Is Kody Brown purposely dividing his wives in an attempt to see which one/s will fight to stay with him by showing favoritism, inciting arguments, and not caring as much? In season 15 of Sister Wives, viewers have already gotten a stark look into the Brown family’s ongoing struggles.
The recurring theme we’re seeing in the last few seasons is the separation within the family. Once sharing a single home with separate quarters for each wife, the family moved to Las Vegas in 2011 into a cul-de-sac with individual homes for each wife instead.
Given that Kody has recently pushed for one family home, it would seem that some or all of the wives wanted to live separately from each other. Christine seems to be the most adamantly against the family living together in one home, causing a lot of friction between herself and Kody as of late.
Kody and his wives recently met up for lunch to discuss “family things” after not being together for months due to them living separately in Flagstaff. Janelle urges the group to once again consider why they entered into their plural marriage.
Robyn responds, “I loved when I first met you guys, how you guys functioned. I loved it. You know, when I saw you guys at the house in Lehigh…”
To which Kody replies, “Hmm, we seemed so functional.”
Meri sarcastically chimes in, “Boy did we pull the wool over your eyes.”
Kody doesn’t want to be an advocate for plural marriage anymore
Kody elaborates that he’s been thinking about the topic a lot lately and that he’s told friends that he doesn’t want to be an advocate for plural marriage anymore because he’s more aware now of the “apparent and obvious unfairness in the relationship.”
He goes on to say that he has all the love he wants, yet his wives feel like they’re constantly pining for him to give them some of that love. It’s a sad realization for the wives.
He tells cameras that he and his wives came into their plural marriage by way of commandment, but now, they’re realizing that it’s much more of a struggle than they realized, despite their religious calling.
Kody has unique relationships with each wife
Fans of the show know that Kody and Meri’s relationship has been strained for many years now. Meri was caught in a catfishing scam in 2015 which shook the family and further divided her from Kody and her sister wives.
Meri is the only wife to not bear multiple children with Kody, which has always weighed on her conscience. When fourth wife, Robyn, entered the family, Meri further isolated herself, choosing to focus on her bed and breakfast and Lularoe clothing line.
Kody’s second wife, Janelle, seems to be the most unaffected wife when it comes to emotional issues. She has voiced on the show that she was content working while the other moms took care of her biological children.
Fans view Janelle as the most level-headed, likable wife. So when Janelle invites Kody and the other wives to lunch to discuss family business, it’s a bit of a shock, as it’s out of character for her, and she brings up some heavy topics.
Christine, Kody’s third wife, is possibly the most feisty of the four sister wives. Christine isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and it’s often very strongly opinionated.
The rest of the family is taken aback when Christine reveals that she is still extremely jealous of the other wives, she feels as though everybody hates her all the time, and that she’s apparently always looking for a fight (said sarcastically).
Christine has been the most adamant about not wanting to live in one house together with the family. Christine is the only wife to stay silent on Twitter during the show’s Season 15 premiere episode on Valentine’s Day.
Robyn is Kody’s fourth and only legal wife, and entered the family during a stormy time in the Browns’ lives. She met Kody at church in 2009 and they kept their relationship under wraps for four months before introducing her to the family.
Robyn and Kody married (spiritually) in 2010 and legally in 2014 after first wife Meri legally divorced Kody so he could adopt Robyn’s three children from her previous marriage.
Robyn has gotten what the other wives did not: a somewhat lengthy courtship (by polygamist standards), a wedding ceremony and reception with all the bells and whistles, an eleven-day honeymoon on the beach, a nearly $900,000 home in Flagstaff, plus Kody spends the most time with Robyn and her kids and is repeatedly defending Robyn against the other wives.
Kody seems irritated by his wives’ constant bickering and calls them the “stubbornest” people he’s ever met. Seeing his exhaustion from trying to impossibly please four wives for the last ten years, it would seem Kody has given up on the idea of polygamy working for them.
Is Kody deliberately provoking his wives to bring out their true colors?
It would be easy to move on with Robyn as his sole wife, given the logistics: they’re the only legally married couple, they’ve recently purchased a massive, expensive home to house them and their five shared children, and Robyn is the only wife who is able and willing to add more children to the family. If that was his plan, it seems to have worked.
Most viewers would conclude that Meri and Kody’s relationship has been over for years and some speculate that Meri is only on the show for money and appearances for her other business ventures.
Janelle seems as though she’s the most easy-going and willing to work things out with Kody and the other wives, and is the only steadfast supporter of the one-family home idea (which Kody has nixed as of late).
Christine, the most dogmatic wife, has further separated herself from Kody and the family by stating how she genuinely feels. She has recently expressed her insecurities, voiced her disapproval of Kody spending so much time on his phone during their time together (which is only every three to six days, according to his Tweet on February 14), and admitted that she likes her alone time.
In addition, Kody singled out Christine on social media, and even used the wrong Twitter handle, as fans pointed out.
Although fourth wife, Robyn, is the most outwardly emotional wife of the group, she is often just as outspoken as Christine, and as brutally honest as Meri at times, she also portrays problem-solving attributes like sister-wife, Janelle.
Is it because she’s Kody’s newest wife that Robyn doesn’t get the flak that his other wives get for being so outspoken? Robyn seems to escape blame when she repeatedly breaks down crying, tries to monopolize conversations, and causes family feuds.
As of late, Kody has certainly represented a more nonchalant role, in stark contrast to his usual bossy demeanor. He is visibly exhausted, physically and emotionally, from the turmoil within the family.
If he has been working to divide his wives to seek their loyalty, it certainly worked by keeping them separated and having a more lukewarm attitude towards trying to fix all of their problems.
Sister Wives airs on Sunday at 10PM EST on TLC.