[man] Previously on Sister Wives...
-So, happy birthday. -Thanks.
You know what, it's so weird 'cause it's awkwardly familiar.
You wanna get a first date question book.
-But that's fun. -I don't know.
I think we're like, sort of, if there is anything here, I don't know.
Like, it's starting over, right, it's redefining.
I mean, I just don't think there's much path forward for Kody and I.
And I'm really looking for a relationship where I'm equally considered.
When we get together for Christmas, I'm like, 89% sure
that there's gonna be a fight about all the Covid [bleep] that's been going on.
-And that is Covid. -No, that's a phone call.
You call every one of your siblings,
you get all that griping out of your system.
They wanna pick a fight with everybody.
-We were blaming Robyn. -You were literally blaming Robyn for this
because we thought Robyn was in your ear telling you to stay away from everyone.
'Cause she's an obedient wife.
We're just trying to operate as a family here.
I don't want you to think that I'm walking away because...
Sorry, I still have hope, okay?
Conversations like this basically just tell me,
go ahead, Meri, and just live your life
because nothing else is gonna change.
I'm in town. I'm in Flagstaff this week.
I'm cooking a meal for Garrison and Gabe,
and Janelle and Savanah, and Gwendlyn.
I get to cook in Garrison's kitchen.
Garrison bought a new house, I'm taking over the kitchen.
Oh, I'm so excited to cook for them again.
Yeah, I don't have anything in this house, so.
-Nice. -I have the house, but nothing else.
Well, I did some shopping for you.
-Food, salad bar. -Cool.
And then Gwendlyn and Gabe are coming over later,
but Truely is not coming over.
I wanted to create a space for them to just talk,
allow them space to talk about their frustrations.
Hello?
-Hey. -Hi.
-Where are you? -How's it going?
Did you guys bring the key lime pie?
-I have to go get it. -This is my nutrition plan
-friendly key lime and pie. -Okay.
So this is all salad bar.
So the vision is this is the table cloth.
It's just all salad bar stuff and then I got a bunch of
cute little white bowls.
We're just gonna, it's gonna be the easiest thing ever.
-There are a lot of dishes. -For once.
I moved away six months ago,
and there's been a lot that's happened in those six months
with Cody and Robyn, and the kids.
When I saw Janelle's boys at Christmas,
and Savanah too,
um, they were just really, really sad.
I've been out of it, you know, out of their life since I moved.
You know, Christmas was really difficult.
So I just hope something's changed.
You doing all right with school?
Yeah. Yeah.
Did you put the alphabet letters
-on the fridge today? Okay. -Yeah.
Oh, gosh, Savanah is the cutest little pre-schooler,
kindergarten. Oh, my gosh.
I used to take her to kindergarten everyday.
She let me do her hair.
Very cool.
She was so cute every single day.
Gosh, she's so cute.
I like that. Do you see Breanna at school?
-Yeah. -Okay, cool.
I run into her every day after our study hall though 'cause she has,
um, my teacher that I have for my third hour.
Aurora and Breanna are Robyn's girls.
They've known Savanah, well, they've all been siblings for 12 years.
Then Savanah and Breanna are just really close in age
and they go to school together.
Aurora's a little bit older. She's closer to Gwendlyn and Gabe's age.
Do you guys hang out together since you see each other?
No. I don't talk to her.
-Oh. -Yeah.
Okay, I didn't know that.
-We just kinda ignore each other. -What?
That's... that's crazy.
Um, me and Savanah,
you know, we're decent to each other.
It wasn't like super great and close because
during Covid, um, people had different opinions about the rules.
So we just didn't know what to do with each other.
So we kind of kept our distance.
I kinda just feel
shocked and confused
and, like, she doesn't care.
I don't know what the right word is. It kinda just
broke my heart a little...
because, you know, I grew up with her.
[sobbing] Grew up with all of them.
[crying] Sorry.
Can we cut? I don't wanna cry.
[sniffles]
[Meri] Savanah and Breanna have no relationship.
They sort of say hi.
No. No, they don't even do that.
They ignore each other in the halls.
No, I had no idea.
I don't even know what to say to that.
I just don't know what to say except that it's heart breaking.
-So, for-- -No, it's just been recent.
The relationship with your sister's weird, right?
That's just recent.
Or is that always? Have you always had a hard time?
I always had a hard time with my siblings.
-Okay, right. -With my siblings, my age at least.
-Okay. -Well, a lot of 'em, the relationship changes
when I get older, but Robyn's kids have always been,
um, not as close as your kids were.
I didn't know that.
You saw Dad today. You spend some time with him?
-Is it true? -Yes.
-How was that? -Um, that was fun.
-Were you okay that Truely was there too? -Yeah. Oh, yeah.
-Okay. -Oh, yeah.
'Cause he's only her, he saw her over the holidays.
But before that, he hadn't spent time with her since
-we, um, moved away. -Split?
Yeah, split.
Can I open this?
Yeah, yeah, that's for whatever you want.
Well, I'm sorry. I think everything's a little bit strange.
Honestly, it doesn't bother me 'cause it's been so long
that he's been absent, that I don't even notice.
I don't even really realize that he's not, um...
-Around? -Around.
Did you just realize how broken things are when you hear it from a kid?
Whoo!
[Meri] I'm up at the B and B
and we are getting the carriage house ready
for a renovation.
Gotta move everything out and into storage.
It's moving day. [laughs]
Okay. But for real, we're moving, you guys.
-Okay, not really. -Got so much stuff.
It's an in town move, it was a...
-Very cheap truck rental. -[both laugh]
I decided that I'm going to move my clothing business up here.
Since my mom passed away, it's been a lot of travel back and forth.
So I decided to put them in the same location.
So I'm gonna renovate the carriage house so I can
have my clothing business out here.
So far we have that much...
loaded.
The house that I have in Flagstaff,
when I rented it, it was for the intention of having it large enough
to do family events and also to run my clothing business out of.
Since we really don't do family events at my house,
I'm also going to just get a smaller home in Flagstaff.
So I'll still be staying there,
but I'll be here, more of a concentrated amount of time instead of
so much travel back and forth.
[laughing]
Do you know how good of a moment this is gonna be
if you can actually, like, unscrew that from--
Well, okay. [mimics drilling machine]
Jenn is my best friend. Shawn is her husband.
She and I basically rope him into doing lots of projects for us.
Well, hide his undies.
Am I supposed to be helping? [laughs]
His undies are showing. [laughs]
[Shawn] Meri.
-I see London, I see France... -Trying to do something.
-I see his underpants. -See? You did it, like, blind.
-Cause I knew what I was doing. -You gonna step on that
after you've just combobulated it?
This whole having a man around
and doing projects for you, is like new to me.
I mean, it's been a long time since Kody has helped me with anything, yes.
It's been a long time. He used to,
but I haven't been part of that equation for
a hot second. [laughs]
I currently live a very independent life,
but I still consider myself married to Kody.
You know, we have our spiritual commitment,
our spiritual marriage, and to me, that is so valid.
But we have lived very separate lives for...
quite a number of years.
How does it feel
that your wife is best friends with a polygamist? [laughs]
-Awesome. -[both laughing]
Are you jealous?
-No. -Of polygamy?
No, there's never been any issue with Shawn and Jenn,
the fact that I'm in a polygamous family.
I mean, it's nice to be looked at as just a person
instead of just judged for, "Oh, my gosh, she lives this weird lifestyle."
You know, that's not the kind of people they are.
Charge!
Having this kind of relationship with Jenn,
like, it's just really easy and when it's easy,
that's what you're more drawn to.
I've had relationships like that with
different people in my family.
Christine and I have had that relationship before.
-Hi. -Hi.
Kody and I have had that relationship.
Robyn and I have had that relationship.
Janelle and I have not had the laughter kind of relationship.
I mean, we have laughed, but it's not been that close bond.
Like, I've had those kinds of relationships in my family
and I wish that I had them now, but I just don't.
-Am I the best wife you've ever had? -Yes.
Am I the only wife you've ever had?
[both laughing]
-Good comedy. -[Meri] This is-- [laughs]
These are questions that you can't ask a polygamous man.
"Am I the best wife?"
Am I the best wife?
Although some would actually tell you.
No. When you have a favorite wife,
it definitely doesn't work.
I'd seen some plural families where there was a favorite and I'm like,
that's not okay.
He can't have a favorite. He has to grow beyond
his normal selfish capacity.
And be able to love all of these women
in their own way and give them adequate time and connection.
You know, in plural marriage, if a man has a favorite wife,
it really has to do with loyalty.
That he feels her loyalty, that he feels that she's loyal to him.
If you don't feel loyalty for a wife,
she's-- You're gonna struggle with her.
Most men fail, obviously.
Hello.
-Gabe. -Hi.
Aw!
Baby.
Mm.
Gwendlyn and Gabe are moving in with Garrison.
I don't think that's a good idea.
So when are you moving in here then?
Probably this weekend.
No. Already?
You found someone to take up your lease?
Gabe and Gwendlyn are both gonna move in with Garrison.
There is something about living with somebody
who cares if you come home at night or don't come home.
Not necessarily parenting you, but just cares about what's going on with you.
They are very different politically and just beliefs in general.
They're very, very different.
Kody took Truely.
Kody has Truely, yeah. He took Truely.
He doesn't usually ask when I come into town,
so I just asked him this time, can you just babysit Truely for me
and he's like, can she just spend the night and I said, yeah.
-Truely was super excited. She-- -Good.
She thinks that her and Kody have a great relationship.
So it's great.
Bye.
Love you. Bye-bye.
When I lived in Flagstaff, I firmly believed that moving
was the best choice for me and for Truely.
I knew that I was taking Truely away from her dad.
I felt like the best way to preserve
Truely's relationship with Kody
was to move her away from him.
And I know it sounds bizarre.
I know it sounds like that doesn't quite compute.
It's almost like I froze it in time.
I preserved it. I took the relationship
while it was still good and I picked it up and I moved it.
And then whenever we come back in town,
I just pick it up again and I move it back.
And it's preserved.
For Christine to think that she's saving
my relationship with Truely
by taking her away from me and she's just preserving it,
that's such BS rationalization.
That-- I know I'm laughing now
'cause it's ridiculous.
You guys haven't seen--
I don't think you guys have seen your dad for a while, right?
-Nope. -Have you heard from him?
-Nope. -Nope.
I remember him saying something along the lines of
he only cares about his minor children or something like that.
-Can you pass the French dressing, Mom? -Yes.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, man, I just work here.
[all laughing]
I can observe that Kody seems to have trouble
relating to his older children.
And he seems to dote on the younger children.
And when my children were younger,
it was very easy for him to be a father, right,
'cause he was still, kind of, this, important--
He was important to them.
His opinion mattered to them.
His guidance mattered to them.
And now, because they question a little bit, I think it might be harder for Kody
to feel like he's respected.
Before all the hurt feelings that happened through Covid,
Kody's relationship with his older children,
uh, a lot of 'em were really, really good.
Christine left and all that changed.
Since I last talked to Dad,
I bought a house,
I've gotten into school,
and I got the car that I wanted,
that he told me I should never get.
And he doesn't know anything?
No. He doesn't care to.
I've reached out to Garrison and Gabriel.
I reached out to them just before Christmas.
And I reached out to them, um, after.
Uh, no, they're blocking me. They're not interested in talking to me.
Like you know how we did like that "secret Santa" thing for Christmas?
Yeah.
So Robyn was like, "We need to do it over Zoom",
and everybody else was like, "Well, that has, like, not a personal feel."
And then Robyn made it all about herself.
Where is the trauma coming from?
Because Dad prefers them.
My kids and I have felt like we got voted off the Brown family island.
Knock, knock.
Baby.
-Hi. -Hi. You look so cute.
We got-- We got pie.
We have pie.
-Key lime. -I love it.
Just right into her face.
-It depends on what you want first. -What's for dinner?
-Thank you. -Okay, have your plate.
[Gwendlyn] I always like it when someone else makes the dessert.
Okay, can I just ask 'cause I don't know what happened
'cause I feel like I was kinda out of the loop when I was
leaving Dad and moving, everything like that.
What did happen with you guys and Robyn,
and you guys and Dad?
We were discussing, like, how you know we did those, like, "secret Santa" thing
-for Christmas? -Yeah.
So Robyn was like, "We should do it over Zoom."
So that we can like, everybody see each other
and she was like, "Ariella's forgetting who you guys are."
For the last 20 years, we've had a gift exchange
where we draw names and we pick a gift
for another sibling for the name we drew.
-I have Aurora. Whoo! -Yay!
Paedon.
-Wow. -Whoo!
Breanna Brown.
So Aspen started this text thread saying,
hey, it's time to do the gift exchange.
So Robyn was like, "We need to do it over Zoom", and everybody else was like,
"Well, that has like, not a personal feel."
So everybody was like giving up ideas
and I think I was like, we can make it a competition.
Whichever moms do it quicker or something.
And then Robyn made it all about herself,
and mentioned something about trauma,
how there's a bunch of past trauma.
Which, by the way, where's the trauma coming from?
Because Dad prefers them.
-Yeah. -We can all agree on this, right?
From my perspective, Kody did not choose us.
My kids and I wanted to be a part of this family
and wanted to be accepted and loved by everyone.
Welcome.
When we were blending families years ago,
there was a lot of trouble.
I didn't feel like I had a lot of support from the other parents
to do this blending and there was a lot of things that happened that were hard.
But that started to kinda go away after ten years or so of it.
But then when Covid hit,
all of a sudden, my kids and I were excluded again.
And all of a sudden, we weren't part of their group.
She was like texting us. They were complaining about trauma
and like how we don't respect her as a mother
and all of this weird stuff 'cause I've always considered them my siblings.
I still do 'cause I still consider her a mom.
Before we got on the text chain for this gift exchange,
we had learned that there were some
very strong negative feelings towards us
coming from some of the siblings
and we also learned that they were planning on
having Christmas without us without saying anything to us.
It was very frustrating for me and I felt really hurt and confused.
Do you see a change?
Do you see a change in, like, things happening
to change it so you would...
No, I see it getting worse progressively
and so, Robyn said to us that because of, like,
we weren't respecting her, she was like,
"We're not going to, uh, participate in Christmas with you."
All of a sudden, I got, like, this kick back
and attitude from the older kids.
And I was like,
"I don't know why I'm trying."
Just felt very, very, um, defeated.
We really, truly, my kids and I have felt like
we got voted off the Brown family island.
That is absolutely how we had felt.
She said, "I'm not talking to you guys anymore."
And then she told Mykelti and Logan
to tell us that she wasn't gonna talk to us anymore.
So a few days after the confrontation,
we got a text message from Mykelti, saying that
Robyn and her kids weren't going to
participate in this year's gift exchange.
And it kinda hurt.
[Christine] It's a true division, I think if you can
look back and figure out where the lines were drawn,
a definite line was drawn that day.
I don't know. I don't know what's gonna happen after this.
If they get together next year, I...
I don't know.
Robyn turned it into us trying to ostracize her
and played the victim.
And we said, "No, this is about
us trying to figure out how can do this
and adjust to your new Christmas rules."
So that we can all do this Christmas exchange 'cause
we've been doing it for twenty years.
Robyn never made any of the Christmas Covid rules or anything like that.
That's not her job. That's my job.
I made those rules.
She took that, put it whatever process she does
and made her the victim by doing that.
But you guys didn't mean it that way.
We told her that we weren't trying to--
She was gaslighting everyone into treating her
with special treatment.
She was gaslighting.
Because of the past, like, eight years,
she's made herself a victim because she's the last wife.
You never made yourself the victim.
She is the catalyst of all this.
What do you mean by "catalyst of all of this?"
[Garrison] Of using Covid to make Dad exclusive
and then turning herself into the victim and saying that it's our fault.
Mm-hmm. And Dad also chose to spend Christmas with her
-instead of the rest of us. -When we've just been--
When we've just been living our own lives
and protested for the sake of your marriage and Mom's marriage,
we protested.
Once those are down the drain, we were just like, cool.
We're gonna do our own thing.
She no longer could feel a victim because
she can no longer feel us attacking her
because we just gave up.
We didn't care about her anymore.
All of you are just kind of jerks.
I don't wanna be around ya.
And I'm tired of it.
And I don't want to call them and I don't want to talk to them.
[Garrison] And that's why I'm done with Robyn.
I don't care to talk to Robyn anymore.
I'm not going to do this.
I'm doing my own thing.
And Robyn's mad that she can't have
this affect on our lives anymore
because we just don't care anymore.
And I'm not speaking on behalf of the siblings,
but this is what I think all the siblings think.
This is us going, you know what, Robyn?
Have him.
'Cause we don't care anymore.
We're all grown adults
that don't need a father figure anymore.
I would like to say that I didn't care.
-Yeah. -But it still hurts.
We don't need Dad anymore.
[Christine] I think every kid needs a dad.
Always.
You have to throw it so that it spins.
-Do you see how I'm holding it? -Yes.
[Gwendlyn] I still need my dad.
I think every kid needs a dad.
The truths were revealed.
Cool. This is the point where we all go.
We're done.
I just realized that nothing I would ever say or do,
they're gonna ever see with the right intention that I mean it.
They're never gonna see me as anything other than a bad guy.
You know, I'm just...
I'm sorry is a natural response.
I'm gonna say a natural response.
I don't know what else to say.
I'm not apologizing for Kody's behavior.
But God, I wish I could have it easier and better.
You know, who needs a dad when we have two moms?
-Yeah. -Aw!
-Okay. -Love is love.
Love is love.
-"Who needs a dad when we have two moms?" -There we go.
[all speaking indistinctly]
We're sister wives still.
We're sister wives.
Your mom, like, we totally consider ourselves sister wives.
This is valid. You just divorce the man.
There's nobody that says you're divorced when you're sister wives.
I chose when my divorce state was.
I may not be able to get my kids a dad,
but I can give 'em Janelle for goodness sakes.
When we merged the families, I think maybe we missed
-a few really important steps. -We missed some steps.
We didn't merge very well.
We just didn't merge well. We tried.
Oh, my gosh, we tried.
And I've been accused of bullying.
I don't remember bullying anybody.
So Kody accused me of bullying my sister wives.
And basically, that's code for
he's accusing me of bullying Robyn.
I never actually accused Christine of bullying.
She was just a crap sister wife.
She was just trash talking Janelle and Meri all the time.
Up until thanksgiving, I'd call Dad about advice I needed.
But no, you know?
I still miss Aurora though.
-Yeah. -I miss Dayton.
And I wanna mend my relationship with my siblings.
Are you guys gonna try--
I'm gonna try, but if Robyn's there,
I don't give a [bleep].
So no one's talked to her in person?
No. The truths were revealed and...
we all just said, "Cool, this is the point where we all go."
We're done.
Would you do a face to face conversation with her
-and the kids? -No.
You wouldn't?
It would not be good.
I don't have the emotional maturity
to do it face to face with her.
And she'd probably manipulate us or start crying.
I just realized that nothing I would ever say or do at this point,
they're gonna ever see with the right intention that I mean it.
The love that I will have for them,
even the hurt that I have.
Why would I be hurt if I didn't care?
They're never gonna see me as anything other than a bad guy.
How're you doing, quiet boy?
Um, I don't know. I talk to Aurora a little bit.
I see her at school.
Wait, you talk to Aurora?
-Yeah. -You see her?
Yes.
Aurora's the only one in that side of the family
who I've heard say, I love you, since...
Covid.
Me and Gabe have bumped into each other
a few times on campus.
There are hugs given, well wishes, I love you's,
just sort of, like, checking in on each other.
Personally, Gabe has been nothing but kind.
So...
I haven't seen Aurora in so long.
She's always in the science building.
-Okay. -So if you roll through...
I'll allow it. I'm gonna go hunt her down.
This has been a hard conversation.
It's really hard.
And Garrison's done a lot of digging.
He's been very, very vulnerable.
This is a divorce.
And in most senses, a divorce is a civil war.
So she's just feeding flames in a civil war.
And I think she's got some terrible karma coming.
Oh, my God, imagine your father loving you.
I still think he loves you.
-I just don't think-- -Me?
No, I still think he loves you.
-I just think he's been-- -All right, guys, just--
-That's enough. -I don't know.
-That's enough. -It's okay, let her say.
I still think he loves you. He just, um...
He's just angry at you for, like, no reason.
I've told Gwendlyn for years that her dad loves her.
But it's not my job to convey
Kody's love to Gwendlyn. It's his job.
Every [bleep] talk, every trash talk, every opinion
is absolutely reciprocated.
I think the same thing of them.
[Garrison] If there's one thing that I wish
Robyn and her kids could understand is that
we all forgive 'em.
If you wanna come back and participate in this gift exchange with us,
you're always welcome, you know, the arms are open.
But if you don't, then we're not going to chase.
All right. This is a lot of drama.
This is a lot of drama.
I think we should take a break from this.
Discuss it another time.
It's your house. You make the rules. That sounds great.
Okay, well, thank you everybody for letting me cook for you.
Going back to Flagstaff isn't just about visiting
Gwendlyn and Janelle, and her kids.
That's like, the best thing in Flagstaff.
Going back to Flagstaff means...
this.
Coming back to this.
I'm talking about the hardest times of my life.
Let's clean it up, call it a night.
So no heart break for the night.
[Christine] And then I have to go back in the past
and I have to discuss everything that was difficult.
And that's what Flagstaff is, unfortunately.
I hope they feel some sort of a burden lifted.
I hope so.
No, I don't know. Yeah, I hope so.
I'm introducing Janelle to my friends in Flagstaff.
We're going to go out to dinner tonight.
Thank you for coming, everybody.
It's my ex-anniversary.
So this is awesome.
This is the perfect way to celebrate my ex-anniversary.
[all speaking indistinctly]
Oh, look. Look.
[Kody] Mykelti brought Avalon into town.
It's her birthday and we are going to have
a little birthday celebration for Avalon.
Miss Avalon!
You know, she whines a lot to Mom and Dad,
but she gets really enthusiastic a lot of times, just cute.
I missed all the struggles we're having as a family.
I love that Mykelti is still warm to us.
She's not, like, backing off. [chuckles]
She wants a relationship with Robyn.
She wants us to have a relationship with Avalon.
There she is.
[Kody] I think a lot of that has to do with Tony.
Tony loves Robyn and they've always had a connection.
[all] ♪ Happy birthday dear Avalon
[Robyn] Tony and I really get each other.
He's a good kid.
I can't say kid. He's not really a kid, but I mean,
compared to me, yes, I can. [laughs]
[Kody] Robyn and Mykelti have had a really close relationship
from the time I started courting Robyn.
Hi.
Frankly, both Christine and I were
benefitted by this relationship that Robyn had
with Mykelti.
She saw Mykelti in a way Christine and I hadn't.
How's it going?
[Christine] When Kody and Robyn were courting,
Robyn just saw that Mykelti just wasn't treated very nice
by her older siblings. They didn't know what to do with her.
And Robyn saw it and Robyn just...
just said she's super cool and she's amazing,
and she kind of just really took Mykelti in
and just loved her.
She's definitely been, like, another mom to Mykelti.
[woman 1] Her shoulders are out, her shoulder's coming out.
-[woman 2] Yeah, she's coming. -[woman 3] Yeah, she's coming.
Oh, my God.
Here's your baby.
Okay, baby.
[Christine] Like, she was at Avalon's birth
and she'll be any of Mykelti's, like, big moments,
she'll be at, too, definitely.
[Kody] You blow that candle out, sweetie.
There you go.
It's out now.
Good job.
[all cheering]
[speaking indistinctly]
I'm introducing Janelle to my friends in Flagstaff.
We're going to go out to dinner tonight.
-Yes, definitely, a picture. -Okay.
-Definitely. -We'll get it.
-Yes. -Yeah, to you.
You are the picture taking-- You are.
So Christine's getting all of her girlfriends together
the friends that she's collected during
her time here in Flagstaff, which I'm thrilled about
because I need friends.
[squealing]
It's my ex-anniversary.
Like, mine and Kody's old anniversary today.
So how many years would it have been today?
-Yeah. -[laughing]
-Just curious. -I was married in '94.
And how long were you together prior?
-Did you-- -We just hung out.
We were just good friends
for like three years. I knew him, like, three years before.
Celebrating the day of our divorce isn't enough.
I also need to celebrate our old anniversary, ex-anniversary.
[laughs] I don't know.
Don't people celebrate their ex-anniversary?
It's so weird to get in a conversation lately about
my situation when I was with Rus for 30 years
and they're like, "What?"
How long have you guys been officially divorced?
Last May.
And I just had my year anniversary
-living in my... Living out. Yeah, March. -Wow.
[Christine] My friends in Flagstaff are incredible
and I met them through Ysabel.
We all got together to throw our kids a graduation party.
Um, we've just been friends ever since.
They're all in different areas of the relationship.
Like, you have some that are happily married and have been
since they were like 19.
And then all the way down to divorced
and onto their second marriage.
Now how's Rus with the kids and stuff?
-Okay? -Okay.
-All right. -Yeah. Yeah.
When you leave and you're divorced,
you have this new identity now.
It's different than who you were
when you were married and even when you were single before that.
You're just different.
It's super important to find likeminded people.
It's weird. Never thought I'd be here.
Me either.
After 30 years.
So this is awesome.
This is the perfect way to celebrate
my ex-anniversary.
So at home, Ysabel makes pancakes when she calls--
Oh, that's lovely.
[laughs]
Okay, let me just turn it off.
Weird.
It's like Kody of all people,
but I'm not answering that right now.
Why would he call you today?
It's my, I--
That was Kody.
Is he trying to say--
"Happy ex-anniversary?"
No.
I have no idea why Kody's calling me.
I have no idea.
I found out that Christine was in town,
so I called her because
I wanted to see if Truely was available.
Am I gonna take the call? Ugh.
Ugh. No.
Okay, so I have to tell you guys.
So last year, for my anniversary,
-for mine and Kody's anniversary... -You were saying.
...I just told him 'cause anniversary before that
I knew it was over and I just said, you know what I really want
for my anniversary this year from you?
He's like, "What?" I said, "Nothing."
Please don't call me on my birthday.
What did he do? He just called ya.
Well, I know. It's weird, right? And so,
he's like, well, what about if we post a picture
of ourselves? And I'm like, huh.
And he goes, "Oh, so you don't wanna pose in a picture with me?"
I'm like, "No."
It's hard to leave a marriage.
It's really hard.
It is hard to know when you're done.
It's hard to show your kids that you're done.
It's hard to show the world that you're done.
It is hard to leave a marriage.
[all cheering]
[all] Happy ex-anniversary!
[all cheering]
-Yummy. -Yeah, I know.
It sure feels good on the other side. [chuckles]
I'm just saying.
I'm a big fan of divorce.
I'm just saying. If people are thinking about it,
I say go for it.
I've been thinking I need to divorce my husband.
Oh, go. Do it. Absolutely do it. I'm like--
No, do it.
Do it. You're already miserable.
Stop pretending to be miserable
and pretending to be happy.
I might be giving terrible advice,
but I'm not a therapist or a psychiatrist or anything.
I just know how it feels on the other side
and it's awesome.
So, how do you... Okay.
Yeah, go for it.
They have so many questions all the time.
How are you hearing that though?
How is Janelle hearing what I'm saying about Kody and my relationship?
-Yeah. Does that bother you? -No. Nuh-uh.
I don't feel a lot of obligation or loyalty to Kody right now.
So I'm like, say what you wanna say. I don't care.
I know. It's a revelation we have girlfriends, yeah.
I celebrate two days not being with Kody anymore.
The day of our divorce, which is the day I kicked him out.
And then, yes, our ex-anniversary
of when we were married too.
Absolutely.
So, how are you-- Okay.
Yeah, go for it.
I'm not afraid.
They have so many questions all the time.
How are you hearing that though?
I mean, that's just a question for me. I'm just curious.
How is Janelle hearing what I'm saying about Kody and my relationship?
-Yeah. Does that bother you? -No. Nuh-uh.
Just known how bad it's been between Kody and I for years.
I've been talking to her for years.
[Janelle] You know, I don't really care that Christine's telling her stories.
I don't feel a lot of obligation or loyalty to Kody right now.
So, I'm like, say what you wanna say. I don't care.
They tried everything. I watched the fight.
They fought for it, but it just...
Sometimes it just doesn't work anymore.
[Christie] So you guys are good?
-Us? Sure. -Janelle and I?
Oh, Janelle and Kody.
Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, we definitely have
our middle mid-life struggles.
This is the first time I'm meeting these people. I'm not gonna, like,
spill all my guts and all my inner most secrets.
I don't want them to think I'm really weird.
Like, I just need to, like, this is not
a conversation you have on a first time you meet somebody.
At least not me. Not me.
Well, Christine and I have decided that we're really the core fun group anyway.
-So... -Yeah.
We're like, thinking about finding some sort of homebase
that works 'cause the kids are spreading out all over the country.
So in Utah, the polygamists
will often build houses that are meant for more than one family.
So they have more than one kitchen.
Like what we had in Lehi where there's three kitchens,
the rooms sort of all adjoined.
Christine and I joke, we just need a house
so we can live together, but have separate lives or whatever.
Then the kids can just go back and forth, just like in Lehi.
-Oh, Lauren really was-- -I do. I just--
Did you guys get me a gift?
Thank you.
For my 50th.
This says, "Smash the patriarchy."
I never felt like Kody was that much like, uh,
"I am the patriarch," kind of until recently.
[Kody] If everyone's willing to conform,
to patriarchy, I guess.
I'm gonna be the head of my household again.
I never thought I did until he said that.
I realized maybe he wanted to.
Okay, so, I have a question about Kody.
-Okay. -Are you ready?
I'm ready.
So I know Janelle's living situation.
So then, there's...
-Two more ladies? -Yes.
So, um, Meri and Robyn.
Meri and Robyn, and they live out...
-Robyn lives out by the property. -Okay.
But Meri lives in town here.
And then Kody has his own house?
He probably wishes he had his own house.
He rotates?
Not really. He doesn't see Meri anymore.
Like, she's not in the picture of like, as far as a real marriage goes.
-Oh. -But he's at Robyn's house.
Like you?
No, different, 'cause I left him.
Meri hasn't left?
Well, I think she wants to stay.
Marriage works kind of good, like, if you're not willing to necessarily be married.
-You can still be connected to a family. -Right.
She's good friends with Robyn and she loves the kids.
-So Robyn and him live together? -Yes.
Got it.
That's not how it always was.
No. No.
For many, many years, there was like, he would just
be around everybody's houses, like, there was a rotation.
It's not always been...
It's not always been so predominantly Robyn.
Flagstaff has been predominantly though.
Flagstaff has been different.
When I used to live polygamy when we were just more secretive
and stuck in our community, I never had
girlfriends that weren't in polygamy.
I haven't had a group of ladies like this...
ever.
Out of polygamy, ever.
So it wasn't important to us to go public because
it was until last year... For ten years that we've been doing this.
Until last year, it was a second degree felony
to purport to be married.
Right. So you can have an affair all you want,
but if you dare say that you're with a guy
who wants to call you wife and who wants to support you financially,
that's a second degree felony until this last year.
Now it's decriminalized in Utah.
Now that Christine has left, people are like, oh,
it's polygamy. I'm like, no, it's not.
It's human nature and this happens
in tons of marriages,
monogamous or otherwise.
This is just relationship 101.
And look, people change.
So now that we're being all serious,
what was your tipping point?
He's just not been the greatest dad to my kids.
I don't know if I'm for marriage as far as any of it.
I think if people wanna live it, fine,
but I just, to be honest with you, I...
don't see it as a great family structure
and I really have a hard time with it.
But I think once a guy finds the love of his life,
the other women are screwed.
Christine forces herself into my life.
She basically just insisted that we be married.
I don't care if she's leaving.
You know, I mean, it hurt initially,
but I'm fine.
She should stop trash talking me to my children.
Um, we had a conversation and he just basically said
he wasn't attracted to me anymore
and we weren't going to have a physical marriage.
About a couple months later, I just said you're not
allowed in my bed anymore or my bedroom.
That was one of the best days of my life.
I turned the corner of my house and I just went,
"Yes!"
I am still jaded.
Today is my ex-anniversary and a little bit frustrated.
You know, I'm doing my best.
We're having a good day, believe me.
But it still was a failure.
I just wish he would've sat us all down
and said, look, I found the love of my life.
I found Robyn.
She and I are soul mates
and we wanna live together for the rest of our life.
So let's figure out how to make the other three of you
work in this scenario.
What's the dynamic, um,
between-- Well, all the wives?
Was it, um, how did it affect that relationship,
-not just the kids-- Yes. -With like sister wives?
There will be some sister wives that I'm not
that close to. There'll be some that I'm always gonna be close to.
Like, I'll always be close to Janelle and our kids will always be super tight.
But my relationship with Robyn,
my relationship with Meri isn't getting any better.
It's not gonna change.
It's like any family.
And so, um, we just um, Janelle and I are always gonna get along.
And I think now we look at ourselves,
we'll always be sister wives. Always.
-You know, always. -Yeah. In fact, it's easier in a way.
[Christine] Oh, gosh. Yeah.
When we had decided to go public first,
it was to show people on the outside world
that plural families weren't all about control
and suppression.
We actually had an awesome family.
And we loved our kids, and we loved our family.
We loved raising this big, huge, happy family.
And through the years now,
I'm showing a divorce in a family that's...
gosh, broken now. And now, we're just...
being so vulnerable.
But it's okay 'cause it's real.
All right, ladies, I really can't thank you enough for doing this with me.
-Thank you. -[all] Cheers.
Thank you.
New beginnings. Thank you.
Still to come on Sister wives...
You know, obviously my marriage is not good.
I don't think I really even am married anymore.
Do you know what she's talking about here?
And what she's hinting at here?
My heart just started pounding...hard.
Being here at the B and B has become my safe space.
Happy anniversary to me. [chuckles] Weird.
Being married to four women, everything is a test.
Pick me. Do something for me.
-Hi. -How's it going squirt?
-Good. -Kody wants to come over
and see the new apartment that I've moved into.
I'm looking at this apartment and I'm like,
"I'm not even welcome here, I don't think."
It's very, very painful.
It does not make sense to us.
We're like, "We're a familly. What the heck?"
If he were to give me what I needed in a relationship
I would stay.
He's not going to stop being Robyn's husband.
Before we have cake should we do presents and then cake?
Robyn and I are going to be like this.
You're not going to separate us.
He actually said to me
"I have no desire, Meri, to have a relationship with you."
I know that you are capable of loving me.
You have loved me.
It's not fair for me to be alone like I have been for years.
This isn't what I want.
Meri is not part of the equation.
Too many heartbreaks. I don't know how to let go.
Screw him. He's not worth it.