How is this for some sweet and suspenseful irony?
Sister Wives Season 15 will premiere this Sunday, which also happens to be Valentine's Day.
Will love be in the air for Kody Brown and his four spouses?
It sure doesn't seem that way!
Back in mid-January, TLC released a trailer for upcoming episodes of this long-running reality series.
The footage made it clear at the time that tension between Kody, Janelle, Robyn, Christine and Meri is running higher than ever, with nearly no wife happy about the family's move to Arizona.
And no wife particularly happy about where things stand with Kody, either.
“How can we work our relationships if we can’t even see each other to talk to?” Meri Brown wonders at one point, making a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic and necessary quarantine.
Due to the dangerous circumstances that have enveloped the country for nearly a year now, Janelle is also concerrned about COVID-19 spreading amongst her loved ones.
She then pointed out that Kody is the “only one that’s going from home to home,” which means that if he ever tests positive... all the Browns could be in trouble.
“I’ve been contacting family by phone,” Kody said last year, explaining that his large family has stopped gathering amid the outbreal.
“Me and my wives have done a couple of conference calls and we’ll probably do more where we update each other on everything going on within our family.”
So... what is going on within the family?
What can viewers expect from Season 15?
Let's start with the title of the premiere, "Being Strong or Being a Bitch."
What the heck, right?
Here is the official synopsis:
Janelle gathers Kody and the wives to talk about their increasingly tense family dynamic.
Kody gets honest and says no loner wants to advocate for polygamy.
Robyn and Christine open up about their own insecurities as they question everything.
Doesn't sound very encouraging, does it? In terms of the family staying together long-term?
Episode two of the season will air on February 21 and be titled "Felons No More."
Here is the official synopsis:
The Browns visit their polygamist friends to discuss the sudden and exciting possibility that polygamy will be decriminalized in Utah.
The car trip to get there is a mess, but once there, the excitement is palpable.
As for the feuds that will be featured this winter and spring?
The awkwardness between Robyn and Christine is tangible the teaser.
“We don’t have to do anything together,” Christine says on air, as Robyn looks at her in shock.
“If you know that she’s actually trying to sabotage your relationship with Kody, you can’t trust her,” Robyn says in a follow-up solo confessional.
There's also the beef between Meri and Kody, of course, which has been ongoing for... forever? Give or take a few years.
“I can’t make him love me,” Meri says about her spiritual husband, while Kody even hesitated to kiss Meri during a picnic date.
“Romance and sex are saved for people who are in love,” he tells the cameras, actually adding:
“If Meri and I really wanted to be together, we would."
Of course, these episodes were filmed many months ago.
And in early December, Meri assured fans that she is very content in her marriage, no matter what you might hear or read otherwise.
“I’m well aware that we, as a family, have chosen to put ourselves ‘out there’, which, in turn, brings about all kinds of speculation, commentary, and opinions,” she wrote two months ago.
Meri then added...
“But it comes down to this:
My relationship with him is MY relationship with him.
"Sure we’ve had ups and downs through the years (I mean, isn’t that somewhat normal?) High highs and low lows. All of which, you get to see ‘some’ of, and speculate on. And that’s OK. You do you, boo."
In conclusion?
"Here’s my truth.
"I love him. I love my family. I’m committed. I have 30 years in this. We struggle. We communicate.
"We repair relationships as the parties involved are willing and able.”