S05.E15: Robyn: Behind the Scenes

[Rhondinella]

From theTVDB:

 

The family recounts Robyn's journey as she joined the family and revisit the highlights of her first five years as Kody's fourth wife. Discussing everything from early jealousies to bad hairstyles, we go behind the scenes with the Browns' about Robyn

 

 

Yeah.  I'm thinking we're not going to get the REAL story of what's going on behind the scenes, but whatever.

[Oldernowiser]

And thank the gods. Some things I just really don't need to see.

Any ideas when they filmed this, because it's stunningly tone deaf PR-wise given the recent news. Do they honestly think they can make Robyn a sympathetic character at this point? To me, it would seem like okay, she gets legal status AND she gets an episode of her own?

Sometimes I really think they've all gone insane at TLC.

[Fosca]

Maybe that's why they added the anthropology student episode, in the hope that everyone would forget about this episode (which they can't pull without losing face because they've promoted the hell out of it already).  This episode is showing second, at 10pm ET, with the first showing at the usual 9pm ET time; people who watch the first should see if they promote it at all during the first hour as well.

[jellywager]

Bad hairstyles? Really? Yawn.

[Kohola3]

Sometimes I really think they've all gone insane at TLC.

 

They haven't been all that stable since they went from The Learning Channel to Totally Lacking Credibility.  But as long as there are viewers this crap will continue to be broadcast.  It's a total embarrassment.

[SometimesBites]

Bad hairstyles? Really? Yawn.

Yeah, I'm really thinking that was supposed to be in the all-Kody episode...

[RazzleberryPie]

So being totally crude, is Robyn blowing the entire TLC production staff? There's no possible way to paint her as sincere, truthful, and not totally manipulative and self-serving.

 

I started side-eyeing her after the whole "Meri, I'll sacrifice and have a baby for you," but after the whole 'my first husband stole my innocence' episode, my side-eye became a total eye roll with a snort. I don't think I'd believe her if she told me water was wet.

[jellywager]

It did come out that she is the main reason the Browns got the reality show. I don't think they would have had the show if she didn't agree to marrying Kody on TV. Perhaps that is the reason for all of the TLC asskissing.

[MarysWetBar]

I think they are gonna address it. The preview looked like they might.With their own spin of course.

Edit: Neverminddddd. They went for counseling in the beginning.

Edited February 9, 2015 by MarysWetBar

[MrsPatrickBateman]

Looking back at Robyn and Kody's courthship reminds me just how much they didn't care about the others feelings. The kissing, the dress just total disregard for their feelings. I really hope Meri got a wake up call and is out of there, quickly followed by Christine and Jenelle.

ETA So Meri did tweet tonight and said that many have been asking about the situation and told them to tune in next week as they start to address it. So I guess they will publicly address it and put their spin on it. It really makes me wonder how long this has been in the works.

Edited February 9, 2015 by MrsPatrickBateman

[DakotaJustice]

They haven't been all that stable since they went from The Learning Channel to Totally Lacking Credibility.  But as long as there are viewers this crap will continue to be broadcast.  It's a total embarrassment.

Damn.  I really still miss "Property Ladder".  I LOVED that show!  damn!  now that was some quality reality TV.

[greekmom]

What a snoozefest of an episode.  Just shows you that the three wives and Koduche were alot better off before Sobyn joined the clan.
I was so bored while watching I decided to surf over to My Sisterwive's Closet for sh*ts and giggles. 

Website is offline. Hmmm wondering if the business is folding?  Now Sobyn has tons of time making more babies.

 

Looks like they will be addressing the divorce thing next week.

[MarysWetBar]

Yeah and making it all Meris decision. Poor Bobbyn and Showboat were forced into it..haha

[Galloway Cave]

That was the most painful hour of television I have watched in a longtime. They read the blogs, they know we know all about the lies yet they STILL insist on rehashing them over and over. Reading the live tweets was interesting, including the fact that Meri was missing for almost the entire two hours. she chimed in during the last few minutes saying the current family events would be explained next week. Christine had the audacity to say she told Kody to kiss Robyn before their marriage and she was OK with it! Nothing about this episode showed Robyn in a good light or showed why she was worthy of being legal wife. Her smirking in the PIP was tiresome too.

 

Man, two hours of Sister Wives made me REALLY cranky tonight.....

[AZChristian]

I was just able to look at My Sisterwifes Closet online.  It's a Sunday night tradition that the website crashes while the show is on.  Their server can't handle more than about 20 people at a time.

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

Well that was a complete waste of an hour.

[Linderhill]

yeesh, what a bore and a waste of time.  Do they seriously think that crapfest is going to make people like Robyn and what has happened look good?

[Betweenyouandme]

So, next week they're going to only begin to address Meri and Kody splitting? I don't want to wait two more weeks for the whole story about the divorce.

[Armchair Critic]

The first 3 wives were all in tears just talking about Robyn joining the family, and Kody was loving it. What a narcissistic asshat.

[Maharincess]

And thank the gods. Some things I just really don't need to see.

Any ideas when they filmed this, because it's stunningly tone deaf PR-wise given the recent news. Do they honestly think they can make Robyn a sympathetic character at this point? To me, it would seem like okay, she gets legal status AND she gets an episode of her own?

Sometimes I really think they've all gone insane at TLC.

What's the recent news? I don't keep up with these people other than watching the show sometimes and reading here. I must have missed the recent news you're talking about.

[truelovekiss]

Did anyone catch something upsetting when Dayton was talking about life with the Browns? He said it helped with his social skills, which is very positive! But then did he mentioned something like it also taught him which people to avoid? I was kind of dozing off by that point, and I hope that it was taken out of context or I misunderstood him, but it made me really sad to think some of the kids might mistreat Dayton. It also might explain why the girls are so needy and seem to try so hard to belong. Of course Robyn can't be bothered with that, because she got her baby that looks more like Kody every day, as well as her place in the compound and a TLC check.

[RedheadZombie]

What's the recent news? I don't keep up with these people other than watching the show sometimes and reading here. I must have missed the recent news you're talking about.

 

Kody divorced Meri and married Robyn.

[MaryMitch]

Robyn was going on about how "once we get past all the jealousy, and dealing with sharing your husband, you have a real special relationship with your sister wives."

 

Robyn honey, what we in the real world call that is friendship. And we don't have to share a husband to have friends.

[JellyFishQueen]

So Kody getting divorce speaks so much about his so called view  polgamous and his faith and reason behind it. If he really believed in this, and his faith when he got divorce there was no reason to "remarry" Robyn legally. If you believed in your "faith" all your wives are equal therefore legally it shouldn't be matter. I mean isn't this what they been trying to preach  us last 5 years!? In all reality Kody just a harem keeper who keeps on favoing different consorts. Robyn was the special new one since the start and now this blah...

[Maharincess]

Kody divorced Meri and married Robyn.

What?! Holy shit! Why? Where can I read about it? I wonder how Meri feels. Wow!

[Temperance]

It did come out that she is the main reason the Browns got the reality show. I don't think they would have had the show if she didn't agree to marrying Kody on TV. Perhaps that is the reason for all of the TLC asskissing.

Also TLC is in many ways a baby centered network. They probably wanted to make sure there would be more babies for them to film.

 

It's hard for me to see Robyn as the master manipulator, as she's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

 

Janelle and Christine seemed quiet and cowed. On episodes like this, I think I've seen this before. Imagine if you've lived and possibly seen it since.

 

Robyn doesn't seem to get her main role is to have children, by children I mean babies. Her running the business isn't as important, since it doesn't really make the money they need. What looked better about this in the beginning (although there was still problems) was that Janelle was working and Christine was the homemaker. For all Robyn's privileges as legal wife, she still has to do it all. 

 

 

Did anyone catch something upsetting when Dayton was talking about life with the Browns? He said it helped with his social skills, which is very positive! But then did he mentioned something like it also taught him which people to avoid? I was kind of dozing off by that point, and I hope that it was taken out of context or I misunderstood him, but it made me really sad to think some of the kids might mistreat Dayton. It also might explain why the girls are so needy and seem to try so hard to belong. Of course Robyn can't be bothered with that, because she got her baby that looks more like Kody every day, as well as her place in the compound and a TLC check.

 

 

As for Dayton see the other thread, but Janelle's boys are rowdy and get into fights. I don't they mistreat him, because he's autistic. It's possible they rough house he's nervous about being caught up in it. Since he's a boy, and about the same age, the adults may be tempted to treat them as a group.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Temperance

[RedheadZombie]

What?! Holy shit! Why? Where can I read about it? I wonder how Meri feels. Wow!

 

Read the great wife swap thread.

[Maharincess]

Ooooooo thanks!

[SuzWhat]

Robyn did a lot of sobbin' in this episode, but I did not see any tears. This episode. I just can't with these folks.

I am not sure what looks worse, Kody with hair flopping or Kody with hair slicked back in pony tail? His shark eyes dominate. Can you imagine how long it took him to make that pony tail? That must have been on par with hanging the lights up in the street a few episodes back!

Edited February 9, 2015 by SuzWhat

[Kohola3]

ETA So Meri did tweet tonight and said that many have been asking about the situation and told them to tune in next week as they start to address it. So I guess they will publicly address it and put their spin on it. It really makes me wonder how long this has been in the works.

 

I bet ten thou that NOTHING is said next week other than (possibly) some tantalizing throwaway line at the very end.  That statement was a blatant ratings grabber just like that "wait, I have to take this phone call" crap that Sobbin pulled a couple of seasons ago.

[Zahdii]

It's hard for me to see Robyn as the master manipulator, as she's not the sharpest tool in the shed..

 

Yeah, but look at who she's dealing with:

 

Kody is a childish, lazy imbecile whose only interest is to be the center of attention and gets his jollies by watching all of his wives jealously vie for his attention.  If he gets bored he's perfectly capable of stirring the pot so he can watch his women break down and act out.  He then gets to chastise them over their behavior, soothe them, or wring some kind of concession from them in exchange for getting back in his favor.  He's also incapable of interacting with people without pointing out all of his wives and children, and expecting awe and admiration in return.  Whatever reaction he gets, he decides that all the men are jealous and wish they were him, and all of the women want to be his next wife.

 

Meri had never had a boyfriend or even a date before Kody, and quickly agreed to a polygamous marriage in order to keep him.  I've no doubt that she secretly hoped that her love would make him change his mind about polygamy, or at the least she'd have a few years alone with him.  She must have been gutted to learn that her brothers former wife (Janelle) not only had designs on Kody, but had been in secret negotiations with him in order to secure the second wife spot.  With Meri already viewing Janelle as an interloper, and being forced to accept her as the second wife, it probably didn't help that Janelle got pregnant first, since Kody made no secret of wanting lots of children.  Even having her only child not long after Janelle's child didn't help, because Janelle kept popping out kids at an alarming rate and Meri was unable to have a second child.

 

Janelle seems to me to be the most intelligent of the adults; but that might be because she has a better work ethic and doesn't talk as much.  Think of the old saying "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."  I had hopes for her when I heard that she'd left the communal home at one point, moved a couple of hours away, got a degree and a job, and bought a house of her own.  But she still considered Kody to be her husband, he still visited her and she still had more children with him.  When she got an inheritance from her father, she financed the building of the Utah house and moved back in with Kody, Meri, and Christine.  A couple of years after that, she added Kody and Meri as co-owners of the house.

 

I can't help it, I think of Christine as being the wife that is the dumbest.  She was raised in her early years as a child of a monogamous couple and when a second wife was added she thinks of it as being a great thing.  She's talked about how it was an ideallic life, but her mother and her aunt have both left that stuff behind and speak out against it.  Christine has never worked outside of the home, and took on the childcare duties of Meri and Janelle when they were working, bore Kody six children, and has been pro-polygamy from the start.  She didn't need to be talked into it (like Meri), she didn't decide to accept it so she could get Kody (like Meri and Janelle); she set out to get into a polygamous relationship.  And while there were no cameras around, Kody was able to treat her nice enough that she had no problems with the way things were, but when she was pregnant for the last time things changed.

 

Robyn came along.  Meri admits that she introduced Robyn to Kody with the hope that she'd have an ally for her competition against Janelle and Christine.  The problem is, although Kody says that he wasn't attracted to Robyn and only interacted with her because Meri insisted, he got over the ick factor of Robyn being married before (Janelle was married before and that didn't stop him).  Robyn having three kids from her previous marriage is a better excuse for not wanting to pursue a relationship, but Kody has the excuse that Meri really wanted him to try, and Kody really likes to point out how many kids he has. 

 

Robyn and Kody might just be soul mates.  They're great at spinning things to fit their preferred story.  They love being on TV and being in charge of the family dynamic.  It makes sense that in the end they up together as man and (legal) wife.  Whatever excuse they give to the public, whatever they said to Meri, Janelle, and Christine, the end result is that Kody and Robyn are now legally bound.  Meri is the ex-wife, and Janelle and Christine are the baby mamas.  No matter what any of them say to the outside world, public perception will trump all.  That has got to sting.

 

The really sad part about all this is that the 'adults' would be better off asking almost any of the kids over the age of 12 what to do, and they'd probably get better advice than they would if they all got together and talked about it.  I can only guess that it's because that they've spent so much time creating their own drama that they forgot to fully indoctrinate their kids, and the end result is that for the most part the kids have a better handle on how to live than the adults do.

[b2H]

Kody divorced Meri and married Robyn.

 

Holy fish soup!!!!  I had no idea - I've been away for a while because I was flying on Sunday nights and my hotel didn't get TLC.  I can't imagine how this makes everything better for anyone.

[SometimesBites]

Holy fish soup!!!!  I had no idea - I've been away for a while because I was flying on Sunday nights and my hotel didn't get TLC.  I can't imagine how this makes everything better for anyone.

Don't worry, you'll know next week, when Meri tells the world just exactly how her loving sacrifice makes the whole family better.

[b2H]

Don't worry, you'll know next week, when Meri tells the world just exactly how her loving sacrifice makes the whole family better.

 

Reading the other thread, the whole thing, no matter the reason, is going to send me off to the barge.  No more SW for me.  That whole line of crap about love should be multiplied, not divided, is so much dung for the birds.

[3girlsforus]

Don't worry, you'll know next week, when Meri tells the world just exactly how her loving sacrifice makes the whole family better.

I have no words... it all just disgusts me so much.

[Galloway Cave]

Kody and Meri continued to twitter that viewers should tune in next week for "the truth" about current events. The leaks, this week's teaser at the end of Robyn's episode, all for ratings. So disgusting. They really are angling for another season with this new marriage.

[Oldernowiser]

This is all engineered bullshit for ratings sweeps.

They are such colossal whores.

[Jellybeans]

I hope this is the last season.

[Kohola3]

I hope this is the last season.

 

I think most of us on this forum feel the same way but then we have IQs well above their supporters and can see through the crap.  Their Facebook page has all kinds of drooling idiots "supporting them and loving them SO MUCH". Mostly posted with a lot of misspellings and bad grammar....

[3girlsforus]

I think most of us on this forum feel the same way but then we have IQs well above their supporters and can see through the crap.  Their Facebook page has all kinds of drooling idiots "supporting them and loving them SO MUCH". Mostly posted with a lot of misspellings and bad grammar....

I choose to believe the drooling idiots are just a few people with many accounts who are being paid well be either the Browns or TLC to pretend to love them. I must believe this because I can't cope with the idea that there are that many people out there that are that stupid.

[Galloway Cave]

I think the tide has turned a bit on their FB page too. Their fan base are pretty pissed off that he dumped Meri for the younger new wife, passing over the established wives with kids. Granted, I can't handle reading the page for longer than 1-2 minutes but it looks like there are more against than for the Browns at this point. On Twitter last night, there were at least 10-15 negative tweets for every positive one. Also, Robyn went on another twitter block rager again.

[gunderda]

Did anyone catch something upsetting when Dayton was talking about life with the Browns? He said it helped with his social skills, which is very positive! But then did he mentioned something like it also taught him which people to avoid? I was kind of dozing off by that point, and I hope that it was taken out of context or I misunderstood him, but it made me really sad to think some of the kids might mistreat Dayton. It also might explain why the girls are so needy and seem to try so hard to belong. Of course Robyn can't be bothered with that, because she got her baby that looks more like Kody every day, as well as her place in the compound and a TLC check.

 

I didn't see anything wrong with it.  He's just saying that he's able to avoid people easily in a large group.  IE, lots of people probably means less places to get away. And he laughed when he said it.  

[Maire]

How awful for the first three wives to have to sit and re-live Robyn's highlights especially in light of what we know now. I would have run screaming. Any way they spin this will not be good.

[Absolom]

I think it's funny that they planned this before Honey Boo Boo imploded.  They could have seen how fast public opinion can turn when you begin to think you can do whatever you please and fans will lap it up.

[MV713]

Great link here for those of us who can't get enough snark :)

 

http://cynicaljinxwelcome.blogspot.com/

[3girlsforus]

So here's an interesting question.. Meri texted that next week we will hear the 'truth' about the latest news. We are assuming that means the divorce/remarriage. Even if we assume that everything they say next week is true (yes this exercise will take a great deal of suspension of disbelief), is there anything they can say that will make this ok in your mind? 

 

Is there really any "truth" that will change your mind about this being a crappy thing to do? To me the only potentially "legitimate" reason to legally dump Meri and marry Robyn would be to adopt her kids. The problem with that is the only way Kody can adopt her kids is if the father gave up his rights. And if the father gave up his rights, they wouldn't have to be legally married to have Kody adopt them. 

 

I'm assuming whatever spin they put on this next week will be a blatant lie, but the thing is, even if it's the truth I doubt it will come close to making this ok. 

[BitchOnWheels]

As for Dayton see the other thread, but Janelle's boys are rowdy and get into fights. I don't they mistreat him, because he's autistic. It's possible they rough house he's nervous about being caught up in it. Since he's a boy, and about the same age, the adults may be tempted to treat them as a group.

Sadly, I think Dayton may have been talking about his father.  Maybe...

 

Even if he wasn't talking about his dad, I believe with my heart and soul that Robyn and Kody have attempted (and maybe succeeded) in alienating those kids from their real father. 

Clue #1:  When Robyn and Kody got together, the kids were young and malleable and I think they wasted no time in strongly encouraging them to call Kody "dad". I recall Robyn correcting one of the kids when they referred to Kody by his name.  That's just all kinds of wrong.

Clue #2:  Robyn speaks very poorly of her kids' father on national TV, in front of the family (think back to the "he took my virginity" speech). I shudder to think what she says about their dad in front of those kids.

Robyn should be careful.  Alienation is grounds for losing custody.

Edited February 9, 2015 by BitchOnWheels

[LilWharveyGal]

Is there really any "truth" that will change your mind about this being a crappy thing to do? 

 

Speaking for myself, no.

 

I don't doubt that there could have been significant financial and/or legal advantages to one or more of the wives and their children by "restructuring" the family.  For me, the honeymoon in Hawaii is the bridge too far.  You don't celebrate adoption, access to financial aid, mortgage refinancing, or whatever, by running off to the islands with just the new wife.

[Cherrio]

Did anyone else notice Meri's neck and how she had these angry red splotches while Robyn was telling her she was pregnant?    

[Sammich63]

I really am curious how the family will spin this divorce/marriage. I noticed Robyn has put on weight since she had Solomon. She's still smaller than the other wives. Janelle is looking good and so is Christine.

Edited February 10, 2015 by Sammich63