Grifter Lives

Rebecca is around 50 years old. Even if she didn't have a hysterectomy before Zied was born, she probably still wouldn't be able to have his child now. Please, TLC, do not recycle the Angela-totin'-ahgs storyline here, too.

Is Zied's hair significantly longer in his talking heads than in the car on Day 6?

Even Mom Jovi is in cold shoulders.

The guests of honor sit far away from the entire party. Gracious

I keep asking myself, "Does Mike's insurance cover this, since they're not married?"

Natalie has worn that expression on her face for a few days now - since they left the therapist.

That's the theme of tonight's episode so far.

His middle-aged woman alter-ego is called Betty.

Brandon has the most annoying, inappropriate giggle. I didn't think that he could be any more pathetic, but there it was.

To make up for last week, we start swinging right out of the gate.

Hello Maria the Psychic told me that you'd all be here, and that you'd leave me for Sister Wives.

(and sisters, don't stop that because we needs our girls to have our backs) The essential comma that's missing is probably the least disturbing part of this parenthetical. I don't think that she's calling out Robyn, Christine and Janelle.

But, that cold sore was passed around the family thousands of time (but not recently).

I completely agree with everything you said. I'll add that she's the most condescending, hostile and passive-aggressive. One of the clearest or most recent examples was their trip to Seattle so that Hannah - her daughter's mother-in-law - would design and custom-make hats for the wedding. Christine interrogated Hannah about leaving the sect with fake pity and obvious superiority. Hannah was dignified, polite, generous and gracious (a complete contrast to the Browns). Then, Christine over-enthusiastically declared how cool Hannah was and how she wanted to be like Hannah "when she [Christine] grows up." Christine has lost her identity and purpose, and she's fighting an increasingly-more hostile and aggressive Kody who wants to be done with her. She (not douchebag Kody) is really facing an existential crisis. But, she's so ill-equipped, because she is so righteous in her indoctrination, uneducated, juvenile and unsophisticated. Since she's no Strong Woman, she amps up her ridiculous, annoying and fake bubbly, fun-loving personality, and over-emotes, over-gesticulates and speaks really fast, because that's all she knows how to do.

Although Kody struggled with himself over whether his wives only married him out of religious obligation, none of them said that before he launched into his soliloquy. Janelle the convert came the closest. Meri and Christine said it's how they grew up, and Robyn just wanted into this family. (According to legend, she appeared in the community when their television deal was well-known.) Here is how everyone answered Janelle's question, "Why did you enter the Principle?" at the table [and in their interviews]. Janelle: I mean I did it because I love the whole idea of the whole family, the whole group synergy. and I really felt that we'd get progression, right? The whole idea is that we all (indecipherable). [The whole purpose, we truly believe, of living plural marriage is that you have to learn how to not be selfish.] Meri: I don’t know. I guess, for me, it was just, like, being raised in it. [My dad took his first plural wife when I was like 11 years old. I had a lot of years with other moms and other siblings that just weren’t from my mom, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me.] Christine: Because of the example my grandmas were, for sure. They were just really close, and after my grandpa died, they just stayed together. So like, the sisterhood. [To me, that was what family was: was a lot of grandmas. And, then I had 2 moms, so that was what a normal family was to me: was a lot of moms.] Robyn: That big family thing was always cool to me. I loved when I first, uh, met you guys and how you guys pitched in. I loved it. (Kody, leaning forward, elbows on the table, side-eyes Robyn, murmurs, "Hmm," and sits back in his chair and crosses his arms.) You know, when I saw you at the house so many times. (Kody said, "We seemed so functional.") They downplayed their religion and their AUB affiliation in the early seasons. In this episode, they didn't profess deep faith - because they have completely lost it or never really had it. Polygamy was the only way they really knew in their insular world. They're not great intellectuals or theologians, but even their godhead Kody referred to polygamy as an obligation in this episode. They always used to explain that it was a calling or divine revelation for only a selected few. Now, they're miserable, because they broadened their horizons and experienced monogamy.

Kody Brown on Polygamy [with Kody's and Sister Wives' in-the-moment interviews] - It's all about him. I thought a lot about this lately, because I told friends recently that I didn’t want to be an advocate of plural marriage anymore, because I am more aware now than I was before . . . the apparent and obvious unfairness in the relationship. Janelle: Some are up; some are down, but, you know, it’s always changing. I know. I have. . . all the love I want, and you guys sometimes feel like you are pining constantly for me to, you know, give you some. I mean, the other day, I was having dinner with Logan, and I was, like, going, “I have really messed this up.” [Kody: We came into this by way of commandment. We felt like we were supposed to live this, and we had this ideal that it was a better way. And then come to a stark reality of the struggle that it is. In that vein, I want to go to my wives and say, “Did you marry me because you thought you’d have a good life and a loving husband and a good relationship with me? Or, did you marry me because your religion commanded you?”] Plural marriage, what I know about it, I wonder if I would do it again, knowing what I know, knowing how I think it’s hard on all of you. [Christine, gesticulating: There’s no such thing as, “Should have done something different.” It just doesn’t work. You can’t say, “I don’t know if I would of done it different,” because here we are! It’s horrible to hear this. (Nods repeatedly) Super hard to hear. ] I do not like the idea that you guys are in plural marriage with me because you were commanded to. I like the idea that we were in plural marriage together because we were in love and we chose to build a family together. [Meri: He seems a little bit more, dare I say, negative, about plural marriage right now, and that’s really hard to hear.] Um, when I’m, um, We’re, doing good, I get idealistic, and I go, “Wow! We’re doing a good job!” And, when I’m ideal and we’re not doing a good job, I get really grouchy and say, “I can’t believe I’ve done this to me. . . and to you.” (Robyn scrunches her face, as if she’s about to burst into tears.) [Robyn: Like, saying that right here, I don’t know if this is really . . . if that’s really helpful, other than making us all feel a little bit, you know, discouraged.] So it’s like a two-edged sword. I like - Don’t get me wrong - I like my life. If you guys complain to me very much, it sticks in my head, and I wonder if you like yours. (Close-up on Robyn, eyes down, blinking rapidly, frowning) [Janelle: This is, like, pointless. Like, what was the point of this? Did I screw everybody up? I think it’s because he feels all the pressure right now of everyone talking to him because he’s the only common denominator. He’s the only one I can talk to.]

Luis of Molly & Luis was supposed to be deported in September. But, in November he was still awaiting his deportation hearing in New Jersey, with his 2nd wife.

I think that he's also brooding and infuriated that the two most dissatisfied wives have surpassed him financially. The Lularoe business will collapse - I'm surprised it hasn't yet - but, until then, Meri and Christine individually are probably earning just as much or more as the whole fambly earns per season. That has to be how Christine with no credit history (except bankruptcies and astronomical hospital debts) managed to buy her own house. And, like someone said upthread, the others could rent AirBnBs just for filming. That may be why they hold their family council meetings at restaurants. I believe that the only interior we saw was Robyn and Kody's financed-to-the-hilt mansionette.

Thank you, @laurakaye, for your recap The mechanics of recapping a Sister Wives episode are challenging enough: you actually have to stay awake to watch it, figure out the storyline and decipher Brown logic. But, you actually make the show entertaining. Your wit is priceless. I watched this episode and participated in the live chat, but I still wouldn't know what I watched unless I read your recap. Every time I looked at the screen, it seemed that I was watching another flashback. @Tuxcat is also insightful - We have seen the same season 14 times now. I think that TLC staggers the seasons so far apart, hoping that we'll forget or finally care.

Czechoslovakia is a alive and well.

More revisionist history: Meri was "super-bummed" about missing the birth of Maddie and Caleb's daughter. Meri had to work.

He pretty much said so in his close-up. But, he blames the original 3.

We're spending 3+ minutes watching Meri with her walls up. She's stonewalling Janelle. Meri doesn't remember where she agreed with Janelle. Janelle says, "the couch," aka Polygamist-Therapist-to-the-Stars Nancy.

"When I saw you guys at the house many times," says Robyn. I thought that Kody had to go to her to court, and they met at church. More Brown Revisionist History, possibly (or I just don't care enough to pay attention) Sorry, Not Sorry. This is a group effort to stay awake.

Later, we can all ponder the deep theology of the Kody Brown Planet: Is God displeased with them, or are they displeased with God? We would have known the answer if Robyn's daughter weren't so impatient to take the dry-cleaning off the back of the U-Haul to relieve Kody (who was wearing his moving gloves).