S01.E01: Meet Kody and the Wives!

[laurakaye]

So because I'm bored, and also because I've been enjoying the Surviving Sister Wives podcast (which is going to start recapping old episodes while we all wait for season 37 78 ??? to start), I decided to go back and rewatch the very first episode of Sister Wives.  I also did a recap because.........well, as I mentioned, bored.  For reasons that I can't explain, I have very good recall of how I felt watching this show going back to the very beginning, so in this recap I included my original thoughts from when I first began to watch, as well as a tiny bit of current-day snark because I can't help myself.  Hope you enjoy.  🙂

 

Season One, Episode One – Meet Kody and the Wives!

We begin by meeting Kody Brown.  He’s cute, in a surfer-dude kind of way - like the kinda hot dad next door sort of thing.  He’s got longish curly brown hair, a nice smile, warm eyes and looks good in a suit and tie.  He has three wives and 12 kids.  He tells us that his family’s brand of polygamy is not the polygamy we think we know.  He also says that his family is on the verge of a major change, and that love should be multiplied, not divided.  Ooh, color me intrigued!

Kody invites us into his large home, and I am excited to meet his wives and kids.  I love shows about big families because I myself come from a fairly small family, so I enjoy seeing how larger families get along and interact.  We first meet his pregnant wife Janelle – oh wait, I guess she’s not the pregnant one?  My bad!  As Kody kisses an adorable pixie child named Savanah, he introduces Janelle as “Number Two.”  Ouch, LOL!  Janelle doesn’t say a word – maybe she’s shy.  She seems a bit awkward with the cameras around, but I'm sure she'll get used to it.

Kody then goes through a door in Janelle’s house and we find ourselves in Meri’s part of the house.  Meri is wearing a gray long-sleeved t-shirt under a red short-sleeved shirt.  I kind of like that color combo.  Meri has a cute flip-style haircut and seems happy to see Kody.  She giggles nervously for the cameras.  Kody tells us that he has been married to Meri for 20 years, Janelle 17 and Christine 16.  Speaking of Christine, we meet her and SHE is the pregnant one, haha!  The baby in her belly already has a name – Truely.  So cute!

Kody tells us that he grew up on a ranch in Wyoming.  When he was 20, his dad converted to the fundamentalist Mormon faith.  Kody was 22 when he met a 19-year old Meri, who comes from a “plyg” family – her dad has five wives.  So Kody converted to the faith and married Meri after a very short courtship.  They seem to really love each other.  I can’t wait to hear about what it’s like to be a first wife!

In a scene with the kids we meet Logan, the oldest Brown child, who is 15.  He jokingly calls him and his siblings “plyglets.”  We also meet Maddie, a cute brunette, who says that she plans on going to beauty school.  Good for her!

Coming back from a commercial break, we see Kody and his wives sitting very close together on a couch and I think again how much they all seem to like each other.  Christine pats her very pregnant belly and blurts out, “we do have sex, it’s true!”  Well, then!  I didn’t think we’d get this information quite so soon but hey, let’s go!  Kody tells us that he has his wives on a rotating schedule.  Janelle tells us that she actually enjoys when Kody is affectionate with the other wives, and Meri admits that when Kody is ornery with another wife, he sometimes gets “weird" with her.  Unlike Janelle, Meri tries not to think about Kody boinking the other wives.  She has feelings – she pronounces it “fillings”- of jealousy, which she tries to bury.  Now that’s rather fascinating.  I don’t know if I could successfully bury those types of fillings but that’s what makes this lifestyle so interesting!

We move on to the next day.  Meri is wearing a long-sleeved white t-shirt under a burgundy cropped cardigan with a chunky necklace.  Another cute outfit!  I like her style.  She tells us how she wanted a bunch of kids but instead she only has one child, a cute blonde named Mariah.  Meri has gone back to school to study psychology, and wants to work with at-risk teens someday.  That’s awesome, she must really love kids!  Christine’s kids really seem to love Meri as well.  We see a scene of Meri pulling out a loose tooth on a cute blond boy named Paedon, and then Meri does the same for a curly-haired girl named Gwen.  Meri explains that this lifestyle is all about “what I can do for you, and what you can do for me.  This lifestyle makes each of us better.”  That’s actually very sweet.  As a mom with kids myself, who couldn’t use another mom once in a while, amirite?

Janelle tells us that she works long hours – 6:15am until 7:00pm.  She says that Christine makes dinner for all the kids as well as homeschools them.  Wow!  We see Janelle sitting alone at the kitchen table very early in the morning, waiting for Kody to wake up and say goodbye to her before she begins her day.  Kody does this every morning.  How sweet!  After Janelle leaves for her very long day, we see Logan come into the kitchen.  He wakes up every morning at 6:30 – a half-hour before his siblings – to cook them breakfast, get them out of bed and dressed, and sent off to school.  We see him scramble a dozen eggs, shred a block of cheese, make orange juice, carry a sleepy Savanah out of bed, wake up two other boys, and feed them delicious looking breakfast burritos.  That is a lot of responsibility for a 15 year old boy and I guess my question is, where is Kody during all of this?  I hope Logan still gets to have fun – he’s so young.  Anywho, Kody and Janelle tell us that Logan was “born responsible.”  We get a short interview of Janelle sitting on a bench – maybe she’s on a nice, relaxing lunch break – and she says that she loves working and basically doesn’t enjoy the drudgery of cooking and helping with homework.  That’s what Christine is for.  Hmm…I mean, I get that, it’s very hard work running a house and raising kids, but maybe she shouldn’t have had so many?  Just a thought.  I’m still unclear as to which kids are hers – there’s so many in this family and they all kind of look alike.  I’ll figure it out!

Kody goes to Christine’s house for breakfast later in the morning.  He says that Christine was raised plyg and that she knew Meri and Kody for years before deciding that she wanted to be a part of the family.  As we watch Christine basically set slices of bread on fire in the oven (she doesn’t believe in toasters – LOL!), Kody runs around looking for clothes because he has items at every wife’s apartment and sometimes he can’t remember where he left his stuff.  Ha!  He looks so frazzled.  Silly guy.  Logan mentions that perhaps using a toaster is less dangerous than inhaling the smoke that is currently wafting from the oven – smart kid, that one.  Pretty sure he's my favorite so far.

In a short scene, we see the entire family coming together as one lovely cohesive unit while doing some major yardwork – raking, cutting down branches, etc.  Kody, armed with a large chainsaw, says that he wants to cut down an entire tree.  Logan shakes his head and says, “What tree, dad?  Why?”  Kody decides that he doesn’t have time to cut down an entire tree and says that he’ll do it next weekend, to which Logan replies, “how about next year?”  That’s it – Logan’s my favorite.  He’s also the only one whose face I can put to a name.  He also seems to be more of an adult than his parents, but I’m pretty sure it’s just edited to look that way.

It’s BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!  Woo hoo!  How exciting!  We find out that Kody has been courting a fourth wife named Robyn, and we see him gather his entire brood to ask their opinion as to whether or not he should ask her and her three kids to join their big family!  The family has mixed emotions – Mariah and Logan both say that it will be weird, but they’ll get used to it.  Hunter – Janelle’s son – thinks it will be cool.  Janelle herself says that she’s felt all along that Robyn was “special.”  Meri is a bit less enthusiastic and says that she “rilly” hopes that she can overcome her jealousy issues.  I’m sure she will be just fine, she seems to have a rilly strong and loving bond with Kody.  And honestly - they already have three wives, how much trouble could a fourth wife bring?  As this episode comes to an end, we finally meet the skinny, pretty, raven-haired Robyn, who giggles nervously as the cameras capture Kody picking her up for a very special “date.”  Ooooh!

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW:  Oh no, Robyn is crying!  I wonder what’s wrong??  Christine says that “Kody kissing Robyn was devastatingk!”  And baby Truely is born!  Can’t wait, sign me up, this is gonna be a great show!

Edited April 24, 2020 by laurakaye

[suomi]

Nicely done! I look forward to reading more, if you have the time.

I didn't remember that Robyn showed up so soon. I do recall being surprised when I realized awhile back that it happened during the first season and now I realize it was the first episode, yikes!

I've been watching since the beginning but evidently don't remember as much as I thought I did.

[xwordfanatik]

@laurakaye, I felt a lot like you did, watching the first episode.  Very good recap!

I agree, Meri & Kootie seemed very close in those days.  How time has changed them.

[laurakaye]

30 minutes ago, suomi said:

I didn't remember that Robyn showed up so soon. I do recall being surprised when I realized awhile back that it happened during the first season and now I realize it was the first episode, yikes!

And I didn't recall at all that by episode two, she was already crying.  That woman - she was stealth and manipulative from the very beginning.  I may hit episode two this weekend to see what in the sam hill she's already crying about.

[CouchTater]

Thanks for the recap @laurakaye.  Where are you watching season 1?  I don't want to buy it on Amazon, and none of my streaming services has it.

[Kyanight]

15 minutes ago, CouchTater said:

Thanks for the recap @laurakaye.  Where are you watching season 1?  I don't want to buy it on Amazon, and none of my streaming services has it.

TLC.com?

[DakotaJustice]

20 minutes ago, CouchTater said:

Thanks for the recap @laurakaye.  Where are you watching season 1?  I don't want to buy it on Amazon, and none of my streaming services has it.

download the TLCGo app. If your carrier offers TLC you can stream all the episodes for free. 

[xwordfanatik]

I know I've mentioned this before, but Spectrum cable has all or nearly all Sister Wives on demand.  It's supposedly valid until 2031.  LOL

[Kbo]

Great recap, @laurakaye.  I’ve gone back and watched a few older episodes recently and it’s very interesting to compare then and now.  I would totally be up for rewatching and discussing old episodes.  It’s not like I have anything better to do.  I’m afraid we’re going to hit a wall where there’s very little new programming coming out. #firstworldproblems

[DakotaJustice]

I look forward to your recap of the Honeymoon Special. 

And listening to the SSW podcast is a high point of my week! 

[CouchTater]

4 hours ago, Kyanight said:

TLC.com?

Duh.  LOL, it's been a long day.   Thanks @Kyanight

[CouchTater]

5 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

download the TLCGo app. If your carrier offers TLC you can stream all the episodes for free. 

Thank you @DakotaJustice!

[suomi]

I have Xfinity and seasons 1-13 are free via TLC, and season 14 is $22.99

[Elizzikra]

5 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

download the TLCGo app. If your carrier offers TLC you can stream all the episodes for free. 

I wonder if the Brown clan gets residuals when the show re-airs (like actual actors do on scripted shows). And if they do, do they get paid for the viewership of episodes on the app or only episodes that re-run on the network itself as opposed to on-demand or on the app?

[Absolom]

No residuals for reality shows especially not on TLC and other cable networks.  They aren't guild members and it's the guilds that negotiate residual rates.

[Meowwww]

@laurakaye

I died at your sugary sweet tone!!  🤣🤣

[AZChristian]

21 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Meri is wearing a gray long-sleeved t-shirt under a red short-sleeved shirt.  I kind of like that color combo.  Meri has a cute flip-style haircut and seems happy to see Kody.  

Coming back from a commercial break, we see Kody and his wives sitting very close together on a couch and I think again how much they all seem to like each other.  

We move on to the next day.  Meri is wearing a long-sleeved white t-shirt under a burgundy cropped cardigan with a chunky necklace.  Another cute outfit!  I like her style. 

Christine’s kids really seem to love Meri as well. 

Meri explains that this lifestyle is all about “what I can do for you, and what you can do for me.  This lifestyle makes each of us better.”  That’s actually very sweet.  

In a short scene, we see the entire family coming together as one lovely cohesive unit while doing some major yardwork – raking, cutting down branches, etc.  

It’s BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!  Woo hoo!  How exciting!  We find out that Kody has been courting a fourth wife named Robyn, and we see him gather his entire brood to ask their opinion as to whether or not he should ask her and her three kids to join their big family!  The family has mixed emotions – Mariah and Logan both say that it will be weird, but they’ll get used to it.  Hunter – Janelle’s son – thinks it will be cool.  Janelle herself says that she’s felt all along that Robyn was “special.”  Meri is a bit less enthusiastic and says that she “rilly” hopes that she can overcome her jealousy issues.  I’m sure she will be just fine, she seems to have a rilly strong and loving bond with Kody.  And honestly - they already have three wives, how much trouble could a fourth wife bring?  As this episode comes to an end, we finally meet the skinny, pretty, raven-haired Robyn, who giggles nervously as the cameras capture Kody picking her up for a very special “date.”  Ooooh!

Awesome to read a recap after we know where everything went.  I pulled out some of the stuff that has become ironically funny as we've viewed the family through the years.

• Meri looking cute?
• They seem to like each other?
• Christine's kids seeming to like Meri?
• Meri's description of the lifestyle:  “what I can do for you, and what you can do for me."  
• Working TOGETHER as a cohesive family.
• Everything about introducing Robyn.

I hear on old folk group in my head singing, "The times, they are a-changin'."  In this case, though, it would be Christine shrieking it out in a very high pitch, "The times, they are a changink."

[nosedive]

Appreciate the recap, Laurakaye.  I have a couple of questions, if anybody knows.  1.  What was Janelle's job?  6:15 am to 7:00 pm is a pretty long workday, unless she had a very long commute.  2.  If Christine is homeschooling the kids, does Logan "get them off to school"  to Christine's part of the house? Or were only some of the kids homeschooled?  

[Kyanight]

1 hour ago, nosedive said:

Appreciate the recap, Laurakaye.  I have a couple of questions, if anybody knows.  1.  What was Janelle's job?  6:15 am to 7:00 pm is a pretty long workday, unless she had a very long commute.  2.  If Christine is homeschooling the kids, does Logan "get them off to school"  to Christine's part of the house? Or were only some of the kids homeschooled?  

All these years I was under the impression that the kids went to public schools.

[DakotaJustice]

2 hours ago, nosedive said:

Appreciate the recap, Laurakaye.  I have a couple of questions, if anybody knows.  1.  What was Janelle's job?  6:15 am to 7:00 pm is a pretty long workday, unless she had a very long commute.  2.  If Christine is homeschooling the kids, does Logan "get them off to school"  to Christine's part of the house? Or were only some of the kids homeschooled?  

She had a desk job pushing paper for the state of Utah. I read somewhere that it was in the welfare or food stamp department, but that could be incorrect.

[orangesmartie]

2 hours ago, Kyanight said:

All these years I was under the impression that the kids went to public schools.

I think the older kids went to a school (maybe not public school, Mariah was at a coop/AUB school). The younger kids went to christine I think.

[smarty]

21 hours ago, CouchTater said:

Thanks for the recap @laurakaye.  Where are you watching season 1?  I don't want to buy it on Amazon, and none of my streaming services has it.

I've been watching it for free on tlcgo.com using my cable provider as the log in.

[orangesmartie]

I'm so sad that I can't rewatch season 1 in the UK without paying for it

[Kyanight]

1 minute ago, orangesmartie said:

I'm so sad that I can't rewatch season 1 in the UK without paying for it

See if you can find the episodes on Youtube!

[orangesmartie]

1 hour ago, Kyanight said:

See if you can find the episodes on Youtube!

Ooh great idea! Now watching episode 1.

They were a much nicer group back then. They seemed like a proper family. Meri was in Christine's home. Kidy had a proper rotation, meals together 3 nights a week, date nights, getting up in the morning to say goodbye to Janelle.

Saw the elder kids getting off a yellow school bus, so they must've gone to proper school.

Janelle does not appear to have that thing on her upper lip.

Almost choked at some of the couch scenes: Meri bonded with Janelle before Kody did. 

The girls were much cuter with lighter hair.

 

ETA I can only find season 1 episode 1

Edited April 25, 2020 by orangesmartie

[Kyanight]

37 minutes ago, orangesmartie said:

Janelle does not appear to have that thing on her upper lip.

She's growing a chicken McNugget.

[Just Wondering]

On 4/24/2020 at 11:12 AM, laurakaye said:

So because I'm bored, and also because I've been enjoying the Surviving Sister Wives podcast (which is going to start recapping old episodes while we all wait for season 37 78 ??? to start), I decided to go back and rewatch the very first episode of Sister Wives.  I also did a recap because.........well, as I mentioned, bored.  For reasons that I can't explain, I have very good recall of how I felt watching this show going back to the very beginning, so in this recap I included my original thoughts from when I first began to watch, as well as a tiny bit of current-day snark because I can't help myself.  Hope you enjoy.  🙂

 

Season One, Episode One – Meet Kody and the Wives!

We begin by meeting Kody Brown.  He’s cute, in a surfer-dude kind of way - like the kinda hot dad next door sort of thing.  He’s got longish curly brown hair, a nice smile, warm eyes and looks good in a suit and tie.  He has three wives and 12 kids.  He tells us that his family’s brand of polygamy is not the polygamy we think we know.  He also says that his family is on the verge of a major change, and that love should be multiplied, not divided.  Ooh, color me intrigued!

Kody invites us into his large home, and I am excited to meet his wives and kids.  I love shows about big families because I myself come from a fairly small family, so I enjoy seeing how larger families get along and interact.  We first meet his pregnant wife Janelle – oh wait, I guess she’s not the pregnant one?  My bad!  As Kody kisses an adorable pixie child named Savanah, he introduces Janelle as “Number Two.”  Ouch, LOL!  Janelle doesn’t say a word – maybe she’s shy.  She seems a bit awkward with the cameras around, but I'm sure she'll get used to it.

Kody then goes through a door in Janelle’s house and we find ourselves in Meri’s part of the house.  Meri is wearing a gray long-sleeved t-shirt under a red short-sleeved shirt.  I kind of like that color combo.  Meri has a cute flip-style haircut and seems happy to see Kody.  She giggles nervously for the cameras.  Kody tells us that he has been married to Meri for 20 years, Janelle 17 and Christine 16.  Speaking of Christine, we meet her and SHE is the pregnant one, haha!  The baby in her belly already has a name – Truely.  So cute!

Kody tells us that he grew up on a ranch in Wyoming.  When he was 20, his dad converted to the fundamentalist Mormon faith.  Kody was 22 when he met a 19-year old Meri, who comes from a “plyg” family – her dad has five wives.  So Kody converted to the faith and married Meri after a very short courtship.  They seem to really love each other.  I can’t wait to hear about what it’s like to be a first wife!

In a scene with the kids we meet Logan, the oldest Brown child, who is 15.  He jokingly calls him and his siblings “plyglets.”  We also meet Maddie, a cute brunette, who says that she plans on going to beauty school.  Good for her!

Coming back from a commercial break, we see Kody and his wives sitting very close together on a couch and I think again how much they all seem to like each other.  Christine pats her very pregnant belly and blurts out, “we do have sex, it’s true!”  Well, then!  I didn’t think we’d get this information quite so soon but hey, let’s go!  Kody tells us that he has his wives on a rotating schedule.  Janelle tells us that she actually enjoys when Kody is affectionate with the other wives, and Meri admits that when Kody is ornery with another wife, he sometimes gets “weird" with her.  Unlike Janelle, Meri tries not to think about Kody boinking the other wives.  She has feelings – she pronounces it “fillings”- of jealousy, which she tries to bury.  Now that’s rather fascinating.  I don’t know if I could successfully bury those types of fillings but that’s what makes this lifestyle so interesting!

We move on to the next day.  Meri is wearing a long-sleeved white t-shirt under a burgundy cropped cardigan with a chunky necklace.  Another cute outfit!  I like her style.  She tells us how she wanted a bunch of kids but instead she only has one child, a cute blonde named Mariah.  Meri has gone back to school to study psychology, and wants to work with at-risk teens someday.  That’s awesome, she must really love kids!  Christine’s kids really seem to love Meri as well.  We see a scene of Meri pulling out a loose tooth on a cute blond boy named Paedon, and then Meri does the same for a curly-haired girl named Gwen.  Meri explains that this lifestyle is all about “what I can do for you, and what you can do for me.  This lifestyle makes each of us better.”  That’s actually very sweet.  As a mom with kids myself, who couldn’t use another mom once in a while, amirite?

Janelle tells us that she works long hours – 6:15am until 7:00pm.  She says that Christine makes dinner for all the kids as well as homeschools them.  Wow!  We see Janelle sitting alone at the kitchen table very early in the morning, waiting for Kody to wake up and say goodbye to her before she begins her day.  Kody does this every morning.  How sweet!  After Janelle leaves for her very long day, we see Logan come into the kitchen.  He wakes up every morning at 6:30 – a half-hour before his siblings – to cook them breakfast, get them out of bed and dressed, and sent off to school.  We see him scramble a dozen eggs, shred a block of cheese, make orange juice, carry a sleepy Savanah out of bed, wake up two other boys, and feed them delicious looking breakfast burritos.  That is a lot of responsibility for a 15 year old boy and I guess my question is, where is Kody during all of this?  I hope Logan still gets to have fun – he’s so young.  Anywho, Kody and Janelle tell us that Logan was “born responsible.”  We get a short interview of Janelle sitting on a bench – maybe she’s on a nice, relaxing lunch break – and she says that she loves working and basically doesn’t enjoy the drudgery of cooking and helping with homework.  That’s what Christine is for.  Hmm…I mean, I get that, it’s very hard work running a house and raising kids, but maybe she shouldn’t have had so many?  Just a thought.  I’m still unclear as to which kids are hers – there’s so many in this family and they all kind of look alike.  I’ll figure it out!

Kody goes to Christine’s house for breakfast later in the morning.  He says that Christine was raised plyg and that she knew Meri and Kody for years before deciding that she wanted to be a part of the family.  As we watch Christine basically set slices of bread on fire in the oven (she doesn’t believe in toasters – LOL!), Kody runs around looking for clothes because he has items at every wife’s apartment and sometimes he can’t remember where he left his stuff.  Ha!  He looks so frazzled.  Silly guy.  Logan mentions that perhaps using a toaster is less dangerous than inhaling the smoke that is currently wafting from the oven – smart kid, that one.  Pretty sure he's my favorite so far.

In a short scene, we see the entire family coming together as one lovely cohesive unit while doing some major yardwork – raking, cutting down branches, etc.  Kody, armed with a large chainsaw, says that he wants to cut down an entire tree.  Logan shakes his head and says, “What tree, dad?  Why?”  Kody decides that he doesn’t have time to cut down an entire tree and says that he’ll do it next weekend, to which Logan replies, “how about next year?”  That’s it – Logan’s my favorite.  He’s also the only one whose face I can put to a name.  He also seems to be more of an adult than his parents, but I’m pretty sure it’s just edited to look that way.

It’s BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!  Woo hoo!  How exciting!  We find out that Kody has been courting a fourth wife named Robyn, and we see him gather his entire brood to ask their opinion as to whether or not he should ask her and her three kids to join their big family!  The family has mixed emotions – Mariah and Logan both say that it will be weird, but they’ll get used to it.  Hunter – Janelle’s son – thinks it will be cool.  Janelle herself says that she’s felt all along that Robyn was “special.”  Meri is a bit less enthusiastic and says that she “rilly” hopes that she can overcome her jealousy issues.  I’m sure she will be just fine, she seems to have a rilly strong and loving bond with Kody.  And honestly - they already have three wives, how much trouble could a fourth wife bring?  As this episode comes to an end, we finally meet the skinny, pretty, raven-haired Robyn, who giggles nervously as the cameras capture Kody picking her up for a very special “date.”  Ooooh!

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW:  Oh no, Robyn is crying!  I wonder what’s wrong??  Christine says that “Kody kissing Robyn was devastatingk!”  And baby Truely is born!  Can’t wait, sign me up, this is gonna be a great show!

What a great idea!   This was gold.  I recall initially feeling that Robyn was about to be taken advantage of in this plural situation, especially after hearing about her former marital misfortune. Heh heh.

[laurakaye]

On 4/24/2020 at 4:40 PM, CouchTater said:

Thanks for the recap @laurakaye.  Where are you watching season 1?  I don't want to buy it on Amazon, and none of my streaming services has it.

I have Hulu Live, they have all seasons of SW.

 

On 4/25/2020 at 2:21 PM, orangesmartie said:

I think the older kids went to a school (maybe not public school, Mariah was at a coop/AUB school). The younger kids went to christine I think.

I goofed - Christine used to home-school all the kids before the Browns decided to put the older ones in a private church-run school, I believe.  The episode did show Christine home-schooling Savanah, so it does look like the younger kids went to Christine for schooling.

[Kohola3]

14 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

The episode did show Christine home-schooling Savanah, so it does look like the younger kids went to Christine for schooling.

What subject do you suppose she was teaching when she covered Death by Toasters?  Science?  Electrical Engineering?  Mythology?

[Elizzikra]

5 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

What subject do you suppose she was teaching when she covered Death by Toasters?  Science?  Electrical Engineering?  Mythology?

Home ec?

[Kohola3]

14 minutes ago, Elizzikra said:

Home ec?

Imagine the cooking classes - Forty Ways to Use Tater Tots.

[xwordfanatik]

Or mock tapioca puddin', another speciality of Christine, the Brown's very own chef!

[suomi]

They didn't show it but I'm pretty sure Janelle rotated in to teach the Home Ec classes.

[TurtlePower]

On 4/25/2020 at 8:10 AM, AZChristian said:

Awesome to read a recap after we know where everything went.  I pulled out some of the stuff that has become ironically funny as we've viewed the family through the years.

• Meri looking cute?
• They seem to like each other?
• Christine's kids seeming to like Meri?
• Meri's description of the lifestyle:  “what I can do for you, and what you can do for me."  
• Working TOGETHER as a cohesive family.
• Everything about introducing Robyn.

I hear on old folk group in my head singing, "The times, they are a-changin'."  In this case, though, it would be Christine shrieking it out in a very high pitch, "The times, they are a changink."

Meri was so much thinner and, yes, almost cute. The strappy tanks over long sleeves, though, that's always been terrible. 

They did seem happier and more cohesive then, however being new to reality TV, it could be they were holding back and trying to make the lifestyle seem appealing. 

Edited April 27, 2020 by TurtlePower
Had to correct autocorrect

[DakotaJustice]

you know, between this written snarky recap and the SSW podcast, we're in for a real treat. 

I am of the same opinion as the wife in the podcast (don't recall her name off the bat) - that the family was on their best behavior in the first couple seasons. Then as Robyn became more entrenched, it was harder to hide the cracks in the foundation. Such as it was. 

And now in the most current season the disagreements from long past - pre Robyn- came out. Like Meri making the other kids have to go outside to get to other parts of the house. Or Kody saying he felt he was tricked into marrying Meri. That sort of thing.

But yeah everyone was well behaved. 

The Honeymoon episode shows the true jealousy, even Janelle was jealous but I'm sure we'll be discussing that one soon!!

[xwordfanatik]

That honeymoon episode was a classic.  Janelle wouldn't answer Kootie's calls for days.  They dished about how Robyn got 11 days, and they each got maybe three.  Cold sore queen for the win!

[Dmarie019]

On 4/24/2020 at 12:38 PM, laurakaye said:

And I didn't recall at all that by episode two, she was already crying.  That woman - she was stealth and manipulative from the very beginning.  I may hit episode two this weekend to see what in the sam hill she's already crying about.

I recently watched all the old episodes too and that stood out to me too. She ALWAYS cried. no wonder her kids are a mess.

On 4/25/2020 at 9:10 AM, AZChristian said:

Awesome to read a recap after we know where everything went.  I pulled out some of the stuff that has become ironically funny as we've viewed the family through the years.

• Meri looking cute?
• They seem to like each other?
• Christine's kids seeming to like Meri?
• Meri's description of the lifestyle:  “what I can do for you, and what you can do for me."  
• Working TOGETHER as a cohesive family.
• Everything about introducing Robyn.

I hear on old folk group in my head singing, "The times, they are a-changin'."  In this case, though, it would be Christine shrieking it out in a very high pitch, "The times, they are a changink."

And this all comes to a screeching alt the moment they put money down for those Vegas houses. The mood of the family takes a very obvious turn against Meri. 

On 4/25/2020 at 11:05 AM, Kyanight said:

All these years I was under the impression that the kids went to public schools.

They did go to public school.  They talked about how they did go to a church-based school but then switched them to public. Mariah didn't like public and begged to go back to the church school which they allowed her to do. 

[AZChristian]

3 minutes ago, Dmarie019 said:

They did go to public school.  They talked about how they did go to a church-based school but then switched them to public. Mariah didn't like public and begged to go back to the church school which they allowed her to do. 

Because Mariah.

[toodles]

2 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

you know, between this written snarky recap and the SSW podcast, we're in for a real treat. 

I am of the same opinion as the wife in the podcast (don't recall her name off the bat) - that the family was on their best behavior in the first couple seasons. Then as Robyn became more entrenched, it was harder to hide the cracks in the foundation. Such as it was. 

And now in the most current season the disagreements from long past - pre Robyn- came out. Like Meri making the other kids have to go outside to get to other parts of the house. Or Kody saying he felt he was tricked into marrying Meri. That sort of thing.

But yeah everyone was well behaved. 

The Honeymoon episode shows the true jealousy, even Janelle was jealous but I'm sure we'll be discussing that one soon!!

I watched this the other day.  It should be fun.

[Roslyn]

6 hours ago, Dmarie019 said:

And this all comes to a screeching alt the moment they put money down for those Vegas houses. The mood of the family takes a very obvious turn against Meri. 

They did go to public school.  They talked about how they did go to a church-based school but then switched them to public. Mariah didn't like public and begged demanded to go back to the church school which they allowed her to do. 

I think the turn against Meri was before the custom houses but when they first chose the rentals.  And Meri...being a whole mile away from the others when there was a smaller and more economical house near to Robyn.  WHO can forget the couch discussion when Meri said "I am sorry that I took something that you thought was yours...Janelle."

[suomi]

42 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

WHO can forget the couch discussion when Meri said "I am sorry that I took something that you thought was yours...Janelle."

Ouch! Pointed reference, much?

[TaxNerd]

I'm rewatching too! It has been years since I saw the early episodes and what a ride!

The public school switch is in season 2 - Robin's kids had to switch to a new school with the move closer to the Lehi compound, so they moved all the kids to public make it easier on Robin's. I always wondered if Robin was so concerned in Las Vegas about the schools, why she didn't just put her three in the same religious school as the rest of the Brown kids. But no, the moved the Brown 13 (or however many were actually in school) to accommodate Robin.

Lol Robin isn't even that bad in the first two seasons, but knowing what's to come colors everything.

Edited April 29, 2020 by TaxNerd

[Dmarie019]

14 hours ago, Roslyn said:

I think the turn against Meri was before the custom houses but when they first chose the rentals.  And Meri...being a whole mile away from the others when there was a smaller and more economical house near to Robyn.  WHO can forget the couch discussion when Meri said "I am sorry that I took something that you thought was yours...Janelle."

ehhh I thought they were still pretty happy during that time. We saw many scenes where everyone was gathered at Meri's house, it seemed at that time they all took turns evenly on who hosted everyone for group gatherings. Rewatching that season I was shocked at how often everyone was at Meri's house. 

On the episode when Janelle says even her kids were asking why Meri needs a big house - that is a big definite turn in dynamics. 

[Pickleinthemiddle]

On 4/29/2020 at 7:26 AM, TaxNerd said:

I'm rewatching too! It has been years since I saw the early episodes and what a ride!

The public school switch is in season 2 - Robin's kids had to switch to a new school with the move closer to the Lehi compound, so they moved all the kids to public make it easier on Robin's. I always wondered if Robin was so concerned in Las Vegas about the schools, why she didn't just put her three in the same religious school as the rest of the Brown kids. But no, the moved the Brown 13 (or however many were actually in school) to accommodate Robin.

Lol Robin isn't even that bad in the first two seasons, but knowing what's to come colors everything.

I think all of the kids except for Mariah were already in public school by the time Robyn came along. 

 

On 4/28/2020 at 6:53 PM, Roslyn said:

WHO can forget the couch discussion when Meri said "I am sorry that I took something that you thought was yours...Janelle."

Agree.  I was spitting nails when she said that.  Your darn right you took something that was mine.  And have been for years.  I think that was why Kody went crazy at the land about Meri not wanting to move into the trees after all.  He was fed up with catering to her whims.  Which kept everyone else walking on eggshells around her.

[Sofa Sloth]

On 4/29/2020 at 9:53 AM, Roslyn said:

WHO can forget the couch discussion when Meri said "I am sorry that I took something that you thought was yours...Janelle."

 

5 hours ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

Agree.  I was spitting nails when she said that.  Your darn right you took something that was mine.  And have been for years.  

That showed Meri’s true passive aggressive entitled behaviour that Janelle has probably been dealing with for years.
 

Back at the beginning of their marriages when Meri only worked a part time job so she could travel around with Kody leaving Janelle to hold down the fort with her full-time job. The fact Meri continued to only work part-time sporadically while Mariah was growing up relying on Janelle/Kody to take care of majority household bills. The fact Janelle used all her inheritance to buy the Lehi house (then was gracious enough to add Meri’s ungrateful ass to the deed). The fact Janelle cashed out her 401k to fund the Vegas move and to secure Meri’s expensive rental. Then later the wet bar/French doors debacle, request for funding the B&B (that she made clear the others would receive no profits from), Mariah’s expensive schooling...  

I’m sure the grievance list for Janelle goes on and on, she would have every right to feel annoyed that Meri never conserved funds (that weren’t even hers to begin with). Meri held the family ransom with her emotional manipulation of only being able to bear one child and they all gave in to her. The reality is, she never needed the same resources the families with 6 children did, her selfish ass just demanded it. 

[Adiba]

11 hours ago, Sofa Sloth said:

 

That showed Meri’s true passive aggressive entitled behaviour that Janelle has probably been dealing with for years.
 

Back at the beginning of their marriages when Meri only worked a part time job so she could travel around with Kody leaving Janelle to hold down the fort with her full-time job. The fact Meri continued to only work part-time sporadically while Mariah was growing up relying on Janelle/Kody to take care of majority household bills. The fact Janelle used all her inheritance to buy the Lehi house (then was gracious enough to add Meri’s ungrateful ass to the deed). The fact Janelle cashed out her 401k to fund the Vegas move and to secure Meri’s expensive rental. Then later the wet bar/French doors debacle, request for funding the B&B (that she made clear the others would receive no profits from), Mariah’s expensive schooling...  

I’m sure the grievance list for Janelle goes on and on, she would have every right to feel annoyed that Meri never conserved funds (that weren’t even hers to begin with). Meri held the family ransom with her emotional manipulation of only being able to bear one child and they all gave in to her. The reality is, she never needed the same resources the families with 6 children did, her selfish ass just demanded it. 

I agree that Meri never needed the same resources as the other wives did, and I don't blame them for feeling resentful of Meri. I would have raised hell if my children had to do without something while Meri and Mariah didn't.

However, I'm going to cut Meri a very little slack for not being thrilled with Janelle. Mer's sister-in-law divorces Meri's brother and secretly meets with Kody to discuss becoming  the next wife. Then, the new wife is the total opposite in terms of cleaning the house. I can see why there would be friction. But why doesn't anyone hold KODY accountable?

[suomi]

18 minutes ago, Adiba said:

But why doesn't anyone hold KODY accountable?

It's like domestic abuse, when people say why doesn't she leave instead of saying why doesn't he stop hitting her.

[laurakaye]

36 minutes ago, Adiba said:

I can see why there would be friction. But why doesn't anyone hold KODY accountable?

I am currently watching Big Love for the first time and while I realize it's fiction, every time the wives get into it with each other, the husband firmly states that it's the job of the wives to work things out between each other.  This is the most passive-aggressive way of handling issues between wives that I can imagine...the husband gets to not only have multiple women, but when they disagree or argue about the way the house should be kept, or who gets the dude for what night, etc., the husband can say "Peace out!" and walk away.  I don't know for sure if this is the way it goes in most polygamist families but it seems logical, as this lifestyle is geared towards satisfying the men while the women have to not only suppress their normal feelings of jealousy, they're also not supposed to go to their "headship" when there are problems.  

As for Kody - if I'm getting the timeline correct, he converted in order to marry Meri (at the request of her father?  His father?  I don't know).  So as a new convert, Kody bringing in Janelle of all people to be his second wife - he HAD to know there was going to be tension and conflict.  He either told his wives to dill with it and leave him out of it, or he was so self-involved and checked out that he never noticed the tension in the first place.  But then here we are 14 seasons later, and Kody is in therapy stating that Meri misrepresented herself from the get-go.  How did she misrepresent herself?  As saying she wanted polygamy?  As telling Kody that she was okay with him marrying Janelle when in reality she was not?  I would love some clarity on this, but I doubt we'll ever get it.  

[deirdra]

Most religions created by men give themselves all the perks and the women all the burdens and insecurities to keep them in line.

I'm reading Under the Banner of Heaven, and the way Jon Krakauer tells it, Joseph Smith's first wife had been nagging him about his womanizing when travelling and he fortuitously had a revelation that polygamy was divine, making it all OK.

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by deirdra

[xwordfanatik]

Joseph Smith.  IMO a con artist, wanting to justify his cheating ass.  It figures Kootie would hold him up on a pedestal.