I Saw The Signs: A Rewatch Thread

[Irate Panda]

8 hours ago, dariafan said:

Why was kootie so excited about the lights he hung in the cul de sac ??  

He was happy he could reach them on his tippy toes and didn’t have to ask 10 year old Paedon to hang them for him.

[General Days]

I was just waiting for the wind to do his wives a solid.

[LilyD]

12 hours ago, Midwestern Lady said:

I just rewatched Meri being afraid of telling Sobbyn she was going back to college. Literally afraid.    Sobbyn, of course, was a complete bitch about it since the Closet was super duper busy and how was she supposed to get all the work done when Meri ditched her?   Meri's return to college was all about Sobbyn, as usual.  

 

MSWC should have been called Robyn’s Closet and was doomed from the start. It was her dream and everybody had to tag along despite the fact that no one was really into it. IIrc Janelle was the only one who really spoke up against it. The business plan was poor and the joolry tacky and overpriced.

Had another look at the website and I don’t think they learned a lot from their previous mistakes. It’s still the same tacky and expensive crap, I can get most of that at our local markets and fairs for maybe $10…no way I’d pay $100! Did anyone else notice how hard it is to get to the actual web shop? I missed a link in the drop down menu, or maybe I wasn’t looking properly. Anyway, I got there eventually by clicking on the shopping chart (which was empty) and then clicked on the “continue shopping” link. Not really customer friendly?

 

[laurakaye]

On 3/13/2023 at 9:18 AM, dariafan said:

WTched the episode when they leave for Hawaii & meri gave kootie her pictures.   1- they were better than I thought they would be.  2. Even if they were awful , you know she would throw a fit if they were not hung in a prominent place in each house 

Truth - but who would want to hang a painting in their living room so they can look at it every day and recall that time when their sister wife almost ran away with a banana?  Typical Meri - "here's a semi-heartfelt token of my non-apology for being scammed by a catfish, even though everyone warned me - now hang this pitchur above your mantel and forgive me completely, even though I never actually apologized."  

 

20 hours ago, dariafan said:

Why was kootie so excited about the lights he hung in the cul de sac ??  

Because it gave him a "project' to do to appear busy so he didn't have to actually do anything constructive for hours.  He's extremely good at that.

[TurtlePower]

On 3/14/2023 at 11:03 AM, RazzleberryPie said:

This whole thing was nothing but a power play. Robyn wanting the other wives to do all work for her unmarketable business, then she could blame them all for not helping when her junk jewelry failed to sell. Meri saying she wanted college instead partially bc Robyns idea was dumb and she was catfishing, being catfished, whatever but also, I think if Robin had found the cure for cancer Meri would’ve found a reason to buck against it just to show she was OG Legal wife and nobody is the boss of her. Those two Mean Girl Wives deserve each other. 

THIS. 

[dariafan]

Season 11 ep 2. To keep in line with surviving sister wives.     Who is this kootie and what happened to him ?  He was reasonable.  ( the talking heads dealing with Leon   The Mykelty and Tony stuff he was still a mess ). 

[LilyD]

On 3/14/2023 at 4:03 PM, RazzleberryPie said:

This whole thing was nothing but a power play. Robyn wanting the other wives to do all work for her unmarketable business, then she could blame them all for not helping when her junk jewelry failed to sell. Meri saying she wanted college instead partially bc Robyns idea was dumb and she was catfishing, being catfished, whatever but also, I think if Robin had found the cure for cancer Meri would’ve found a reason to buck against it just to show she was OG Legal wife and nobody is the boss of her. Those two Mean Girl Wives deserve each other. 

I have little doubt that Robyn assumed it would be a huge success and she leaned heavily on the other wives’ support.
 

 The whole dynamics was odd. The business was doomed from day one, when potential investors found numerous flaws in their business plan. Neither Kody, nor Robyn took these warnings seriously, and pushed their ideas through. The other wives quickly realised the investors were right, but were forced into the fambly business. I cannot really fault Meri here as her heart really wasn’t into it. I fully agree about Meri’s general attitude though. She bucked against anything if it wasn’t her brain child or if there were no immediate benefits for her. She’s not a team player.

[RazzleberryPie]

3 hours ago, LilyD said:

I have little doubt that Robyn assumed it would be a huge success and she leaned heavily on the other wives’ support.
 

 The whole dynamics was odd. The business was doomed from day one, when potential investors found numerous flaws in their business plan. Neither Kody, nor Robyn took these warnings seriously, and pushed their ideas through. The other wives quickly realised the investors were right, but were forced into the fambly business. I cannot really fault Meri here as her heart really wasn’t into it. I fully agree about Meri’s general attitude though. She bucked against anything if it wasn’t her brain child or if there were no immediate benefits for her. She’s not a team player.

Yup. That jewelry was not that cute and overpriced. Robyn way overestimated their popularity and marketability. But yes, it was more about the power struggle of who is Top Wife than anything. Meri would buck anything anyone else suggested, janelle and Christine knew it was stupid but had to try to keep peace, and Robyn was ready to play the victim against anyone who she thought defied her. 

[TurtlePower]

On 4/4/2023 at 5:22 AM, LilyD said:

I have little doubt that Robyn assumed it would be a huge success and she leaned heavily on the other wives’ support.
 

 The whole dynamics was odd. The business was doomed from day one, when potential investors found numerous flaws in their business plan. Neither Kody, nor Robyn took these warnings seriously, and pushed their ideas through. The other wives quickly realised the investors were right, but were forced into the fambly business. I cannot really fault Meri here as her heart really wasn’t into it. I fully agree about Meri’s general attitude though. She bucked against anything if it wasn’t her brain child or if there were no immediate benefits for her. She’s not a team player.

In this regard, I can’t help but be on Meri’s side (rare I know — has a portal opened up somewhere?).

Every business idea these twatwaffles came up with was terrible. And when she wanted to buy the B&B, no one wanted to help her — which might seem like karma — but so far it seems the B&B has been the most logical business investment any of these people have tried. And it’s all hers and she doesn’t have to share it with anyone. 

[Shelbie]

I hope she drops the fact that it is all hers into conversations with Kody when he and Robyn have to massively downsize when the money runs out.

[dariafan]

I’m still pissed that kootie head expected Christine to not get her house how she wanted it to give Mer bear money to over spend on hers 

[Cheery Divorcee]

I'm rewatching Season 13 and it's so painfully clear that this is where Kody has begun totally unhinging. Before he was insufferable, but in this season, where he's pushing the move to Flagstaff, his belittling and condescension reaches megalomaniac levels. It's kinda scary to watch.

It's also so thinly veiled that Robyn is the one who wants to move away from Las Vegas and he's going to punish everyone else so she gets what she wants. 

Christine wants to advocate for Gwen, but doesn't want to "rock the boat" between her and Kody. I feel so bad for all the times she swallowed her truth to try to save what little marriage she had.

Also, Gabe. This poor kid. I hope he gets some healing from how poorly his dad has treated him.

This is also the worst hair season for Kody! He's given up haircuts but hasn't discovered the curly girl method yet.

 

[Sandy W]

23 minutes ago, Cheery Divorcee said:

 

Also, Gabe. This poor kid. I hope he gets some healing from how poorly his dad has treated him.

This is also the worst hair season for Kody! He's given up haircuts but hasn't discovered the curly girl method yet.

 

In my view, Janelle comes in for the harshest criticism.  She knew what Gabe had at stake, rated in the top 10 academically for the entire school and slated to become captain of the school wrestling team. This would have assured him of at least one college scholarship. 

At first, she adamantly refused to relocate then folded like a wet paper bag.  I guess Kody showed up in a ponytail and that was all she needed to throw Gabe's accomplishments down the drain.

[xwordfanatik]

13 hours ago, Sandy W said:

In my view, Janelle comes in for the harshest criticism.  She knew what Gabe had at stake, rated in the top 10 academically for the entire school and slated to become captain of the school wrestling team. This would have assured him of at least one college scholarship. 

At first, she adamantly refused to relocate then folded like a wet paper bag.  I guess Kody showed up in a ponytail and that was all she needed to throw Gabe's accomplishments down the drain.

I agree.  Why Janelle couldn't have put on her realtor cap and stayed in LV until the houses sold and Gabe graduated, I'll never understand.  How long did those houses sit empty, anyway?  

Gwen could have stayed, too, for that matter.  As for Uh-ROARa, of course she would have followed daddy and heli-mom without question, since it was they dictating the boneheaded move.

[GeeGolly]

Its so normal for a senior kid to stay behind if a family moves. We had at least three in my senior class and my kids had friends in their senior years who stayed behind to finish their last year of high school.

I will never understand why Gabe couldn't have stayed with Logan or a friend's family.

Although they couldn't have known it, IIRC the last house sold in June of 2019, so Gabe would have had a house to live in the entire time. Maybe with a friend or with parents and siblings rotating.

[lookeyloo]

Do we know that this idea of him staying behind with Logan or family friends had been discussed and considered by them? Such a popular idea seems like it could have crossed their minds off screen away from our "prying eyes"?  Do we think the TLC producers said it wouldn't be a good story line and that's what convinced them?  Or maybe Gabe really didn't want to stay back without the rest of the fambly?  Or, there was some sort of ultimatum to various and sundry fambly members related to this?  Just so much we don't know.  And what would have worked for us might not work for everybody.

[Cheery Divorcee]

16 hours ago, Sandy W said:

In my view, Janelle comes in for the harshest criticism.  She knew what Gabe had at stake, rated in the top 10 academically for the entire school and slated to become captain of the school wrestling team. This would have assured him of at least one college scholarship. 

At first, she adamantly refused to relocate then folded like a wet paper bag.  I guess Kody showed up in a ponytail and that was all she needed to throw Gabe's accomplishments down the drain.

Agreed. I'm usually on Janelle's side, but her complete capitulation was a problem. She just kept saying the trees are so pretty in Flagstaff. WTF?

And did anyone ever call Kody on the fact that the houses sat unsold, for such a long time? What a huge financial disaster, when he just kept saying how important it was to sell for their financial sustainability. I never once saw him take any accountability for being so attached to such a baseless idea that the homes were going to plummet in value and never recover.

I have to wonder if it was some weird QAnon thing? My previously sweet and rational ex-husband got sucked into QAnon (one of many reasons we split up) and he was always predicting these dystopian things (everything's going to crash on such a such date, we have to stock up on water and gas, our phones won't work, etc.). It was scary and bizarre. And none of it ever came true, but he was still taken in by the next predicted disaster....

2 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

Do we know that this idea of him staying behind with Logan or family friends had been discussed and considered by them? Such a popular idea seems like it could have crossed their minds off screen away from our "prying eyes"?  Do we think the TLC producers said it wouldn't be a good story line and that's what convinced them?  Or maybe Gabe really didn't want to stay back without the rest of the fambly?  Or, there was some sort of ultimatum to various and sundry fambly members related to this?  Just so much we don't know.  And what would have worked for us might not work for everybody.

Yeah! They did talk about him staying back with Maddie or a friend and Kody just kept saying "Where we go one, we go all" (which is a QAnon thing, which is why I was wondering about that in my earlier post).

[lookeyloo]

19 minutes ago, Cheery Divorcee said:

Agreed. I'm usually on Janelle's side, but her complete capitulation was a problem. She just kept saying the trees are so pretty in Flagstaff. WTF?

And did anyone ever call Kody on the fact that the houses sat unsold, for such a long time? What a huge financial disaster, when he just kept saying how important it was to sell for their financial sustainability. I never once saw him take any accountability for being so attached to such a baseless idea that the homes were going to plummet in value and never recover.

I have to wonder if it was some weird QAnon thing? My previously sweet and rational ex-husband got sucked into QAnon (one of many reasons we split up) and he was always predicting these dystopian things (everything's going to crash on such a such date, we have to stock up on water and gas, our phones won't work, etc.). It was scary and bizarre. And none of it ever came true, but he was still taken in by the next predicted disaster....

Yeah! They did talk about him staying back with Maddie or a friend and Kody just kept saying "Where we go one, we go all" (which is a QAnon thing, which is why I was wondering about that in my earlier post).

Interesting for sure. So I guess Gabe being underage and feeling relatively powerless just had to go.  Probably all of them did back then.  Powerless I mean. 

[GeeGolly]

There were multiple discussions about different options to let Gabe to stay behind for his senior year. They were all ruled out, one by one. Poor Gabe was devastated, he basically shut down with disbelief and disappointment.

IMO, pulling Gabe from his senior year is far worse than Kody not going to Ysabel's surgery during a pandemic.

[Gramto6]

6 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

IMO, pulling Gabe from his senior year is far worse than Kody not going to Ysabel's surgery during a pandemic.

Neither one of the above acts (and a myriad of other things he has done) are going to win Kotex a "Father of the Year Award"!

[GeeGolly]

14 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Neither one of the above acts (and a myriad of other things he has done) are going to win Kotex a "Father of the Year Award"!

Agree, nor will Janelle win mother of the year.

[Teafortwo]

One of the "rationales" for the timing of this ill-advised move was that Gabe, Gwen and Aurora were going into their junior year in fall 2018, not senior, and after that there would be a child graduating every year (Ysabel 2021, Briana 2022, Savanah 2023). Gabe ended up doing summer school after completing his junior year in Flagstaff, so he graduated early.

Imo, Christine and Janelle both should have refused to budge. Christine has said she already wanted to leave Kody during the Vegas years, but Janelle advised her to become financially independent first. I think she started her LLR "business" as soon as they got to Flagstaff. She could easily have launched it in Las Vegas. But we don't know how much Kody controlled the TLC purse strings at that time. My guess is that he had total control over the money coming in from the show, so he was able to force them to move when and where he Robyn wanted to.

I still think there were other options, though. Christine and Janelle could have moved in together in Vegas - at that point Garrison was in the military, so Janelle only had two kids at home, and Christine had 3 (she kicked out Paedon just before the move to AZ). I think she had 5 bedrooms, and could have turned her "library" into a 6th if necessary. Of course no one anticipated that it would take over a year to sell all the homes, but anyone with any sense could have seen that C&J's homes. as beat up as they were, would take the longest. And most people would realize that selling one house at a time (or even two) would be better than dumping all 4 on the market simultaneously.

TLC may also have threatened to end the show if they didn't all move at the same time. At that time I don't think the ratings were all that good.

 

[Art Of Noiz]

8 hours ago, xwordfanatik said:

I agree.  Why Janelle couldn't have put on her realtor cap and stayed in LV until the houses sold and Gabe graduated, I'll never understand.  How long did those houses sit empty, anyway?  

Gwen could have stayed, too, for that matter.  As for Uh-ROARa, of course she would have followed daddy and heli-mom without question, since it was they dictating the boneheaded move.

Haha I read heli as hell. Hell mom. 

[xwordfanatik]

26 minutes ago, Art Of Noiz said:

Haha I read heli as hell. Hell mom. 

LOL, that also fits!  😜

[LilyD]

On 4/5/2023 at 5:56 PM, Shelbie said:

I hope she drops the fact that it is all hers into conversations with Kody when he and Robyn have to massively downsize when the money runs out.

Or offer them that amazing b&b as a (hopefully ridiculously expensive) rental! How amazing it would be, to see them in that old and musty house with uncomfy furniture and be completely dependent of Meri! 

[TurtlePower]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:45 PM, Sandy W said:

In my view, Janelle comes in for the harshest criticism.  She knew what Gabe had at stake, rated in the top 10 academically for the entire school and slated to become captain of the school wrestling team. This would have assured him of at least one college scholarship. 

At first, she adamantly refused to relocate then folded like a wet paper bag.  I guess Kody showed up in a ponytail and that was all she needed to throw Gabe's accomplishments down the drain.

I was furious when Janelle caved. That was such a big deal for Gabe. Similar thing happened to me when I was MVP of the track team and then we moved, where I was successful but didn’t quite mesh with the new school. 

Fuck you, Robyn, for forcing everyone to move because YOU wanted to. I hope you wind up living back in a trailer. 

[Teafortwo]

On 4/30/2023 at 8:19 PM, LilyD said:

Or offer them that amazing b&b as a (hopefully ridiculously expensive) rental! How amazing it would be, to see them in that old and musty house with uncomfy furniture and be completely dependent of Meri! 

Wow, I love the idea of them being stuck there, in this little town, not St. George, not SLC and definitely not Las Vegas.

If this happened they would make Breanna enroll in U of Phoenix (completely online college). I think Aurora and Dayton graduate this year.

[dariafan]

14 hours ago, Teafortwo said:

Wow, I love the idea of them being stuck there, in this little town, not St. George, not SLC and definitely not Las Vegas.

If this happened they would make Breanna enroll in U of Phoenix (completely online college). I think Aurora and Dayton graduate this year.

And the ghost(s) !

[NoWhammies]

I've been rewatching the past few days as I recover from my triple whammy of covid, flu, and shingles shots (in retrospect, getting all three at once may not have been a great idea). 

In the beginning, Kody was an engaged dad (or at least played one on TV) — although there is a lot to suggest it was the moms and proximity that kept him engaged. Everyone seemed to truly love and respect him, Robyn seemed to know her place a little better, and he genuinely seemed to love each of his wives and kids and show affection and tenderness towards them. He always had a kid cuddling up to him, and he had a light and engaged manner with everyone. Some of that may have been acting for the TV show, but none of them are great actors, and there did seem to be genuine engagement and love. 

I suspect much of that was because everyone was focused on kids and family — not on what the adults wanted and/or needed. I raised two kids (and a bunch of dogs and cats), and from the time they came until they were both out of college, everything we did was filtered through the lens of what was best for the kids, what the kids needed, etc. It's hard to be selfish when you have littles that need you, even two keep you so busy that you barely have time to stop and think, What do I want?

But it seems to me that once Robyn started to feel herself a little by having King Sol (which she said in talking heads repeatedly cemented her place in the family) and owning her own palace in LV, and some of the kids started to get older and express their own personalities apart from being the perfect plyglets, things started to fall apart.  

It honestly probably all began when they lived in the four houses that were apart in Las Vegas. The wives began to enjoy their independence and Kody's undivided attention when he was with them and the families (driven by the parents and separation) started to identify as separate families instead of one giant family. But they held it together because Kody became even more the center of attention in every place he went because he was around a lot less, which kept the raging narcissist in Kody happy with everyone fussing over him.

But it does point to a few things... Kody now is not the same Kody then. He used to battle his dark side and make an effort, and at some point for some reason he just gave into it and stopped trying to make any effort to engage equitably with his wives and kids. I think this emboldened Robyn and demoralized the OG3, which became a feedback loop that created the downhill spiral we all see now.

There's not one singular moment where it happened. It was a series of small things that led to bigger things until it became a disaster that allowed Kody to give in to his darkest urges and allowed the Dark Queen to rise and become a power-hungry monster.

ETA: Narcissists tend to get worse as they age. Tell me this doesn't sound like everyone's favorite couple.

Edited October 1, 2023 by NoWhammies

[zamp33]

I was rewatching seasons 5 and  6 and just was floored at how horrible and mean girl Robyn was when it came to My Sister Wives Closet. The part that really irked me was when Janelle was basically telling Robyn she was out of MSWC and that it would not be more than a hobby business. Robyn was so vile throughout this, first gleefully reporting that they made a profit of $750 - that did not factor in hours they spent at the expo to sell 19 pieces of trinkets. Then when she admonished Janelle by saying - I don't understand you I see this as helping the whole family. I do not know how Janelle did not get up and scream in her face how she, not Robyn  had been the primary breadwinner for years and years and Robyn took and took and took and now Robyn has a profit of $758 to split among 4 families.  And Robyn was just so mean to Janelle and dismissive of any criticisms of the business or pointing out all the red flags that this was in fact a hobby business. I cannot figure out what exactly  Robyn wanted everyone to do...she clearly just wanted to design and do nothing else. And when Kody asked what do you want me to do - and she was like support me - so basically I interpreted it as she wanted Kody to force the other wives to do all the other work. 

You can really see Robyn's attitude towards the other wives becoming more outwardly apparent in this season. The other episocd that stands out is that she cries to Kody that she cannot have another baby because of all the work she is doing on MSWC. Hey Robyn -  millions of women work and take care of children without a nanny every single day. That was also the episode where Robyn was mad at Meri for daring to "go back to school" because she wanted to fulfill a dream and a career - but its all about Robyn's dreams and desires - it is so interesting to rewatch these episodes knowing what we know now. Robyn always bugged me but her machinations have been out there - she was not as stealth as she might have thought 

Also - rewatching Meri cry about the wet bar, and needing a 5th bedroom  and that she takes care of her nice things- just watch Janelle's face. You can tell how upset she is. I really do not know how Janelle lasted as long as she did. 

 

[altopower]

1 hour ago, zamp33 said:

I was rewatching seasons 5 and  6

Thank you for rewatching so I don't have to ;)

[Natalie68]

On 10/1/2023 at 6:14 AM, NoWhammies said:

I've been rewatching the past few days as I recover from my triple whammy of covid, flu, and shingles shots (in retrospect, getting all three at once may not have been a great idea). 

In the beginning, Kody was an engaged dad (or at least played one on TV) — although there is a lot to suggest it was the moms and proximity that kept him engaged. Everyone seemed to truly love and respect him, Robyn seemed to know her place a little better, and he genuinely seemed to love each of his wives and kids and show affection and tenderness towards them. He always had a kid cuddling up to him, and he had a light and engaged manner with everyone. Some of that may have been acting for the TV show, but none of them are great actors, and there did seem to be genuine engagement and love. 

I suspect much of that was because everyone was focused on kids and family — not on what the adults wanted and/or needed. I raised two kids (and a bunch of dogs and cats), and from the time they came until they were both out of college, everything we did was filtered through the lens of what was best for the kids, what the kids needed, etc. It's hard to be selfish when you have littles that need you, even two keep you so busy that you barely have time to stop and think, What do I want?

But it seems to me that once Robyn started to feel herself a little by having King Sol (which she said in talking heads repeatedly cemented her place in the family) and owning her own palace in LV, and some of the kids started to get older and express their own personalities apart from being the perfect plyglets, things started to fall apart.  

It honestly probably all began when they lived in the four houses that were apart in Las Vegas. The wives began to enjoy their independence and Kody's undivided attention when he was with them and the families (driven by the parents and separation) started to identify as separate families instead of one giant family. But they held it together because Kody became even more the center of attention in every place he went because he was around a lot less, which kept the raging narcissist in Kody happy with everyone fussing over him.

But it does point to a few things... Kody now is not the same Kody then. He used to battle his dark side and make an effort, and at some point for some reason he just gave into it and stopped trying to make any effort to engage equitably with his wives and kids. I think this emboldened Robyn and demoralized the OG3, which became a feedback loop that created the downhill spiral we all see now.

There's not one singular moment where it happened. It was a series of small things that led to bigger things until it became a disaster that allowed Kody to give in to his darkest urges and allowed the Dark Queen to rise and become a power-hungry monster.

ETA: Narcissists tend to get worse as they age. Tell me this doesn't sound like everyone's favorite couple.

I am getting this done Saturday.  How long did it take you to feel better??  Kinda worried.

I pick up so many new things during my rewatches.  

[NoWhammies]

1 hour ago, Natalie68 said:

I am getting this done Saturday.  How long did it take you to feel better??  Kinda worried.

I pick up so many new things during my rewatches.  

Just a few days. You'll be okay. :)

[Natalie68]

Just now, NoWhammies said:

Just a few days. You'll be okay. :)

Phew!  Thank you!

[ButterQueen]

On 1/17/2022 at 6:27 PM, deirdra said:

At one big meal at Christine's house in LV, all the other wives and older girls were making themselves useful and Robyn was hanging back doing nothing so the camera person asked what was up with her and Robyn replied that she doesn't like to interfere in another wife's kitchen. And she doesn't help clear plates or offer to do the washing up either.  She did the same when they were visiting the Dargers'.  Most people have the courtesy to ask the host how they can help, but not Robyn.

In one holiday episode, the wives were discussing what special part of the meal they contributed.  Robyn’s was a relish tray.  😂🤪

[islandgal140]

On 10/14/2023 at 3:06 PM, altopower said:

Thank you for rewatching so I don't have to ;)

This!

I just couldn't stomach to re-watch this show from S1E1. Just too infuriating.

I did actually re-watch parts of last season, when Christine announced she was leaving! That was delicious but was also funny and infuriating to see Robyn and Kody constantly contradict themselves.  How can it be both a shock and out of the blue, yet they were hearing rumors of Christine wanting to leave.  Make it make sense.

Both Robyn and Kody deserved to have the enamel slapped off their teeth for their performances during Christine's announcement. Robyn for calling Christine a liar and Kody for the knife to the kidney. 

On 3/3/2023 at 8:04 PM, WhatAmIWatching said:

Didn't Robyn and Kody take another honeymoon (that wasn't filmed) after they did their legal marriage as well, or am I misremembering? I thought they said she took him to Hawaii with funds from her grocery budget so ended up with two lengthy honeymoons.

Funny how the kids can live without seeing their dad for 3 days when her dark highness gets to go on vacay on someone else's dime. Grocery money my arse!

 

On 3/4/2023 at 4:18 PM, WhatAmIWatching said:

I remember during the couch sessions with all 4 wives, that she'd pontificate at length about polygamy and how it worked -or should work- when she'd never lived it herself before, and how she was an expert on all things Brown when she hadn't been there for the first 16 years.

Another reason not to re-watch. This used to drive me friggin' nuts. Witch just showed up, never lived plyg a day in her life and yet sits there as the authority figure! 

[xwordfanatik]

57 minutes ago, ButterQueen said:

In one holiday episode, the wives were discussing what special part of the meal they contributed.  Robyn’s was a relish tray.  😂🤪

To quote Kootie:  "you're (Sobbyn) too pretty to cook."  🤮

[islandgal140]

On 1/17/2023 at 6:50 PM, BnJJ said:

My heavens is Meri selfish.  I can understand her not wanting "less than" because she only has one bio kid but when they were so strapped for cash after moving to Vegas, her refusal to have a less expensive temporary rental, which would have been in the best interest of the entire family, she pouted, refused, and got her way with a big house and swimming pool.

Then she had to have a huge house with a wet bar and 5 bedrooms while Janelle had to give up things in her house that she really could have used having 6 kids at home.

Then she gets all cranky about tuition at Leon's choice of college where tuition was 4x that of Logan's.

Meri is doing my head in. I have yet to see her do something in the best interest of the family.

If they had built one house on CP, I can only imagine her reaction when they got into the details of her space being 1,500 sqft and Robin's being 3,500.

I'm also now reading their book for the first time. Meri is driving me nuts there as well.

Every time I find myself wishing that maybe Janelle and Christine could be cooler with Meri after their respective separations from Kody, I think back to stuff like this and completely understand why.

I don't think it is brought up enough how unfair it was that each house got the same amount and it was never taken into account the # of children a wife had. Equal and equitable are not the same thing. Equal means each is given the same resources no matter what. Equitable recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. I'm sorry giving the same amount to a person who has one child as opposed to the others that have 6 is just not fair. Janelle and Christine's household must have suffered due to that. Meri had enough for luxuries. The other 2 probably didn't have enough for necessities. Meri may have literally been taking food off their tables and then she probably got mad when the kids came scrounging in her pantry. 

Edited October 20, 2023 by islandgal140

[xwordfanatik]

Meri was a mean girl bully.  I never thought that was in any way fair, that she got the same money as Janelle and Christine.  She claimed that the teenagers hung out there a lot, but even still, I doubt she cooked dinner for them.  Leon was often hanging out at Christine's, and having dinner there to see their siblings.

Edited October 19, 2023 by xwordfanatik
Misused pronoun, fixed it.

[RazzleberryPie]

2 hours ago, islandgal140 said:

Every time I find myself wishing that maybe Janelle and Christine could be cooler with Meri after their respective separations from Kody, I think back to stuff like this and completely understand way.

I don't think it is brought up enough how unfair it was that each house got the same amount and it was never taken into account the # of children a wife had. Equal and equitable are not the same thing. Equal means each is given the same resources no matter what. Equitable recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. I'm sorry giving the same amount to a person who has one child as opposed to the others that have 6 is just not fair. Janelle and Christine's household must have suffered due to that. Meri had enough for luxuries. The other 2 probably didn't have enough for necessities. Meri may have literally been taking food off their tables and then she probably got mad when the kids came scrounging in her pantry. 

I agree. She was selfish and mean at the expense of children living under her own roof. If she would acknowledge she was wrong and apologize, I’d have an entirely different view of her. Not an “I’m sorry janelle that you thought I took something that you thought was yours” fake apology. 

[RazzleberryPie]

So looking back on the episodes with Robyn joining the family. Meri worked and maybe took classes?, Janelle worked, Christine took care of kids. They had a stable system going for the OG 13. It worked for everyone.

Janelle expresses financial concern about four people joining the family with $30k+ in debt and no clear plan to ci tribute any income.

Robyn js showing following Christine around spouting what she (ROBYN) brings to the family. To me she was putting off serious vibes like she wanted to take over Christine’s child care system. Prob bc it was a stay at home position and not an actual job with pay where she’s accountable to anyone. 
Did she not think or care that this would disrupt the lives of 13 children, 4 adults, and seriously offend Christine? What was Christine, who had been a stay at home parent with no outside job skills or education, supposed to do? Wait tables, fold sweaters at the mall? Let Robyn boss her around while actually doing nothing but gestating?

How did Robyn and Kody not comprehend this would cause problems not only with hurt feelings and resentment, but with chaos for the kids. Hey here’s this strange lady and her three over the top kids who are moving into your lives and  trying to take your dad, just act normal. Ok two kids. Dayton seemed chill. 
Did Meri think it was funny to try to dethrone Christine and sit back and laugh when everyone didn’t accept this bombardment with glee?

But most importantly, what DID ROBYN ever bring to the table? Besides debt and drama? A willingness to create more children but still not generate any income or actually provide any childcare? She separated her kids as fast and as much as she could. 

[ButterQueen]

Christine mentioned that not only did she take care of/homeschool the younger kids, but she worked at night.  I believe she mentioned Aspyn tucking the kids in at night because Kody refused to help.

Edited October 21, 2023 by ButterQueen
Corrected the “tucker inner”

[RazzleberryPie]

Just now, ButterQueen said:

Christine mentioned that not only did she take care of/homeschool the younger kids, but she worked at night.  I believe she mentioned Ysabel tucking the kids in at night because Kody refused to help.

I did not remember Christine working but that makes me dislike Robyn even more. What did Robyn ever do besides be pregnant and spend money?

[Natalie68]

33 minutes ago, ButterQueen said:

Christine mentioned that not only did she take care of/homeschool the younger kids, but she worked at night.  I believe she mentioned Ysabel tucking the kids in at night because Kody refused to help.

Aspyn was the tucker inner.  And they never mentioned on the show early on Christine worked at night but she mentioned it later.  So really, she worked harder than anyone.

33 minutes ago, RazzleberryPie said:

I did not remember Christine working but that makes me dislike Robyn even more. What did Robyn ever do besides be pregnant and spend money?

'design' joory

[Elizzikra]

Quote

I believe she mentioned Ysabel tucking the kids in at night because Kody refused to help parent his own children.

FIFY.

[Roslyn]

17 hours ago, Natalie68 said:

Aspyn was the tucker inner.  And they never mentioned on the show early on Christine worked at night but she mentioned it later.  So really, she worked harder than anyone.

And the kicker about finding out that Christine was watching the kids and then going to work before their bedtime was that we find out about that only recently...back in the early days this was not mentioned on the show, just that Christine preferred to be the home mom.

And...if memory serves there is a scene early on with Kody going and making a good night rounds with the kids...and him saying that he likes to touch base each night with all of them. So yea...there was quite the blizzard snow job in those first seasons.

[RazzleberryPie]

What was Christine’s night job?

[NoWhammies]

10 minutes ago, RazzleberryPie said:

What was Christine’s night job?

Long-haul trucker.

HA! I kid, I kid. No idea what she did.

After rewatching thru season 11 now, you can see all the signs of Kody's narcissism from the start — it just used to be a lot more subtle. For instance, after the catfishing (OMG I had forgotten how much they dragged that sucker out), when Kody and Meri are in her backyard and he mentions that she asked him not to come stay, she says, "Well you said you wouldn't cross a burning bridge for me." And he immediately, in a soft, soothing voice says, "I didn't say that. I don't recall saying that. I would never say that," and you can see Meri's frustration and confusion. The gaslighting was more subtle then, but it was there. 

There are bits and bobs of that throughout the early seasons — it was just said in a kinder tone or with a laugh and a twinkle. 

I think that as long as Kody was the center of attention everywhere he went and kids were clamoring for his attention, he was getting his narcissistic supply. But as they grew up, moved out, moved on, started to understand who and what dad was, the supply shrank and Kody started to devolve until now he's in a state of narcissistic collapse. It's why he's so into Robyn - she and the two older girls continue to fill that need, which he stopped getting at Meri's when Mariah moved out and got less at Janelle's and Christines as the older kids graduated. 

Rewatching in light of the last few seasons is... fascinating really. 

[Kbo]

23 hours ago, NoWhammies said:

Long-haul trucker.

HA! I kid, I kid. No idea what she did.

After rewatching thru season 11 now, you can see all the signs of Kody's narcissism from the start — it just used to be a lot more subtle. For instance, after the catfishing (OMG I had forgotten how much they dragged that sucker out), when Kody and Meri are in her backyard and he mentions that she asked him not to come stay, she says, "Well you said you wouldn't cross a burning bridge for me." And he immediately, in a soft, soothing voice says, "I didn't say that. I don't recall saying that. I would never say that," and you can see Meri's frustration and confusion. The gaslighting was more subtle then, but it was there. 

There are bits and bobs of that throughout the early seasons — it was just said in a kinder tone or with a laugh and a twinkle. 

I think that as long as Kody was the center of attention everywhere he went and kids were clamoring for his attention, he was getting his narcissistic supply. But as they grew up, moved out, moved on, started to understand who and what dad was, the supply shrank and Kody started to devolve until now he's in a state of narcissistic collapse. It's why he's so into Robyn - she and the two older girls continue to fill that need, which he stopped getting at Meri's when Mariah moved out and got less at Janelle's and Christines as the older kids graduated. 

Rewatching in light of the last few seasons is... fascinating really. 

I’ve never heard of narcissistic collapse before, but that describes Kody’s behavior to a tee!

[NoWhammies]

1 hour ago, Kbo said:

I’ve never heard of narcissistic collapse before, but that describes Kody’s behavior to a tee!

This article has an even better description of it.