S19.E02: Let there be Light

[Mod-Tranquilizer]

Janelle considers leaving Flagstaff for good as she and Maddie look at land in Montana; Kody learns that Meri is asking their church for a release, their religion's word for a divorce; Christine and Aspyn throw Ysabel a welcome home party.

[Mr. Miner]

Kody makes an excellent pathetic buffoon. 🖕🏻

[Dobian]

Can these people never buy an already-built house in an already-built neighborhood?!

"Look at all this laaaaand!!  The mountains, the sky, the big dirt road, and laaaaand as far as the eye can see!!!  Why, in five years we'll have all the permits, and in five more we'll get hooked up to the power line on the highway down yonder.  Yippeee!!!!"

Edited September 23 by Dobian

[surfgirl]

Just when you think Kody Brown cannot be a bigger douche canoe, or go any lower, he always manages to up ante. He is so delusional that it's pathetic.

ETA: And just when you think Sobbyn can't willfully lie to the camera one more time, she goes and doubles down on her fake history versions. 

Edited September 23 by surfgirl

[65mickey]

This was filmed in 2022.  Janelle was 53 when she was dreaming of owning land in Montana and still talking about "her estate." Where does Janelle live now?  She is 55, is she any closer to owning a home?  Or is she still dreaming of green houses, gardens and land?   

I honestly think that Kody is mentally ill and is incapable of dealing with reality. He sees himself as the victim as he states that he is not responsible for the breakup of 3 marriages.  And then you have Robyn saying Janelle thinks for some reason that  Kody and I owe her money. I guess she forgot that Janell gave her money for the purchase of her million $ house. 

[mythoughtis]

1 hour ago, 65mickey said:

This was filmed in 2022.  Janelle was 53 when she was dreaming of owning land in Montana and still talking about "her estate." Where does Janelle live now?  She is 55, is she any closer to owning a home?  Or is she still dreaming of green houses, gardens and land?   

The answer to these questions can be found in her discussion  thread or on the internet. It can’t be discussed here. 

[laurakaye]

So look, you guys - I can see that you have kicked me out of the club.  MY club.  I started the club.  Now I don't even want any part of this club because everyone is so mean to me and I know that every single time any of you get together, it's to say big mean gossipy stuff behind my back and I can't defend myself because I have been kicked out of the club.  MY CLUB, the club I started and let you all join because you begged and begged and I finally gave in even though I didn't want to.  But!  I don't even WANT to be a part of this club!  No one will call me and let me know when the club is having meetings so guess what?  You can all just go away!  Ha!  What do you think of that?  Like, I don't even want you around!  I will do JUST FINE without being in the club.  I will NOT let this club live rent-free in my head like you all think I will!  So next time you have a club meeting?  Do NOT even call me and beg me to join because I won't answer you.  But you should also immediately cease having meetings without me and if I find out you are, I will.....I will....Ha!  I will buy another massive piece of art for my mansion!  And I will sit and look at my art that you can NEVER look at and I will -- I gotta go, Mother is calling, she's awoken from her mid-morning nap but believe you me, I will -- COMING, LOVE!!!  

- Kody Brown, Episode 2 recap

Edited September 23 by laurakaye

[mythoughtis]

@laurakaye

that’s perfect.   

[MaryMitch]

Boy, talk about "the long goodbye". This season is going to be tedious.

[Granny58]

3 hours ago, 65mickey said:

I honestly think that Kody is mentally ill and is incapable of dealing with reality.

He's mentally ill with narcissism.  

[65mickey]

2 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

The answer to these questions can be found in her discussion  thread or on the internet. It can’t be discussed here. 

I meant these to be rhetorical questions to make a point based on what was covered in this episode not to elicit information on Janelle's current status. 

[Granny58]

He invests in art and vehicles?   WTAF.  First and foremost that land should have been paid off, sooner than due if possible.  And then he moans about how the family was best in Las Vegas???  YOU FORCED THE MOVE FROM LV ASSHOLE!

[laurakaye]

Kody has spent the last 30+ years flitting and flouncing from house to house like a mop with its head cut off because he knew that if he rested in one place for too long, things would be demanded of him like conversations with his wives, child care, household work, etc.  That's not his jam.  He just wanted to thump his chest and tell anyone he met that he was a stud with four wives and umpteen children.  He never wanted the actual work that came with it.  And yet, now he sits on the interview couch, wondering where his delightful idea of his great big amazing family went wrong.  He still has an amazing family, it's just that he's no longer in it.  And the fact that they are being amazing without him makes him insane.

And Robyn - STFU about thinking that you're going to have Janelle and perhaps even Meri as neighbors on Plague Pass.  Stop pretending that this isn't what you thought you wanted all along.  Now you've got the booby prize.  And he is one colossal boob.

[islandgal140]

This episode was better than the premiere.

Kody- I didn’t cut off communications with Maddie she cut them off with me

Kody minutes later - all she was doing was fishing for gossip so I had to cut that off

How much we want to bet that Maddie probably asking questions about his life or wanting his side of the story, you know conversation, is fishing for gossip?

Even though it wasn't the deep dive and reveal of their financials that I always wanted and dreamed of, it made me giddy to hear Robyn and Kody's spending habits being questioned. It infuriated me to no end to hear Kody state the extent of his financial responsibilities to his kids is buying them a car and paying insurance! And I am 100% sure he didn't mean health insurance. So food, shelter, education, clothing, medical care, etc., is on who exactly?!?! I don't know how he manages to out jackass himself every season. WTF!! 

Oh, so now the Robyn/Kody manor house is a family asset. LOL!

It warmed the cockles of my dark heart to hear Janelle state that Meri was mistreated and she would like to see her come out financially alright via Plague Prairie.  Made me think back to a season when Janelle said that the divorce and subsequent legal marriage to Robyn worried her because for all their issues she believed Meri would do right by the wives. Robyn, not so much.

Robyn's perpetual state of confusion and "not understanding" is infuriating.  Anyone this constantly confused should be under a court appointed guardian. 

Robyn learned to budget and is good with money now y'all! The implication had me hot! If I was the OG3, this right here would've earned her roundhouse kick. Imagine saying the people that literally put money towards your house don’t know how to handle money.  Clearly all her budgeting wasn't enough to buy her a home and all that trash art and jewelry! 

The best thing the OG3 did was saying no to the family pot. A decade or so too late, but better late than never. 

Nice to see Mitch grilling steaks without it turning into a raging inferno and the steaks becoming charred hockey pucks. Take note Kody!

[AZChristian]

14 minutes ago, islandgal140 said:

It infuriated me to no end to hear Kody state the extent of his financial responsibilities to his kids is buying them a car and paying insurance! And I am 100% sure he didn't mean health insurance.

Many years ago, when the older kids started to drive, one of the boys got a speeding ticket, and was then also ticketed for not having insurance on the car.  I agree that they seem to have mentioned the lack of health insurance in the past.

Maybe he carries life insurance on each of them.  Those Gerber policies are fairly inexpensive on minors, and can be converted to adult insurance if someone is willing to pay the premiums.  Knowing Kody, I suspect his feeling of obligation to provide anything past 18 for any of the non-Robyn kids is zilch.

[js9548]

2 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

Boy, talk about "the long goodbye". This season is going to be tedious.

Yea I wonder how many episodes they will drag out this season.

[General Days]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

Many years ago, when the older kids started to drive, one of the boys got a speeding ticket, and was then also ticketed for not having insurance on the car.  I agree that they seem to have mentioned the lack of health insurance in the past.

Reportedly, it was Christine's son, and he had an accident. It wasn't just a ticket situation; he was sued. This is just a story in The Sun, but the reporting is based on court documents. 

[VioletWitch]

Kody seemed pretty negative about his old church and beliefs. I wonder what happened there... I also wonder if Robyn feels the same way. 

[Roslyn]

Quote

Robyn saying the family always helped one person out, then another, but it stopped.  Yes, it stopped right after Meri & Janelle put money into Robyn's house and then K&R never gave Meri or Janelle any "family" money (or their own money back) to help them buy houses for themselves.

I am pulling this quote from @Denizein the live chat thread.

My fuzzy brain remembers a few things from back then. "Family" money goes to Christine in 2018 when she bought her house in Flagstaff. She pulled a great card when she sold the house because the equity was pretty much equal to her value of the Coyote Pass properties. Even swap. While it wasn't on camera she also had the trump card of Kody stating on camera that a 'pro' of wives having their own houses was if a wife leaves, she has the ability to take equity money with her. Naturally Kody being Kody he then acted like Christine was stealing his personal money when she up and did just that.

So then vegas houses sell, and all that equity $$ pours into Robyn's current house, but Christine's house in Vegas didn't sell until after Kody/Robyn bought the big house. They have never stated anything about whether or not Christine had any equity from her Vegas house. It was on the market for more than 12 months and she would have been paying two mortgage payments for that time.

And...some things they never talked about. So Robyn is saying that the last big thing that "family" money paid for was her house(2019). Meanwhile around the time of Ysabels surgery being planned (2020) Christine is doing lots of LLR sales and pushing pushing. She stated at some point that she had to come up with $50,000 co-pay for the surgery and it took time to find insurance that would cover it. She also let slip in one of those sales that she was still paying for Truely's hospital bill that was over $400,000. None of this has ever been discussed on the show, but just leaked out when Christine was scrambling to pay bills for her children. All the while Kody claims on the show that the "family pot" pays for big expenses for the kids.

Funny how when really really big bills that aren't houses or cars or art but actual quality of life (or death) bills the family pot dries up and Christine and her kids are on their own.

[AZChristian]

Christine sold her rights to the property at Coyote Pass to Kody and Robyn for $10.  She walked away from that, which means that if there is a foreclosure she is not part of it.  Nor can creditors come after her as part of the ownership.

Smart.

[Natalie68]

2 hours ago, surfgirl said:

Actually, both of them stating this ON camera could be usesd in court to support the claim that the other wives deserve their cut of that house too, couldn't it? If so, I am positively gleeful that Kotex and Sobbyn are so stupid that they're giving legal ammunition to the other wives to come after their share of the fugly McMansion. Maybe that's why it's up for sale? Hey, don't crush my dreams people!

Sobbyn's church is other peoples' wallets.

If Janelle is owed money, why doesn't she put a lien on K&R's house? Same with Meri. 

25 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Christine sold her rights to the property at Coyote Pass to Kody and Robyn for $10.  She walked away from that, which means that if there is a foreclosure she is not part of it.  Nor can creditors come after her as part of the ownership.

Smart.

AND it worked out really well for Christine in that Kody needed to come off of the deed to her house to get financing to Robyn's house. Then she was able to walk away with the equity in that house.  I would bet a lot of $$ that isn't what Kody intended to happen.

[ginger90]

3 minutes ago, Natalie68 said:

If Janelle is owed money, why doesn't she put a lien on K&R's house? Same with Meri. 

I doubt there’s anything in writing about a loan and a due by date.

[Granny58]

Janelle was saying that since she wasn't legally married, then getting anything from Kody was going to be hard.  IMO, however, they aren't unique.  There are other plig families in that region.  This must have been dealt with before.  Also, it's all on video.  I think she'll get what she's due.  

[Absolom]

47 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Christine sold her rights to the property at Coyote Pass to Kody and Robyn for $10.  She walked away from that, which means that if there is a foreclosure she is not part of it.  Nor can creditors come after her as part of the ownership.

Smart.

And walked away with the equity that was in the house when it sold.  

[MamaGee]

Why is Kody so bitter with their old church? At one point, he was happy to be the poster child. Now he's horribly angry toward them. Newsflash dip $hit: YOU screwed up your marriages, not your old church. 

[Dobian]

59 minutes ago, MamaGee said:

Why is Kody so bitter with their old church? At one point, he was happy to be the poster child. Now he's horribly angry toward them. Newsflash dip $hit: YOU screwed up your marriages, not your old church. 

i'd rather hear about his old church's opinion of Kody.  What do these polygamists think of this guy who made a shitshow out of polygamy, which is a shitshow to begin with?  Quite the feat!

Edited September 23 by Dobian

[Denize]

8 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Many years ago, when the older kids started to drive, one of the boys got a speeding ticket, and was then also ticketed for not having insurance on the car.  I agree that they seem to have mentioned the lack of health insurance in the past.

I think he rear-ended a car with two ladies in it who got whiplash & then sued Kody, the owner of the uninsured car.  

[Meow Mix]

I was pleasantly surprised to get as much financial info as we got this episode.  My jaw hit the floor when Robyn claimed she was a better money manager than the other wives.  The other wives managed to support multiple kids and pay for places to live without being able to dip into the family pot because Robyn spent it all.  She's a piece of work.  And I loved that someone finally mentioned all that ugly art and other junk in Kody and Robyn's house.  Janelle has his number and I hope she gets her money.

Kody can't keep his own statements straight.  In addition to his accusing Maddie of cutting off communication off with him, then stating a few sentences later that he cut off communication with her, there was the statements about his old church.  He claimed he didn't want to disparage his old church, but promptly called those beliefs BS.  Last time I checked, that was disparagement.  

I loved Meri referencing karma regarding his dealings with Janelle.  He was complaining that Janelle wouldn't talk to him and give him a sense of where he stood with her.  I was thinking that sounded awfully familiar when Meri pointed it out.  I'm glad Meri is finally seeing things the way they are.  And Kody is seriously ticked that she is seeking a release.  That was why he spewed all that nasty stuff about her saying he just wanted her to go away.  I don't think he expected Meri who had been crawling after him for years to finally be done with him and to take steps to religiously sever the relationship.  Good for her and I hope she has divorced Kody the way Robyn says she has to multiple times by now.

I think it's nice seeing how the kids interact with each other.  They genuinely care for each other and enjoy it when they can get together.  It was nice that they had a party to welcome Ysabel back and that some of Janelle's kids were there.  Of course, we had to hear sad sack Aurora complaining and changing her story to say that several of the OG kids had told her she wasn't their real sister.  I have no doubt something like that was said in a moment of anger when everyone was growing up, but I'll bet nothing like that was said recently.  Sadly she doesn't know what the truth is because she has been isolated listening to her mother's endless pity party.

Much as I'm rooting for Janelle, I get the sense she really doesn't understand how much work rural living can be.  Driving 40 minutes to the nearest town is just the start of it.  Caring for that much land is a lot of work and will cost money no matter what you do.  And so far Janelle hasn't had much follow through on gardens or greenhouses.

I still hope they pick up the pace here.  I get it, Kody hates his OG wives and kids and he really resents that they are getting on with their lives without him.  I thought his remark in the last episode about FOMO was nuts, but he surpassed himself this time.  

[BAForever]

Long-time watcher- wanted to comment on "his church." I do recall Kody leading living room services for the family only. I believe they visited another plyg fam (the Darger's maybe) and the men discussed religion. Other than that, I don't recall any church that the family attended. Maybe in Lehi?

Since he is the headship and leader of the family, if he's unhappy with their spiritual journey, that's on him.

The guy just makes up stuff as he goes along. 

[Yeah No]

7 hours ago, MamaGee said:

Why is Kody so bitter with their old church? At one point, he was happy to be the poster child. Now he's horribly angry toward them. Newsflash dip $hit: YOU screwed up your marriages, not your old church. 

He's probably angry with them because they're angry with HIM for being a very bad and very public example of their religion. He was supposed to go on TV to make polygamy look great and ended up doing just the opposite. So they must be down on him for making them look bad. I wouldn't be surprised if they kicked his ass out and his bitter attitude and rejection of his faith is now just sour grapes.

14 hours ago, Granny58 said:

He invests in art and vehicles?   WTAF. 

He must have blown a lot of money on all those velvet paintings in his and Robyn's bedroom that look like they came from a roadside stand.

One thing he admitted in this episode is that one of the rules of his faith was that a husband couldn't end a marriage with any of his wives - that they would have to end it first. So that explains why he was stringing all these women along and BS-ing them into thinking he wanted to work things out with them for years on end. He was hoping they'd get sick of it and be the ones to cut ties with him first. In hindsight it's obvious that he never had any intention of working things out with any of them and all the so-called "effort" he wanted us to believe he was putting into his marriages was a lie. He was at that point still trying to push the "big happy family" fiction on the show to please the elders of his faith and look like he was doing everything they expected from him. But I think it was obvious after a while that he was just going through the motions and not making any sincere effort to work out his issues with any of his wives (other than Robyn of course). And I'm sure that was noticed by his church elders too. The only person Kody fools is himself.

 

 

 

[eskimo]

Well there we have it, this was KODY'S club.  Not a family of individuals who are their own people, but rather extensions of Kody himself.  Two dimensional characters who fade into the wallpaper until it's time for Kody to interact with them.  It actually offends him, on the occasions that he even notices, that they have seperate feelings and experiences.  Narcissism is wild. 

[heatherchandler]

9 hours ago, Natalie68 said:

If Janelle is owed money, why doesn't she put a lien on K&R's house? Same with Meri. 

I think in order to put a lien, there needs to be more than just thoughts and ideas about who is owed what from the “family pot.”

[Joan of Argh]

30 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

I think in order to put a lien, there needs to be more than just thoughts and ideas about who is owed what from the “family pot.”

exactly plus Janelle has a history of talking a big game with nothing to back it up, this time I hope she has the receipts and not just he said, she said. 🙄

remember the day they took all the kids and rolled out to the flagstaff properties,  Robyn liked one property and the others liked a different one meanwhile Janelle stood there boasting how she might just pull out a check and buy the one she preferred and to hell with everyone else, she bragged how she controlled all the family money and was the only one authorized to cut cheques for the family and major expenditures, she was the family finances expert!!                                
Yet now she has some half baked claim of Kody and Robyn owing her money and she needs to hire a lawyer, ya real financial wizard!!
Look out Warren Buffet, watch out Elon Musk, BEWARE Bill Gates and LOOK OUT Jeff Besos!!!!!… Janelle Brown is da new kid on the block!!!   🤡

 

[Elodia]

5 hours ago, eskimo said:

this was KODY'S club.

First (three) wives club 😉

[65mickey]

I remember the scene when they were looking at the Cottonwood property and Janelle was so excited about it that she bragged that she felt like writing a check then and there. Of course we all know that Robyn got her way and they bought Coyote Pass. If Janelle was keeping the books she should have noticed if Kody  regularly dipping into the family saving account. In a perfect world that account should have required 2 signatures for checks and withdrawals. It sounds like Janelle saw the money going out of the account and just turned a blind eye.  Based on what was said on this episode Meri, Janelle, and Christine took care of their homes and expenses on their own. But Robyn had Kody's money to run her household along with hers. In what world was this fair?  

Christine was the smart one. she got out with the equity in her home. Legally Meri and Janelle are probably just SOL.They freely gave money to Robyn and watched Kody spending the family savings on a regular basis.  They only thing that they can do is lawyer up about the Coyote Pass property and get their share of  money if it is sold.  But like Joan of Argh said Janelle is a lot of talk and no action. And she is known for making bad decisions about her finances. 

[smarty]

I think an interesting financial tidbit that came out of this episode is that all the OG 3 wives paid their mortgages themselves but Kody was paying half of Robyn's mortgage.  It seemed obvious that there was more money at Robyn's house based on her fabulous Las Vegas backyard playground (as opposed to the others' dirt back yards) and then the Flagstaff mansion.  If they were splitting the TLC money in 5 shares, Kody and Robyn were getting 40% of the pot.  Plus with Kody keeping 100% of his sideline jobs' income you can see how there was money for velvet paintings.  Meanwhile the others had to struggle on their own to cover their necessary expenses.  

[Absolom]

13 hours ago, BAForever said:

Long-time watcher- wanted to comment on "his church." I do recall Kody leading living room services for the family only. I believe they visited another plyg fam (the Darger's maybe) and the men discussed religion. Other than that, I don't recall any church that the family attended. Maybe in Lehi?

Since he is the headship and leader of the family, if he's unhappy with their spiritual journey, that's on him.

The guy just makes up stuff as he goes along. 

By "his church" I believe Kody is referring to the AUB where they were at least nominally members for years.  Since adult males are all priesthood holders or something along those lines, he could hold services wherever or else they were simply winging it for the show.  That's the church Meri is referring to about getting a release from the marriage.

2 hours ago, smarty said:

If they were splitting the TLC money in 5 shares, Kody and Robyn were getting 40% of the pot. 

It's worse than that.  They said on teevee that the show earnings were split six ways a share to each parent and a sixth "family pot" to cover big ticket items.  Originally that would have been weddings, college, major medical, etc.  As time went on, it looks like Kody and Robyn took their two shares but also the family pot over which Kody exercised discretion giving them 50 percent of the show earnings.

[laurakaye]

16 hours ago, MamaGee said:

Why is Kody so bitter with their old church? At one point, he was happy to be the poster child. Now he's horribly angry toward them. Newsflash dip $hit: YOU screwed up your marriages, not your old church. 

I'm not convinced he ever believed in the "faith."  I think he came back from his mission trip, saw that his parents were now polygamists, and took the opportunity to shed the rumors about himself and - realizing how charming and handsome he was (back then) - snagged several wives himself.  I also think this was a way to either show up his father or try to be just like him (I think there are some major daddy issues with Kody and Wynn but I can't parse out what they are).

It is always so jarring when Aurora and Brianna appear on the screen...because Brianna is a mini-Robyn, and because they just seem like such sad wet blankets.  That's Robyn's fault, of course, and the girls said as much - they wished the adults had helped them foster relationships with their new siblings but clearly the opposite happened so their mother could force an even bigger divide between poor cap-in-hand Robyn and those mean extra kids and wives.

Kody telling us that he hasn't had communication with Maddie but it's not really his fault because she hasn't reached out either is all I ever need to know about what a true narcissist he is.  That's your CHILD.  REACH OUT, you moron.  Those are your grandkids!  And they don't know who you are!  And for the love, shut your face, Robyn - stop telling us you're trying to get Kody to have good relationships with his adult kids.  She was the one telling Kody how mean his  bonus kids all were to her kids, probably for years and now?  Kody finally turned on them.  And some of those relationships might be permanently unfixable.  Chef's kiss, Robyn.  I think she wanted what she has now, but now that she has it, she wishes she didn't and that is perfect.

 

 

 

[General Days]

17 hours ago, MamaGee said:

Why is Kody so bitter with their old church? At one point, he was happy to be the poster child. Now he's horribly angry toward them. Newsflash dip $hit: YOU screwed up your marriages, not your old church. 

 

27 minutes ago, Absolom said:

By "his church" I believe Kody is referring to the AUB where they were at least nominally members for years.  Since adult males are all priesthood holders or something along those lines, he could hold services wherever or else they were simply winging it for the show.  That's the church Meri is referring to about getting a release from the marriage.

 

As @Absolom mentioned, adult males (who have reached certain milestones) are priesthood holders. In general, Mormons don't have an educated, professional clergy in the same way mainstream Christian denominations/churches do, and their churches (ward houses, endowment houses) don't hire/pay a pastor. They use a lot of the same titles, but they don't mean the same thing. I had a whole big thing about that written up, but it was too long. 

Anyhow, once the Browns moved away from Lehi, which was near their "church" (the endowment house in Bluffdale Utah, which is where the AUB is headquartered), they held their own services ("Sacrament Meetings"), but I'm not sure when they stopped. 

In the "Knife in the Kidneys" episode, or around then, one of the Browns (Janelle, maybe) mentioned that both Christine and Kody no longer believed in their faith. It's since been repeated about Christine on air (sometimes, by Christine), but I don't think anyone ever acknowledged it about Kody on-screen again, until this episode, "Let There Be Light."

Back in Lehi, before they were on the show, Christine worked with a group called "Principle Voices" ("Principle" being shorthand for the "Principle of Plural Marriage") which did PR to differentiate their sect (and maybe other polygamous sects) from abuses of the kind documented about Warren Jeffs' FLDS.

Principle Voices' goal was to destigmatize polygamous Mormons, and decriminalize and/or legalize polygamy. Christine's work brought them to the attention of Puddle Monkey Productions (Christopher Poole and Tim Gibbons) which created/produces the TV series, and which is how we all got stuck in this circle of Hell called Sister Wives. 
 

THEORY ABOUT KODY'S BITTERNESS WITH THE AUB

Like most polygamous sects, generally speaking, while the AUB wants to benefit from good PR, it doesn't want media attention, for various reasons including but beyond the fact that polygamy isn't legal. 

After Utah investigated the Browns for polygamy, the Browns sued Utah. Although they won in district court, that ruling was eventually overturned on appeal, with the reason given that the Browns lacked standing. 

Kody has at times claimed they were excommunicated. A former AUB member, who still has family in it, says he has previously inquired about this, and does not believe it to be true. Source.

It also seems not to be true on its face, or Meri and Janelle wouldn't be talking about getting an AUB release from their spiritual marriages to Kody. If you're kicked out, how would you even begin the process to get a release from that church?

I think when the Brown started the show, and first filed the lawsuit, Kody imagined he was going to be a big, damned hero in the AUB. He's not, and he needs to hate someone for it. 

When he wasn't hailed as some conquering hero, and when the AUB told the Browns not to mention them on air, etc., I think Kody got bitter.

As we have seen on the show, time and time again, nothing can ever be Kody's fault. When something goes wrong, he seems to have a need to blame anyone but that man in the mirror.

 

[Kellyee]

If Kody and Robyn ever want the family to be close and amiable again, they need to have a "truth" moment where they admit there was favoritism and that Robyn did not get that million dollar home using only good budgeting. They sound like idiots and their lies are transparent to anyone with a brain. 

Kody also needs to not say he couldn't leave his marriages because of a former faith he claims is bullshit. That made no sense whatsoever and the film crew must have had a field day listening to him try to explain it. 

I do believe Aurora and Breanna when they say there were people who told them they were not welcome in the family. I can see Paedon, Maddie, and/or Leon taking that kind of attitude. I feel bad for Robyn's kids. I think they were dragged into a situation where there were issues from the start, and it was never going to end well. There are other sibling issues as well. Mykelti wasn't always accepted by her siblings, and Gwen and Paedon won't even be in the same room as each other. 

Christine needs to stop annoying the crap out of Janelle. I'm glad Christine left a man who never loved or even liked her, but she's annoying as hell. She is very interested in gossip, and she and Maddie seem to have the same attitude. Christine goes on and on about having moved on, then she spends time trying to get Janelle to leave Kody so she can have Janelle and also to screw over Kody. 

 

[Natalie68]

12 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I think in order to put a lien, there needs to be more than just thoughts and ideas about who is owed what from the “family pot.”

I am guessing Janelle and Meri have some sort of proof about what they paid towards Robyn's house. Maybe they can't do it but at least they need to get an atty to remove themselves from CP with some funds.  Heck, they could show last ep where Robyn said the house was a family asset.

[ginger90]

I would guess they had to sign something that said the money toward the house were gifts. Banks like to know where money came from.

[General Days]

I'd really like to know why Meri's Coyote Pass lot is so much smaller. I wonder if she was smart enough to put up less money, or if she was only "entitled" to a smaller lot, because she only contributed one child to the family. 

[SemiCharmedLife]

13 hours ago, Yeah No said:

One thing he admitted in this episode is that one of the rules of his faith was that a husband couldn't end a marriage with any of his wives - that they would have to end it first. So that explains why he was stringing all these women along and BS-ing them into thinking he wanted to work things out with them for years on end. He was hoping they'd get sick of it and be the ones to cut ties with him first. In hindsight it's obvious that he never had any intention of working things out with any of them and all the so-called "effort" he wanted us to believe he was putting into his marriages was a lie. He was at that point still trying to push the "big happy family" fiction on the show to please the elders of his faith and look like he was doing everything they expected from him. But I think it was obvious after a while that he was just going through the motions and not making any sincere effort to work out his issues with any of his wives (other than Robyn of course). And I'm sure that was noticed by his church elders too. The only person Kody fools is himself.

Yes, and not to mention, all the money they were raking in with the show.  They had to keep up the polygamy story so the series would continue.  Christine eventually blew that up with her leaving Kody...and I think that's why Kody and Robyn were so mad at her.  They were afraid of losing the gravy train.  But, TLC figured the demise of this family would draw in viewers, too.

[SemiCharmedLife]

52 minutes ago, Natalie68 said:

I am guessing Janelle and Meri have some sort of proof about what they paid towards Robyn's house. Maybe they can't do it but at least they need to get an atty to remove themselves from CP with some funds.  Heck, they could show last ep where Robyn said the house was a family asset.

Yes!  Robyn just put her foot in her mouth.  She admitted that the mansion is a family asset.  I'm hoping both Meri and Janelle have paperwork stating how much they contributed to the house.  After all these years of cheating the other wives, I don't want Kody and Robyn to get away with another penny that is not theirs.

[General Days]

I'd like to understand why, when Christine gave up her share of Coyote Pass, in exchange for her old Flagstaff house, why her lot went to just Kody and Robyn, rather than to all four remaining parents.

[ChristmasJones]

24 minutes ago, General Days said:

why her lot went to just Kody and Robyn, rather than to all four remaining parents.

 

Have the Browns ever shown that they use rational thinking when making decisions?

[General Days]

Certainly not. I just feel like Kody was screwing over Janelle and Meri (whom he was over screwing), and it seems to me Christine didn't care, so long as she got her way. 

[MamaMax]

5 hours ago, Absolom said:

By "his church" I believe Kody is referring to the AUB where they were at least nominally members for years.  Since adult males are all priesthood holders or something along those lines, he could hold services wherever or else they were simply winging it for the show.  That's the church Meri is referring to about getting a release from the marriage.

It's worse than that.  They said on teevee that the show earnings were split six ways a share to each parent and a sixth "family pot" to cover big ticket items.  Originally that would have been weddings, college, major medical, etc.  As time went on, it looks like Kody and Robyn took their two shares but also the family pot over which Kody exercised discretion giving them 50 percent of the show earnings.

OK this makes me SO MAD.  Why the hell does Kody who is literally ONE PERSON get even 1/6 of the total income when the other people all have  1. a house to support and   2.  SEVERAL dependent children??  He shouldn't need as much. He was supposed to be splitting his time across all the homes, he isn't maintaining one of his own. He isn't grocery shopping or providing clothing for kids.  He is SO selfish. And Robyn was right to call him her customer - since having him favor her and want to be at her house meant she had access to DOUBLE the resources of the other wives. And that isn't even addressing the "1 or no dependent kids" versus up to six dependent kids unfairness aspect of all the wives getting an equal cut.  The fact that these women accepted these terms is sickening. 

[VioletWitch]

About Kody and his bitterness towards the church, the family was active when the show started. Some of the kids attended the AUB charter school, the kids were active in their youth group, Kody met Robyn at a church event, etc. They started the home services because their church didn't extend to Vegas, and I remember Robyn pearl clutching when Janelle and Christine were considering sending their kids to a mainstream Christian youth group because the kids missed their old one. 

I do think Kody's current antagonistic attitude towards the church is because he feels like it ruined his life. I really do believe that he regrets polygamy and the mess it caused in his life--although I would argue his own behaviors and attitudes played the biggest part in why he is so unhappy.

I wonder if he has left all faith entirely or is going back to the more mainstream LDS beliefs of his youth. Robyn has always seemed like she believes fundamentalism is the superior way to me that I wonder how she is feeling in all of this, or if she is following his lead. I mean, Kody is now acting like all the vows he made in that church are worthless, which would include his sealing with Robyn. If you subscribe to FLDS/LDS beliefs, this fundamentally changes what happens in the afterlife if you are a believer. I would not be surprised if this becomes a fight between Kody and Robyn down the road.