‘Sister Wives’ Recap: Kody Brown Has ‘Regret’ Amid Christine Split, Confesses He Harbors ‘Bitterness’ Toward ‘Entire Family’

Credit: TLC (2)

‘Sister Wives’ Recap: Kody Brown Has ‘Regret’ Amid Christine Split, Confesses He Harbors ‘Bitterness’ Toward ‘Entire Family’

The harsh reality. Sister Wives’ Kody Brown’s battle to accept his split from Christine Brown has left him with a bad taste in his mouth — and resentment for his whole family. “Christine and I have been on the fast track from separation to divorce now for a few months. The last time the family got together was when Christine told us she was leaving,” Kody, 53, said during the Sunday, October 9, episode of the TLC series. “I feel very separated from the family. I’ve struggled through this process.” (Christine, 50, announced via Instagram in November 2021 that she and Kody split after more than 25 years.) The Wyoming native revealed that he was also dealing with Janelle Brown’s move from her house — which she could no longer rent — into an RV. Janelle, 53, planned to park the fifth-wheeler on the Coyote Pass property, which consists of five different lots. “My life is in a form of limbo because Christine’s leaving and I don’t know what that looks like. I’ve been in the anger phase of divorce, so I’ve not been addressing it very well,” Kody explained. “I guess this construction project with Janelle and [contractor] Pete [is] kind of one of those things to get my mind off my divorce frustration. I am in the anger phase. I get tied up in knots over Christine leaving.” Kody’s relationship with his first wife, Meri Brown, also hit another roadblock during the Sunday episode after the patriarch told Meri, 51, that it might be better if she moved to Utah to run her bed and breakfast. Meri’s mom, Bonnie, was running the place before her death, which fans learned about earlier this season. [jwplayer v88Odup0-zhNYySv2] “I was here are the very beginning. I helped start this family. It was me and him and we had plans. He loved me,” Meri said during a confessional while holding back tears. “For him to just be like, ‘Um, just go up there now.’ It didn’t make sense.” Kody, however, managed to press pause on all the drama and join Christine in celebrating their daughter Ysabel’s high school graduation. While the party — which also included Meri, Janelle and Robyn Brown and their respective children — was a success, Kody left feeling “blue” about their future. “We will never be there again. I’m living in a delusional world where I’m wishing Christine didn’t leave. I’m struggling with sort of a state of regret and frustration,” Kody told the cameras. “It’s a weird thing to be getting left. It’s made me question getting into plural marriage. Question my faith. The message we had to the world about functional polygamy seems so dysfunctional now.” The head of the Brown family also confessed that his relationships with some of the other children — not just his kids with Christine — had recently hit a rough patch. “I’ve got what feels like very strained relationships with a bunch of the kids. I don’t feel like I’ve got the respect that I should have,” he concluded. “No, I’m not OK. I’m here. I’m in a funk. It’s this loneliness combined with a bitterness with the entire family.” Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET. Scroll down for all the highlights from season 17, episode 5 of Sister Wives:

Credit: TLC (2)

‘Sister Wives’ Recap: Kody Brown Has ‘Regret’ Amid Christine Split, Confesses He Harbors ‘Bitterness’ Toward ‘Entire Family’

The harsh reality. Sister Wives’ Kody Brown’s battle to accept his split from Christine Brown has left him with a bad taste in his mouth — and resentment for his whole family. “Christine and I have been on the fast track from separation to divorce now for a few months. The last time the family got together was when Christine told us she was leaving,” Kody, 53, said during the Sunday, October 9, episode of the TLC series. “I feel very separated from the family. I’ve struggled through this process.” (Christine, 50, announced via Instagram in November 2021 that she and Kody split after more than 25 years.) The Wyoming native revealed that he was also dealing with Janelle Brown’s move from her house — which she could no longer rent — into an RV. Janelle, 53, planned to park the fifth-wheeler on the Coyote Pass property, which consists of five different lots. “My life is in a form of limbo because Christine’s leaving and I don’t know what that looks like. I’ve been in the anger phase of divorce, so I’ve not been addressing it very well,” Kody explained. “I guess this construction project with Janelle and [contractor] Pete [is] kind of one of those things to get my mind off my divorce frustration. I am in the anger phase. I get tied up in knots over Christine leaving.” Kody’s relationship with his first wife, Meri Brown, also hit another roadblock during the Sunday episode after the patriarch told Meri, 51, that it might be better if she moved to Utah to run her bed and breakfast. Meri’s mom, Bonnie, was running the place before her death, which fans learned about earlier this season. [jwplayer v88Odup0-zhNYySv2] “I was here are the very beginning. I helped start this family. It was me and him and we had plans. He loved me,” Meri said during a confessional while holding back tears. “For him to just be like, ‘Um, just go up there now.’ It didn’t make sense.” Kody, however, managed to press pause on all the drama and join Christine in celebrating their daughter Ysabel’s high school graduation. While the party — which also included Meri, Janelle and Robyn Brown and their respective children — was a success, Kody left feeling “blue” about their future. “We will never be there again. I’m living in a delusional world where I’m wishing Christine didn’t leave. I’m struggling with sort of a state of regret and frustration,” Kody told the cameras. “It’s a weird thing to be getting left. It’s made me question getting into plural marriage. Question my faith. The message we had to the world about functional polygamy seems so dysfunctional now.” The head of the Brown family also confessed that his relationships with some of the other children — not just his kids with Christine — had recently hit a rough patch. “I’ve got what feels like very strained relationships with a bunch of the kids. I don’t feel like I’ve got the respect that I should have,” he concluded. “No, I’m not OK. I’m here. I’m in a funk. It’s this loneliness combined with a bitterness with the entire family.” Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET. Scroll down for all the highlights from season 17, episode 5 of Sister Wives:

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock(2)

Janelle Is Ready to Move — With or Without Kody’s Support

Janelle and Kody were at odds when it came to the process of moving her newly purchased RV on their family’s Coyote Pass property. “I’m struggling because I’m not optimistic about how this is going to come together,” Kody explained, pointing out that he was worried about getting “permission” from the other wives to continually move the RV on their land during Janelle’s house build.

“We bought the property three years ago. I need to move forward with [my lot],” Janelle said during a confessional, noting that she had no plans to talk to the wives again about her plan. “I feel like if there’s a will, there’s a way. I’ve been saving my money. I don’t have anywhere to live for now. I think it’s time that the family prioritizes paying off the property.”

Kody, however, appeared to be digging his heels in, which Janelle didn’t like. “I’m still moving forward in my life,” the mother of six revealed. “All around me it feels like there’s this chaos and uncertainty. All I can do is just keep moving forward.”

After claiming that Kody has “no longer advocating” and “no longer acting as my husband here” amid the move, Janelle and Kody went to pick up their RV. “It’s big. You step up three steps to get into it. It’s massive,” Janelle told viewers, but again, Kody disagreed, saying, “It’s small. It just seems big because we’re not in it.”

Credit: Courtesy of Meri Brown/Instagram

Meri Is ‘Lost’ After Her Mom’s Death, Kody Drama

“I’ve basically at this point, I’ve shut the bed and breakfast down. I just needed time to grieve,” Meri told the cameras, after revealing just how “sudden and unexpected” her mom’s death was to her and the family. “I need time to figure out what to do. Kody actually said to me the other day, he’s like, ‘Why don’t you just move up there?’ That was not my intention.”

Meri, who shares Leon, with Kody, expressed sadness over her husband’s remarks and willingness to let her move away. “The reason I’m suggesting this to Meri is, honestly, as a family [it] doesn’t feel like we interact that much,” Kody explained. “I’m not even trying to push her away.”

Meri, for her part, was conflicted with what comes next as she continued to grieve her mother — and tried to navigate Kody’s ups and downs. “I don’t know what to do. I am lost. I feel empty,” she said. “I feel like I have to figure out a lot of stuff and I don’t know how to figure it out. And the house just feels really empty without mom here. I’ll just keep working on it, I guess.”

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

Ysabel’s Graduation Brings Everyone Together

After graduating from high school, Christine threw her and Kody’s daughter, Ysabel, a party that also celebrated her 18th birthday. While putting up decorations with their youngest daughter, Truely, Christine confessed that Kody had been unhelpful with the whole event.

“I need everybody’s help. I need Gwen’s help, I need Ysabel’s help, I need Truely’s help,” Christine told the cameras. “Well, Kody calls Ysabel and says, ‘Hey, how about we go hang out today before your party.’ I almost freaking lost it. Instead of Kody saying, ‘Hey, do you need some help with Ysabel’s party?’ ‘Cause it’s his daughter [he does nothing].”

The mother of six, who shares son Paedon, 23, and daughters Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 25, Gwendlyn, 20, Ysabel, 19, and Truely, 12, with Kody, later revealed that she was “going to play nice” with her estranged spouse to help their kids have good relationships with their dad.

When it came to the party, all the wives and their children showed up and toasted Ysabel. They even sang her a song, which caused the birthday girl to cry happy tears. “It’s healing. It’s nice,” Robyn, 43, said of the party.

Credit: TLC (2)

Christine and Kody’s Kids React to Split

Following the graduation bash, both Ysabel and Mykelti shared their thoughts on their parents calling it quits. “I did see it coming. Of course, I’m sad about it. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out,” Ysabel explained. “I’m happy that my mom will be able to find somebody who she’s really, really happy with.”

Mykelti, for her part, told the cameras: I was honestly relieved when I heard that my mom was leaving my dad. They’re not happy. They’re not in love.”

Janelle, meanwhile, revealed what two of her sons’ reactions were to the news that Christine was leaving Kody. “My kids know. I don’t think Gabriel or Garrison are really that concerned because they’re already talking about visiting Christine in Utah,” she said. “They just see it as a disruption not a discontinuation.”

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

The Wives Are Conflicted Over Christine’s Impending Move

Throughout the family’s celebration for Ysabel, it became clear that a few of the wives are still torn over Christine leaving the plural unit. “It’s strange because we’re in this moment and we’re having a nice time. How does this not work for everybody? Why isn’t this something worth fighting for?” Robyn said during a confessional.” I’m just one of those people who hopes constantly. I could make Christine feel like, Hey this is worth staying for.”

Meri agreed with Robyn and expressed confusion as to why they weren’t trying harder to fix things. “Why can’t we work on the things we need to work on?” she asked. “We’re not doing justice to our family. I’m devoted to doing what I need to do.”

Janelle, on the other hand, noted: “It feels like there’s storms brewing in the family.”