Earlier this week, TLC aired a special preview episode of the new Sister Wives season to come...
... and it offered up a surprising reveal over which family member, in particular, was most bothered by the Browns moving from Las Vegas to Flagstaff, Arizona.
As fans of this franchise know well, Kody Brown uprooted his children and his four better halves well over a year ago, but the ramifications continue to be felt to this day.
In what manner?
In a fiscal sense, for starters, considering the family was keeping FIVE homes at one point: Four in Nevada and a new one in Arizona, carrying along with this FIVE mortgages.
For this reason, TLC has teased serious financial turmoil for Kody and everyone throughout the season ahead.
But this aforementioned special made it clear that more than just a lot of money was lost amid this move.
The Browns sort of lost one of their own in the process as well.
“So Gabe has been really struggling with the move,” Janelle said on air of her and Kody's son, elaborating as follows:
“He feels like we uprooted him, that he wanted to stay in Vegas to finish his school.”
Makes sense, doesn't it?
Gabe was entering his senior year of high school at the time and, instead of celebrating these final few pre-college months with close friends, he was taken away and forced to adjust to brand new surroundings.
The special then flashed back to another scene where Gabe, now 18, and his mother discussed the move on the previous season of the TLC program.
“Look, I know it’s hard,” Janelle tells herr teenage son, adding:
"You’re leaving your girlfriend and all that. But we have a lot of outdoor stuff that we can do.”
When one of Gabe’s brothers suggested he could simply move back to Las Vegas and live there “on his own,” Janelle got really made, putting her foot down and insisting that wouldn’t be happening until he was an adult.
“Why can’t I just live with Maddie?” Gabriel asked, referring to his older sister. “
"That’s not even on the table for discussion,” his mother fired back.
Back in the “present,” Janelle continued in the sneak peek:
“We felt like, of course, that he should be with the family, and that he would benefit from being here. But he’s still not very happy about being here.”
Gabe never tried to hide his feelings, either.
Later in this special, a producer asked several of the children how they felt about the move, to which Gabe answered:
“The move? What about it? I mean, yeah, of course, I don’t want to move. But I mean, it’s not … it’s not a bad area to visit. … I feel displaced.
"I mean, I don’t have my room anymore. I don’t have my house. I’m just kind of bouncing around, going wherever I’m told. That’s about it.”
It's easy to forget the toll that is taken on all the kids involved in this plural marriage, you know?
Kody, for his part, has not been understandings.
Back in February, he said his son was “being extremely dramatic” about the move when the family initially discussed it.
“I get it! It’s hard to move away from home. There important things at stake here. It is sad,” Kody Tweeted at the time.
Sister Wives returns with new episodes on Sunday, January 5 at 10/9c.
We'll be tuning in. Will you?!?