Over the years, Cody Brown from Sister Wives has been caught in some terrible fibs and deflections. Sister Wives premiered in 2010, bringing polygamous relationships to the forefront of reality TV. Cody was at the head of the family with his three wives: Mary, Janelle, and Christine Brown. After living as a core unit of four with their children, they welcomed Robin Brown as the fourth and final wife of the family. Season 1 of the series spotlighted the family’s journey, recording Robin and their eventual wedding.
Over two decades since the show premiered, Sister Wives Season 19 is coming up, showing the ending of Cody’s relationships with his first three wives. Christine grew tired of waiting for her husband to give her attention, and when he told her they couldn’t have an intimate marriage any longer, she broke up with him. Shortly after, the cracks in Cody’s relationships with Janelle and Mary Brown were on full display, and they both chose to leave him. Since his divorces, Cody’s marriage with Robin has faltered, and to save their relationship, he may need to stop lying.
Leading up to the release of Sister Wives Season 19, TLC shared a promotional video on their Instagram, playing a round of word association with the cast. When Cody was presented with the word “marriage,” he replied, “now the source of all joy.” However, he made a similar quip when asked about the word “family,” replying it reminded him of “the source of all joy and all pain.” Fans in the comment sections accused Cody of lying about his marriage with Robin after the Season 19 trailer indicated they were at a rough point in their relationship.
Cody continuously made his exes feel like they were a problem in their marriages and the Brown family dynamics. After many years together, Mary’s relationship took a negative turn when she got caught in a catfish cheating scandal. She believed she had real feelings for someone who turned out not to be real. Cody was never able to trust Mary again after she got catfished, even though she had put up with years of neglect until that point. After accusing her of cheating on him, she worked to salvage their marriage, but he didn’t reciprocate. Cody strung Mary along, leading her to believe they had a chance to rekindle their romance. On their 32nd wedding anniversary, he didn’t make any plans to commemorate the milestone. Mary called him to ask for dinner, but he initially tried to make an excuse not to attend. When he went, he told her he was tired of faking relationships.
In contrast, Cody punished Christine for her behavior as a sister wife toward Robin. “I’m not okay with staying in a marriage where there’s no intimacy. That’s not a real marriage,” he stated. As the intimacy in Cody and Christine’s relationship dwindled, he began spending more time with his fourth wife. Christine always called Robin out as the favorite wife, though he swore he didn’t play favorites. When they sat down to talk about their lack of intimacy, Cody admitted he didn’t want to have a physical relationship with her because he thought she was a bad sister wife.
After the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, Cody’s relationships with his children became strained. He notably feuded with Janelle’s sons because he thought they were being disrespectful for not following safety rules he made up for the family. While he claimed to be working on his relationship with his children, Janelle revealed he had given them the ultimatum of apologizing to him and Robin to salvage their relationships. “He’s not made any effort; he’s still acting like they need to come to him,” Janelle added. Unfortunately, it seems Cody hasn’t gotten on better terms with his children. He also made the unfortunate decision not to travel for his and Christine’s daughter Isabelle’s scoliosis surgery. Cody was afraid of contracting COVID-19 and giving it to one of his and Robin’s children by attending her procedure. However, that may have been an excuse for him not to have to spend time with Christine.
Cody’s recent fibs turned Sister Wives fans against him. After years of gaslighting Mary, Janelle, and Christine, the women left him to live a life of monogamy with Robin. Cody forgets his words and actions are filmed for the show, leading him down a messy spiral of lying and deflection. Sister Wives star Robin Brown prides herself on talking for Cody. She shared with viewers quite a few instances on the TLC series where this supposedly came in handy when the other wives were confused about Cody’s intentions. Robin would swoop in and save the day from that confusion. She appeared to know what he meant when the others didn’t, and she also had the other wives believing she could get through to him when they couldn’t.
However, now fans see this as an influence she held over her co-wives, rather than a gift. Viewers think it comes straight from her box of manipulation tools, and perhaps her husband finally sees this too. Robin had her co-wives sing her praises over her famous skills with Cody. Her “converse Cody” gift came in handy, or at least that’s what the Sister Wives girls suggested back when they were unified on screen. But that was years ago, when they all looked to Robin for help when talking things over with their shared husband.
Janelle Brown and Christine Brown were the first to dismiss Robin’s special skills. Last season, both women finally admitted how their marriages should have stayed between each wife and their shared husband. So while they fell for it, they know now that they should have taken on their issues with Cody without her help.
A shift within the Sister Wives household changed the dynamics of Robin and her now monogamous husband. Fans noticed how the couple now shows affection in front of others, a shift from when Cody prided himself on not displaying public affection with any of his wives. This was his rule to avoid creating jealousy among his wives. But with Robin, the only Sister Wives bride left, he seemed to unplug that rule.
It also seems like Cody lost another piece of his life with Robin, that being her speaking for him. In the first episode of Sister Wives Season 19, she tried to explain to the fans what her husband was thinking when he said this or that. However, that didn’t work this time. Cody appeared in his confessional and explained things just as he saw them, but his interpretation didn’t always coincide with what Robin said during the premiere of Season 19. Cody didn’t leap to agree with Robin, as viewers have seen previously; he almost seemed confused by what the wife who prides herself on speaking for him was saying.
Robin typically turned into the voice of Cody for the other wives, but in the new season, it seems he begins to take that back from her. Fans were shocked when Cody contradicted his fourth wife while they mulled over preserving or selling Coyote Pass. Gone are the times when Robin fed him ideas about the wives changing their minds. During the first episode of the new Sister Wives season, Robin thought Mary Brown might still build on Coyote Pass. She also thought Janelle Brown might change her mind and reboot their marriage. Cody Brown wouldn’t buy into her cheerleading session as he once did, so fans see her as no longer having three wives to “converse Cody” for. They now see that Cody can let her speak for him, which fans suggest was a long time coming.
