S12.E14: Baby Steps

[Kohola3]

Maddie thinks she's in labor, but it's a false alarm, so Kody heads back to Flagstaff; Kody and Robyn are at wits' end over their struggle to close on her house; Kody and Meri head to their therapist in Vegas, where the brutal truth comes out.

[Kyanight]

4 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Maddie thinks she's in labor, but it's a false alarm, so Kody heads back to Flagstaff; Kody and Robyn are at wits' end over their struggle to close on her house; Kody and Meri head to their therapist in Vegas, where the brutal truth comes out.

Maddie wasn't in labor - that was all show for the cameras.  She's been through this before and knows what real labor feels like.

I can't wait to see the "brutal truth" come out.  I wonder if Meri is going to finally leave?

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, Kyanight said:

Maddie wasn't in labor - that was all show for the cameras

Yeah, that was just the description for the episode from the online TV Guide.  Thus the problem with showing crap that happened eons ago.  How old is that kid now?  Old enough to have given a magazine spread or two by now. 

Nothing new to see here, folks.  Move on.

[Kyanight]

Just now, Kohola3 said:

Yeah, that was just the description for the episode from the online TV Guide.  Thus the problem with showing crap that happened eons ago.  How old is that kid now?  Old enough to have given a magazine spread or two by now. 

Nothing new to see here, folks.  Move on.

Oh I knew you were giving the recap for the coming episode! 😄

I was just snarking about Maddie.  And other than one or two idiots, the majority of the viewing audience was bored out of their minds.

[Twopper]

admittedly it was past my bed time last night when I watched the show on the dvr.   Is that the description for next Sunday because the last thing i recall before i drifted off to sleep was the arrival of Kody and Christine.  Not sure why they needed either of them since Janelle was already on scene.  Plus they are all at a hotel?  

[Sandy W]

I am literally dreading Maddie's pedantic explanations of her prodromal labor.   With Axel, it was 80 hours of her Braxton Hicks that we endured right along with her before she actually got down to business and went into actual labor.

And now, Janelle has a new word of the day to impress us with, prod-ro-mal.  Thanks Maddie and Janelle, billions of people have over time been born without resorting to a $10 word to describe discomfort before actual labor.

[toodles]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

I am literally dreading Maddie's pedantic explanations of her prodromal labor.   With Axel, it was 80 hours of her Braxton Hicks that we endured right along with her before she actually got down to business and went into actual labor.

And now, Janelle has a new word of the day to impress us with, prod-ro-mal.  Thanks Maddie and Janelle, billions of people have over time been born without resorting to a $10 word to describe discomfort before actual labor.

I was thinking the same thing.  Braxton Hicks.  Uncomfortable but normal and not 86 hours of labor.

[TurtlePower]

Gawd. More baby shit. Looking forward to Kody and Meri drama, however. 

[Pickleinthemiddle]

3 hours ago, toodles said:

I was thinking the same thing.  Braxton Hicks.  Uncomfortable but normal and not 86 hours of labor.

Agree.  Even the midwife would have probably sent her to the hospital if that were the case.

 

5 hours ago, Twopper said:

admittedly it was past my bed time last night when I watched the show on the dvr.   Is that the description for next Sunday because the last thing i recall before i drifted off to sleep was the arrival of Kody and Christine.  Not sure why they needed either of them since Janelle was already on scene.  Plus they are all at a hotel?  

They needed someone to stay with Axel, while they were at the birthing center.  

[Soaper410]

I was in the hospital over a week before I had my daughter due to me developing a serious medical condition.  They kept me on the L&D ward.  I became close to many nurses and heard lots of stuff during my 12 days on the ward (but couldn't see anything outside of my room for 12 days). 

Every time I would hear SCREAMING, every nurse on the floor would come in to "reassure" me.  They would say "she's decided to go the natural root" or "despite everyone telling her, she's didn't want the epidural." Many of the nurses said that a lot of these women had weren't doing it for any reason other than to PROVE how strong and awesome mamas they were.  

This is Maddie to me.  Let me moan and scream and keep myself awake for DAYS to truly be miserable to prove how awesome I am.  Its one of those crazy fundamentalist/Evangelical things that drives me nuts. 

[Twopper]

4 hours ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

Agree.  Even the midwife would have probably sent her to the hospital if that were the case.

 

They needed someone to stay with Axel, while they were at the birthing center.  

Silly me;  I thought that was why Janelle was in town.    Also I do remember that there was a road sign that indicated they were in Chapel Hill which is about an hour and a half from Greenville ( if that's where they live) so I guess everyone  is staying in a hotel in Chapel Hill.  I guess TLC is paying because booking a last minute flight is usually more expensive.  

[Teafortwo]

10 hours ago, Sandy W said:

And now, Janelle has a new word of the day to impress us with, prod-ro-mal. 

I know a LOT of words (former English teacher) but this one, I'd never encountered before! Maybe because I don't have kids.

[Sandy W]

54 minutes ago, Teafortwo said:

I know a LOT of words (former English teacher) but this one, I'd never encountered before! Maybe because I don't have kids.

We can be sure it will be bandied about in the next two episodes.  I have 3 kids, 8 grands and 6 great grands, have never heard it before either.

[deirdra]

They were in a hotel close to the birthing centre, which is a couple of hours from Maddie's house (great idea when your husband travels a lot for work).  It looked like Kootie & Christine may have brought Ysabel with them too. I wonder if Christine stayed until Vanga arrived and if they stayed in the hotel the whole time or went back to Maddie's until she was really in labour.

[deirdra]

5 hours ago, Soaper410 said:

This is Maddie to me.  Let me moan and scream and keep myself awake for DAYS to truly be miserable to prove how awesome I am.  Its one of those crazy fundamentalist/Evangelical things that drives me nuts. 

Thankfully Mariah doesn't plan to be the one who gives birth.

[Grifter Lives]

I've only seen the ad for next week and read the description above.  It's more Brown revisionist spin.  

• Nancy is shocked that Kody & Meri's marriage is dead-ended.  She is the premier therapist-to-the-polygamist-stars and their counselor for a decade or more now.  Why would that be news to her?
• Kody regrets his fast courtship to Meri.  The Browns have lectured us on their spiritual callings, polygamist courtship rituals, and the Brown parents have all pushed their children for quick engagements (unless it's Mariah's) to harvest the TLC dollar.
• Kody's "being done hearing how [he's] wrong" is probably totally unrelated to his relationship to Meri.  I'm anticipating that he's going to report that Robyn was right about renting, because of a delay in their closing.
• The timeline is completely blurred: So, Kody left North Carolina, because he needed to sign papers in Arizona, but had time to drive to Las Vegas with Meri to rehash their unsalvageable relationship, while Maddie's in Hour 12 of her 86-hour labor.  The only real time marker is Meri's LulaNo striped shirt, which she'd been shilling in her social media.

[Sandy W]

On 3/31/2020 at 10:34 PM, deirdra said:

Thankfully Mariah doesn't plan to be the one who gives birth.

I'm sure if Mariah does ever plan to give birth she will develop several yoga positions that will ease the labor and she will find a zen state of mind to transfix herself.  She will completely transform the birth procedure and advise all gynecologists and mothers-to-be on her Woke method.

[Kyanight]

43 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

I'm sure if Mariah does ever plan to give birth she will develop several yoga positions that will ease the labor and she will find a zen state of mind to transfix herself.  She will completely transform the birth procedure and advise all gynecologists and mothers-to-be on her Woke method.

Mariah said this season that it's never happening.  Audrey would be the one to carry the baby... but from what people keep saying, they may not be a couple any more.  They used to post pics of each other all of the time and now they never do.

[Kohola3]

51 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

She will completely transform the birth procedure and advise all gynecologists and mothers-to-be on her Woke method.

If that were ever to happen I guarantee she will be totally pumped full of drugs from start to finish.  She is all about "self care".  She might do things off camera and lie about the awesome journey of her uterus but she wouldn't last 5 minutes in labor.  It's her privilege to live life pain free.

8 minutes ago, Kyanight said:

Audrey would be the one to carry the baby..

Yeah, that's the only scenario I could see happening.  And Sludge would be forced to have it natural to avoid being called a weakling.  Pudge would hound her into using yoga and meditation and berate her if she didn't.  Pudge, you understand, just knows in the wokeness of herself what everyone else in the world should be doing.

[Meowwww]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

I'm sure if Mariah does ever plan to give birth she will develop several yoga positions that will ease the labor and she will find a zen state of mind to transfix herself.  She will completely transform the birth procedure and advise all gynecologists and mothers-to-be on her Woke method.

And post pics of birth books and coffee to exclaim how special she is. 

[aimlessbird]

Maddie says "86 hours of labor" exactly the same way Kody says "I have 4 wives"  They say it and look to see the reaction.

[smarty]

On TLC there is an ad for today's episode and Robyn talks about how difficult it was to close on the new "not a rental" $890,000 house.  Apparently it was tough to close because they needed everyone's financial information since their finances are all intertwined.  Even though it is only Robyn and Kody's name on the house they needed Janelle and Christine (and I'd assume Meri's) financial information.  Personally if I was Meri I wouldn't offer it up.   I'd watch the heck out of an episode that explained how they finance all this real estate!!

[Chicklet]

Why would the non-legal wives need to give up their info? I mean Robyn IS the LEGAL wife if ya'll didn't know. So did everyone have to pony up info for Janelle's and Christine's house? This is very confusing and I know nothing about unreality estate.

[Sandy W]

1 hour ago, Chicklet said:

Why would the non-legal wives need to give up their info? I mean Robyn IS the LEGAL wife if ya'll didn't know. So did everyone have to pony up info for Janelle's and Christine's house? This is very confusing and I know nothing about unreality estate.

Kody and Robyn may have used the equity in the lots as part collateral for the mortgage on the house.  The titles to the lots are a maze of interconnecting vines, with Kody on some of them and possibly Robyn on others.

[Gramto6]

Kodouch: "Meri mourns the loss of what we had..." "I regret what we had..."  Holy $hit! Whaat a dick!

[Gramto6]

8 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Kodouch: "Meri mourns the loss of what we had..." "I regret what we had..."  Holy $hit! Whaat a dick!

eta: Holy shit, did you see how thick their file was?? A couple of inches... No hope here ..walk away... you two have been done for so long it isn't even a secret!

 

[Adeejay]

Kody said that he and Mary had a very fast courtship and that he really didn’t know who he was marrying. He felt tricked.  Given that they’ve been married for over 29 years, I wonder how long it to took him to come to that realization.  I am not surprised to hear that some of the older kids don’t want anything to do with Meri.  It’s most likely based on the way she treated them and their moms.

[absolutelyido]

Nancy is officially the worst therapist in the world. Kody finally started telling the truth, asking why Meri has such great relationships with her Lularoe friends but bad relationships with not just the other wives but some of the older kids. Instead of further delving into this, which is obviously a big sticking point with Kody, Nancy wants to take a break and then resumes with some bullshit exercise. Worthless.

[LibertarianSlut]

On 3/31/2020 at 5:15 PM, Soaper410 said:

This is Maddie to me.  Let me moan and scream and keep myself awake for DAYS to truly be miserable to prove how awesome I am.  Its one of those crazy fundamentalist/Evangelical things that drives me nuts. 

Yes, this post hit home with me so much.  It’s exactly how I see it, and I didn’t know it was a fundamentalist thing.  I thought it was just “uppity bitch” thing.  

13 hours ago, aimlessbird said:

Maddie says "86 hours of labor" exactly the same way Kody says "I have 4 wives"  They say it and look to see the reaction.

Yes, exactly.  It’s so stupid.  Also, as others have said, it is so stupid for your birthing center to be two and a half hours away, not to mention dangerous.  In addition, Rebecca the midwife seems ignorant.  This is not a comment about midwifery.  It’s a comment about having no confidence in Rebecca.  

When Christine says to Maddie that she doesn’t like “your” wet heat in North Carolina, it reminds me of the provincial way she talks about the big, scary institution of monogamy.  And I agree with her—I hate humidity.  I’m just not afraid of it necessarily.  

Ysabel should 100% go to school in NC or anywhere as physically far away as possible from her parents that she can afford—beg, borrow, or steal.  Kody doesn’t give one shit about Ysbael; what’s his game?  Now he’s characterizing Ysabel as “my” sixteen year old?  He has to be careful not to “draw the family east”?  He sounds like a Pinkerton Detective circa 1870.  What in the fresh hell is he talking about??  Oh, ok, I get it, that’s Kody-speak for, “Robyn will have my balls in a jar  if I never build on Coyote Pass, so I need to force my adult kids to stay home in some sort of pyramid scheme.”  How about...support your kids and let them make adult decisions because you respect them?  But I dream.

I’ve heard about sympathy pain, but I can’t help but wonder, Is Caleb pregnant too?

They’re having money problems, but Kody is planning on making numerous and regular transcontinental flights to see a grandchild be born, a grandchild that he’ll probably ever only see again when the other kids get married?  

—————————————————

What happened to the story that Kody and Robyn gave last episode that they are renting the house until they closed on it?  If someone is not acting in bad faith—either the buyer or the seller—why wouldn’t they be able to move their furniture in while they pay “astronomical” rent on the place?  Also, I thought the house came furnished?  What are they going to do with the Uahuls once they close?  It seems like someone’s operating in bad faith...and the eight ball says it’s Robyn, who still wants to back out of this deal and hit the road to Sedona!  What a bitchy victim. 

What’s the legal reasoning the bank wants their financial information?  Someone said their titles are all tied up with each other?  Sorry, Robyn, but I don’t think banks are in the business of auditing the finances of polygamists in a statement of protest and moral fury against the institution that is plural marriage (unless they’re banking with Fidelity. Bad-dum-dum.  I’ll be here all week folks).  

Kody talking about his 15 pillows that he rotates through but doesn’t leave on the bed makes it obvious he is 100% living with Robyn right now.  But, yes Christine, be worried that he would kiss another wife in front of you, especially Janelle.  That should be your biggest fear right now.

I feel bad for Dayton just sitting there watching the bullshit and shenanigans that go on between his histrionic mother and his stepfather.  I think at one point I saw a thought bubble go off over his head saying, “damn, when are they going to legalize marijuana in AZ?”  (Wait, it is still illegal in AZ, right?)

———————————————————————————
The therapy.  Whoo, Chile.  I’ve never seen two people so diametrically opposed.  

Meri thinks the situation is resolved, Kody thinks his “wife” is named “Mary.”  

Kody calls Robyn “love,” but when he’s in therapy with “Mary,” he says, “I want to take—if you will—a wholly holistic approach to this” aka dodging working on the relationship with Mary by pulling a Galveston—insisting on including the entire family when Nancy is asking him to focus directly on the wife he hates.  

Kody isn’t up for any criticism whatsoever, and some of the adult children hate Mary (anyone else dying to know which ones???)

Kody says he wants to fix the relationship, so he doesn’t look like the giant asshole he is, but he also says he wants doesn’t want to fix the relationship, because the truth has a way of rising to the top...in therapy.  Three cheers for consistency, asshole.  

I know Mary, or as she is sometimes called, Meri, isn’t popular or well-liked, but can we just call time of death on this relationship with Kody and let her move on, maybe to Parawan, and she can still be part of the family and keep up her relationships with the kids who love her, and even re-build the ones that failed, but give up the ghost on the twatwaffle and just let him live out the charade of monogamy (with Robyn) within polygamy (with Christine and Janelle) and do her own thing and live her own life and enjoy her daughter (yeah, I know, “enjoy” and “Mariah” don’t usually go together, but I don’t judge) and have a nice drink or a smoke of something and enjoy tuning into these clowns every Sunday like the rest of us?  Because things are only going downhill from here.  This party is so over.  Get out while the getting’s...mediocre. 

[Tuxcat]

I know Meri has her issues but to be honest she is correct in her feelings - even if she brought them on herself. Her walls are up because the family does NOT like her.  It's obvious in their body language, their conversations, and their made for TV moments. 

She has acted selfishly and harshly in the past and the older kids do not have a good relationship with her. Maddie and Mariah did - but they too recently had a falling out with her. So now literally everyone except for Sol and Ari hate Meri.

Meri does have good relationships with other people. Perhaps Kody does need to explore that. One usually gives what one usually receives. Meri is a bitch in the family because she's been treated as a bitch. No doubt this began when Kody married her. The core culprit? Kody!

Kody is a terrible narcissistic human being with no regard for honor, sensitivity, compassion or a willingness to grow -- one must ask themselves...

Why is Meri still in this family?

 

 

[deirdra]

25 minutes ago, LibertarianSlut said:

What happened to the story that Kody and Robyn gave last episode that they are renting the house until they closed on it?  If someone is not acting in bad faith—either the buyer or the seller—why wouldn’t they be able to move their furniture in while they pay “astronomical” rent on the place?  Also, I thought the house came furnished?  What are they going to do with the Uahuls once they close?  It seems like someone’s operating in bad faith...and the eight ball says it’s Robyn, who still wants to back out of this deal and hit the road to Sedona!  What a bitchy victim. 

The house is furnished since it was a vacation rental. Last week Kootie mentioned that they would own two houses worth of furniture.  I don't know how they thought they were going to unload the trucks even if the house closed on time. Were they planning to pick each piece of furniture to keep or sell in the driveway?

[Lady of nod]

34 minutes ago, LibertarianSlut said:

Kody isn’t up for any criticism whatsoever, and some of the adult children hate Mary (anyone else dying to know which ones???)

oh yes,  I am! That among many other things might actually make this show interesting. But they're all so fake and trying (unsuccessfully) to maintain this polygamy is wonderful facade. And I agree that it's Cody and Robyn basically in a monogamous relationship, with the others just hanging on because they know no other way (Christine), need the Lifetime paycheck (Meri) or are content to be part of the family without having a husband/wife relationship (Janelle).

[65mickey]

And he was saying that they put an offer on the house and hoped it would close in a couple of days. I have never heard of that happening even if you are paying cash and they weren't. Inspections, appraisals need to be completed along with surveys. Is someone cosigning the mortgages for these clowns? I hadn't thought about the financial mess with Kody's name probably on Christine's loan, and possibly on Meri and Janelle's rental agreements along with joint bank accounts and credit cards. How they qualify for any type of loan is a huge mystery.

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by 65mickey

[fountain]

I actually don’t mind Meri. I certainly don’t fault her for wanting her share of shit even though she only has one kid because I wouldn’t be okay with being on tv and not getting 1/5th of the money. In her more relaxed moments she seems pretty funny and friendly. I would totally watch a spin off show of Meri as a single lady. 

I don’t see why so many people need to go see a baby born. Just visit later, why waste plane tickets, etc. to wait around, do they have nothing else to do?

I didn’t realize at first they lived so far away from the birth centre and they kept saying “get to go home” and I didn’t get it. I guess they stayed in a hotel then?

The mortgage discussion was stupid. You don’t get special financing treatment because you have 4 wives. You get financing based on your ability to pay based on your credit, etc.

[suomi]

I think Meri was a bitch to everyone from the beginning and the others reacted to that. I don't think the others treated her like she was a bitch so she became one. 

Who we see today is who she is and always has been. A greedy, domineering, selfish, dishonest, jealous, petty, vindictive, self-centered, emotional blackmailer. She is also a champion gas-lighter and excels at playing "get away closer" and "look how you've made me act.'

I think these traits are inborn, I think her brain is wired a certain way (nature) and her childhood and early life (nurture) added the finishing touches.

If she has good relationships outside the family it's because they are superficial. Nothing deep and meaningful and lasting is at stake in her LLR friendships - they are easy come, easy go. They are not the foundation of a life, just the final coat of paint.

[Kyanight]

7 minutes ago, suomi said:

If she has good relationships outside the family it's because they are superficial. Nothing deep and meaningful and lasting is at stake in her LLR friendships - they are easy come, easy go. They are not the foundation of a life, just the final coat of paint.

I know you can't stand Meri - that's how I feel about Robyn, lol.

But this last paragraph is SPOT ON!!

[taragel]

I don't fully remember Kody and Meri's backstory but weren't they high school sweethearts for a couple years? Is he saying she pretended to be different than she actually is even then and deceived/tricked him into marrying her, and thinking she was this open, vulnerable, sweetie? I mean... she might be guarded but she also is very transparent. I don't think we've seen her ever pretend to be sweet and happy when she wasn't?

And I guess therapists are not supposed to tell their patients what to do but I don't know how Nancy doesn't tell these fools to just throw in the towel already. Kody refuses to hear criticism and Meri refuses to feel "unsafe" -- they will never be able to work anything out. Kody basically just spent an hour telling the camera he regrets ever marrying her, finds her to be a miserable, whiny, defensive witch, and does not want a romantic relationship with her. Oh and he's only with her because he once made a commitment to her that he now feels he never should have made. AND that was officially dissolved years ago when they DIVORCED. I mean aside from "for the show/TLC paycheck" there is absolutely no reason for them to prolong this.

Whoo they are exhausting even when they are being semi-truthful.

[Tuxcat]

6 minutes ago, suomi said:

I think Meri was a bitch to everyone from the beginning and the others reacted to that. I don't think the others treated her like she was a bitch so she became one. 

Who we see today is who she is and always has been. A greedy, domineering, selfish, dishonest, jealous, petty, vindictive, self-centered, emotional blackmailer. She is also a champion gas-lighter and excels at playing "get away closer" and "look how you've made me act.'

I think these traits are inborn, I think her brain is wired a certain way (nature) and her childhood and early life (nurture) added the finishing touches.

If she has good relationships outside the family it's because they are superficial. Nothing deep and meaningful and lasting is at stake in her LLR friendships - they are easy come, easy go. They are not the foundation of a life, just the final coat of paint.

I certainly agree that she's behaved like a bitch for most of the series. But lets remember she married Kody at age 19 . Then her brother's wife married her husband. I'm sorry but you can't tell me that these intertwining polygamous relationships don't mess with someone. Your personality continues to form as you are an emerging adult. She was 19 and married to a narcissist who compares himself to Jesus. She's a bitch in large part because he made her one.

2 minutes ago, taragel said:

I don't fully remember Kody and Meri's backstory but weren't they high school sweethearts for a couple years? Is he saying she pretended to be different than she actually is even then and deceived/tricked him into marrying her, and thinking she was this open, vulnerable, sweetie? I mean... she might be guarded but she also is very transparent. I don't think we've seen her ever pretend to be sweet and happy when she wasn't?

And I guess therapists are not supposed to tell their patients what to do but I don't know how Nancy doesn't tell these fools to just throw in the towel already. Kody refuses to hear criticism and Meri refuses to feel "unsafe" -- they will never be able to work anything out. Kody basically just spent an hour telling the camera he regrets ever marrying her, finds her to be a miserable, whiny, defensive witch, and does not want a romantic relationship with her. Oh and he's only with her because he once made a commitment to her that he now feels he never should have made. AND that was officially dissolved years ago when they DIVORCED. I mean aside from "for the show/TLC paycheck" there is absolutely no reason for them to prolong this.

Whoo they are exhausting even when they are being semi-truthful.

YES!

[Grifter Lives]

27 minutes ago, taragel said:

Kody basically just spent an hour telling the camera he regrets ever marrying her, finds her to be a miserable, whiny, defensive witch, and does not want a romantic relationship with her. Oh and he's only with her because he once made a commitment to her that he now feels he never should have made. AND that was officially dissolved years ago when they DIVORCED. I mean aside from "for the show/TLC paycheck" there is absolutely no reason for them to prolong this.

Whoo they are exhausting even when they are being semi-truthful.

I suspect that they offered up this therapy session to keep the TLC paychecks coming in.  They still have nothing going on.  Maddie gave birth a year or more ago;.  Mariah's not going to get married for another 1-2 years.  Aspyn probably has a year or more before she becomes a sister wife, and the other children disappeared.  And none of those storylines or characters are interesting.

The therapy visits will be few and far between, and in the interim, we'll see dumb arguments in the Coyote Pass U-Haul parking lot.

[mythoughtis]

33 minutes ago, Tuxcat said:

I certainly agree that she's behaved like a bitch for most of the series. But lets remember she married Kody at age 19 . Then her brother's wife married her husband. I'm sorry but you can't tell me that these intertwining polygamous relationships don't mess with someone. Your personality continues to form as you are an emerging adult. She was 19 and married to a narcissist who compares himself to Jesus. She's a bitch in large part because he made her one.

YES!

Meri needed a monogamous relationship.  She would have probably matured into a decent human being.   I don’t think very many people are suited for  polygamy.   Probably only people who don’t really care about having a  spouse would be: 

[suomi]

Meri and Kody are two years apart in age but did not attend the same high school and were not high school sweethearts. 

"On Oct. 20, 1989, I met up with my new friend who was visiting from out of town. At that time, she introduced me to Kody, her brother. During that weekend while she was visiting, the three of us hung out together, shopping, going to movies and just having fun together. After she went home, I figured that would probably be the last I would see of Kody for a while. Not so!" explained Meri on the official show page.

Meri said she fell for Brown when she was 19.

"A couple weeks later on Christmas Eve - yes, two months after we met - he gave me a ring and asked me to marry him," she added.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/kody-brown-sister-wives/story?id=38331357

At that same link to excerpts from their book, listen to Janelle omit her marriage to Meri's brother:

"Meri had brought him to a gathering to introduce him to her friends. When he walked into the room I looked at him and had that feeling of remembering something I had forgotten. It was a singular experience," she writes.

"It didn't occur to me when I met Kody to think of him in any other way than as Meri's fiance. I even attended Meri and Kody's wedding reception. I had known Meri's family for several years before the night I met Kody so it was natural for me to be at their house from time to time. Over the next few years I would see them occasionally. Eventually, Kody and I became as good of friends as Meri and I were," she added.

[Alaskabakedsam]

 

On 3/31/2020 at 7:59 AM, Sandy W said:

I am literally dreading Maddie's pedantic explanations of her prodromal labor.   With Axel, it was 80 hours of her Braxton Hicks that we endured right along with her before she actually got down to business and went into actual labor.

And now, Janelle has a new word of the day to impress us with, prod-ro-mal.  Thanks Maddie and Janelle, billions of people have over time been born without resorting to a $10 word to describe discomfort before actual labor.

I had to pipe in an say, true prodromal labor is a real bitch. I had it with all 3 kids. Weeks of false labor, for hours. 

It's the most exhausted I've ever been. I couldn't wait till the baby came so I could sleep a solid 2-3 hours without contractions. The only way I knew I was in true labor was when my water would break. 

Episode wise, I played games and looked up mask patterns, so it was obviously riveting.  I wish I could be paid to be so boring. 

[gingerella]

Why o why do they keep fucking with us?!? They tease us with Meri and KaDouche splitting up and then NOPE. Dayum. 

[Pickleinthemiddle]

3 hours ago, Tuxcat said:

No doubt this began when Kody married her. The core culprit? Kody!

She admitted as much to being this way even as a kid.  She said you had to speak up for yourself if you wanted something.  I think she avoided showing her true colors until it was time for Kody to go wife shopping.  While they admitted to having marriage troubles when Robyn came on the scene, they looked like they were a couple in love.

[FreemefromTV]

Full disclosure: I despise Meri.

I’m sure Kody bought Meri’s whole Keep sweet act when they were dating. Meri had never dated anyone and only knew polygamy as a way of life. It was probably a surprise when she turned into a nasty, controlling, petty and cruel witch when he informed her that he was marrying Janelle, her former SISTER IN LAW!  Face it, Meri is not cut out of this lifestyle and maybe she just didn’t know it and Kody didn’t know it about her either. It doesn’t change the facts of the situation, it brings the absolute worst out in Meri. In a very unhealthy way, their dynamic allows Kody to blame Meri (no responsibility on his part) and it allows Meri to feel like the victim (allowing no responsibility on her part). 
I would LOVE to know which wives and kids have a conflict with Meri. To save time, it would be easier to make a list of people in the family who DON’t have a problem with her. So far it’s King Sol and Areola.

Edited April 6, 2020 by FreemefromTV

[Joan of Argh]

18 hours ago, smarty2020 said:

On TLC there is an ad for today's episode and Robyn talks about how difficult it was to close on the new "not a rental" $890,000 house.  Apparently it was tough to close because they needed everyone's financial information since their finances are all intertwined.  Even though it is only Robyn and Kody's name on the house they needed Janelle and Christine (and I'd assume Meri's) financial information.  Personally if I was Meri I wouldn't offer it up.   I'd watch the heck out of an episode that explained how they finance all this real estate!!

The thing that got me was Robyn immediately blaming the bank situation on polygamy (always persecuted) when in reality the bank was probably making them jump through hoops because they have a history of shitty credit and bankruptcies.

Now on another note when they were at Maddie's and Kody was saying goodbyes I couldn't believe it when Christine said to Kody "look in on my girls while you're there"... huh!?!?!!!.. Isn't that why he's leaving???.. Oh wait..dumb me I forgot he was rushing back to Robyn and her kids! DUH!!!... The girls at Christine's can fend for themselves because Robyn is bedridden with a hang nail and Arreola just shit her diaper.

The other thing that I noticed was when Kody was at the U-Haul van with Robyn looking for toys and he blurts out something about all the pillows he has and Robyn immediately clarified that not ALL the pillows were at Robins, only 6 or 7... and he has pillows at other wives houses too!!....ya right... He spoke without thinking and Robyn quickly jumped in to do damage control.

I cringed when they played the preview for the next episode and all I could hear was Maddie SCREAMING & HOLLERING in the tub... Jeez go to hospital and get an epidural...  There's no prize for toughest mom who suffered the most!  🙄  can't stand that shit, they push the idea of natural birth and these stupid women go along with it... UGH!!!... There's no way men would go along with it if the shoe was on the other foot. 

During the session with Nancy you could tell Kody can't stand Meri.... JMO but I think he's trying to dump her without too many repercussions from Meri's fans.👹👺😈😲

 

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Joan of Argh
Spelling

[Sofa Sloth]

Kody discussing Meri: “I regret what we had together’’ - sooo Mariah? (I can’t blame him for that, I’d regret unleashing that spawn on the world also if I were him). 

This episode is what I like to see! A little less Robyn’s hand wringing, a little more awks Kody and Meri conversation.

It’s just beyond embarrassing for Meri now, she’s dragging him to Nancy, hanging on like a desperate barnacle and he’s still point blank telling her (and the world), he doesn’t want a relationship with her, he doesn’t love her, he regrets everything (like Mariah 😉) and only hasn’t cut her loose because of ‘moral obligation’. Cool. Seems salvageable...NOT! LEAVE already woman! You wrote pride on your therapy list, how can you retain any sense of pride when you continue to stay in a loveless and distant relationship?

Kody is the biggest jackass; him wanting to force his adult children to live near him is beyond controlling and weird. He definitely has some kind of complex with collecting children and thinking they are his possessions to own forever. I guess that’s the premise for the celestial planet afterlife but damn man, just let them live life while they’re here on earth! On that note, Kody must realise he’s good without Meri anyway, being as three’s the magic wife number. One might assume he’d be trying a lot harder to keep Meri happy, had he not married the female version of Jay Leno as a fourth, thus already securing the afterlife if ol’ Mare bolts.  

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Sofa Sloth
Bad grammar detected

[suomi]

I had a thought tonight - why isn't this show paired with one of those watching shows? Like they do with 90 Day Fiancee or Before The 90 Days or whatever that watching show is, where people talk back to the screen as they watch?

Now THAT is some satisfying TV! I would seriously come out of my anonymous mode, for free, to do that. Be still, my heart. 

[ginger90]

The only one who tweeted last night during the show was Janelle. Nothing interesting, so I won’t even bother.

[suomi]

49 minutes ago, Sofa Sloth said:

Kody is the biggest jackass; him wanting to force his adult children to live near him is beyond controlling and weird. He definitely has some kind of complex with collecting children and thinking they are his possessions to own forever. I guess that’s the premise for the celestial planet afterlife but damn man, just let them live life while they’re here on earth!  

His pride and his reputation are on the line because he's reached the age/the stage in life where he's supposed to be a patriarch. You can smell the flop sweat through the TV screen.  

He's a father-in-law and a grandparent and his biggest challenge should come from the fathers of his children's spouses. The tradition is denied but it's always there and not always bubbling under the surface, sometimes it's wide open. Which patriarch has the most say, the most sway, the husband's father or the wife's father?

He has very little to offer, he doesn't have a family business to rope them in with or financial or political pull. The tighter you hold on to the next generation(s) the less chance they will stray. Kody is freaking out because when you take a head count how many kids live anywhere near him or can even stand him?

There's no way Kody and his wives are members of the AUB anymore and there's no way they attend an AUB ward. They are failures who have reaped criticism, scorn and bad publicity. The only way he could redeem himself with his peers would be if his spawn remain worthy and in the fold and that ship sailed, took on water and sank a long time ago.