Sister Wives
Sister Wives is an American reality television series broadcast on TLC that premiered on September 26, 2010. The show documents the life of a polygamist family, which includes father Kody Brown, his four wives and their 18 children. The family began the series living in Lehi, Utah, but has since moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2011 and the unincorporated township of Baderville, Arizona, in mid-2018.
Brown and his four wives have stated they participated in the show to make the public more aware of polygamist families and to combat societal prejudices. Brown believes his polygamist arrangement is legal because he is married legally only to one woman, while the other marriages are "spiritual unions".
The series led to the Brown family being investigated for possible prosecution. The family later sued the state of Utah, challenging its criminal polygamy laws. The Browns prevailed in the district court in a 2013 ruling, but a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ordered the case to be dismissed on standing grounds in 2016. The Tenth Circuit concluded that because local Utah prosecutors had a policy of not pursuing most polygamy cases in the absence of additional associated crimes, the Browns had no credible fear of future prosecution and thus lacked standing.
Concept
The show follows the lives of advertising salesman Kody Brown, his wives Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn, and their 18 children. In the first season, the show televised Brown's courting of and marriage to his fourth wife, Robyn Sullivan, in 2010. Sullivan was the first new wife to enter the family in 16 years.The only legal marriages have been between Kody and Meri until their legal divorce in September 2014, and to Robyn in December 2014. The "marriages" to Janelle and Christine and to Meri are considered "spiritual unions". As of 2019, Kody has been married to Meri for 29 years, Janelle for 26 years, Christine for 25 years, and Robyn for nine years. Kody and Meri have a daughter named Mariah. Kody and Janelle have six children: daughters Madison and Savanah and sons Logan, Hunter, Garrison, and Gabriel. Kody and Christine have six children: daughters Aspyn, Mykelti, Gwendlyn, Ysabel, and and son Paedon. Robyn had three children from her first marriage, which was monogamous: Dayton, Aurora, and Breanna. Kody legally adopted them in June 2015. Kody and Robyn have two children: son Solomon and daughter Ariella. The family has two grandchildren, Axel and Evangalynn. Both grandchildren are from Madison, one of Kody and Janelle's daughters.
Meri, Christine, and Robyn were all raised in polygamist families, but Janelle was raised in a monogamist family. Although Christine's mother left the faith, she still supports the family dynamic. Months before the marriage of Janelle and Kody, however, Janelle's mother entered into a polygamist marriage with Kody's father. The Brown family belonged to the Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon fundamentalist group. For years before the series, the family kept their polygamist lifestyle what they called a "quasi-secret".
Development
In the autumn of 2009, independent producers Timothy Gibbons and Christopher Poole approached Figure 8 Films, a North Carolinian company, with the concept of a reality series about the Brown family. Bill Hayes, the president of Figure 8 Films, said the company agreed to the idea after meeting with the Browns and deciding their lives would make a great story. Camera crews shot footage of the family in mid-2010 to be used in the first season, ending in May with the marriage of Kody Brown and Robyn Sullivan. The crews continued to film them afterward in case the series was picked up for a second season. Sister Wives was publicly introduced on August 6, 2010, at the Television Critics Association summer media tour in Beverly Hills, California. The series' first episode, an hour long, was broadcast on TLC on September 26, 2010, and the first season continued with six half-hour chapters until October 17, 2010.The broadcast of Sister Wives came at a time that polygamy and multiple marriages were a prevalent topic in American pop culture. Big Love, the hit HBO series about fictional Utah polygamist Bill Henrickson, his three sister wives, and their struggle to gain acceptance in society, had already been on the air for several years. In early September 2010, the drama series Lone Star, about a con man on the verge of entering into multiple marriages, premiered on Fox but was quickly canceled after two episodes, and when Sister Wives debuted, actress Katherine Heigl was in the process of developing a film about Carolyn Jessop, a woman who fled from a polygamist sect.
In October 2010, TLC announced it had commissioned a second season, which began in March 2011. A TLC interview with the Brown family was broadcast on October 31, 2010, and a one-hour program featuring the honeymoon of Kody Brown and Robyn Sullivan aired on November 22, 2010.
Episodes
Season 1
The nine-episode first season ran from September 26 until November 21, 2010. The season premiere introduced viewers to Kody Brown and his three wives, Meri, Janelle, and Christine, and their twelve children, all of whom lived in a ranch-style home with three interconnected apartments. It also chronicled Kody's dating and engagement to Robyn Sullivan, who herself has three children, marking the first time in 16 years Kody had courted another wife. The new relationship creates insecurity and jealousy among the other three wives, but they ultimately accept her and welcome her into the family. During the fourth episode of the season, Christine gives birth to her sixth child,, which brings the family to 16 children including Robyn's three kids.As Robyn's wedding approaches, the three sister wives help Robyn prepare, and they begin to bond. However, Kody upsets his wives when he reveals he secretly chose Robyn's wedding dress himself. The wives, especially Christine, feel betrayed, as they had originally gone wedding dress shopping with Robyn. Christine gets so upset that she walks away mid-interview. Kody eventually apologizes, and the five reconcile. The first-season finale ends with the wedding of Kody and Robyn, where Meri, Janelle, and Christine present her with a Claddagh ring to welcome her into the family.
Season 2
Season 2 ran 11 episodes from March 13, 2011 to June 5, 2011, though many sources refer to the episodes airing from September 25, 2011, to November 27, 2011, as being part of season 2 as well. This is due to a short hiatus from June 5, 2011 to September 25, 2011.Season 2 begins with the Browns heading to New York to appear on national television for the first time as open polygamists, while back home the kids head off to their first day of public school. Throughout the season, the Browns visit various friends and family members and reflect on how their relationships have changed with these people since they became open polygamists. These friends and family members include Kody's parents, Kody's high school friends, and various monogamous couples that Kody and the sister wives know. Season 2 also follows the Browns through Kody and Janelle's anniversary camping trip, preparing and participating in Halloween, and Christmas, which the Browns celebrate in a snowy mountain cabin. During Season 2 we also learn more about Meri's personal struggle with her risk of cancer and the loss of her sister. In episode 5, Kody, Christine, and their children take a trip to Las Vegas, which we later learn is the beginning of the Browns' subsequent move to Las Vegas. The final episodes of Season 2 follow the Browns with their real estate agent Mona Riekki through their struggle to find a home in Las Vegas suitable for polygamists, telling the kids that they are moving, and the subsequent move to Las Vegas. Riekki finds rental homes for each of the wives and Kody. Once the Browns settle into their new homes they discuss the possibility of finding a home for all of them to live together or four homes in one cul-de-sac.
Season 3
Season 3, a twelve-episode season, ran from September 25, 2011, to November 27, 2011.In the first episode of Season 3, Robyn announces that she is expecting her and Kody's first child, a boy.
The Browns struggle to adjust to life in Las Vegas, where they live in separate houses up to a mile away from one another. The family takes a trip to Kody's hometown to meet with some of his childhood friends, and they are met with some hostility toward their lifestyle. Later, the sister wives go to the gym together and begin working with a personal trainer.
The Brown adults are invited to Boston to speak at a panel discussion about polygamy, and some of the older teenagers accompany them and tour local college campuses. The wives help Robyn prepare for the birth of her fourth child, and in the season finale, Robyn delivers a son, whom she names Solomon.
Although the ongoing investigation of the Browns is brought up during Season 2, it is not extensively discussed in Season 3.
Season 4
Season 4 consists of eleven episodes and premiered on May 13, 2012. It chronicles the family as they settle into Las Vegas, Nevada, after leaving Lehi, Utah.Christine makes amends with Robyn. Later, Kody and Meri go to Mexico to celebrate their wedding anniversary. While there, Kody proposes in vitro fertilisation, but Meri turns down the idea, as she is only interested in a naturally occurring conception.
The family struggles to stay close while living far apart, and they actively look for new housing options. Janelle wants to open a gym, but the family determines that the startup costs are too high. Kody takes some of his daughters to a daddy/daughter Valentine's Day dance and spends time in downtown Las Vegas with his brothers. At the season's conclusion, Logan reveals that he's decided to stay local for college and attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, much to his family's delight.
Season 5
Season 5 ran from November 18, 2012, to December 30, 2012, and included eight episodes.In this season, the family puts down earnest money in order to place a hold on four adjacent lots in a cul-de-sac. They have thirty days to clean up their credit and secure mortgages so that they can build their four individual homes.
The family goes on vacation to visit their friends the Dargers, another polygamist family. Later, Logan, Maddie, and Aspyn volunteer to help prepare a safe house for the organization Holding Out Hope, which assists people who are fleeing abusive polygamist sects.
The family gets their financing approved, and the wives begin customizing their home designs. Tension arises when it's revealed that Meri is significantly over budget. With financial struggles looming, the family starts an online jewelry business, My Sister Wife's Closet, and Janelle and Christine get their real estate licenses.
The family takes a trip to Nauvoo, Illinois, the birthplace of American polygamy and the place where the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith lived and was eventually murdered. In the season finale, Logan heads off to college at UNLV, and the family worries that they won't be able to move into their new houses before Christmas.
Season 6
Season 6 includes twenty episodes and aired from September 8, 2013, to February 23, 2014.The season begins with the family getting closer to being able to move into four adjacent homes in a cul-de-sac. They all want to be able to move in by Christmas, but they are discouraged to learn that that likely will not happen. Later, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn are able to close on their mortgages, leaving Meri to wonder if she will be able to move into her house as well.
After all four wives have closed on their mortgages and moved into their new homes, the Browns bury a time capsule in their backyard to symbolize putting down their roots. During an in-home family church service, Robyn discusses the concept of "purity" and encourages the children to remain sexually chaste until marriage.
Later, Meri and Kody discuss pursuing fertility treatments, possibly including in-vitro fertilization, in order to have another child, and Kody decides against it, though he notes that he would be happy if a pregnancy were to occur naturally. Kody and his wives later participate in a debate about polygamy, and one of Christine's aunts appears on the opposing side. Also present is Kolleen Snow, who grew up in an abusive polygamist sect and whom the Brown family met in the previous season. The debate becomes heated, as both sides accuse the other of overgeneralizing the pros and cons of polygamy.
Later, Kody and his wives attend an intensive marriage retreat in Sedona, Arizona, where they are forced to acknowledge the emotional strain present among some of the wives. After returning home, each of the wives' mothers visits Las Vegas, and Kody goes on a shopping trip with them to purchase Mother's Day gifts for them.
Mariah and Aspyn graduate from high school, and during their grad party, Kody, Meri, Christine, and Robyn perform a choreographed dance as a surprise for their children. Janelle decides not to be a part of the dance and instead ensures that Mariah and Aspyn do not notice the other parents preparing to start the dance.
The four wives later go on a trip to San Francisco, California, together in order to bond and find dresses to wear during their upcoming commitment celebration. While they are away, Christine's daughter becomes sick, and subsequently develops severe dehydration. She experiences kidney failure and is hospitalized and put on dialysis. Her condition eventually starts to improve, and after an extended hospital stay, she is discharged and returns home.
The season concludes with the much-anticipated commitment celebration, during which Kody and the wives read the family mission statement they composed. They also plant a tree to symbolize laying down roots and uniting as a family.
Season 7
The nine-episode Season 7 premiered on June 8, 2014, and concluded on July 27, 2014.In the first episode of Season 7, Meri tells Kody that she plans on going back to college. Kody is surprised but ultimately supports her. Robyn, however, is initially upset by Meri's decision, as Robyn and Meri had been working closely on the family business, My Sister Wife's Closet. With Meri returning to school, Robyn worries that Meri won't have as much time to spend with the family or work on the business.
Later, Kody and his wives prepare a business presentation for a venture capitalist firm. The potential investors are not particularly impressed by the presentation, and while they offer to invest a portion of the amount the Browns asked for, they ultimately do not end up funding the project.
The family later takes trip to Missouri to meet the Richards, a non-Mormon Christian polygamist family. They travel along Route 66, making a stop at the Big Texan Steak Ranch, where Kody and a number of the Brown children attempt, though do not complete, the 62-ounce steak challenge.
Season 8
Season 8, which includes ten episodes, premiered on January 4, 2015, and concluded on March 1, 2015. It begins with Madison and Mykelti graduating from high school. Later, Christine and Kody get into an intense argument when, on a family vacation, Kody reaches out to a friend who had previously offended Christine by encouraging Kody to leave three of his wives and rejoin the Mormon church. Kody refuses to ask his friend to apologize to Christine, which upsets her, ultimately causing tension throughout the family during their vacation.Later, Christine's mom, Annie, moves in with her, and the family hosts two anthropology students and allows them to ask questions about their lifestyle. The season concludes with Meri offering to divorce Kody, while remaining married to him spiritually, so that he can marry Robyn legally and adopt her children from her previous marriage, Dayton, Aurora, and Breanna.
This season also includes two special behind-the-scenes episodes featuring Robyn and Meri, as well as a tell-all episode.
Season 9
Season 9 includes 13 episodes and ran from September 13, 2015, to November 22, 2015.Meri and Kody get a divorce, though they remain spiritually married, and Kody and Robyn become legally married. Their petition for Kody to adopt Robyn's children from her previous marriage is approved, and the family hosts a party to celebrate the event.
Christine and Kody celebrate their anniversary in Galveston, Texas, where they visit Pat, their former family therapist. They also invite Nancy, their current family therapist, on the trip for intensive couples' counseling sessions.
The family participates in a cardboard boat race, and Kody takes some of his younger daughters to California on vacation. Robyn announces that she's pregnant with her fifth child, a girl.
During a family vacation to Alaska, Meri reveals to the family that she had been catfished by a woman pretending to be a man online. Caleb, Maddie's boyfriend and family friend, joins the family on their trip, and while there, he asks Kody for permission to marry Maddie, which Kody grants.
Season 10
Season 10 includes ten episodes. It premiered on May 8, 2016, and concluded on June 26, 2016.Season 10 begins with the family discussing Meri's catfishing incident. Later, Mykelti gets a job at a pawn shop in Utah. Aspyn moves back home, but to Robyn's house rather than Christine's. Janelle and Meri go to counselling together to attempt to repair their relationship, which had been damaged by conflicts during the early years of their family. As a bonding exercise, they agree to prepare the Thanksgiving decorations and place settings together.
Robyn gives birth to her fifth child, a daughter named Ariella. The family goes on vacation to Hawaii together. While there, Christine's daughter Mykelti tells her mother that she and her boyfriend want to get married. Christine is shocked and concerned, as Mykelti and her boyfriend, Tony, have only been dating for about six months. Christine gives permission for Tony to talk to Kody about marrying Mykelti.
Season 11
Season 11, a twelve-episode season, premiered on November 27, 2016, and concluded on January 29, 2017.It begins with Kody and Meri addressing the fallout from the catfishing incident, and Mariah struggles to forgive her mother for her part in the catfishing.
Later, Tony Padron, Mykelti's boyfriend, proposes to her while on a hike, and Mykelti accepts. The couple wants to get married quickly, initially selecting a date only two months after Maddie and Caleb's wedding. After several negotiations with Kody and Christine, Tony and Mykelti agree to get married in December, six months after Maddie's wedding. Maddie, meanwhile, has a bridal shower, and the family helps her prepare for the wedding. In episode six, Maddie and Caleb get married, with Kody officiating the wedding.
Meri bonds with Cheryl, another woman who had been catfished by the same person as Meri. Meri's daughter, Mariah, reveals to her family that she's gay, which comes as a shock to her parents. Kody and his wives, especially Robyn, are ultimately supportive of Mariah, though Meri initially struggles with Mariah's announcement.
The season also includes a two-part tell all, hosted by Andrea Canning.
Season 12
Season 12 premiered on February 18, 2018, and concluded on April 1, 2018. Including a two-part tell all and a fan Q&A episode, it is 24 episodes long.Meri explores the idea of purchasing her family's ancestral home in Parowan, Utah, which had been sold and converted into a bed and breakfast. Meanwhile, Tony, Mykelti's fiancé, brings his family over to Christine's house for dinner. Christine is initially concerned about the language barrier, as Tony's family primarily speaks Spanish, but the two families bond and are supportive of the upcoming nuptials.
Mykelti goes shopping for a wedding dress and invites Tony to come along, which irks Christine. Meanwhile, Maddie tells Kody and Janelle that she's pregnant with her and Caleb's first child. Meri, meanwhile, continues to pursue the idea of purchasing the bed and breakfast in Parowan, and she invites her sisterwives to visit the property with her and spend the night. The sister wives support Meri's desire to purchase the home, but they express concerns that it will take her away from the family, due to it being several hours away from their homes in Las Vegas. At first Kody is not on board with the idea, but eventually he gives his approval as long as the funds for the purchase come from Meri's personal account and not the family.
All the sister wives, including Janelle, rehearse and perform a lip sync to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. In charge of giving Mykelti "something borrowed" for her wedding, Christine cuts up her wedding dress and uses the fabric to make flowers for Mykelti to put in her bridal bouquet. Maddie announces to the entire family that she's pregnant.
Mykelti and Tony get married, opting to hold the ceremony outside despite some cooler December temperatures. Later, Mariah asks Meri and Janelle to accompany her to Washington, D.C., to attend the Women's March. Though Kody initially has reservations about the March, and prefers that his family focus their efforts on an upcoming march in Utah for polygamists' rights, he gives his support for them to attend. At the march, Meri and Janelle feel uncomfortable with some of the signs and chants. Also attending the march is Audrey Kriss, Mariah's girlfriend, whom she introduces to the family before leaving for D.C.
Some members of the Brown family travel to the capitol building in Utah to protest House Bill 99, which would make it illegal for polygamists to cohabitate and purport to be married. Robyn does not attend the protest and instead stays home to take care of the younger kids. Once back home, the family helps Maddie prepare to give birth. After a difficult labor, Maddie delivers her and Caleb's first child, a boy they name Axel. Janelle, Robyn, Christine, and Kody are all present for Axel's birth, but Meri is not. This leads to a tense confrontation and several family therapy sessions about Meri feeling excluded from the family. After one of the therapy sessions, Christine has a follow-up conversation with Meri, during which Meri tells her that she feels guarded and on edge around the other wives.
The season concludes with a two-part tell all episode, as well as an episode in which the Browns play a version of the Newlywed Game. During the game, Mykelti and Tony, Maddie and Caleb, and Kody and his wives face off to see who knows their partner the best.
Season 13
Season 13 aired between January 20, 2019, and April 21, 2019. It includes 13 episodes.Season 14
Season 14 premiered on January 5, 2020.Reception
Critical reception
Sister Wives drew national media attention after its first season and garnered generally mixed reviews from critics. Washington Post staff writer Hank Stuever called it "refreshingly frank" and found most interesting the small details of the family's everyday life, such as the food supply, division of labor, and minor arguments. Los Angeles Times television critic Mary McNamara said she was intrigued by the matriarchal nature of the polygamist family, a unit that is traditionally considered patriarchal. McNamara said the wives form the center of the family and that "their bonds appear far stronger and more vital than the casual fondness with which they all treat Kody". Salon writer Schuyler Velasco praised Sister Wives for introducing viewers to unfamiliar subject matter and called it "refreshingly modest" considering its controversial subject matter. Velasco said it has "a natural, honest presence in a genre fabled for the camera-hogging antics of Jersey Shore". Shelley Fralic of The Vancouver Sun called it fascinating and surprising and was impressed with the sensible and articulate way in which the family defended their lifestyle. When the Brown family made an October 2010 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, talk show host Oprah Winfrey said she found particularly fascinating the relationship between the sister wives.Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald criticized Kody Brown for opening himself and his family up to potential criminal prosecution by appearing in the series, describing him as "a lawbreaker who is risking himself and the family he claims is so precious just to star in his own TV show". Elizabeth Tenety of The Washington Post called the series "one part domestic drudgery, another part sensationalism" and claimed it relied on a "familiar reality TV recipe" shared by other TLC series such as 19 Kids and Counting and Kate Plus 8. Religion Dispatches writer Joanna Brooks shared Tenety's perspective, criticizing the show for presenting polygamy in a manner that "is about as interesting to me as Kate Gosselin's latest makeover." In this vein Brooks criticized the show for not engaging the theology of plural marriage and for letting Kody Brown's superficial comments about the dissimilarity of Fundamentalist and mainstream Mormonism pass onto the viewers without any critical scrutiny or added nuance. Shari Puterman, television columnist with the Asbury Park Press, felt the sister wives had issues with jealousy and self-worth, and she compared Kody to a cult leader. Puterman added, "I can't speak for everyone, but I believe in the sanctity of marriage. It's sad to see that TLC's capitalizing on people who don't." Former prosecutor and television personality Nancy Grace criticized the show and said she believed Kody Brown should go to jail, but she expressed doubt he would, based on Utah's history of overlooking polygamy. Christine Seifert, an associate professor of communications at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, said the show could give viewers who are unfamiliar with the LDS church the incorrect assumption that polygamy is accepted by the mainstream church. Several commentators have taken notice of the fact that the family's religious convictions are downplayed in Sister Wives.
Ratings
According to Nielsen Media Research, the September 26, 2010, one-hour premiere episode of Sister Wives drew 2.26 million viewers, a strong rating for the network. It marked the biggest series debut for TLC since Cake Boss launched in 2009 and was a stronger rating than any of the season premieres for HBO's Big Love. The remaining episodes of the first season were each a half-hour long, with two broadcast together each Thursday. In the second week, the first episode drew 1.88 million viewers, while the second drew 2.13 million. The third week drew similar results, with 1.89 million viewers watching the first episode and 2.05 million watching the second. Sister Wives drew its strongest ratings during the fourth and final week of the first season, with 2.67 million viewers for the first episode and 2.74 million for the season finale. As a result of the 2.7 million average viewership for the two episodes, TLC ranked first among all ad-support cable channels in the 18–49 and 25–54 age groups. The series drew double- and triple-digit ratings gains in all key demographics and ranked second in ad-supported cable network shows during its time period.Brown family
Parents
Children
Children-in-law
| Name | Date of birth | Spouse | Wedding Date | |
| 1 | Caleb James Brush | Madison | June 4, 2016 | |
| 2 | Antonio "Tony" Padron | Mykelti | December 17, 2016 | |
| 3 | David Mitchell "Mitch" Thompson | Aspyn | June 17, 2018 |