S09.E10: Confronting Meri

[Sasha888]

Screwball Therapist Nancy asks if there's anything else they want to share with Meri, and nobody dares to say boo.

Then in their TH's - 

Robyn - "I'm tired of her not being invested with us. I'm sick and tired of it. I'm tired of her questioning our motives as sisterwives. I'm just sick of this."

Janelle - "This is my daughter, she's giving birth, this is not about US. This is about her and the birth. This is so idiotic that we're dealing with this!"

Christine - "She comes in with so much baggage. That baggage that she comes in with just really puts a damper on things."

 

THEN TELL HER THAT! They let themselves be dragged to session after session so Meri can talk about how hurt she was that she was "excluded" from the birth, when really she just didn't make an effort to be there. They have to sit there and hear how Meri feels, so TELL HER how YOU feel! 

Tell her you're sick of her questioning your motives all the time, tell her it's idiotic and ridiculous that you've had to sit through multiple therapy sessions because you didn't roll out the red carpet and hand Meri an engraved invitation to the birth...TELL her she's a freaking dark cloud descending on every family gathering!

Why the fuck would you go the therapy and not say how you "rilly fill"?

I would tell her, Meri, you're a self-centered ass, and every time you come around, everybody has to watch every little word they say for fear of being accused of hurting your feelings, and we know any innocent little comment we make, you're going to make that into an attack on you and make us grovel and apologize for it. And we're sick of it. We're sick of you and your shitty attitude. We don't want you around because you're a nasty, grouchy bitch all the time.

[Cajungirl64]

I can't even believe I'm saying this because I've never been a Meri defender. But STFU Christine... you are incapable of explaining your feelings without using circular logic. IMO, she was definitely all over the place. AND, when she kept telling Meri she seemed pissed off at the lunch, she conveniently left out how completely disgusted Jeanelle looked in every camera shot (Jeanelle has always been my favorite SW, but she's not getting a free pass this time). Christine is in a really good place with Kody and the Head B**** right now so she's feeling all free to lecture Meri in her baby whispery voice.

Ugh. Kody is SUCH a douchebag. He needs to forgive Meri and make an attempt to salvage their relationship or cut her loose. Because as long as he's making her feel like he could take her or leave her, she'll never feel like part of this family again. 

On the plus side, Mariah seems like a different person. I'm happy for her. 

[LotusFlower]

Next time I don’t want to do something, I’m going to say “I’m guarded.”  Next time I’m criticized, I’m going to say “it’s because I’m guarded.”  

Meri uses that phrase like it’s an excuse.  

[Sasha888]

42 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I think I’m going to go to work tomorrow and say I won’t participate in any conversations that aren’t safe.

Ha ha ha...I've been thinking that from now on, whenever I think something is a stupid idea, I'm going to yell "I don't want the puppy!" ;-P Last week's catchphrase from Robyn!

[CassinaFaye]

Watching the episode now.  God Robyn and Meri are stupid.  I mean they all are (although I like Jenelle I wish she would pack up and leave Kod and I have always said that) but in regards to the sister wive joke regarding "sam".

[Meowwww]

Omg.  Meri is acting like an innocent victim.  She cheated. Period.  Emotional cheating is cheating, there’s no going back from that.  Yet she is all hurt from being accused.  Ugh. 

[mbaywife123]

I have not watched this show for years but wow what a cluster f this has become.

Meri, buy a clue nobody wants you around anymore.

Mariah and girlfiend buy some pants where your fat isn't squeezing thru the "cuts". Meri can probably get you some good deals on cheap leggings.

Christine looks great!

Robyn is headed down the Meri lane.

Janelle, please get the mole? under your nostril checked ASAP!

[Galloway Cave]

It must be exhausting to be Meri, living life completely "guarded", judging the words and actions of everyone around her 24/7. She also has to try to manipulate her daughter's life and the lives of her sisterwives and ex-husband, act snotty while selling LuLaNo during video sells, whine/cry/play victim when interactions don't go her way AND try to figure out how to run a B&B. Sounds like she has fun with her friends, which is good, otherwise her life would be a total downer. In the flashback, when she walked into the bedroom to see Maddie and the baby, she was all hunched over and dragging ass. The look on her face was foul. I thought she was going to say something but then she was holding the baby and smiling. So I understand what Christine was saying about Meri entering a room with baggage and attitude.

25 minutes ago, bichonblitz said:

Meri was seething at Christine for calling her over to her house and having that private little meeting in front of the camera's. 

That was a wonderful, unscripted 15 minute glimpse into their life that we rarely get. Meri was pissed because Christine went off-script and she wasn't prepared for it. The whole conversation was confusing to hear because Christine is not articulate and says sorry every other word (and safe way too much, which I think she means secure or protected). Meri was trained in verbal warfare by Kody, so she knows how to argue circles, viciously, around the other wives. I'm glad Christine kept at it even though she didn't make much sense. Standing up to Meri's bullshit, outside of Worthless Nancy's office, is always a good thing.

[Bmglmr]

Let me start out by saying I agree with most of the posters that Meri is....well...Meri.  But I’m going to defend Meri for a moment (unpopular I know). I think at the root of Meri’s issues is Kody.  Their relationship is fractured at best and he does virtually nothing to make it better. All the while his relationships with the other wives are thriving. He’s (unfortunately) the glue that keeps them together. This makes her feel like an outsider, like she really doesn’t belong. So she’s hyper sensitive, which makes her defensive, which makes them uncomfortable, which makes them not want to be around her, which only feeds into what Meri thinks/feels anyway, and around it goes because no one will address the elephant in the room.  Meri has no ties to that family anymore, Mariah is gone and so is Kody.

[gingerella]

54 minutes ago, bichonblitz said:

This is exactly the problem! They can't get over what Meri did. They probably never will and I don't blame them. They and we all know she was ready to leave the family and go live happily ever after having crazy monkey sex with the catfish fake. Even Mariah knows it! They are all sick and tired of Meri deflecting and making herself the victim. The problem is that none of them will come clean and tell her the truth about how they really feel about the catfish dill. 

Meri was seething at Christine for calling her over to her house and having that private little meeting in front of the camera's. Christine should not have done that and only added fuel to the fire.  And what did she mean when she kept saying she didn't feel safe around Meri? She had a difficult time explaining herself. She's so damn dramatic. That meeting went nowhere.

Why is Meri even still there? She clearly loathes the other sister wives and Kody has written her off. If she wont make the decision to leave, then they ought to just tell her they are divorcing her from the family and 'Bye Felicia'. I mean, the whole thing is just round and round and round and none of the parties likes her at all, they never really did but the cat fishing cheating was the last straw. Why fucking bother? Meri should open her B&B in Utah and leave. 

And on the subject of honesty, or lack thereof with this crew, Meri has never, and will never, get over the fact that Kody divorced her to marry Robin. Yeah she offered it up on a silver platter, but it was really out of obligation because it's what Kodouche wanted, it wasn't what Meri wanted. So while they cannot forgive her about cheating on the family, she cannot forgive the family for taking away her legal marriage to Kody. 

Oh, and now Meri is going to buy the B&B without telling them? Yeah, that's gonna go over like a lead balloon...these people are too stupid to be procreating...

Edited March 19, 2018 by gingerella

[Sasha888]

2 hours ago, 80sBaby said:

If Sam was real Meri would have been gone. The other wives and Kodi know it too. Kodi will never have a romantic relationship with Meri again EVER.

I agree. And I think Kody is done with her, too - and I think he has every right to be. That's colored by my own life experiences, I'll admit that - my ex-husband most likely did not ACTUALLY have sex with anyone, but he did everything but...and he found his ass on the curb! 

And why wouldn't her sisterwives feel some level of betrayal as well? While it is not the type of family many of us would choose, they ARE a family, and when you pull something like that, you really are doing it to the whole family. You daughter feels like you cheated on her Dad - your sisterwives feel that you were ready to say "See ya later, bitches!" You were ready to walk right out of your sisterwives' childrens' lives as well...if Sammy Catfish had been real. So why SHOULD they trust you?

Especially when you won't even own up to what you did...here she was again tonight, saying she was "in a dark place" and "so scared of this emotionally abusive person"...cut the crap, Meri. At some point in that relationship, you were not feeling emotionally abused. You were feeling like scratching his name on your leg and fornicating with produce. AND EVERYBODY KNOWS IT!

If she really wanted to work things out (and had a real therapist who would call her out on her crap), she would first have to own up...but no, she's the eternal victim, so she can't do that.

Well then....play the victim. But don't expect your relationships to change & heal. 

24 minutes ago, mbaywife123 said:

Mariah and girlfiend buy some pants where your fat isn't squeezing thru the "cuts". Meri can probably get you some good deals on cheap leggings.

Speaking of ugly LuLaRoe shit...what the hell was that outfit Meri had one when she went to Mormon Tara to officially make her offer to Vicky!!! A floral print skirt with a striped baseball tee? WTF? Does she think wearing that hideous get-up on TV was a good advertisement for her clothing line? Because um....it's NOT. 

I've seen her in plenty of ugly LLR garbage on this show, but this latest outfit to me was the worst yet!

[gardendiva]

If Meri really wanted to get back into the fold and to stop the whispers and “judgement” behind her back, the first thing she should do is show a bit of remorse for what she did to her family. She needs to own her bullshit, ask sincerely for forgiveness, and give a real and honest apology for the hurt she caused to the rest of the family. It is really hard to stay mad at someone that owns up to what they did and asks sincerely for forgiveness. It would do so much to clear the air.

Unfortunately Meri is so deeply lacking in a sense of self awareness of how her actions affected everyone else. She is so selfish and self involved she can’t see past her own fillings. She is incapable of having any empathy for how her behavior has affected anyone else. Her sense of entitlement to forgiveness-her feeling that she somehow deserves to be treated as if it never happened without doing anything to earn that forgiveness-is probably what is really sticking in everyone’s craw.

If Meri had made any small effort to actually be honest about what happened, and if she also showed sincere remorse and humility, maybe some of this could have been healed over by now. But she is too arrogant and proud to ever show humility. What a pity. I think Christine would have met her more than halfway, but she seems unwilling to even take a step.

[mbaywife123]

Meri, move along down the road to your B&B and live your own life.

You are divorced from your worthless douchbag husband.

Your daughter is a lesibian and not going to be into poligimamy.

Your "sister" wives and their kids don't like or "know" you.

[MegD]

It must be utterly exhausting to drag that cross around all day Meri.... You are oh, so put upon. It's bad when I agree with SpongeRob Squarechin.

I feel awful for Ysabel. I'm thrilled that the exercises are helping her, however, Kody was pretty clear about he doesn't intend to let her have surgery. Both of her parents kept talking about how the surgery's going to cause her pain and ruin her life. They don't need to scare her about something that realistically she's going to have to have at some point. I did notice she didn't have the special neoprene wraps on that she had in Minnesota.

[CassinaFaye]

Lord have mercy......I want to smack Meri.  You can NOT make a comment that is deserving of a reply/response but as soon as Christine starts to talk you interfrickingrupt.  Let the woman speak her mind and you speak yours and then converse each about your opinions and thoughts back and forth on what everyone is saying.  You can't just speak and then not let her reply when you respond.

[gardendiva]

Did anyone else notice Robyn’s goiterlike bulge around her neck? I especially noticed it in her talking heads so maybe it is a more recent development. But once I noticed it I could not stop staring at it.

[Sasha888]

Boy am I glad I didn't have to attend The Lunch From Hell. 

Robyn - "It's weird, because I think some of us have come to lunch...a little tense." YA THINK??? I mean, Meri's gulping down her hot chocolate or latte or whatever it was like she wished it was a shot of Jack Daniels...Janelle doesn't have one word to say and sits there with her arms folded. Meri's sitting there looking like she's ready to spit nails at the rest of them, but then later when Christine tries to talk to her about it, she says she wasn't mad, wasn't having a bad day, wasn't upset...she was "guarded". That's a load of crap, Meri, you were sitting there with 3 women you hate and it was obvious. And it seemed to be pretty much the same thing for Janelle, she didn't want to be there either. 

Why the hell even go then...I get that Christine meant well by asking them all to go out for lunch together, but honestly what a horrible, uncomfortable thing to even WATCH, let alone be part of! Christine should just go have lunch with Robyn. They'd have a good time. (It looked to me like Christine and Robyn arrived together for lunch, while Meri and Janelle drove separately...interesting.)

Meri is just going to bring everybody else down with her dark brooding stares, and Janelle obviously just doesn't want to go, so leave them home. 

Cripes they couldn't even drive to the therapy session in the same car, what made her think they could all have a nice lunch together!

[CassinaFaye]

3 hours ago, lma said:

And can somebody tell me what “not safe” or “safe” means to these people? Christine said Meri coming over is not safe to her. If it means it’s not peaceful, calming and otherwise alright in the world, I can see that. Meri is definitely not safe then. 

I think safe means what you said.  Peaceful, calm, in a good place, not anxious.

1 hour ago, Sasha888 said:

I agree. And I think Kody is done with her, too - and I think he has every right to be. That's colored by my own life experiences, I'll admit that - my ex-husband most likely did not ACTUALLY have sex with anyone, but he did everything but...and he found his ass on the curb! 

And why wouldn't her sisterwives feel some level of betrayal as well? While it is not the type of family many of us would choose, they ARE a family, and when you pull something like that, you really are doing it to the whole family. You daughter feels like you cheated on her Dad - your sisterwives feel that you were ready to say "See ya later, bitches!" You were ready to walk right out of your sisterwives' childrens' lives as well...if Sammy Catfish had been real. So why SHOULD they trust you?

Especially when you won't even own up to what you did...here she was again tonight, saying she was "in a dark place" and "so scared of this emotionally abusive person"...cut the crap, Meri. At some point in that relationship, you were not feeling emotionally abused. You were feeling like scratching his name on your leg and fornicating with produce. AND EVERYBODY KNOWS IT!

If she really wanted to work things out (and had a real therapist who would call her out on her crap), she would first have to own up...but no, she's the eternal victim, so she can't do that.

Well then....play the victim. But don't expect your relationships to change & heal. 

Speaking of ugly LuLaRoe shit...what the hell was that outfit Meri had one when she went to Mormon Tara to officially make her offer to Vicky!!! A floral print skirt with a striped baseball tee? WTF? Does she think wearing that hideous get-up on TV was a good advertisement for her clothing line? Because um....it's NOT. 

I've seen her in plenty of ugly LLR garbage on this show, but this latest outfit to me was the worst yet!

5

I have seen that or other odd do not match by ANY stretch of the imagination by so many people who wear LLR.  Horrible crap.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

3 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

All the talk about being safe and safe talk makes me stabby. I’ve seen that same thing on the other plyg shows too. I think it means these women are so emotionally stunted they can’t handle real conversations. 

It reminds me of the episode on My Five Wives where Paulie (1st wife) confronts Nonie (4th wife) about a bill that she paid, that Paulie was in charge of.  They were talking about being okay with discussing issues without Brady present.  After Paulie leaves and Brady comes to Nonies, she has a massive meltdown, that another wife asked her about the bill.  She was screaming and flailing her fists at Brady.  

[Sasha888]

I thought Christine was really trying hard to have a good conversation with Meri - bless her heart, she couldn't seem to get her point across, and just kept saying she wanted things to be "safe", but then again it's hard to get your point across when someone keeps interrupting you! And comes into the conversation spoiling for a fight...

For example: 

Meri - This conversation is coming off to me as very accusatory, and telling me "You're wrong Meri, you're bad". That's how it's coming off.

Christine - I'm sorry about that. I'm trying to...

M - (interrupts) so I'm putting my wall up, and you know how I am Christine, you have a problem with me? I will step out right now. (smirks)

C - Ok. I don't. I'm trying to get an understanding of how things....

M - (interrupts) Cause I JUST don't want to dill with it. I don't want to. My time and my life and my sanity is so much more useful when I'm around people who are comfortable with me, and I am VERY comfortable with other people, and other people are very comfortable with me, and I don't have issues.

 

If you ask me, what Meri's saying here is "you guys are all assholes, and I have proof that you're assholes, because everybody else gets along with me just fine." Well Meri, those people probably haven't been jerked around by you for 20 years, and they only have to take you in small doses, once in awhile! 

Most of her social media is full of pictures with "LuLaRoe friends", and once that ship goes down, those people probably aren't going to be your "friends" anymore. They're not your friends now, it's just worth their time to do a pop up sale with a Z-list "celebrity" in hopes of selling more of their ugly clothes. 

So basically she's saying she doesn't want to dill with her fambly, she'd rather be around a bunch of butt-kissers. Well, fine, then stop dragging everybody to multiple therapy sessions about your imagined slights, since they aren't worth your time anyway.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

1 hour ago, MegD said:

It must be utterly exhausting to drag that cross around all day Meri.... You are oh, so put upon. It's bad when I agree with SpongeRob Squarechin.

I feel awful for Ysabel. I'm thrilled that the exercises are helping her, however, Kody was pretty clear about he doesn't intend to let her have surgery. Both of her parents kept talking about how the surgery's going to cause her pain and ruin her life. They don't need to scare her about something that realistically she's going to have to have at some point. I did notice she didn't have the special neoprene wraps on that she had in Minnesota.

I agree, she is going to have to have the surgery one day.  Better to have it before going to college.  They could schedule it for right when school is out, so she has the entire summer to get over it.  I had a classmate that had it done and she said she felt like a new person, free from the pain.

[Tabbygirl521]

In general I have a lot of sympathy for Meri because is clearly miserable in this family. But she truly annoyed me today. Christine all but waterboarded her to try to get Meri to share something - anything - that could help them get along better but no. At the very end when Christine assured her she was going to start asking how she was doing, etc., what the hell was Meri saying about, “ I don’t know how this will work because I have other factors”? Christine didn’t push to know what that meant so I guess she already has an idea. But I don’t get it. Anyway, short answer is, Meri isn’t going to try. Although I think she would like to because just being hugged made her cry and cry. She needs to figure out her being GUARDED (drink!) is not working for any of them. 

In other news, I love seeing Mariah looking so happy. That bar they visited is 2 blocks from where I was conceived. Yeah, I know: take it to Small Talk (but I can’t because i’m GUARDED. Sorry).

kody looks like a troll doll with that updo. I think he is trying to channel Jeremy Roloff, but no such luck. 

I think Robyn looks miserable. The bloom is off the rose or however that goes. 

When (and how) did Janelle lose that Gap between her front teeth? Did Kody spring for Invisalign?

[Pickleinthemiddle]

2 minutes ago, Sasha888 said:

I thought Christine was really trying hard to have a good conversation with Meri - bless her heart, she couldn't seem to get her point across, and just kept saying she wanted things to be "safe", but then again it's hard to get your point across when someone keeps interrupting you! And comes into the conversation spoiling for a fight...

For example: 

Meri - This conversation is coming off to me as very accusatory, and telling me "You're wrong Meri, you're bad". That's how it's coming off.

Christine - I'm sorry about that. I'm trying to...

M - (interrupts) so I'm putting my wall up, and you know how I am Christine, you have a problem with me? I will step out right now. (smirks)

C - Ok. I don't. I'm trying to get an understanding of how things....

M - (interrupts) Cause I JUST don't want to dill with it. I don't want to. My time and my life and my sanity is so much more useful when I'm around people who are comfortable with me, and I am VERY comfortable with other people, and other people are very comfortable with me, and I don't have issues.

 

If you ask me, what Meri's saying here is "you guys are all assholes, and I have proof that you're assholes, because everybody else gets along with me just fine." Well Meri, those people probably haven't been jerked around by you for 20 years, and they only have to take you in small doses, once in awhile! 

Most of her social media is full of pictures with "LuLaRoe friends", and once that ship goes down, those people probably aren't going to be your "friends" anymore. They're not your friends now, it's just worth their time to do a pop up sale with a Z-list "celebrity" in hopes of selling more of their ugly clothes. 

So basically she's saying she doesn't want to dill with her fambly, she'd rather be around a bunch of butt-kissers. Well, fine, then stop dragging everybody to multiple therapy sessions about your imagined slights, since they aren't worth your time anyway.

You stated that very well, unlike Christine.  Have always had the impression that it's Meri's way or the highway and everyone else is the problem, not her.  Classic narcissist.  No one can win with someone like that, except those that refuse to be held emotionally hostage to another persons problems.

We had a coworker like that, she could not work with anyone without having drama.  And was always reading something into everything said to her.

[AllyCat]

2 hours ago, Alapaki said:

I fucking hate to say it, because Meri is such a lying fraud about the catfish situation, and so passively (and not so passively) aggressively manipulative and all . . . . 

but, I was actually kind of on her side with the Maddie-Labor situation. 

Not that it needed THREE. FUCKING. THERAPY. SESSIONS. to dill with.  But the bottom line, as I see it, is that Christine knowingly violated the boundaries that Maddie and Caleb had established regarding who could be present during the active stage of labor.  (and, I can't keep them straight, was that Christine's mother on the other folding chair pussy-gaping?)

That, to me, is a legitimate gripe.  The plan is that only Maddie, Caleb, the Midwife and (maybe Jannelle?) could be present.  Then it ends up a general admission standing-room-only event.  

And I think the way this episode was edited TPTB were on Meri's side on that issue.

And I thought Christine was ridiculous in her conversation as well.  "It wasn't up to me, but if it was, I wouldn't want you anywhere around, because I wouldn't fill "safe".  What's that?  I'm not being judgmental!  And I rilly want you there when it's my call.  Except that I don't want you there when it's not my call.  So, now.  What can I do to make you make me fill less unsafe?"

The fuck?

If Christine had an actual legitimate point, she wasn't getting it across to me.  I guess she's trying to play Robyn's game, but she's a rank amateur in that regard.  

I love that you use fill, dill, etc. throughout your post.  When I read feel and deal in posts on this board now, it comes out as fill and fill in my head.  They’ve ruined me. Why do I put myself through this?

[Sasha888]

2 minutes ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

Have always had the impression that it's Meri's way or the highway and everyone else is the problem, not her.  Classic narcissist.  No one can win with someone like that, except those that refuse to be held emotionally hostage to another persons problems.

"Emotionally held hostage" is a PERFECT way to describe it! They are all walking on eggshells around her. Meri's the kind of person who can twist anything. If you told her "You look nice today, Meri!" she'd say "What are you trying to say? That I DON'T usually look nice??? You are so MEAN!"

At that point you either beg the Queen for forgiveness, or say you know what lady, you are 10 pounds of crap stuffed into a 5 pound sack and I don't have time for this nonsense.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

2 minutes ago, Sasha888 said:

At that point you either beg the Queen for forgiveness, or say you know what lady, you are 10 pounds of crap stuffed into a 5 pound sack and I don't have time for this nonsense.

And then they enable the same behavior when they apologize for something that never happened.  She wins.  Because they wont confront the issue head on and call her on her BS.

[Sasha888]

1 minute ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

And then they enable the same behavior when they apologize for something that never happened.  She wins.  Because they wont confront the issue head on and call her on her BS.

Exactly. The previews made it look like they all might finally confront her on her BS, but they really didn't. This episode should not have been called "Confronting Meri"...at best, it should have been called "TRYING to confront Meri, while she deflects all blame onto everyone but the paper boy".

[Spiderella2]

Meri is the worst. Just leave already. No one wants you around. Not Kody, not your sister wives, Not even your own daughter. A narcissist can not be trusted. Especially a lying, emotionally-cheating, history-revisionist without an ounce of empathy or remorse. Newsflash, they don’t trust you because you have given them MULTIPLE reasons not to trust you. Need a current example....take the B&B. 

Christine is saying that if her daughter was the one in labor, she would not have been searching all over the world looking for Meri. Because Meri brings a ton of baggage everywhere she goes and it would have taken from the serenity and joyous occasion that she wants her grandkids to enter the world. 

Meri, why have a drawn out 3-session therapy over an issue that you declare is not an issue?  You claim to not be upset and guarded, but you drag all the wives to therapy to berate them for leaving you out? Bitch please. You can’t have it both ways. I’m glad Jenelle gave zero effs to her histrionics. She had every opportunity to be at the birth, but something else was always more important. So to cry afterwards that no one included you.....yeah, please sign me up for the tv-slapping. 

Edited March 19, 2018 by Spiderella2
Meri sucks and her BFFs are ass kissers

[jumper sage]

7 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

The "emotionally abusive" catfish (you brought it on yourself!) - this whole being friends with another woman catfished by the same person, and forcing Mariah to spend time with her and her daughter (let your daughter get past it, in her own way!)

I watched the last 30 minutes again, after switching to the return of Last Man On Earth.  OMG!  

Hear me out.  I don't get any of this polygamy marriage AT ALL.  These people made a commitment to the life and to each other.  At least the women made a commitment to Cody.  It was Meri that stepped out looking for a clandestine relationship and when it blew up in her face she blamed the rest of the adults in the family.  Why should her daughter get over her cheating on her father?  She should be apologizing to them all and trying to build trust.  Why do the others have to walk on eggshells?  She has some balls, I tell you what.  She is neither contrite or remorseful or aplologetic.  She does need to just leave and she needs to try to repair her own trust with her own daughter.

[Kellyee]

This show highlights everything that sucks about polygamy. Meri is an empty nester who has a husband and sister wives with little kids. It would be difficult to relate to them anyway, but when you add in Meri's obvious emotional problems and immaturity, its impossible. Then add in that Meri's only child has now come out as gay, and she's even farther removed from the other wives and her stupid husband. If they all had a good relationship, it would still be a hard spot to be in. Since their relationship sucks, its an impossible situation to resolve. Meri needs to go live with her mother and run the Bed and Breakfast. 

And I'm sorry, but I call bullshit on Christine's supposedly wonderful current relationship with Kody. Nothing about him changed. Either Christine has just accepted her life, or she's on medication. Probably both.

And Word to whoever said the crowd-attended birth was awful. That was not what Caleb and Maddie said they wanted. It was completely disrespectful for all those people to stay. I bet Caleb was really disappointed that he couldn't just share this special moment with his wife. That's what Meri really should be saying, not complaining that she wasn't included in the mob.

[ginger90]

Me, me, me

[VedaPierce]

9 hours ago, LucyEth said:

I don't think Meri realizes she doesn't really try with anyone but Mariah and Audrey.

This. I have never seen Meri try to go out of her way for anyone. I have never seen her try to win anyone over. She is so ENTITLED to love and acceptance, no matter what she has done to everybody, or how she behaves. She feels she is owed it all, and is just so filled with resentment, hurt, anger, hostility, etc. she is a toxic, mean, selfish person. I don't think I have ever seen someone this bad off, she really needs therapy, stat.

[Normades]

I felt bad for Kody when they made that joke about Meri and the other catfish woman being sister wives. He looked hurt by that.

I think these people just let Meri have her way and they don't engage her. It seems like Nancy is always protecting Meri too, so her input is useless. I hope Caleb is royally pissed at Meri using the birth of his son for sympathy and gives her a piece of his mind. I think he might have the balls to do it, but probably won't cause he can't rock the boat of TLC $. Meri holds everyone as emotional hostages.

[VedaPierce]

9 hours ago, whydoievencare said:

Meri is unable to listen anyone else's point of view without trying to put them in the wrong.  I don't think she's ever admitted that she's contributed to any difficulties within the family.  She uses therapy speak as a weapon to defend herself at every turn.  The only result she'd be happy with is to have someone admit that THEY are wrong and she is right.

Yup. That's the way it works in Meri's world. I thought it was funny that she accused Janelle of being 'defensive' right off the bat. Does she know what that word means? Janelle was speaking her mind about something, not defending herself about anything. Meri is actually the one always defensive. Meri was totally projecting.

I also loved Meri objecting to Christine bringing her grievances to Meri in 'this forum'. Lol that was obviously a reference to being filmed! Lol she wanted Christine to talk to her privately. Uh-uh, Meri. That's not what you signed up for. She wants all the action to go on behind closed doors, then we sit through 2 hours of what? Silent lunches, shrugs, darting eyes and vague therapy-speak? No way. You are getting payed to show your 'reality', start earning your money or get off my teevee. Thanks Christine!

[MargeGunderson]

9 hours ago, jenifaohjenny said:

Here is what she’s trying to say Meri...you are a miserable cow and no one wants to be around you...so how do we get to a place where we want to have you around? Because right now we don’t. You are annoying AF. 

 

When no one wants you around at what point do you look inside yourself to see what’s going on here?

Meri is the embodiment of the saying "you run into an asshole in the morning, he's an asshole. You run into assholes all day, you're the asshole."

[Granny58]

9 hours ago, scenicbyway said:

I get the impression that the wives minus Meri are just tolerating Kody at this point.  I don't see a lot of love in those relationships.  Meri is done with Kody and I think what really killed it was the divorce so he could marry Robyn.

that was the final nail in the coffin. 

[Granny58]

7 hours ago, Cajungirl64 said:

Ugh. Kody is SUCH a douchebag. He needs to forgive Meri and make an attempt to salvage their relationship or cut her loose. Because as long as he's making her feel like he could take her or leave her, she'll never feel like part of this family again. 

SO MUCH THIS!   Yes, Meri had an emotional relationship online.  But WHY???  Why does a person cheat....especially after all those years?  Actually it seems Kody has already cut her loose (they are legally divorced, didn't seem to bother him at all, and basically is about as affectionate as an aloof neighbor).   So if he still wants her there he needs to up his game.  If not, SHE needs to make the decision to live happily and leave.  Surely even in their faith if the husband has failed to care for his wife's needs they can be unsealed (or whatever it is).  

[Alapaki]

5 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

 

I thought Christine was really trying hard to have a good conversation with Meri - bless her heart, she couldn't seem to get her point across, and just kept saying she wanted things to be "safe", but then again it's hard to get your point across when someone keeps interrupting you! And comes into the conversation spoiling for a fight...

 

But (and believe me, just because I'm situationally defending Meri here doesn't mean I'm co-signing the rest of her assholery):

Christine led the conversation with:

"I thought it was rilly wrong for you to not be included in the birth" (you know, the one I wasn't supposed to be included in either but decided that I'd pull up a chair and bring my Mom like we're at a cock-fight and just dare either laboring Maddie or simp-on-the-dole Caleb to throw me out)

"And I rilly don't want that to happen again".

Okay, Meri must be thinking, Christine actually gets my whole point.

But then, Christine drops the "but, you know, if it were up to me, I would've kept you out too!"

That's a what-the-fuck one-two combination that would throw anyone off-balance.  I mean, from Meri's perspective, am I being empathized with, am I being criticized?  What's the point?

[now, ultimately, the whole interaction reeked of a producer telling Christine "look, we milked FT & Mykelti's wedding for 15 episodes, we blew through our gas budget milking the B&B visits, we had to film a week of Maddie's Braxton Hicks contractions to give us an entire episode of "labor", we need a final 30 minutes so we can get the fuck out of this God-forsaken desert.]

[Granny58]

7 hours ago, Bmglmr said:

Let me start out by saying I agree with most of the posters that Meri is....well...Meri.  But I’m going to defend Meri for a moment (unpopular I know). I think at the root of Meri’s issues is Kody.  Their relationship is fractured at best and he does virtually nothing to make it better. All the while his relationships with the other wives are thriving. He’s (unfortunately) the glue that keeps them together. This makes her feel like an outsider, like she really doesn’t belong. So she’s hyper sensitive, which makes her defensive, which makes them uncomfortable, which makes them not want to be around her, which only feeds into what Meri thinks/feels anyway, and around it goes because no one will address the elephant in the room.  Meri has no ties to that family anymore, Mariah is gone and so is Kody.

and that is why she is "guarded," because if she lets down her guard she will start crying uncontrollably (as evidenced by the hug with Christine).  

[Granny58]

5 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

If you ask me, what Meri's saying here is "you guys are all assholes, and I have proof that you're assholes, because everybody else gets along with me just fine." Well Meri, those people probably haven't been jerked around by you for 20 years, and they only have to take you in small doses, once in awhile! 

on the other hand, her friends aren't banging the man she love(d) and probably have their own good relationships with their own spouses.   Meri's entire problem is Kody and POLYGAMY.

[Kohola3]

8 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

Robyn - "I'm tired of her not being invested with us. I'm sick and tired of it. I'm tired of her questioning our motives as sisterwives. I'm just sick of this."

Janelle - "This is my daughter, she's giving birth, this is not about US. This is about her and the birth. This is so idiotic that we're dealing with this!"

Christine - "She comes in with so much baggage. That baggage that she comes in with just really puts a damper on things."

Yeah, well. so what.  It's a year later, she's still there, nothing has changed.  Meri got her dream house despite everything said.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Meri ain't going anywhere until the TLC checks stop coming.

[Chicklet]

20 minutes ago, Granny58 said:

on the other hand, her friends aren't banging the man she love(d) and probably have their own good relationships with their own spouses.   Meri's entire problem is Kody and POLYGAMY.

The problem with ALL of these people is polygamy. Have we ever seen a happy polygamist? I don't remember one, other than, say, Joseph Smith because he started this and figured he had a good dill.

Now if a meteor hit and most of the men were flung into space this system might have a use but until then....

[ghoulina]

9 hours ago, Mariareads said:

I agree. However people here feel about Meri I see it a little differently. She married Kody. He decides he's going to start his own "church" and live plural marriage. Who does he choose? Meri's ex-sister-in-law? Come on...that in itself is bizarre. Skip ahead after all that has gone on. I don't think Meri likes plural marriage. I think she stayed because she loved Kody (ugh) and to  be honest I thought Janelle was a bitch in this episode and I thought Christine was a bitch. Meri has done wrong but there is nothing wrong with thinking I'm going to have a husband and a home and babies. It didn't quite work out that way and if I was her, I would leave and find another life. This family is a disaster. They don't want her. I never stay where I'm not wanted.

I, honestly, don't find Kody marrying Jenelle to be that bizarre. Not in the context of polygamy. Their circles are so small, it's bound to happen. We've seen sister wives who were cousins...or actual sisters! On the show that airs after this, one dude is considering marrying his brother's widows. I think that kind of thing is bound to happen when you don't have a large pool to pick from. 

As for Meri liking plural marriage, I think she liked it just fine when she was the first, cherished wife. She loved being the Queen Bee. Now that things have gone sour for her, she suddenly doesn't want to participate any more. 

[sadiebyuca]

27 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Meri ain't going anywhere until the TLC checks stop coming.

Actually, I think she's not going anywhere because of Mariah.  I think that Mariah told her that if Meri leaves Kody, Mariah will never forgive her.  That's the impression that I got after the catfishing saga. 

Kody doesn't want her there.

The wives don't want her there.

Meri doesn't want to be there.

I think Mariah is pulling the Meri strings right now.

[ghoulina]

8 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

THEN TELL HER THAT! They let themselves be dragged to session after session so Meri can talk about how hurt she was that she was "excluded" from the birth, when really she just didn't make an effort to be there. They have to sit there and hear how Meri feels, so TELL HER how YOU feel! 

Tell her you're sick of her questioning your motives all the time, tell her it's idiotic and ridiculous that you've had to sit through multiple therapy sessions because you didn't roll out the red carpet and hand Meri an engraved invitation to the birth...TELL her she's a freaking dark cloud descending on every family gathering!

Why the fuck would you go the therapy and not say how you "rilly fill"?

Because Nancy is a POS therapist that coddles Meri. So there's really no point in telling her how you "fill". Every time I watch a therapy session that involves Meri, other members have an honest about THEIR flaws and talk about what THEY can do. And Meri just sits in her chair and cries. She cries and cries and everyone just walks on eggshells around her, because it's easier than trying to have a legitimate back and forth with her. She's all take and no give. 

 

7 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

Speaking of ugly LuLaRoe shit...what the hell was that outfit Meri had one when she went to Mormon Tara to officially make her offer to Vicky!!! A floral print skirt with a striped baseball tee? WTF? Does she think wearing that hideous get-up on TV was a good advertisement for her clothing line? Because um....it's NOT. 

I've seen her in plenty of ugly LLR garbage on this show, but this latest outfit to me was the worst yet!

I've noticed there's kind of a trend lately, of mixing different patterns. And, while it's not really MY style, some girls can pull it off nicely. But being able to pull that kind of look off depends on so many factors. Some women, Meri included, seem to think it's "all bets are off!" in regards to mixing patterns. As if anything is fine now. No, Meri. No. 

[sadiebyuca]

36 minutes ago, Granny58 said:

on the other hand, her friends aren't banging the man she love(d) and probably have their own good relationships with their own spouses.   Meri's entire problem is Kody and POLYGAMY.

Yes. Her entire problem is that she was raised in this polygamy lunacy by lunatics, became a lunatic and now she's living with other lunatics.

1 hour ago, VedaPierce said:

She wants all the action to go on behind closed doors, then we sit through 2 hours of what? Silent lunches, shrugs, darting eyes and vague therapy-speak? No way. You are getting payed to show your 'reality', start earning your money or get off my teevee. Thanks Christine!

YES YES YES  I was soooooooo glad to finally see something of worth. Christine deserves a bonus from the producers for it!!!

[sadiebyuca]

8 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

I would tell her, Meri, you're a self-centered ass, and every time you come around, everybody has to watch every little word they say for fear of being accused of hurting your feelings, and we know any innocent little comment we make, you're going to make that into an attack on you and make us grovel and apologize for it. And we're sick of it. We're sick of you and your shitty attitude. We don't want you around because you're a nasty, grouchy bitch all the time.

That's what Meri needs to hear.  That's what someone needs to tell her in therapy, so she can't double talk her way into becoming the victim. 

[answerphone]

Does Meri live in a different neighborhood (I'm kidding), with no telephone for calling and texting? 

She appears that way, so out of touch, for someone who lives right next door, on a cul-de-sac.

Oh my gosh, remember when she claimed she didn't know about Janelle's son coming home for a visit, even though there were about 15 noisy children gathered next door and there was the delicious smell of a BBQ, where Kody was flipping burgers.

Do the women not hang out and chit chat? There's plenty of topics for small talk about kids, birthdays, holidays, extended families, friends, church talk, local news, kids school events, recipes, mutual TV shows, and more. 

They don't always need to be discussing their awkward problems or Meri and Kody's uncomfortable relationship.

It looks like when you're forced to work with women you don't care for and have little in common with, and you need to just get along in a cordial manner.

[trimthatfat]

Did anyone else catch when Robyn said Maddie asked about Meri during her labor? I think that is why Janelle laid into Meri like she did. She was mad that Meri’s absence was still noticed by Maddie. I think Maddie did actually want the moms there in the end. And I think Kody texting everyone to not come over was really meant for the kids. Not the moms. I also think it was telling Robyn still tried to reach out to Meri...I can tell she wasn’t sure if that was okay because of the distance Meri has created.

Meri is just awkward and she makes other people around her awkward as a result. If she didn’t want to be in the room during Maddie’s labor, she could have helped make snacks, drinks, lunch, etc. for the group. She could have offered to check on the other kids to make sure they were staying out of trouble. She could have offered to do something. Instead, she awkwardly came in and out during the process, didn’t bother asking the production team what was going on, and then went back to her LLR sales. Her behavior makes everyone uncomfortable so they don’t want her around. Couple that with the fact that she refuses to take accountability for her actions and they are probably thinking they could do without her. She’s a big Negative Nelly and she’s likely exhausting to be around. I love how Meri said her friends like to be around her...yeah, because they see you when you’re happy. The rest of the wives are there the other 80% of the time she’s miserable.

I think Christine meant well, but she kept trying to sugarcoat things. She should have kept it blunt, but she risked Meri playing victim again. I felt for her in that moment because she practically begging Meri to tell her what she could do to help make Meri happy again.

The last two episodes have been surprisingly real and raw.

Edited March 19, 2018 by trimthatfat

[Aethera]

Folks, please remember the following things, all of which have resulted in removed posts this morning:

• Do not post spoilers on events happening outside the episode. Please use the Spoiler thread.
• Do not bring in off-topic political references
• Do not criticize the opinions of other posters