S18.E16: One on One: Part 2

[General Days]

 

42 minutes ago, lgandkihei said:

Does anyone besides me remember the story arc some years back where Meri supposedly wanted another baby, and she and Kody were exploring all kinds of fertility etc. treatments?  Even at the time, it seemed so off to me, because Meri just seemed too old to be starting over with another baby, and Kody seemed to mainly be going through the motions just to make her happy.  But, I get that she's always felt inferior to the other wives because she hadn't produced as many precious offspring to make Kody look super virile and manly.  To sire that many kids, you must be a  real stud, right?  Just look at Jim-Bob Duggar!

...

I admit that I don't remember the exact timeline on the baby-hungry storyline (I'm sure one of the many experts on here will!), but if Kody was already way over Meri, lovewise, wouldn't it have been handy for him to mention that before contemplating bringing yet one more kid into the mix?

Oh... wait....I was thinking for a moment that he would be involved with the kid once it was born.  Silly me!

As for him supposedly never really loving any of his wives, pre-Robyn, maybe he did and maybe he didn't, but to throw it out there defiantly on national TV is just plain unnecessary and cruel.  He is such a small, petty man.

Taking my response to the Meri thread.

Edited December 4, 2023 by General Days

[RoxiP]

I too have wondered about the storyline where Meri wanted another baby - didn't they go as far as to go to a fertility specialist?  I would assume that in that culture where you are competing for attention with other, younger wives you are judged for not producing offspring, so for that I do feel for Meri (I have never gotten the impression that she only had one child was her choice).  But here's the problem - it is really hard to have children if you aren't having sex with your spouse!

[thatsall]

3 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

I don't think it was done for monetary purposes. It was done to hurt Meri as much as he could.

And we have to wonder...why? What did Meri deny him? Certainly not additional wives. It's one thing to be apathetic about a relationship, but why would he want to hurt her that way?

[Adeejay]

6 hours ago, Roslyn said:

I think this Christine is just Christine. I now suspect that she has been reigned in from the beginning by Kody's demands on what to put out publicly. Now that she faces no punishment from Kody for being "herself" on camera, the gloves are off. I also think she told the story to point out a horrible thing Kody did...not to purposely humiliate Meri. 

I agree. Meri allowed Kody to treat her like dirt, didn’t get angry and would have been with him if he so desired.  However, Christine telling a story about how poorly Kody treated Meri, made her “frustrated and angry”.  I believe this is what is called “misplaced anger”. I don’t believe Christine was trying to hurt Meri in any way.  She was just conveying what a scumbag Kody is.  I noticed that in the scene when Meri asked Kody about his new ring, Robyn quickly shut down the conversation and pivoted to another topic. 

 

[LotusFlower]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

But here's the problem - it is really hard to have children if you aren't having sex with your spouse!

I remember the fertility specialist asked Kody and Meri how often they were having sex, and they wouldn’t answer!!  They said “we don’t talk about that kind of stuff…”.  I get that this question is a personal one, but not when you’re meeting with a fertility doctor about wanting another child!

More evidence they were just creating stupid storylines for the show.

4 hours ago, MsMalin said:

Good God, take the ring off but why melt it? How much $ would that even fetch? 

According to “Sam” (the catfisher), Meri told her Kody used the gold to make a new ring for “a daughter.”  
 

If true, which one?  Hmm…

[Shelbie]

1 hour ago, thatsall said:

And we have to wonder...why? What did Meri deny him? Certainly not additional wives. It's one thing to be apathetic about a relationship, but why would he want to hurt her that way?

Because he could.
As he grew older he believed he was entitled to 100 percent of everyone’s attention and lashed out when he felt diminished.

[CriticalMass]

I am confused about the timing of the ring melting reveal. I was under the impression that Christine revealed it to Suki during the Tell Nothing. How did Meri know Christine had revealed that? Suki didn’t question Meri during her one on one with her. During Meri’s angry response she is wearing the navy blue (too small as usual) jacket with the pink shirt. That is the outfit she wore in most of the talking heads. She is replying to an unseen producer, not Suki. I think Christine had previously revealed it during one of her talking heads and Meri knew it. I think Suki had Christine do a reshoot/replay.

TLC, Suki, the Browns, it’s all far from reality. I am glad Christine is starting to spill, she has nothing to lose.

[Orcinus orca]

17 minutes ago, CriticalMass said:

I am confused about the timing of the ring melting reveal. I was under the impression that Christine revealed it to Suki during the Tell Nothing.

Apparently it was revealed on Reddit years ago so it's really old news.  Who knows when Meri did her dramatic "my story" talking head.

[ginger90]

32 minutes ago, CriticalMass said:

How did Meri know Christine had revealed that?

I’m going to assume production told her and asked her if she wanted to comment.

[kimaken]

1 hour ago, LotusFlower said:

According to “Sam” (the catfisher), Meri told her Kody used the gold to make a new ring for “a daughter.”  
 

If true, which one?  Hmm…

It was stated that it was for Robyn's daughter(s)--don't remember if it was for one or both of them. It was NOT for Mariah/Leon, which I view as another insult to Meri. 

[Elizzikra]

37 minutes ago, CriticalMass said:

I am confused about the timing of the ring melting reveal.

This whole ring-melting thing is just such a Brownesque financial decision. There is no possible way that it cost less to melt down an existing ring and custom make a new one than it would have cost to just buy a comparable ring, new.

If memory serves, Kate Middleton’s wedding band is made from gold off a chunk of gold used to make the royal family’s wedding bands going back centuries. Absent symbolism and history like that, there is really no point for Kody to have gone to such lengths. Just go to Jared, Kody…

2 minutes ago, kimaken said:

It was stated that it was for Robyn's daughter(s)--don't remember if it was for one or both of them. It was NOT for Mariah/Leon, which I view as another insult to Meri. 

Does she wear it or just keep it in her hope chest?

[mythoughtis]

8 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

I’m going to assume production told her and asked her if she wanted to comment.

Or Robyn told her- Suki asked Robyn about it.  I’m sure Meri then filmed her response in their normal TH location.  

[kimaken]

1 hour ago, Adeejay said:

I don’t believe Christine was trying to hurt Meri in any way. 

Wasn't she telling Suki about this incident because Suki asked Christine what she thought of the scene where Meri noticed Kody's new ring and commented on it? I don't think she did it to talk bad about Kody because she's talked nice about Kody on some of her other interviews (talking about how nice it was that Kody sent Valentine's good wishes to her and David). Maybe she did it to point out that Meri would notice rings because of what Kody did with the wedding ring Meri had given him.

[CriticalMass]

2 minutes ago, kimaken said:

Wasn't she telling Suki about this incident because Suki asked Christine what she thought of the scene where Meri noticed Kody's new ring and commented on it? I don't think she did it to talk bad about Kody because she's talked nice about Kody on some of her other interviews (talking about how nice it was that Kody sent Valentine's good wishes to her and David). Maybe she did it to point out that Meri would notice rings because of what Kody did with the wedding ring Meri had given him.

That was my interpretation as well which is why I don’t understand how Meri was responding to it during a regular talking head which are filmed before the Tell Nothing. 

[ginger90]

3 minutes ago, CriticalMass said:

That was my interpretation as well which is why I don’t understand how Meri was responding to it during a regular talking head which are filmed before the Tell Nothing. 

It was after, done on the set where they do their talking heads.

[LotusFlower]

42 minutes ago, kimaken said:

It was stated that it was for Robyn's daughter(s)--don't remember if it was for one or both of them. It was NOT for Mariah/Leon, which I view as another insult to Meri. 

Wow, really?!  That’s astoundingly disgusting.  Do you have a source for this?  

[Meow Mix]

The black screen indicated that Meri found out that Christine had talked about the ring, so they gave her a chance to respond.  I am guessing each tell all segment was filmed separately and Christine's was after Meri's.  The producers probably thought that was too juicy to pass up so reached out to Meri for more comment.

My feeling on the ring situation is that Christine should have kept quiet about that.  She can trash Kody all day long as far as I'm concerned, but Meri was collateral damage on that particular story.  I don't believe Christine did it out of malice, I think she was just caught up in the moment and enjoying the attention she was getting for spilling the tea.  I think Christine speaks without thinking frequently because she is immature.  I do hope once she thought about how she would feel if Kody destroyed a symbol of their marriage yet expected her to still be loyal to him that she regretted telling that tidbit.  I agree that she told about it because the question came up about why Meri noticed Kody's dumb horse ring.

As far as Meri goes, I am fully on her side on this.  I don't care that the story was already out there from 2015, it was still Meri's story to respond to publicly.  She chose not to for any number of reasons, but I don't care what those were either.  She has a right to keep some things to herself for whatever reason if she chooses.  I doubt Christine would have been happy if Meri had revealed something humiliating Kody did to Christine during their marriage that she didn't want to talk about publicly.  I also don't care if she was holding the info private to reveal in a tell all book.  Christine is certainly cashing in on the show right now, so why shouldn't Meri?  I also can't imagine how much it must have hurt when Kody melted down the ring behind her back then just casually told her that was what he had done.  I firmly believe Robyn was right in the middle of that whole thing and probably coached him on the fast talking he had to do to keep Meri around after she found out.  She has a right to be angry over all this. I could feel her anger and humiliation through the screen.

[ezzy4]

I'm late to this party...but here are some of my thoughts:

1) "Kody speak"- lol.  Seriously?  So when he scratches at the door and barks, he has to go outside, right?  He's such a simpleton.  Oye. 

2) This tell all episode clearly pulled the curtain back on the show a bit.  Turns out Kody and Meri were broken up from the beginning, but had agreed to keep it private so as not to have it effect the show.  Damn.  That just sucks.  Kody and Meri suck.  I don't care that Christine talked about the ring incident.  I don't care that Christine broke the code of secrets and faking out the audience.  

That scene out at the property with the three of them...where Meri is upset that Kody broke their code of silence on their breakup... and Crybrows whails dramatically...ug.  And then Kody turns to Crybrows and basically says "I tried to pretend Meri and I were still married because I promised you I would...I promised you I'd keep the show going and money flowing in for you".  

Yep, now i actually believe Crybrows might try to leave Kody if the show ends.  She is clearly setting the groundwork to leave.  

But where will she go?  She definitely didn't help her marketability by being on this show.  And she's old and fat now (sorry...had to throw her words back on her ;) )

3) Sounds like Crybrows inserted herself into all the marriages, huh? So just another lie this stupid show kept going for years.  Sure seems like she considered herself a show producer; which explains that whole "sister closet" fiasco, and her insistence the other wives do all the work since she had come up with the idea.

I get the idea that Crybrows felt she had to be the "interpretor of Kody speak" because everytime she told him what to say, he got it wrong. Lol.  

[Mothra]

9 hours ago, ladyscorpio said:

On the Tell Nothing last night, Sobbyn said Kody melted his ring way before she came in the picture and that's a lie. Meri said he stopped wearing it while he was dating Sobbyn. I'm sure it was all Sobbyn that put the idea in his head in the first place. She probably whined that she won't ever feel like his wife because he has a wedding ring already from his marriage with Meri. I bet she  guilt tripped him so much about the ring, that he ended up taking it off to show Sobbyn that Meri is no more important to him than she is. So that's why he told Meri he didn't want her to have "claim" over him. It bothered Sobbyn that Meri was his legal wife and she was so jealous of that. Sobbyn wanted to be the legal wife and hbic.  It's ridiculous how much she manipulates Kody and he is so blind to it all. She convinced him that she's the innocent one, and that everyone el is being mean to her and bullying her kids. Sobbyn is doing everything she can to make it look like she's not the cause of the family breaking up, that's why she keeps lying about the way things happened. She's trying to change the viewers perception of her and it's not working. She can't manipulate the viewers like she manipulated Kody.

I'm really tempted to blame Crybrows, too, but I think ditching his wedding ring was Kotex making himself more comfortable dating his soulmate and the love of his life.  I think Crybrows at that point was still dreaming of Ideal Polygamy. 

[Julyolo]

On 12/3/2023 at 11:27 PM, LotusFlower said:

Meri’s “oh my voice will be heard” is all about the book she’s writing.  That’s why she was so mad to hear Christine revealed the melting ring story - Christine beat her to it!  
I can’t stand that this family films a reality show to supposedly lift the veil of polygamy (and greatly benefits from it), and yet they have hidden SO much from viewers. No one more so than Meri.  Asshole Kidney melted his wedding ring 7 or 8 years ago, which of course devastated her, but they all decide to hide it?!!

ITA, I think particularly Kody, Meri, & Robyn frauded the viewers, but only after being aided and abetted by TLC. Meri's meltdown about the ring melting was about IMO not being the one who got to do the 1st on camera reveal about it. Kody said he'd be willing to "fake it" with Meri..for who? To keep the show going, and that's why Robyn and Meri have been faking their Sister Wives bond for the last 4 seasons. When this show started, it was about them living a lifestyle that was part of a religion. Somewhere along the line that all got lost, while we watched 4 women compete for their unattainable "time with Kody." Reality is, Kody has no time for anything or anyone except his own self gratification. I feel at this point they are all just angling for their own spinoff shows. Remember Meri as HBIC towards Janelle and Christine for years before Robyn showed up? My guess now is she's going for a show called "Meri NOW." Kody reconciling with Janelle? Who in God's name would watch that beside a masochist? Kody told all 4 of them: Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn exactly who he is when he divested himself of their Cladaugh ring, and then bought a new ring that he liked. Face it folks, Kody will spend the rest of his life like a lot of divorced loser men do: always looking for the next bright shiny thing, and whining about what disappointments of all his ex-wives have been. Hope Robyn gets it's just going to be a matter of time before time's up for her too.

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Julyolo

[Chalby]

On 12/4/2023 at 5:31 AM, General Days said:

I get why Christine brought it up here (she shouldn't have, but I get it), but not telling every story that ever happened isn't "hiding" it

I understand why Christine is no longer keeping secrets from her polygamy experience. I remember visiting with friends (three years after a divorce) when I got chastised from my ex SIL for sharing a silly story re ex and his mom.

You would have thought I disclosed where Jimmy Hoffa's body is buried the way she responded, instead of seeing it for the comical goof up a parent does.

Some people want to punish the messenger instead of the person who is attempting to keep the event a secret. Once removed from a setting, it's hard to maintain secrets, especially unhealthy ones.

I can't be mad at someone for being blunt and honest. Now it's up to Meri how much she wants to divulge re: the latest Kody cruelty.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Chalby

[Chalby]

7 hours ago, Shelbie said:

Because he could.
As he grew older he believed he was entitled to 100 percent of everyone’s attention and lashed out when he felt diminished.

Since the ring melt happened during the courtship of Robyn, I'm sure that this event was added to the many secrets Kody has demanded from his wives and kids.

I bet Kody was truly grateful for the catfish experience because now he could openly treat Meri like he does behind doors, and the viewers wouldn't react. It took nothing for him to discard Meri and HER offspring. Ugh...

[Chalby]

21 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

I’’m also mad at all five of them.  This show has been a lie from the beginning.   Supposedly Kody loved all his wives, and these marriages were happy.  Now we find out that Kody didn’t consider himself married to Meri when the show started( melting the ring without her knowledge tells us that). 

I do believe Janelle and Meri were with Kody because they wanted the polygamy and Kody appeared easy enough to live with. But the fact that Janelle and Kody snuck around behind Meri says everything about who determined what should be kept secret. Janelle and Meri had no problem keeping secrets so long as they were publicly respected.

As soon as Kody started his narrative about NEVER coming even close to loving the first 3 wives, I understood why Meri is so insulted. They opted to get married, and I do think he initially  felt something for Meri. Everyone thought there was love there.  The wives are going to share more secrets now that he's disparaging them publicly.

Kody was smart to send Christine and David a Valentine's greeting. She remembers a lot and could do the most damage. He's trying to invoke the ally in her.

[TexasTiffany]

5 hours ago, ezzy4 said:

Yep, now i actually believe Crybrows might try to leave Kody if the show ends.  She is clearly setting the groundwork to leave.  

ITA. It's clearer this season especially. It's all documented, too. Robyn could claim mental cruelty and abuse. Kootie's manipulation of his OG wives, his alienation of his OG children, etc. He's even told us he's going to be the devil they think he is. He talks about going to his dark side. His trying to rewrite history. He's a narcissist, lying hyopcrite, manipulative sociopath bastard with years of film against him.

It wouldn't surprise me if Robyn has planned for years now how and when she will divorce Kody. She'll ask for everything. The paintings, the collectibles, the house, etc. I was LOL when Robyn joked at the picnic table that she might divorce Kody! I don't like Robyn, but I think when she's finally done with Kootie that he might wish he had a barndominium to live in and won't even have that. (Did she make him sell his beloved white convertible?) 

Robyn should be careful/afraid of him. It wouldn't take much for him to snap, and we'd hear about him on the news having done something awful to his family.

[MsMalin]

My takeaway: these so-called religious people have lied to us for years for the almighty dollar.

[dariafan]

This family has soo many secrets and talks so cryptically I question who knows the truth ?

[kimaken]

8 hours ago, Chalby said:

I bet Kody was truly grateful for the catfish experience because now he could openly treat Meri like he does behind doors, and the viewers wouldn't react. It took nothing for him to discard Meri and HER offspring.

The catfish incident probably helped keep the show going for a few more seasons.

[laurakaye]

14 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

Does she wear it or just keep it in her hope chest?

I'm just sittin' here thinking about the ick factor involved in a man taking his first wife's wedding ring, melting it down, and creating new rings for his new step-daughters.  Yuck.

 

8 hours ago, Chalby said:

I bet Kody was truly grateful for the catfish experience because now he could openly treat Meri like he does behind doors, and the viewers wouldn't react.

It's so twisted...Kody treated Meri like crap for years, causing her to look outside her "marriage" and she gets catfished as a result, which emasculates poor widdle Kody but also became a solid reason to extend this show and give the entire family more money (I do think the show would've ended several seasons ago had it not been for the catfish).  So...good job, Kody?  Meri?  I don't even know.  Basically they've all sold their souls for their TV show.

[ezzy4]

36 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

I'm just sittin' here thinking about the ick factor involved in a man taking his first wife's wedding ring, melting it down, and creating new rings for his new step-daughters.  Yuck.

 

It's so twisted...Kody treated Meri like crap for years, causing her to look outside her "marriage" and she gets catfished as a result, which emasculates poor widdle Kody but also became a solid reason to extend this show and give the entire family more money (I do think the show would've ended several seasons ago had it not been for the catfish).  So...good job, Kody?  Meri?  I don't even know.  Basically they've all sold their souls for their TV show.

The way i see it is Kody agreed to pretend to stay married to Meri for the sake of the show.  Then Meri has this whole catfish fiasco (i feel badly for Meri about that), and Kody recoils because he didn't sign up for that. He signed up to pretend he was still married...not to pretend to activitly SAVE a marriage.  That would require many confessionals...many scenes with Meri and him talking.  It's just a lot more work to keep up that sort of rouse. Plus he didn't like the optics of him being a "wronged man".

And now we all finally know what Crybrows and Meri's weird bond was about; both fighting to keep Kody engaged in the scam they were peddling to us all.

 

[HoneyBeach]

14 hours ago, Meow Mix said:

The black screen indicated that Meri found out that Christine had talked about the ring, so they gave her a chance to respond.  I am guessing each tell all segment was filmed separately and Christine's was after Meri's.  The producers probably thought that was too juicy to pass up so reached out to Meri for more comment.

My feeling on the ring situation is that Christine should have kept quiet about that.  She can trash Kody all day long as far as I'm concerned, but Meri was collateral damage on that particular story.  I don't believe Christine did it out of malice, I think she was just caught up in the moment and enjoying the attention she was getting for spilling the tea.  I think Christine speaks without thinking frequently because she is immature.  I do hope once she thought about how she would feel if Kody destroyed a symbol of their marriage yet expected her to still be loyal to him that she regretted telling that tidbit.  I agree that she told about it because the question came up about why Meri noticed Kody's dumb horse ring.

As far as Meri goes, I am fully on her side on this.  I don't care that the story was already out there from 2015, it was still Meri's story to respond to publicly.  She chose not to for any number of reasons, but I don't care what those were either.  She has a right to keep some things to herself for whatever reason if she chooses.  I doubt Christine would have been happy if Meri had revealed something humiliating Kody did to Christine during their marriage that she didn't want to talk about publicly.  I also don't care if she was holding the info private to reveal in a tell all book.  Christine is certainly cashing in on the show right now, so why shouldn't Meri?  I also can't imagine how much it must have hurt when Kody melted down the ring behind her back then just casually told her that was what he had done.  I firmly believe Robyn was right in the middle of that whole thing and probably coached him on the fast talking he had to do to keep Meri around after she found out.  She has a right to be angry over all this. I could feel her anger and humiliation through the screen.

Everything you said here, I agree with.  I think what most people are questioning is why Meri appears more angry at Christine for telling about it then at Kody for doing it. And honestly, if I were Christine and Meri had walked away from me with the people accusing me of lying, I wouldn't be worried about sparing her feelings.

[dariafan]

Meri did herself no favors in the knife in the original knife in the kidneys being almost smug when talking about what kootie was saying to and about Christine .

also Robyn needs someone in her life to remind her her life is filmed. Lying can be found out rather easily 

[Roslyn]

1 hour ago, kimaken said:

The catfish incident probably helped keep the show going for a few more seasons.

I think the catfish saved the whole damn show. If you look back to Season 8, which started airing in January 2015 it is Madison and Mykelti graduating, Daytons eye surgery, another roadtrip to meet up more polygamists, Annie moving into Christine's house and then the Anthropologists. So pretty much a tiny bit about normal family and set up scenarios to film content.

In real life January 2015 the legal divorce was discovered and leaked online. All of a sudden there was lots of chatter about the show and the family. At the tail end of Season 8 they stuck in Meri "dropping a bomb" by seeing a lawyer about a divorce. By the time the final episode of the season happened Meri was gearing up in the catfish timeline.

I don't remember the specific numbers for the ratings back then, but I do remember that each season had a "they might get cancelled" going round and round, yet...they kept coming back. Now looking at the show and it's at the top 3 shows in Discovery +. This seasons first episode premiered with their highest ratings ever.

The catfish storyline kept the whole thing going and brought in more people watching. That kept them going until the Flagstaff move. I wonder if they agreed to not bring up the catfish anymore because it stopped being mentioned. But Meri's exclusion from the family in general was obvious.

Between the 2018 move and now the family has really imploded, and its obvious the last few seasons that they are financially riding every moment they can put on camera. Covid was the second catfish type tidal wave of content. And now all they have to give us is all the back story and all the dirt that was under the rug from when the show even started and back to the very very beginning. Fully contradicting a lot of the snow job they have been giving us.

Meri seems to be "more real" in some of the talking heads and I suspect that her anger with Christine over dropping the ring story was also because Meri wanted to own the timing of how and when (and if) that story was every made public. Since she also added in her couch response the fact that she was "looking for a friend" because she didn't have any in her family it looks like that will always be her version of reality. One other response earlier in this season she mentioned that "a lot of made up crap" was online about the catfish. If she does ever speak/write publicly about her experience I am sure the banana photos, voicemails declaring Kody "less than", the name "Sam" scratched into her arm etc will be lumped into "made up crap".

While Meri is always saying "keep it real", I doubt she will truly admit that there was more than wanting a friend to talk to within the catfish relationship. I would like to know within the timeline when she became friendly with her buddy Jenn. Pre, during, or post catfish in Vegas.

[65mickey]

19 hours ago, thatsall said:

It's one thing to be apathetic about a relationship, but why would he want to hurt her that way?

I believe that from the moment Kody met Robyn he really was no longer interested in living in polygamy. But in order to keep the show going he had to pretend to love the other wives. This made him so mad and he couldn't be mad with himself so he began to take it out on the original 3. Bit by bit he began to dole out his disinterest, displeasure and even cruelty with them eventually driving all of them way. Then claim that that they were bad wives but he was a good man.

[Chalby]

Can you imagine if the wives had agreed to the giant house idea (thinking of TLC $$$)? Now I understand why Christine was so furious, and adamantly against it. Given she's always talking, it must have KILLED her during this "family discussion" not to turn on Kody with: "Why should we move in with you and your wife? To remind us WE no longer have a relationship with you?" I want the truth.

Also, now that the timeline of his marital disinterest is clear, I want the ugly truth, blatant facts from each of them. Get an interviewer who will call out their BS, and not acquiesce when they say "I won't discuss that". Tell them to explain their roles in the polygamy facade or no paycheque.

They've lied to us all and now I'm pissed. I want payback, so NO MORE: veiled comments, Kody's biblical blathering, bizarre covid behaviours & explanations, or interrupting each other to keep another from talking. I just want the truth before I turn off their lives.

Can we sue for misrepresentation? Lol

[General Days]

3 hours ago, laurakaye said:

I'm just sittin' here thinking about the ick factor involved in a man taking his first wife's wedding ring, melting it down, and creating new rings for his new step-daughters.  Yuck.

 

Where does that detail come from (that the rings were going to be for Robyn's oldest girls)? I've seen fans repeat it, but I've never seen any source material.

That's on me. The most I've seen is Janelle half mumble a "we were going to melt it down for some of the girls" type thing, and Christine looked at her like, "Oh, we didn't discuss this lie before the interview."

Does anyone have a link or a real quote?

 

1 hour ago, Roslyn said:

I think the catfish saved the whole damn show.

 

I think the legal Meri/Kody divorce, the catfish, and Christine leaving have each saved the show. I say this with tunnel vision. I've stopped watching a few times. News of these events eventually caught my notice, even though I wasn't following any sort of reality TV shows or content, and those news items made me pop back in.

I remember being really disappointed that Meri was only legally divorcing Kody back then, instead of "dumping his ass."

Edited December 5, 2023 by General Days

[Roslyn]

30 minutes ago, General Days said:

Where does that detail come from (that the rings were going to be for Robyn's oldest girls)? I've seen fans repeat it, but I've never seen any source material.

That's on me. The most I've seen is Janelle half mumble a "we were going to melt it down for some of the girls" type thing, and Christine looked at her like, "Oh, we didn't discuss this lie before the interview."

Does anyone have a link or a real quote?

The detail about the ring being for Robyn's daughter(s) comes from the catfish. It was one of the many stories from Jackie that were considered hard to believe back then. Some were "hmm, plausible" and some seemed over the top and unbelievable. But ever since they spilled the ring beans story it instantly became a real story.

The Robyn's daughters part would have been considered an unbelievable add on except that Janelle in the interview added in a plain spoken nonchalant way that the melted ring was going to be for daughters...but not specific daughters obviously. Making it point more to either Aurora or Brianna or both may have come from this magickal ring.

[General Days]

9 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

The detail about the ring being for Robyn's daughter(s) comes from the catfish. It was one of the many stories from Jackie that were considered hard to believe back then. Some were "hmm, plausible" and some seemed over the top and unbelievable. But ever since they spilled the ring beans story it instantly became a real story.

The Robyn's daughters part would have been considered an unbelievable add on except that Janelle in the interview added in a plain spoken nonchalant way that the melted ring was going to be for daughters...but not specific daughters obviously. Making it point more to either Aurora or Brianna or both may have come from this magickal ring.

 

Thank you!

That's been driving me crazy. I don't necessarily believe the catfish about that bit, but I don't necessarily believe Janelle, either.

I think Kody probably got money for the gold (and diamonds?), or just sold or pawned the ring, and the "melt it down for the kids" was bullshit he peddled to shut Meri up, because then he could berate her for not thinking of the family.

Not that Gwen would necessarily know the facts of all the rings, because she was so little (8 maybe?) when Robyn came on the scene, but in her livechat over the weekend, someone asked her about rings made from Kody's ring, and she said the parents just bought the girls claddagh rings when they turned 16; they didn't have them made.

Edited December 5, 2023 by General Days

[Sandy W]

I have lost track of the diamonds that Janelle contributed from her Mother's ring.  I have read that there were 3 diamonds and Janelle gave one each to Kody, Meri and herself. 

Did those 3 stones end up in the ring that Kody had melted?

[Joan of Argh]

On 12/4/2023 at 3:47 AM, MsMalin said:

This sure has a been a lesson about being brainwashed in a cult to believe you must stay in a miserable.marriage throughout eternity.

I have a problem believing what Meri says now about not leaving because she has a commitment for eternity with Kody and her religion.

Meri was almost dancing on the ceiling when she thought “Sam” the millionaire was real and she was going to run off with him.

She wasn’t the least bit worried about her religion or commitment.

They’re all a bunch of liars and have been lying to all of us since the beginning

 

[RazzleberryPie]

Total speculation, but I wonder if Janelle skirted the issue of melting rings for daughters NOT bc it was something for one of Robyn’s, but because they apparently excluded Mykelti from the claudaughs. Pretty sure those were supposed to be purity rings *gag* and not sure why a young teen Mykelti was excluded, except she’d be the one bold enough to say heck no, my cookie is my cookie and I can do what I want with it.

Now there’s a thought that could’ve saved my sister wives closet RIP. More kitschy Jewelry like Robyn’s Cookie, Meri’s Rice Crispie Treat, Janelle’s take out Menu, Christine’s Toaster, etc would be much more marketable and in on the joke. Nobody wants to emulate this family and if polygamists were afraid to advertise their marital status, who would want real jewelry? 

[General Days]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

I have lost track of the diamonds that Janelle contributed from her Mother's ring.  I have read that there were 3 diamonds and Janelle gave one each to Kody, Meri and herself. 

Did those 3 stones end up in the ring that Kody had melted?

I don't think so, only because Meri gave Kody that ring when they married. Janelle didn't join the family (well, the Brown family, not the Barber family) until 3 years later.

[Sandy W]

6 minutes ago, General Days said:

I don't think so, only because Meri gave Kody that ring when they married. Janelle didn't join the family (well, the Brown family, not the Barber family) until 3 years later.

It struck me as odd that Kody's wedding ring would have diamonds. Usually a wedding band for a male would be a simple band. There may have been a band with 2 diamond chips representing Kody and Meri. Meri was barely 20 years old at the time of marriage so I don't see where she could afford diamonds of any consequence.

Does anyone recall the engagement and wedding rings that Meri wore when the program started and if there were diamonds as part of the set?

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 12/3/2023 at 8:27 PM, LotusFlower said:

Meri’s “oh my voice will be heard” is all about the book she’s writing.  That’s why she was so mad to hear Christine revealed the melting ring story - Christine beat her to it!  
I can’t stand that this family films a reality show to supposedly lift the veil of polygamy (and greatly benefits from it), and yet they have hidden SO much from viewers. No one more so than Meri.  Asshole Kidney melted his wedding ring 7 or 8 years ago, which of course devastated her, but they all decide to hide it?!!

Yes, they've all been manipulating the audience for years.  I guess they were willing to sell whatever dignity they had for the TLC paycheck and just outright lie and fabricate most of their lives for our "entertainment."  I wish reality tv producers would learn that the audience really wants reality, not a made-up version of events.  The melting down of Mary's wedding gift/ring just goes to show how much juicy stuff actually happened that nobody would fess up to. If the truth had been shown all these years, the ratings would have been through the roof!

[Texasmom1970]

3 hours ago, RazzleberryPie said:

 

Now there’s a thought that could’ve saved my sister wives closet RIP. More kitschy Jewelry like Robyn’s Cookie, Meri’s Rice Crispie Treat, Janelle’s take out Menu, Christine’s Toaster, etc would be much more marketable and in on the joke. Nobody wants to emulate this family and if polygamists were afraid to advertise their marital status, who would want real jewelry? 

I would have loved to seen a knife in (Douche's) kidney!

😂

[65mickey]

Now that's a great idea. A pendant necklace with a kidney and a knife sticking in it. 

[dariafan]

Meri should have said when asked it’s a cool ring , right ?  Said NO

[65mickey]

4 hours ago, Joan of Argh said:

Meri was almost dancing on the ceiling when she thought “Sam” the millionaire was real and she was going to run off with him.

 

 

I imagine it's kind of hard to be concerned about a commitment to a man who treated her like a tissue  used, abused and tossed in the trash.  Same goes for that so called religion that tells women to put up with this crap for the afterlife. Shoot if I had been Meri and Sam were real I'd  take off also. Kody be damned,  And he needn't be rich. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by 65mickey

[Chris Knight]

1 hour ago, 65mickey said:

I imagine it's kind of hard to be concerned about a commitment to a man who treated her like a tissue  used, abused and tossed in the trash.  Same goes for that so called religion that tells women to put up with this crap for the afterlife. Shoot if I had been Meri and Sam were real I'd  take off also. Kody be damned,  And he needn't be rich. 

Word. Any man who treated her half way decent would have been the jackpot for Meri. I dont think any of the OG3 are great people, but no one deserves to be treated the way Kody has treated them. 

I was recently thinking about the episode where Bitch Robyn bought a t-shirt for Janelle and fretted that the largest size, might be too small. That really made me mad. How humiliating ! Robyn also told us she sometimes forgets to eat. Yeah, those days are clearly over ! 

[Texasmom1970]

1 hour ago, Chris Knight said:

 

I was recently thinking about the episode where Bitch Robyn bought a t-shirt for Janelle and fretted that the largest size, might be too small. That really made me mad. How humiliating ! Robyn also told us she sometimes forgets to eat. Yeah, those days are clearly over ! 

I was thinking similar thoughts last week. When they showed photos of when Robyn first joined the family compared to now.

Crybrows and Kotex are looking older and haggard. Meanwhile the original three are looking happy, younger and so alive!

[mythoughtis]

6 hours ago, Sandy W said:

It struck me as odd that Kody's wedding ring would have diamonds. Usually a wedding band for a male would be a simple band. There may have been a band with 2 diamond chips representing Kody and Meri. Meri was barely 20 years old at the time of marriage so I don't see where she could afford diamonds of any consequence.

Does anyone recall the engagement and wedding rings that Meri wore when the program started and if there were diamonds as part of the set?

My spouse’s ring had 5 diamonds and cost more than my solitaire engagement ring and my plain wedding band combined. That is okay because we both got what we wanted. Of course we were in our 30s and employed at the time