‘Sister Wives’ Season 4 Finale: ‘Polygamist Marriage Therapy’ — The Browns Go On A Couples Retreat
The Browns have a very complicated family structure — so it’s no surprise that they were seeing a marriage counselor while they were living in Utah. Now the Browns revisit their issues by going on a couples retreat to Sedona, Arizona with their old therapist Pat, who specializes in plural marriages, and a new marriage counselor named Nancy.
One of the key reasons the Browns wanted to go to therapy is to create a family mission statement. It’s about time because they have been talking about this pretty much all season!
The Browns are overjoyed to see Pat, who greets them all with big hugs. They kick off the trip with a meditation session at the red rocks, where everyone gets in touch with their inner peace — except for Kody, who can’t escape an army of ants!
In a group therapy session later that day, Robyn points out that the wives are all more invested in their relationship with Kody than their relationships with each other, which Nancy sees as something very important for the wives to work on. Janelle says she’s happy to “be separate” and she doesn’t feel that invested in her relationships with the other wives — and it seems her counterparts feel the same way. Looks like the sister wives have a lot of work to do!
Where Would The Sister Wives Be Without Kody?
The Browns do a lot of what Kody calls “hippie” stuff on the retreat, including an activity where they create a family “sculpture,” positioning their bodies to show how close they feel to each other. Everyone ends up several feet away from each other, and that’s when the sad emotional distance between the wives seems to really hit home for everyone.
Despite the disconnect, the sister wives all agree that their ultimate goal is to become as close to each other as they are to Kody, and he agrees that he can’t always be the common denominator.
“We’re not truly a family unless, upon my death, you stay a family,” he says.
With the sister wives being so distant from each other, it’s hard to believe that they would stick together without Kody. But asking that question seems to have helped them confront the fact that they need to work on their individual relationships if they want to function as a family.
On their last day in Sedona, Nancy has the Browns do an exercise where they write down important values — such as faith, love and forgiveness — that they would like to include in their family mission statement.
This helps them realize that they all have the same end goal — to live together in faith and harmony — they just have different ways of getting there. They know the process won’t be easy but they’re all in it for the long haul! We’re so impressed with them for staying together and working towards a stronger, healthier marriage!
‘Sister Wives Tell All’ In Interview With Tamron Hall
In the second half of the finale, the Browns sit down for a shocking tell-all interview with NBC’s Tamron Hall. Kody, Meri, Christine, Robyn and Janelle talk about all the ups and downs they went through over season four, opening up about jealousy, Meri’s potential pregnancy and why Kody needs to “put on his big boy panties.”
Tamron asks Kody if each of his wives fulfill different needs for him, but he says he could have a functional marriage with any one of his four wives. He says there is no favorite wife or a “queen bee,” and the fact that outsiders can’t grasp that only goes to show that they don’t understand polygamy.
“To put our square peg in that round hole is impossible,” he says.
For a tell-all, some of the wives are pretty tight-lipped when it comes to answering Tamron’s questions. Meri especially is not being her usual vulnerable self, evading Tamron’s question about whether there is jealousy among the wives. But when Tamron asks her how she felt about Kody making the decision about whether they should have another baby together, Meri gets emotional.
She reveals that while she’s happy for her sister wives every time they get pregnant, at the same time, it’s very painful for her because she knows she can’t conceive. Poor Meri! This has been her greatest struggle all season and she still seems pretty devastated about being an empty nester now that her only child, Mariah, is leaving for college. We hope Kody is taking Meri’s depression seriously, but he still doesn’t seem to understand what he put her through by saying no to baby #2.
One of the most interesting questions Tamron asked was if Kody planned to take a fifth wife. Kody makes it very clear that they are not swingers and it’s insulting when women come up to them and flippantly ask them if they can be the fifth wife.
After skirting the issue for so long that Christine starts to get worried, Kody says he’s not interested in a taking a fifth wife, which is probably for the best — he’s got enough on his plate! But the Browns are planning a wedding — a recommitment ceremony to each other! Hopefully we’ll get to see the happy occasion on the fifth season of Sister Wives. We can’t wait!
What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Was going to therapy a good move for the Browns? Do YOU think therapy is a useful tool in a marriage or relationship?
WATCH: ‘Sister Wives’: Kody Brown Turns 45
— Tierney McAfee
More ‘Sister Wives’ On HollywoodLife.com:
- TLC Renews ‘Sister Wives’ For Fourth Season
- ‘Sister Wives’ Recap: Kody & Meri Fight About Having Another Baby
- ‘Sister Wives’: Kody Brown’s Family Refused Entry At Mormon Museum