My Five Wives - General Discussion

[zenme]

I like Rhonda, but I don't mean to be insensitive but it just seems she's always awaiting test results and I'm getting tired of it.  Sorry.  Like I said, I know it seems insensitive, but there's always some medical drama with her.

[alt0233]

I just got super judgy about the car seat situation they had going in there. Was he in a booster? At 3? That didn't even look latched in correctly - it looked like he strapped him in, and then wrapped the car seat around that- so unsafe! Dude, I don't care how many wives and kids you have, but FFS buckle in your kids correctly!

Sorry, serious sanctimommy moment.

[tabloidlover]

TWENTY-FOUR kids and you canNOT figure out how to buckle up a car seat???   For reals??  Then, you take him for ice cream after having him tested for diabetes?  And for the love of God, can these women get thru a single day without crying?  Holy cow!  I'm so friggin annoyed with them, I can hardly get thru the episode.

 

Edited to add a couple more contradictory items in tonight's show.  Nik (I think that's how Robyn spelled it) was running a fever, so we jump to the diabetes conclusion?   In her talking heads, she mentioned how much water he was drinking, but all I saw him drink was some type of juice (dark liquid) from a bottle.  Kid is 3 years old, drinking from a bottle while wearing a diaper, and his mother is diagnosing Juvenile Diabetes..... Ya, let's let her adopt a child - fantastic idea!  

 

Wives celebrating Brady McDumbass ability to be a parent?  Seriously, guys?  Your idiot husband couldn't figure out the car seat, and that poor kid was basically strapped in via a  crooked seatbelt wrapped haphazardly around him.  And that car seat looked as though it was pretty ragged.  He can afford a full size, 5 door pick-up truck, but the car seat looked like a hand me down from a thrift store.  Anyone else notice the poor kid moved his bandaid from the site of the needle prick to the  "area where dad pinched your thigh with the belt"??  Poor kid! 

 

Rhonda needs to get the fuck outta Dodge if she's that miserable.  She is setting a horrible example for her children by being so terribly sad and depressed all of the time.   She could not be more pitiful if she tried.  

 

Everyone talks a big game about how much they love each other, but all I see are a bunch of pre-pubescent children (maturity wise) angling for any scrap of attention they can get from their shared husband.   I do not see a single real relationship out of the entire bunch.  Brady and his  "luv ya, sweetie"  is so insincere and patronizing, I want to throw something at him. 

Edited November 3, 2014 by tabloidlover

[woodscommaelle]

Zip line lady: Make sure to brake at the end bc there's a huge tree there.

The look on Robyn's face and her 'wha???!?' reply was great.

I thought the drive-thru dinner was a cute idea.

Since Rhonda loves her job so much couldn't she have just gone to part time? Then she'd get the 'best' of both worlds.

Edited November 3, 2014 by woodscommaelle

[WalrusGirl]

I just got super judgy about the car seat situation they had going in there. Was he in a booster? At 3? That didn't even look latched in correctly - it looked like he strapped him in, and then wrapped the car seat around that- so unsafe! Dude, I don't care how many wives and kids you have, but FFS buckle in your kids correctly!

Sorry, serious sanctimommy moment.

I don't even have kids and my eyes were wide as saucers. The shoulder straps were incredibly loose and one was resting with inches of slack down his arm - the kid would have flown right out of it and into the windshield in any accident involving speed or a turn-over. Then on top of that, the seat itself didn't seem at all secure, and...guy has to know that that's NOT how a seatbelt secures a seat or booster, right? I couldn't have ethically silently documented that without FIXING IT if I were one of the production members present. OMFG.

[Sammich63]

I like Rhonda, but I don't mean to be insensitive but it just seems she's always awaiting test results and I'm getting tired of it.  Sorry.  Like I said, I know it seems insensitive, but there's always some medical drama with her.

I agree.  I thought she was way OTT dramatic about the possibility of juvenile diabetes in the little boy.  I think if this had been a concern of hers for a while, she would have tested him earlier.  Also, he sure seemed to feel better quickly.  It's like they were capitalizing on Truely's illness on SW, and there is just no comparison.  I can say that Rhonda really grated on my nerves this episode.  I also really feel that Brady just tolerates Robyn, and that makes me feel bad for her.  He suggested zip lining knowing that Robyn is afraid of heights.  He is such a tool!!! 

[Adeejay]

Poor Nik!  I can’t get over the way “Father of the Year” Brady manhandled him.  I am sick and tired of Robyn and her tears.  She seems to have mental and emotional issues.  I can well image the meltdown if her family hadn’t shown up for the bbq.  My heart aches for Rosemary.  She is seemingly Brady’s least favorite and to add insult to injury, her family no longer speaks to her.  Good thing she has her kids.  Rhonda mentioned how much her job means to her; it would be nice if she were allowed to continue to work, at least part time.  I can’t help but notice how overly affectionate Brady is with her; surely, the other wives notice too.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Adeejay

[camom]

If my kid got a fever, I wouldn't jump to a diabetes conclusion.  Drinking a lot of water is a symptom, but maybe he was extra thirsty because he had a fever.  Creating drama where there really is none.

 

The "you can quit your job because I can support you" stuff made my blood boil, knowing about the subsequent bankruptcy.  And I have to wonder about the thinking behind going on a zip line with someone you know is terrified of heights.  Nonie seemed to enjoy that a little too much.

 

I did feel sorry for Rosemary, though.  

[Adeejay]

 

The "you can quit your job because I can support you" stuff made my blood boil, knowing about the subsequent bankruptcy.

I am confused. I was under the impression that the 1.8 million dollars contract was awarded this summer.

[joanofarch4]

They really need a new medical advisor for this show, or else Rhonda is a bona fide hypochondriac.  Family history or not, a fibroadenoma is not breast cancer, and a fever is not Type I diabetes (high readings can be determined instantaneously with a glucose reader and a mere drop of blood).  Calm it down, sister!  Or maybe TLC scriptwriters were trying to recreate notable scenarios from other successful (in terms of ratings) shows.  At any rate, this hysteria over imaginary diseases seems quite effective in stealing Brady's attention away from the wives who aren't drama queens (namely Rosemary).  I'm assuming all of the mothers get WIC and AFDC for each child; hence the frenzy to procreate and lackadaisical attitude toward the women working?  Brady may want to feel as if he's supporting that entire brood, but I seriously doubt that he can or does.

Edited November 3, 2014 by joanofarch4

[GleamingMist]

So glad I wasn't the only one angry about the car seat situation.  I have never been more enraged about anything on TV in a long time.  It looked at one point as if the kid had pulled the straps right off...so dangerous!

[Jellybeans]

Re: the car seat situation, now is a good time for TLC to send Brady (and wives?) to a car seat seminar as a plot line device AND public service announcement. They are always offering free car seat seminars at various locales through out the city.

[Galloway Cave]

I guess since Rosemary's dad is the current leader/president/prophet/grand poobah of the AUB, his family doesn't think it would be proper to appear on a television show about progressive non-denominational polygamists. This is the only time I felt bad for someone on one of these shows; Rosemary seemed really sad that no one in her family showed up.

 

I read that the bankruptcy had been filed before the first season aired. So why was Doofus pushing the wives to quit work knowing full well they were in the middle of a bankruptcy? I wonder if Rhonda really quit or if she just said she was for the storyline.

[Snarklepuss]

Limp dishrag personality - I love that, it fits so well!  The women almost sound like they're talking baby talk.  They seem so spineless and wimpy.

 

I am beginning to think Brady has no business being in construction.  Most people who really fit in construction don't also have a burning interest in Philosophy.  What happened to him getting the degree in Philosophy?  They haven't mentioned that yet  this season.   Also, if he were really a "hands on" type of guy he would not have been totaled by that car seat.  Why do I have this feeling that Brady has really been unemployed and suddenly became part of his brother's construction business to make him look like he had a job on the show?  And to make it look like he's not such a bad guy sitting home while his wives work for him.

 

What I don't understand about the bankruptcy is not only the new construction contract, but the new income from the show.  Unless they were THAT heavily in debt?  I don't get it, then again I haven't asked Mr. Snarklepuss (a lawyer) how that works.  I thought when Brady asked Rhonda to quit working because of the new income from the business, I thought it was a cover for the new income from the show.  So count me totally confused as well on this one.

[ghoulina]

Edited to add a couple more contradictory items in tonight's show.  Nik (I think that's how Robyn spelled it) was running a fever, so we jump to the diabetes conclusion?   In her talking heads, she mentioned how much water he was drinking, but all I saw him drink was some type of juice (dark liquid) from a bottle.  Kid is 3 years old, drinking from a bottle while wearing a diaper, and his mother is diagnosing Juvenile Diabetes..... Ya, let's let her adopt a child - fantastic idea!

 

Oh my gosh, I thought the same thing. I was saying to myself, "Did I nod off and miss something? Do I need to rewind? Why are they testing for diabetes???" It would be one thing if he wasn't sick and drinking water excessively, having a lot of wet diapers, etc. But when a kid is throwing up and running a fever, it's perfectly normal for them to increase their water intake. Sheesh. After all these kids, you'd think she'd know that. I'm beginning to see a bit of a hypochondriac in her. I actually kind of worry if she's staying home with the kids now one of them will be in the doctor's office or urgent care every week. 

 

Or maybe they just wanted to try and compete with Truely Brown and her health scare. I know, I'm going to hell....

 

I am with you all on the car seat. No words. Reality TV has made it painfully obvious that there are a great many parents out there who have NO clue how to use a damn car seat. And it scares me. I have 3 kids, I know that those things can sometimes be tricky and hard to use. However, common sense should dictate that incredibly loose straps = incredibly unsafe. I mean, I would think a 5-year-old would come to that conclusion. Sheesh. 

 

I really didn't understand why it was a risk for "possibly pregnant" Nonie to ride a horse, but ziplining was perfectly okay. Maybe Brady doesn't like horses? Or maybe he was able to get a freebie from the zipline people, but not the horse ranch? Something was just weird about the whole thing. 

 

These women laugh too much. I know, what an odd thing for me to say. Better than crying, right? At first I thought it was kind of nice, a sign that they're really close and enjoy each other's company. But last night one of the wives told Nonie and Robyn to take lots of pictures on their date, and everyone started laughing. Really hard. I was like, "Did I miss something? How is that funny?" So I'm beginning to wonder if that's just their defense mechanism for dealing with this situation - laugh at everything. Pretend it's all fun and games. Or maybe they're all just idiots and every little thing really IS hysterical to them?

[Lovecat]

These women laugh too much. I know, what an odd thing for me to say. Better than crying, right? At first I thought it was kind of nice, a sign that they're really close and enjoy each other's company. But last night one of the wives told Nonie and Robyn to take lots of pictures on their date, and everyone started laughing. Really hard. I was like, "Did I miss something? How is that funny?" So I'm beginning to wonder if that's just their defense mechanism for dealing with this situation - laugh at everything. Pretend it's all fun and games. Or maybe they're all just idiots and every little thing really IS hysterical to them?

You probably missed it in some cross-talk, but someone had commented that Brady looks *really* good on a horse, to which someone else replied, "Oooh, take lots of pictures!!" They were laughing so hard because they were being so *saucy* ;)

[ghoulina]

Ohhhh, okay. I DID miss something then. Maybe if this show were more interesting....

[gunderda]

Rhonda did mention that juvenile diabetes does run in her family so i guess it was probably just a better safe than sorry type of thing.

 

And WTF with her quitting her job.  I have a feeling there's more to that story than just her wanting to be at home more to take care of her kids. I have a feeling she might not have been wanted at her job anymore and they wanted it to seem like it was her choice to leave.

 

That bums me out though. 

[JoannKB]

I really didn't understand why it was a risk for "possibly pregnant" Nonie to ride a horse, but ziplining was perfectly okay.

Brady, even after 24 kids, apparently gets his medical info from the movies. I thought I heard him say something like, "You know how, in the movies, you always see that pregnant women can't ride horses?"

 

A normal person would have taken a pregnancy test, to confirm if there even was a pregnancy, and then called their doctor to ask about horseback riding, if they were pregnant. But these people are not normal.

[Galloway Cave]

 

A normal person would have taken a pregnancy test, to confirm if there even was a pregnancy

Exactly. Take five minutes to pee on the stick, rule out that she is pregnant, then call up the stable for an appointment to ride. Instead, Brady got to terrorize one of his wives with the zipline that HE wanted to do. The look on poor Robyn's face every time she looked back at him before she took off was heartbreaking. Brady and TLC are sadists. Why didn't they just draw another date idea (that they all had agreed upon) out of the jar?

[shoovenbooty]

I think I rolled my eyes through this entire episode. From the made-up health scare ("Nik is running a fever! Juvenile diabetes is the only possible explanation!") to the twofer date that was so boring I FF'd through it, to the "Will anyone still love us enough to show up to our BBQ?!" scenario, and having to listen to every. damn. conversation. spoken in monotone. Ugh, why do I still watch this?

I was also annoyed that for a family who supposedly has type I diabetes running rampantly through it, they seem to know very little about it. I have a family history of type I, or "juvenile" diabetes in my family, and the misconceptions about it bug me. Rhonda was upset that Brady took Nik for ice cream after his testing. Without getting into every detail on diabetes, I will say that eating sweets does not cause a child to get type I diabetes, and diabetics are not forbidden from eating just about anything when they are treating their diabetes correctly (just ask my 9-year-old niece, who has the disease and uses an insulin pump, and constantly has to answer questions like, "Did you eat too much sugar, and that's why you got diabetes?" or, "Why are you eating a cupcake, when you have diabetes?"). The corn dogs and fries Rhonda served were equally bad for his "diabetes". If the doctor had been that concerned, in-office testing would have given a much faster answer than just drawing blood and telling the family they'd get a call in the future. Anyway, rant over.

And did Brady call it "ice keem" when he was telling Rhonda about it? I rewound it and listened again, and that's how it sounded to me. Which promptly caused me to roll my eyes again.

Edited November 4, 2014 by shoovenbooty

[wrestlesflamingos]

I can't keep watching this show if they don't start voting people off.

[ghoulina]

First vote off? Hmmm, Paulie or Nonie. I would, especially, love to see the look on Paulie's purse-lipped face if she was sent packing. 

[ginger90]

The show is back on Sunday with a "mammo party".

[wrestlesflamingos]

I do not watch tv for middle age health concerns. I have a mirror. 

[Toaster Strudel]

Sorry guys, I tried to watch the show this week, caught a glimpse of Hardly Studly getting some contract after declaring bankruptcy, some women whining, and I had to press DELETE.

[Turquoise]

Oh my gosh, I thought the same thing. I was saying to myself, "Did I nod off and miss something? Do I need to rewind? Why are they testing for diabetes???" It would be one thing if he wasn't sick and drinking water excessively, having a lot of wet diapers, etc. But when a kid is throwing up and running a fever, it's perfectly normal for them to increase their water intake. Sheesh. After all these kids, you'd think she'd know that. I'm beginning to see a bit of a hypochondriac in her. I actually kind of worry if she's staying home with the kids now one of them will be in the doctor's office or urgent care every week. 

 

 

 

 

 

I was beginning to wonder why she didn't just quarantine him for Ebola. He was running a fever, after all. Geesh. I've only had one child, and my immediate assessment was, "Poor baby picked up a bug. Not too unusual with 20+ siblings."

[Madding crowd]

I kept thinking a kid with a fever of 102 probably has chills and feels lousy, he should be home in bed under the covers. I have never taken a kid with a fever anywhere but the doctor. I liked Rhonda last season, but her baby voice, really careful way of speaking, and constant worry is really getting to me. Paulie looks depressed and Robyn cries every day. Only like Nonie at this point.

[Adeejay]

Let me see if I understand this.  Single, unemployed, hypochondriac Rhonda is going to call an adoption agency and tell them she is a polygamist and would like to adopt a child.  And then when they hang up on her (because really, how could this not be a prank call), she becomes indignant and irate?!  I can’t with these people.  It’s only the second season and already they are out of ideas for the show.  I still don’t understand why they didn’t go with the family that went on vacation with the Browns.

[gunderda]

I'm not sure why i keep watching this show.... their commercials even annoy me!!

 

"we are best friends"  ummm no you are not. 

[MarysWetBar]

Let me see if I understand this. Single, unemployed, hypochondriac Rhonda is going to call an adoption agency and tell them she is a polygamist and would like to adopt a child. And then when they hang up on her (because really, how could this not be a prank call), she becomes indignant and irate?! I can’t with these people. It’s only the second season and already they are out of ideas for the show. I still don’t understand why they didn’t go with the family that went on vacation with the Browns.

OMG they keep showing that scene in the commercial... the look on her face and the dial tone sound... haha! I am laughing everytime i see it! " im a polygamist looking to grab a kid from you?" *dial tone* "hello? Hello?" Dayummmmmm.

[Katjoy26]

I guess since Rosemary's dad is the current leader/president/prophet/grand poobah of the AUB, his family doesn't think it would be proper to appear on a television show about progressive non-denominational polygamists. This is the only time I felt bad for someone on one of these shows; Rosemary seemed really sad that no one in her family showed up.

 

Have we ever gotten a coherent explanation of just how and why they left the AUB?

[Galloway Cave]

Friends of the family had posted elsewhere that Brady had quickly risen up in the church as a leader. He then became very controlling of the other members and very outspoken. The church and members were not happy. His father was also involved in exposing the fleecing of a woman, by the AUB church, of hundreds of thousands of dollars. His father was excommunicated for that situation. He was asked to leave the church because of the first problem and his father's situation more than likely also played into it too.

 

They still live in homes on AUB property in an AUB community. That is why they feel so uncomfortable there and why they want to move to Washington.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Galloway Cave

[Katjoy26]

. He was asked to leave the church because of the first problem and his father's situation more than likely also played into too.

 

.

Thanks, Galloway Care. That makes a lot more sense than the impression they apparently try to give on the show. They seem to want viewers to think they all 6 simultaneously decided that they stopped believing church doctrine and left of their own accord.

[Galloway Cave]

But as you see on the show, the wives really struggle with the religious part of their life. Some of them act like they really didn't want to leave the church/sect and the teachings, and are really just pissed at the church/sect itself. Brady is really the only one who said screw it and is moving on quite nicely. Like I said over at TWoP, he is creating his own Church of the Smoochy Love Ya's and he doesn't give a flying crap what the AUB thinks about it. I think the main reason they don't state exactly why they left the church is because they are living on AUB property. If they spell it out, they may get the 30 day eviction notice in the mail and on top of the bankruptcy, that would be too much all at once for poor little Brady to deal with.

[joanofarch4]

Yeah...  What about that move to Washington?  Queen Paulie will never leave her daughter and, now, needy preemie granddaughter behind... Shoot!  Brady's looney father would've at least added some entertainment value...

[WimminWinning]

Friends of the family had posted elsewhere that Brady had quickly risen up in the church as a leader. He then became very controlling of the other members and very outspoken. The church and members were not happy. His father was also involved in exposing the fleecing of a woman, by the AUB church, of hundreds of thousands of dollars. His father was excommunicated for that situation. He was asked to leave the church because of the first problem and his father's situation more than likely also played into it too.

 

They still live in homes on AUB property in an AUB community. That is why they feel so uncomfortable there and why they want to move to Washington.

 

Interesting stuff. Links?

[Galloway Cave]

It's all over on the old Sister Wives Blog and Cynical Jink's Living Room, back when the series was just starting. I'll have to dig around to find the sources.

 

ETA: This is the link to the Sister Wives Blog that first discussed why Brady left the church. Unfortunately, the comments section at The Wrap is now deleted but posters at SWB discuss those comments.

http://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/tlc-introduces-progressive-polygamists.html

 

Virgina Hill lawsuit. Sorry, the AUB bilked her out of $1.5 million. My bad.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/968665/Polygamist-church-bilked-woman-judge-rules.html?pg=all

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/1909/temple-rituals-allegedly-stolen

Edited November 7, 2014 by Galloway Cave

[selenitetower]

Hi all!  It's my first post here and I'm a serious lurker.  I just wanted to introduce myself before I started posting.  :)

 

I haven't read all of the entries here because I just got too excited and had to post.  

 

If I had to choose between MFW and SW, I would definitely choose this show.  However, I really enjoyed SW when they first started so I'm waiting to start getting annoyed with this group.  I just don't understand why these women choose this lifestyle/religion if they are going to get jealous.  You married a man with multiple wives!  They are going to have sex!  He's going to take his other wives out on dates, buy them rings, show affection, etc.  I don't know why they subject themselves to this jealousy if they don't have the personality to match the situation.

 

That being said, I agree with other posters that the wives seem to get along with each other better than the SW do.  But then again I also said earlier that it may be too soon to tell what's really true.

[ghoulina]

I think the reason they subject themselves to the jealousy, even though they may not have the personality to deal with this kind of lifestyle (VERY few people would, I imagine), is because of their religion. They believe that this is the lifestyle God wants, that it will fulfill them spiritually. That is what makes it so hard. It may not feel natural to many of these women, and then they probably feel guilty and beat themselves up for having "bad" feelings about their husband and the other wives. Personally, I don't have anything against polygamy, but it is sad when you see people enter into such a relationship because they feel they have to, not because they genuinely want to. I'm not saying any of these women were forced to marry Brady against their will. But I do think a lot of the kids raised in this religion are basically taught that's their only choice. 

 

Clearly the Browns and Williams family aren't raising THEIR kids that way, as we've seen several express that they have no desire to enter into a plural marriage. And, really, many religions ask us to do things that aren't always easy. I just like to see children presented with many options and given the ability to make up their own minds. 

[Palomar]

I think the reason they subject themselves to the jealousy, even though they may not have the personality to deal with this kind of lifestyle (VERY few people would, I imagine), is because of their religion. They believe that this is the lifestyle God wants, that it will fulfill them spiritually.

 

 

But what is interesting is that they do not have the same religion now that prompted them to become polygamists.  It just doesn't make sense to live this lifestyle without the religious aspect since there really are no non-religious benefits (despite all the convincing otherwise).  I realize that they already have a formed family but maybe that is why they are suddenly open to their children actually having "choices".

[ghoulina]

Yea, but given what we've learned about why they left their particular church, I don't necessarily think that the wives all stopped believing in their religion. Also, since they have raised all these kids together, it might be easier to stay together at this point, despite any changes of heart.

[Higgins]

Not only that but, who gets him? They are a family. It is just that easy to break up a family. Most of the women don't have any way to support themselves and their children.

[technorebel]

Eventually all the kids will be grown and gone.  Then it will just be five lonely women sitting around waiting for their night with Brady.  How can a woman not feel short-changed under those circumstances? We've already seen how it affected Meri Brown when her only child moved out, but the husband she shares with three other women is still having babies.  This lifestyle never did and never will result in happiness for women and, honestly, I don't think the men are very happy either.  They mostly seem exhausted.

[Zahdii]

It's an unworkable formula. 

 

The women are like the female cats we had living in our barn when I was growing up.  They formed a loose group who lived together and raised their young.  My parents allowed us to give out a measured amount of dried food each day, and would throw meat scraps in the barn when available, but for the most part the cats were on their own. 

 

I noticed that the females would stay around, and the kittens we couldn't give away would wander off, but there was always a male cat that would make a circuit around the surrounding area every few months to impregnate the females.  When he showed up the females would fawn on him, bring him mice and beg for his attention.  After a couple of weeks he was gone and they'd go back to their lives.

 

These were cats, but it was amazing that when the male was around how much they'd work to get that useless Tom's attention.  There was always one 'alpha' female who'd try to keep the lesser females away from the Tom while allowing her besties to approach him.  A couple months later, the alpha female and her best friends would have large litters, and the lesser females would have smaller ones.  (It was pretty funny to see how the 'lesser' females would have one or two kittens that seemed to have no visible markers to Big Daddy.  I guess when daddy won't play the females found another boy toy?)

 

The point is, when there is a group of females in the animal world who only have the male around for a limited amount of time, they'll cooperate to a degree and then become more competitive when the male is around.

 

The TLC polygamous families are somewhat similar.  The women sort of help each other out until the coveted male enters the picture and then things change.  These people are more 'sophisticated', more 'evolved' than barn cats.  They entered into this mess voluntarily, they have a schedule, they have rules.  But in the end there is still a group of women fighting oh-so-subtly over the same loser, and the alpha woman is trying her best to get the most time with the manly "prize".  When she can't have that, she's trying to get the "prize" to spend more time with the women closest to her; probably because of some sort of feeling that if what's his name has to spend the night with someone that is not her, at least that other woman is less likely to try to usurp her position.

 

As for "The Prize", he gets to bang another woman every night, but eventually the repetition will take a toll.  When it all becomes stale and even the thrill of these women competing for him is boring, he has to make a decision.  Does he add another woman to the mix?  Can he afford to?  Sure he can, because most of these women either work to support themselves and their kids, or they have a lot of government help.  Or is he just too tired anymore?  Maybe he has all he can handle.

 

I think that the big deciding factor in which a polygamous guy decides whether or not to add another wife isn't finances, it's either if his libido can handle it, or how much blowback he can take from his existing wives.  Eventually these things reach a tipping point where people start to bale out.  Does anyone know if the man has ever called it quits?  I know that women have left before, but what about the man?  I'd love to know if eventually the men are grateful when one or more of their wives has left so he doesn't have to fake it so much.  If they were cats, they wouldn't have to worry about that, because they'd either be caught and euthanized (or possibly fixed and rehomed) or they'd have been killed by disease, accident, or fights with other male cats.  It would be hilarious to find a polygamous man who envied the usual fate of a roaming Tom cat.  At least the Tom can't be sued for child support.

Edited November 8, 2014 by Zahdii

[technorebel]

Oh, Zahdi, you nailed it.  I don't even know if the women realize the subtle ways they all compete for Brady's attention.  Remember when Paulie called Brady on his night with Rosemary because she couldn't close her window?  She says she never means to hurt Rosemary when things just happen that interrupt Brady's time with her, but there are three other grown women she could've asked for help, not to mention her own grown son. 

 

I don't know if any men leave this lifestyle once they're in it.  It seems like I've read countless stories written by women who left, but no men.  I'm sure it would be hard to walk away from wives and children, and how would a man ever pay child support for all those kids?

 

One thing I don't get is if the storyline this season is before or after the bankruptcy.  They talk Rhonda into quitting her job and Brady and bro are acting like the construction business is booming. 

[xls]

The whole premise was absurd.  In what crazy ass world does it take a meeting for parents to decide that their children's behavior needed to be addressed??  How about ALL of you  "man up"  and correct your children in the moment?  I cannot imagine needing to have an in depth discussion with my husband about our son's behavior at dinner -- it was simply addressed (by either of us) at the time.

No shirt = "go put a shirt on" 

Yelling =  "knock it off"

Rough-housing = reminder of time and place

Helping to clean up = "get to it"

Showing appreciation = prompted by both of us at appropriate time

     Why on earth all of the wives need to come to a consensus regarding their (shared) children's antics is just so bizarre to me.  And they were all so friggin timid in broaching each subject!  You either have an issue and confront it - or DON'T.  Damn.. 

And they've been married for how many years? Even paying a bill is a big deal? 

And whats with this btich so hot hot to adopt a kid? You have 24-isn't that enough?  Maybe she needs an excuse to gnash her teeth about how discriminated against they are-oh, the unfairness of it all! Boohoo. 

[woodscommaelle]

Wouldn't you be considered 'cancer free' if at first you HAD cancer, and then beat it? Rhonda declaring herself 'cancer free' was just weird to me. As far as I know she never had cancer, though I could be wrong.

Robyn seems so fucking fragile 99% of the time, but then she says something pretty funny (for that group) and she just makes me smile.

[RedheadZombie]

I liked when they were having their meeting outside.  Paulie showed some personality, and there seemed to be less tension between her and Rosemary.

 

I've always like Robyn.  Her personality makes even more sense now that I know she was bullied.

 

Loved the pitbull randomly walking up to the bake sale wagging his tail.  Hopefully he got a cookie.

 

Two of these children are serving missions.  It sounds like LDS, but we know that's not true.

[RealityCowgirl]

Wouldn't you be considered 'cancer free' if at first you HAD cancer, and then beat it? Rhonda declaring herself 'cancer free' was just weird to me. As far as I know she never had cancer, though I could be wrong.

Robyn seems so fucking fragile 99% of the time, but then she says something pretty funny (for that group) and she just makes me smile.

I come from a family where, on the maternal side, pretty much everyone has had cancer and more than half died of cancer. My mother died of cancer.

Most of it has been breast cancer. I'm diligent. I know that my odds are increased. But I don't declare myself "cancer free" every time a mammogram comes back clear. Not even after the occasional diagnostic test. Okay, maybe after the one visit to the breast surgeon...

I wonder if part of that isn't fueled by family paranoia over the years (didn't she indicate once last season that her family either feared doctors or refused to go to them? Though being in the medical profession should give her a more educated perspective about things. Should.). I also suspect that, conscious or not, raising the specter of that risk may be a way to catch the hubby's attention. Not that she's making it up. The family history is real and obviously has her scared. But verbalizing it at key times - again, aware or not - probably brings the kind of spousal concern that any of us would find comforting. Even those not sharing a spouse.