Sister Wives Season 18 Episode 4 Recap: Shocking Moments

•  Sister Wives season 18 episode 4 showed the strain in the Brown family, with Meri feeling isolated after spending time with Kody and Robyn.
•  The fallout between Janelle and Kody has caused their relationship to fracture, with Kody considering divorce as a solution.
•  Janelle spent Christmas with her children, revealing that she and Kody had a bad fight and that her financial situation was worsening.

Sister Wives season 18 episode 4, “A Deal With the Devil”, showed viewers the Christmas holidays with the Brown family, which left Meri Brown feeling isolated and alone after spending time with her husband Kody Brown and her sister wife Robyn Brown. Throughout Sister Wives season 18, there has been a massive shift in the tone of the family, especially with the departure of Kody’s ex-wife Christine Brown. While Kody was still married to Janelle Brown during the Christmas holidays, she chose not to spend her time with their children in a separate location after a huge blowout fight between the pair.

While the fallout between Janelle and Kody played a massive part in their demise, it wasn’t clear throughout the episode that the couple were over. Kody spent a huge part of the episode with his friend Nathan, who provided a different perspective on how divorce works for a husband with several wives. Although Nathan’s perspective was interesting, it pushed Kody to dig in his heels about his situation, making it more difficult to change his mind about Janelle, Christine, or Meri. Throughout Sister Wives season 18, Kody’s relationships with his now ex-wives has been strained, and things only got worse.

Kody And Janelle Discussed Their Relationship After Fighting

After their massive blowout fight from Sister Wives season 18 episode 3, Kody and Janelle checked in with the Sister Wives cameras about how they were feeling. In a video shot from Janelle’s phone, she shared that she was completely blindsided by the argument. She was still angry with Kody for trying to gaslight her throughout the conversation, and still hoping to find a bridge to communicate about things in their relationship. Still, Janelle made it clear that she wasn’t happy with how Kody had spoken to her and then went into panic mode about her financial situation.

Janelle spoke openly about the fact that she’d sunk the majority of her financial assets into Coyote Pass, the land that Kody and his wives had purchased in order to build their family estate. Sharing that at 50, she had nothing to her name and wasn’t sure how she’d gotten into this mess of a situation, she made it clear that things were not going well. Kody shared that he was still angry from the fight as well. He spoke in an interview segment filmed later, so his emotions were a bit more pulled back, but he shared that his relationship with Janelle was feeling fractured beyond repair.

Janelle Spent Christmas With Her Children

After her fight with Kody, Janelle decided to embrace the Christmas spirit and spent the holiday with her children as planned. The family had rented a house for the occasion, since Janelle’s apartment wouldn’t fit all of her children traveling in from around the country. Joined by nearly all of her kids, Janelle was thrilled to be spending the holiday with her loved ones, but things were obviously somewhat stilted without Kody in the picture. Throughout their time together, it was clear that Janelle had a lot more on her mind than just the holidays.

During their Christmas festivities, Janelle shared with the children that she and Kody had been fighting. While none of the kids were surprised, they did press her for details about what was happening with parents. Janelle didn’t want to keep things from the family, she did water the argument down a bit for her children. “I kind of told the kids their dad and I had had a really bad fight that we probably weren’t coming back from,” Janelle shared in an interview segment. “My kids weren’t surprised, they’ve observed our relationship for several years and thought maybe it was time for me to do something different, find something better.”

Kody & Robyn Toned Down Their Romantic Relationship For Christmas With Meri

Christmas at Kody and Robyn’s house was an elaborate affair, with Kody feeling the strain of their family not being all together for the holidays. While Robyn spoke during the episode and in the past about her children feeling the weight of Christine’s departure, she shared once again that she and Kody were trying to mitigate any strange feelings for the kids surrounding the fact that none of their extended family was around for Christmas. In order to distract the kids, according to Robyn, Kody planned an elaborate surprise and purchased all his and Robyn’s kids motorbikes. It was clear that his efforts were working as the kids were excited.

When Meri got to Kody and Robyn’s, things got a bit awkward. In an interview segment, Kody acknowledged the fact that things were likely very uncomfortable for Meri when it came to being in close quarters for the Christmas holiday. “It’s probably very awkward for Meri. This is mine and Robyn’s house,” Kody shared, “Robyn and I always have to tone down our romantic tension completely.” While Meri is deeply aware of Kody and Robyn’s relationship, her own relationship with Kody is far less intimate.

Robyn, in turn, felt the pressure about Meri coming over for Christmas. “I know that it’s different for Meri and Kody. Out of respect for her and out of love for her, I’m careful,” Robyn shared. For her part, Meri did seem to feel like a bit of a third wheel, commenting on just how strange the holiday felt without Janelle or Christine. “Kody doesn’t hide things well and I’m well aware. It’s kind of like being the other woman,” Meri laughed in an interview segment. She later shared a personal clip where she explained that she and Robyn were, “the only ones trying to hold the family together.”

Kody Talked To A Friend About His Next Steps In Plural Marriage