Sister Wives Recap: Christine Says Robin ‘Set Up’ Mary To Divorce Cody

Christine Brown, Robin Brown, Mary Brown, Cody Brown.
Opening (4)The Brown family redefined the drama around Mary Brownlegal divorce from Cody Brown for the last series Wife’s sister — with Christine Brown claiming that this is all Robin Brownan idea.
“When Robyn first came into the family, she started talking to us about these other families where the first wife divorced the husband so he could legally marry the second wife and legally adopt the children,” Christine, 52, told the Sunday, December. 29, episode of the TLC series.
Christine claimed that at that point she thought, “It’s a plant,” and that Robyn, 46, hinted that she wanted Mary, 53, to do the same for her and her children.
“She mentioned that several times over the years, she kind of put it in there because she really wanted it to happen,” Christine continued, noting, “I don’t think Mary felt it was planted. . I think Mary felt it was her own idea.’
Meri legally married 55-year-old Cody in 1990, becoming his first wife. The large family expanded its brood in 1993, when Cody spiritually married Janelle Brown. In 1994, Christina entered into a spiritual union with the patriarch.
When Robyn started dating Cody in 2010, she already had three children from a previous marriage. Four years later, Mary and Cody were legally divorced he married Robin and then adopted her children.
While Christine claimed it was Robin’s plan all along, she denied the allegations. “The idea that I, like, put the idea in Mary’s head is an absolute lie,” Robin said on Sunday’s episode. “I never said that.”
She claimed: “I don’t even know anyone who divorced their first wife so that the second could adopt children. I’ve never even heard of it before.’
Elsewhere in the episode, Robin claimed, “I feel like I was gassed by some family members,” implying that her actions had been misinterpreted.
Janelle, meanwhile, admitted that she was worried about Mary’s divorce from Cody in 2014 because of the dynamics their families at the time.
“I was actually speechless when (Mary) told us she was actually doing it because I thought Mary would never do that,” Janelle recalls. “At that point, I was already starting to see Robin with Cody as the favorite, and I was worried.”
Robyn, however, insisted that she never had any intention of legally marrying Cody, especially after her past divorce. She said it was Mary’s idea, while Mary said she initiated the review, but she and Cody discussed it together.

“(Mary) had this idea in her head to propose to me so Cody could adopt my kids,” Robyn told viewers, claiming “I didn’t even want to be legally married to Cody.”
Robyn claimed that she was “very grateful” that she “wasn’t going to get legally married” to Cody because she had been through “so much trauma with my legal divorce in my last marriage.”
She added: “I was very happy and satisfied with my spiritual marriage. I didn’t need anything else.”
Although Mary took steps to get a divorce in 2014, she didn’t think it would have such a big impact on her emotional state or her marriage to Cody.
“I really doubt if he had that plan in mind at the time (saying), ‘If I can do this, the transition will be easy,'” Mary told the cameras, claiming that during the “six months” of signing the papers, Cody “gave up coming.”
She recalled that she had “a lot of heartache” when she went to the lawyers to sign the papers because she didn’t feel “emotional support” from the other wives or Cody.
“There was a logical part of me that said, ‘No, you still have the spiritual side of marriage.’ It was an emotional feeling that I was getting rid of the whole marriage, Mary explained. “It was so hard. And I had to keep saying to myself, “No, it’s not like that.” We still have that spiritual marriage.”
Cody admitted that he didn’t think about ending his legal ties what a big deal. “In my opinion, we were just shuffling legal documents,” he said. “Mary and I left Robin after the divorce and went out to dinner together. I gave her a special ring and we probably went home and made love.’
Mary and Cody remained in spiritual union almost 10 more yearsbut their relationship never recovered after the legal break. (Mary confirmed her split from Cody in January 2023 after months of speculation. Meanwhile, Kristin and Janelle left Cody in 2021 and 2022, respectively.)
In retrospect, Mary claimed that their divorce and her decision to purchase a bed and breakfast in Utah (where her mother lived until her death) was a way for Cody to distance himself from their marriage.
“I think it’s interesting that I’m actually living in this house, because when I bought the house, that wasn’t the intention,” Mary said in the episode after moving from Arizona to Utah for good. “I know Cody felt that way. I think other family members too.”
She denied it was her ‘escape plan’, claiming: ‘I think the escape plan was that legal divorce. Let’s be real, this was his escape plan.’
Wife’s sister airs Sundays at 10pm ET on TLC.