‘Sister Wives’: Fans Take Sides on the Browns’ Biggest Fight Ever

The polygamist Brown family has struggled greatly with their family dynamic on the latest season of TLC’s Sister Wives. Kody Brown’s individual marriages with each of his four wives seem to be getting all the more difficult, and the family’s collective stress levels are soaring as viewers watch them work through a series of complicated moves and real estate challenges.

First, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown shot down Kody’s idea to share one home again in Flagstaff after the family’s move from Las Vegas. Meanwhile, several of the wives repeatedly had to move amid challenges with their rental homes and landlords in Arizona.

Then, Kody’s marital issues with his first wife, Meri, came to a head, disrupting the whole family in a massive fight on the Mar. 1 episode of Sister Wives, “This Land Is Your Land…Or Hers.” Fans swarmed social media to take sides in the Browns’ biggest onscreen argument yet.

The Brown family exploded after a visit to Coyote Pass

During a visit to the Brown family’s land, Coyote Pass, in Flagstaff, Kody’s fourth wife Robyn and first wife Meri both claimed that they’d been given last choice on where to build their new homes.

Meri claimed Kody misrepresented what she’d said about which part of the property she preferred. “Quit making up crap that I didn’t say,” Meri snapped at Kody, before hinting that she might just leave the family and live at her bed and breakfast in Utah. “Maybe I’ll just go live in Parawan,” she joked.

“That’s not even funny,” Robyn retorted, adding, “He basically told me that was what was left.”

Meri interrupted to claim that Kody hadn’t listened to her. “That’s not at all the conversation, Robyn,” Meri told her youngest sister wife. “Kody’s totally talking for me right now.”

Robyn told Sister Wives producers she felt like she’d been “jerked around,” while Meri lamented, “It’s like he had the same exact conversation with Robyn that he did with me.”

Kody claimed his first wife was manipulative and passive aggressive

After Meri left the property in a huff, Kody exploded in frustration to his other three wives. The polygamist dad of 18 claimed Meri was manipulative and would never be happy.

“I was literally giving Meri first choice,” he claimed. “That’s all I was doing, was trying to keep Meri happy.”

The Sister Wives patriarch even told TLC producers he was “sick of trying to accommodate Meri.”

“This is the game she plays,” Kody told Janelle, Christine, and Robyn, adding that he was “so angry” he could barely speak. “She’s always played it…She won’t be happy until she has all of you bowing at her feet.”

“Stop saying sh** like that!” Robyn declared. Kody demanded that his fourth wife “stop defending Meri” and claimed his wives weren’t being “real” and “honest” about Meri’s behavior.

Janelle and Christine told Kody his frustration wasn’t helping anything. Meanwhile, Robyn asked Kody not to project his problems with his first wife onto her. “Meri is my sister wife and I’m always gonna try to work stuff out with her,” she told him.

“Yes, but I’m playing this game perpetually,” Kody pushed back. “I’m constantly doing her dance.”

“But that’s your relationship with her. Not mine!” Robyn yelled. “I want my relationships with my sister wives to be their own thing.”

Many fans thought Kody’s comments about Meri were wrong

Many fans of Sister Wives thought Kody was in the wrong for talking behind Meri’s back to his other spouses. Some believed it was an especially low blow and disrespectful, particularly since Kody is considered the head of the household within the Brown family’s religion.

“This episode is proof positive that Meri needs to leave,” one Twitter user wrote during the episode. “Kody talking about her like a dog. That was horrible & low.”

Another viewer agreed, arguing that Kody was wrong no matter what had happened behind the scenes. “Dude if my husband speaks about me the way Kody constantly speaks about Meri, man I’d be gone,” they wrote on Twitter. “I know we don’t see everything, but It hurts my heart the way he refers to her. I don’t think she deserves it.”

Other ‘Sister Wives’ fans thought Robyn was manipulative in the argument

Meanwhile, some fans thought Robyn’s behavior during the fight seemed manipulative. Out of frustration, Robyn spoke up during the argument and asked Meri not to interrupt her. But when Meri asked if she could have her time to speak afterward, Robyn snapped, “Not right now.”

After Robyn walked away, Meri left Coyote Pass and drove off on her own. But Robyn returned to talk to Kody, Janelle, and Christine, which some Sister Wives viewers thought was a sneaky move.

“OMG Robyn pretended to storm off and then circled back around to manipulate the situation once Meri was gone,” one Twitter user speculated. “This b*tch is NEXT LEVEL.”

Another fan pointed out, “Meri let Robyn speak her truth but then didn’t let Meri speak.”

Some fans argued that Meri’s behavior was passive aggressive

Not all Sister Wives fans were on Meri’s side during the fight, however. Some viewers saw Meri’s behavior as wishy-washy and passive aggressive.

“I don’t think Kody is the issue in this situation with the house placement,” one Twitter user wrote. “Meri is waffling to and fro without a real choice made. That would drive any man to become frustrated. Let alone a guy who has to accommodate 3 other women. I see Kody’s point.”

Another viewer thought Meri’s behavior was a deliberate attempt to control Kody and her sister wives. “Meri uses her indecisiveness as a way to get attention and control others,” the fan argued on Twitter. “I agree with Kody. She wants them all to bow down to her while she plays the victim. Yawn.”

Viewers applauded Janelle and Christine for their role in the conflict

Some Sister Wives fans thought Kody’s second wife, Janelle, and third wife, Christine, displayed maturity and self-control during the family conflict.

One fan wrote that Janelle seemed particularly suited to the dynamics of a plural family because of her peaceful nature. “With every passing episode I’m really liking Janelle,” they wrote on Twitter. “Unproblematic, calm, cheerful. A queen. She just keeps calm and carry on.”

Some viewers pointed out Christine’s ability to stay neutral and crack jokes even during an argument. “I love Christine for trying to lighten the mood,” one fan wrote on Twitter, referencing Christine’s joke at the end of the blow-up that she just might want that part of the property, too, if it was causing so much angst. “It seems like it might be the best spot,” Christine quipped to her frustrated family members.