Meri (Sisterwives) has a boyfriend er catfish MERGED

[TXGirlInAMaterialWorld]

On the Garrison getting onto Solomon issue- this just highlights to me that Robyn and her kids are inside the circle of being Kody's favored few.  Remember in past seasons how we were told that all the kids were raised as true siblings and any Mom could step in and parent/correct another Mom's kids?  I think what we saw was that Robyn's kids run rough shot all over the rest of the family.  They are not treated/parented the same way.  

Janelle is smart enough to realize that stepping in and attempting to call out or discipline Robyn's kids will only cause trouble but I think Garrison was just trying to be the same big brother he would be to his own siblings or Christine's kids.  

I don't think it was just about the fact that Solomon was acting out but more that Janelle and Christine's kids see that Kody is playing favorites.  

[Pretzel]

On the milk comment: Not that it really matters but I think I caught Kody saying he was looking for almond milk (or was it soy milk? idk). Could be that one or a few family members are lactose intolerant and they had to buy supplements. 

But I totally get how it must have sounded coming out of Kodouche's mouth. 

[LogansMama]

Regarding the previews for the next episode:

Meri keeps saying "I had to sit them down to have a talk" and "they had no idea".  Are we REALLY expected to believe that they are filming Meri telling Kody and the other wives about the whole catfish thing for the very first time?  This is a pretty huge thing for their family, I can't help but think that it's not something she is revealing on camera without giving them a little heads up first.  This also seems to indicate that the rest of them heard nothing about this in the media before Meri told them.  That would have to mean Meri told them before the news broke, which doesn't seem plausible.  

The only reason I can think of for Meri to tell them on camera is that she is trying to protect herself from Kodouche's reaction.  We know he was absolutely pissed when he found out, but I bet he would tone it down for the cameras.  

Of course not.  "Reality" tv isn't real.  It may not be scripted, but there's definitely set-up scenes.  For example, when Jill asked her parents to travel to Nepal to meet Derick for the first time.  Talk about staged...

[eandre31]

On the Garrison getting onto Solomon issue- this just highlights to me that Robyn and her kids are inside the circle of being Kody's favored few.  Remember in past seasons how we were told that all the kids were raised as true siblings and any Mom could step in and parent/correct another Mom's kids?  I think what we saw was that Robyn's kids run rough shot all over the rest of the family.  They are not treated/parented the same way.  

Janelle is smart enough to realize that stepping in and attempting to call out or discipline Robyn's kids will only cause trouble but I think Garrison was just trying to be the same big brother he would be to his own siblings or Christine's kids.  

I don't think it was just about the fact that Solomon was acting out but more that Janelle and Christine's kids see that Kody is playing favorites.  

I didn't see it the same way. I recall Kody or one of the moms saying something along the lines of "Only dad or the moms are responsible for discipline". I think the issue was actually Garrison thinking Meri didn't discipline Solomon appropriately. I don't know if they do feel comfortable disciplining Robyn's children, but I imagine they have to be seeing as MerI always had other mom's kids living with her in the past. 

I do wonder if Solomon is the favored child and gets away with a lot more than the others though. I mean he is Robyn and Kody's first child together and did "bring the family together as one". I could see that building frustration on the other kids like Garrison.

[apandaaries]

I didn't see it the same way. I recall Kody or one of the moms saying something along the lines of "Only dad or the moms are responsible for discipline". I think the issue was actually Garrison thinking Meri didn't discipline Solomon appropriately. I don't know if they do feel comfortable disciplining Robyn's children, but I imagine they have to be seeing as MerI always had other mom's kids living with her in the past. 

I do wonder if Solomon is the favored child and gets away with a lot more than the others though. I mean he is Robyn and Kody's first child together and did "bring the family together as one". I could see that building frustration on the other kids like Garrison.

This is exactly what I see: Robyn's family favored and indulged above the others, and the older children watching and learning.  I like the way Janelle parents, but I think her kids are fed up with the situation and her being constantly overworked.  Her kids were protesting more when Robyn's first pregnancy was announced, also.  AFAIK, none of Janelle's kids plan on polygamy (though Meri's kid does).  If the kids are unhappy, that says a lot.

Also, I was impressed that Garrison said on camera that "dad is wise and all-powerful," but very sarcastically.  I think that also reveals more of the tension in the household. It seems like the babies are favored but Solomon especially so.  Given how much tension adding Robyn and others has added to the family, I can't blame Garrison for being upset.

But the coffee moment-- did anyone else see that weird moment?  Could have been the editing, but I thought (maybe Garrison?) one of the boys said to Logan's girlfriend, drinking a milked-down coffee, that she liked her coffee darker than Logan.  She responded that she liked her coffee like her heart, black.  He (Garrison? have to rewatch) said he thought she's say that she liked her coffee black like her men.  She patted Logan's back and laughed at that, but the one who commented was then shown pretend vomiting.  Um....WTF was that about?  I'm hoping it was really poor editing and something else was missing there, but it was a weird moment.

  The AUB is still racist, continuing to deny black men the priesthood. I still remember Kdouche at the block party, talking to a black man, telling him that he has all these kids, but that he stays around to support them, haha.  I got a bad vibe off of that, and the scene in Alaska was also off.  I'm concerned...

[LogansMama]

How are we not talking about the fact that Meri hasn't worn a wedding ring this season?!...(or has it been discussed and I missed it?)

[Pretzel]

I guess y'all are interpreting way too much into the Solomon scene. I thought it was highly edited for the benefits of the drama because not a lot of other interesting drama happened up there in Alaska. 

Do y'all remember Tori Bates saying that "..the young kids get away with murder. Not real murder. But murder!". It's a pretty normal occurrence in families with more kids. It doesn't really matter if its 4 or 14, 6 or 18. Older kids pave the way for the younger ones. Parents become more relaxed and sometimes more lax when it comes to disciplining the littles. Oooh, happens. It annoys the shit out of the older kids because it IS NOT fair, but it is nothing out of the ordinary and it happens to families all over the political and ideological spectrum. 

I doesn't necessarily have to do with Kody favoring Robyn. It could've been Truely annoying an older boy or whatever else the younger kids' names are. 

[Daisy4]

This is exactly what I see: Robyn's family favored and indulged above the others, and the older children watching and learning.  I like the way Janelle parents, but I think her kids are fed up with the situation and her being constantly overworked.  Her kids were protesting more when Robyn's first pregnancy was announced, also.  AFAIK, none of Janelle's kids plan on polygamy (though Meri's kid does).  If the kids are unhappy, that says a lot.

Also, I was impressed that Garrison said on camera that "dad is wise and all-powerful," but very sarcastically.  I think that also reveals more of the tension in the household. It seems like the babies are favored but Solomon especially so.  Given how much tension adding Robyn and others has added to the family, I can't blame Garrison for being upset.

But the coffee moment-- did anyone else see that weird moment?  Could have been the editing, but I thought (maybe Garrison?) one of the boys said to Logan's girlfriend, drinking a milked-down coffee, that she liked her coffee darker than Logan.  She responded that she liked her coffee like her heart, black.  He (Garrison? have to rewatch) said he thought she's say that she liked her coffee black like her men.  She patted Logan's back and laughed at that, but the one who commented was then shown pretend vomiting.  Um....WTF was that about?  I'm hoping it was really poor editing and something else was missing there, but it was a weird moment.

  The AUB is still racist, continuing to deny black men the priesthood. I still remember Kdouche at the block party, talking to a black man, telling him that he has all these kids, but that he stays around to support them, haha.  I got a bad vibe off of that, and the scene in Alaska was also off.  I'm concerned...

I noticed the coffee comment too and hoped it was poor editing or that I had missed something.

[FundieFarmer]

As an adopted child who has totally experienced this from half-sibs...I have to say, I can't imagine that Kody's biological kids don't feel some sort of intense animosity over his non-biological children being clearly, obviously, and overwhelmingly favored.

Animosity when the kids aren't favored is one thing, but it's a whole other bucket of issues when they are. 

 

[IreneIssh]

    <snip>

But the coffee moment-- did anyone else see that weird moment?  Could have been the editing, but I thought (maybe Garrison?) one of the boys said to Logan's girlfriend, drinking a milked-down coffee, that she liked her coffee darker than Logan.  She responded that she liked her coffee like her heart, black.  He (Garrison? have to rewatch) said he thought she's say that she liked her coffee black like her men.  She patted Logan's back and laughed at that, but the one who commented was then shown pretend vomiting.  Um....WTF was that about?  I'm hoping it was really poor editing and something else was missing there, but it was a weird moment.

  The AUB is still racist, continuing to deny black men the priesthood. I still remember Kdouche at the block party, talking to a black man, telling him that he has all these kids, but that he stays around to support them, haha.  I got a bad vibe off of that, and the scene in Alaska was also off.  I'm concerned...

WHOA! I haven't seen this moment commented on elsewhere yet, and I haven't been able to get a hold of the episode yet, but I can't believe that was included. I'll have to see it in order to comment, but WHOA pretty much covers my feelings here for right now. 

How are we not talking about the fact that Meri hasn't worn a wedding ring this season?!...(or has it been discussed and I missed it?)

Wow, I didn't notice the wedding ring missing at all. I'm going to have to pay more attention to that. It's interesting that I haven't seen that in the comments of CJ's blog either. Has it been missing all season? All the other women wear one, right? 

[JMO]

In general I feel like Janelle's kids are shown being disciplined more than the other kids, but that may be just because Garrison and one of his brothers seem to fight a lot and get in trouble because of that.  I can't think of a time we've seen any of the other kids discipline being incorporated into the show. 

[Mercer]

Are you trying to be sarcastic? Because you do know that is the whole premise behind this "marriage", right?

To be fair, at least from the episodes I've seen the Browns rarely discuss their religious faith in any detail. They will state in general terms that they are polygamous because of their religious beliefs, but the explanations are very surface level and don't answer much of the why. I don't think it's that surprising that someone who hasn't watched very many episodes wouldn't be fully aware of how their religion factors into their chosen lifestyle - the Browns are intentionally vague about the spiritual aspects.

[campused]

I thought the "black coffee" comments were really strange too! I didn't notice the vomiting scene, however (and have since deleted it from my DVR), but that girl wasn't even drinking her coffee black! Come on, there was clearly cream in there. 

[Brienna]

I noticed the coffee comment too and hoped it was poor editing or that I had missed something. [emoji20]

I just assumed that with black they meant black hair. And that the pretending to throw up was because logan and girlfriend were touching (even it was just a past on the back )

On the almond milk: I think kody said he wanted almond milk just because he liked sweet milk? It's a later scene where he states he likes the sweet stuff.

[FundieFarmer]

http://allaboutthetea.com/2015/11/10/sister-wives-meri-brown-labels-catfish-lover-a-bastard-during-emotional-meltdown/

I do wonder about this, and hope we get an actual answer. I agree that there was some significant intimacy happening, and Meri's words during the reveal make me think she believed there was a man in the mix. And based on the photographs, either JO did a great job of finding inappropriate snapchats on the internet and passing them off as hers, or she had something that was selling the manliness to Meri other than just her voice. 

[defraudingjezebel]

This is exactly what I see: Robyn's family favored and indulged above the others, and the older children watching and learning.  I like the way Janelle parents, but I think her kids are fed up with the situation and her being constantly overworked.  Her kids were protesting more when Robyn's first pregnancy was announced, also.  AFAIK, none of Janelle's kids plan on polygamy (though Meri's kid does).  If the kids are unhappy, that says a lot.

Also, I was impressed that Garrison said on camera that "dad is wise and all-powerful," but very sarcastically.  I think that also reveals more of the tension in the household. It seems like the babies are favored but Solomon especially so.  Given how much tension adding Robyn and others has added to the family, I can't blame Garrison for being upset.

But the coffee moment-- did anyone else see that weird moment?  Could have been the editing, but I thought (maybe Garrison?) one of the boys said to Logan's girlfriend, drinking a milked-down coffee, that she liked her coffee darker than Logan.  She responded that she liked her coffee like her heart, black.  He (Garrison? have to rewatch) said he thought she's say that she liked her coffee black like her men.  She patted Logan's back and laughed at that, but the one who commented was then shown pretend vomiting.  Um....WTF was that about?  I'm hoping it was really poor editing and something else was missing there, but it was a weird moment.

  The AUB is still racist, continuing to deny black men the priesthood. I still remember Kdouche at the block party, talking to a black man, telling him that he has all these kids, but that he stays around to support them, haha.  I got a bad vibe off of that, and the scene in Alaska was also off.  I'm concerned...

Yeah, the whole deal with Garrison and Solomon really shows the resentment between Kody and Robyn's little family and everyone else. 

The whole coffee comment was really awkward and in poor taste, in my opinion. I thought Garrison's reaction was supposed to be an exaggerated cough, like, "you might've said you like black men but Logan is pasty white." But when you put it in context with AUB's and official Mormon history of viewing black people as inferior... its pretty messed up. I didn't think about it that way when I first watched it but now that you mention it, it seems really gross. 

[Imagine20]

JO has a history of catfishing men and women. She will catfish a man to get his pics to use to catfish women. I don't think Meri had a physical relationship with anyone, but she was very much emotionally invested and JO had pics from some other victim to prove Sam was a real man.

[Grimalkin]

On the Garrison getting onto Solomon issue- this just highlights to me that Robyn and her kids are inside the circle of being Kody's favored few.  Remember in past seasons how we were told that all the kids were raised as true siblings and any Mom could step in and parent/correct another Mom's kids?  I think what we saw was that Robyn's kids run rough shot all over the rest of the family.  They are not treated/parented the same way.  

Janelle is smart enough to realize that stepping in and attempting to call out or discipline Robyn's kids will only cause trouble but I think Garrison was just trying to be the same big brother he would be to his own siblings or Christine's kids.  

I don't think it was just about the fact that Solomon was acting out but more that Janelle and Christine's kids see that Kody is playing favorites.  

The thing is with so many kids and so many families its hard for parents to keep track of individual time with kids and interactions. I went to bed last night and couldn't sleep because I realized I hardly spoke to my 14 year old all day. I only have four kids. It would be easy for a kid to feel rightly or wrongly they are not favored in the family. Particularly if you have a kid extra needy. You can get caught up into that situation and it can consume you.

 

   I kept wanting to mention a news story I read this morning about Robyn (I don't have the link anymore, darn ) it was about Robyn's ex. Did we know HE filed for a divorce and he ran his own business while working construction? interesting. Did Robyn mention once that he was abusive? I don't remember. I didn't expect to hear he filed the divorce papers though.

[JMO]

So I'm still behind but I just finished the adoption party episode.  It's striking how as each episode goes along Meri gets more and more withdrawn and depressed and the weight loss/depression becomes apparent.  She barely speaks in the 5 way talking heads, she barely smiles, and you can see when she is given the gift by the children it takes a lot of effort for her to be able to respond in a way she knows she should.  While I know she's made some selfish decisions and actions over the years, I don't blame her.  She was only able to have one child and I can see why she would want their little family to get all the same resources the other families with more kids got.  Why shouldn't her daughter get a larger allotment of money for college when the 17 other kids that aren't biologically hers will get supported by her?  She's clearly depressed and unhappy.  I wonder if Janelle reached out to mend fences since she saw how Meri was pulling away and wanted to help bring her back into the family by mending fences. 

[FlamingFundie]

Has anyone tried to run a reverse pic search yet on those pics like they do on the Catfish show??

[Chach1984i]

<snip>

But the coffee moment-- did anyone else see that weird moment?  Could have been the editing, but I thought (maybe Garrison?) one of the boys said to Logan's girlfriend, drinking a milked-down coffee, that she liked her coffee darker than Logan.  She responded that she liked her coffee like her heart, black.  He (Garrison? have to rewatch) said he thought she's say that she liked her coffee black like her men.  She patted Logan's back and laughed at that, but the one who commented was then shown pretend vomiting.  Um....WTF was that about?  I'm hoping it was really poor editing and something else was missing there, but it was a weird moment.

  The AUB is still racist, continuing to deny black men the priesthood. I still remember Kdouche at the block party, talking to a black man, telling him that he has all these kids, but that he stays around to support them, haha.  I got a bad vibe off of that, and the scene in Alaska was also off.  I'm concerned...

I had to rewatch this scene a couple times because I didn't remember anyone pretend vomiting. I knew that, until very recently at least, that Mormons were racist against black people but what I saw was a kind of gross. It was Garrison that was making the comments about liking her coffee like she liked her men. He mumbles something and then it cuts to Logan and his girlfriend but you can hear the start of the fake vomiting before it's even shown.

 

I stream these online from a 3rd party site so I downloaded it and cut the video to just that particular part. I uploaded it to my personal youtube channel so I'll probably delete it in a day or two.

https://youtu.be/07sV2rio-G0

[StepMonsterInLA]

In general I feel like Janelle's kids are shown being disciplined more than the other kids, but that may be just because Garrison and one of his brothers seem to fight a lot and get in trouble because of that.  I can't think of a time we've seen any of the other kids discipline being incorporated into the show. 

Since the older kids were raised in one home and Christine was a SAHM, it would have made sense that the kids were together all the time and viewed one another as true siblings with the mother role shared among the women. Robyn's kids have only lived apart from the rest of the "family" (btw I hate how gross the wives all sound when they utter that word) and she has always been there so the little kids are being raised in a different dynamic than the bigs. I would guess that when the bigs see tension between their dad and mom (either real or on SW) it impacts how they react to Robyn and her spawn. I imagine Janelle's boys being protective of her especially since they have verbalized that the don't want to be polygamists. 

[IreneIssh]

I had to rewatch this scene a couple times because I didn't remember anyone pretend vomiting. I knew that, until very recently at least, that Mormons were racist against black people but what I saw was a kind of gross. It was Garrison that was making the comments about liking her coffee like she liked her men. He mumbles something and then it cuts to Logan and his girlfriend but you can hear the start of the fake vomiting before it's even shown.

 

I stream these online from a 3rd party site so I downloaded it and cut the video to just that particular part. I uploaded it to my personal youtube channel so I'll probably delete it in a day or two.

https://youtu.be/07sV2rio-G0

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! You are the BEST! 

Wow, I still don't quite know what to make of that clip. It definitely seemed like there was some racist implications, but it really could be the way they edited it. I'm not sure why the editor even included it at all since the actual conversation wasn't all that interesting, although I don't really understand reality show editors and their motivations at all. I still haven't been able to watch this episode through my usual means. I guess it's no real loss since it sounds like the Garrison/Solomon drama & this clip were the only interesting things that happened. 

[Eternalbluepearl]

It was a pretty boring episode. We got to see Maddie's boyfriend, that's about it. Seeing them grocery shop was snoozeville. 

[apandaaries]

I had to rewatch this scene a couple times because I didn't remember anyone pretend vomiting. I knew that, until very recently at least, that Mormons were racist against black people but what I saw was a kind of gross. It was Garrison that was making the comments about liking her coffee like she liked her men. He mumbles something and then it cuts to Logan and his girlfriend but you can hear the start of the fake vomiting before it's even shown.

 

I stream these online from a 3rd party site so I downloaded it and cut the video to just that particular part. I uploaded it to my personal youtube channel so I'll probably delete it in a day or two.

https://youtu.be/07sV2rio-G0

It wasn't until the 1970's that the mainstream Mormons had the revelation that Black men could hold the priesthood.  In the AUB, the sect with which the Browns are affiliated, Black men still are unable to hold the priesthood. That makes the scene even worse, because what on earth is going on?  Are the editors trying to imply something, or is something really there and they're choosing to signal that to the audience this way?  I hesitate to call a youngish teenager raised in a horrible situation with an oppressive religion racist, especially since all we have is a weirdly edited scene and background knowledge that the religion itself is structurally racist. But what were they thinking with that?  

It was a pretty boring episode. We got to see Maddie's boyfriend, that's about it. Seeing them grocery shop was snoozeville. 

Personally, I liked watching Kdouche say that being in the grocery store made him nervous, because feeding such a large family was so expensive. Gee, Kody, really?  The way he hollered about not having the right kind of milk was also interesting, too, because he wanted coconut or almond milk.  I hope it was for the kids and not for his own greedy palate, but who knows?  It sounded more Kody-focused when I watched, but I do have an anti-Kody bias.  

 I have read elsewhere that he and Meri filed for bankruptcy, as did Christine (but not Janelle!).  Were we supposed to think that he was paying for the food, and not TLC?  Or that TLC didn't cover their whole vacation?  Right.