Sister Wives The premiere episode of the 19th season has been eagerly awaited by fans for nearly a year.
A lot has happened since the Brown family was last on TV: relationships have fallen apart, and a new baby has been born.
But sadly, the biggest story since the show last aired has been the death of one of Janelle and Kody’s oldest children, Garrison Brown.
Naturally, following his death, the big question for fans was how the show would handle such a sensitive subject: Would they show footage of the family grieving? Would cameras be rolling on the funeral?
Now that the episode has aired, we finally have some answers.
‘Sister Wives’ Season 19 Premiere Recap: A House Divided Can’t Endure
A house divided cannot stand, that’s the title of the season’s premiere episode, which creates real tension between the entire Brown family.
Kody has had really bad relationships with all of his ex-wives, and his marriage to Robyn doesn’t seem to be going so well either.
Season 19 will begin one week after the season 18 finale, meaning filming would begin in late 2022.
This is important to understand, because going back in time, it’s unlikely that the episode will address Garrison’s death in any detail.
In a sense, though, it was.
Before the episode began, a message from producers was shared explaining the show’s timeline, and after explaining that these episodes were filmed before his passing, they offered their condolences, adding that Garrison was “very loved and greatly missed.”
And so the show began.
Kody and Robyn are ‘struggling’ to be monogamous in their marriage
As seen in the season 18 finale, one week after Kody finally officially ends his relationship with Meri, he and his left behind spouse Robyn visit Coyote Pass.
They look out over the sprawling land where they planned to build a family vacation home, but the family is no longer together – Christine explains that she has no stake in Coyote Pass and has left for good – and Kody is confident that Janelle and Meri would do the same now.
“This was our family’s dream,” he told Robin, “but we’re not one big happy family anymore. We’re just property owners.”
But Robyn isn’t giving up hope: She says she wants some “healing” with Janelle, especially with her breakup with Meri still fresh and Christine refusing to talk to Kody.
As the episode progresses, it becomes clear that being the last woman standing by Cody is putting a strain on Robyn.
“We’re probably at our worst in our marriage. It’s hard,” Robyn explains after Kody admits he’s struggling.
“He doesn’t know whether to blame himself or one of his other wives.”
Janelle stands up for her kids, including Garrison
When viewers see Janelle, she appears to be doing well, and her life seems full thanks to her children and her friendship with Christine.
But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still feel resentful for all the hell Cody put her, and more importantly, her children, through.
“He wouldn’t move heaven and earth to fix it,” Janelle explains of Cody’s relationship with his kids, including poor Garrison, Logan, Gabe, Savannah, Hunter and Madison.
Speaking of Maddie, she and her family are looking for a change, plus there’s talk that Janelle will be joining them.
“We just need to find some land in Montana,” Maddie told some of the older Brown children, “land to build a house on.”
In a confessional, Christine expressed joy at the news and what it means for Janelle. “I know it’s a secret,” she said in the interview. “Plus, Janelle has talked about maybe moving in with them.”
Janelle admits that she doesn’t feel tied to Arizona following her split from Kody: “Flagstaff doesn’t feel like a permanent home anymore, and if I had another option, I probably would choose it.”
When the producer explains the situation, Cody is outraged.
“I don’t talk about her,” Kody said of his daughter Maddie, which led Janelle to explain that her daughter cut off contact with her dad and Robyn because “he can’t stay a consistent presence in her life.”
That’s when Cody started attacking.
“They know that I suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) with my family,” he said in a confessional interview, “so anything they can do to exclude me is a punishment to me.”
Yeah… that’s why they do it… sigh.
Baby Shower Showdown
At one point, Kody claims he was in a “dark place” because he felt Christine and Janelle “hated” him and “turned his kids against him” as punishment.
That’s a tough fact to swallow, considering the majority of the episode takes place at a baby sprinkle party for Mykelti’s twins, a family event to which she also specially invited Kody and Robyn, despite her ongoing feud with their mother, Christine.
There is high anticipation ahead of the party, with both admitting they are “nervous” as they haven’t seen each other in over a year.
Mykelti calls this family’s situation “heartbreaking,” but if she was hoping that having both parents in the same room would make a difference, she’s sadly sorely mistaken.
Footage from the party is incredibly awkward, with Christine staying as far away from Robyn and Cody as possible, and at one point, poor Mykelti is literally the only thing standing between her parents as Christine tries to leave the room.
It’s unpleasant to watch, to say the least.
Meri, Meri, not so opposed Season Premiere
One person who isn’t featured at all in all these storylines is Kody’s first wife and last ex-wife, Meri.
Despite everything that’s going on, it turns out Janelle and Christine don’t know about Meri and Kody’s breakup.
And no one knows what Meri plans to do next.
Meri travels to Las Vegas, the Brown family’s longtime home, to visit her friend Brandi, where she reveals she’s ready to emotionally dissolve her marriage.
Kody has apparently said some incredibly hurtful things to Meri since we last saw each other, like that he “won’t court or date her. He also apparently told Meri that he “never loved her” and that he “had to marry her,” which Meri doesn’t understand.
“When a young single man meets a single woman, why would he choose marriage and try to force love on her if he doesn’t love her?” she muses in a confessional.
Meri explains to Brandi that she has a lot of decisions to make, like where she’s going to live, how she’s going to move forward with her life, etc. Meri begins to tear up as she thinks about all the “memories” she’ll have to let go of.
“This is not something to celebrate,” Meri admitted, before going on to slam Kody.
The ladies joke that Kody could marry more women and continue living a polygamous life, but according to Meri, that’s no longer what Kody wants.
“Polygamy is unfair to women,” Kody reportedly told Meri, a pretty shocking statement coming from a man who has been practicing polygamy for over 30 years.
But whether he truly believes it remains to be seen, as the episode ends there.
