S18.E02: Thanks for Nothing

[surfgirl]

I sadly re watched a few minutes of this bullshit last night and watching KoDouche squee like a little 9 year old bitch about his 'Daddy/Daughter Ear Piercing Day' made me sick. I just kept thinking about how hurt his blood daughters must feel watching this shit, and seeing how involved he is with his step daughter, and how little he's been there for them. 

I'm also tired AF hearing Christine and Janelle spew attitudes about what a great dad Douche was when the kids were little. He's a SHIT human and an utter SHIT parent. Period, end of story. He was only the 'fun dad' when he could control the kids when they were little, but it all fell apart when the kids started seeing what an asshole their dad was. He's disgusting and so is his wife.

Edited August 30, 2023 by surfgirl

[dariafan]

3 hours ago, Dibs said:

Well, there WAS that Victoria's Secret-driven bankruptcy following her first marriage, so...  

As for the Bible, there IS something in there (probably Old Testament) about women not altering their bodies in any way...  It's why the more conservative sects never cut their hair.  But I'm sure the Brown family "religion" picks and chooses cafeteria-style as do many denominations.

Meri with two pieces of hair sticking straight out!  Someone in production, not just Kody, doesn't like her.

And there was a song we would sing at college. ( may also be in the church songbook ) called pierce my ear   It supposed to be a mark of someone owning you 

[Adeejay]

On 8/28/2023 at 2:07 PM, MamaMax said:

I seriously was watching that thinking, "Is he that dumb? Or is this a passive aggressive 'fuck you' to all the others?" 

Every time I think Kody can’t sink any lower, he proves me wrong.  Gleefully taking Aurora to get her ears pierce as an FU to his biological daughters is a new low, even for him. I feel for Yzzy.  Seeing this and knowing that when she was having major surgery, her dad didn't have two fvcks to give, must be heartbreaking.  If her stepsiblings shun her, Aurora knows who to blame.  

[goofygirl]

On 8/28/2023 at 2:45 PM, Misslindsey said:

Well, Meri finally made it into Robyn’s house since it was Thanksgiving. I guess that is a plus. 

Kinda  surprised me too!  They actually let her SIT AT THE TABLE INSIDE!!!

Wowza. Progress. NOT.

[goofygirl]

On 8/29/2023 at 12:18 PM, toomuchtv said:

I can see why Robyn would need to be somewhat involved in the details of a kids gift exchange, if they were including all the kids she has 2 that would need help buying and sending a gift, so she would need to be in on some of the logistics (or kody could, but he probably wouldn’t). But it sounds like she took it too far and tried to be too controlling with it. 

Seriously?  You think the "littles' were in on this gift exchange? Come on, now!

[goofygirl]

On 8/29/2023 at 12:53 PM, surfgirl said:

The only reason Our Lady of Perpetual Dry Eye Sobbing wanted to be on a group call was to assert her position as the HBIC. Now that she has no more sister wives, she's just a BIC. She didn't just want to be the BIC, she wanted to be the HBIC. This was an opportunity to be THE wife, and the other kids said, and rightly so, FUCK.THAT.SHIT. Good for them for not caving to her bullshit. Next time Logan? Just include the three OG wive's kids and do whatever the hell you want!

Also skeeved at the Daddy and Me Ear Piercing event. This asshole dismisses his young daughter's ailments, eshewing taking her to hospital and she almost dies, then he refuses to support his older daughter in getting much-needed help for her scoliosis, but he's there for a STEP-daughter to hold her wittle hand while she gets her ears pierced at age 20? GTFO with this shit, and get this creep off my TV already!

The greatest gift TLC could give us all is to end this shit show and give the other three wives a spin off. I don't care what Meri's doing but including her would be such a great burn to these two grifters!

THIS!!! X 1,000,000,000%!!

[Adeejay]

On 8/29/2023 at 6:29 AM, Kellyee said:

I don't think that's it. I think Robyn does want her kids to have a relationship with their siblings. But I think she is so convinced that the other kids are going to mistreat hers that she is hyper-vigilant and controlling whenever there is interaction. 

In Season 9, when the family visited Alaska, Garrison observed that King Sol was hitting and biting. Instead of him being reprimanded, he was coddled.  Somehow Meri managed to turn the situation around and made Garrison the instigator and King Sol the victim.  One of the many reasons why I have never been a Meri fan. 

[DanaMB]

10 hours ago, Rabbit Hutch said:

Meri may be punking us with that jacket scene. If she's not then it's just...😥 

I kind of feel she was.  I feel like past scenes of her being pathetic like this were legit, but this one felt like she was playing the role she knew people expected. 

[General Days]

I absolutely thought Meri was joking in an obvious (to me) way about Kody's jacket, the hug, etc. 

 

On 8/29/2023 at 10:59 PM, sioux21 said:

I thought Robyn was probably trying to have everyone schedule a Zoom for some date in the future, after all gifts had arrived at their intended destinations, so that everyone could open their presents together. Then, when people were trying to say there just was no way they'd ever be able to find a time when everyone was available, she acted like she was being persecuted.

(see below)

22 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

Wouldn’t Christmas morning have been a perfect time for that?

 

In her episode S18E02 watch party on Patreon, Mykelti said that the proposed video call was to draw the names, not for the exchange itself.

She also said one of the reasons people were objecting was that there already wasn't a lot of time for people to shop and send their gifts (she indicated the group text fiasco happened over Thanksgiving weekend).

 

21 hours ago, taragel said:

And then Kody said he had an ear pierced in high school and they kept showing his class photo, but I didn't see an earring or stud or anything in those? Maybe my vision was failing me but I thought they were trying to slyly point out that these fools even lie about trivial shit like that. 

 

When Kody told the story of his piercing, in this episode, he said he removed it after a couple of days and let it close up. He got the piercing in his sophomore year. If he let it close after a couple of days, there wouldn't be a visible mark in his senior picture.

[Natalie68]

19 hours ago, goofygirl said:

Seriously?  You think the "littles' were in on this gift exchange? Come on, now!

Ahem, they are TENDERS! 😜

[xwordfanatik]

"Chicken Tenders" on Reddit.  Is Kootie going to call them that when they're in college?  Doofus.

[Adeejay]

I can’t believe Mykelti is out here making excuses as to why her father so gleefully took Aurora to get her ears pierced.  Especially since the father-daughter outing between Kody and Aurora is not something she and her sisters have for a memory.  She said, "I was hoping the network wouldn't air the clips, because I knew it would be hurtful to my sisters." She went on to say, “he probably wanted these scenes included because of the stand the church takes regarding pierced ears.”  That is a load of bull, and she knows it. Now I understand why she wasn’t allowed to do the couch interviews with the other teens. 

[OlderThanDirt]

I had the impression Logan suggested that the adult kids draw names for a gift exchange. No need for the adults to have any input. If Robin was pushing for a  Zoom call maybe it was to be for the actual opening of gifts which would be logistically difficult over so many time zones on a busy morning. But of course we don't have that kind of detail. Where's Gwen when we need her? 

[ginger90]

1 hour ago, OlderThanDirt said:

I had the impression Logan suggested that the adult kids draw names for a gift exchange. No need for the adults to have any input. If Robin was pushing for a  Zoom call maybe it was to be for the actual opening of gifts which would be logistically difficult over so many time zones on a busy morning. But of course we don't have that kind of detail. Where's Gwen when we need her? 

The zoom call was to pick names, according to Mykelti.

[xwordfanatik]

Sobbyn may have been afraid that one of the OG 13 that she considers undesirable (and their favorite word, "unsafe,") would have drawn one of her precious darlings' names, and gotten them something that she would consider inappropriate.  Why she had to stick her nose into something that the adult children were handling just fine, I can't fathom.  She's such a control freak!  😡  

[Elizzikra]

1 hour ago, ginger90 said:

The zoom call was to pick names, according to Mykelti.

How would you do that on a call and keep it secret still? Or don’t they? I thought it was a Secret Santa and the only way I can think to do that virtually is to have one person match everyone and inform them. No use for a zoom call.

[ginger90]

1 hour ago, Elizzikra said:

How would you do that on a call and keep it secret still? Or don’t they? I thought it was a Secret Santa and the only way I can think to do that virtually is to have one person match everyone and inform them. No use for a zoom call.

From them doing it on the show, they always knew who had each other.

Edited September 1, 2023 by ginger90

[Elizzikra]

1 minute ago, ginger90 said:

From them doing it on the show, they always knew who had who.

Oh. I always like the surprise part but I can see how it works without that.

[BAForever]

Late to the show and so much to unpack. I know Paeden has had issues with Gwen and possibly other sibs, but gotta say I was impressed with his maturity and insight with Christine in this episode. Good for him for staying out of this current fray.

[altopower]

19 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

How would you do that on a call and keep it secret still? Or don’t they? I thought it was a Secret Santa and the only way I can think to do that virtually is to have one person match everyone and inform them. No use for a zoom call.

My family, which is much, much smaller than the Browns, draws names at Thanksgiving for Christmas. It really helps for it not to be secret, so the givers can get info from the receivers and/or check in with spouses or siblings about what might be well received. We could do it as a Zoom call but mostly everyone is together except for me. No one's home is wheelchair accessible except mine, which is way too small to hold the group.

[Texasmom1970]

Seriously this is just the start of the season and I am already sick of Kody. Please stop your bitching and whining about everything. 

This man makes everything about himself, king of the narcissists. Get your balls back from eyebrows and be a man!

Edited September 1, 2023 by Texasmom1970
I can proof read properly

[the-grey-lady]

On 8/27/2023 at 8:37 PM, Lady of nod said:

Well I am not done with this episode yet, but I just had to post. I’m so happy that I got to see the “daddy and daughter “ear piercing part. So glad that Cody could be there for whichever Robynette that that was in her stressful time of having her ears pierced at what, age 20? Too bad he couldn’t have been there for Ysabel’s surgery. I’m sure all his not Robyn’s children will enjoy watching that tender fun moment. 

And Robyn Face Timed so she could see the piercing happen! How stunted are the tenders, anyway?

[the-grey-lady]

On 8/28/2023 at 6:11 PM, suev3333 said:

And not to nitpick,  but again,  what is with Meri's hair in her first talking head?   It looks worse than last week with a big ole piece sticking way out to the side!

She bore a striking resemblance to a hedgehog.

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 9/2/2023 at 11:48 PM, the-grey-lady said:

She bore a striking resemblance to a hedgehog.

It's the latest rage in the 100 Acre Wood.

Edited September 4, 2023 by SemiCharmedLife
typo

[Tdoc72]

On 8/30/2023 at 3:48 PM, Rabbit Hutch said:

Agreed. Robyn should've kept her big honk outta it.  Aurora is what, 20?  Can she not relay messages to her mom instead of Robyn getting involved?  It's ridiculous how she thinks she can make everything better.

They seem very sheltered. I’d almost be surprised if she could cross the street by herself. 

On 8/31/2023 at 9:41 AM, General Days said:

In her episode S18E02 watch party on Patreon, Mykelti said that the proposed video call was to draw the names, not for the exchange itself.

She also said one of the reasons people were objecting was that there already wasn't a lot of time for people to shop and send their gifts (she indicated the group text fiasco happened over Thanksgiving weekend).

My extended family picks names at our large Memorial Day picnic. That way everyone has plenty of time to shop then send. 

[Lurk]

On 8/27/2023 at 10:10 PM, Meowwww said:

Whomever drew on Robyn’s black toothbrush eyebrows must be one of us, right?  Not only are they black, they are totally crooked.  
Whomever you are, makeup artist, you are one of us.  🥰

I thought she was using one of those stamp-on stencil eyebrow kits? But, one is bigger than the other.

I hope they can speed things up to get the show closer to real time. I thought it would be interesting to see the spin they put on things we may already know. How they scripted the situations.

Why did Robbing step in and ruin one thing that could have helped maybe save a premise for the show by screwing up the gift exchange? The 5 adults have become unwatchable, where they could have some more storyline with the adult kids that might bring some relief.

[monagatuna]

On 9/2/2023 at 11:41 PM, the-grey-lady said:

And Robyn Face Timed so she could see the piercing happen! How stunted are the tenders, anyway?

Pretty sure I had my navel pierced around that same age. I didn't even tell my dad, who I was living with at the time, nor about the tattoo (though in fairness that was a mom-daughter experience so at least mom knew). I don't agree with Kody's "kick everyone out (except the kids of my favorite wife) on their 18th birthday" philosophy, but your job is to teach your kids how to be self-sufficient humans, and they've failed on all counts.

[ButterQueen]

 

 

On 8/29/2023 at 1:59 PM, laurakaye said:

 

To me it looked like he was making a fist as if to hit her but pulled his fist away with his other hand.  It looked like less a gesture and more of a threat, in my opinion, but Christine didn't even blink.  That must’ve set his perm on fire.  

 

 

OMG, this made me laugh for 10 minutes.  😂😂😂

[suomi]

At 15:30 in the vid, while Janelle and Christine are talking in the kitchen (with zero background music), Janelle says "I don't really believe I could have a divorce unless... I don't know... you know what I mean?"

Two beats (only two beats) of ominous background music are heard during that sentence, Christine nods with comprehension/agreement and the scene ends, cutting to solo Janelle talking on the couch.

When the Christine/Kody split initially was going down the Dark Wife mentioned (inferred?) that (in their hodgepodge of what passes for doctrine) adultery on the wife's part is the only grounds for divorce. As in, even though officially separated they remain married until fresh meat defiles a plural wife (rendering her unclean).

So, was Janelle saying she is SOL re divorce because she has no interest in a new bed partner? Does she remain in limbo until she does the horizontal mambo? I thought the Dark Wife was being neurotic/overly dramatic but... maybe ol' Forked Tongue spilled a truth?

It seems like production added two ominous beats at that point for a reason.

 

 

 

[General Days]

I don't think so. I don't think Janelle thinks she had religious grounds for a release from their church. I also think Janelle (at least where she was spiritually and mentally at January 2022) would not want to divorce, unless/until she found another polygamous Mormon man to marry her (because that's her ticket to celestial heaven).

 

13 hours ago, suomi said:

When the Christine/Kody split initially was going down the Dark Wife mentioned (inferred?) that (in their hodgepodge of what passes for doctrine) adultery on the wife's part is the only grounds for divorce. As in, even though officially separated they remain married until fresh meat defiles a plural wife (rendering her unclean).

 

I'm pretty sure what Robyn was saying was not exactly that.

I think Robyn was saying that since Christine and Kody didn't go through the AUB's process to obtain a marital release, their spiritual union would survive, unless/until Christine had sex with someone else. Since they didn't get a release, only that which would technically (in their faith) be adultery on Christine's behalf, would free Kody from being sealed to Christine in eternity.

Edited September 21, 2023 by General Days
corrected wife's name

[Pickleinthemiddle]

On 9/21/2023 at 11:07 AM, General Days said:

I don't think so. I don't think Janelle thinks she had religious grounds for a release from their church. I also think Janelle (at least where she was spiritually and mentally at January 2022) would not want to divorce, unless/until she found another polygamous Mormon man to marry her (because that's her ticket to celestial heaven).

 

 

I'm pretty sure what Robyn was saying was not exactly that.

I think Robyn was saying that since Christine and Kody didn't go through the AUB's process to obtain a marital release, their spiritual union would survive, unless/until Christine had sex with someone else. Since they didn't get a release, only that which would technically (in their faith) be adultery on Christine's behalf, would free Kody from being sealed to Christine in eternity.

It's my understanding unless you get released/unsealed from one marriage to another.  You would still be sealed to the first husband.

[Sandy W]

36 minutes ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

It's my understanding unless you get released/unsealed from one marriage to another.  You would still be sealed to the first husband.

Would that be Mormon or AUB doctrine? If original Mormon, would Janelle still be sealed to first husband if she didn't get a release?

[AZChristian]

19 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

Would that be Mormon or AUB doctrine? If original Mormon, would Janelle still be sealed to first husband if she didn't get a release?

That would depend on who is making decisions for the Mormons or AUBs this week.  Goodness knows, Kody - as spiritual head of his family - made some wild variations in his interpretations.

[Sandy W]

27 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

Would that be Mormon or AUB doctrine? If original Mormon, would Janelle still be sealed to first husband if she didn't get a release?

To clarify, I think original Mormons were polygamous but I can't think of the term that distinguishes one from the other.

Both groups consider themselves Mormon and maybe even FLDS believe they are practicing Mormonism.

[SongbirdHollow]

1 hour ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

It's my understanding unless you get released/unsealed from one marriage to another.  You would still be sealed to the first husband.

What a ridiculous concept! “This self declared prophet has released me from an eternal bond.”

[BnJJ]

Originally, Mormons practiced polygamy because, you know, god and the angels told Joseph that he needed to. 

When they were being chased out of everywhere, they denounced polygamy and became known as mainstream Mormons.  Fundamentalist sects broke off, continuing to practice polygamy.  

 

 

[OlderThanDirt]

They renounced polygamy to gain statehood.

[BnJJ]

And wasn't that due to being chased out of everywhere else?  Or is that not accurate?

[OlderThanDirt]

I think that Brigham Young didn't even publicly announce polygamy until they were leaving the Midwest on the way to Utah. My LDS history isn't as strong as it used to be. I have relatives in the church but we don't discuss religion. Fawn Brodie's No Man Knows My History is a good place to start.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

On 9/23/2023 at 12:56 PM, Sandy W said:

Would that be Mormon or AUB doctrine? If original Mormon, would Janelle still be sealed to first husband if she didn't get a release?

I think Janelle would probably had that done.  I just looked it up and actually it's a lengthy process that can take 2 months to a year or more.

A couple who has been sealed may request to have their sealing canceled, which generally only occurs under special circumstances, and is only granted by the church president.

There are several forms to fill out, that your bishop must start, and the stake president will endorse and mail to SLC.  The bishop will also need a letter from your ex asking his/her feelings about the sealing cancellation.

They are usually only canceled for women when they are ready to remarry.

Not sure about the AUB

[ladle]

SHUT UP, ROBYN. 
 

You “didn’t see the dill-breakers between Kody and Christine”??? 
 

Years and years of a loveless marriage is not enough of a “dill-breaker” in your world?

My lord, she is infuriating. 
 

“Thanks For Nothing,” indeed. 

[ladle]

On 8/28/2023 at 10:01 AM, MamaMax said:

Honestly I thought it looked like a brothel.

Robyn did say Kody is her best customer...

[ladle]

On 8/28/2023 at 4:03 PM, Cherry Styles said:

Right? Why does she stick around? I have no idea if she left or not in real time, but did she really think her and kody would rekindle the relationship? The Thanksgiving did look terribly boring. 

I really hope the reason Meri stuck around so long was for the paycheck. She's not legally married to Kody and her kid is an adult, so she's able to live a mostly separate life somewhere else, come back occasionally to film some scenes and do some talking heads, and collect cash for it. Heck, I'd be tempted...

[ladle]

On 8/28/2023 at 5:20 PM, Elizzikra said:

I don’t think she did. The way Christine told the story, the kids were in a group chat and talked about doing the gift exchange. Evidently everyone was on board. One of Janelle’s boys (I think) said “great - let’s tell the parents.” When they told the parents, that’s when Robyn said “let’s have a video chat.” There was no reason to do that as far as I could tell and Kody said he planned to ignore the whole subject altogether… until it went south.

I don’t think that Robyn should have said anything other than “fantastic, have fun.” But ito be fair, she was brought into the conversation along with the other parents by the kids.

Yeah, I wonder if the parents were brought in because the little kids were also going to be included - in which case it makes sense to involve Robyn because she'd essentially have to be a proxy for her young children in the exchange. She handled it in an idiotic way though! A zoom meeting? Wtf? Just assign an adult to randomly select the select the pairings, decide on a $ maximum, and that's it! This is not brain surgery or anything that requires extensive discussion.

The other thing that's interesting to me is that Robyn's older kids actually were included on the original group text. They were not excluded.