still wasn’t convinced about Zac entering the family.

“What the hell is going on?” Ethan asked during a confessional after watching Zac and Lydia laughing and getting giddy in the kitchen while Barry rooted them on enthusiastically.

Ethan joked, “My dad seems like someone slipped something in his kombucha,” before pointing out, “I didn’t even know I was meeting this guy tonight.” (Ethan was one of the last two siblings to meet Zac prior to him proposing in December 2024.)

Although Ethan noted that Lydia “seems very, very happy,” he admitted, “It’s safe to say this is definitely not anybody I pictured Lydia with.”

Ethan eventually confessed, “I guess the one thing that I have hesitation of is, I think he’s gay.”

Despite Ethan’s hesitations, both Lydia and Barry were totally on board with a fast wedding. Barry revealed during the episode that when he spoke with God about Lydia and Zac’s relationship, he had “peace” and gave Zac his blessing right away.

Lydia, meanwhile, knew within weeks of meeting Zac on a trip to Colorado that he was The One. “Zac and I had only been dating for 16 days when we both knew that we had found our forever,” she told the cameras. “I mean, there were so many just Godwinks you could call them, or things that, like, we couldn’t have orchestrated that was from the Lord and we both knew it.”

Lydia and Zac tied the knot in February with seven of her eight siblings in attendance, including Ethan.

Welcome to Plathville airs on TLC Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.