A&E struck gold back in 2005 when they launched Intervention, a docu-style series following alcoholics and drug addicts (and some struggling with other disorders) from what we hope is their bottom through a staged intervention and, if all goes well, off to treatment. Though briefly canceled in 2013, the show was (thankfully) revived just a year later and has now officially entered its 15th season. The seventh episode aired Sunday, April 17.
This is Robert and Daniel
Straight outta Westfield, Massachusetts, Robert and Daniel are not only brothers but also BFF’s in heroin addiction. Both in their 30s, the boys (okay, men) live with their mom, a loving codependent who provides room and board not only for them but also for Daniel’s fiancée and their four-year old daughter.
Robert, 31, fancies himself an architect and while sketching designs in his mother’s living room, dreams of being the next Frank Lloyd Wright—though at the rate he is going, he is more apt to be the next Philip Seymour Hoffman. Daniel, 30, who played college baseball for my alma mater, University of Massachusetts Boston, and was once courted by the New York Yankees, doesn’t like calling himself a heroin addict; instead he sees himself as someone who has a problem…with heroin. Alrighty then!
What It Was like
Intervention does this thing at the beginning of every episode where they show baby pictures of the addict(s) and then seem to ask the parents if they could have imagined that their kids(s) would grow up to be drug addicts. While I understand they do this to show that addiction can happen to anyone, I don’t imagine there will ever be a day when one of the parents says, “As soon as Robert was born I knew that one day, he’d be a junkie.”
According to Robert and Daniel’s mother, Brenda, both kids were quite promising as toddlers. Robert was always very creative and inquisitive and Robert was active and showed signs of being an athlete. Both boys, along their younger sister Ashley, describe their childhood as normal, stable and even “picture perfect.” However, looming under the surface was their father’s drinking problem, which eventually caused Brenda to give him an ultimatum: choose your family or choose drinking. The family lost. When Robert was 13 and Daniel was 11, their parents divorced. Their dad continues to live his life centered on drinking.
What Happened
Despite their parents’ separation, Robert and Daniel continued to excel. Daniel earned a scholarship to play college baseball and Robert went off to school for civil engineering where he was singled out for being especially gifted. But in much like a Paul Thomas Anderson movie, the brothers’ parallel good times were followed by parallel bad times. Though claiming to have a 3.9 GPA, Robert somehow lost his financial aid and was forced to drop out of college at the same time that Daniel blew his chance to play for the New York Yankees when he injured himself during spring training. Both boys turned to drugs to deal with the pain of their lost dreams.
It’s life hurdles that seem to separate addicts from non-addicts. While sadness is a natural reaction to loss and some depression can be part of the grieving process, people with addiction issues tend not to be able to process these events and the feelings they have about them. They turn to alcohol and drugs to numb themselves and wind up in a vicious cycle of using more and more to keep the sadness, shame, guilt, fear or anger at bay. But as many alcoholics and addicts who have bottomed out know, you can’t escape the pain forever.
What It’s Like Now
What once was an exciting future for two talented boys has turned into a small and sad existence for two young men. In addition to living together at their mom’s house, Robert and Daniel spend their days at their father’s house shooting up. An active alcoholic and codependent in his own right, Robert Sr. justifies the open invitation to his sons by saying he would rather have them there then at some stranger’s house where they could risk getting arrested (oh no, not consequences!) I don’t know what is more depressing, a father shepherding his sons towards a downward spiral to death or the dad’s wood-paneled shithole they are killing themselves in.
Keeping on the PT Anderson trend, Robert and Daniel deliver Boogie Nights-esque on-camera interviews, complete with smoking indoors and being very high. The only thing missing from this episode is a montage of Daniel practicing baseball pitches along the Westfield River as Julianne Moore does a voiceover (sorry, I took that too far).
Daniel does talk about meeting his fiancée, Renee, seven years ago and loving her “to death,” which may end up being more literal than he intended. He also gushes about his daughter, Mackenzie, who he says is the “most important thing in the world” to him. Of course, we know the most important thing to him is heroin.
Robert and Daniel each spend $100 a day on heroin. As their sister Ashley points out, they are able to do this because neither has to pay rent. While Brenda sees providing her sons with a place to live as helping them, it becomes clear that she is most definitely enabling them to keep using drugs.
Daniel’s fiancée Renee also appears to be involved in Daniel’s addiction in some respect. Though she doesn’t admit to it, Robert, Ashley and Brenda all say that Renee is the one who scores drugs for Daniel (with money she receives from her parents) and that she is using as well. Brenda gets Renee’s parents involved, pleading with them to stop sending their daughter money because it’s not going to food for Mackenzie.
When asked if they wanted to stop using, Daniel says that he would absolutely love to while Robert admits that he does not.
The Pre-Intervention
When you are dealing with heroin addict brothers, a drunken father and an enabling family, you need more than an interventionist, you need a superhero. And Jeff VanVonderen is just the man for the job. A veteran from the earliest seasons of the show, VanVonderen is known for honest yet well-crafted sayings; and he busts one out right at the gate. “Our job today is to put [Robert and Daniel] in range of life because they are in range of death.” He also immediately calls the family out on their part. “Enabling is harmful help with good intentions and you don’t get to do it anymore.” Boom!
fiancée lays out the plan. The there will be three interventions—Daniel, Renee and the boys’ father Robert (sorry Dad) and they will do each one separately. Daniel will be first since he is most likely to influence Renee to go. Robert will go last as he is the leader of the three of them and if he denies treatment, it will be an Intervention failure trifecta.
As a native Masshole (Massachusetts + a**hole) myself, I was not the least bit surprised by what happens next: a fight breaks out! Thankfully it doesn’t come to blows but the incident is such a testament to the power codependency and denial when you see a family who is trying to save the lives of three loved ones choose to fight over how many days a week they will get to see their granddaughter. News flash, people—so not an important issue right now. Certainly not one that warrants a finger pointing tell off and dramatic walk out.
But everyone ends up pulling it together for the big day (although I might have thought Brenda would have touched up her roots for national television).
The Intervention
VanVonderen sits with the family as Daniel gets picked up by the crew to come to his “final interview.” He smokes in the car on the way, which is mighty generous of production since I am pretty sure the van is a rental. When he enters the intervention room, he is pretty quick to figure out what is going on and isn’t happy about it. “So this whole thing is about me, huh?” You can almost see his defenses go up. Typical of addicts to think they’re being singled out and that the people who love them are just trying to rain on their parade. It’s also typical of an addict to think that a downward spiral is a parade.
“These people just love you like crazy but they are losing you,” Jeff tells him. Daniel’s response? “Fuck all of you people…let’s just get this over with.” He remains stoic through his baby sister’s tearful letter reminding him of what their relationship was like before drugs, recalling happy memories from their childhood and reiterating how much she loves him. “I wish the worst for all of you because it didn’t have to be done like this,” Daniel says.
Defiant, ungrateful and rude? Absolutely. But it’s really manipulation—a way for Daniel to trick his family (and maybe himself) into thinking he is an adult. Daniel is so full of shit he doesn’t even know how full of shit he is. He is carrying on with the bravado of a man who is worthy of respect yet he is nothing more than an overgrown child who can’t take care of himself, his wife or his own child. Hey, guess what Daniel? This is going to get done in whatever way your caretakers think it should.
Before deciding whether or not to accept treatment, Daniel wants to make sure everyone knows that his brother’s drug habit is way worse than his. Ah yes, the old justification that our using isn’t a problem as long as the people around us are worse. And if they are alive, we’re doing fine! VanVonderen assures Daniel that not only will they be offering help to Robert but also to Renee.
After a minor temper tantrum, Daniel agrees to go to treatment. He even calls Renee and advises her to go as well. She agrees, though she has yet to admit to anyone, including her parents, that she is doing drugs. In fact, in one of the on-camera interviews, Renee outwardly lies and says that she is not. When she accepts treatment, her parents (who send her money every week but she refuses to see) are anxious to know if Renee admitted to having a drug problem (she didn’t).
Once they get Daniel on a plane to Costa Mesa, California for rehab, the family meets again to discuss the plan of action for Robert. It is then revealed that Robert is now aware of the intervention (Renee told him) and VanVonderen points out that this does make things a little more challenging. But the family is willing to do whatever it takes.
The next morning, the family meets outside Robert’s father’s house, where VanVonderen has arranged for Robert’s boss to bring him before work. VanVonderen says that when he spoke to the boss and told him the situation, the boss gave the dream answer. “He really cares about Robby,” Jeff says. “He knows he needs help and [Robert] can’t have his job if he doesn’t go to treatment.”
But when Robert arrives, he is all smiles; which is surprising considering he said he was not interested in getting clean earlier in the episode. Robert says that he thinks it will be a nice change and that he is sick of being broke. Obviously, Robert is high and these aren’t the most convincing words about recovery but that’s not the point—the point is, he agrees to get help without a fight and by that afternoon, Danny, Renee and Robert are en route to treatment.
Sixty Days Later
When Ashley and Mackenzie come to visit Danny, he looks great and says he feels mentally and physically excellent. His counselors give him rave reviews, commenting on his willingness to do the work. Danny seems hopeful; he is exercising regularly and has plans to return to college and get a degree so he can get a job in a sports-related field.
Seventy-Four Days Later
Jeff visits Robert who also looks much healthier and says he is happy every day when he wakes up (enjoy that while it lasts, Rob). He admits that since he began using, he has never been clean this long and that he realizes he never gave himself a fair shake at sobriety. Robert tells Jeff that he is feeling re-inspired and even designed a garden in the backyard of his treatment facility.
Today
After 90 days of treatment, Robert agreed to stay for six more months to continue working on his sobriety. Daniel also completed treatment and transitioned into a sober living. He is now looking for work.
It was discovered that Renee had an eating disorder and received treatment for that. After gaining 30 pounds, she began treatment for her chemical dependency. Both she and Daniel have been sober since September 22, 2015 and Robert has been clean since September 23, 2015.
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