S07.E06: Meri Makes Amends and Kody: Behind the Scenes

[BlackWidow]

5 hours ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

I think Janelle flew under a lot of people's radar because relative to the other Brown adults, she seemed the most competent and normal. She had an actual JOB, that's a big part of it.  She didn't have any obvious emotional or personality defects.  She could speak in grammatically correct sentences and enunciate her words.  

Wow, that's not much when you think about it, lol.  But then again, in comparison to Kody, Meri, Christine, and Robyn, Janelle looked pretty good. 

Oh I thought of something else - people knew that at one point before the show began, Janelle had the good sense to walk out on Kody (and Meri) and set up her own home.  That earned her some points, at least imo.  It created the impression she had an actual backbone.  Too bad this whole thing with Meri has completely erased that image.  At least as far as I am concerned. 

well this kind of situation can be spun different ways, one can look at it like gee, how bad must it have been for her to live in a teepee or tent in the winter (or was that bs and it really was a house?), of course the 'look I have money now.' thing could be wrapped as 'well Ill come back but we have to be in separate houses (funded by me)' so it wouldn't exactly be a lie to say 'well I said I would come back but I had conditions' . This is an example of how something is 'framed' and people draw their own conclusions. People might think , oh well kody set them up in a bigger place and things were better . Janelle came back on her terms, but really she financed it and probably put kody on title, which began the many rounds of bankruptcies/title changes. I don't know, she may look at him kind of like a time-share, especially if she is more introverted, she got to get out of the house and the general chaos with working, had a built-in nanny with Christine, and maybe liked her own space and didn't care if kody wasn't around that much. So maybe for her, she was cool with 'investing' in the old house and saw how it could work. She did get an entire half of the whole house as living space whereas Chris and Meri had an upstairs and a downstairs of the other side.

1 hour ago, Roslyn said:

I remember reading about her leaving, and for several years if I remember correctly, only coming "back" when her inheritance was put up for the Lehi Plyg house.  But the Janelle that I have seen on the television show has not fit with this person who walked out in defiance to 'the family'. 

However one of the first lies they ever told was in their first episode in the first season when they stated that "we have always raised our kids together as siblings", giving the impression that they had always lived in the same house with each other when they were only as one family in the plyg house for 4-5 years before the great escape.

I thought they had been in the duplex or triplex thing way longer than that. So before that they were in what? A trailer? With all those kids? Ye Gads..

27 minutes ago, CofCinci said:

Once she got money, Kody was willing to work on their relationship. She's a fool. 

It's really hard to say how Janelle felt about all this, it could have been like I outlined above. It is sort of weird how it worked out that she used to be married to Meri's brother but that isn't a sole reason for Meri to take a huge dislike to her. It sure looks like it is more awkward personality types, though I have seen very unalike people be able to become very good friends if BOTH sides can laugh at their own quirks and character traits and not take everything  the other does as a dig or some form of sabotage or slight. It's hard to be able to laugh at your own personality quirks or shortcomings especially around someone you're not sure of,  but it helps as far as accepting others and yourself as it makes you gain greater perspective:  how the other person sees things as well as learning about picking battles and not everything needs to be a battle. The eyebrow thing was great because they both were able to laugh at themselves and not feel threatened. 

Maybe we can get them to have a bottle of wine and indulge in some 'high camp'  

'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'  (real quotes from the movie)

Jane: You mean all this time we could have been friends?

Blanche: Why are you doing this to me? WHY?

Jane: You don't think I remember anything, do you? There are a whole lot of things I remember. And you never paid for this house. Baby Jane Hudson made the money that paid for this house, that's who!

[Galloway Cave]

24 minutes ago, BlackWidow said:

but really she financed it and probably put kody on title, which began the many rounds of bankruptcies/title changes.

The bankruptcies began way back in the mid-1990s I think. There have been three so far. She bought the Lehi house around 10 years ago.

25 minutes ago, BlackWidow said:

I thought they had been in the duplex or triplex thing way longer than that. So before that they were in what? A trailer? With all those kids? Ye Gads..

Meri and Kody were in one house, then Janelle moved in for less than a year. She moved into a "cottage" next door. Christine also lived separately. They lived in houses and trailers next to each until Janelle bought the Lehi house. They were only there together for 5 years (minus Robyn, of course).

26 minutes ago, BlackWidow said:

how bad must it have been for her to live in a teepee

She was just trying to connect with Native Americans or some something like that. She wasn't homeless or anything, just trying something out (in the dead of winter in Wyoming with no preparation apparently) and she didn't last 24 hours.

[CofCinci]

6 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

The bankruptcies began way back in the mid-1990s I think. There have been three so far. She bought the Lehi house around 10 years ago.

Meri and Kody were in one house, then Janelle moved in for less than a year. She moved into a "cottage" next door. Christine also lived separately. They lived in houses and trailers next to each until Janelle bought the Lehi house. They were only there together for 5 years (minus Robyn, of course).

She was just trying to connect with Native Americans or some something like that. She wasn't homeless or anything, just trying something out (in the dead of winter in Wyoming with no preparation apparently) and she didn't last 24 hours.

I don't buy that. Kody's father was a true creep.. The overweight divorcee stepdaughter can go live outside on the ranch. 

[kimaken]

Quote

 It is sort of weird how it worked out that she used to be married to Meri's brother but that isn't a sole reason for Meri to take a huge dislike to her.

We don't know why Janelle and Meri's brother divorced or how she treated him, so there could be reasons for Meri's dislike. Also, I read that Janelle actively went after Kody and they were seeing each other/dating behind Meri's back prior to getting "married" -- so, it wasn't  Kody saying "let's do the polygamy thing and together we'll pick out another wife for me...." I don't think Meri had any say in picking out wife #2; Kody just did what he wanted -- so I can Meri having issues with Janelle for both of those reasons. One of my brothers has been married and divorced twice--the first ex I remained friends with (he cheated on her) but the 2nd wife I won't speak to (she cheated on him--so I can understand how Meri might feel if Janelle dumped her brother to chase after Kody.

[Galloway Cave]

5 hours ago, CofCinci said:

I don't buy that. Kody's father was a true creep.. The overweight divorcee stepdaughter can go live outside on the ranch. 

My take on the situation was Janelle was already divorced and was scoping out Kody. She wanted to impress Kody with her spiritual and adventurous sides, so that is why she pitched her tent. I don't think anyone knew they were courting except the two of them, so Wynn wouldn't have been bothered to really have an opinion of her yet. It wasn't until she was married to Kody that they started to butt heads.

[BlackWidow]

59 minutes ago, Galloway Cave said:

My take on the situation was Janelle was already divorced and was scoping out Kody. She wanted to impress Kody with her spiritual and adventurous sides, so that is why she pitched her tent. I don't think anyone knew they were courting except the two of them, so Wynn wouldn't have been bothered to really have an opinion of her yet. It wasn't until she was married to Kody that they started to butt heads.

So the tent thing was before they were even living together or 'married' , shacked up or whatever? I thought all this time the tent story was that Janelle had left because things were so bad with Meri? You're saying this came before them living together and it was to impress him? Seems like the inheritance impressed him a bit more...but the tent thing, whether it lasted a day or weeks or whatever, wasn't because her mom wouldn't let her live in her house on the Wyoming ranch. I do remember there was some episode where they were looking at some little house that had the kids hand-prints in the cement and being all 'hey remember this place' but I can't remember where that was.

[Galloway Cave]

Just now, BlackWidow said:

So the tent thing was before they were even living together or 'married' , shacked up or whatever?

Yes, it was after Janelle got divorced from Adam but before she married Kody. She said she was in her "finding herself" stage. Had nothing to do with her mom or Wynn not letting her live in the house (at least none of them have said anything about that or have written about it in that stupid book). My personal take on it was she was trying to impress Kody by being a sturdy out doorsy kind of gal.

The little house with the hand prints was at one of their houses in Wyoming. There was one house for one wife with several small houses/trailers around it for the other wives.

Janelle left Kody (and Meri and Christine) when they were living in houses/trailers. I think they were in Utah by this time. She moved 30 minutes away and lived in a house with her kids. Kody still visited and she had another kid with him (Savannah??). Her father died and she got her inheritance. Kody found the plyg house in Lehi and talked her into moving back to the family and buying the house so they all could be together.

[RealityCowgirl]

Giving up the inheritance - and whatever little bit of security it might have offered HER children - was the biggest proof against the "she's the smart one" line for me. I get the "we are family" thing they say they have going on. But in the real world, where they live with the rest of us, she was a single mother with too many mouths to feed on her state employee salary.

I'm not knocking public sector employment - it's been my life for 31 years. But it was not enough to bear the kind of burden placed on her lone salary. To give up that bit of breathing room that whatever she got from her inheritance offered, in my mind, was not "smart."

Edited June 23, 2016 by RealityCowgirl

[Celia Rubenstein]

16 hours ago, MonicaM said:

You are far more charitable than I am because I think this makes her the biggest idiot in the family.  She had a decent job, a separate home where she didn't have to share a kitchen, etc. and yet she came back and helped buy the house in Utah with her inheritance. 

In their book they made it sound like Janelle had moved out because she didn't like living with Meri while Kody was away working so much of the time, so she ventured out on her own and was very happy.  She lived on her own for two years. Then Kody got a new job in Utah that wouldn't require him to be gone all the time any more, and he had found this great house built for plygs that had three separate spaces and each wife would have her own.  He basically lured her into moving with them so the whole family could be together all the time. It seemed reasonable enough because it remedied the problems Janelle was having with the living situation, and I don't recall anyone questioning it at the time the book came out.

But what the Browns failed to mention was that Janelle returned to the fold with a big inheritance check and that she paid for their new house.  Because, yeah that does kind of fly in the face of "the smart one" who bravely stepped out on her own when she wasn't being treated the way she wanted, who only returned when the situation had completely changed and she knew she would be happy. It makes her sound like a bit of a chump, I agree.  That is when she started to sink in the opinions of many.

I am not sure where the information about Janelle using her inheritance to pay for the house came from.  I can't find a source, but it is accepted lore around here so someone must have substantiated it at some point.  Does anyone know where the story originated? 

[winsomeone]

Not sure where this comment goes, but doesn't it seem odd, as fertile as Janelle is, that she had no children with her first husband?

[Featherhat]

They weren't married for all that long were they? I know even mainstream LDS are "encouraged" to have as many children as possible, as quickly as possible  but they wouldn't have been their first religious people to use BC. And to put this as delicately as possible, if the marriage started falling apart quite quickly then there may not have been many opportunities to get pregnant. Or any other dozen scenarios.

[DakotaJustice]

34 minutes ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

In their book they made it sound like Janelle had moved out because she didn't like living with Meri while Kody was away working so much of the time, so she ventured out on her own and was very happy.  She lived on her own for two years. Then Kody got a new job in Utah that wouldn't require him to be gone all the time any more, and he had found this great house built for plygs that had three separate spaces and each wife would have her own.  He basically lured her into moving with them so the whole family could be together all the time. It seemed reasonable enough because it remedied the problems Janelle was having with the living situation, and I don't recall anyone questioning it at the time the book came out.

But what the Browns failed to mention was that Janelle returned to the fold with a big inheritance check and that she paid for their new house.  Because, yeah that does kind of fly in the face of "the smart one" who bravely stepped out on her own when she wasn't being treated the way she wanted, who only returned when the situation had completely changed and she knew she would be happy. It makes her sound like a bit of a chump, I agree.  That is when she started to sink in the opinions of many.

I am not sure where the information about Janelle using her inheritance to pay for the house came from.  I can't find a source, but it is accepted lore around here so someone must have substantiated it at some point.  Does anyone know where the story originated? 

I thought it was from the book - or at least implied.  But there are so many sources...maybe from the show.  For instance, it was right after they moved to LV and were all living in a single house that Janelle stated she had cashed out her retirement or 401k to finance the move and they had spent most if not all of it (if memory serves) in living expenses.  My own thought on that at the time was since she probably hadn't been at her state job all that long at the time (10 years at most maybe) and she was responsible for at least half the income for the entire family, I doubt she had been able to contribute much to her 401(k) to begin with and it was probably pretty small and easy to blow through (not to mention having to pay the taxes/penalities on early withdrawal).

The smart one. yup.

[Galloway Cave]

Janelle has mentioned "they" bought the house with money she received and I know it was sourced out in several places on the old SWB and Cynical Jinx's blog.

[toodles]

I think the house info came from their book.  She has said on the show that their financial situation was desperate when they moved to Vegas. So of course they needed four houses.   Their "church" wouldn't give kody permission to marry Robyn because they couldn't afford it.  But what the hell, do it anyway because famewhore.

Maybe this belongs in the asshat thread, but Kody behind the scenes is so much worse than kody in front of the camera.  It chaps my ass that these TV families have more kids than they can afford, fall in to a reality show, and sell their families' souls to keep the gravy train rolling.  Put me in the hater column.  

That Janelle was willing to  finance this lifestyle is not surprising.  She drank a heepin' helpin' of the kody koolaid.

[Celia Rubenstein]

1 hour ago, Galloway Cave said:

Janelle has mentioned "they" bought the house with money she received and I know it was sourced out in several places on the old SWB and Cynical Jinx's blog.

Did she say it on the show? Because I can never manage to pay real attention to it and I could easily have missed it. 

I just read the book and I could swear there was no mention of Janelle getting an inheritance or being the one who funded the house in Lehi.  I will flip back through it to confirm when I get the willpower to make myself go through that waste of paper.  What an awful book.  We should really have a thread here to snark on it.

I have tried to google "sister wives Janelle inheritance Lehi house" and I find several reference to the story about Janelle paying for the house, including  some stuff at Jinx's blog.  But it is all just the same stuff as here ... it just gets stated as fact with no source mentioned, with some people there asking where the info came from, too.  No one ever says.  It's possible I missed something, though, of course.

I am not saying I really doubt the story - it sounds like a classic Kody Brown scheme.  I am just curious where it originated. 

ETA also curious about the part of the story that has Janelle adding Kody to the deed, and then later adding MERI.  Meri who treats her like complete crap and has for years.  Janelle must actually bathe in kool-aid, seriously.   It's mind boggling.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Celia Rubenstein

[Galloway Cave]

I am going to preface all this by saying I have brain mush right now due to being in the middle of house construction, so Brown Family Circus minutia is really low on my mental list. Yes, she mentioned it on the show. Can't remember when though. I am pretty sure she said inheritance but she may have just said she had received some money, so don't quote me there! I have read about the Browns on several websites, including on The Principle Tumblr, and it may have been there or a story linked from there that talked about Janelle and her family background. I am not sure if it was an inheritance from her father or step-father, but for some reason I'm thinking it was her step-father.

Someone on the old SWB did the deed research and saw that Janelle originally bought the home in her name only, then later added both Kody and Meri at the same time. I remember we were all talking about the fact that they didn't add Christine, but apparently in her bankruptcy papers she claimed she rented from Kody Brown.

I lived in a polygamous town for 8 years and was very interested in the whole mess, especially being friends with several wives and kids of the main family. I have spent way too much time reading up on some of these folks. I'm really not a groupie, I swear!

[DakotaJustice]

Somewhere in the book, Kody mentions that windfalls such as inheritences and tax refunds are put in the common pot. (I have a pdf of the book on my laptop but havent read it in years, that said i do remember the word "inheritence" being used.)

I also seem to recall that Janelle opted to return after Kody found the plyg house for sale ant persuaded her to buy it. The fact that Janelle had most of the house and it was in her name leads me to believe she financed it, whether it was an inheritance or some other source.

[Tabbygirl521]

9 hours ago, winsomeone said:

Not sure where this comment goes, but doesn't it seem odd, as fertile as Janelle is, that she had no children with her first husband?

Hubby was maybe shooting blanks. Meri and he might be part of a family like mine; few of us seem to procreate easily. 

[Christina]

At some point after Janelle purchased the tri-plex, she took out a loan for home repairs. It appears from the public records that she also needed Kody's income for that loan, and as Kody and Meri were married at the time, Meri also became a signatory on the mortgage and owner on the deed. I think this was hashed out and linked on the old Sister Wives Blog. Where ever it was, the public records were linked showing Janelle was the only named owner until they took out a home improvement loan, at which time both Kody and Meri were added to the loan and deed.

At the time they moved to Las Vegas they were upside down in the mortgages, and would have only been able to sell it at a loss. One of Meri's family members moved in and rented at least part of it.

I still think if we are deciding which Brown parent is the smart one, Janelle wins. In part because of the fact she typically kept her mouth closed during the couch chats as those around her acted the fool and butchered the English language. Christine didn't even know how to pay her bills when they first moved to Las Vegas. Not like Robyn who didn't bother to pay her bills, but she spoke of concern about not knowing what to do because Janelle always took care of it. Kody and Robyn both come across as lower intelligence to me, but they are so manipulative that they manage to survive on their "wits." Meri may be as intelligent as Janelle but she claimed to bring Robyn into the family, where it appears to me that Kody and Robyn (especially Robyn) set it up to make her think that she was in control. None of them come across that bright, and Janelle wins when grading on a curve between them all.

[Granny58]

On 6/13/2016 at 6:59 PM, LotusFlower said:

Do they even have a regular church?  I don't think they do.  I think they gather at one of the houses when they want to have some sort of service or prayer, with Kody leading.  Also, didn't the LDS church tell Maddie she had to denounce her family (because of polygamy) in order to be a member, but she refused.  So I think they're a polygamous Mormon Fundamentalist family without a church or a priest, and maybe that's why they asked Kody to officiate the wedding.

I've been away and haven't caught up on this show yet.  But isn't Caleb Catholic?  I think I'm correct that a wedding being officiated by Kody wouldn't be recognized by the Church.  Perhaps they did it again later in Caleb's own church?  Any opinions, anyone?

[RealityCowgirl]

His dad is pastor of a church in Worland, Wyoming, a Church of Christ, I believe. Caleb could be Catholic now, but he probably grew up in that denomination.

[VedaPierce]

On June 14, 2016 at 4:08 PM, Madding crowd said:

Christine does seem like a very positive person. She deserves someone better than Kody.

"The people get the government they deserve" , just kidding-sort of, but actually, I think they all quite deserve each other. I find them all horrid for different reasons, their only redemption is some of the kids- I say some because we don't really know a lot about ALL of the kids. There could be a future serial killer hidden among that hoard, one of the quiet ones, lol

I believe Christine definitely has an edge to her that sometimes rears its ugly head. I think she's looked back on past seasons and got herself in check, maybe with the help of meds. But she's off as well. Her constant put downs of monogamist a gets tedious, her neglect of a sick kid while cake tasting, her hiding in a bathroom stall at that college summit on polygamy. That weird whispery voice she uses when she says stupid shit, like she can't believe men could be such bastards, or something to that effect. 

Yes she laughs, can be fun and funny, but is fake and affected and I just get a sense of a lot of suppressed anger and resentment from her as well.

[VedaPierce]

On June 14, 2016 at 5:54 PM, Adeejay said:

I believe Christine is happy because she is the only wife who is getting Kody's "attention". Kody said that at the moment, there is an "emotional disconnect" with Robyn; Meri is in the dog house and Janelle doesn't seem "romantically" interested in him.  Christine seems to be a kind and decent person; she deserves to be happy. 

I believe Christine is happy because Meri stepped on her dick and is now out of the club and Robyn is a hormonal bitch and got fat from being pregnant - in Kodys mind - and is now not as lauded by the king, president, whatever the hell he calls himself nowadays.

You're only on top when someone else is down. This is a sick setup. Happiness is achieved when the other wives are miserable.

Edited June 25, 2016 by VedaPierce

[VedaPierce]

59 minutes ago, VedaPierce said:

 

.

On June 14, 2016 at 4:10 PM, Nowhere said:

@Madding crowd I have to agree with you. It was nothing I wouldn't have said to a friend as a joke. 

Except that they're not friends, never were. I would never joke with my rival/nemesis the same way I joke with my friends...

Edited June 25, 2016 by VedaPierce

[VedaPierce]

On June 14, 2016 at 7:27 PM, absolutelyido said:

And you just know that Meri is going to be checking out where each of the others hang it to ensure they are paying it the appropriate homage.

Hahaha! Not anymore! She's not the boss anymore...THAT'S one of the reasons Christine is skipping around the sack de cul...

[Nowhere]

6 hours ago, VedaPierce said:

.

Except that they're not friends, never were. I would never joke with my rival/nemesis the same way I joke with my friends...

They're not rivals, they're sister wives. Isn't this supposed to be the way God intended?

I'm not happy with Jenelle right now so I have no sympathy for her.

[laurakaye]

All of this still boggles my mind.  Janelle picks up and moves for two years - I didn't realize it was that long.  So she's on her own with 5 small kids (if Savannah was the result of one of Kody's "visits")...how on earth did she do this?  Who watched her kids?  Why did she allow Kody to have conjugal visits, resulting in another child for her to take care of? 

None of this makes sense to me.  Janelle and Meri obviously knew each other - I think they knew each other before Meri and Kody got married, and before Janelle married Adam.  Janelle had to have been very familiar with Meri's personality.  Janelle married Meri's brother and then divorces him.  It would seem the very LAST place on earth she'd want to end up is with Meri and Kody.  Did Janelle really have that much of the hots for Kody that she was willing to overlook not only Meri's personality, but the very awkward fact that Janelle had already been Meri's sister-in-law?  The familial "connections," shall we say, border on a strong ICK factor.  And then, after popping out 5 babies, she finally has enough of Meri and leaves her awesome, hot husband behind with the very woman she professes she cannot stand?

I don't know why this bugs me, but it does.  None of Janelle's actions make a lick of sense.  It's not just confusing, it's downright bizarre.  Unless Janelle wanted Kody from the beginning, Meri got to him first, Janelle decided to keep an eye on them by maneuvering herself into the family by marrying Adam, found out that Kody wanted polygamy so she dropped Adam like a hot potato, pursued Kody...crap, I don't know.  The whole Kody-Meri-Janelle triangle seems so unnatural.  And gross.  It's really gross, too.

[Celia Rubenstein]

According to the book, Janelle lived 30 minutes away from the rest of them (although Mary claims it was only 15 minutes) and she dropped her kids off at Christine's cottage (which was very close to Meri's house) to be watched every day.

I guess it did not seem to her like she was ceding Kody to Meri since part of the reason she left was because Kody was away from home working so much and it wasnt like Meri got to see that much more of him (and Kody always paid Janelle regular visits, so she basically saw him as much as she ever did, with the added benefit of not having Meri in the next room). 

The thing about Janelle hooking up with Kody is kind of confusing. Janelle met Kody when he was with Meri  at a family function before Meri and Kody married.  She and her then-husband attended Meri and Kody's wedding. She said she felt some kind of a spark when she first laid eyes on Kody but then she just drops the subject. She obviously knew Meri already, being her SIL, and describes herself as close to Meri and then she makes the relationship sound kind of shallow and not important. But she sticks around Meri's family after she divorces the brother, and she gets to be really friendly with Meri and Kody. Like really buddy-buddy. That's when she takes her mother with her on a trip to vist Kody's family and her mother meets Kody's father and they end up getting married. At some point during this threesome friendship thing, Kody starts telling Janelle that he's into her and Janelle claims she rebuffed this attention but eventually they seem to basically be hooking up behind Meri's back.  That was how it sounded to me anyway.

I guess I can kind of understand where some of Meri's resentment toward Janelle comes from. Because apparently they got along fine together before Kody and Janelle became an item. I think their problems have a lot to do with how Meri was not involved in or given any say in them beginning a courtship. Which of course is one of those plyg rules the Browns brag about following, but ignore when they feel like it. And of course, because Meri is not allowed to express any hostility or disapproval of Kody, all her resentment ended up directed at Janelle. 

I am not defending Janelle's role in this, by the way. There is something that feels falsely innocent in the way she describes her getting together with Kody in their book. It is hard to picture Janelle as a scheming plotting temptress who inserted herself into someone else's marriage and carved out a niche for herself.  But she did end up the second Mrs. Brown, though, didn't she?

Edited June 27, 2016 by Celia Rubenstein

[laurakaye]

Thank you, Celia, that answers some of my questions.  I know in plyg circles, everyone is somehow related, but I just can't figure out this particular "love" triangle.  It would seem, logically, that all three adults would've understood that Kody and Janelle would not be a good idea, given Janelle's former marriage.  Janelle doesn't seem like a flirty temptress, and one would think that Kody would have more than two brain cells telling him that this particular inter-relationship might not be good for Meri or Janelle.  I'm probably giving Kody too much credit, I guess he was a doofus Neanderthal from way back.  

[Celia Rubenstein]

2 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

Janelle doesn't seem like a flirty temptress, and one would think that Kody would have more than two brain cells telling him that this particular inter-relationship might not be good for Meri or Janelle.  I'm probably giving Kody too much credit, I guess he was a doofus Neanderthal from way back.  

Too much credit, indeed.  Kody doesn't care about anyone except himself and Little Kody, who seems to do most of his thinking.  And if he didn't prove it during seven seasons of self-absorbed indifference to the feelings of his wives, he proved it last night when he could barely be bothered to choke out his opinion that "it's about damn time" his wives started solving their own problems.  

Honestly, "it's about damn time."  Really?  Like Kody has been the one who has managed the problems and soothed the hurt feelings.  Spare me. He has never lifted a finger to intervene between his wives ever.  He just runs to the next house when things get tough. Kody doesn't give a rat's ass about whether his wives are happy or get along or not.  Just so long as they leave him out of it.  That's all he cares about.