S06.E07: Just Trying to Stay Afloat

[Celia Rubenstein]

I'm not sure about that.  I remember that when Kate Gosselin wanted to do her show without Jon, he opposed the kids being on TV any more but lost that battle.  I believe it even went to court and he was shot down.

 

 

I believe the reason why Jon lost that battle was because he was unemployed and unable to pay child support.  At that time, the show was their only source of income.  If Jon were able to support his children financially, the judge probably would have sided with him.

 

That is what I remember, too.  The only reason Jon lost his bid to stop the children from being filmed is that his eight kids would have been collecting cans and bottles for recycling to keep a roof over their head if the show had ended, and the judge didn't want that to happen.  I was left with the impression that the real deal is Jon was allowed to go without paying a fortune in child support on order to drop his objection to the filming ... it was implied by a few media sources, but never actually publicly admitted as the arrangement as far as I know. It's extremely unethical.  But he doesn't pay any child support for eight kids.  And they are being filmed when he supposedly thinks its a bad idea.  You do the math, lol. 

 

Dina Manzo, on the other hand, was supposedly facing a world of trouble when she was accused of forging her ex's signature on papers so that Bravo could tape their daughter.  You most definitely need the permission of both parents to film a child on a reality show.  However you manage to obtain it ... 

[LotusFlower]

Meri and Janelle seemed super checked out this episode. Meri particularly didn't seem to care that the adoption or whatever it is, went through. Maybe she's leading a double life as a bookie and that's why she's always in her office. I'm trying to make this show more interesting by inventing my own storylines.

Meri was indeed living a double life. I've been reading about it for weeks, but today Meri finally admitted it:

http://www.people.com/article/sister-wives-meri-brown-catfished-online-relationship

[RazzleberryPie]

Stole her purity. What a slap in the face to survivors of sexual trauma.

 

Absolutely.

The kids could be reacting that way because their father is a jerk. OR, they could be reacting that way because their mother and stepfather have spent the last few years alienating them from their real dad.

 

Robyn says Jessop "stole her purity" because she can't lie on television and flat out say he raped her. This way, she implies it, but can't be held to it. Which gives even more weight to the idea that she's poisoned her kids against their father.

 

That whole "stole my purity" story was a big bowl of crap.  I don't believe for a hot minute she was raped.  I bet dollars to donuts she was a willing participant but her selective memory and the chance to rewrite the story was the impetus for that icky homily. 

 

Why would she stay for an additional number of years and have 3 kids with him?  AND run up that Victoria's Secret bill?

I don't believe she was raped either, and she didn't come out and say that. The whole 'stole my purity' was nothing but a big sob story to make her look like an innocent victim and Kody the big bad rescuer. Pumping his ego must be exhausting, but when you have no real job and pander your kids off to sister wives, it cant be that tiresome. He seems like a minute man anyway.

 

Have we ever hear anything about Robyn ever attending college? Girl can't string a sentence together, couldn't understand store credit card interest rates, or that not paying your bills = bad credit, huge debt accumulation, etc. I can't imagine her in a calculus or geometry class in high school (geometry was a 9th grade class for us), let alone college. She seems like a remedial math 099, maybe 095, student to me.

 

Back to the 'purity' story. Utter and total bullshit. My translation on it was she did the same thing as thousands of 'good girls' do every yearr: they get a taste of freedom, go a little further with boys, alcohol, make some not so great decisions, and then regret it. Most get over it, some obsess about it. Robyn is obsessing. Isn't he a couple of years younger than her, too?

 

There might have been some 'oh, baby, if you love me, we'll make love and i'll love you forever,' semi-coercion, but my gut feeling is that Robyn thought she'd hit the jackpot with Jessop royalty, didn't do much to prevent pregnancy, got married, and then when she ended up living in poverty, she made up a story so she could bail. College is hard, but wifing is easy, until the money runs out and you have three kids to take care of. She was married to the guy for NINE YEARS, not nine months. Being with him that long and having three kids says a lot to me. (It says that Fertile Myrtle had them spaced out just enough so she would always have a baby at home and hot have to work. She knows what she's doing.)

 

I saw a simpering, stealth, sneak from the first minute she appeared, but the whole purity cookie story cemented my absolute loathing of her. This whole phone conversation with their bio dad makes it 1000x worse. 

 

That one daughter who was wailing like she'd been freed from a sinking ship - I have never wanted to literally smack some sense into a child more than I want to smack her. She's ridiculous. She's her mother's daughter. She is the future girlfriend you never, ever, want your son to bring home.  When Robyn was pouting to Kody her first season about how the other kids didn't accept hers, well NO WONDER, FOOL. I cannot imagine how much I would hate my dad and his new 'wife' for thrusting that child upon my family. 

[SometimesBites]

I think we can safely assume that Economics was not part of her classwork.

I believe they think that we are all dumb as rocks and can't count as high as the number of brats they have.  They think we swallow all of the lies and hogwash they pump out without questioning timelines, financing discrepancies, and outright bull crap.  And not only that, we will continue to watch their fascinating lives for years to come and then go out and become polygamists because their lifestyle is so well represented.

 

Idiots.

I think they consider themselves wildly progressive among their own, therefore when the viewing public caught an eyeful of their lives we'd all be happily onboard the Kody Brown bandwagon. They're too ignorant to understand how much savvier and more intelligent many of their viewers are. And considering that the vast majority of SW viewers are female, the lagging viewership and rising vocal objection of this train wreck how could it have turned out any other way. They're just that stoopid.

[3girlsforus]

 

 

Back to the 'purity' story. Utter and total bullshit. My translation on it was she did the same thing as thousands of 'good girls' do every yearr: they get a taste of freedom, go a little further with boys, alcohol, make some not so great decisions, and then regret it. Most get over it, some obsess about it. Robyn is obsessing. Isn't he a couple of years younger than her, too?

 

There might have been some 'oh, baby, if you love me, we'll make love and i'll love you forever,' semi-coercion, 

 

Basically she's a Meatloaf song..... :-)

Edited October 5, 2015 by 3girlsforus

[MarysWetBar]

Absolutely.

I don't believe she was raped either, and she didn't come out and say that. The whole 'stole my purity' was nothing but a big sob story to make her look like an innocent victim and Kody the big bad rescuer. Pumping his ego must be exhausting, but when you have no real job and pander your kids off to sister wives, it cant be that tiresome. He seems like a minute man anyway.

Have we ever hear anything about Robyn ever attending college? Girl can't string a sentence together, couldn't understand store credit card interest rates, or that not paying your bills = bad credit, huge debt accumulation, etc. I can't imagine her in a calculus or geometry class in high school (geometry was a 9th grade class for us), let alone college. She seems like a remedial math 099, maybe 095, student to me.

Back to the 'purity' story. Utter and total bullshit. My translation on it was she did the same thing as thousands of 'good girls' do every yearr: they get a taste of freedom, go a little further with boys, alcohol, make some not so great decisions, and then regret it. Most get over it, some obsess about it. Robyn is obsessing. Isn't he a couple of years younger than her, too?

There might have been some 'oh, baby, if you love me, we'll make love and i'll love you forever,' semi-coercion, but my gut feeling is that Robyn thought she'd hit the jackpot with Jessop royalty, didn't do much to prevent pregnancy, got married, and then when she ended up living in poverty, she made up a story so she could bail. College is hard, but wifing is easy, until the money runs out and you have three kids to take care of. She was married to the guy for NINE YEARS, not nine months. Being with him that long and having three kids says a lot to me. (It says that Fertile Myrtle had them spaced out just enough so she would always have a baby at home and hot have to work. She knows what she's doing.)

I saw a simpering, stealth, sneak from the first minute she appeared, but the whole purity cookie story cemented my absolute loathing of her. This whole phone conversation with their bio dad makes it 1000x worse.

That one daughter who was wailing like she'd been freed from a sinking ship - I have never wanted to literally smack some sense into a child more than I want to smack her. She's ridiculous. She's her mother's daughter. She is the future girlfriend you never, ever, want your son to bring home. When Robyn was pouting to Kody her first season about how the other kids didn't accept hers, well NO WONDER, FOOL. I cannot imagine how much I would hate my dad and his new 'wife' for thrusting that child upon my family.

Thank you! Best post ever!!!

What a great description of Thing 2.

[LucyEth]

A few things I noticed.  Meri is totally checked out and uninterested.  She couldn't care less about the adoption.  Since she did not participate in the boat building, she was missing from the couch sessions. She had no reaction to Kody hugging her.  Maybe she wanted to make the grand gesture but didn't want Kody to take her up on it and is now pissed that they jumped all over the idea.  Not sure those kids were thrilled their Dad signed them away.  Very strange that Aurora referred to him as Jessop not Dad, why? because Kody is Dad.  Give me a break.  Where was Garrison?  Show has gotten weird.

 

Unrelated, one of Brady's (from my 5 wives) daughters married a guy whose last name is Jessop.

[Oldernowiser]

"Before we go any further will you love me, will you love me forever..."

"Let me sleep on it, baby, let me sleep on it, I'll give you an answer in the morning..."

" I GOTTA KNOW RIGHT NOW! Will you take me away and baby make me your wife?"

" I couldn't take it any longer, my God I was crazy and the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave. I started swearing to my

god and on my mother's grave that I would love her til the end of time, I swore that I would love her until the end of time...

And now I'm praying for the end of time, to hurry up and arrive, 'cause if I gotta spend another minute with you I don't think that I can really survive. I'll never break my promise or forget my vow, so god only knows all I can do right now is pray for the end of time, so I can end my time with you..."

AWESOME song. Lyrics from memory and not at all embarrassed...

I'd bet big bucks this is what happened, helped along by a pint of Jack Daniels, of course.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Oldernowiser

[3girlsforus]

"Before we go any further will you love me, will you love me forever..."

"Let me sleep on it, baby, let me sleep on it, I'll give you an answer in the morning..."

" I GOTTA KNOW RIGHT NOW! Will you take me away and baby make me your wife?"

" I couldn't take it any longer, my God I was crazy and the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave. I started swearing to my

god and on my mother's grave that I would love her til the end of time, I swore that I would love her until the end of time...

And now I'm praying for the end of time, to hurry up and arrive, 'cause if I gotta spend another minute with you I don't think that I can really survive. I'll never break my promise or forget my vow, so god only knows all I can do right now is pray for the end of time, do I can end my time with you..."

AWESOME song. Lyrics from memory and not at all embarrassed...

I'd bet big bucks this is what happened, helped along by a pint of Jack Daniels, of course.

 

No need to be embarrassed. I have it on my iPod :-)

[Kohola3]

Unrelated, one of Brady's (from my 5 wives) daughters married a guy whose last name is Jessop.

 

I believe that there are a million inbred Jessops out there from polygamist families.

[ginger90]

Wonder why WE don't know what the heck is going on? Kody doesn't seem to either.

He tweeted this:

Kody Brown ‏@realkodybrown  · 23h23 hours ago 
@LuvgvsUwngs felt that her X signing over parental rights to me was a major hurdle. Seemed impossible. Giant leap to adoption.

 

Followed by:

Kody Brown ‏@realkodybrown  · 23h23 hours ago 
Aurora, Dayton and Breanna thought Robyn's X a hero for signing consent for me to adopt.

Boat related, from Christine:

Christine Brown ‏@rosecolored6  · 22h22 hours ago 
And here's the boat. In my backyard. Sitting there collecting cockroaches!  #SisterWives

 

Not collecting dust, nope. COCKROACHES!

Edited October 6, 2015 by ginger90

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

In 1981, my father adopted my brother and me. We had always been with our biological mother his wife. We never found the biological father of my brother (it was my biological father adopting us, long story). My mother had to show that she advertised for a certain period of time advising him of the action and right to contest. I remember it taking a long time and my brother had the right at 13 to say whether he wanted to be adopted. I was 11 and had no rights, but, honestly, I was glad to be adopted. There were no home visits as my mother was a biological parent. We went in front of a judge he signed off and we were off to school.

[gardendiva]

Robyn's opening line "like we shoulda all been together from day one" seems to be becoming more true every day. She appears to be erasing her prior history and replacing it with the Kody Brown Timeline instead.

[LotusFlower]

Kody Brown ‏@realkodybrown  · 23h23 hours ago 

Aurora, Dayton and Breanna thought Robyn's X a hero for signing consent for me to adopt.

They spent weeks trashing this guy on national TV, and now Kody has the nerve to call him a hero. They are disgusting.

[Oldernowiser]

Wonder why WE don't know what the heck is going on? Kody doesn't seem to either.

He tweeted this:

Kody Brown ‏@realkodybrown  · 23h23 hours ago 

Aurora, Dayton and Breanna thought Robyn's X a hero for signing consent for me to adopt.

Anyone else think he really wanted to follow that tweet with, "Dumbshits.LOL."

[CofCinci]

How do you go from rapist to "hero"?

 

Just like how you go from loving 3 wives to picking one queen.

[SometimesBites]

They spent weeks trashing this guy on national TV, and now Kody has the nerve to call him a hero. They are disgusting.

It's the usual after-the-fact damage control. They see how many people are reacting with disgust and soft-soap or backpedal their story to try and calm the waters. I'd respond, but Kody finally blocked me. They don't seem to compare notes--I can't believe I can still tweet the wives. I try to be more careful with them, though...trying to keep my ability to keep an eye on them. ;)

[LotusFlower]

It's the usual after-the-fact damage control. They see how many people are reacting with disgust and soft-soap or backpedal their story to try and calm the waters. I'd respond, but Kody finally blocked me. They don't seem to compare notes--I can't believe I can still tweet the wives. I try to be more careful with them, though...trying to keep my ability to keep an eye on them. ;)

You're right (re: damage control). As for Twitter - go for it! Not surprised about Kody blocking you, or forgetting about the wives and their handles. More evidence that they're not one big happy family, but rather four separate wives and one King.

[toodles]

Amazing. They have entire DAYS to spend building cardboard boats? Four adults have this kind of time. Wow. Just wow.

[deedee2]

 Maybe she [Meri] wanted to make the grand gesture but didn't want Kody to take her up on it and is now pissed that they jumped all over the idea.

That's so smart! I never thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. There must have been a big part of her that hoped Kody would put up a fight to save their real marriage status. For years that was Meri's one trump card over the other wives. The others had the millions of kids, but she had the legal marriage. Maybe Kody's total nonchalance about the divorce, and barely-veiled elation at getting to marry his fave babe -  broke something in Meri. In all the previous seasons I saw Meri as being pretty hot for Kody. After the divorce it was like her fire went out.

 

I don't know why, but I find post-divorce Meri to be the most interesting part of the show. She has a whole interior life that seems to be experiencing a paradigm shift and it's fascinating to watch!

Edited October 6, 2015 by deedee2

[mrsh]

So, I have been skipping this show for weeks now but I have a bad cold that won't let me sleep so I figured maybe this train wreck could put me to sleep. I really hate Kody and Robyn. My heart broke for poor Dayton and the littlest Jessop girl whose name I can't remember. They were obviously shocked that their dad had signed the paperwork and I'm sure it hurt them. Then you have Kodouche equally baffled that they didn't immediately jump for joy, Robchin prompting them to say they're happy and Robyn Junior sobbing like she had just been liberated from a prison camp and its a wonder Dayton hasn't taken little sister and hitchhiked away from his buffoon mother and the family she chose for them. And what was up with Christine saying "he let us have the kids" those kids are human beings and not possessions for you to have, ugh these people are seriously so dumb and selfish. I hope the kid have better futures ahead of them but going off Maddie's recent choices its looking grim for them.

[CofCinci]

Kody wants to be the father but he didn't come across as a parent during the adoption reveal. He was visibly upset that the children didn't show immediate excitement. Instead of validitating and supporting their confusing thoughts and feelings, he used passive-aggressive communication to tell them how they should be feeling ("no yeah haw, no exictment? No woo woo?") What a creep. Great parenting there, Kodouche. Dayton looked like he needed some time to process the information and his mother and new father are just shitty for not allowing him to do so in private.

Also, did you notice Truley locked out on the patio during that scene?

Next week is Kody spending time with some daughters but Truley watching her father and his other family through a wall of glass is a poetic representation of Kody's relationship with his daughters.

Edited October 6, 2015 by CofCinci

[DakotaJustice]

I don't watch the show, haven't for ages, but that photo makes me angry. As do all the recaps.

[DeusExMaraschino]

This whole story arc of the adoption makes me cringe.  It reduces the kids to objects to own instead of people with agency. The oldest girl weeping hysterically with joy was just odd, but she is a teenage girl, and I'm sure at some point when I was 13-14 if you had told me I could legally be my best friend's sister I would have been overjoyed too.  Hormones can make things weird when you're that age.

 

Even if you were looking to be adopted, it would have to be bittersweet to know that your own biological parent signed paperwork giving you up.  So there may be a Yee-Haw or a Woo Woo but also a little, Awww. I'm sad.  

 

Kody's insensitivity to anyone's feelings but his own is just horrible to witness. I don't understand how an adult, let alone a man who has been married for 25-ish years or so can be so clueless and lack empathy to everyone around him.  It just proves that the hilarious joking comments that the women run the family (hahahhahahha isn't that so funny women thinking they can order a man around) are in fact not true and that Kody gets his way, all the time, right down to dictating what emotions everyone should be feeling.  It's always sad to see a relationship with a huge power imbalance and I guess it's just magnified in a religious polygamous marriage.  

Edited October 6, 2015 by DeusExMaraschino

[ghoulina]

All of you are so dead-on-balls accurate about how fucked up Kody's handling of the adoption announcement was. He was more concerned about the kids validating HIS feelings than the other way around. He is a very, very immature father. 

 

Also, it was just wrong, wrong, wrong to make this announcement on camera, in a room full of people not related to them. The kids may not have felt comfortable expressing their true feelings, because they knew the entire seen was going to be witnessed and judged. Aurora, obviously, was truly happy. But Dayton and Breanna looked incredibly uncomfortable. I wonder if any of the kids were even asked if they wanted this before all the stuff was set in motion. I wonder if the other two felt comfortable expressing a dissenting opinion? 

[jedigirl]

Hello...long time lurker, first time poster (on this board at least).

 

I heard Robyn say in her TH that she wanted to give the kids time to process it before sharing it with the rest of the family.  Then, they seemed to immediately go in and have a meeting with the others.  Same clothes, etc so I assumed it was at least the same day.  Not really a lot of time to process your father giving you away and the reality of being adopted by Kody and clan.  Makes me sad.

[SometimesBites]

Hello...long time lurker, first time poster (on this board at least).

 

I heard Robyn say in her TH that she wanted to give the kids time to process it before sharing it with the rest of the family.  Then, they seemed to immediately go in and have a meeting with the others.  Same clothes, etc so I assumed it was at least the same day.  Not really a lot of time to process your father giving you away and the reality of being adopted by Kody and clan.  Makes me sad.

And how about letting the kids process it without a camera crew in the room?! I don't even think KODY should have been there for that moment. Those children should have been allowed a truly private talk with just their mother. Sadly, though, I believe Robyn is just as big an ass about the emotional ramifications here as is Kody. He's an insensitive, self-congratulatory asshole, no doubt, but there are things Robyn could do to try and mitigate their exposure to Kody's awful behavior.

 

Instead, she throws her kids right under the wheel of his emotional steam roller. As we all have seen, she is a revisionist who wants to wipe out every trace of her actual history with another husband. On-camera evidence is bountiful: Her opening quote is that they all shoulda been together from the beginning. She forced the kids to call Kody "dad" the second they were married. She death-marched the older kids through a convoluted story about how her wicked first husband sorta stole her purity, when it should have belonged to Kody all along. She managed to unseat Meri as the legal wife. And now she's effectively wiped out David Jessop as the father of her oldest children.

[LucyEth]

After the all about Christine episode where she admitted that she was not being truthful with Robin about wanting to be friends or whatever and that she was sorry for her behavior I think she is just a phony.   She is just a little to happy and excited about other's good news and I don't buy it.  "We got the kids" give me a break, you don't really care.  Meri barely cared and she gave up her legal marriage. 

Edited October 6, 2015 by LucyEth

[Marigny]

Meri was indeed living a double life. I've been reading about it for weeks, but today Meri finally admitted it:

http://www.people.com/article/sister-wives-meri-brown-catfished-online-relationship

Sooooo.....which one of y'all is going to fess up to making Meri believe a man was interested in her wet bar? 

[AZChristian]

Saw discussion above about how Robyn looks pregnant.  This was announced months ago, but I don't think it's been discussed on the show.

 

http://www.people.com/article/sister-wives-robyn-brown-pregnant

[AndreaF]

It's not so bad watching these desperate, cloying, scripted, bullshit episodes... no, not THAT bad... until you see something as disgusting and 'WTF' as Robyn and Kody surprising David Jessop's children with the fun fun news that they managed to get David Sr to 'sign them over' to that squatty little gnome, Kody.  I was as in much shock as everyone when they sprung the news on the kids IN FRONT OF THE CAMERAS.  Way to anticipate all of their possible, natural reactions, you fuckwits.  

 

I really believe that Aurora's near-hysterical weeping was a reaction to her father signing some papers and giving them away, not a joyful reaction.  Oh, she knew better than to let the truth be known, and to say how happy she was over and over (she may have been happy on some level), but I think she was mostly overwhelmed with pain and I think that Robyn knew it.  I can tell you most women learn the sounds of each of their childrens' cries beginning in infancy and know what each cry means, and I think that may have been behind Robyn's weak smile.  

 

When her crying was remarked on, someone commented "either that or she's really sad!" about Aurora, but I don't remember who said it.  Breanna, maybe? Whoever it was was right on, imo.  

 

Dayton said straight out that he was "baffled" and "downright surprised" that his dad would sign, the youngest girl looked confused and unsure, especially in the face of her sister sobbing uncontrollably.  Could it be that they thought they had been just playing along with another storyline for the show and were stunned that it might have been real?  

 

Kody is a pathetic little snot and I really have never loathed him the way I do right now.  I felt so freaking sorry for David Jessop's kids... I really wanted to see someone take them out of there and let the deprogramming begin.  I was appalled.  And Robyn, that pathetic excuse for a mother.  Her main concerns in life revolve around some bald, flouncy guy -- not her children.  She only wants everything that belongs to Kody, and she'll sell her soul to the devil to make it that way. 

 

The awkward, uncomfortable silence from the rest of the family spoke volumes.  The way that both Meri and Janelle lamely said, "wooooow... " spoke volumes. The way that Christine overreacted makes her an even bigger hypocrite, since she was SO scared of losing her own dad when she was a child.  And the poor older kids during the couch segment, I thought it seemed like they were kind of trying to justify the whole "adoption".  

 

Meanwhile, Kody the Klueless has NO IDEA what a shitstorm they just unleashed, and yells, "how about a 'HIP HIP KAZZAH!'"

 

But, I do agree with everyone who said that there is something fishy about this whole thing.  As much as I believe that the kids' reactions were genuine, I just can't seem to really believe any more of the lies of the Brown adults.  

[Quickbeam]

I hate the whole adoption arc since it seems mean spirited to the kids and Jessop. You can love a child and be an adult in their life without "owning" them.

I did notice that Janelle's superior watercraft merited exactly zero Family recognition. No one said boo. What happened to solidarity?

[RazzleberryPie]

Hello...long time lurker, first time poster (on this board at least).

 

I heard Robyn say in her TH that she wanted to give the kids time to process it before sharing it with the rest of the family.  Then, they seemed to immediately go in and have a meeting with the others.  Same clothes, etc so I assumed it was at least the same day.  Not really a lot of time to process your father giving you away and the reality of being adopted by Kody and clan.  Makes me sad.

When exactly was this filmed and when did it take place? If the whole Internets, TMZ, boards like this, etc. even TLC audience, knew about the whole divorce/adoption plot line, what kind of dumbasss, delusional, idiot ROBYN thinks their kids had no idea their father consenting to giving away rights was  coming?

 

You'd think the kids wouldn't have been so stunned and wouldn't have needed time to process it. Dayton, i can give some leeway, but how did everyone else not know?

[Snarklepuss]

Seeing footage of them way back in Season 1 reminded me of what a bunch of bumpkins they were who had just fallen off a turnip truck.  Now I understand why they think they're so progressive - Perhaps they are in their own little backwards world, but they aren't as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Not one of these women has any self respect and any they do have is derived from their position in the family relative to their MAN.  Oh but they want to shove down our throats how equal they are to him and each other, meanwhile they're all chanting that they want Kody to be in charge and trying to out-maneuver each other to be top hen in the coop.  WTF?  They want us all to think their relationships are so empowering of each other, meanwhile I see the exact opposite.  I see women who have given up and are obviously so stuck in a go-nowhere situation to the point of doing pathetic things like Meri in being taken in by what most savvy people would have realized soon into the fiasco was a fraud.  That's the power of desperation to blind someone to the truth.  How the family thinks the world is not seeing through their charade is unbelievable, and how they are going to keep that "happy family" act up now that the news about Meri's catfishing episode has gotten out is beyond me.  So far it's been mostly crickets from the family on this story because if they talked about it freely their lies and deviousness would likely be exposed.

[purpleflowers]

 

But, I do agree with everyone who said that there is something fishy about this whole thing.  As much as I believe that the kids' reactions were genuine, I just can't seem to really believe any more of the lies of the Brown adults.  

It IS all very fishy and like others have said, at this point it's hard to know what parts of the whole story they are painting are actually true because most of it doesn't make sense. For instance, the way Christine made that super awkward statement to Meri about how her "getting a divorce was so worth it!" So, is she implying that they didn't even know beforehand whether or not the divorce and marriage to Robyn was going to be necessary? Does she not realize how ridiculous that sounds? Here on PTV that is what people have been pointing out for many months. Maybe in their warped thought process, the Browns thought that Kody marrying Robyn would make Jessop feel differently? Another thing I noticed was how Kody and/or Robyn were instructing their kids to thank Meri for Jessop "giving consent" or however they phrased it. So, Jessop gave his consent or signed off or whatever because Meri divorced Kody? These people are really in a world of their own. I don't know, it's just bizarre. 

Edited October 7, 2015 by purpleflowers

[BlackWidow]

I think if something happened to the Wicked Witch, those three kids would be sent back to Kansas before they knew what hit them.  They're a means to an end for Kody.  He wanted a trophy wife, and realized that attractive young women don't want to marry a 40 year old version of Shaggy from Scooby Doo that already have 3 wives and 13 kids.  So, he had to "settle" for a divorcee with some kids of her own.  Remember how disgusted he was about Robyn being a divorced woman? (and we're all supposed to pretend that we don't know that Janelle was married to (and most likely did the deed with) Meri's brother) Her kids are physical, living proof that Robyn had sex with another man, and had a whole life before Kodouche.  The only way that Kody can tolerate it is by spinning this whole story about stolen purity, loveless marriage, deadbeat dad, etc.  So that way he can waltz in, and be the hero.  

 

I don't think he's ever been unkind to them, and I do believe that he and the other wives have tried to make them feel like part of the family.  But I doubt he loves them as his own, because they're not part of his planet thing, right?  I mean, in Kody's world, legal marriage is meaningless, except when dealing with pesky matters of the world like custody and government assistance.  So if he became their father legally, by his own logic, that wouldn't count in his afterlife, right?  I haven't been following them super closely, so if anyone has any corrections for my interpretation of their beliefs, I'd love to hear them.

 What any of them believe to be  'rill' and what they 'fill'  (real and feel, for English speakers) reminds me of that little print on the side mirror 'objects in mirror may be closer than they appear'- meaning that they believe a bunch of stuff that only makes sense in their little story-I've known people who were not plygs, LDS or any form of that, but they kind of live in their own little fantasy zone and make up how the world is according to what makes them feel ok at the time. I don't know, can one make a whole religion out of doing that?

 

In their world, the bio-dad may look at most legal stuff as total BS and doesn't want to waste money fighting them, as they have the advantage with the cash, and sees it as an opportunity for the kids to ride the gravy train as long as it has gas in the tank,doesn't want to be painted as the bad guy, can't afford the child support, maybe has other kids by now, who knows? Or, sees their whole deal ('dill') as another beast to bleed.  We can't make the assumption that they think and see the world like us, especially the more fundamentalist of them. It's highly likely they don't. Maybe they have changed some since the move and pesky things like bills and stuff now have meaning. Maybe the rose-colored glasses aren't quite as rosy as they once were.

[Snarklepuss]

It IS all very fishy and like others have said, at this point it's hard to know what parts of the whole story they are painting are actually true because most of it doesn't make sense. For instance, the way Christine made that super awkward statement to Meri about how her "getting a divorce was so worth it!" So, is she implying that they didn't even know beforehand whether or not the divorce and marriage to Robyn was going to be necessary? Does she not realize how ridiculous that sounds? Here on PTV that is what people have been pointing out for many months. Maybe in their warped thought process, the Browns thought that Kody marrying Robyn would make Jessop feel differently? Another thing I noticed was how Kody and/or Robyn were instructing their kids to thank Meri for Jessop "giving consent" or however they phrased it. So, Jessop gave his consent or signed off or whatever because Meri divorced Kody? These people are really in a world of their own. I don't know, it's just bizarre. 

 

You know I hadn't thought of that but it would make this make some sense if there was some truth to that or even if Jessop actually told them he wouldn't give consent unless they got married.  Maybe Meri had some doubt that he would follow through on his word hence Christine's "it was so worth it" comment.  I can actually understand Jessop feeling better about if if they were married because it would show he's looking out for the kids' welfare for stuff like health insurance, etc. and he gets to have some control over legitimizing their status in a lifestyle he does not approve of.  They may not have wanted to make that aspect of it public - Or maybe Jessop told them not to.  Then again he certainly has been tolerant of them slamming him constantly on TV.  I can only theorize that they've paid him off for the privilege, which could be another reason he gave consent too.  It could be a two way street there.  It's still bizarre, though!

[Kellyee]

As much as I can't stand the Brown adults, I must admit that their kids all seem like nice, well adjusted people. The parents did something right, even though the family is dysfunctional. The kids are all pleasant, none have been arrested, and most of them are heading off to college.

 

Around the boat-making, I noticed that even though Kody loves Robyn best, she didn't get to have an opinion any more than Christine does. That doesn't bode well for the long term future of their marriage. I suspect that in 10 years or so, Robyn will be as miserable as the rest of them.

 

I was annoyed that this boat-making thing was Gabriel's idea, but instead of focusing on helping Gabriel, Kody and two wives went off and did their own thing. They left Janelle to basically single parent all the other kids who were interested in making a boat. Other than Aurora coming up with the design, Kody's boat was made completely by the adults, while the activity really seemed geared towards parents and children spending time TOGETHER. It would also have been nice to see Robyn and Christine truly back each other up in the garage when it was clear that Kody was being a jerk. The "sister wives" are really not bonded to each other or backing each other up, and it will be interesting to see what happens when there are eventually 4 empty nests.

 

Oh, and there was one shot with Robyn in a yellow top. She turns a certain way and you can see she is totally pregnant. I don't know why they're pretending its not true.

 

I noticed that next week we get the daughter outing, to prove to us that Kody is not a completely neglectful parent.

[Tabbygirl521]

Once Kody and Robyn married, the kids could be added to Kody's insurance. No need for adoption. I never adopted my stepson but he was legally my dependent for health insurance purposes. So, that attempt at justification is BUSHWA, as my dad used to say.

[CofCinci]

Anyone notice how Kody was basically sitting on a raised throne in their boat?

Was Meri at the pirate regatta?

[DeusExMaraschino]

Was Meri at the pirate regatta?

Yes, she was there.  She and Christine were laughing hysterically at the Vikings going in circles in the pond.  She looked like she was having fun there at least. 

[ghoulina]

After the all about Christine episode where she admitted that she was not being truthful with Robin about wanting to be friends or whatever and that she was sorry for her behavior I think she is just a phony.   She is just a little to happy and excited about other's good news and I don't buy it.  "We got the kids" give me a break, you don't really care.  Meri barely cared and she gave up her legal marriage.

 

 

I do think Christine likes to "keep sweet", for the most part, with the other wives - to try and sell this "sister wives" crap as some really great relationship. She's always trying to come up with reasons why it's beneficial. This week it was - "See, we back each other up in fights with our husband". Okay, but not really. Everyone hid in the RVs when you were fighting with Kody over comments Ken made. 

 

But anyhow, I do believe she is genuine about loving the kids and seeing them all are one family. What really stands out to me is the plaques she once made for each kid, using their name and listing all their special attributes. I do think she really tries to have individual relationships with them all and sees the other kids as hers as well. I don't think that part is phony at all. 

 

 

As much as I can't stand the Brown adults, I must admit that their kids all seem like nice, well adjusted people. The parents did something right, even though the family is dysfunctional. The kids are all pleasant, none have been arrested, and most of them are heading off to college.

 

I think Jenelle and Christine have some great kids. I contribute a lot of that to the dynamic between those two women while the older kids were growing up. Kody admits he wasn't very involved with his girls, and I don't know how involved Meri ever was with any of them. Even in that first season, we see Jenelle and Christine's kids all eating together, while Meri and Mariah eat separate meals in their part of the house.I think Christine and Jenelle did the bulk of raising those 12. Hence why their kids seem the best, IMO.

 

 Mariah has always seemed a bit spoiled and snobby to me, and is she even still in college? She seems to be present at a lof of these events. And the jury is still out on Robyn's kids. Dayton seems nice enough, just wants to be left alone. Aurora I can see turning out a real mess. She has some boundary issues. Breanna - I barely know who that kid is. I expect King Sol to turn out a lot like Mariah. 

Once Kody and Robyn married, the kids could be added to Kody's insurance. No need for adoption. I never adopted my stepson but he was legally my dependent for health insurance purposes. So, that attempt at justification is BUSHWA, as my dad used to say.

 

Did Kody even have to marry their mom to add them to his insurance? I know every state is different, but I remember my husband was able to add me to his insurance when we were just dating. As long as you were willing to pay, you could basically add anyone as a dependent. This was before the ACA, of course. 

[CofCinci]

The mods might delete this comment as it is inappropriate --- but I always figured Robin's motivation for having Kody adopt her children was to ensure that Aurora and Kody don't have a relationship other than father-daughter. Aurora has very poor boundaries.

[ghoulina]

Once Kody and Robyn married, the kids could be added to Kody's insurance. No need for adoption. I never adopted my stepson but he was legally my dependent for health insurance purposes. So, that attempt at justification is BUSHWA, as my dad used to say.

 

 

Did Kody even have to marry their mom to add them to his insurance? I know every state is different, but I remember my husband was able to add me to his insurance when we were just dating. As long as you were willing to pay, you could basically add anyone as a dependent. This was before the ACA, of course. 

[Oldernowiser]

The mods might delete this comment as it is inappropriate --- but I always figured Robin's motivation for having Kody adopt her children was to ensure that Aurora and Kody don't have a relationship other than father-daughter. Aurora has very poor boundaries.

I trust Aurora's judgment much more than I trust Kody's. I could see him going Woody Allen at some point...his ego is just so ravenous and he clearly doesn't care who gets in the way or who gets hurt.

[3girlsforus]

As much as I can't stand the Brown adults, I must admit that their kids all seem like nice, well adjusted people. The parents did something right, even though the family is dysfunctional. The kids are all pleasant, none have been arrested, and most of them are heading off to college.

 

 

I don't dislike the Brown kids but I think it's a bit early to determine that they are coming out of this nightmare unscathed. First of all, those who are out of the house were older when the TLC train came a-calling. They haven't dealt with Robyn as young children. Most of there time in the house was during the more stable 3 wife days. Sure they weren't blissful but they weren't TLC/Robyn fueled either. 

 

That said, even those kids are showing signs of being affected. Logan left and basically never came back. He paid extra of what was likely his own money to avoid having to live in the Brown circus. Then Madison (I think that's her name) went to college but promptly dropped out and is now engaged to a guy nearly twice her age. Big age differences aren't always an issue but when the guy is in his 30s and the girl is still a teenager that doesn't scream healthy relationship. Time will tell on the younger ones. I think they will be the most affected because of the prevalence of TLC in their young lives and the addition of Robyn during that time that seems to have really upset everything in the family. Robyn's kids are going to be really messed up. The one advantage Janelle and Christine's kids have is that they aren't the favored ones. They mostly just have Janelle and Christine as parents. Kody just comes and goes. Normally an absentee dad is a bad thing but here that's a good thing. Robyn's kids have Robyn and Kody, a double whammy for dysfunction. 

[Kohola3]

You would think that it would make Kody uncomfortable.

 

In a normal male father, it would.  Kody probably a) thinks it's his due and b) eats it up because it validates him as the desirable and delectable King of the Harem.

[SometimesBites]

I don't dislike the Brown kids but I think it's a bit early to determine that they are coming out of this nightmare unscathed. First of all, those who are out of the house were older when the TLC train came a-calling. They haven't dealt with Robyn as young children. Most of there time in the house was during the more stable 3 wife days. Sure they weren't blissful but they weren't TLC/Robyn fueled either. 

 

That said, even those kids are showing signs of being affected. Logan left and basically never came back. He paid extra of what was likely his own money to avoid having to live in the Brown circus. Then Madison (I think that's her name) went to college but promptly dropped out and is now engaged to a guy nearly twice her age. Big age differences aren't always an issue but when the guy is in his 30s and the girl is still a teenager that doesn't scream healthy relationship. Time will tell on the younger ones. I think they will be the most affected because of the prevalence of TLC in their young lives and the addition of Robyn during that time that seems to have really upset everything in the family. Robyn's kids are going to be really messed up. The one advantage Janelle and Christine's kids have is that they aren't the favored ones. They mostly just have Janelle and Christine as parents. Kody just comes and goes. Normally an absentee dad is a bad thing but here that's a good thing. Robyn's kids have Robyn and Kody, a double whammy for dysfunction. 

Although I think the Brown kids are surprisingly normal considering the wonky life they've led, I agree that the chickens won't come home to roost for several more years. Have to demur a bit on the Madison situation. She turns 20 in a couple of weeks and he's 28--not exactly a May-December romance. The concrete facts are troubling enough, that is, I'm bummed for her that she seems to have left school and I really hope that she'll complete her education and that their shared history in the polygamous world doesn't end up with her as a sister wife.

[Absolom]

Ratings are in: 1.309 M viewers and a .4 rating.

[3girlsforus]

Although I think the Brown kids are surprisingly normal considering the wonky life they've led, I agree that the chickens won't come home to roost for several more years. Have to demur a bit on the Madison situation. She turns 20 in a couple of weeks and he's 28--not exactly a May-December romance. The concrete facts are troubling enough, that is, I'm bummed for her that she seems to have left school and I really hope that she'll complete her education and that their shared history in the polygamous world doesn't end up with her as a sister wife.

 

Thanks for that clarification. I don't know why I could have sworn I read that he was mid-30s. 28 isn't nearly as bad. I will have to admit as the mother of a 20 year old I wouldn't be thrilled if she was dating a 28 year old but i would tolerate it much more than if she was dating a 30+ year old. 8 years isn't too much but it's better if they are a bit older since the difference between 20 and 28 is pretty big from a developmental perspective. If she was still in school I would feel better about it too.