Meri Brown has been out of sight and out of Kody Brown’s mind for ages. It has become a running inside joke with Sister Wives fans that the patriarch has no love left to give Meri after her catfishing incident that left Kody feeling betrayed.
However, up until recently, Meri has stuck around day in and day out, hoping for just a kernel of attention from the polygamist. Sadly, her pining away has just made the mother of one look desperate, which is a surefire way to turn off the father of 18. Kody is no victim in this situation, as he often preyed on Meri’s willingness and hope for the future to manipulate many situations in his favor.
Let’s face it—Kody has never been a fan favorite, but you have to give the man some credit. Over the seasons, he has honed in on being able to manipulate some wives more than others and uses his superpower for evil. Whether it is accepting homemade Rice Krispie Treats or inviting Meri over for Christmas, Kody knows how to keep his wives waiting around for his next move, and sadly, sometimes, they fall for the tricks.
Meri’s story has been hard to watch since it is obvious to outsiders that Kody hasn’t loved Meri for years, leaving her to fight for the unrequited love.
Kody Doesn’t Consider Himself Married to Meri
The first major red flag regarding Kody’s innermost feelings towards his first wife is the fact that he has openly stated he no longer feels he is in a union with Meri. During Season 17, Kody noted that he wouldn’t be upset if Meri were to go and find another man to be with, stating he thought she would have left long ago. The husband-to-one now also noted that he was confused about why she still lived in Flagstaff when her thriving B&B was in Utah.
In previous seasons, Kody actually suggested that Meri leave and relocate to Utah permanently. It was an obvious tactic to try and have Meri distance herself so he wouldn’t have to deal with the emotional baggage. It was also a ploy to be alone with just Robyn Brown, his fourth and favorite wife. Kody has a nasty habit of pushing away the wives he is done with, forcing them to make the decision to leave the marriage and being the bad guys,
Kody Just Wants To Be Friends
The father of 18 is constantly tattling on himself, with the Sister Wives Season 18 premiere being no different. One of the first things he says about Meri is that sometimes you realize you’re actually better friends with someone than partners, revealing you can end up having a fulfilling friendship, too. But later in the same episode, Kody shows his colors as a hypocrite while bashing Christine Brown.
During his tirade, he used Meri and his relationship as an example of how to repair a broken relationship. He said she’s stuck around so they can diligently work on things to decipher whether or not their relationship is viable and commends her for not “running away” as Christine did.
The statement confused TLC fans as Kody hasn’t been in a close relationship with Meri in over 10 years and openly admitted that he no longer reaches out to her. Honestly, who needs enemies when you have friends like Kody?
Kody Doesn’t Care About the Distance
The patriarch doesn’t acknowledge that he truly has a broken relationship with Meri, but he does commit to ignoring her. Kody seems to care more about the number of wives he still has than the state of his marriages. For Kody, as long as he can show people he still lives a plural marriage in his book, he is doing everything right.
However, Meri has finally started to acknowledge that her husband doesn’t give a “rat’s a**” about her and is thinking about moving permanently to Utah in hopes of a new start. It is hard to watch Meri keep holding out hope that something will change when Kody doesn’t even speak kindly to her or watch out for her.
TELL US – HOW ELSE DO YOU THINK KODY BROWN HAS HURT MERI?
