The line has been drawn. Sides have been chosen. And the Brown family was devastated.
And the only person who doesn’t fit into the arrangement is the one person most family members agree on the reason for the separation.
So far, season 19 of Sister Wife has become a testimony to the fear of divorce. Filmed during the holiday season at the end of 2022, fans have watched as the Brown family lives as 4, individual families, instead of one big plural household.
Some acts are better than others, but the producers seem to be trying to focus on Kody’s relationship with his children, both estranged and otherwise.
Whether this was a decision made after Garrison’s death is unclear.
But what’s clear is that Kody’s children fall into two categories in their father’s eyes: faithful or unfaithful.
Grandma Kody Meets New Addition
One of the few older children who have maintained a relationship with their father is Mykelti. In the fourth episode of season 19, he invited his father and his last wife, Robyn, to meet the newborn twins.
It was an unusual moment in a tense situation. Robyn explains in her confession that Mykelti appears to be more than “truthful”. This means that unlike some of Kody’s other siblings, Mykelti doesn’t blame or blame his father for what happened to the family.
However, when Kody suggested that Mykelti move to the Coyote Pass complex and build a house near him and Robyn, her response was similar to that of many other family members.
“Not in hell,” she said.
While he may have forgiven his father for his past mistakes, Mykelti clearly has no interest in bringing his young family into the fold again.
As Christine puts it, “He’s not afraid to ask for what he needs. All the kids have to do is take a page from Mykelti’s book.
Sick of Covid Live On
For the first time this season, fans meet Gabriel, Janelle and their oldest son Kody.
He visits his mother at her apartment before Christmas and they talk over breakfast. Topic? Kody and Robyn.
“After the COVID scare is over and we’re all back to normal life, we still can’t get along as a family because Kody feels the boys owe him and Robyn an apology. Especially Robyn.
Fans will recall that during the pandemic, Kody imposed very strict rules on the family. Furthermore, at that time, he refused to visit his wife and other children outside the home with Robyn.
This includes the absence of her daughter Ysabel’s spine surgery. They also decided that the older kids, including Gabe, moved out of Janelle’s house after Garrison was supposed to be all sick after seeing her boyfriend.
As for Janelle’s kids, it seems like Savannah is the only one who can “meet her where she’s at.” Gabe, who admits to seeing a counselor about his feelings, can’t do the same.
“He texted me and said ‘I forgive you, please forgive me.’ I was like, forgive me for what?”
The Blame Game
The stark difference between Mykelti and Gabe’s relationship with his father is quite perfectly summed up later in the episode.
That’s all for Robyn.
Mykelti has embraced her fourth husband Kody. He even went so far as to include her in the birth of the twins, much to the dismay of their real mother, Christine.
Gabe, on the other hand, can’t stand Kody’s “favoritism” regarding Robyn and their children, as he puts it. So, he refused to give Kody what he wanted, and that was undying loyalty.
“If they really believe that we are abusing them or their children in any way when they are constantly being liked by fathers and we are always trying to have a relationship with their children,” Gabe explained.
“If he really believes that, then there’s no way I’ll ever have anything to do with Robyn again.”
Janelle added that after Robyn joined the family, Kody’s approach to their relationship changed. Instead of looking for “love and charity,” he asked for “loyalty and respect.”
And he has a point. If one of them treated this episode like a drinking game, when the only rule is to drink every time Kody talks about “loyalty,” he will be in the ER before seeing the promo for next week of course!
Crying At Christmas
But all of Robyn’s words are ironic, because out of everyone, she’s the only person who has any hope of fixing the family.
Janelle is very clear: she wants peace for her children, not reconciliation. Christine has more than moved on, steering clear even discussing Kody in favor of gushing over her new name, David.
And Meri, who is most likely to keep it out, is now more than ever happy that he was released (aka divorced through the church) because Kody has done nothing but talk trash to anyone who will listen.
(Meri is also someone who is not “faithful” to Kody, but it seems to be a code because he can’t keep his mouth shut about the split and tell the church…)
At 1 AM, on Christmas morning, Robyn filmed her sobbing confession from the bathroom floor. Pitiful and clearly depressed, he cries because Meri refuses to come on Christmas Day and once again, the whole family won’t be together for the holidays.
But what about Kody?
“When he doesn’t act angry, he is easily vulnerable. He misses the family experience,” admits Robyn, who seems to be right when it happens like one-on-one with a new grandchild.
Kody seems more interested in investing in his marriage and “special” relationship than living in the past.
“Let’s move one,” he said. “Let’s throw it. It was never meant to be. It was never used.”
But can he? Given all the talk of divorce, things may not work out the way Kody wants.
Time will tell, though!
