Family breakdowns and intense emotions took center stage in the latest episode of “Sister Wives,” as Meri Brown openly expressed her feelings about Kody Brown and former sister wife Christine Brown.
The episode, which aired on Sunday, October 30, saw Meri, 51, confronting Kody, 53, about his decision to let Christine, 50, leave the family. “Obviously you don’t care enough to fight for her,” Meri said, adding, “Obviously, you didn’t care enough to fight for me. I don’t understand that.”
Christine’s departure marks the first time one of Kody’s wives has exited their plural marriage, but she is not the first to voice frustration with Kody.
Meri, who married Kody in 1990, has had a tumultuous relationship with him for years. “I’ve been in the same situation with Kody in the past. I knew what I needed from Kody and I wasn’t getting it,” Meri recalled. “Kody was very, very distant with me.
I asked him to just not stay there for a little bit. He has interpreted that as I kicked him out and he’s never come back.”
Christine, who spiritually wed Kody in 1994, also commented on the state of Meri and Kody’s marriage while packing up her Arizona house.
“He doesn’t have stuff at Meri’s house. He hasn’t for years. He hasn’t stayed there for years,” she told the cameras. “He can’t have stuff at Janelle’s house because she lives in a little tiny trailer.
So he has quadruple what he needs at Robyn’s house.”
Christine’s announcement of her split from Kody in November 2021 came as a shock to Meri and Robyn Brown, 43. Kody’s second wife, Janelle Brown, was more aware of the situation due to her closeness with Christine.
The breakup seemed to bring Meri and Robyn closer together after their own ups and downs.
Kody legally divorced Meri in 2014 to marry Robyn and adopt her three children from a previous marriage.
“I’m just grateful that you’re sticking it out,” Robyn told Meri, commending her for “making it about everybody else” while struggling in her marriage. “Hang on with me, OK? We have to rebuild.”
Throughout the episode, Meri, Robyn, and Kody shared their feelings about Christine’s departure. Christine, however, was more focused on selling her Arizona home and her relationship with her and Kody’s six children.
“The hardest part of my whole life is that my kids don’t have a great relationship with their dad. He doesn’t even know them,” she confessed. “You know what’s sad too, is they don’t know how amazing he is either.
Kody has this awesome side to him that my kids don’t know and who I fell in love with. Of course, he’s not that person anymore and neither am I.”
The episode also highlighted Robyn Brown’s intense attachment to Kody.
Robyn, who shares Solomon, 11, and Ariella, 6, with Kody, revealed that the divorce was driving a wedge between her and Kody. “He’s struggling to trust everyone around him.
You have marriages you have to maintain,” she said during a confessional. “He still has to fix them and figure them out and get over his anger. … Or he’s going to ruin every single one of them.”
Robyn expressed her frustration over the lack of communication between Kody and Christine. “Why weren’t these two talking it out?” she wondered. “Stay on the couch. Fight for her.” She also noted the “heavy weight” between the rest of the wives now that their family is “getting messed with.” “It’s so crazy to just sit there and just watch this big bomb going off in my family,” she added.
Robyn’s attachment to Kody was evident as she discussed the impact of Christine’s departure on their lives. “I refuse to let whatever’s left just go to pieces,” she told Meri. “Hell, if she wanted to stay here and build on the property and date, I would have no problem with that.” She later confessed, “I’ve never struggled with Kody in my marriage as bad as I am right now. I’m at a loss.”
Meri also took Christine’s exit personally, reflecting on how it would affect the greater family. “Why are you doing this? How are you breaking up our family?” she asked.
“I’m just real frustrated. It totally affects us. It’s more about him.” Meri felt betrayed and questioned whether all those years were a lie. “I felt like Christine was more than a sister wife.
I felt like she was a friend for a lot of years. … I’m taking it really personal.”
While Meri admitted that Christine “hasn’t seemed happy for a really long time,” she, like Kody, didn’t understand why Christine would actually walk away.
“We worked as a family, though dysfunctional, for years,” Kody said during a confessional. “Long before Robyn was here.
Struggling through these relationships but we were making it work for the sake of the kids.”
The episode also touched on the division of property between Kody and Christine. “I have an emotional attachment to this house.
Yes, I do. Listen, I have an emotional attachment to Christine,” Kody said after seeing that Christine had boxed up most of her Arizona pad.
Christine proposed keeping everything from the house while the family keeps everything from the Coyote Pass property. Kody reluctantly agreed, saying, “We’re done. We’re moving forward.”
Janelle, 53, weighed in on the situation, saying, “I think it’s fair. This is easy. This is a really clean transaction.”
As the episode concluded, it was clear that the family was grappling with the emotional fallout of Christine’s departure and the strain it placed on their relationships.
Robyn’s intense attachment to Kody and her determination to keep the family together were evident, even as she struggled with the changes.
“Sister Wives” airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
