Gather round, boys and girls, because this week’s Sister Wives is going to be an awkward one. In this episode, entitled, “Baptism By Fire,” the Brown family reunites for an engagement party for Gwendlyn and her partner, Bea. Kody and Robyn meet David Woolley, Christine’s new boyfriend, for the first time, and all eyes are on them as they navigate their new family dynamic.
For a refresher, we’ve recapped all episodes of this season of Sister Wives here:
Janelle Tries To Look Out For Meri
We open at Meri’s house, and during a confessional, Meri says that Janelle is coming over to talk. Meri says that while she and Janelle were never super close, she doesn’t have any issues with her.
“We don’t hate each other. I mean, at least I don’t hate her.”
Janelle agrees, she doesn’t have ill-will towards Meri, but they were never very close. Janelle wants to talk to Meri about what’s happening with Coyote Pass. With a balloon payment due soon, and Kody being reluctant to give Janelle details about the finances, Janelle feels like she needs to warn Meri that it’s possible they could lose the property.
Janelle and Meri don’t hug when they greet each other, and it feels like it’s awkward for both of them.
We cut to Kody riding around on a snow plow on the Coyote Pass property. He brings the kids out to help him shovel his truck out from under eight feet of snow. He promises that it’s going to be fun for them, because they’re going to have a little snowball fight as well. Even Robyn’s out there with a shovel, helping Kody and the kids. Robyn, ever the obedient wife.
When one of the kids accidentally scratches his truck with a shovel, Kody makes sure to breathe and not react. He wants to be sure that the time he’s spending with his kids is meaningful and fun. Sounds like someone’s doing some reflecting on how he parented in the past.
Back at Meri’s, Janelle and Meri sit in her nearly empty home and catch up on their lives. Meri tells Janelle she’s moving full-time to Utah, which Janelle believes is the best move for her because Meri can sometimes be too loyal. In a confessional, Janelle makes a poor comparison to Meri being the dog who always comes back, and even though Janelle is quick to say she’s not calling Meri a dog, it’s a tough comparison to make.
Janelle tells Meri she’s “free” and that her relationship with Kody is over. Meri then asks Janelle if she’s happy, to which Janelle says she is because she’s finally at peace. When Janelle asks if Meri is happy, Meri is a little less enthusiastic.
“I’m all right,” she says. “Plugging through.”
They both acknowledge that the situation is weird, but not necessarily bad. Meri expresses regret at the way things turned out with the family. After so many years, and so much effort, Meri is sad to to see how it has devolved into divorce and estrangement.
Then they start talking Coyote Pass. Oh, Coyote Pass, that fateful property that Kody was so excited to build on and live in a happy family utopia that is now coming crashing down on them. Janelle tells Meri about the upcoming payment, but Meri doesn’t seem concerned. Turns out, Meri was under the impression this entire time that Janelle handled their finances, but Janelle points out that she only kept the books, she didn’t have any other say in financial matters.
“I’m going to suggest to you that you protect your interest in it, as far as what you’re entitled to, a quarter of it,” Janelle tells Meri. It’s a rare moment of sisterhood between the two, which is strange because this show is called Sister Wives and they’ve never really acted like sisters. Janelle very bluntly tells Meri she needs to look out for her own assets, because Meri naively assumes that they’ll all be looking out for each other. Janelle feels otherwise.
Meri believes that Kody and Robyn wouldn’t screw them over, but Janelle says she doesn’t necessarily believe that. They agree to have each other’s backs, regardless of whatever happens in the family. Janelle sweetly wants to help Meri protect herself.
Related
Why Sister Wives Fans Worry Christine ‘Moved Way Too Fast’ With New Husband David Woolley
As Season 19 wears on, Sister Wives fans have gone from “good for you!” to “wait, is this good for you?”
Again, we see a map of Coyote Pass, sectioned off into parcels. As a viewer, we’ve seen more land maps and planning documents on this show than we’ll probably see in our own lives. This land will never see a home built. They bought the property back in 2018 and nobody’s ever broken ground on a home.
In current time, Kody and Robyn have purchased a new, $2.1 million home, so the legacy that was to be Coyote Pass will truly never come to pass.
Meri talks a bit about Kody’s financial prowess. Long-time viewers of the show would struggle to say what exactly Kody does for a living, but Meri says he’s always been “creative” financially. She seemingly brushes off Janelle’s warning, to which Janelle states in a confessional, “I guess she thinks that Kody is going to take care of her.”
“I feel like I better protect myself,” Janelle says plainly, to which Meri responds, “Sorry that you feel like that.”
Janelle says the conversation with Meri was very uncomfortable, and she doesn’t know if she can trust that Meri won’t go back to Kody with this information.
Christine And David Go House-Hunting
Christine’s blissful post-Kody life continues, as she and fiancé/boyfriend David Woolley decide to start house hunting. Christine says she can’t wait to move in with David. Christine stipulates that she wants a home big enough for all their children to come visit, but not big enough for them all to live there.
“I knew on the second date that you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” David says of meeting Christine. David says he knows people think he and Christine are moving too fast, but he says his parents got engaged after knowing each other only a week, so by those standards, he and Christine aren’t moving too fast at all.
The couple discuss standard home things, like which sink David will want to use in their bathroom. Christine explains that although she knows which side of the bed David sleeps on, she doesn’t know that much about his regular daily habits because when they spend the night together, they leave the next morning. Never thought we’d see the day where Christine admits she and David are having sleepovers, but this is a new era of Sister Wives.
Christine says that when she was married to Kody, she gave him a large chunk of closet space. Considering that Kody had three other homes with different wives, it seems outrageous that he’d need a lot of closet space at Christine’s house. How many flannel shirts can Kody possible own to make him need big closets at each of his wives’ homes?
Christine gushes about how before, when she was married to Kody, she was used to doing everything alone. She seems delighted to have a true partner now.
Related
Why Sister Wives’ Maddie Brush Went No Contact With Dad Kody
Kody lashed out at his daughter Maddie Brush this season, and she addressed it on her new podcast.
Of course, in a confessional, Kody refutes Christine’s claims that he never helped her when it came to setting up their home. He says that not only was he involved, he remembers them having fun while planning their home.
Christine views house-hunting with David, and moving in together, as the next step in the process of her her moving on from polygamy and entering into a more secure life. And she says she wishes that Janelle and Meri also have the chance to move on, in whatever way works for them.
Gwendlyn And Bea Celebrate Their Engagement
Gwendlyn Brown, Kody and Christine’s daughter, is throwing a party for herself and Bea, her partner, to celebrate their engagement. While Kody and Robyn aren’t going, Meri will be there, as well as a lot of the kids, so it will be nice to have everyone together again. In fact, a lot of the Utah crew drove down to Flagstaff together for the party. They’re also all staying together, giving them lots of time to get to know each other better.
David meets a whole slew of new family members, like Janelle’s kids, but Christine’s daughter, Aspyn, continues to express her concern that Christine and David are moving too fast.
Christine talks about the relief she feels now that Gwendlyn met Bea. She says Gwendlyn didn’t come out to the family until they moved to Flagstaff, but that she knew Gwendlyn was gay before that. Kody agrees, and says he has no problem with his daughter marrying her partner, because he said he got a message from God.
“God said, ‘I judge and you love.’ That’s how I live, if I can.”
While Kody and Robyn weren’t originally supposed to attend the bridal shower, turns out, they’re coming. And so are Christine and David, of course, so the scene is set for another awkward Brown family party.
Meri, Kody and Robyn all arrive at the party together, and Robyn comments on the way people are divided, one side versus the other. Kody says it feels like they are “familiar strangers.” But everyone puts on a happy face for Gwendlyn’s sake. Aspyn also remarks that the family now feels very divided, “sectioned off by mom,” she says.
Related
Sister Wives’ Kody Countersues Christine Over Child Support, Custody
Kody filed a counterclaim to Christine’s filing in September.
In a peculiar twist, there is a professional tattoo artist at the party, doing tattoos for the guests. Robyn seems to balk at the idea of this, but she’s trying to be a good sport.
Apparently, Kody has a well-known phobia of tattoos. Christine points out that after she left Kody, she was looking for the complete opposite of him. Enter David, who is fully tattooed, which Christine says she is attracted to. Christine and David even get matching celtic tattoos at the party, symbolizing “new beginnings.”
Take that, Kody.
David Meets The Rest Of The Family
Christine introduces Meri to David, and Meri says she felt like David was nervous. Who wouldn’t be nervous to meet their new girlfriend/fiance’s former husband and sister wives?
Meri says the whole situation is weird, since she’s only ever seen Christine with Kody.
“And if Janelle ever dates anybody, it will be the same thing. And if I ever date—when, I’m not saying if, because I plan on it, just not yet—but when I date somebody, it will just be another next step in this family structure.”
In a sweet moment, Christine and Meri embrace after Meri confirms that she and Kody have officially split. They tell each other they love each other. The relationship between these women is complicated, but they’ve been in each other’s lives a long time. There’s history there. And even though things didn’t work out with the family, the hug feels like a symbol of sisterhood, once again, despite the broken family, and Christine tells Meri that “it’s better on the other side.”
“Infinitely better. It is. It is, I promise. So much better.”
“I don’t know what’s happening with her and Kody. I love being divorced and I don’t think she’s there yet. I don’t think she likes being divorced. I think she hoped it would have worked,” Christine says in a confessional. Meri says that although she recognizes that Christine is trying to support her, she isn’t in a place with Christine where she feels comfortable talking about it.
For Meri, the breakup is still fresh and she still doesn’t know what it will be like on the other side.
Christine finally approaches Robyn and Kody at the party to introduce David. Kody and Robyn’s hands are full with babies, but everyone exchanges polite pleasantries. Still, Robyn says she knows everyone is staring at them.
Kody seemed to be bothered that David has been babysitting his grandkids, and even a little bothered by the PDA that Christine and David put on. Kody says that he felt like David was much more comfortable with Robyn than with him. But this is the new Brown family, so everyone needs to act accordingly.
At one point, Christine reflects on how surreal her life is now.
“Back when I was first married, I never saw myself at an engagement party for my daughter, marrying a woman, and getting tattoos at the engagement party. Introducing my boyfriend to my ex, who I used to live polygamy with, with other sister wives there. No, no, this scenario was never anything whatsoever like that in my mind.”
The episode ends with Christine reflecting on the importance of Kody and Robyn being at the party. It’s important for Gwendlyn because Kody is her father. But, Christine says, she won’t be inviting Robyn and Kody to her wedding. That’s where she draws the line.
For more reality show coverage, visit our hub page. Episode 10 of Sister Wives, “A Man After My Own Heart,” airs on Nov. 17 on TLC, and the following day on Max and Discovery+.
Sister Wives is a TV series created for TLC that follows Kody Brown and his four wives as they raise their eighteen children and tackle the challenges associated with their massive family dynamic and the stigma that comes with their way of life.
- TMDB User Rating
- 61
- Release Date
- September 16, 2010
- Main Genre
- Reality
- Cast
- Kody Brown , madison Brown , Janelle Brown , Tamron Hall , Aspyn Brown , Robyn Brown , Andrea Canning , Gwendlyn Brown , meri brown , Logan Brown , Christine Brown , Sukanya Kirshnan
- Seasons
- 19
- Cinematographer
- Doug Monroe, Callan Griffiths, Richard Alexander Walkling, Anthony Derosa, Matthew Thompson, Ray Farmer
- Distributor
- TLC
- Filming Locations
- Nevada, Utah, Arizona
- Main Characters
- Timothy Gibbons, Kirk Streb, Deanie Wilcher, Christopher Poole, Bill Hayes
- Producer
- Deanie Wilcher
- Production Company
- Puddle Monkey Productions, Figure 8 Films
- Number of Episodes
- 167
- Network
- TLC
