I finally got around to watching Sunday’s episode of “Sister Wives.” While some are calling it boring, I actually enjoyed it more than the the other episodes I’ve seen this season. They didn’t focus on the kids much this time, which was a relief. On this episode the Brown family was visited by a couple from their church who are currently monogamous with six kids but who have the same belief system and are hoping to take on other wives. It was a nice look into their belief system, and I found myself rooting for The Browns again. I’m coming back around to my original viewpoint that they should live however they want to. I’ve felt that way all along, but I’ve lost sight of that amid all the reality show drama with this family. To me, they’re a target for mocking because they’re on a reality show and are putting their kids and family out there, not because they chose to have several women living with one man.

Anyway Kody gave a little sermon at his house about how Warren Jeffs, the convicted former leader of the FLDS church who “married” and raped child brides, is an evil leader and how there was a similar evil leader guy in the Book of Mormon. All the wives said they felt sorry for the people and the moms in the compound under Jeffs’ control and they claimed that one of the reasons that Jeffs was able to do such atrocious things to that community (I’m paraphrasing) was that people were afraid to come out as polygamists. It’s not like the members of that compound could turn to law enforcement for help, because their lifestyle was illegal too. Christine said she was appalled that people thought that the FLDS type of polygamy was the “norm.”

Here’s a good recap of the show:

In the latest “Sister Wives,” we get a look into the principle of plural marriage as Kody advises his friend Andy about courting a second wife and the Browns talk about Warren Jeffs, the “prophet” of the FLDS.

So some friends from Utah come to visit, Andy and Nicole. They were raised in plural marriage and believe that, but they are monogamous. Interesting. Andy wants to talk to Kody about dating a woman as a married man. Andy and Nicole already have six children and Andy isn’t sure he should be going after a young woman with no children.

Andy’s take on the Brown family is that they’re in a divorce in Las Vegas because they don’t all live together in one house. Huh. He also doesn’t want to leave one wife home alone when he goes to sleep with the second wife. Huh.

Back at home, Mykelti tells her mom Christine how proud she is of her family for being public about their beliefs and their lifestyle and not being afraid and changing the minds of people. Totally. I’m not a polygamist, but obviously the Browns are not one of those crazy compounds where old men marry underage girls and to each their own and good for them for going public.

This leads into a segment about Warren Jeffs, the “prophet” of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints Church. Did you watch “Big Love”? He’s Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton) from “Big Love.”

Kody teaches his kids about how these leaders, who should’ve been noble and benevolent, and instead preyed upon young women in their community. The Browns don’t want to demonize the people from a compound like where Jeffs has them living because those people need help. He’s the bad guy, but the people there need rescuing.

Finally, they take Nicole and Andy on a dinner cruise on Lake Mead. The wives wonder about whether Nicole is looking forward to a relationship with her sister wives. She is hesitant. Her advantages of plural marriage seem to be playmates for her kids and more moms. Hmm.

Spin-off for Nicole and Andy? It would definitely be a different perspective on polygamy than what the Brown family offered when they first started the show.

[From Zap2It]

That last line to me is key. Andy seemed sort-of genuine about being curious about how to bring on other wives, but I’m also pretty sure he and his wife visited the Browns so they could get on TV. This is my biggest problem with the show; it’s not about how one doofus husband has four wives at all, it’s about how they’re creating a whole reality show around it with ensuing drama for their family and their poor kids. This cannot end well. Plus, they moved to Vegas and uprooted their poor kids with almost no notice. That never would have done that if they weren’t on television.

Meanwhile the youngest and dumbest sister wive, Robyn, recently tweeted that she was abused in her first marriage. She wrote “Just to clarify, I do not tolerate my kids getting bullied. I ended my first marriage because of abuse. My kids come first ALWAYS.” She didn’t specify which type of abuse she endured, whether physical or emotional, and she later deleted that tweet. We haven’t heard anything from Robyn’s first husband at all, but I’d be very interested to get his take on this whole situation.

Here’s a clip from Sunday’s episode where their friend compares separate living arrangements to a divorce. It’s weird.