‘Sister Wives’: The Joyful Moment That Doomed the Brown Family Forever

When the Brown family of Sister Wives was introduced to TLC viewers, they attempted to demonstrate a cohesive, functioning polygamist family. However, that facade blew wide open during one joyful moment that doomed the clan forever.

One moment told the truth about the Brown family dynamic

For 18 seasons of TLC’s Sister Wives, the Brown family tried to prove their family was just like any other. Kody Brown was painted as a husband who truly cared for the well-being of his legal and spiritual wives, and the women appeared smitten by him.

During season 1, Kody introduced viewers to wives Meri, Janelle, and Christine Brown. At the time, he was courting Robyn Brown, whom he later revealed was his fiancée.

That season, the Browns planned Kody’s wedding to Robyn. In what appeared to be an attempt to bond with her new sister-wives, Robyn took the three women’s wedding dress shopping.

However, Kody ruined the moment by revealing he had returned to the wedding dress shop with Robyn and picked her dress himself. Therefore, Kody ruined the women’s trust in each other from the beginning and, along with Robyn, set themselves apart from the family by not revealing this vital secret.

This underhanded move on both Kody and Robyn’s part doomed their family unit before she even became a spiritual wife. Christine, Meri, and Janelle no longer trusted Robyn, and this mistrust lingered throughout their relationship.

But wait, there’s more favoritism toward Robyn at the end of ‘Sister Wives’ Season 1

Christine Brown later revealed that Kody Brown had no input in their wedding ceremony. She planned the entire event herself, and Kody just “showed up.”

Christine and Janelle Brown had small-scale events with just a cake and a handful of guests. This sharply contrasted with Meri Brown, Kody’s then-legal wife, who had a large-scale wedding reception.

However, Robyn Brown had a huge celebration of her spiritual vows to Kody. The party was painted to appear like a welcoming event for Robyn and her three children to the Brown family, but in hindsight, many signs pointed toward Robyn and Kody becoming their own family unit and the demise of their polygamist clan.

To add insult to injury, after the big reception, Robyn requested and received an 11-day honeymoon with Kody in California. At that time, he turned his back on his entire brood and made it clear that Robyn got priority. He would continue to do so throughout their marriage.

So why didn’t ‘Sister Wives’ Meri, Janelle, and Christine trust Robyn and Kody?

Meri, Janelle, and Christine Brown didn’t trust Robyn and Kody’s relationship because they put their union above others in their polygamist family. Before Robyn entered the Brown clan, Kody appeared more equal in his time with each wife and their shared children.

Christine famously claimed she did not trust Robyn because she believed that Robyn did “not want family; she wanted monogamy.” Both Christine and Janelle felt Kody spent more time with Robyn than any other wife. The women kept careful count of how many days Kody spent in each of his wives’ homes.

Christine added during latter seasons that Kody “preferred to be over at Robyn’s house the rest of the time.” She said, “For one month, I got him as much as Robyn got him the rest of the time—the rest of the 59 months. Because he was not at Janelle’s house either, and we all know he wasn’t at Meri’s.”

“I really didn’t even have much of a relationship with her [before],” Janelle said of Robyn. “We just never gelled. We worked together as teammates for the sake of the family.”

Janelle added, “I don’t really need to be friends with [Robyn]. Or seek her out,” she concluded.

Sister Wives is currently on hiatus. The series airs on TLC.