Sister Wives Recap: Janelle Says Kody Listens to Wives for ‘Leverage’

Janelle Brown backed up sister wife Meri Brown after she realized their shared ex-husband, Kody Brown, allegedly never listened to them about their passions or travel dreams.

During the Sunday, December 1, episode of Sister Wives, Meri, 53, met up with Kody, 55, and Robyn Brown to discuss finally paying off Coyote Pass, their vacant lot in Arizona. But first, she gushed over her recent trip to London.

“I mean Stonehenge is a place I’ve wanted to go for years,” Meri said before looking directly at her ex-spouse, adding, “You know, I’ve been obsessed with it for years, so it’s just awesome to be there.”

Kody got a big grin on his face, asking, “Stonehenge? There’s gotta be other places that were cool?”

Meri was visibly upset by Kody’s reaction, rolling her eyes over his remark. “Remember when we used to be married and remember when we used to, like, be interested in each other and remember when — how I’ve been obsessed with Stonehenge?” she replied. “Did you not know that I’m obsessed with Stonehenge and how important this was to me?”

Kody didn’t verbally respond. Instead, he just sat at the table and nodded his head. “I mean, I’ve only talked about it and obsessed about it for 25 years,” Meri later told the cameras of the U.K. landmark.

She then revealed, “It’s interesting, you know, when you realize that something that was so meaningful that your partner really had no idea and really could care less.”

Meri — who confirmed her split from Kody in January 2023 after more than 30 years of marriage — wasn’t alone in her frustration with the family patriarch. Janelle, 55, told the cameras she had similar experiences with Kody over the years before their separation in December 2022.

“I honestly have found Kody will forget things that are important to me that I’ve been talking about unless he’s interested in it,” Janelle claimed. “Or he can use it as somehow leverage to say, ‘You need to do this, and we can do this. You need to do this so we can go to Ireland.’”

Christine Brown agreed with both of her former sister wives, alleging, “If you wanted to do things with Kody, you really had to live in his world and do things in his world and what he was interested in.”

She claimed when it came down to “what you were interested in” Kody would be like, “Eh, not so much. Not really [interested].” (Christine, 52, left Kody in November 2021.)

Kody, however, blamed his apparent inability to pay attention to his spouses, both past and present, on his gender. “Oh gosh, I’m a guy. There are certain things I’m just going to remember and there are certain things that just aren’t going to matter to me, even if they do matter to you,” he said in a confessional. “Sometimes it’s just selective memory.”

Kody’s attention span — or lack thereof — wasn’t the only thing his ex-wives didn’t agree with him on during Sunday’s episode. Janelle and Meri had very different ideas than Kody about what should happen with their Coyote Pass property.

Prior to paying off the land in Flagstaff, Arizona, Kody had sectioned off plots for each family. There were two lots for Kody and Robyn, whom he is still married to, one lot for Janelle and Kody and one lot for Janelle, Meri and Kody. (The second Kody and Robyn plot was initially Christine and Kody’s but she gave it to him when they divorced.)

During the second half of Sunday’s episode, viewers learned that Kody had tentatively switched up the plots as they prepared to send in the money. Robyn, Janelle, Meri and Kody would all have their own parcel, with Kody and Meri sharing a middle piece of land between their two lots.

“Right now, we’re kind of in this no man’s land,” Janelle told the cameras. “Like, I have a lawyer. Kody’s not really talking to me about what he wants to do. He’s not acting excited or enthused or even, like, wanting to move forward with this. And I would just as soon he buy me out, but I just want to get this resolved and sold and split four ways.”

Meri, meanwhile, revealed she wants to get an appraisal even though Kody doesn’t want one. “I’m not married to Kody anymore. I’m not part of Kody and Robyn’s unit. I have to look out for myself,” she said in a confessional. “I talk about it like Kody’s in charge of the whole property. It’s because he really has a monopoly on it. His name is on every single piece of property.”

She added, “If it gets to the point that I would need an attorney, I would do that. I hope that it doesn’t get there, but I would do that if I need to.”

Janelle noted that she thinks dividing the land is only going to lead to more issues. “I believe that Kody is resistant to getting an appraisal because he knows he’s making out like a bandit,” she said. “Now he wants us to trust that he knows what he’s talking about with the values of the property.”

Robyn agreed to the appraisal idea as well, but Kody claimed it is too much work. “I look out there and it’s sort of a source of pain in a way,” Kody explained. “I don’t want to put in more money. I don’t want to do appraisals. I don’t want to talk to lawyers about it. I don’t know what to do. I’m not interested in doing anything.”

The group ended at a standstill, leaving the issue of how they will ultimately divide the land — and who will either build on it or sell — open ended.

Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.