On Sister Wives this week, Kody Brown's four spouses came together to prove an old adage:
Misery loves company.
And, boy oh boy, are these women all miserable.
It's never been more evident.
For the most part, Season 16 of the TLC reality series (which was filmed forever ago, way back in late 2020) has focused on Kody growing farther and farther apart from Meri, Christine, Robyn and Janelle because he has put in place VERY strict COVID-19 protocols.
Some of these rules (such as sanitizing any item before it enters a house) have done above the norm, in terms of health and safety responses to the virus, and some of them have been met with resistance by Kody's sister wives.
But Kody hasn't seemed to care.
He's continually demanded loyalty and respect from his better halves, ignoring their concerns in the process.
Which brings us to Sunday night.
The latest episode opened with Robyn stopping by to check on Janelle after the latter's mom passed away.
No one else in the family was permitted (by Kody, of courrse) to attend the funeral, which prompted Robyn to apologize and note that perhaps the use of rapid COVID-19 testing would help free the Browns up a little more.
Robyn then revealed she's been going through "a mourning process" during the pandemic.
"COVID has sort of pulled this blanket off of some of our issues," she said of herself and her fellow spouses.
After agreeing with Robyn, Janelle took it a step further and admitted the ongoing shift in the family culture has impacted her very deeply as well.
"I've caught myself in the last few weeks really reflecting and being like, 'Okay, look: do I still choose plural marriage?'" Janelle said.
"Yeah, I still choose it, but I've had to have that conscious decision with myself."
While polygamy has its critics, those who believe in it would say the basis behind these kinds of relationship always comes back to support.
By agreeing to marry the same man... and by agreeing to live with a set of sister wives.... one has created a community for oneself that supposedly helps in ways an ordinary marriage does not.
But these women have seen that structure collapse amid COVID-19.
They barely see Kody (except for Robyn, who seesĀ too much of Kody) and barely see each other, so it makes sense they'd wonder what the heck they're doing.
Robyn went on to say that their conversation has "given me a lot to think about," adding that she wants for the family to "work this crap out."
To that point, Janelle said the family has likely "lost sight that we're all in this together," and she even continued as follows:
"I've had to really think. My children are almost grown and there's not a huge necessity anymore to stay.
"It was a wonderful way to raise children."
For the first time, she then confessed:
"With Kody and I right now, our relationship is pretty strained. And you know, it's easy to walk away."
Remember, on a recent installment, Janelle even cursed Kody off.
In a separate confessional, meanwhile, Kody's other sister wives addressed their differing opinions on plural marriage.
"I haven't really ever thought about, well, because [my daughter] Mariah is out of the house, now should I leave the family," said Meri, despite Kody having flat-out told her their romance is dead.
Christine -- who actually announced her split from Kody in November 2021 -- later told the cameras that polygamy isn't exactly what she thought it would be.
Not when Kody takes so few of her problems into consideration. Of any kind.
"We're heading into Christmas, and I need to be present and be grateful for the family I have," the 49-year-old explained.
"I am who I am today because of polygamy, because I lived it."
Now that she's living away from it, though?
Christine seems pretty darn happy.
Will her other spouses get the message and make a similar decision?
Will they finally tell Kody to shove it?
Sadly, we doubt it.
Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10/9c on TLC.