‘Sister Wives’ Recap: Kody Brown Wants Wives to ‘Conform to Patriarchy’ After Christine Shares Split News, Says He ‘Failed’ Family

Credit: TLC (2)

‘Sister Wives’ Recap: Kody Brown Wants Wives to ‘Conform to Patriarchy’ After Christine Shares Split News, Says He 'Failed' Family

New normal? The Brown family is at a crossroads after Christine Brown finally tells her sister wives about her split from Kody Brown. “Here’s the funny thing in plural marriage: a wife works with you or works against you,” Kody, 53, said during the Sunday, October 2, episode of Sister Wives. The patriarch appeared to hit a wall after Christine, 50, chose to leave him and move to Utah. While the former couple announced their split via Instagram in November 2021 after more than 25 years together, it wasn’t until Sunday’s episode of the TLC series that fans saw how Christine told Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown. Ahead of the intense group conversation, Kody told the cameras that he’s had ups and downs with all of his spouses over the years. “Janelle and I would be teammates sometimes and wouldn’t be sometimes. Christine was usually fairly compliant then we decided we didn’t want to move to Utah when Christine wanted to move to Utah. It’s like, ‘Well, I’m going to Utah.’ Christine became suddenly very independent,” he confessed. The Wyoming native noted that he “always thought Meri was working with me fairly well” and that Robyn, 43, had the “goal” from day one to “become part of this family and work together with our family.” Kody confessed: “I got a feeling through this experience that each wife has a breaking point where they’re just not going to put up with what the other wives’ needs are anymore. They’re going to do their own thing.” [sendtonews type="float" key="bktumTzd3z-2833583-14453"] When Christine did tell the family that she was leaving Kody and Arizona, there were mixed reactions. Kody, for his part, got frustrated when he realized that he would barely see the pair’s youngest daughter, Truely, after the move. “I’ve never understood her need to move. I don’t understand it at all unless there’s some guy she wants to date there,” he said in a confessional. “Or she wants to get away from me so my stink isn’t on her so she can date. I think the fact that I was spread so thin … plural marriage just hasn’t worked for her in many, many years.” Once Christine confirmed that this was the “best choice” for her and her kids — she and Kody share son Paedon, 23, and daughters Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 26, Gwendlyn, 20, Ysabel, 19, and Truely, 12 — Kody again turned the conversation to focus on himself. He revealed that he was done sitting back and letting things go wrong within the family. Kody called for the rest of the wives to “conform to patriarchy again,” saying that he felt bitter because the family hasn’t turned out like he “designed.” The Brown family leader concluded: “I’m disappointed in how I’ve managed this. I felt like all of your independence was more important [and] in that [thought process] we sort of loss some sort of community. I guess I’m just sorry we failed.” Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET. Scroll down to see all of the highlights from season 17, episode 4:

Credit: TLC (2)

‘Sister Wives’ Recap: Kody Brown Wants Wives to ‘Conform to Patriarchy’ After Christine Shares Split News, Says He 'Failed' Family

New normal? The Brown family is at a crossroads after Christine Brown finally tells her sister wives about her split from Kody Brown. “Here’s the funny thing in plural marriage: a wife works with you or works against you,” Kody, 53, said during the Sunday, October 2, episode of Sister Wives. The patriarch appeared to hit a wall after Christine, 50, chose to leave him and move to Utah. While the former couple announced their split via Instagram in November 2021 after more than 25 years together, it wasn’t until Sunday’s episode of the TLC series that fans saw how Christine told Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Robyn Brown. Ahead of the intense group conversation, Kody told the cameras that he’s had ups and downs with all of his spouses over the years. “Janelle and I would be teammates sometimes and wouldn’t be sometimes. Christine was usually fairly compliant then we decided we didn’t want to move to Utah when Christine wanted to move to Utah. It’s like, ‘Well, I’m going to Utah.’ Christine became suddenly very independent,” he confessed. The Wyoming native noted that he “always thought Meri was working with me fairly well” and that Robyn, 43, had the “goal” from day one to “become part of this family and work together with our family.” Kody confessed: “I got a feeling through this experience that each wife has a breaking point where they’re just not going to put up with what the other wives’ needs are anymore. They’re going to do their own thing.” [sendtonews type="float" key="bktumTzd3z-2833583-14453"] When Christine did tell the family that she was leaving Kody and Arizona, there were mixed reactions. Kody, for his part, got frustrated when he realized that he would barely see the pair’s youngest daughter, Truely, after the move. “I’ve never understood her need to move. I don’t understand it at all unless there’s some guy she wants to date there,” he said in a confessional. “Or she wants to get away from me so my stink isn’t on her so she can date. I think the fact that I was spread so thin … plural marriage just hasn’t worked for her in many, many years.” Once Christine confirmed that this was the “best choice” for her and her kids — she and Kody share son Paedon, 23, and daughters Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 26, Gwendlyn, 20, Ysabel, 19, and Truely, 12 — Kody again turned the conversation to focus on himself. He revealed that he was done sitting back and letting things go wrong within the family. Kody called for the rest of the wives to “conform to patriarchy again,” saying that he felt bitter because the family hasn’t turned out like he “designed.” The Brown family leader concluded: “I’m disappointed in how I’ve managed this. I felt like all of your independence was more important [and] in that [thought process] we sort of loss some sort of community. I guess I’m just sorry we failed.” Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET. Scroll down to see all of the highlights from season 17, episode 4:

Credit: Courtesy of Janelle Brown/Instagram

Kody and Janelle Get Real About Coyote Pass

Janelle, 53, opened up to Kody about her plan for their plot of land on Coyote Pass in Arizona. She revealed that she was about to be kicked out of her rental and was done with all of the inaction. “I don’t have a house. I think I can buy an RV,” she explained. “We can stay in it and I can pour all my resources into the house build.”

While Kody was trying to process the idea of Janelle and their six kids — Logan, 28, Madison, 26, Hunter, 25, Garrison, 23, Gabriel, 20, and Savannah, 17 — coming in and out of an RV, Janelle confessed that she already bought one. “Do I want to live in an RV? It’s not our choice, it’s her choice,” he told the cameras.

Janelle, however, was committed to the idea and ready to start building on their land once she was all set up in the mobile home. “I want to be bold and I want to do this. I want to take risks,” she said. “I’m willing to do it.”

The Utah native eventually told her sister wives about her new living arrangement and they were all a bit caught off guard. “It sounds like my definition of hell,” Christine said in a confessional, noting that Janelle “has always wanted to do this. It seems so crazy.”

Meri, 51, also called the idea “crazy” but pointed out, “If that’s what Janelle wants to do then that’s what Janelle should do. That is crazy.” Robyn thought it sounded “miserable” but gave Janelle her support.

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

Christine Tells the Wives About Her and Kody Split

“This isn’t going to be a surprise to any of them,” Christine told the cameras. “I think me leaving is very private. Right now, I don’t want anyone to know but us. This is hard. I want all five of us [to] just us create a little bubble.”

The mother of six invited the adults in the family to her place to tell them about her plan to leave the group once and for all. “[It’s] no secret that Kody and I have been in a rough spot for a long time. I have decided to leave,” Christine started. “I’m going to leave Kody. Just leave.”

There was silence for a long period of time and then Christine continued, saying, “It’s a hard decision. I need to make a choice for happiness. There hasn’t been a lot of hope at all until I decided to leave. I feel strongly this is the best choice.”

Robyn, who went through a divorce of her own before meeting Kody, started to cry after hearing the news. “I’m in shock. I can’t tell … it’s not really computing,” she said in a confessional. “It’s not really making sense right now.”

Christine proceeded to reassure the group that her kids will still have relationships with their plural siblings. “I think that this is still family, it’s just going to look different,” she added.

Meri, meanwhile, seemed upset about Christine’s choice, later telling the cameras: “When I married Kody, when Janelle married Kody, when Christine married Kody, when Robyn married Kody — each one of us made a commitment to each other. To all of us. That we would love each other. That we would respect each other. That we would stick through it thick and thin and we’d work these things out. Come on, you guys, can’t we get our heads out of our butts?”

Credit: Courtesy of Christine Brown/Instagram

Is Christine Done Being a Sister Wife?

During the discussion, Robyn asked Christine, “Do you want to be done with the rest of us?” Christine responded, “No. I think that we are all going to have times when were closer together and times when we’re not. Like we are now.”

Robyn later told the cameras, “I’m still in shock a little bit. The idea that Christine wouldn’t be my sister wife, it feels wrong to me.”

Meri, however, had another take on Christine’s decision. “When a family splits up, it’s really just not that easy,” she said in one of her confessional interviews. “If women are not married to the same man, you’re not a sister wife anymore. I really have no idea what this all means.”

Credit: Courtesy of Christine Brown/Instagram

Kody and Christine Butt Heads Over Truely

While Christine claimed that Kody was OK with her taking their youngest daughter, Truely, with her to Utah, Kody told the group that wasn’t the case.

“You can’t take her from me. We’ll have to have a shared custody,” he said as all of the wives listened. “I never said it was OK that you were moving.” He added: “I’m going to have to be involved in Truely’s life. You can’t actually stop me from being in her life.”

Christine took issue with Kody’s sudden desire to be part of their kids’ lives, calling it “ironic” that he was now vocal about spending time with them. “Now he wants 50/50 time with them. Well, hell, he could’ve had 50/50 time with us the whole f—king time we lived here,” she said during a confessional. “If he wanted 50/50, he should’ve been around more. He doesn’t get 50/50. He hasn’t been around enough for that.”

Credit: TLC

Kody Is Taking Back the ‘Patriarchy’

“I’m going to be the head of my household again,” Kody told all of his wives after Christine’s announcement. “So, I’m not going to be circumvented in that. If everybody is willing to conform to patriarchy again, I guess.”

He explained: “I’ve been fighting to make everybody happy. My bitterness is out of trying to do that and not having the family that I had thought about and designed. If it is too awkward, or I don’t feel like the head of my household when people are around then I’m not going to have the whole family together.”

Janelle was taken aback by her spouse’s comments, telling the cameras, “Yeah, I didn’t know I signed up for patriarchy. That’s not what we all agreed on in the beginning.”

Kody argued in his confessional: “Ironically, Janelle did sign up for patriarchy. When her and I made an agreement that she would come into the family, she agreed wholeheartedly that she would run her wheel into mine because I had to be the head of the family. She made that agreement with me.”

Back at Christine’s place, Kody told his wives that he no longer wants to “waste” his time on people who “won’t respect” him. He also confessed that he was “disappointed” in himself and how far the family had drifted from their original life plan.