Meow Mix

Kody was just flapping his gums in one of the episodes. No way would he want to live in Europe. He just runs off at the mouth about stuff like this because he thinks it makes him sound tough or clever. It doesn't.

I agree with this. It can be a long journey to let go of a 30 year marriage even one that wasn't that great. Several people including Janelle have said that at one time Kody and Meri seemed like the fun couple always joking around. I'm sure that felt familiar to Meri during the move from Flagstaff, so she responded. As she has gotten more distance from it and had to deal with him trying to rip her off on the Coyote Pass deal, I think any fond feelings are pretty much gone. The Tamron Hall interview has a much different tone than the one on one, but even in the one on one she was pulling away from him.

OK, I love that Suki is pushing harder finally. Getting Janelle to finally just say what we have all known forever that she just doesn't like Kody and especially Robyn was great. Janelle is indifferent at this point and I hope Meri gets there as well. Not sure if Christine will ever fully let go of her anger, but I understand that she spent most of her childhood and adulthood in this cult. She has a great life now, but it wouldn't surprise me if she regrets that her prime years were spent with a guy who thought she was disgusting. I loved it when Suki straight up told Kody he was acting like a baby. But my favorite exchange was around the clip of poor Gwendlyn's engagement party. Suki: Brings up the engagement party where Kody and David meet. Let's watch the clip Kody: a ton of verbal diarrhea about how he had no problem, it was great, whatever. Suki: OK, then let's watch the clip. Kody: more verbal diarrhea. Suki: (clearly catching on) OK, yeah, but let's watch the clip then you can comment. Kody: Let's skip the clip Suki: (brightly) Let's watch the clip. And as he starts to protest, the clip starts rolling and you can see he is ticked. I'm still laughing over that. The staring contest was creepy. Kody has serious issues and he just can't hide it. Smug Robyn is less impulsive so couldn't be as easily goaded into a response. But Kody is really ticked about what is going on outside of the tell-all and it shows. I did find it really bizarre when Suki told him that David was up for a guys trip (don't do it David!). Kody could barely contain his excitement. It was like back in the day when I half expected him to start humping Caleb's leg. Kody's relationships with men are just so strange. Meri had me cheering when she brought up Kody calling her a couple of weeks earlier to talk about how he was grieving the loss of their marriage. I loved that she shut him down hard and told Suki that he could grieve he wants, but that's his thing and she wants no part of it. And I loved her categorical no when Suki asked if she regretted getting the release. I hope she keeps on this much healthier path. As for smug Robyn, I don't think she's as happy as she claims. The more I see of her the more I think she just doesn't see people as human beings. Rather she sees everyone (including Kody and her bio kids) as things like her Precious Moments crap or her rumored dolls. They are supposed to sit on the shelf just as she places them and not want anything. Then occasionally they are to arrange themselves in a nice tableau for her to look at. Once she is done, they are to go back on the shelf and not bother her. And they certainly should not object to any of this. She's very angry that the OG wives and kids did not want to be part of her collection. And what's left just doesn't make the pretty picture she wanted. I was amazed at her hypocrisy around saying that if you share children, your lives are always tied together. Wonder what her ex would say to that. David is so chill. I loved that he called Kody's bluff on the guys trip. I doubt he would actually agree to it, but he just goes with the flow in the interview and will do as he wants off camera. He really does have Christine's back on things and that is nice for both of them. I just hope once the cameras are off, that Kody is the last thing on either of their minds. Finally, I figured that stuff in the bowl on the coffee table was some sort of moss, but it's way more entertaining to think it was a bunch of broccoli. Lemons and a glass of hot water for Kody to manically squeezed them into would have been entertaining as well.

I understand that, my confusion is on who actually came up with the idea as they have told different stories. Either way, it's just sad that their bio dad gave up his parental rights. Dayton was crushed when he found out. BTW, I must have blocked out the part where Kody said seeing Robyn with her makeup done made him want to lick the screen. Ick. Seriously, these two are trying very hard to convince us they are hot for each other. My experience is that those who talk that much about stuff like that aren't doing much of it.

I still think that tryst was with a guy. Not sure what he was shutting her down about, but she actually did argue back in one preview I saw.

Ok, someone's chopping onions again. Garrison would love having a kitty named after him. Those strawberries look amazing. At this time of year, there are all sorts of placed you can pick your own or get them at a farmer's market. I love strawberry season.

I give Suki some credit for pointing out on camera that Robyn was refusing to watch and comment on the clips. Robyn's explanation of why was so pathetic even she couldn't sell it. She's a big part of the toxicity she is complaining about. And is that the same sports car that Kody couldn't fit in the trailer or is this a new one? I don't know where all their money comes from. Hopefully the well of stealing from the other wives has finally run dry. I was sorry Meri pulled her punch when talking about what happened after the divorce. In a TH during the season she clearly said that sex between her and Kody did not happen. Now she is saying she doesn't remember. Sounds like he went after her for that so she is just trying to calm the abuser. She did say in her discussion with Janelle that she was afraid of his rage when they challenged him on the land situation. I also think she does feel a small amount of sympathy for him over what happened to Garrison. I just wish she felt free to tell the actual truth because I firmly believe Kody was lying about what happened and he knew it. Kody has learned nothing from Garrison's death. In fact, he seems to have descended further into manosphere insanity. Yelling at Suki and claiming that he didn't abandon Meri when he clearly did. Yes, she told him to stop coming around FOR A WHILE because he was so angry over the catfish that he would show up and not engage with her at all. He would sleep with his back to her in bed. No one should have to put up with treatment like that in their own home. He has hung on to that forever. She also said this season that she never used the word abandonment when talking to the elders, she just showed them the picnic table scene and other times he had said he didn't consider himself married to her anymore and they took it from there. Kody is reaping what he has sown with everyone and he does not like it. And I guarantee you, Meri does not see him as a friend. One thing I did notice was when Suki asked Meri if she felt that Kody had manipulated her into giving him the legal divorce she said essentially that Kody wasn't smart enough to come up with something like that. I noticed a slight emphasis on his name that made me think she was leaving it unsaid that Robyn was clearly that manipulative. I'm still confused about the whole divorcing one wife to adopt another's children bit, but it's clear Robyn lied in the season when she claimed she had never heard of it happening. She admitted in the tell all that Kody's dad had done it. Robyn is a piece of work. I love snarky Janelle and Christine. I love that Christine said that the whole relationship elevating thing was a complete lie. I also give her credit for finally recognizing that Meri is working on herself to be better. Janelle just thought the whole thing about Kody being afraid of what Meri would do was ridiculous. I'm glad they are not letting him get away with this stuff anymore. Janelle is still her chill self, but there is anger under there and Kody better mind his tongue or she may rip it out of his head one day.

I agree that her doing the crying thing would have seemed really disingenuous given her relationship to Garrison, but it just seemed not like she just wasn't sad, but that the whole thing was an inconvenience to her and she just wanted to get it over with. I can understand to an extent because she has torched her relationships with the rest of the family and that would make the gathering really uncomfortable. But that's on her. Meri particularly tried for years to have a relationship with her and Robyn repeatedly mistreated her. I still think she was glad to have it over and was hoping they would just go back to being the happy, monogamous family they are trying to sell us on. Several of our local cemeteries have set aside areas for people who want natural burial and also have scatter gardens where people can scatter a loved one's ashes. Not to get too morbid, but when my father died, the funeral director told us that there were no restrictions on where the ashes could go even into the water supply. Rest assured, we didn't do that.

Someone definitely snuck into my house and chopped a bunch of onions during this episode. I understand some people's cynicism about why this was filmed, but I do believe Janelle wanted to show the aftermath of Garrison's death as a way to help others to cope with either the loss of a loved one to suicide or perhaps to help someone reach out for help before it was too late. I still commend her courage in allowing this to go forward. Now to Kody. First, how does one supposedly grow up on a ranch and not know the first thing about properly sitting a horse? I don't know that much about horses, but he was lucky that horse put up with him and didn't dump him on the ground. And two full grown adults should never be riding a horse together. That was way too much weight for that horse to carry. I have to admit, listening to his account of his behavior at the funeral home made me very angry. Now, don't get me wrong, I believe he is grieving, he is just so dysfunctional that it comes out like this. He just can't take even a sliver of responsibility for the estrangement with his kids. And honestly, wanting to dig the grave was the most Kody thing he could do. Whether he is digging holes or chopping down trees, he is all about doing hard physical labor to prove his manliness and to avoid doing emotional labor to make things better. Clearly by his own account, he barged into the funeral home and acted angry that his sons were doing the planning. First, I would bet money he was late and they needed to get going on planning rather than waiting for him to wander in. Second, he would have gotten all he could want without creating a bunch of bad feeling if he had shown the slightest bit of humility. Instead of charging in saying "let me have this. I held him first" like some petulant five year old, he could have said "look, I know things are strained between us, but I have lost a son and want a part in planning how we say goodbye to him". But he would never be so kind and respectful because he thinks he's the head of everything. The story about the bloody nose was such a brother thing. Garrison wouldn't let Gabe ride o the four-wheeler, so Gabe punched him in the nose. Janelle's boys were pretty rough and tumble, but you can see they have each other's backs now. And they love their Mama and the bonus moms too. I thought the service was lovely. Tim really knew Garrison and Mitch carved a beautiful urn for Garrison's ashes. I lost it at Paedon talking about how they now had each others' dog tags and Janelle talking about handing the urn to Kody. It throws Robyn's behavior into such stark contrast. While I was glad not to see her usual dramatics, it still seems like none of this matters to her. I may be projecting, but it seemed as though she was thinking that once the service was over things would get back to normal for her and Kody. That's not going to happen. Grief doesn't work like that and Kody will be haunted in the middle of the night by all the hateful things he said and did. Finally, everyone needs an Uncle Gabe to bring fireworks and be the fun uncle who flouts the parents' restrictions. I loved how he made sure Axel had fun, but still made sure he didn't lose any fingers.

Maybe because they weren't. He really is Kody Jr.

I thought last week was hard to watch, in some ways this was even harder. Here's what I noticed. I have so much respect for Janelle that she is sharing all of this. It can't be easy even with the great support system she has around her. I loved seeing her with Savanah. I'm not sure Kody even remembers there is a Savanah. I wish her luck with her farm or whatever that morphs into. I also hope she moves out of poor Maddie's house which must be bursting at the seams by now with all those people. I like that she said she and Savanah were trying to pitch in and help around the house to ease the burden on Maddie. I love that Meri has Jen. I have had the experience of normally knowing what do do, but having brain freeze because of something so unexpected. Jen helped her get over that so she could be there for Janelle and help with food and people gathering at Janelle's place. It is such a contrast to Kody that one of the first things Meri said to Jen was how worried she was for Janelle during this time. Then when she said all the kids were together except one, that was just devastating. For all the criticism about Meri, she is grieving this situation hard. I loved how David talked to Christine. Yes, he had a similar experience with his wife and talked about it, but managed not to make it all about himself. Rather he showed Christine he understood and gave her the support she needed. I loved that he said he didn't know Garrison well and asked Christine to share about him. That is such a meaningful thing to do. I have a close friend who lost her husband unexpectedly and a lot of people avoided talking about him to her. But she really wanted to talk about him and share stories. I'm sorry, but what is wrong with Kody and Robyn? Seriously, how do you get to the point they are currently at? I realize this is a reality show where editing happens, but not one mention of anyone else but Kody in all this talk. I was willing to cut him some slack last week because when he talked about taking Garrison's remains home he just seemed so lost. But now he's acting like a loon going on about signs he sold as though he designed and built them himself. I have a feeling in a few years Sol is going to be following the missing Dayton (David) wherever he has gone. He is over his entire family. The only time Robyn said anything about Garrison was to crow about the fact that they were the ones taking his ashes to Wyoming. That was really gross. Don't even get me started on the bizarre dinner scene. Even Robyn's weird kids were mortified. And speaking of the ashes - while they were going around that tourist trap, where were they? Did they leave them in the car or in a hotel room somewhere? That just seems really disrespectful to me. I would hope they dropped them off with family somewhere instead of lugging them around like baggage. Also, what is this petty thing with Kody not saying people's names? Last week it was one of Garrison's brothers who had the remains, this week it was the vague family member. I am curious what the rumor is around the national guard memorial service because Kody seemed a little hesitant when he mentioned it. Janelle at the animal shelter was where I lost it. It was so sweet of Savanah to step up when Janelle couldn't get the words out to introduce herself and say why she was there. I understood that perfectly. Sometimes you think you're fine, then you start to speak and you just choke up. I loved the lady who showed them the cat room and had all the information about how much good had been done by the donations friends and fans made. Janelle is right that Garrison would have loved that. I loved all the pictures and anyone who names their cat Catthew is OK by me. I loved how that made Gabe laugh that Garrison would introduce him as his son. Also Catthew reminds me of my first cat who was also a big grey tabby. That scene was a lovely way to end the episode along with the group hug they showed with all the kids and Garrison. Great job TLC listening to all of us. No huge overlay promoting the next show this week.

Wow, this was a tough watch. My heart goes out to the OG wives and kids. I really respect them for being willing to talk so frankly about Garrison's struggles rather than sweeping it under the rug. Addiction and suicide are still so stigmatized. Hopefully by their honesty and vulnerability, someone else was moved to take the help offered to them and stay a little longer. Things I thought during this episode: I understood what they were going for with showing the fluffy stuff first then shifting tone. That's often how life is. You're going along and suddenly something unexpected happens that upends everything. I've been there. I definitely felt for Meri when she realized that something was very wrong when Kody texted her to pick up because it was an emergency. You feel like the ground just dropped out from under you. Goodness, poor Janelle. She is right that there will be good days and bad days and good minutes and bad minutes. I am so glad she has support around her. Say what you want about Meri, but grabbing some food and heading over there to be with Janelle shows that she is there when the chips are down. I really like their relationship even though they are not friends. They still get it done. Poor Gwen. I hated that she had to ask permission to go over to her father's house for comfort upon realizing that the brother she was close to was gone. Then all he would do was hold her hand. Meri came in and gave her a big hug and let her cry as much as she needed to. Gabe took me out. Just seeing his face was enough. It took a tremendous amount of strength to go on camera like that, but I think he really wanted to get that lovely tribute to Garrison out there. I hope off camera he is getting the help he needs. I don't need to know the gory details and I'm glad that when Janelle was talking to her sister, she only discussed him superficially. I love how the siblings are all there for each other with this. Maddie was trying to get Garrison to come to NC because she thought a change of scene might help him. It looks like at least for a while Gabe was there and Janelle said Savanah was going to be there before starting school presumably at ECU. I also appreciate that anyone who didn't want to be on camera wasn't forced to do so. Maddie made simple statements, but I could tell she was working through her own grief as well. Christine trying to get the movie quote out was another hard thing to watch. It makes me tear up every time someone repeats it, but it is so fitting for him. You can tell the Meri and Christine both see Garrison as their child just like Janelle. Meri could hardly speak during her interview. That was genuine grief, not the fake performative stuff. Now to Kody. I think things are most complex with him. There is so much dysfunction there and it really is sad. First, I am sure he had the idea that big boys don't cry pounded into him from a young age. Second, he is still so self-focused that it takes him a very long time to get through all that to think about what Garrison must have been going through or what his surviving children are going through. He's just not there and sadly doesn't seem to have ever gotten there. Next there is his religion. He has such a complicated relationship with his faith. Sometimes he says it's all BS, then he's going on about God during his birthday discussion, then he's whispering AUB prayers while baptizing Aurora, then he's angry that the elders gave Meri a release. I think he is struggling with the fact that Garrison died by suicide and that he was cremated. I think that was what that uncomfortable statement was about wanting to take him home and put him in the ground. Some religions are against cremation, but will allow it if the ashes are then buried. As for Robyn, I really try to give even her some grace, but she makes it impossible. I understand that she lost a brother to suicide, so some of this may be her way of coping. But she seemed so detached throughout this episode whereas in the past she would do that fake crying over every little thing. Then when Kody was talking about thinking about what ifs she said something that came across as though she was saying Garrison was responsible and not Kody. It just really rubbed me wrong. Finally, TLC, you did such a great job all through this, then dropped the ball at the end. While Kody was talking about burying his son, you plastered an overlay for 90 Day Fiance over two thirds of the screen complete with bouncing people in the corner. Seriously? I think people would have known that trashy show was coming up next without that.

Erin and Chad are idiots. That is all.

As far as smoking in front of kids, my father and both grandfathers smoked (my father a pipe and my grandfathers cigarettes, no pot as far as I know) and that was the biggest disincentive to smoking I could have had. As for Dill, that doesn't look like a cigar or cigarette to me, so my guess is he doesn't just do gummies. Methinks Amy exaggerated his condition.

Count me in the camp of being really torn about this. I don't want to judge anyone's expression of grief and I also believe that Garrison was a human being who mattered on this earth and he should be honored. I will wait and see. I really don't want to rush to cynical judgement particularly of Janelle who has had an unimaginable loss.