The Browns throw a birthday party for Robyn, then move her closer to the family house in preparation for getting married.
Robyn is turning 30, which makes her the youngest wife, and the other wives throw her a birthday party, proving that even with all the confusion and emotional upheaval, they still like her and want her to feel welcome in their family. Christine is nearing her due date, but she’s concerned that she’s too old to have more babies, or that she’s not properly recovered from the miscarriage she had a year before, or that she’s got enough kids already. Madison, one of the older daughters, has decided she wants to be an only wife. And all the moms and most of the kids team up together to move Robyn closer to the family’s massive home — but not into it yet, because she’s not married and it would be improper to cohabitate just yet.
Now that the wedding is decided and getting closer, they’ve decided that a five hour drive is too much, so Janelle stays home with the younger kids and Christine and Meri and seven older kids head down to pack up her household and get everyone closer together. The distance was putting a strain on everyone, but this is something they can all do together, to make the distance smaller and to bring everyone together. And it’s sweet that Robyn doesn’t want to live with Kody until they’re married — sweetly old-fashioned. As this show unfolds, it proves that the family is a melting pot of old and new ideas, and that they, too, have a balance to maintain in the group.
The move was a big step, proof that all of this is real. But there were drawbacks, too. Robyn’s oldest, Dayton, has Asperger’s syndrome, which is a high-functioning form of Autism, and changing his routine has risks. He might not adjust well. He might not get along with a household full of kids and multiple moms. But in the end, it was decided that it was worth the risk and necessary.
This episode touches on the importance of how this lifestyle is a choice — the parents chose to multi-marry, while Madison has so far chosen not to do so, and each parent makes a point of saying that it’s all a choice. They want to give their kids the option of living the way they were raised, but they say they’ll support them whatever choices they make.
I can’t help but think that the emphasis is here because of all the exposes of forced teen marriage and wife-slavery that surface every few years and inform the popular imagination of what it means to be a fundamentalist Mormon. They don’t say so in so many words, but the thought has to be there. People who buy into that sort of polygamy, that lifestyle, are obviously out there, but the Browns are careful to point out that they’re not like that. They’re a family like any other.
On the other side, there’s apparently a secretiveness about this kind of marriage. Robyn says that there were times when she couldn’t claim her father as her own and he couldn’t claim her as his family, because multi-marriages are still frowned upon — and illegal. She says that being on the show is going to be a shock for some of the people she knows, and I have to wonder if that is part of why she’s moving, or part of what helped make the decision: a new start in a new place as she makes herself and her life so public. She doesn’t want her kids to have to hide like she did, and it’s moving that she doesn’t have to deny what she is anymore.
More thoughts on “Wives on the Move”:
* Meri is happiest when she’s in control, this is obvious. And it’s likely where the drama from her side of the equation will come from, since this whole lifestyle is set up in such a way that there’s no sole powerholder, and if there’s something close, it’s Kody, not his wives.
* It’s good to see all the wives and the soon-to-be wife getting along, but how long ago was that birthday party? Meri’s hair is totally different. All reality shows rearrange the footage so make each episode into a narrative, but usually there isn’t something as noticeable as a whole other haircut to make it easy to point out the condensation of time!
* These people cry a lot. Really, a lot. It’s interesting that the whole family is so emotionally open. Is this the result of their family structure, or is it what allows them to be a family of this nature?
* Now that they’re all closer together, it will be more than interesting to see how the families merge — and whether there are stumbling blocks along the way, as there really should be to keep the show compelling. Will the jealousies get worse when Kody has easier access to Robyn? Will the kids all get along? Will Robyn’s kids like their new school and their new family as much as they did when everyone lived separately?
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.