General Days

Meri and Christine used to be really close, and I think Meri has liked Christine very much. I think there's just been too much water under the bridge between them. I agree with you that she wasn't expecting an invitation, and was probably fine with that. She knows they haven't been close in several years. Oh my word. What is happening with this "All New Sister Wives"? It looks like a clip show, of course most of this season has been a clip show.

Poor Christine. Kody took that 22 year old virgin, AS HIS THIRD WIFE, and belittled and scorned her sexuality, then rejected her.

I couldn't make myself play those extra $2 (especially since we have Max).

Yes, Kody. You're delusional. How was Christine asking the kids to side against him?

That must be the difference. I'm watching on TLC as it airs. I didn't expect it would be available on Max at the same time as the live airing. I love the colors on Christine's necklace.

Ms. Lulu, I think you're way ahead of where we are, but I'm watching live, so I'm confused. What platform are you watching on?

Okay, so I like David's demeanor. I thought he was going to come off cocky (just based on his appearance), but he seems the right amount of nervous for being a TV newbie.

Here's David!

Suki makes me wish I had wine more than Robyn does. I know she has to "connect" to these people, to get them to talk, but I feel more empathy from her toward Robyn, than for any of these other women. Ugh.

Summon those tears, Robyn.

I have no alcohol at all, Roslyn. (Do they know it's Christmastime at all?)

I kind of missed what Christine was saying about Disney villains, while I was fiddling around here. Can anyone summarize?

To Everyone Who Doesn't Like the Live Chat: After the episode is over (11:00pm EST), I will come back to this post, and edit in a link to the first post after the Live Chat concludes. I hope that helps you easily skip over our shenanigans. EDIT: Click this link to skip over the chatty, post-n-watch Live Chat. 🚨 Official episode discussion begins here. 🚨

I sent a DM to Scarlett and asked her if she could please open the Live Chat thread. She must be busy. (Do you all think it would be okay if we did the sort of post & watch live chat in this thread?)

I suspect they were probably, "Whatever fabric remnants I can get my hands on"-themed, at least for the years prior to landing the series.

I agree that Maddie was throwing shade, and that it was unkind. Meri may have done countless shitty things in her life — making pajamas for up to 18 kids, when only one of those kids was her own, was not one of those shitty things. Also, Maddie lives in North Carolina. Are they seriously wearing the same jammies in January that they are in July? It can gett hotter and more humid than hell in NC in the summer.

Oh, I think so. Also, both Ysabel and Savanah were out of high school. I still felt bad for Gabe though, whenever I thought about it, even though I don't blame Maddie for the choice she made (and I don't think Kody would've let him stay in Vegas, anyhow).

Imported from the Robyn thread. Let's not discount Kody's self-identification. Only Meri and Janelle have had a pool on an extended basis — when they lived in the Vegas rentals. Not one of the wives has had a pool since moving to the cul-de-sac, in late 2012/early 2013. In other words, the sister wives have had no need for a pool boy for over a decade — not even Robyn. I, for one, think he's right. Kody *is* the pool boy.

The Browns had a gift exchange the year of the group text fight too, it's just that Robyn's kids declined to take part.

"I'm done with my Christmas shopping. ... My exchange gift — you know the one." LMAO, Maddie.

#GraphicDesignIsMyPassion

Gabe flatout asked Madison if he could stay with her and Caleb, and she said no. I don't blame her. She had a baby. She wasn't eager to take on her teenage brother, but I always felt bad for him later, when she and Caleb took in Ysabel, and then later, Savanah. Gabe might have had the possibility of staying with a friend. I can't recall. It seems to me that when the family fled Lehi, Leon floated the idea of living with someone from their church, and Kody said no. Leon was around the same age when they left Lehi as Gabe was when they left Vegas.

It seems like destiny. Like she was a villain altogether from day one. 😉

I cannot get over how often and how intensely Robyn has made the end of the other women's "marriages" about her. It's stunning. In their type of polygynous marital framework, there is a spiritual marriage of sorts between all of the partners. I do understand Robyn would have feelings, even strong ones, about the end of the plural marriages, but it would serve her and her children well for her to acknowledge that she still isn't central to the drama of each individual relationship. Kody has repeated the lie so often, about his other wives "blaming" Robyn, that Robyn has come to believe it. Meri, Janelle, and Christine have always made it a point to specify that it was Kody's unequal treatment of them, and Kody playing favorites, that was the/a major factor in the breakdown of their unions. They've never said Robyn caused it, at least not on the show — as far as I can remember. Now, in the heat of a private argument with Kody, have any of the OG3 ever sounded off about Robyn (and the other wives)? I'd bet money on it. However, in the cold light of day, they've all made it clear that it was Kody they couldn't live with. And since there were more years of Meri and Janelle not being able to stand each other, than there were years of them trying to work it out, I believe they could have lived with Robyn being the favorite, if Kody had made a half-assed effort at fairness. It's funny (okay, or ENRAGING) how polygamy is supposed to rub the rough edges off of the women's characters, but when Kody is faced with the "dissolution of [his] soul," he eager to skip the grinning and bearing it. He's eager to abandon the notion of leading his family through it, and coming out the other side a better man. I understand Robyn is the love of his life, and his "soulmate" or whatever. Fine. Enjoy each other. But in repeating the lie that the women blame Robyn (instead of Kody, whom they actually blame), he's not only harming his first three wives and their children. He's harming the wife of his heart, too. Kody has to know Robyn well enough by now to understand that she is comfortable in the role of victim. Feeding that impulse to let her pose as victim — spinning every situation so that she can act the victim, whether or not she is, is not good for her, and it is not good for their marriage. I can't help but think this is Kody's big, hollow victory. He helping his favorite wife transform into someone who will ultimately portray herself as Kody's victim. Kody hates to be blamed even more than he hates poverty. Right?! He basically shoved out Christine and Janelle, too. Those two were just smart enough (okay, Christine was smart enough, I'm not yet convinced Janelle won't end up back with Kody, someday) to realize they were being shoved — to see their "marriages" for the shams they were and/or had become. The kicker is, Kody's mindset (probably because of both the cult and his pathological refusal to shoulder any blame) is such that he thinks the women leaving him makes him MORE sympathetic. Kody was content to keep pretending Meri was his "wife," until she forced the issue, and he said (about her, and previously about Christine, I seem to recall) that he "didn't want that judgment" on him for ending the marriages.

Robin suggesting having a Zoom call to draw the names. The whole fight that widened the rift in the family spun off of that. The kids thought it would be too difficult to schedule a Zoom just for that, because of people's varied schedules, and because of the fact that they live in different time zones.