‘Sister Wives’ Opinion: Kody and Robyn’s Relationship Is the Most Toxic of Them All
The season 17 Sister Wives tell-all is being largely seen as a disappointment by fans. Over the last month, fans of the reality TV series have taken to Reddit and social media to lament the “softball” questions that were asked during the three-part special. Now that the season has officially closed, there is much to unpack. Kody Brown appears to have walked away from the season with just a single functioning marriage, but is it all that functioning? After part three of the tell-all special, we think it can be argued that Kody Brown and his remaining wife, Robyn Brown, have the most toxic relationship of them all.
Kody and Robyn’s relationship seems incredibly toxic
Despite Kody Brown favoring his fourth wife, the season 17 tell-all episode proved once and for all that the couple’s relationship is no better than Kody’s relationship with his other three wives. If you look closely, their relationship appears to be even more toxic and transactional than the others.
During the entirety of the tell-all special, both Kody and Robyn danced around questions about each other. In the finale, they got a bit more honest. Kody openly admitted that Robyn wasn’t his favorite but rather was favored because she was willing to do as he said. In short, Robyn wasn’t beloved by him for being Robyn. Rather, he spent more time with her because she was willing to placate him. Christine, Janelle, and Meri had tired of such games years earlier.
Robyn suggested that their relationship was transactional, too. Robyn has spent the last 12 years cultivating a relationship in which she provides exactly what Kody wants to curry favor with him. Her willingness to appease him gives her the biggest house and the lion’s share of his attention. She’s played the toxic mind game better than the other wives. Is that going to be enough in the long run, or will Robyn and Kody eventually grow tired of each other? After all, can a marriage built on common enemies and transactional adoration really last forever?
Will Kody and Robyn’s relationship eventually unravel, too?
If Robyn and Kody’s marriage is as toxic as it seems, are they more or less likely to split up? Some Sister Wives fans argue that without a “common enemy” in the other wives, Kody and Robyn’s interest in each other will wane. While that’s certainly a possibility, if the duo does split, we think it will be for an entirely different reason.
Kody doesn’t appear to believe in polygamy any longer, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be swayed to search for another wife to keep TLC interested in his family’s story. If Kody were to add another wife to his already unstable family, we could see Robyn walking away. Robyn would, ultimately, have the same issue with Kody that Christine Brown did, we gather.
While Christine Brown has communicated several issues she had with her now ex-husband to her fans, her unhappiness seemed to take root in 2010 when Robyn joined the family. Christine, admittedly, had the hardest time with the new addition. She was not accustomed to having another wife move in on her family. Before Robyn, she was the last one in. Robyn has always been a solo wife or the youngest wife.
Is ‘Sister Wives’ renewed for a new season?
While Sister Wives is officially over for the season, it doesn’t look like the series will be gone for long. While TLC has not announced season 18, several signs point to another season on the horizon. Christine Brown was recently filming, and a source told OK! Magazine that the Brown family has a multi-year contract with the network. Season 17 was the show’s most successful, so it seems unlikely that the network will walk away now.
While we don’t know when season 18 will ultimately air, we can guess what it will cover. Since Janelle dropped the bombshell she had separated from Kody during the tell-all episodes, we assume season 18 will walk fans through that process. It would make sense. Sseason 17 walked fans through Christine and Kody’s separation. Janelle does not appear to have moved away from Flagstaff, making her storyline unique from Christine’s journey to freedom.
