S18.E14: Always Darkest Before the Dawn

[Gramto6]

If this show isn't done after the 4 Tell Nothings, I seriously think I am going to be done.

For all intents and purposes the polygamy aspect of the show is dying, dead, done. So who are the Sister Wives?? I agree with the poster, forgot who posted it, that said they should just call themselves Sisters going forward if they want a relationship name and not give any credit/deference to moron they were married to.

 

[gaPeach]

7 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

I was happy to see Meri laughing at Robyn and Kody. Robyn expecting Meri to stick around for a husband that shuns her and appears to despise her is ridiculous. I 100% believe Robyn was crying because she is worried the show will end and she loves being on TV and the income it brings. Her whining about sitting on the porch with the others just makes me angry because she has made zero effort to get together with the other wives or kids.

I do not understand all the hand wringing by Robyn over the other wives smartening up and leaving.  Kody can marry again so what's the big deal.  She doesn't like any of the other wives anyway, right?  That includes Mary too.  Let him get another wife.  Or maybe not.

[ladyscorpio]

22 minutes ago, gaPeach said:

I do not understand all the hand wringing by Robyn over the other wives smartening up and leaving.  Kody can marry again so what's the big deal.  She doesn't like any of the other wives anyway, right?  That includes Mary too.  Let him get another wife.  Or maybe not.

I want Kody to get another wife or two that are younger and skinnier than Sobbyn that Kody will become obsessed with  so she can get a taste of her own medicine and experience what it's like to be put out to pasture. 

[IvySpice]

Any theater professors here who can help explain the difference between an "act" and a "performance"? Otherwise, I'm going to tell Kody that the distinction is BS. They're both names for being false to your wife, and all spouses deserve genuine love, not pretend.

A better man would be able to say something like: "I'm really sorry, Meri. I married you thinking it was the right thing to do. I see now that I was trying to keep up with my dad, and you were collateral damage. I wish I'd been wiser."

But Kody is not that better man.

[NoWhammies]

Robyn's continuous repetition of sittin' on the porch with her sister wives borders on pathological. Look, we all have dreams about how the future might be, but as situations evolve and life changes, we adapt and change those dreams instead of stamping our toddler feet and insisting that everyone is ruining our dreams as they fail to bend to our will. I can't imagine still holding tight to the dreams I had 10 or 15 years ago because my life has moved far beyond those. 

Also, I think Kody was trying to let the television audience know he was "performing" for the whole 18 seasons of the show (without breaking the fourth wall). In his pea brain, I suspect he thinks that will make people view him more kindly somehow because he never meant any of it...it was all an act, doncha see? His OG wives were all hideous, awful humans and he managed to perform in spite of their inherent horribleness. The sacrifices he made to pretend to love them! He's a hero. 

[Gramto6]

8 minutes ago, NoWhammies said:

His OG wives were all hideous, awful humans and he managed to perform in spite of their inherent horribleness. The sacrifices he made to pretend to love them! He's a hero. 

Gosh, he really was a great actor,  he managed to father 13 kids with those "hideous, awful humans"!! He deserves an Acadamy Award! 🤮 🤮 🤮

[Natalie68]

29 minutes ago, NoWhammies said:

Robyn's continuous repetition of sittin' on the porch with her sister wives borders on pathological. Look, we all have dreams about how the future might be, but as situations evolve and life changes, we adapt and change those dreams instead of stamping our toddler feet and insisting that everyone is ruining our dreams as they fail to bend to our will. I can't imagine still holding tight to the dreams I had 10 or 15 years ago because my life has moved far beyond those. 

Also, I think Kody was trying to let the television audience know he was "performing" for the whole 18 seasons of the show (without breaking the fourth wall). In his pea brain, I suspect he thinks that will make people view him more kindly somehow because he never meant any of it...it was all an act, doncha see? His OG wives were all hideous, awful humans and he managed to perform in spite of their inherent horribleness. The sacrifices he made to pretend to love them! He's a hero. 

Of course Robyn wants to sit on the porch.  What does she do besides sitting and Kooter?

Can Season 19 be the ex's suing Kooter and Robyn for property??   PLEASE???!!!

[Auntie Freeze]

Sobyn just sittin’ there dry-crying about porches while lookin’ at the mountain was pure poetry. 
 

Look at that mountain, girl, and sense what your future looks like with your deranged manbaby puppet. 

[MsMalin]

ROFLMAO when Robyn stated she will have to get down on her knees everynight. 😝😱

[Flutterby]

Is Sobyn Robyn secretly auditioning for a Soap Opera role with her theatrics?  She's so disgustingly dramatic. 

[MMEButterfly]

1 hour ago, NoWhammies said:

Robyn's continuous repetition of sittin' on the porch with her sister wives borders on pathological. Look, we all have dreams about how the future might be, but as situations evolve and life changes, we adapt and change those dreams instead of stamping our toddler feet and insisting that everyone is ruining our dreams as they fail to bend to our will. I can't imagine still holding tight to the dreams I had 10 or 15 years ago because my life has moved far beyond those. 

Also, I think Kody was trying to let the television audience know he was "performing" for the whole 18 seasons of the show (without breaking the fourth wall). In his pea brain, I suspect he thinks that will make people view him more kindly somehow because he never meant any of it...it was all an act, doncha see? His OG wives were all hideous, awful humans and he managed to perform in spite of their inherent horribleness. The sacrifices he made to pretend to love them! He's a hero. 

In fact, this was always just Kody's dream. None of these women really exist. 

[endure]

Is this shitshow coming back for another season, I absolutely can't imagine but I've not heard it's canceled..... anyone???  We need to quit watching en masse!

[xwordfanatik]

47 minutes ago, MsMalin said:

ROFLMAO when Robyn stated she will have to get down on her knees everynight. 😝😱

Classic!  Even better than their private little looks (hello 69 🤮!)

I remember reading that DeAnn of LuLaRot told women that they could finagle anything out of their husbands if they just spent 5 minutes a day on their knees.  Crybrows better keep it up, or Kootie's gonna get him some new wimmin folk, and ruin their lives, too.

[Flutterby]

Is anyone else a little creeped out over Christine's maniacal laughter?  

[Meow Mix]

Like everyone else, I thought Robyn's dramatic walking away with no one following her was hilarious.  I noticed in the previews for next week she insists she's not being dramatic in the most dramatic fashion possible.

I wanted Meri to ask her exactly how Robyn was hanging in with her.  Meri has repeatedly said that Robyn never calls or texts and never invites her to events.  What did Robyn expect her to do?  Of course she was eventually going to get a clue and move on from Flagstaff.

Christine needs to leave Janelle alone to figure her own stuff out.  I'm glad she's happy, but Janelle is a different person in a different place and Christine needs to respect that.  I do want Janelle to know that she can walk away from her nonmarriage and she doesn't have to date.  She can just be happily single and live a full life.  I think if she really thought about it, she would realize that she doesn't want a husband at all.  Maybe a guy who can give a good booty call once in a while, but not someone who is going to make lots of demands on her time and her life.  She really likes having her own space that isn't cluttered up with Kody's plaid shirts and other junk.

I'm struck by Robyn claiming Kody is just in a dark place.  Why is he still in a dark place after all this time?  It was October of 2022 (Meri said so) when they filmed that picnic table scene.  It had been over a year since Christine left Flagstaff, more time than that since she told him they were done, and almost a year since he had screamed at Janelle.  So why is he not at least processing some of these feelings instead of just spending all of his time in a rage?  Maybe riding around on that ATV without a helmet is part of the issue.  Maybe whatever roids he's ingesting is another part of it.  Either way, I would not want him around my kids.  He is pretty unhinged at this point.

I was also struck by that promise Robyn made Kody make to her.  She obviously knew that he was in that place with Meri at least and possibly Christine as well when she spiritually married him.  So she has known all along that the family was dysfunctional despite what she has been saying.  Plus, he has had frayed relationships with most of his kids long before Christine left.  So that's more bs out of Robyn.  Those two deserve each other.  I hope Meri finally lets go and I hope Janelle somehow has a conference with God to get herself free of relationship limbo as well.

[endure]

19 minutes ago, Flutterby said:

Is anyone else a little creeped out over Christine's maniacal laughter?  

Yes good descriptive word for her in general, she seems over the top, manic like.  But they are ALL getting on my nerves lol.

[Elizzikra]

1 hour ago, Flutterby said:

Is Sobyn Robyn secretly auditioning for a Soap Opera role with her theatrics?  She's so disgustingly dramatic. 

She could use a paid gig, so…

[Elizzikra]

5 hours ago, MamaMax said:

I don't think any of us will ever understand how they really handle money bc all of them are most definitely leaving out important details. 

At this point, I’m honestly not sure any of THEM understand it all either. It is such a house of cards and with Kody as the only common link, I don’t think that any of the wives ever had a full picture of their finances; even Janelle who was supposedly the other financial manager of the family.

As for whose kids inherit what… I think it’s all hypothetical. None of them appear to have much in the way of savings or health insurance. No one seems to have saved for retirement, much less any sort of major medical events commonly associated with aging or a catastrophic illness. Unless they die relatively young and healthy and precipitously, they are going to burn through everything they have and then some just to live to whatever age they get to, plus pay for geriatric medical care. As I am learning, aging is expensive and it’s becoming much more common for even well off people to burn through every asset they have to support them until they die. And the Browns aren’t exactly shining examples of well off people with solid money management skills.

All of which is my long winded way of saying, they don’t have much now besides debt and they won’t have anything left when they all shuffle off this mortal coil…

[Julyolo]

8 hours ago, SongbirdHollow said:

TLC continues to mess with the timeline. Didn’t we just see an episode where Meri says she renewed her lease?  I’m so confused! (tm Robyn)

 

Meri needs to be getting herself a lawyer, not sittin’ at a picnic table explaining to Robyn why she’s done. Janelle too. Get yourself some legal help. 

My conclusion after this episode was that there is little difference between Kody and the Jett's philosophy. He alone gets to decide the dispersion of all assets. I have to speculate how complicit the TLC producers were in enabling his mindset? Did each wife sign their own contract with production? If so, there has to be a money trail. I'm getting the feeling from this episode that maybe Robyn isn't the only one wanting to edit what loudmouth Kody says.

[Rabbit Hutch]

One of my questions is who did Christine really sign her Coyote Pass property deed over to?  Did she sign it over to the family LLC, or to Kootie?  Because if she did sign it to Kootie alone then Christine aided in screwing Meri out of property that actually in part belongs to her.  If she signed it over to the family then Kootie has no leg to stand on.  In either case, if I were Meri (or Janelle, for that matter) I'd be lawyering up.  There's got to be some sort of a case for fraud up in there.  

BTW, I wouldn't put it past Christine to do something like that, since there's bad blood that goes way back between she and Meri.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Rabbit Hutch
Spelling

[surfgirl]

2 hours ago, Flutterby said:

Is anyone else a little creeped out over Christine's maniacal laughter?  

No. 

[mythoughtis]

3 hours ago, endure said:

Is this shitshow coming back for another season, I absolutely can't imagine but I've not heard it's canceled..... anyone???  We need to quit watching en masse!

Go to the spoiler thread.  There’s a couple interviews that answer that.  And which are more informative  than the tell all. 

[mythoughtis]

I’m rewatching the Meri, Kody, and Robyn picnic table scenes.  I understand now why Meri wanted Robyn there - because 1) she wanted Robyn to stop begging her to stay and 2) she wanted Kody to actually have to say I’m done in front of Robyn so that Robyn would have to  admit she heard him. 
 

However Robyn should quit making this all about her  It makes her look pathetic. 

[endure]

51 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

I’m rewatching the Meri, Kody, and Robyn picnic table scenes.  I understand now why Meri wanted Robyn there - because 1) she wanted Robyn to stop begging her to stay and 2) she wanted Kody to actually have to say I’m done in front of Robyn so that Robyn would have to  admit she heard him. 
 

However Robyn should quit making this all about her  It makes her look pathetic. 

Robyn is pathetic, good description 👏🏻

[Twopper]

7 hours ago, gaPeach said:

I do not understand all the hand wringing by Robyn over the other wives smartening up and leaving.  Kody can marry again so what's the big deal.  She doesn't like any of the other wives anyway, right?  That includes Mary too.  Let him get another wife.  Or maybe not.

I don’t think Kody wants another wife or any more children. I think he does want to make $$$$$$$ to support Robyn’s buying habits.  I think based on all the stuff he had at Christine’s he is a spendy fella himself. Also he is much more enamored of Robyn than she is of him. 

[kayak]

Always read, but never comment. Robyn's disgusting hypocrisy spurred me to do so. What an unmitigated piece of garbage she is! She destroyed this family. She is utter trash.

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, NoWhammies said:

Also, I think Kody was trying to let the television audience know he was "performing" for the whole 18 seasons of the show (without breaking the fourth wall). In his pea brain, I suspect he thinks that will make people view him more kindly somehow because he never meant any of it...it was all an act, doncha see? His OG wives were all hideous, awful humans and he managed to perform in spite of their inherent horribleness. The sacrifices he made to pretend to love them! He's a hero. 

I've been trying to figure this out and I think it is one way he unconsciously is trying to get away without looking like he is responsible for this whole mess.  If he can say he "didn't mean it", "he never loved Meri" or he was "just acting" or "performing", he thinks he might get himself off the hook for having done something wrong.  But I think the deeper answer to this is that he is trying to claim that he married the three original wives because he was doing what GOD asked him to do, not what HE wanted to do (which we know is total BS and a rationalization so he doesn't have to face his REAL selfish motives).  So when he says he was "performing" he is trying to make this all GOD's fault in a way, because he was just following God's will and not his own.  Meanwhile we all know that he interprets what God's will is to suit his own selfish desires.  

Also, I think he would say that he was trying to fulfill God's expectations of him to love Meri and the rest of them but that it was not really in his heart to do so.  So in marrying them he was just fulfilling his duty to God, but it wasn't coming from his own love for them.  He went through the motions with them, so he claims, but he was never really invested in them.  Even at best this is a sorry excuse and one I don't even completely believe.  It's obviously a rationalization and re-writing of history to keep himself from facing his true motivations.  I do believe he married Janelle and Christine on that basis but I don't for one minute believe that he was never in love with Meri.  He is making a lame attempt to get himself off the hook with himself and the world.  In his demented mind I think he thinks he looks better if he says he was trying to fulfill God's will for him, not taking advantage of 3 women to stoke his over-inflated and selfish ego. 

Whenever I see those old photos and movies of him with the wives he looks like a kid in a candy store.  It's every cave man's wet dream to have a harem of women so he can have a different one every night totally devoted to him and willing to be subservient to him and let him be their "master".  He knew they were hot for him and hanging off his every word.  It didn't even matter that he didn't really love them, because just having multiple adoring women at his beck and call really turned him on and made him feel like a Sultan with a harem.  And THAT was his true motivation but I doubt he'll ever be man enough to admit it to himself or the world.  So he keeps trying to make this about him just doing everything to fulfill a duty and claiming that everything that went wrong was someone else's fault.  It's Meri's fault, Christine's fault, Janelle's fault for not accepting whatever he handed them.  It's never his responsibility.

In his one-way mind he sees the 3 wives as not fulfilling their end of the bargain that he thought they signed on for - that he could do whatever he wanted even if it meant sidelining them, but they could not.  They were bound to him and if he didn't want them anymore they should just live with it and continue to serve the original agreement even if that meant they lived very unfulfilled lives.  When someone came along that he really WAS invested in, he began to neglect the other wives in favor of that woman.  They suddenly became a burden to him and he just cut them off, probably rationalizing it to himself that this is fine for him to do. 

Is Robyn now what he would say is "God's will" for him and chucking the other wives a part of that?  How demented and self-serving can someone GET?  I don't even think he is consistent either.  He sometimes acts as if he is now doing what HE wants to do primarily and not necessarily what God is asking of him anymore.  He has stopped all acts, performances or pretenses with the wives.  Maybe he has changed his idea of what God wants from him in his mind once again or even dispensed with trying to fulfill his previous idea of God's will altogether because it doesn't suit him anymore.  Again he is changing the rules whenever they don't provide him with a rationalization for what he does based on his own selfish desires.  I would say in the end that his idea of what God's will is is really a projection of his own inflated and self-serving manbaby ego.

BTW, I am continually amazed at the incredible insight of the posts on this thread in general.  My right "clicking" finger is sore from liking so many posts!

[MsMalin]

They should make this shitshow  a Broadway play. It would be hysterical.

[Granny58]

16 hours ago, gaPeach said:

I do not understand all the hand wringing by Robyn over the other wives smartening up and leaving.  Kody can marry again so what's the big deal.  She doesn't like any of the other wives anyway, right?  That includes Mary too.  Let him get another wife.  Or maybe not.

exactly what I was thinking.  OK, you want sister wives and kids running around?  You just need more brides and babies.  

14 hours ago, endure said:

We need to quit watching en masse!

NO WAY!!! If we can watch Kody and Robyn's fall from grace and the OG3 living well I'm there!

 

[Granny58]

13 hours ago, Meow Mix said:

I think if she really thought about it, she would realize that she doesn't want a husband at all.  Maybe a guy who can give a good booty call once in a while, but not someone who is going to make lots of demands on her time and her life. 

I don't think she can.  As much as I find their religious ideas crazy and dead wrong (and I'm religious myself so not a slam on religions per se), she probably cannot have sex outside of marriage due to her faith.  It's marriage or nothing for her.  

[Yeah No]

16 hours ago, gaPeach said:

I do not understand all the hand wringing by Robyn over the other wives smartening up and leaving.  Kody can marry again so what's the big deal.  She doesn't like any of the other wives anyway, right?  That includes Mary too.  Let him get another wife.  Or maybe not.

I thought Kody has inasmuch said that he's done with polygamy so maybe that's why she's upset about it.  I agree with the sentiment that she is like a little kid that wants their parents to stay together for them regardless of how unhappy they are with each other.  She is also upset that Kody has decided that polygamy isn't what he wants anymore.

[TexasTiffany]

During the picnic scene, Kody is such the fragile snowflake. He's afraid of blame and Meri says she's not blaming him. YET. Kody strongly blames everyone! Christine, Janelle, Meri, his OG kids. 

Meri was holding back from using harsh words addressing Kody. I want her to say "hey shithead, I'm divorcing YOU" but that's not what we got. Is Meri afraid of Kody? His other kidney might blow? Is Kody afraid of Meri? Twice now, when the 3 of them are together, Kody sits further away than a normal distance. 

Robyn blurts out that she might leave Kody. She said she's joking, but he deserves it. I hope she does leave him. In Kody's TH he says he could leave as well. I'm remembering in the beginning how they were trying to convince the rest of us that we have things all wrong and they are the ideal family unit. 

Add me to the growing list who burst out laughing when Robyn said she'd be on her knees every night. 

[laurakaye]

20 hours ago, bichonblitz said:

I still say Sobbyn doesn't have near the feelings for Kody as he does for her.

I did think that was true too, but it appears that the bloom is off the rose for both of them.  Hard to be madly in love with someone who says, "well maybe I'll leave you too, haha!" in front of the ex-wife who is in the process of doing exactly that.  Kody looked pissed and Robyn backtracked so fast, I'm surprised her eyebrows stayed intact.  Normally the Dark Queen doesn't mess up like that. 

17 hours ago, gaPeach said:

I do not understand all the hand wringing by Robyn over the other wives smartening up and leaving.

A. - she won't have anyone else to lord her superiority over, B. - without the other wives, there won't be a show and she won't be able to keep purchasing those delightful art pieces she has crammed over every available flat surface, and C. - she will be all alone with a giant manbaby who is becoming darker and scarier with every passing year.

 

14 hours ago, Flutterby said:

Is anyone else a little creeped out over Christine's maniacal laughter?  

I think it's years of repression, depression and heaviness coming off her in such strong waves, she forgot how to actually laugh.

[Kellyee]

Did Christine say she went to college? I thought that's what she said in the one scene. That surprised me. I assumed she married Kody right out of high school. And why is Janelle just getting to know Christine's brothers after decades of being their sister wife-in law? We never get any real explanations on anything.

The picnic table fiasco was both boring and annoying. Robyn cries that Meri is leaving, but Robyn didn't include Meri in Easter and some comments by Meri make me think Robyn doesn't reach out to her that often. Why wasn't Meri included in Christmas #2 or Truely's birthday party, for example??

I can't image what they're going to discuss for 4 hours, when they never provide us any real details on what is going on.

[Elizzikra]

Just now, Kellyee said:

Did Christine say she went to college? I thought that's what she said in the one scene. That surprised me. I assumed she married Kody right out of high school. And why is Janelle just getting to know Christine's brothers after decades of being their sister wife-in law? We never get any real explanations on anything.

 

Janelle was married to someone else before Kody. I don’t know how old she was when she got married for the first time. I think I do remember that she did some community college classes or maybe got an associate’s degree?

Just now, Elizzikra said:

Janelle was married to someone else before Kody. I don’t know how old she was when she got married for the first time. I think I do remember that she did some community college classes or maybe got an associate’s degree?

Oh. Never mind. I just saw that you were asking about Christine.

[suzeecat]

19 hours ago, islandgal140 said:

Besides which, SW has been doing very, very well ratings wise.

I wonder if Kody "blames" Christine for the good ratings . . . ? ? ?

[IvySpice]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Whenever I see those old photos and movies of him with the wives he looks like a kid in a candy store. 

Agreed! If that was a "performance," he's a hell of an actor. He seemed really delighted with Meri early on.

46 minutes ago, Granny58 said:

she probably cannot have sex outside of marriage due to her faith.  It's marriage or nothing for her.  

Right, and this is why (table for one!) I think it's not crazy for her to consider plural marriage again with an older man. She could have her own place where her husband comes to see her now and then, and she'd probably gain a bunch of bonus grandkids to enjoy. She might have more financial stability, too. The one legitimate argument for plural marriage that's ever had any traction for me is that multiple women can benefit from being with a good guy who's kind and well off. If all the good ones are taken, they're not off the market.

[Yeah No]

57 minutes ago, TexasTiffany said:

Meri was holding back from using harsh words addressing Kody. I want her to say "hey shithead, I'm divorcing YOU" but that's not what we got. Is Meri afraid of Kody? His other kidney might blow? Is Kody afraid of Meri? Twice now, when the 3 of them are together, Kody sits further away than a normal distance. 

I think all of them (perhaps to a lesser extent Christine) are probably worried about how they look publicly and that's why they're wimping out with what they say on TV.  Also, they can't just come out with everything at once or they wouldn't be able to drag out this agonizingly slow saga for an entire season.  My guess is that all of this happened previously in a much more honest and open way privately and what we're hearing is the "sanitized" version for TV. 

I also think that Meri and Kody in particular are worried about what the people in their social circles might think of them if they were to be completely honest and open about their feelings and what's going on with them.  They want to make it look like they are doing their best to fulfill their marital/religious obligations to each other in the eyes of the people they most want to impress.  It's why neither of them is willing to be the "bad guy" and be the one to say they're calling it quits.  Kody is trying to strong arm Meri into being the one to pull the plug and she's trying not to give into that.  Kody is doing this to try not to offend his "patriarch" and other religious buddies and Meri is trying avoid offending her friends and customers, of which some might actually buy into their religious beliefs.  Both are doing this so as not to be criticized and rejected by the social circles that matter the most to them.  That's my take on it, anyway.

ETA:

I also think in Kody's twisted view of things, he thinks it looks worse if he looks like he's "breaking his marital obligation" to the wives than if he admits he never loved some or all of them.  And he might be right about that depending on what audience's opinion matters the most to him.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Yeah No

[monagatuna]

14 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

As for whose kids inherit what… I think it’s all hypothetical. None of them appear to have much in the way of savings or health insurance. No one seems to have saved for retirement, much less any sort of major medical events commonly associated with aging or a catastrophic illness. Unless they die relatively young and healthy and precipitously, they are going to burn through everything they have and then some just to live to whatever age they get to, plus pay for geriatric medical care. As I am learning, aging is expensive and it’s becoming much more common for even well off people to burn through every asset they have to support them until they die. And the Browns aren’t exactly shining examples of well off people with solid money management skills.

All of which is my long winded way of saying, they don’t have much now besides debt and they won’t have anything left when they all shuffle off this mortal coil…

Exactly. The only thing they'll be handing down is debt and a logistical, legal nightmare. I feel for whoever has to execute what's left of their estate.

[kimaken]

47 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

I also think in Kody's twisted view of things, he thinks it looks worse if he looks like he's "breaking his marital obligation" to the wives than if he admits he never loved some or all of them.  And he might be right about that depending on what audience's opinion matters the most to him.

But Kody HAS said it on the show that he doesn't love Meri, never loved Meri, that he didn't want to be be married to her anymore, and all sorts of other things. He never told HER to her face any of this until the 32nd anniversary "date". Plus, Meri finally saw a talking head session where Kody says all this, so NOW Meri believes Kody basically released her from their spiritual marriage by saying these things publicly--she's free to leave according to their faith.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, kimaken said:

But Kody HAS said it on the show that he doesn't love Meri, never loved Meri, that he didn't want to be be married to her anymore, and all sorts of other things. He never told HER to her face any of this until the 32nd anniversary "date". Plus, Meri finally saw a talking head session where Kody says all this, so NOW Meri believes Kody basically released her from their spiritual marriage by saying these things publicly--she's free to leave according to their faith.

Sure but even after what Kody said to Meri in this episode he is STILL not pulling the plug on his so-called "commitment" to her.  He is only saying he doesn't really WANT to honor it but he will do it anyway (in name only).  She can interpret what he's saying to mean anything she wants but he is not technically releasing her, and I'll bet that the audience he is trying to impress would agree with him there.  Of course we see this situation much differently than they would.  How he thinks he can honor a marital commitment while basically ignoring and loathing his wife is beyond me, but in his demented mindset he thinks he can sell this technicality to those people he wants to impress.  

Even as he told Meri all this he was STILL telling her he would not back out of their spiritual marriage even though he didn't really love her or want to be married to her anymore and would honor his marital commitment to her (in name only but still honor it).  He didn't tell Meri to her face until now that he didn't want to be married to her because for a long time he was still living the lie until he was sure that the people whose opinions he cared about would be satisfied that he did all he could to honor his commitments to his wives and force them to be the ones to pull the plugs on their marriages to him.  I'm not sure that this made him look better to those people he cared to impress, but he obviously thought it would.  And neither we nor the wives are that audience and he didn't really care whether he strung the wives along while he did this even though there was no hope.

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Yeah No

[Roslyn]

2 hours ago, Kellyee said:

Did Christine say she went to college? I thought that's what she said in the one scene. That surprised me. I assumed she married Kody right out of high school.

Christine said she went to college...but not that she graduated. She married Kody when she was 21/22.

2 hours ago, Kellyee said:

The picnic table fiasco was both boring and annoying. Robyn cries that Meri is leaving, but Robyn didn't include Meri in Easter and some comments by Meri make me think Robyn doesn't reach out to her that often. Why wasn't Meri included in Christmas #2 or Truely's birthday party, for example??

It makes you wonder. Robyn looks depressed in most of her talking heads...Kody comes off as an angry maniac. Maybe Meri wasn't invited to Easter because Kody has continued to mesh his religions and pick and choose. Maybe Easter is now some kind of Jewish passover with Joseph Smith, a touch of Brigham Young a bit from the King James Bible and a healthy dose of Anton Lavey. 😉

[RazzleberryPie]

So finally getting to watch this All About Robyn episode. I feel like Robyn needed the *FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION* sign blinking everytime they showed her. She’s a terrible actress. 

Key take aways for me:

1) Kody is really reinforcing his narcissism by insisting that from the beginning he was tricked and never loved anyone but Robyn, and also still insisting she is perfect and not manipulating anything. He won’t admit Kody and Robyn caused problems and refused to take responsibility for their actions. He also won’t admit his relationships with the OG 3 and various kids failed. Classic narcissists refuse to admit they ever did anything wrong or circumstances changed. I don’t believe for a minute he never loved Meri, was never attracted to Janelle, and was forced to marry Christine.

2) Robyn, Robyn, Robyn. Where to begin? First, she doesn’t control or manipulate, doesn’t tell Kody what to say or think EXCEPT when she cuts him off and tells him to stop talking, that he’s not really saying what he really means. 
Second, when Meri told her to stop talking and crying. Robyn’s mask slipped for a second and she looked angry at being challenged. I really, really wish Meri would call her out on her constant tearless dramatics and most of all how they manipulated her into divorcing Kody.

Third, did Robyn understand when Meri and Kody were talking about acting and performing they were talking about sex?

Fourth, when she got all tearful and stormed off, looking back like a 2 year old desperate for someone to come after her, needing to be the center of attention in the talk about somebody else’s divorce? She didn’t need to be there.

Fifth, prob should’ve listed first, her saying she might divorce Kody. Set that stage even more, Robyn. We know you would’ve already jetted if you had another man/bank account lined up. 
Sixth and I’ll stop here, this tearful breakdown reminded me of the first big breakdown when they found out Kody had picked out her wedding dress. Robyn manipulates and connives, and when she gets busted or things don’t go her way, she breaks down and cries. Her feelings are not hurt, she is not confused, she is having a hissy fit because she’s been busted in creating a mess that she can’t deny or clean up. Thing didn’t go her way, she knows she’s been busted being sneaky or causing life altering problems, and she has a tantrum. This woman is ridiculous.

3) Christine and Janelle, great that you’ve moved on and are happier. I really want to see the two of them, but especially Janelle, call out Robyn’s bullshit. I feel like she was meaner to Janelle than anyone. 
4) Glad there were no depressed kids being confused on the couch and minimal Mykelti/Tony.

5) We don’t need to see Christine gushing over David or David and Kody interacting. Not really looking forward to breathy gushy Christine fawning extra over David just to irritate Kody. If you’re over him, stop the digs.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by RazzleberryPie

[Kellyee]

Quote

But Kody HAS said it on the show that he doesn't love Meri, never loved Meri, that he didn't want to be be married to her anymore, and all sorts of other things. He never told HER to her face any of this until the 32nd anniversary "date". Plus, Meri finally saw a talking head session where Kody says all this, so NOW Meri believes Kody basically released her from their spiritual marriage by saying these things publicly--she's free to leave according to their faith.

If I remember correctly from this episode and from the last Tell All, Meri said Kody says one thing in front of the camera/public, and something else to her in private. I think he led her on for a long time, either because Robyn wanted her to stay or because Kody felt he needed Meri to keep the show going. Or just to stroke his ego by seeing her beg for his attention. It made me ill that Meri even granted him this meeting to "officially" break it off. She should have just left and told the cameras and Instagram that she was divorcing his ass.

 

 

 

 

 

[laurakaye]

So if Kody decided that he never loved Meri but he didn't want to be the one to break their covenant, and he wanted Meri to be the one to leave him...why did Robyn keep trying to get Meri to stay?

I realize that nothing these people do makes any actual sense.  I might as well be asking, if a pink elephant jumps over a mountain but the pond is dry, why won't the trees all face north?  Same basic idea.

Edited November 21, 2023 by laurakaye

[General Days]

27 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

So if Kody decided that he never loved Meri but he didn't want to be the one to break their covenant, and he wanted Meri to be the one to leave him...why did Robyn keep trying to get Meri to stay?

I realize that nothing these people do makes any actual sense.  I might as well be asking, if an elephant jumps over a mountain but the pond is dry, why won't the trees all face north?  Same basic idea.

I think Kody did love Meri, but that's beside the point, because Kody's love is really about Kody, not about the other person.

So, to your question: why did Robyn keep trying to get Meri to stay?

People's motives are often not clear cut, even to themselves. Look at how many different reasons Christine has given us for her split from Kody. I don't think any of Christine's reasons are lies, yet none of them alone (the lack of intimacy, his absence during Covid, his neglect during Ysabel's surgery, his favoritism, not wanting to be a bad example for her kids, etc.) is the one reason. The reason is a mishmash of everything (plus probably things we'll never know).

I think the same thing is true for Robyn, where Meri is concerned. There are a whole mishmash of reasons.

Even if these people are no longer living by the strictest AUB mandates, some of them (Robyn, Janelle, and probably Meri) still believe some of the polygamist Mormon worldview about the afterlife, and what it is that gets someone into celestial heaven.

Robyn wants her husband to be a man with at least three wives, who passes whatever muster to get into celestial heaven and call her through the veil, where they can rule a planet with their kids and yada yada yada. I think "sit on a porch with my sister wives, and our kids, and grandkids" is her non-religious code for her religious motivation. She wants Kody to be exalted in the afterlife, because it will (in her worldview) benefit her and her kids.

More practically speaking, I do think Robyn wants the TV show to continue. This is as much money as she's ever seen in her life. She's smart enough to know that the audience can hardly stand her and Kody. If the Sister Wives mothership ends, nobody will be clamoring for a Robyn spin off. 

And too, Meri has been Robyn's useful dupe and scapegoat, for a lot of years. Robyn can make herself look like a benevolent woman to Kody and to her kids, by occasionally tossing Meri the spare crumb of faked up support. It's good for Robyn to have "the Meri" -- not in a barn-dominium, but maybe in a near-but-not-too-near studio apartment, so Robyn can get credit for a sympathy friendship.

Also, Meri is really the only Brown adult (not counting Kody, because no one ever accused him of being an adult) who consistently liked Robyn and who did usually try to support Robyn. Robyn doesn't seem to have any real concern for Meri, but she does like what Meri does for her.

If Robyn really and truly wanted Kody to reunite with Meri though, or honestly, with any of the other wives, she would have shut him off (not just sexually, but also emotionally), until he fixed his marriages with them, or made a real and true effort to do so.

Edited November 21, 2023 by General Days

[Shelbie]

Having Meri around (and to kick around) still left Robyn feeling like she had won. Christine and Janelle would no longer beg for a scrap  of attention from Kody and so she could no longer benevolently grant Kody permission to see them. I’m sure she felt diminished and so Meri being around still made her feel like the queen of Kody mountain.
The most delightful moment of the episode was Robyn running away and expecting both Kody and Meri to chase after her to make sure she was ok and they didn’t. It must have freaked her out. 

[Sweetpea12]

13 hours ago, Yeah No said:

. . . he looks like a kid in a candy store.  It's every cave man's wet dream to have a harem of women so he can have a different one every night totally devoted to him and willing to be subservient to him . . .    he didn't really love them, . . . having multiple adoring women at his beck and call really turned him on  And THAT was his true motivation but I doubt he'll ever be man enough to admit it to himself or the world. 

1000% all of this.  (didn't some old school friends wonder if he was gay?    He sure showed them, didn't he) 

[RazzleberryPie]

I think Kody also thought he was doing something daring and liked getting a reaction out of people by saying he had WIVES. He thought he was being rebellious, edgy, and a little bit sanctimonious. 

[Gramto6]

47 minutes ago, Sweetpea12 said:

1000% all of this.  (didn't some old school friends wonder if he was gay?    He sure showed them, didn't he) 

This has been bouncing around in my brain for a while now. What if he is? ...it was probably not even recognized outwardly by him. But he had to show the world he wasn't, thus all the wives. It would also explain his giddy, giggly, one of the boys attitude when he is out with his buddies. Still probably not actually formulated in his pea brain just floating there latent maybe never to be realized...he just feels so happy with the guys...  And it would explain why all but the marriage to Crybrows failed, ended unsatisfactorily, "no fault of his own", in his brain. I think this is eventually going to come around to bite Crybrows too at some point in the future.

OK, I am probably way off.  I do have too much time on my hands today...but this has been sort of bugging me for a while.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Gramto6