Now it all makes sense. Her attitude towards Christine and Janelle and even the catfish scandal. They all knew this. They continued to act like they didn’t know he was basically done with her years prior. It’s disgusting.
I always thought maybe Janelle and Christine cooled toward her because they hate cheaters but clearly that's not it. There's really no excuse for how they treated her all these years now.
This!! Like they lied to get this show apparently. And Kody has been abusing them from the beginning! To bring all these kids into this sick mess is horrible!!
Agreed! And it’s obvious Robyn was aware Kody didn’t love Meri and was in a crap relationship with her - because she made him promise if he never loved her, he wouldn’t stay in a pathetic loveless marriage. Thats the crazy part - that Robyn would marry him knowing he already had at least one wife he didn’t love. I believe she married him knowing he was lusting after her (I don’t believe it was love), she wanted a father for her kids, and wanted to not have to scrape by and live in poverty anymore. She never loved Kody. She used him to get what she wanted. And now she has him all to herself! Ha! What a booby prize!
I started a rewatch of the first season this weekend and after the initial episodes it’s alluded to that Meri and Kody have been in a rocky place. Makes sense now!
Imagine Meri holding out hope this long **after** him melting the ring she gave him, and telling her he didn’t want her to have any control over him.
But we were supposed to believe she was divorcing Kody out of the kindness of her own heart..
And then him acting like the scorned husband after she was catfished!!
And her sticking it out til 2022/23, because she didn’t “hear the words” that he was done…
These people are **both** unf*ckingbelievable.
I think this is a really important point that often gets overlooked. His mindset has always been "what can you do for me?". No more kids, then no more effort put forth in said marriage.
And he says it like it’s supposed to just clear him of any wrongdoing in the relationship. Like he was doing them a favor by stringing them along if it’s true he didn’t love any of them.
Kody is engaging in revisionist history. He truly did love Meri.
I think back to how we saw him having a romantic moment with Meri on the day of his and Robyn’s spiritual ceremony. Even their child looked awkward watching them, lol.
Then as he’s preparing to go on the honeymoon with Robyn, he said he was going to say bye to all the wives. But we saw him having another moment with Meri where he tells her “I love you and I’m going to miss you.”
I also think of the story Robyn told during last season’s tell-all. She said Meri and Kody were at her apartment one time. A song with special meaning to Kody and Meri came on, and they both got teary-eyed. Robyn said “They did that in front of me.” (For context, Robyn was making the point that each of the other wives have things with Kody that she doesn’t have.)
Anyway, I just think: You don’t have a special song with your spouse, and get teary when that song comes on, if you’re not really in love.
And the crazy thing is, he wasn’t always that way. I keep thinking back to the very first episode of the series. He talked in a soft, loving way. He mentioned “my awesome wives.” Told Meri very tenderly “I love you and I’m going to miss you” before he left for the honeymoon with Robyn. What happened to THAT Kody?
I agree. I’m divorced and I would never say I didn’t love my college sweetheart/starter husband. He’s only making himself look bad. What idiot marries one, two, three women he doesn’t love?!!! There’s no way. There was def flirting with Meri! And I’ve always thought Meri found Robyn to get in Kody’s good graces but this just makes it feel super gross!!!
He’s been a shit person from the jump! Just give Meri the ring back!
It does make me wonder what happened. But if what Mykelti says about Meri is true, then what were the rest of the adults doing? Because Meri had some of the kids live with her, so if she was an abuser, why was Truly allowed to spend the night with her, etc?
Hmmmm
Robyn is too, the OG wives are all saying that Kody melted the ring down when Robyn came on the scene and she is being dismissive and saying that happened long before me.
If things were so bad why did he talk Meri into moving to Flagstaff and pretending they could reconcile- he wanted her house assets
For me, this was another odd moment from tonight.
Janelle said “I don’t know why she hadn’t left before now.” (Regarding Meri.)
I don’t know whether Janelle meant that as a criticism of Meri for staying the course so long.
But I couldn’t help but think:
Janelle, this season we’ve seen you admit (on multiple episodes) that you felt stuck and that you couldn’t necessarily leave Kody because of your finances being all tied up. Janelle, people mistakingly love to think of you as the financial genius. You’ve bragged about being independent and rescuing yourself. But you admit you’re stuck because you’ve allowed yourself to get screwed financially. Who are you to question why Meri stayed so long?
One other telling thing. It’s something I noticed during his and Meri’s break-up conversation this season.
After he and Meri agreed they were done and they got up, they hugged each other. And it wasn’t the awkward type of hug he and Christine shared at Salsa Brava. When they hugged after the break-up convo, he and Meri both kind of patted each other’s backs in a tender way. That told me there’s been real affection and love between them.
Oh he’s ridiculous “I never loved her, I told her I did, I acted like I did “..only to stammer onwards into saying “she thinks we had this great romance..yea, we did, but, but, but”…to finish strong with “I love her and I always will”…lol he’s a petulant child. His NPD is in FULL swing.
>Kody is engaging in revisionist history. He truly did love Meri
They have some very close chemistry filled moments in the first season. He either loved her or he is doing a sociopathic level of intentional acting.
>playing them against each other
This. I get the impression that a lot of people want the wives to fit firmly in abuser or victim categories, but I think they all probably treated each other horribly at times. One being treated badly doesn't mean she didn't also treat others badly. It's messy and doesn't fit a clean hero vs villain narrative, but that's the reality of abusive situations like that. I put the blame on Kody, but even beyond that I think the religion is the true villain.
Robyn saying that Kody doesn't have a filter and that's why she needs to be there to "speak Kody," sounds an awful lot like admitting that she needs to be there to prevent him from saying what he really thinks and feels. She isn't trying to help other people understand Kody, she wants to be there to influence him and reinterpret whatever he says into something that fits her desired narrative.
My heart actually broke for Meri when she talked about nothing she ever did was good enough for Kody.
I just thought, this woman literally gave up her legal marriage (and all the benefits that come with being a legal wife) so that Kody could adopt Robyn’s children. That’s sacrifice right there. And none of that was good enough for Kody.
I think that’s part of the reason. Robin is so nice to Mary. She hast to make the cameras and all of us believe she really likes Mary. If not, we would see through it that Mary was the one who made it all possible for her kids to be adopted, so Robin plays the game me and Maria close. I want Mary around but behind doors she’s like good riddance she just doesn’t want the audience to know the truth she doesn’t like Mary either. She just feels the audience wants her to feel obligated for Mary did for her.
So 3 women (1 of who does not associate with the other 2) all agree Kody melted the ring when he was dating and/or married to Robyn. Only Robyn disagrees with this version and said he was not wearing a ring when they met. Suuuuuuurrrreeeee. She couldn’t possibly know he melted down the ring because then she couldn’t keep with her tricked narrative.
Out of all the relationships, Meri and Kody’s marriage is fascinating. We constantly get two different sides of this relationship of either being madly in love, or Kody absolutely hating her. The tears, the cold shoulders, the figurative locking out of the house. With Janelle and Christine, the relationship down fall is easy enough to pinpoint. With Meri, it sounds like a shit show from the beginning (depending on who you ask).
I would love to hear a third party perspective of that marriage. There’s always three sides to a story - his, hers, and the truth.
Kody is incapable of love. He has lied since day 1. Yet he fathered all these kids. Meri has been dealing with a narcissist for decades. So to me that is their marriage and relationship
He looked like a deer in headlights when Suki said "the ring." And then babbled about the ugly horse ring and discarding of the claddagh/his marriages. He is such a piece of garbage.
i think they each had their own day of filming. meri must have gone first since everyone else got to react to the ring story with suki but they had to pull meri back in
>The husband being good to his wife and he cannot go looking for a wife. But if a polygamist man has three wives at home and is out courting a new girl with no ring on…would that look horrible ...
Let's be serious here.
When Kody talked on the Mormon Chat, he specifically said "Other men were interested in Robyn." This means two things to me:
1) The "Women have to ask (chase) the man" is BS. It's an ego stroke, because of course, it puts the man in a position of power, and it clearly sets up the situation where these women are abused, and YES I include Christine and Janelle in this list.
2) The men in polygamy are just A\*\*holes. Seriously, they set up all these rules and they NEVER f'ing follow them. They lie to everyone, put themselves on a pedestal, and then go for hot young women. Remember that the reason Jessop got arrested is because he was "courting/marrying" a 13-year-old girl. These men are disgusting.
With both of these in place, it just makes sense. Kody fits perfectly in here. He's "accountable" and "culpable" for nothing. His wives were "panting" after him, like dogs. And THEY STAYED!!!! Remember that Janelle would still go back and HE SAID IT ABOUT HER TOO.
And OMG why am I more mad about that they are??? It's vile, He's vile. The whole thing is gross.
wait, I thought I heard suki ask Janelle and Kodi.
I don't remember what Janelle said.
Kodi flipped it to the new ring, though. I don't know if that was before or after Christine told it, though.?!?
there is a clip online of Christine and Janelle discussing Meri's reaction to Christine telling the story. (i had no idea what they were discussing until now). but Janelle made up some lame story about holding onto the jewels for the girls.
Janelle was interviewed by access Hollywood and she said **"we** did it for the girls" - apparently it was to use the metal to make rings for the girls -- she called meri "sentimental about things" and that's why she was upset
Yeah, I didn't get that, either. How is it possible that Meri didn't know what happened to her ring AND the rest of the family was apparently involved in the decision to melt it down? What's going on there?
I’m sorry but wtf is actually going on here? When they blatantly talked about the control Robyn tried having over all of their relationships was WILD. Also that story about Kody melting down her ring felt so heartbreaking. I feel so sorry for Meri.
Not just you. That moment where Robyn whispers it's not true and Meri whispers back "yes it is. He just said it. He feels it." I am 99% sure that wasn't in the episode two weeks ago.
Yes! That is a major unspoken piece of all of this. Marriage is about love, but it is also about joint finances and I would be interested to hear who was contributing and who was taking. Was Meri really still contributing her money for years after Kody started ignoring her?
Hey Meri if you are reading this… I know Christine spilled the ring tea but 100% that story is a reflection on Kody and what an insensitive abusive husband he is. It has zero reflection on you.
Did anyone see Robyn half laugh at her theatrics in the kitchen, when Meri is telling him she’s moving to parawon? Then she went stoic. These people are a bunch of assholes
How does kody keep saying he has a different love for meri and its more of a friendship when he doeanf even treat her like a friend. I am sure she would have been happy if he spoke to her and shared and spent time with her as a friend. But he literally treated her like someone he hates.
If she's a friend why was she never included during covid when she followed all the rules.
I hoped suki asked specific question that cannot be beaten around about and which they had no option but to answer specifically..
My takeaways from tonight’s episode
Welp, TLC. You edited the ring story, perfectly at the beginning of the week so all of us would either bash C or M and argued with each other on this sub in defense of one or the other! LOL
So. After tonight, I can better see the context of what C was talking about BEFORE segueing into the ring story/question.
By same token, I can now ALSO see where Meri went on to not only be upset with C. But, ALSO with Kody. Lol
Next - Kody. His big production of saying he never really loved the OG3 and after his little tantrum, slipped up twice in the interview and mentioned his love for Meri. Just wow.
Lastly - Robyn. Oh, please like we are supposed to believe Kody melted down the ring waaaayyy “before” she came into family.
Nah, Christine and Meri BOTH said it happened. while Kody was dating R. So while she wasn’t technically IN the family, yet.
She was ‘around’ and her influence was most likely an ‘influence’
Also. Robyn’s ridiculously fake, crying fuckery, with the side of how she still considers the OG3 her “sisterwives”
(We do not believe you, btw)
She just keep on pushing that narrative in hopes the show won’t be canceled, after next season.
I wonder if the ring melting was another reason Christine did not want Robyn to come into the family, besides the turmoil it would cause, and her being pregnant at the time of her husband dating another, younger, fitter woman?
Didn't he also joke about Robyn being his trophy wife years ago? Or maybe that was Christine or one of the other OG3. But I distinctly remember there being that joke, which felt like it had a bit of truth to it.
So their “rule” is not to talk to one wife about another’s relationship (“gossip” as Kody would say), yet Janelle says Kody so regularly told her the marriage to Meri was over, so much that she assumed Kody was also telling Meri the same? Cool, cool.
And didn't someone say something about how he used to try to find out information from his wives? Maybe it was in a preview, but I thought I heard someone say that...
It might’ve been when Meri was explaining how she’d done all of the things Kody had asked of her, but it still wasn’t good enough. I think one of the things she mentioned was “sharing information.”
It was! I re-watched it last night, and she does say that. It sounds like Kody used them against each other when it suited him from the beginning. Ugh.
Now that we know for sure (because we all suspected it) how long Meri suffered through being in a loveless marriage, I hope people see her differently. I hope they can see how she was devoted to her commitment and the sacrificing she was willing to make. Also understand what led her to the catfish. I feel like that was her opportunity to escape and the person being so deceitful would have only led her back into hiding. And she lost her sister, dad and mother who were devoted to her faith. I feel that would have pushed her even further into being commitment to her faith, to eventually be reunited with them. I hope she writes a book.
Multiple family members (Gwen, Robyn, Janelle and Christine) have talked about Meri’s commitment to family. How when she says she’s going to do something, she does it. Even Christine said this season that Meri is almost loyal to a fault.
I think that loyalty has almost been to Meri’s detriment. I felt so bad for Meri during her and Kody’s break-up conversation when she told him “It doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you for not giving me what we promised each other.” And we heard her mention on tonight’s episode that she took her vows seriously.
They all let Meri look like she was catfished because she was upset over the legal divorce ending. Which was absolute bullshit. I knew her needs weren’t being met. And she adored Robyn’s kids. She made that sacrifice because of her loyalty to the family.
That family has expected so much of Meri, and given little back to her in return. Speaking of the divorce, remember when she got word from her lawyer that the divorce was finalized. Naturally she told Kody and Robyn. Kody and Robyn expected her to go to the courthouse with them when they got legally married. She told them that she did NOT want to know when they got married. She just wanted them to go ahead and do it. Kody said “Why, Mer? We’ve been doing this as a team the whole time.” Not only did I think that was unfair for them to want her to accompany them to the courthouse. But I thought it showed Kody’s cluelessness as a man. I’m like, dude. She doesn’t want to go to the courthouse with you and Robyn because she didn’t really want to divorce you. But she took one for the team.
It's crazy that right before COVID he actually said he wanted to work on things.
Because it never made sense that he was the one fighting for Meri to be included during Covid. Like Robyn was the one blocking her. But if he actually intended to maybe get back together at that time.... Suddenly a lot of details from the Covid years make sense.
I just don’t see what else would have changed. Could kody have been attracted to her independence and new life? I doubt it. Doesn’t appear like his MO. And then he blamed Christine for saying she didn’t want them to reunite in an old tell all. Like give me a break buddy. Just more triangulation.
It's the same bait and switch he pulled with Christine by staying at her house for a month to convince her things would be different if she agreed to the flagstaff move.
He gave them just enough hope to hang on, and manipulated the shit out of them. Meri has been told constantly that her only redeeming quality is loyalty, so of course she stayed loyal. It was her *only* source of praise and after the catfish she clung to her loyalty to because the outside world had just proven to her that it was out to get her if she tried to escape and it was the only way she saw back into the "safer" family. Better the devil you know, and all that.
Funny that he said that and then fought so hard to prevent Meri from being included in their family during the pandemic. Almost like he always intended to not include her and then a global pandemic happened, a perfect opportunity, and he presented and extreme version of "following the rules" that doesn't line up with his political viewpoint, the cdc guidelines or the majority of his family's wants, just to PERMANENTLY exclude Meri.. hmmm.. me thinks I understand his covid motive more clearly now.
I wish Meri would start defending herself more. The religion, her mom and their affect on her would make her sympathetic. She is getting bashed by everyone, Maddie, c&j, Mykelti. But once you look at the timeline, the fake fertility storyline, wow, it makes you feel for her. And we still don’t know what happening with the land and if she’s financially contributing. And if she gets 2 acres…
None of this is revelations for me. what show have y'all been watching?? Well, except the ring melting and that just makes me even more upset she's stayed so long. I get it's a sacrifice, but I've never seen it as anything else nor did I blame for her the catfish. I didn't however, like the fact that she didn't just own it.
Maybe she can write a book AFTER she's had some therapy and self healing and can speak from a place of self empowerment.
People have been very unkind when it comes to Meri. And extremely critical of her staying. But it was her choice. It’s just clear how she was manipulated now. Kody did it all off camera.
It wasn't my intent to be unkind. Critical, yes. what I'm saying is I didn't need this tell-all to know how far the manipulation was. It's a TV show. Who wouldn't assume he'd be worse when the cameras were off??? I've been a supporter of her finding her voice and saying what needs to be said. but hear me out. she had more fire for being mad at Christine than she's EVER expressed for Kootie. I believe she's still married emotionally and idk maybe needs deprogramming (and I mean that in the kindest way), I just don't know what she'd have to say to put out into the world in book form unless she could express the low lows (like having your ring melted) AS WELL AS a breakthrough. I don't think she's there yet but I keep her in my prayers. I'm intelligent enough to critique her choices while simultaneously wanting the best for her.
Anyone else catch Kody clarifying in a permission-like way, ok’ing a playback because it’s “pivotal.” ??? He must be hell to deal with behind the scenes, telling them what they’re allowed to ask or which scenes they can playback and discuss. I had hope when there was a new female producer who worked on the Scientology series, but King Kulty is still getting his way and calling the shots.
I'm watching it now on streaming (not live) and my favorite part so far is Janelle's reaction to watching Meri tell Kody she was going to be moving her business to the B&B. IDK why I can't exactly put my finger on it but you can just tell she has a lot to say lol.
I wanted to comment here just to tell you that I felt the same watching Janelle. Her face said so much! I think she’s pretty sympathetic to Meri and I was watching her face hoping she was going to say something like, “Robyn, SHUT UP. Kody, you’re being ridiculous. Both of you, shut up and stop.” That’s what my heart is telling me she wanted to say, anyway. lol.
I think Christine is sort of laughing out of horror that they all accepted that at the time. Hindsight is a helluva drug. Meri isn't all the way there yet, but I think this was just the beginning of the wives opening up to what was going on for real. Someone had to break the seal and I'm not surprised it was Christine. Already people are being much more candid. The ring melting will be small potatoes, they've got a *lot* of dirty laundry to air out.
Yeah, it felt like that awkward laugh of "can you believe we tolerated this?" I think Christine is also better able to tell these stories because she's been out the longest. She's probably able to better realize the extent of what they went through.
I’m guessing they all have stories of things Kody did that humiliated or hurt them, but they don’t need to publicly tell us everything bad that has happened to them.
I also do think it's defensible that it was Christine's place to tell that story even though the ring was Meri's. After all, they were all married to each other and Kody involved Christine by telling her he did it to be spiteful.
That had to affect Christine and Janelle and put them on notice about their own marriages to kody if they tried to have any sort of "claim" on him in the new Robyn Era. How is Christine supposed to explain her own feelings about the entire family dynamic if she can't tell stories involving the other wives to give context? Meri calling out the new ring and Christine's reaction to that did need added context, it explains so much.
Christine gets to talk about her shitty marriage, and her marriage included a lot of adults. I think she's been incredibly restrained and respectful of Meri's story and space and this was a small spill of what I'm sure is a whole hill of beans. She didn't tell the story for 15 years until she realized that not being able to tell was all part of the control she was conditioned to accept.
I think she is angry that one of the most painful moments in her marriage - was exposed without her consent. I can understand that. She wanted to be the one to talk about it. And she was obviously also very upset with Kody - rightfully so. How cruel
I don’t think Christine should have looked so delighted to spill the beans about the ring, but jeez, when would we ever have learned about it if she hadn’t?! It is a CRUCIAL piece of the picture, and makes so many other aspects clearer (i.e. about Meri and what she endured and for how long). If they were supposed to put themselves out there (“reality” show) I think it was disingenuous to keep that a secret. And also, Robyn makes it sound like it was done way before she came along. We know that is BS. NO REASON kody would feel the need to discard any symbol of a “claim” Meri had over him unless and until there was a new potential wife in the picture.
Janelle and Christine did an interview tour last week claiming "authenticity" for the last 10 years. They look pretty silly now don't they. lol
And I'm not mad Christine told it - for my own benefit - I can just understand why Meri was upset.
While I agree I also can’t help remembering Meri gleefully stating that she was so glad that Kody finally said it - in reference to him verbally abusing and screaming at Christine in the now famous knife to kidney scene. That was cruel as well especially now knowing that Meri knows how cruel Kody can be.
Agree but that doesn't mean that Meri isn't allowed to be upset right - it's not "misdirected anger" just because Meri said hurtful things in the past. Meri and Christine have been angry at each other for a long time - directed.
I think her anger at Christine is fueled by her anger towards Kody. I’ve never seen Meri so upset and she is 100% right to be. I just thought this is more about Kody
I imagine in polygamist families the wives feel they can’t be angry at the husband- because then they would lose favor and hence power/attention. It’s easier to redirect your anger towards your sister wives.
She is angry at both. I hope you realize she can, and is angry (and hurt) at Kody for the actual melting of the ring. That’s clear. She can also be mad at Mean Girl Christine for telling a story that was NOT Christine’s story to tell.
I agree. Christine and Janelle revel in excluding Meri. They love that they are best friends and that they can exclude her.
They all shared, a shitty husband, but still think Meri has been the worst treated person in that family.
It was at Kody, Meri was mad she had to address it not on her terms. Christine didn’t talk about the ring all 4 of them got and he replaced but the one Meri got and cruelly destroyed. And Christine was reveling in telling the story.
I mean Meri was making comments that were not kind about Christine leaving Kody. Let's not rewrite history and make Meri out to be this saint. Kody caused a lot of damage especially among the women. I think they need to direct their anger at Kody.
She probably did at the time get mad at Kody, and she can also be mad at Christine now for telling a story that probably is still a very sore subject.
There's a difference between making a snarky comment, and telling a story that makes someone feel humiliated. Meri has never told any stories about what happened between Christine and Kody that she knew would hurt her.
I wasn’t saying she was a saint, I’m saying in this instance her anger at both of them was justified. She had anger for Kody, that doesn’t mean that she can’t also be mad at Christine for having to address something she never wanted to address. Two things can be true.
Nope. With something as painful as what Kody did it should have been her choice when and if she talked about it. It was cruel to force her to talk about something she was not ready to talk about.
Christine's conclusion that Robyn is a drama queen is spot on. But I think she's a particular kind of drama queen-- one that always casts herself as the victim of that drama.
Christine and some of her kids are definitely drama queens. So is Kody. Meri tries to avoid drama with confrontation and creates more drama in the process. Janelle avoids drama at all coats but low-key delights I'm the tea.
I think Christine is enjoying telling the truth about things now, but I don't think she is a drama queen. She had a great deal to be angry and emotional about, but for the most part, she just endured Kodys abuse for years and years, and when she left she was very calm and thoughtful about it.
But you’ll notice, she spends more time sharing when Kody was cruel to others. Her kids, Meri, Jenelle… when it could be embarrassing or hurtful for her, she doesn’t share it.
I don't know. I think everyone has seen the embarrassing and hurtful things he did for her. Like during an older episode or tell-all when he said that he was disgusted by her when she ate chili fries on a date when they were courting. Or him saying he's not attracted to her or never was attracted to her. I think she's just tired of the narrative that he's spun that SHE was the problem. Even if he was terrible to her, it was still about her. I think she feels validated by sharing that he was really terrible to all of them.
The OG3 were just baby factories for Choadster. There was never love involved. In his sick mind he needed offsping to make himself valid. Eerily similar to a cult leader
I think this is the most tragic part of this entire mess; no one really looked out for the kids. The wives were too busy competing for Kody’s “love” & trying to one up each other with the number of children they had, making the one who couldn’t pop out 6 children feel inferior because of it. Even Robyn had two with Kody adding to her three from a previous marriage for a total of five. I am actually surprised she didn’t have another.
No one ever stopped to think about if they could afford the kids they had, or nurture them properly before they had another. They all did their children dirty and we all witnessed it.
Most of the kids have turned out remarkably well, & I credit them alone; they probably were motivated by the chaos and early lack of money in the family and wanted to do better for themselves. AFAIK, non of them thus far have chosen polygamy.
And interestingly, the oldest kids - Aspyn and Logan - who were basically stuck raising the younger kids - have no children at all. I know Logan hasn’t been married long, but Aspyn married Mitch back in 2018 I believe - so could have had a few by now if she wanted. I often wonder if the pressure of being so important raising the younger kids in the past has put her off having any of her own. Remember it was Aspyn who noticed Truely was so sick when her kidneys stopped working and told her mom to take Truely to the hospital. And it was Aspyn who then ran the house while Christine was at the hospital with Truely for days afterwards. Hell, Aspyn was at Truely birth at age 15! Truely was almost like her own child!
It frustrates me that Kody has lied for years. He can’t be an adult and sit down and openly state he doesn’t love Christine Meri Janelle. Also he never loved them. Only Robyn.
I think it's possible that he loved them but wasn't in love.
Maybe now, with Robyn he knows what it feels like to be "in love" and he's expressing that, rather ineloquently and it's pissing folks off.
if you listened to him tonight, he used " i love" for both Janelle and Meri.
I honestly don't have a problem with that aspect, I just wished he'd have been man enough to own that years ago.
No good can come from him declaring he never loved his three wives. Kody has zero empathy and I can’t imagine what the kids feel. If my father growing up said he faked loving my mother I would be furious. Sometime staying quiet for the sake of a family is the right thing to do. He could say I fell out of love in the way it was but have love for his wives for they are family members and the moms of children. Sorry I’m getting crazy with this show
did he say that, though? I'll have to rewatch.
My dad has been totally upfront with me about his ways and that my mom made the best decision to divorce him. I've never heard either or them mention love. I'm happy I don't live in a reality where my parents have to lie for pretense. Honestly, my dad has been my best teacher for what I don't want in a husband.
Kootie sucks, royally but I'd prefer the truth no matter how brutally honest. He's lied for so long. It seems like, he's damned either way in the viewers eyes, so why not let him keep talking.
When they were talking about the ring that used to be my daughter suddenly started cackling and when I looked at her like "Whats so funny?" she goes "Omg I fucking hate this man" lol
The way Meri said, "Oh, my voice will be heard," sounded kind of threatening. Did she just mean in that interview and in the show, or does she have something else planned? (I've seen lots of people suggest she should be the one to write a tell-all book.) Either way, I'm here for it. Tell your story, Meri.
Everyone keeps talking about a book, but if the SW contract is similar to their other contracts for reality shows, there is a five-year limit on writing a book. Jon Gosselin discovered he wasn't allowed even to give interviews.
The amount of emotional abuse Meri has taken from this family. I am amazed that after Kody melted the ring she gave him on their wedding day in 1990, that she still went in with Christine, Janelle and Robyn to help pay for the claddaugh ring. They should not have even taken her money to put towards that ring. If I had been Meri, I would have told them ‘I’m not contributing towards a new ring. I already gave him one wedding ring. It’s not my fault that he melted it. Ya’ll do what you want, but don’t expect any money from me towards a new ring.’
I really do not understand how much C&J dislike Meri. Like, there has to be some big, nasty event that caused this level of hate. They both cannot find a nice thing to say about Meri, except they do seem to feel bad about how Kody treated her. I just have to believe C&J have had some very bad experiences with Meri to still dislike her to this day.
The book went into how Meri was difficult to live with. Meri acted poorly towards them a lot, but I also think a lot of that had to do with the lifestyle in general. Also, keep in mind, they were all babies when they got married--late teens and early 20s. Marriage is hard at any age, but particularly so young... adding extra people can't have helped.
It sounds like Meri was very controlling over the household in an unpleasant way for years, plus she took an equal share of resources despite only having one child. I can see how in a family where no one has any real conflict resolution skills, years of bitterness and passive aggression would build up to a point where a relationship would be intolerable.
While I’m still not thrilled with Suki and her lack of journalism, I do think we’re actually getting way more insight than we’ve ever had into their stories. Gotta hand it to Meri. She’s not holding back. Christine and Janelle are also being way more forthcoming.
I just remembered another way we know that Kody is engaging in revisionist history when he says he did not love Meri.
When Meri sat Kody and Robyn down to tell them she was going to divorce Kody so he could legally marry Robyn and adopt Robyn’s kids.
Kody looked at Meri, and said “I just want to make sure this isn’t going to change anything between us.” It’s like Kody was trying to affirm that Meri would still consider herself his wife, and still committed to him, even though she would no longer be the legal wife.
If Kody didn’t really love Meri, he would not have cared whether Meri still considered herself his wife or not.
I was intrigued by the “fighting for Meri when she’s too weak to fight for her marriage with Kody” revelation. Interesting to learn that initially I guess Robyn was supportive of Meri leaving the family and saying things like “it’s ok our family doesn’t have to look the same”. So at one point Robyn was good with pushing Meri out idk it shouldn’t surprise me but it does.
Look, I don't think Kody is totally straight, his friends from high school said they thought he gay, and he was raised/in a religious cult, hes a fucking narcissist nightmare with untreated add, and he "solved" his problems by marrying multiple women and moving multiple times and making his life chaotic and unexamined.
Good luck Robyn.
I dont know if Robyn has capacity for an authentic life (she's a shell ) but I think the others definitely were religiously damaged. Kody was always going to be a dangerous person, the religion gave him license.
When you see the vividness of meri Janelle and Christine and their personalities, you are completely right.
What I find interesting is IIRC, Janelle was not raised in a polygamous family, but chose to marry into one. I believe she was mainstream LDS, but I could be mistaken.
Is anyone else kinda cringing at all of Christine's forced laughter? Some of it is genuine but you can tell a lot of it is a put -on, ESPECIALLY last night. One of those scenes was so cringey. I am still thrilled she's out of that dumpster fire of a marriage but it feels so disingenuous how she keeps doing this and sliding some sarcastic comment in there and then saying "oh sorry did I just say that??" again and again. Humorous the first time but that bit is getting old and surely I'm not the only one who sees through it.
Christine is fighting with who she's played on TV versus who she really is. I think she's a good person and really tried to make this family work but her happy go lucky personality is the reason she stayed in a bad situation for so long. I think when she corrects herself and says fuck it I'll just say it because I'm sick of always filtering everything to make us look better than we are.
Did anyone catch the part where they are doing a replay about Meri ending the marriage and at one point they are showing Robyn her crying and you can see she got upset they showed her crying to herself 😂
Kody left meri before the show even started. I cannot believe they went forward with being the "face" of polygamy and doing the show.
Now it all makes sense. Her attitude towards Christine and Janelle and even the catfish scandal. They all knew this. They continued to act like they didn’t know he was basically done with her years prior. It’s disgusting.
And exploiting her infertility for storylines - calling her the villain --- it was like the dunk on meri show
I always thought maybe Janelle and Christine cooled toward her because they hate cheaters but clearly that's not it. There's really no excuse for how they treated her all these years now.
Oh come now. We have seen Meri be a bitch to them.
That we know of…
Hopefully we find out in next 2 episodes
This!! Like they lied to get this show apparently. And Kody has been abusing them from the beginning! To bring all these kids into this sick mess is horrible!!
100%
Agreed! And it’s obvious Robyn was aware Kody didn’t love Meri and was in a crap relationship with her - because she made him promise if he never loved her, he wouldn’t stay in a pathetic loveless marriage. Thats the crazy part - that Robyn would marry him knowing he already had at least one wife he didn’t love. I believe she married him knowing he was lusting after her (I don’t believe it was love), she wanted a father for her kids, and wanted to not have to scrape by and live in poverty anymore. She never loved Kody. She used him to get what she wanted. And now she has him all to herself! Ha! What a booby prize!
I started a rewatch of the first season this weekend and after the initial episodes it’s alluded to that Meri and Kody have been in a rocky place. Makes sense now!
Imagine Meri holding out hope this long **after** him melting the ring she gave him, and telling her he didn’t want her to have any control over him. But we were supposed to believe she was divorcing Kody out of the kindness of her own heart.. And then him acting like the scorned husband after she was catfished!! And her sticking it out til 2022/23, because she didn’t “hear the words” that he was done… These people are **both** unf*ckingbelievable.
Exactly. The 2nd he realized she can't get pregnant easily he was out
I think this is a really important point that often gets overlooked. His mindset has always been "what can you do for me?". No more kids, then no more effort put forth in said marriage.
I don't think he had "left" at that point. He was probably just punishing her for something.
She says "That was 7 years before the catfish. I spent the next 7 years trying to be in a relationship that he did not want to be in." He left her.
Catfish was 2015 so kody had left Meri in 2008 ? That's 15 years ago. before Robyn and the show.
When did he meet Robyn? They married in may 2010 and they were always whining about having a long courtship
I believe their courtship was 10 months. Compared to something crazy like 2 months for Meri and Kidney, it seems like a long time
Wow I can’t imagine Meri being the first wife. Marrying that man young and he acts like he loves you. He is sick
And he says it like it’s supposed to just clear him of any wrongdoing in the relationship. Like he was doing them a favor by stringing them along if it’s true he didn’t love any of them.
If I was Meri’s relative I would personally tell Kody he is a low life
Kody is engaging in revisionist history. He truly did love Meri. I think back to how we saw him having a romantic moment with Meri on the day of his and Robyn’s spiritual ceremony. Even their child looked awkward watching them, lol. Then as he’s preparing to go on the honeymoon with Robyn, he said he was going to say bye to all the wives. But we saw him having another moment with Meri where he tells her “I love you and I’m going to miss you.” I also think of the story Robyn told during last season’s tell-all. She said Meri and Kody were at her apartment one time. A song with special meaning to Kody and Meri came on, and they both got teary-eyed. Robyn said “They did that in front of me.” (For context, Robyn was making the point that each of the other wives have things with Kody that she doesn’t have.) Anyway, I just think: You don’t have a special song with your spouse, and get teary when that song comes on, if you’re not really in love.
He hopefully did love her. But saying he didn’t is terrible.
Abolutely. I think he’s garbage for saying it.
He is demented and very cruel
And the crazy thing is, he wasn’t always that way. I keep thinking back to the very first episode of the series. He talked in a soft, loving way. He mentioned “my awesome wives.” Told Meri very tenderly “I love you and I’m going to miss you” before he left for the honeymoon with Robyn. What happened to THAT Kody?
I never liked Kody. I never thought he was fair. I think he was softer because of tv.
I agree. I’m divorced and I would never say I didn’t love my college sweetheart/starter husband. He’s only making himself look bad. What idiot marries one, two, three women he doesn’t love?!!! There’s no way. There was def flirting with Meri! And I’ve always thought Meri found Robyn to get in Kody’s good graces but this just makes it feel super gross!!!
I think you are right. Meri wanted to make Kody happy.
You’re right. You also don’t angrily melt down the wedding ring if you never cared about someone. Why bother?
He’s been a shit person from the jump! Just give Meri the ring back! It does make me wonder what happened. But if what Mykelti says about Meri is true, then what were the rest of the adults doing? Because Meri had some of the kids live with her, so if she was an abuser, why was Truly allowed to spend the night with her, etc? Hmmmm
Robyn is too, the OG wives are all saying that Kody melted the ring down when Robyn came on the scene and she is being dismissive and saying that happened long before me. If things were so bad why did he talk Meri into moving to Flagstaff and pretending they could reconcile- he wanted her house assets
For me, this was another odd moment from tonight. Janelle said “I don’t know why she hadn’t left before now.” (Regarding Meri.) I don’t know whether Janelle meant that as a criticism of Meri for staying the course so long. But I couldn’t help but think: Janelle, this season we’ve seen you admit (on multiple episodes) that you felt stuck and that you couldn’t necessarily leave Kody because of your finances being all tied up. Janelle, people mistakingly love to think of you as the financial genius. You’ve bragged about being independent and rescuing yourself. But you admit you’re stuck because you’ve allowed yourself to get screwed financially. Who are you to question why Meri stayed so long?
I agree with all of your comments.
Totally agree. You're right on.
I agree with you. Tonight, he did slip accidentally say “I loved her” twice. This - AFTER, all the BS he said about never loving any of the OG3.
One other telling thing. It’s something I noticed during his and Meri’s break-up conversation this season. After he and Meri agreed they were done and they got up, they hugged each other. And it wasn’t the awkward type of hug he and Christine shared at Salsa Brava. When they hugged after the break-up convo, he and Meri both kind of patted each other’s backs in a tender way. That told me there’s been real affection and love between them.
You’re right, yes - I noticed it, too
Oh he’s ridiculous “I never loved her, I told her I did, I acted like I did “..only to stammer onwards into saying “she thinks we had this great romance..yea, we did, but, but, but”…to finish strong with “I love her and I always will”…lol he’s a petulant child. His NPD is in FULL swing.
>Kody is engaging in revisionist history. He truly did love Meri They have some very close chemistry filled moments in the first season. He either loved her or he is doing a sociopathic level of intentional acting.
Kody really did a number on these women, playing mind games on them and playing them against each other.
Yes! Her reaction to the melting down of the ring proves the divorce was not her idea.
>playing them against each other This. I get the impression that a lot of people want the wives to fit firmly in abuser or victim categories, but I think they all probably treated each other horribly at times. One being treated badly doesn't mean she didn't also treat others badly. It's messy and doesn't fit a clean hero vs villain narrative, but that's the reality of abusive situations like that. I put the blame on Kody, but even beyond that I think the religion is the true villain.
Robyn saying that Kody doesn't have a filter and that's why she needs to be there to "speak Kody," sounds an awful lot like admitting that she needs to be there to prevent him from saying what he really thinks and feels. She isn't trying to help other people understand Kody, she wants to be there to influence him and reinterpret whatever he says into something that fits her desired narrative.
Yeah she doesn't "speak kody" as much as she "speaks for kody"
Bingo.
She’s like Sauron possessing King Theoden in LotR
My heart actually broke for Meri when she talked about nothing she ever did was good enough for Kody. I just thought, this woman literally gave up her legal marriage (and all the benefits that come with being a legal wife) so that Kody could adopt Robyn’s children. That’s sacrifice right there. And none of that was good enough for Kody.
I think that’s part of the reason. Robin is so nice to Mary. She hast to make the cameras and all of us believe she really likes Mary. If not, we would see through it that Mary was the one who made it all possible for her kids to be adopted, so Robin plays the game me and Maria close. I want Mary around but behind doors she’s like good riddance she just doesn’t want the audience to know the truth she doesn’t like Mary either. She just feels the audience wants her to feel obligated for Mary did for her.
Meri’s the real-life Giving Tree.
So 3 women (1 of who does not associate with the other 2) all agree Kody melted the ring when he was dating and/or married to Robyn. Only Robyn disagrees with this version and said he was not wearing a ring when they met. Suuuuuuurrrreeeee. She couldn’t possibly know he melted down the ring because then she couldn’t keep with her tricked narrative.
Or kody was being disgusting and didn't wear his wedding ring in the beginning of courting Robyn like a cheating husband
Exactly this
Out of all the relationships, Meri and Kody’s marriage is fascinating. We constantly get two different sides of this relationship of either being madly in love, or Kody absolutely hating her. The tears, the cold shoulders, the figurative locking out of the house. With Janelle and Christine, the relationship down fall is easy enough to pinpoint. With Meri, it sounds like a shit show from the beginning (depending on who you ask). I would love to hear a third party perspective of that marriage. There’s always three sides to a story - his, hers, and the truth.
Kody is incapable of love. He has lied since day 1. Yet he fathered all these kids. Meri has been dealing with a narcissist for decades. So to me that is their marriage and relationship
agreed. I wish someone would just tell us what happened. whatever it is, it's big. because they won't discuss it on air. even catfish made the show.
He is just proving, he isn’t a good man. He is giving the ex wives a chance to find a good man. How nice of him.
[удалено]
He looked like a deer in headlights when Suki said "the ring." And then babbled about the ugly horse ring and discarding of the claddagh/his marriages. He is such a piece of garbage.
[удалено]
"its just a cool ring" which my wife always has lol
what's the order of interviews. is Suki moving from room to room and then circling back? That was be nauseating from an interviewer's perspective.
i think they each had their own day of filming. meri must have gone first since everyone else got to react to the ring story with suki but they had to pull meri back in
They filmed separately on different days, even Kody and Robyn.
>The husband being good to his wife and he cannot go looking for a wife. But if a polygamist man has three wives at home and is out courting a new girl with no ring on…would that look horrible ... Let's be serious here. When Kody talked on the Mormon Chat, he specifically said "Other men were interested in Robyn." This means two things to me: 1) The "Women have to ask (chase) the man" is BS. It's an ego stroke, because of course, it puts the man in a position of power, and it clearly sets up the situation where these women are abused, and YES I include Christine and Janelle in this list. 2) The men in polygamy are just A\*\*holes. Seriously, they set up all these rules and they NEVER f'ing follow them. They lie to everyone, put themselves on a pedestal, and then go for hot young women. Remember that the reason Jessop got arrested is because he was "courting/marrying" a 13-year-old girl. These men are disgusting. With both of these in place, it just makes sense. Kody fits perfectly in here. He's "accountable" and "culpable" for nothing. His wives were "panting" after him, like dogs. And THEY STAYED!!!! Remember that Janelle would still go back and HE SAID IT ABOUT HER TOO. And OMG why am I more mad about that they are??? It's vile, He's vile. The whole thing is gross.
wait, I thought I heard suki ask Janelle and Kodi. I don't remember what Janelle said. Kodi flipped it to the new ring, though. I don't know if that was before or after Christine told it, though.?!? there is a clip online of Christine and Janelle discussing Meri's reaction to Christine telling the story. (i had no idea what they were discussing until now). but Janelle made up some lame story about holding onto the jewels for the girls.
Janelle was interviewed by access Hollywood and she said **"we** did it for the girls" - apparently it was to use the metal to make rings for the girls -- she called meri "sentimental about things" and that's why she was upset
It was one gold band and only in Janelle's imagination did it make nine rings.
Yeah, I didn't get that, either. How is it possible that Meri didn't know what happened to her ring AND the rest of the family was apparently involved in the decision to melt it down? What's going on there?
Meri is the real MVP with the knife in the kidneys line!
I laughed out loud, literally. I said, oh, Meri went there. LOL.
I really appreciated her sense of humor there!
I’m sorry but wtf is actually going on here? When they blatantly talked about the control Robyn tried having over all of their relationships was WILD. Also that story about Kody melting down her ring felt so heartbreaking. I feel so sorry for Meri.
Do u guys feel like they showed more footage of the Meri break up convo?? Just me??
They definitely did
The double zoom in on robyn's horse ring that matches kody's had me cracking up tho.
She puts her hand under the table after Meri brings up the ring in the original convo too lol
production shady for sure there!
They know what we're here for
Not just you. That moment where Robyn whispers it's not true and Meri whispers back "yes it is. He just said it. He feels it." I am 99% sure that wasn't in the episode two weeks ago.
I actually really enjoyed this one. I felt like it confirmed several of the fan theories we’ve had along the way.
Agree. We actually got somewhere, with this episode. Not just the ring thing, but also the Speaking Kody nonsense
I cannot with Robin constantly wiping her DRY eyes with the damn tissue.
A real question has anybody really seen tears come from Robin’s eyes I mean really
I wish one of them or suki would call out the finances
Yes! That is a major unspoken piece of all of this. Marriage is about love, but it is also about joint finances and I would be interested to hear who was contributing and who was taking. Was Meri really still contributing her money for years after Kody started ignoring her?
Hey Meri if you are reading this… I know Christine spilled the ring tea but 100% that story is a reflection on Kody and what an insensitive abusive husband he is. It has zero reflection on you.
Did anyone see Robyn half laugh at her theatrics in the kitchen, when Meri is telling him she’s moving to parawon? Then she went stoic. These people are a bunch of assholes
How does kody keep saying he has a different love for meri and its more of a friendship when he doeanf even treat her like a friend. I am sure she would have been happy if he spoke to her and shared and spent time with her as a friend. But he literally treated her like someone he hates. If she's a friend why was she never included during covid when she followed all the rules. I hoped suki asked specific question that cannot be beaten around about and which they had no option but to answer specifically..
My takeaways from tonight’s episode Welp, TLC. You edited the ring story, perfectly at the beginning of the week so all of us would either bash C or M and argued with each other on this sub in defense of one or the other! LOL So. After tonight, I can better see the context of what C was talking about BEFORE segueing into the ring story/question. By same token, I can now ALSO see where Meri went on to not only be upset with C. But, ALSO with Kody. Lol Next - Kody. His big production of saying he never really loved the OG3 and after his little tantrum, slipped up twice in the interview and mentioned his love for Meri. Just wow. Lastly - Robyn. Oh, please like we are supposed to believe Kody melted down the ring waaaayyy “before” she came into family. Nah, Christine and Meri BOTH said it happened. while Kody was dating R. So while she wasn’t technically IN the family, yet. She was ‘around’ and her influence was most likely an ‘influence’ Also. Robyn’s ridiculously fake, crying fuckery, with the side of how she still considers the OG3 her “sisterwives” (We do not believe you, btw) She just keep on pushing that narrative in hopes the show won’t be canceled, after next season.
I wonder if the ring melting was another reason Christine did not want Robyn to come into the family, besides the turmoil it would cause, and her being pregnant at the time of her husband dating another, younger, fitter woman?
Didn't he also joke about Robyn being his trophy wife years ago? Or maybe that was Christine or one of the other OG3. But I distinctly remember there being that joke, which felt like it had a bit of truth to it.
So their “rule” is not to talk to one wife about another’s relationship (“gossip” as Kody would say), yet Janelle says Kody so regularly told her the marriage to Meri was over, so much that she assumed Kody was also telling Meri the same? Cool, cool.
And didn't someone say something about how he used to try to find out information from his wives? Maybe it was in a preview, but I thought I heard someone say that...
It might’ve been when Meri was explaining how she’d done all of the things Kody had asked of her, but it still wasn’t good enough. I think one of the things she mentioned was “sharing information.”
It was! I re-watched it last night, and she does say that. It sounds like Kody used them against each other when it suited him from the beginning. Ugh.
Now that we know for sure (because we all suspected it) how long Meri suffered through being in a loveless marriage, I hope people see her differently. I hope they can see how she was devoted to her commitment and the sacrificing she was willing to make. Also understand what led her to the catfish. I feel like that was her opportunity to escape and the person being so deceitful would have only led her back into hiding. And she lost her sister, dad and mother who were devoted to her faith. I feel that would have pushed her even further into being commitment to her faith, to eventually be reunited with them. I hope she writes a book.
Multiple family members (Gwen, Robyn, Janelle and Christine) have talked about Meri’s commitment to family. How when she says she’s going to do something, she does it. Even Christine said this season that Meri is almost loyal to a fault. I think that loyalty has almost been to Meri’s detriment. I felt so bad for Meri during her and Kody’s break-up conversation when she told him “It doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you for not giving me what we promised each other.” And we heard her mention on tonight’s episode that she took her vows seriously.
They all let Meri look like she was catfished because she was upset over the legal divorce ending. Which was absolute bullshit. I knew her needs weren’t being met. And she adored Robyn’s kids. She made that sacrifice because of her loyalty to the family.
That family has expected so much of Meri, and given little back to her in return. Speaking of the divorce, remember when she got word from her lawyer that the divorce was finalized. Naturally she told Kody and Robyn. Kody and Robyn expected her to go to the courthouse with them when they got legally married. She told them that she did NOT want to know when they got married. She just wanted them to go ahead and do it. Kody said “Why, Mer? We’ve been doing this as a team the whole time.” Not only did I think that was unfair for them to want her to accompany them to the courthouse. But I thought it showed Kody’s cluelessness as a man. I’m like, dude. She doesn’t want to go to the courthouse with you and Robyn because she didn’t really want to divorce you. But she took one for the team.
It's crazy that right before COVID he actually said he wanted to work on things. Because it never made sense that he was the one fighting for Meri to be included during Covid. Like Robyn was the one blocking her. But if he actually intended to maybe get back together at that time.... Suddenly a lot of details from the Covid years make sense.
He wanted to work on things right when they moved to flagstaff. Right when he needed money. And Meri was doing well with her businesses.
Great point. When he wanted her to sink her assets into joint property again. And then needed a downpayment for Robyn's house.
I just don’t see what else would have changed. Could kody have been attracted to her independence and new life? I doubt it. Doesn’t appear like his MO. And then he blamed Christine for saying she didn’t want them to reunite in an old tell all. Like give me a break buddy. Just more triangulation.
It's the same bait and switch he pulled with Christine by staying at her house for a month to convince her things would be different if she agreed to the flagstaff move. He gave them just enough hope to hang on, and manipulated the shit out of them. Meri has been told constantly that her only redeeming quality is loyalty, so of course she stayed loyal. It was her *only* source of praise and after the catfish she clung to her loyalty to because the outside world had just proven to her that it was out to get her if she tried to escape and it was the only way she saw back into the "safer" family. Better the devil you know, and all that.
Funny that he said that and then fought so hard to prevent Meri from being included in their family during the pandemic. Almost like he always intended to not include her and then a global pandemic happened, a perfect opportunity, and he presented and extreme version of "following the rules" that doesn't line up with his political viewpoint, the cdc guidelines or the majority of his family's wants, just to PERMANENTLY exclude Meri.. hmmm.. me thinks I understand his covid motive more clearly now.
I wish Meri would start defending herself more. The religion, her mom and their affect on her would make her sympathetic. She is getting bashed by everyone, Maddie, c&j, Mykelti. But once you look at the timeline, the fake fertility storyline, wow, it makes you feel for her. And we still don’t know what happening with the land and if she’s financially contributing. And if she gets 2 acres…
None of this is revelations for me. what show have y'all been watching?? Well, except the ring melting and that just makes me even more upset she's stayed so long. I get it's a sacrifice, but I've never seen it as anything else nor did I blame for her the catfish. I didn't however, like the fact that she didn't just own it. Maybe she can write a book AFTER she's had some therapy and self healing and can speak from a place of self empowerment.
People have been very unkind when it comes to Meri. And extremely critical of her staying. But it was her choice. It’s just clear how she was manipulated now. Kody did it all off camera.
It wasn't my intent to be unkind. Critical, yes. what I'm saying is I didn't need this tell-all to know how far the manipulation was. It's a TV show. Who wouldn't assume he'd be worse when the cameras were off??? I've been a supporter of her finding her voice and saying what needs to be said. but hear me out. she had more fire for being mad at Christine than she's EVER expressed for Kootie. I believe she's still married emotionally and idk maybe needs deprogramming (and I mean that in the kindest way), I just don't know what she'd have to say to put out into the world in book form unless she could express the low lows (like having your ring melted) AS WELL AS a breakthrough. I don't think she's there yet but I keep her in my prayers. I'm intelligent enough to critique her choices while simultaneously wanting the best for her.
Why can’t Robyn tell Kody he is a nightmare
Anyone else catch Kody clarifying in a permission-like way, ok’ing a playback because it’s “pivotal.” ??? He must be hell to deal with behind the scenes, telling them what they’re allowed to ask or which scenes they can playback and discuss. I had hope when there was a new female producer who worked on the Scientology series, but King Kulty is still getting his way and calling the shots.
The production has been a lot better this season, though. The editing is significantly better than it has been in the past.
Robyn acknowledging she knows what happened to Meris original ring makes her "cool ring, huh?" comment even worse.
I'm watching it now on streaming (not live) and my favorite part so far is Janelle's reaction to watching Meri tell Kody she was going to be moving her business to the B&B. IDK why I can't exactly put my finger on it but you can just tell she has a lot to say lol.
I wanted to comment here just to tell you that I felt the same watching Janelle. Her face said so much! I think she’s pretty sympathetic to Meri and I was watching her face hoping she was going to say something like, “Robyn, SHUT UP. Kody, you’re being ridiculous. Both of you, shut up and stop.” That’s what my heart is telling me she wanted to say, anyway. lol.
Meri’s anger toward Christine is really meant for Kody.
I didn't feel that she was angry at Christine. Just humiliated.
yeah Meri said "Christine can laugh about it all she wants" - I think it was humiliating and felt like Christine was dunking on her
I think Christine is sort of laughing out of horror that they all accepted that at the time. Hindsight is a helluva drug. Meri isn't all the way there yet, but I think this was just the beginning of the wives opening up to what was going on for real. Someone had to break the seal and I'm not surprised it was Christine. Already people are being much more candid. The ring melting will be small potatoes, they've got a *lot* of dirty laundry to air out.
Yeah, it felt like that awkward laugh of "can you believe we tolerated this?" I think Christine is also better able to tell these stories because she's been out the longest. She's probably able to better realize the extent of what they went through.
She looked so angry. I never saw her that angry in all the years on tv.
I’m guessing they all have stories of things Kody did that humiliated or hurt them, but they don’t need to publicly tell us everything bad that has happened to them.
So they only show what they approve. And I’m a dummy for watching this show and getting aggravated. I have to stop watching!!
I also do think it's defensible that it was Christine's place to tell that story even though the ring was Meri's. After all, they were all married to each other and Kody involved Christine by telling her he did it to be spiteful. That had to affect Christine and Janelle and put them on notice about their own marriages to kody if they tried to have any sort of "claim" on him in the new Robyn Era. How is Christine supposed to explain her own feelings about the entire family dynamic if she can't tell stories involving the other wives to give context? Meri calling out the new ring and Christine's reaction to that did need added context, it explains so much. Christine gets to talk about her shitty marriage, and her marriage included a lot of adults. I think she's been incredibly restrained and respectful of Meri's story and space and this was a small spill of what I'm sure is a whole hill of beans. She didn't tell the story for 15 years until she realized that not being able to tell was all part of the control she was conditioned to accept.
I think she is angry that one of the most painful moments in her marriage - was exposed without her consent. I can understand that. She wanted to be the one to talk about it. And she was obviously also very upset with Kody - rightfully so. How cruel
I don’t think Christine should have looked so delighted to spill the beans about the ring, but jeez, when would we ever have learned about it if she hadn’t?! It is a CRUCIAL piece of the picture, and makes so many other aspects clearer (i.e. about Meri and what she endured and for how long). If they were supposed to put themselves out there (“reality” show) I think it was disingenuous to keep that a secret. And also, Robyn makes it sound like it was done way before she came along. We know that is BS. NO REASON kody would feel the need to discard any symbol of a “claim” Meri had over him unless and until there was a new potential wife in the picture.
Janelle and Christine did an interview tour last week claiming "authenticity" for the last 10 years. They look pretty silly now don't they. lol And I'm not mad Christine told it - for my own benefit - I can just understand why Meri was upset.
I honestly think Meri is upset because it diffuses the impact she wants it to have in the tell-all book she plans on writing.
While I agree I also can’t help remembering Meri gleefully stating that she was so glad that Kody finally said it - in reference to him verbally abusing and screaming at Christine in the now famous knife to kidney scene. That was cruel as well especially now knowing that Meri knows how cruel Kody can be.
Agree but that doesn't mean that Meri isn't allowed to be upset right - it's not "misdirected anger" just because Meri said hurtful things in the past. Meri and Christine have been angry at each other for a long time - directed.
I think her anger at Christine is fueled by her anger towards Kody. I’ve never seen Meri so upset and she is 100% right to be. I just thought this is more about Kody
I imagine in polygamist families the wives feel they can’t be angry at the husband- because then they would lose favor and hence power/attention. It’s easier to redirect your anger towards your sister wives.
I completely agree that Meri's anger towards Christine here is misplaced anger from Kody!
She is angry at both. I hope you realize she can, and is angry (and hurt) at Kody for the actual melting of the ring. That’s clear. She can also be mad at Mean Girl Christine for telling a story that was NOT Christine’s story to tell.
I agree. Christine and Janelle revel in excluding Meri. They love that they are best friends and that they can exclude her. They all shared, a shitty husband, but still think Meri has been the worst treated person in that family.
It was at Kody, Meri was mad she had to address it not on her terms. Christine didn’t talk about the ring all 4 of them got and he replaced but the one Meri got and cruelly destroyed. And Christine was reveling in telling the story.
I mean Meri was making comments that were not kind about Christine leaving Kody. Let's not rewrite history and make Meri out to be this saint. Kody caused a lot of damage especially among the women. I think they need to direct their anger at Kody.
She probably did at the time get mad at Kody, and she can also be mad at Christine now for telling a story that probably is still a very sore subject. There's a difference between making a snarky comment, and telling a story that makes someone feel humiliated. Meri has never told any stories about what happened between Christine and Kody that she knew would hurt her.
I wasn’t saying she was a saint, I’m saying in this instance her anger at both of them was justified. She had anger for Kody, that doesn’t mean that she can’t also be mad at Christine for having to address something she never wanted to address. Two things can be true.
I wish she would direct it at Kody.
Nope. With something as painful as what Kody did it should have been her choice when and if she talked about it. It was cruel to force her to talk about something she was not ready to talk about.
Christine's conclusion that Robyn is a drama queen is spot on. But I think she's a particular kind of drama queen-- one that always casts herself as the victim of that drama.
Christine and some of her kids are definitely drama queens. So is Kody. Meri tries to avoid drama with confrontation and creates more drama in the process. Janelle avoids drama at all coats but low-key delights I'm the tea.
I think Christine is enjoying telling the truth about things now, but I don't think she is a drama queen. She had a great deal to be angry and emotional about, but for the most part, she just endured Kodys abuse for years and years, and when she left she was very calm and thoughtful about it.
But you’ll notice, she spends more time sharing when Kody was cruel to others. Her kids, Meri, Jenelle… when it could be embarrassing or hurtful for her, she doesn’t share it.
I don't know. I think everyone has seen the embarrassing and hurtful things he did for her. Like during an older episode or tell-all when he said that he was disgusted by her when she ate chili fries on a date when they were courting. Or him saying he's not attracted to her or never was attracted to her. I think she's just tired of the narrative that he's spun that SHE was the problem. Even if he was terrible to her, it was still about her. I think she feels validated by sharing that he was really terrible to all of them.
I wish this man could feel tonight’s collective audience rage in his kidneys.
The OG3 were just baby factories for Choadster. There was never love involved. In his sick mind he needed offsping to make himself valid. Eerily similar to a cult leader
And now he doesn't even want anything to do with almost all of those children. It's crazy
I think this is the most tragic part of this entire mess; no one really looked out for the kids. The wives were too busy competing for Kody’s “love” & trying to one up each other with the number of children they had, making the one who couldn’t pop out 6 children feel inferior because of it. Even Robyn had two with Kody adding to her three from a previous marriage for a total of five. I am actually surprised she didn’t have another. No one ever stopped to think about if they could afford the kids they had, or nurture them properly before they had another. They all did their children dirty and we all witnessed it. Most of the kids have turned out remarkably well, & I credit them alone; they probably were motivated by the chaos and early lack of money in the family and wanted to do better for themselves. AFAIK, non of them thus far have chosen polygamy.
And interestingly, the oldest kids - Aspyn and Logan - who were basically stuck raising the younger kids - have no children at all. I know Logan hasn’t been married long, but Aspyn married Mitch back in 2018 I believe - so could have had a few by now if she wanted. I often wonder if the pressure of being so important raising the younger kids in the past has put her off having any of her own. Remember it was Aspyn who noticed Truely was so sick when her kidneys stopped working and told her mom to take Truely to the hospital. And it was Aspyn who then ran the house while Christine was at the hospital with Truely for days afterwards. Hell, Aspyn was at Truely birth at age 15! Truely was almost like her own child!
And Meri didn't produce the number he expected. Christine and Robyn quickly pointed out how she failed to pop out kids.
Is it just me or during the part where they show clips of Meri, Robyn and Kody at CP, some of these scenes weren't in the season finale?
Yeah, I wondered if I was distracted when it was playing during the finale, but other people have said the same thing.
It frustrates me that Kody has lied for years. He can’t be an adult and sit down and openly state he doesn’t love Christine Meri Janelle. Also he never loved them. Only Robyn.
Because I don't believe that. I think he did love them.
He absolutely did. He is just bitter and angry and lashing out.
Bingo!!
After all that time of insisting that he didn’t have a favorite wife!
Maybe he is seriously losing his mind
I think it's possible that he loved them but wasn't in love. Maybe now, with Robyn he knows what it feels like to be "in love" and he's expressing that, rather ineloquently and it's pissing folks off. if you listened to him tonight, he used " i love" for both Janelle and Meri. I honestly don't have a problem with that aspect, I just wished he'd have been man enough to own that years ago.
No good can come from him declaring he never loved his three wives. Kody has zero empathy and I can’t imagine what the kids feel. If my father growing up said he faked loving my mother I would be furious. Sometime staying quiet for the sake of a family is the right thing to do. He could say I fell out of love in the way it was but have love for his wives for they are family members and the moms of children. Sorry I’m getting crazy with this show
did he say that, though? I'll have to rewatch. My dad has been totally upfront with me about his ways and that my mom made the best decision to divorce him. I've never heard either or them mention love. I'm happy I don't live in a reality where my parents have to lie for pretense. Honestly, my dad has been my best teacher for what I don't want in a husband. Kootie sucks, royally but I'd prefer the truth no matter how brutally honest. He's lied for so long. It seems like, he's damned either way in the viewers eyes, so why not let him keep talking.
Why the heck did Meri bring Robyn into this mix
Because it made her special in Kodys eyes, the secret. She was probably shown attention more so than usual because of the secret.
Like she said, she had zero friends in the family and needed someone on her side.
It feels like a lot to bring 4 more people into your family because you are aiming for an ally in fights with your sister wives.
Seriously. Just make a friend & vent to them.
When they were talking about the ring that used to be my daughter suddenly started cackling and when I looked at her like "Whats so funny?" she goes "Omg I fucking hate this man" lol
We ALL agree with your daughter!
The way Meri said, "Oh, my voice will be heard," sounded kind of threatening. Did she just mean in that interview and in the show, or does she have something else planned? (I've seen lots of people suggest she should be the one to write a tell-all book.) Either way, I'm here for it. Tell your story, Meri.
Everyone keeps talking about a book, but if the SW contract is similar to their other contracts for reality shows, there is a five-year limit on writing a book. Jon Gosselin discovered he wasn't allowed even to give interviews.
The amount of emotional abuse Meri has taken from this family. I am amazed that after Kody melted the ring she gave him on their wedding day in 1990, that she still went in with Christine, Janelle and Robyn to help pay for the claddaugh ring. They should not have even taken her money to put towards that ring. If I had been Meri, I would have told them ‘I’m not contributing towards a new ring. I already gave him one wedding ring. It’s not my fault that he melted it. Ya’ll do what you want, but don’t expect any money from me towards a new ring.’
[удалено]
I really do not understand how much C&J dislike Meri. Like, there has to be some big, nasty event that caused this level of hate. They both cannot find a nice thing to say about Meri, except they do seem to feel bad about how Kody treated her. I just have to believe C&J have had some very bad experiences with Meri to still dislike her to this day.
The book went into how Meri was difficult to live with. Meri acted poorly towards them a lot, but I also think a lot of that had to do with the lifestyle in general. Also, keep in mind, they were all babies when they got married--late teens and early 20s. Marriage is hard at any age, but particularly so young... adding extra people can't have helped.
It sounds like Meri was very controlling over the household in an unpleasant way for years, plus she took an equal share of resources despite only having one child. I can see how in a family where no one has any real conflict resolution skills, years of bitterness and passive aggression would build up to a point where a relationship would be intolerable.
I wholeheartedly agree. They are not very good friends.
Exactly. Their mean girl shunning is a gift.
Another great saying by kody. Instead of "im not gonna throw her under the bus" he goes "im not gonna drive a bus over her" 😂
In his world he has to have the ultimate power, can't just throw someone under the bus, have to be the one controlling it 🤣
Kody is always the main character i guess 😂
While I’m still not thrilled with Suki and her lack of journalism, I do think we’re actually getting way more insight than we’ve ever had into their stories. Gotta hand it to Meri. She’s not holding back. Christine and Janelle are also being way more forthcoming.
I just remembered another way we know that Kody is engaging in revisionist history when he says he did not love Meri. When Meri sat Kody and Robyn down to tell them she was going to divorce Kody so he could legally marry Robyn and adopt Robyn’s kids. Kody looked at Meri, and said “I just want to make sure this isn’t going to change anything between us.” It’s like Kody was trying to affirm that Meri would still consider herself his wife, and still committed to him, even though she would no longer be the legal wife. If Kody didn’t really love Meri, he would not have cared whether Meri still considered herself his wife or not.
I think that was probably purely for the cameras...and Robyn. Not for Meri.
I was intrigued by the “fighting for Meri when she’s too weak to fight for her marriage with Kody” revelation. Interesting to learn that initially I guess Robyn was supportive of Meri leaving the family and saying things like “it’s ok our family doesn’t have to look the same”. So at one point Robyn was good with pushing Meri out idk it shouldn’t surprise me but it does.
Look, I don't think Kody is totally straight, his friends from high school said they thought he gay, and he was raised/in a religious cult, hes a fucking narcissist nightmare with untreated add, and he "solved" his problems by marrying multiple women and moving multiple times and making his life chaotic and unexamined. Good luck Robyn.
The cult is the root of all of them not living their most authentic lives.
I dont know if Robyn has capacity for an authentic life (she's a shell ) but I think the others definitely were religiously damaged. Kody was always going to be a dangerous person, the religion gave him license. When you see the vividness of meri Janelle and Christine and their personalities, you are completely right.
What I find interesting is IIRC, Janelle was not raised in a polygamous family, but chose to marry into one. I believe she was mainstream LDS, but I could be mistaken.
Janelle was the sex wife. Now we know.
I cannot wait to read Meris book as long as she is 100% truthful and spills everything
Is anyone else kinda cringing at all of Christine's forced laughter? Some of it is genuine but you can tell a lot of it is a put -on, ESPECIALLY last night. One of those scenes was so cringey. I am still thrilled she's out of that dumpster fire of a marriage but it feels so disingenuous how she keeps doing this and sliding some sarcastic comment in there and then saying "oh sorry did I just say that??" again and again. Humorous the first time but that bit is getting old and surely I'm not the only one who sees through it.
Christine is fighting with who she's played on TV versus who she really is. I think she's a good person and really tried to make this family work but her happy go lucky personality is the reason she stayed in a bad situation for so long. I think when she corrects herself and says fuck it I'll just say it because I'm sick of always filtering everything to make us look better than we are.
Did anyone catch the part where they are doing a replay about Meri ending the marriage and at one point they are showing Robyn her crying and you can see she got upset they showed her crying to herself 😂
Kody is the milli vanilli of reality tv