purpleflowers

IMO Meri looked like she was about to start crying.

I'm wondering if they will use Garrison's Hawaii trip for the program he is in as an excuse...but then why wouldn't Janelle be going since it's her son? Who knows.

She says "I can't walk very far out of water". I don't want to claim to know more about her physical problems than her, but this is very problematic for me. Walking is THE most basic exercise she can do. And GEEZ, this woman. She says she "ONLY" started needing Dillon's caretaking when he was 14 or 15. That kind of disgusted me. I will give her the benefit of the doubt that perhaps she is trying now with the physical therapist and maybe there is hope for her progress. I know TLC will edit things to their liking for ratings and I see her point with that but favorable editing would not have hidden Pauline's bad attitude and actions. I do wonder about her claim that Dr. Now said no to fruits and vegetables. Can anyone verify if this is something a doctor would recommend against for a gastric bypass patient?

Yes, something is very strange about this whole thing. R and K looked guilty or like they were trying to suppress smiles.

I'm ashamed that I know this, but if you click the "SHOP" link, and then check "Annie's Attitudes" on that checklist on the left, it will direct you to her stuff. This website has no logical navigation to it.

I'm sorry if this has been posted already, but I just found a clip I hadn't seen before of the upcoming March 1 episode. It is in this article .

What I can't get over with the name of the business is that they made sister wife one word, yet it's two words for the title of their show! All embarrassing grammatical errors on the website aside, this inconsistency should have been glaringly obvious to Robyn. I know it's not nearly the worst thing about their business and website, but it still annoys me.

The wet bar is supposedly for "pastries", etc. hahaha. I don't think entering polygamy was solely Meri's idea. When she married Kody, they were both in that fundamentalist faith together. I suspect that if Kody decided against plural marriage after the two of them got married, she may not have objected. It was a matter of doing the right thing in her culture for Meri. And with Janelle coming into the picture, I got the sense from their talking heads and the book that it was more Janelle's idea to become part of the family; Meri may have introduced her to Kody, but that was probably unavoidable considering she was already Meri's ex-sister-in-law. Christine seemed to help balance things out and I can see Meri welcoming that with how much she butted heads with Janelle.

In the words of Sophia from The Golden Girls, "...and the world heaves a collective sigh of relief!"

I think whenever Christine mentions the word "help" she really means company, support, comfort...things she likely doesn't get much of from Kody. She was raving about all the "help" Aspyn and Mykelti provided her, but I saw through that because really, how much help could Aspyn have been providing away at college the past year or so? And I'm sure she could get Paedon to "help" if she was overwhelmed; he's got to be at least 15. Back in Utah, Christine seemed very comfortable looking after many kids at once, both her own and Janelle's. Add to this Christine's bizarre comment that she wasn't given the chance to look after Robyn's kids, and it's clear that Christine's issue has little to do with domestic labor. And, I see how much Meri misses Mariah being around all the time for the company and mother/daughter bonding, and I'm sure Christine could relate with her eldest two.

Interesting! That article links Pauline's youtube channel. She has some vlogs that were very recently posted, though I don't know how recently they were filmed. I watched a few of them which seem to have been filmed in October and November, so I'm not sure if they were post-surgery or not...and I am seeing more of Pauline's victim mentality in it. It looks like it is rubbing off on her son a bit as well. And it also appears she is still wanting to move as little as possible. So frustrating, so very frustrating to watch. And baffling too, because it one video she is being very realistic about the surgery and how it is not a quick fix and that one can "cheat the system" and have the wrong foods at frequent intervals post-surgery. Then, she turns around and seemingly does just that! I don't get it. ETA: It appears Pauline has had blood clots in the past, maybe that is why Dr. Now made sure to implant that filter or whatever apparatus it was in her leg after she refused to move.

All I really gleaned from this episode was Michelle looking uncomfortable as she kept saying "it's so exciting!". Her grin was so stiff. When I see her like this, I just imagine her when she is behind closed doors finally letting her cheery demeanor deflate and probably looking more real and authentic than how we get to see her. I do not dislike Michelle, but I don't quite get her.

Not to worry! Everything they touch turns to gold, remember?

So true! I am getting sucked into this blog. So interesting and detailed and....wreath-y hahaha. It's crazy. Kody and Christine are third cousins! What I found intriguing about that connection is that since his grandmother and her grandfather are first cousins, and Robyns' ex has the same grandfather as Christine, that would mean Kody IS biologically related to all of Robyn's children. Interesting stuff!

It was a depressing episode because at the beginning she seemed so torn up about what she was doing to her son and her weight spiraling out of control that you might believe she was truly on the brink of changing. At some point her attitude totally shifted. Dr. Now really did whatever he could possibly do for Pauline. He may give tough love and be blunt, but considering the amount of times Pauline squandered her opportunities and gave feeble excuses , Dr. Now went above and beyond for her. I also felt the same as a poster above in regards to the procedure in her leg to prevent blood clots; I would never choose that over potentially strenuous walking. That just goes to show the extent of her denial and whatever other issue in her psyche. She is willing to risk blood clots that can be life-threatening so she doesn't have to move. I also felt really bad for Dillon. Last week's episode was a mother enabling her grown child (with Susan) and this week it is somewhat the opposite but different because Dillon is not the parent and not as responsible in my mind because of this alternate dynamic. Someone upthread mentioned that they knew it was hopeless when Pauline was told she had to limit her food intake. What I find interesting is that Amber, the young girl, told Dr. Now on her first visit a very similar description of her eating habits as Pauline (she keeps eating even if she is sick to her stomach and full), but she managed to find a way to control her eating. I wonder how the two of them differ psychologically and with their food addictions.

Okay, that makes sense. I suppose the scenario I was thinking of was one in which both Robyn AND ex Jessop are gone...then would Kody have any right to the children if he became a legal guardian beforehand?

Agreed! However, Robyn does not miss an opportunity to elevate her status and that's why it doesn't surprise me that she was chosen. Of course, they will probably give it a much different spin so that it doesn't come across that way. Janelle, who seems aloof and detached on the surface may be portrayed as not caring one way or the other. Now Christine...that's a tricky one; I can't imagine how they will try to make her appear pleased with any of this. ETA: A thought that popped up in my mind: there has been a lot of talk on whether this is related to Robyn's first three kids and custody...I'm no expert so I just want to put this question out there. Is it possible for the biological parent (David Jessop) to still have custody and for a step-parent to be a legal guardian at the same time? I don't know if this is even allowed or possible, but if it is...could that be a potential angle? As in, if Robyn and her ex were not in the picture hypothetically, she would want to ensure all her kids get to continue to see their Brown family?

At first I did think TLC knew all along because of how the leak of the divorce/marriage files seemed premeditated, but now I'm also thinking TLC didn't know until recently given the order the episodes are airing (things that happened and were filmed in November being shown before divorce stuff). Also, in one of the recent RV episodes, maybe the Ken-gate one, there was supposed to be talk about Robyn's ex. I think the episode was edited last-minute to get rid of that content after TLC caught wind of the divorce and marriage so that Robyn wouldn't be cast in a negative or opportunistic light.

They've done this on previous episodes too. I also wondered the same thing you are, but people here have surmised that it's probably to keep Robyn's first three kids equally included in the family and also to simplify how they are labeled on the show.

This episode was especially sad. I enjoyed reading everyone's take on Susan and her situation; there was a lot of interesting insight upthread. I also found it strange that the sister said her parents' divorce was the catalyst for her devastation and weight gain. I felt similar to this story as I did to Amber's: something traumatic or truly dysfunctional is missing from the story. Obviously, the father wielding a gun in front of them sounds absolutely traumatic enough, but the way Susan's mother has kept her dependent for all these years is truly sad and strange. I am curious how TLC found this family or how this family found Dr. Now and why they finally decided to make a change for Susan. I hope Susan can keep up her progress and finds health and happiness independent of her mother.

So here's my new tentative theory. Meri said at the end of yesterday's episode that she is doing this out of some "strange, weird thought process". She said she has been thinking about it for five years since about the time Robyn joined the Browns. From the very limited information they have given us thus far on the show, I'm going to guess that Meri feels (or will claim she feels) that someone else should have to chance to experience being legal wife (although I don't know how she'll explain that because they're all supposedly equally married regardless of legal standing), and since she bonded with Robyn the most, her first pick to experience it next is her. What the real story is, who knows and we may never know. But I feel this may be their spin.

That's a good observation, so true! I think we really don't know for sure that Janelle and Christine came to know only afterwards about the divorce decision. The preview for the scene when they're all discussing it in someone's living room looks super fake. There is no way they're all finding out about it for the first time in front of the cameras. It's totally scripted. Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking about her "extra" income comment!! Janelle, your family is going to need all the "extra" income you can get once the TLC gravy train rolls away! Regarding Mariah, like someone upthread mentioned, I am not surprised she switched to the P.A. pathway instead of pre-med. It makes more sense with wanting to be a sister-wife and have a family. It's not that she couldn't have been a doctor and pursued polygamy, but this seems more realistic to me with that lifestyle. I don't blame Mariah for not realizing the hours or work load involved. It's hard to really know what it's like until you actually experience it. I felt the same way when I entered college on a pre-med track. I switched out after taking some core pre-med classes that were very rigorous and as my classmates put it, designed to "weed" out those who are not inclined to the field/subject (like myself) or don't have the capacity for the rigorous work load. It happens a lot in undergrad.

I am just taking a guess, but there was Thanksgiving-type of decor in the dining room of one of the homes where the students were chatting with the family, so that made me think at least part of their time with the students was after the divorce since the divorce was in September. But these anthropology episodes have been airing before the divorce talk is starting to happen, so it is a little confusing.

Yeah, Robyn really likes to explain everything about polygamy, and tends to do it too much, considering she has lived it the least amount of years amongst all those wives. Although I'll give her credit for explaining the sentiment about courting better than Kody was. Kody has foot-in-mouth moments and he doesn't seem the greatest communicator. When she said that it was about doing things logically instead of based on luck, it made sense. Christine's instant flare up kind of alarmed me. I understand why she would be offended by Kody's comment totally, but the way she reacted just seemed a bit intense. MarysWetBar, you were absolutely right about the "big reveal". Stringing us along until the last few minutes, and then really no explanation at all. Based on the previews for the upcoming episodes and the next tell-all, I'm going to guess Meri is still with Kody. Still unsure what her motivation for the divorce would be though. I actually thought it was a pretty interesting episode overall, and I liked the conversations the "anthropologists" had with each wife. I found it really interesting that Meri said she was past trying to have a close relationship with Janelle. She seems okay with that, and she did try to extend an olive branch before as Janelle herself admitted. So I don't know how Meri is going to react when/if Janelle finally approaches her since she basically said she's over it. Okay, I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I really teared up when Mariah was talking about that pregnancy reveal moment. That was really touching and felt very genuine.

Okay I am just catching the last few minutes of this episode again as it is repeating tonight and if I heard Christine right, she said the concessions they bought at the movies were $50 EACH?! What did she mean by that...that sounds crazy extravagant.