S11.E03: Lonely in Flagstaff

[Galloway Cave]

Quote

Meri returns to Flagstaff but still feels alone; Kody has a plan to reunite the family.

OK, so TLC has this episode numbered #3. I can't edit the numbering for last week's episode, so we will just have to live with the highly confusing numbering system of TLC.

Walls and trust and mansions this week. Expecting lots of InkSpeak from Christine and bullshitting from Robyn.

[neh]

Walls and trust and mansions, oh my!

[Sandy W]

5 minutes ago, neh said:

Walls and trust and mansions, oh my!

And quivering jaws and gaping maws.  

[ginger90]

Tweet with a clip:

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/JanelleBrown117/status/1216378966245703681

[Joan of Argh]

Christine must have lived under a rock her entire life if she's never heard of an elevator in a house before.

She always has to be so dramatic.  

[tinaw]

Meri is one person living in that massive house. Why does she need all that house? These people dont use their heads at all

[tabloidlover]

1 minute ago, tinaw said:

Meri is one person living in that massive house. Why does she need all that house? These people dont use their heads at all

And it was “only” $175 more per month!!!   
 

Financial geniuses

[Sandy W]

Here's the skinny on Meri's Flagstaff rental.  From Zillow: - 1170 N. Worthington Pl. Flagstaff: -

April 2016 ---------------------------------Listed $875,000.

August 2018-------------------------------Listed for rent @ $2,975.

August 2018-------------------------------Rental listing removed

July 2019-----------------------------------Price change $870,000.

September 2019---------------------------Pending sale

October 28, 2019--------------------------Sold $810,000

Looks to me as if the owners had tried to sell the house for over 2 years, then rented it instead.

Rented to Meri August 2018 until July 2019, then they put it back on the market at $870,000 and had an offer within 2 months and offer became firm October 201

Edit to add - I just checked and Meri's LV house was sold firm on June 10, 2019, so it probably wasn't her that bought the Flagstaff rental.  Too much to hope for the hornets nest that would have stirred up.  I guess Meri found another rental and expects all crews on deck to help move that damned piano AGAIN.

Does anyone remember when Meri's LV house sold?  I'm wondering if Meri made the September offer, conditional upon the offer on her LV house firming up.

Wouldn't that just be the ultimate F-You from Meri to Robyn if she stepped up and bought the rental, complete with elevator and water feature?

Edited January 13, 2020 by Sandy W
additional thought

[Roslyn]

3 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

OK, so TLC has this episode numbered #3. I can't edit the numbering for last week's episode, so we will just have to live with the highly confusing numbering system of TLC.

Walls and trust and mansions this week. Expecting lots of InkSpeak from Christine and bullshitting from Robyn.

According to Amazon, last weeks 2 hour premier is 2 episodes.  Ep.1 "Kicked Out" and Ep.2 "Happier Alone?".  If it is another 2 hours tonight, I would guess it is Ep. 3&4.

[Galloway Cave]

9 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

According to Amazon, last weeks 2 hour premier is 2 episodes.  Ep.1 "Kicked Out" and Ep.2 "Happier Alone?".  If it is another 2 hours tonight, I would guess it is Ep. 3&4.

I go by what is listed on TLC/DirecTV. Last week there was no season/episode designation, this week there is. I tried to edit the S/E to say S 11. E 1&2, but it is too late to edit.  It looks like this week we only have to suffer for one hour, so it's E 3.

[xwordfanatik]

10 pm is past my bedtime.  I look forward to the snark tomorrow!

 

[Anlogle]

54 minutes ago, tabloidlover said:

And it was “only” $175 more per month!!!   
 

Financial geniuses

I don't for a minute believe it was only 175.00 a month more. Now way.  I just read an article that says someone bought the home for over $800,,000. and is now renting it to her. I wonder if production bought it to get her to flagstaff and is renting it to her.  Something is amiss here.

[riverblue22]

I think Meri likes to make it clear that she has more money than the rest of them.  She certainly doesn't need a humongous house like that.  Have fun cleaning it, Meri!

[Sandy W]

19 minutes ago, Anlogle said:

I don't for a minute believe it was only 175.00 a month more. Now way.  I just read an article that says someone bought the home for over $800,,000. and is now renting it to her. I wonder if production bought it to get her to flagstaff and is renting it to her.  Something is amiss here.

Interesting theory about production buying and renting it to Meri.  Believable because they are really scrambling this year to keep a storyline going and traveling back and forth Flagstaff to LV to film Meri would be cumbersome.

As far as the rental only being $175 more than her original rental, I can believe that, Janelle is paying $2,900. a month for her 2,340 sq.ft. townhouse rental.  If Meri could grab 4,400 sq.ft. for $2,975. (according to Zillow), I'd jump on that too.  Rental prices in Flagstaff seem to have no rhyme nor reason.

[Anlogle]

23 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

Interesting theory about production buying and renting it to Meri.  Believable because they are really scrambling this year to keep a storyline going and traveling back and forth Flagstaff to LV to film Meri would be cumbersome.

As far as the rental only being $175 more than her original rental, I can believe that, Janelle is paying $2,900. a month for her 2,340 sq.ft. townhouse rental.  If Meri could grab 4,400 sq.ft. for $2,975. (according to Zillow), I'd jump on that too.  Rental prices in Flagstaff seem to have no rhyme nor reason.

I didn't think that Janelle was in a town house. When they showed it on the show it looked like a single family home and it way smaller than Meri's.  .just isn't making sense with Meri's so called rental

[Joan of Argh]

23 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

Interesting theory about production buying and renting it to Meri.  Believable because they are really scrambling this year to keep a storyline going and traveling back and forth Flagstaff to LV to film Meri would be cumbersome.

As far as the rental only being $175 more than her original rental, I can believe that, Janelle is paying $2,900. a month for her 2,340 sq.ft. townhouse rental.  If Meri could grab 4,400 sq.ft. for $2,975. (according to Zillow), I'd jump on that too.  Rental prices in Flagstaff seem to have no rhyme nor reason.

And sitting here in Canada I have to keep telling myself... that's USD  😲

[ginger90]

Another clip:

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/TLC/status/1216396921440522240

[deirdra]

I recall in an article that showed this house at about the time Meri actually first rented it, that the owners didn't want to rent it to college students, and all that rock and a river inside would probably dissuade families with young children from wanting to rent it, and rational couples wouldn't want a house that big, so they probably had to drop the price. 

[Sandy W]

12 minutes ago, Anlogle said:

I didn't think that Janelle was in a town house. When they showed it on the show it looked like a single family home and it way smaller than Meri's.  .just isn't making sense with Meri's so called rental

I could be mistaken, but it seemed to me to be a row of connected homes rather than free standing.

[deirdra]

You can see Janelle's house in this article:

https://soapdirt.com/sister-wives-meri-brown-kody-brown-police-show-up-new-season/

It all appears to be one house, but the several blocky chunks architecture is similar to multifamily homes.

In the Ginger's first clip, one of them mentions how they like the colours in Meri's house.  Beige and brown?  

[Anlogle]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

Here's the skinny on Meri's Flagstaff rental.  From Zillow: - 1170 N. Worthington Pl. Flagstaff: -

April 2016 ---------------------------------Listed $875,000.

August 2018-------------------------------Listed for rent @ $2,975.

August 2018-------------------------------Rental listing removed

July 2019-----------------------------------Price change $870,000.

September 2019---------------------------Pending sale

October 28, 2019--------------------------Sold $810,000

Looks to me as if the owners had tried to sell the house for over 2 years, then rented it instead.

Rented to Meri August 2018 until July 2019, then they put it back on the market at $870,000 and had an offer within 2 months and offer became firm October 201

Edit to add - I just checked and Meri's LV house was sold firm on June 10, 2019, so it probably wasn't her that bought that bought the Flagstaff rental.  Too much to hope for the hornets nest that would have stirred up.  I guess Meri found another rental and expects all crews on deck to help move that damned piano AGAIN.

Does anyone remember when Meri's LV house sold?  I'm wondering if Meri made the September offer, conditional upon the offer on her LV house firming up.

Wouldn't that just be the ultimate F-You from Meri to Robyn if she stepped up and bought the rental, complete with elevator and water feature?

So if all that is correct then she isn't in that home anymore. I wonder what kind of house she is in now.

[Sandy W]

7 minutes ago, deirdra said:

You can see Janelle's house in this article:

https://soapdirt.com/sister-wives-meri-brown-kody-brown-police-show-up-new-season/

It all appears to be one house, but the several blocky chunks architecture is similar to multifamily homes.

In the Ginger's first clip, one of them mentions how they like the colours in Meri's house.  Beige and brown?  

Thanks Dierdra, I can see now that it is detached, I just had such a compressed feeling when they showed it on the screen.

[deirdra]

Just now, Sandy W said:

Thanks Deirdra, I can see now that it is detached, I just had such a compressed feeling when they showed it on the screen.

On screen we saw it at the angle they are approaching it at, so it was hard to tell where one house ended and another began.  And I didn't notice that Areola was walking so close to the road with nobody noticing when I watched the show.

[suomi]

1 hour ago, riverblue22 said:

I think Meri likes to make it clear that she has more money than the rest of them.  She certainly doesn't need a humongous house like that.  Have fun cleaning it, Meri!

Willing to bet she has a cleaning service. Willing to bet she can deduct some of the cost as a business expense. (Along with deducting some of the rent/mortgage as a business expense). 

[absolutelyido]

2 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Another clip:

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/TLC/status/1216396921440522240

F-you Meri. If you can afford to rent that house, you can afford to hire movers to move your furniture up 4 flights of stairs. They all said they would come over and help unpack and assemble furniture once it was moved in. Yet she still complained they didn't want to help her. Why doesn't she get all the Lularoe BFFs she keeps posting pictures with to come and help her?

[tinaw]

25 minutes ago, absolutelyido said:

F-you Meri. If you can afford to rent that house, you can afford to hire movers to move your furniture up 4 flights of stairs. They all said they would come over and help unpack and assemble furniture once it was moved in. Yet she still complained they didn't want to help her. Why doesn't she get all the Lularoe BFFs she keeps posting pictures with to come and help her?

Because that wont inconvenience the family. Thats why she wont do the right thing. Meri needs to be in the family still.

 

[LotusFlower]

5 hours ago, tinaw said:

Meri is one person living in that massive house. Why does she need all that house? 

Because she *intended* to have more kids.  ‘Member?  

She needs to have a big house so she doesn’t feel punished for not having more kids.  

And a wet bar.

And french doors.

Etc...

[smarty]

3 hours ago, Anlogle said:

So if all that is correct then she isn't in that home anymore. I wonder what kind of house she is in now.

Meri's current rental is more expensive.  It's a million dollar house she rents for around $4,500 a month.  4,000 square feet.  

[absolutelyido]

12 minutes ago, smarty2020 said:

Meri's current rental is more expensive.  It's a million dollar house she rents for around $4,500 a month.  4,000 square feet.  

What is with these people? Even if she can afford it for now, what happens when the show is cancelled and Lularoe goes bankrupt, both of which is inevitable. Does she have any savings put aside or anything invested for retirement?

[Adeejay]

I noticed when the family was praying at the same time, Kody was with Christine.  I have a feeling he spends most of his time with her these days. Meri is off the schedule; Janelle said that she doesn't see him very often and I don't think Robyn cares whether she sees him or not, just as long as her bills are paid.  

[Galloway Cave]

Well that was beyond boring.

[JustDuckie]

How come Meri doesn't bring up the Parowan B&B anymore? Did I miss something?

[Caseysgirl]

I get so angry when I watch the pure and utter wastefulness of these people!  Why are you a “ family” and yet living in 4 different homes and still have 3 in LV and possibly another one in Utah?   If they are so enthralled with the polygamist life then live it!  And how many kids are still living with them? At least 2 are away permanently, 3 are married,one is in the service, a couple are in college. The big home seems like the best idea but Kody’s incredible ego won’t fit into that. And by the way, Kody, most of us don’t think this is God’s plan.  Meanwhile, Meri, you are a very self centered woman. She wants everyone to be there for her but she doesn’t want to b3 there for anyone else.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

Meri is giving the middle finger to the other wives with her nicer home.  Robyn's might have more square footage, but Meri's was the best.  I could see the looks on the faces of Christine's and Janelle's children.  Like why can't we have one this nice.  They could have all lived in Robyn's, I believe it even had a small guest house, that Meri could have lived in.  Flagstaff is an expensive place to live.  Not sure why they chose that area.  People living in expensive homes don't want filming crews in their neighborhood.

[sandyskyblue]

 Check out the mansion's floor plan, Meri area seems to be smaller than the other 3 wives, Meri is not going to go for it....also, does anyone think this will actually happen?  Is this all just smoke and mirrors because nothing is going on with them and they have to have something for the show to film??

[80sBaby]

Meri takes zero accountability for the part she played in distancing herself from the family. She is forever the victim and the wronged person in every situation. I'm so over her. Just take your leggings and go.

She seems to enjoy being away from the family and they couldn't care less. Kodi is 100% done with Meri, he will never really get past the catfish thing.(Sorry for mentioning it LOL) He looked at her a couple of times in this episode with so much disdain I was like Damn!!

 

[Tuxcat]

4 minutes ago, sandyskyblue said:

 Check out the mansion's floor plan, Meri area seems to be smaller than the other 3 wives, Meri is not going to go for it....also, does anyone think this will actually happen?  Is this all just smoke and mirrors because nothing is going on with them and they have to have something for the show to film??

True, the others have an extra bedroom. Meri only has the one. She will seriously explode.

[Tuxcat]

Meri annoys me a lot. But I can sort of understand her position. She has to stand by and watch the three other wives live the life she wanted. They will forever have more kids and more grandkids around. And they have the "love" of Kody. Meri doesn't have either - and she never will. So of course she's going to be distant and avoidant. I get that. What purpose is there to being together?  

The bad part is that she doesn't seem to think she can move on. And I assume that's only because of the show. 

[Pickleinthemiddle]

16 minutes ago, 80sBaby said:

Meri takes zero accountability for the part she played in distancing herself from the family. She is forever the victim and the wronged person in every situation. I'm so over her. Just take your leggings and go.

She seems to enjoy being away from the family and they couldn't care less. Kodi is 100% done with Meri, he will never really get past the catfish thing.(Sorry for mentioning it LOL) He looked at her a couple of times in this episode with so much disdain I was like Damn!!

 

Even Kody admitted that he was partly to blame for Meri's straying.  I agree, in Kody's eyes what Meri did was the same as cheating.  But by this point I think there was so much bad blood between them that their relationship was already over.

[ciaoformeow]

I think Meri getting that enormous house was a total smart play for the lead bitch trophy. Wait wait, let me explain!

 ✅ It's more grand than Robyns (maybe not in sq ft, but with the wow factor and common spaces)

  ✅She has plenty of room for all the older visiting kids & their growing families so she'll be their home away from home when they visit

  ✅  It's more grand than Robyns

  ✅It has TWO master bedrooms, which might be enough to put her back in Kody's rotation simply because he can have his own room with space for alllll his hair products

  ✅She can show off that she can afford something nicer than the others because she actually has an income - no matter how much we snark, she's still bringing in that Lulu $$$ 

  ✅if she plays her cards right, when the family needs to all gather together, her house seems like the best choice with all the space she has and the *fun factor* of the elevator and stuff for the little kids 

  ✅It's more grand than Robyns (suck it, sobbin!)

 

[Just Wondering]

Is it possible that Kody first met with Nathan about the castle because he wanted to be able to tell the ladies that a minister felt it was a good move?  Could this be considered spiritual abuse?

[Joan of Argh]

I don't think Meri gives a hoot about seeing her sisterwives or having their help moving but she knows if the whole family has to help her move that means she gets to spend time with Kody.

If it was really about needing help to move stuff.... Christine's girls offered to help but Meri doesn't want that.... She wants Kody assembling a BED with her so she can flirt with him.

I think it's hilarious how she compliments his butt and continuously flirts and he looks totally uninterested and sometimes he seems totally disgusted.

She acts like a 15 yr old pining over her boyfriend. 🙄

Jeeez Meri... Grow Up!....  Kody is never going to take you back and the only reason ANY of them tolerate you is for the show.

Have some self respect.... Wake-up and smell the coffee..... Leave.

 

[Sandy W]

On one of the real estate sites, I saw Meri's Flagstaff rental (1170 N. Worthington Place) from a different angle than we saw on the show.  There is a very steep flight of at least 20 steps on the right hand side of the house to gain entry to the main floor.  There are 2 landings to break up the long run of stairs.

The elevator seems to begin at the main entry and not in the garage, where it would be practical for bringing groceries home or moving.  I can totally understand the other wives backing off from Meri's hernia inducing sales pitch that moving her crap would be a bonding experience.  Janelle had to hire movers for her heavy stuff, why can't Meri.  She can hire U-Haul movers at $20. an hour, 3 men x 3 hours = $180. and no risk of amateurs damaging the walls or woodwork in a rental property.  Could you just imagine the weight of those racks of LLR.

Janelle can't even hoist her ass off her lazy-girl recliner to clean her kitchen table and Meri expects her to haul that damn piano up a huge flight of stairs?🤣

[Tabbygirl521]

3 hours ago, sandyskyblue said:

 Check out the mansion's floor plan, Meri area seems to be smaller than the other 3 wives, Meri is not going to go for it....also, does anyone think this will actually happen?  Is this all just smoke and mirrors because nothing is going on with them and they have to have something for the show to film??

The wives would all be moving from nice roomy houses into what basically look like apartments. Janelle is the only one who might be OK with that. 
 

I can’t stand how Kody acts so gleeful about the wives hating to have the other relationships right in their faces. 

i noticed the wives ordered no food at their lunch. When they departed their napkins were still folded atop their chargers. At least Kody and Nathan were eating olives. 

3 hours ago, Tuxcat said:

Meri annoys me a lot. But I can sort of understand her position. She has to stand by and watch the three other wives live the life she wanted. They will forever have more kids and more grandkids around. And they have the "love" of Kody. Meri doesn't have either - and she never will. So of course she's going to be distant and avoidant. I get that. What purpose is there to being together?  

The bad part is that she doesn't seem to think she can move on. And I assume that's only because of the show. 

She was also shoved aside for Robyn. I can completely understand why she was vulnerable to a catfish. I hope she figures out what she wants and goes for it. 

[Pickleinthemiddle]

If Janelle can pay someone to move her in, so can Meri.  Every time I moved I put my own bed together.  She is always so organized and doing things on her own and seems proud about it.  100% agree with Robyn.  Not so much damaging the rental home.and her furniture, but people getting hurt moving the stuff.  If I move again, I will do the same thing, pay someone to move everything.  Not that I have that much stuff, but I wore my self out and my daughter moving everything in one day.

[VedaPierce]

Meri is a manipulative POS. I see all her endless therapy hours were a waste of time. She wants to drag everyone to her house instead of hiring movers, so that they can PROVE their love for her!! Like the rest of them don't have a boat-load of crap to do unpacking and settling themselves and their million little kids?! What a garbage person! So selfish, our Meri! She is one person without a 9-5, what the hell else does she have to do all day? Hire a couple of handy men to put your king-sized bed together, you cheap cow! But no, she expects everyone to drive to her mansion, trudge up that hill and get to work. And if they don't, that means they don't love her. Having that giant house all to herself while Janelle is jammed into a shoebox with her brood isn't enough for that crazy ego. I was blown away at her reasoning and immediate rush to victim-mode. She will never ever be a happy person in a healthy relationship with ANYONE, let alone Kody. Her reasonings are twisted. Her entitlement is staggering.

I loved Robyn standing up to her about it (in a very gentle way). She pointed out that Janelle had to hire movers and sorry Meri, no one has any interest in moving your crap up and down 4 flights of stairs-use your Meri-vator. That infuriated Meri, you could see the storm clouds pass over her face! So much so that Meri had to blame her lack of sleep the night before (on a mattress on the floor-poor poor Meri /s ) for looking like a bitch on camera.

I cannot STAND this woman! She's worse than ever!

[VedaPierce]

7 hours ago, Tuxcat said:

Meri annoys me a lot. But I can sort of understand her position. She has to stand by and watch the three other wives live the life she wanted. They will forever have more kids and more grandkids around. And they have the "love" of Kody. Meri doesn't have either - and she never will. So of course she's going to be distant and avoidant. I get that. What purpose is there to being together?  

The bad part is that she doesn't seem to think she can move on. And I assume that's only because of the show. 

So she spends all her time on earth punishing everyone and reminding everyone that she doesn't have a bunch of kids. How about this, how about SHE offers to help someone unpack? Or wrangles some kids to her house to mind them while the other women get things done in their homes (having little ones underfoot is tough during the unpacking and settling in)? Nope. It's the Meri Show 24/7. Let's pity Meri AGAIN because she didn't have more than 1 kid, and drop everything and run to help MERI, do for MERI, care for MERI. ugh. No wonder Kody can't stand the sight of her. I can't either.

[VedaPierce]

6 hours ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

Even Kody admitted that he was partly to blame for Meri's straying.  I agree, in Kody's eyes what Meri did was the same as cheating.  But by this point I think there was so much bad blood between them that their relationship was already over.

Meri's bad relationships with everyone-not just Kody is much bigger than the Catfish Scandal. That was just the final nail in the coffin. She is an 'injustice collector' as my therapist friends would say. She spends all her days looking for ways everyone has wronged her.

[VedaPierce]

5 hours ago, lilsadone said:

I think Meri getting that enormous house was a total smart play for the lead bitch trophy. Wait wait, let me explain!

 ✅ It's more grand than Robyns (maybe not in sq ft, but with the wow factor and common spaces)

  ✅She has plenty of room for all the older visiting kids & their growing families so she'll be their home away from home when they visit

  ✅  It's more grand than Robyns

  ✅It has TWO master bedrooms, which might be enough to put her back in Kody's rotation simply because he can have his own room with space for alllll his hair products

  ✅She can show off that she can afford something nicer than the others because she actually has an income - no matter how much we snark, she's still bringing in that Lulu $$$ 

  ✅if she plays her cards right, when the family needs to all gather together, her house seems like the best choice with all the space she has and the *fun factor* of the elevator and stuff for the little kids 

  ✅It's more grand than Robyns (suck it, sobbin!)

 

Ain't nobody coming to hang out at that house if they can help it. That is a home-away-from-home for no one. (I know Maddie will never spend the night there, lol).

 "Fun-Factor" and Meri have never met and will never share this planet.

I don't care how many master bedrooms she has, Kody will never choose to stay there, he may be forced to from time-to-time, if even. 

But yes, she definitely got this house to stick it to all of them. They are her enemies and she's fighting a sick, twisted war every day.

[Tuxcat]

1 hour ago, VedaPierce said:

So she spends all her time on earth punishing everyone and reminding everyone that she doesn't have a bunch of kids. How about this, how about SHE offers to help someone unpack? Or wrangles some kids to her house to mind them while the other women get things done in their homes (having little ones underfoot is tough during the unpacking and settling in)? Nope. It's the Meri Show 24/7. Let's pity Meri AGAIN because she didn't have more than 1 kid, and drop everything and run to help MERI, do for MERI, care for MERI. ugh. No wonder Kody can't stand the sight of her. I can't either.

I agree that it seems like she's always seeking pity. However, she really shouldn't have moved to Flagstaff. What was the point? No one likes her and it is a constant reminder that she's failed (in her mind) in her marriage and family. The other 3 families succeeded. I'm assuming she's forced to stay with this family because of the show. If that's the case, I'd be a sour puss too. She really just needs to leave.