When Did Kody Brown’s ‘Sister Wives’ Persona Take a Disturbing Turn?

Upon Sister Wives’ debut in 2010, Kody Brown was portrayed as a goofy dad of 13 children. He was reportedly devoted to his three wives and planned to take a fourth. However, as the seasons evolved, Kody’s persona dramatically took a turn. He no longer smiled, and his commentary turned biting. Why did this happen?

Kody Brown’s persona shifted the family dynamic on ‘Sister Wives’

Kody Brown’s persona on Sister Wives appears to have shifted over the years. These changes had to do with his wives, children, fluctuating religious beliefs, and belief that he was still the head of each family when he abandoned that role many years prior.

Kody’s relationships with his wives—particularly Christine, Janelle, and Meri—became increasingly strained over time. Christine’s decision to leave the family contributed to a shift in his behavior and priorities.

Also, as Kody’s children without Robyn Brown grew older and left the nest, their family dynamic changed. No longer did any of the kids share his belief in polygamy. Many of them had issues with his favoritism of Robyn, and how he viewed himself within the family structure.

Kody’s shifting perspective on his family and marriages showed just how much his belief system has changed. It appears the biggest difference in Kody came after he legally married Robyn in 2014.

This altered persona wasn’t apparent on camera. It was revealed by many of his extended family members that off-camera, Kody behaved differently now that Robyn was his legal wife. He felt free to favor and defend her, to the detriment of his OG wives and children.

‘Sister Wives’ viewers pinpoint when Kody Brown’s drastic personality change happened

In a Reddit post, Sister Wives viewers pinpointed the exact moment when Kody Brown’s drastic behavior pattern shifted. Thereafter, he appeared more angry, defensive, and condescending towards his wives and children.

“I’m rewatching seasons 12 through 13 and I noticed a huge change in Kody. He is rarely positive, speaks mostly about his ‘young kids’, looks angrier, speaks angrier, is meanest to Meri about the B&B, and horrible to Ysabel about scoliosis surgery,” wrote one Redditor.

They continued, “I also noticed this season his hair is mostly up, something he jokingly says many seasons ago is how Robyn prefers it. He then forces the family to uproot again and move to Flagstaff, we all know where it goes from there. I think these 2 seasons the cracks turned into caverns.”

“He was always horrible to these women. He always favored young kids because he didn’t have to do anything but exist and they worshipped him,” wrote a second viewer. “The OG3 just thought of him as a great dad because they didn’t have any good examples to choose from in their own lives. He treated all three women horribly- but equally horribly, so they were fine sharing in who was the current favorite and who was being ostracized.”

“Goes to prove how short-sighted Kody has always been. Uproot the entire family for a few years near one child’s university. Also, they never seemed to talk about their expectations of the family dynamic once the children grew up and left. Super short-sighted and irresponsible and stupid!” penned a third fan.

‘Sister Wives’ remains Kody and Robyn vs. Meri, Janelle, and Christine

The crux of Sister Wives’ current season is the continued war between Kody and Robyn vs. Meri, Janelle, and Christine. However, the couple has not had much interaction with the women in some time, so their deep-rooted issues with the trio of women seem set in the past.

While Meri, Janelle, and Christine have all moved on away from their former polygamist family and created new lives for themselves, Robyn and Kody appear to be stuck in the past. They don’t have anything interesting going on in their lives, so their storylines continue to revolve around events that happened in years prior.

Therefore, it’s not uncommon to hear Kody talk badly about Christine, Janelle, and Meri, even though they rarely cross paths with him and Robyn. Kody continues to be stuck in the past, and unwilling to move on while his trio of first wives have flourished without him.

He and Robyn could do with figuring out who they are as a couple away from the other women and their children. But that won’t come until Kody and Robyn own up to their behind-the-scenes undoing of the Brown clan, and that likely won’t happen for a very long time as there are ratings to keep up and ongoing TLC paychecks.

Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.