Janelle says Kody has changed up the rules of their marriage and wants her to be more like Robyn in Sunday's 'Sister Wives.'
After Christine Brown has officially divorced Kody and left town, another sister wife is contemplating the status of her marriage to the father of 18 on Sunday's Sister Wives. Kody and his second wife, Janelle Brown, have been at-odds throughout most of the season as she's lent her support to Christine amid the split and had to toe the line between Kody and their older children who are upset by his COVID protocols.
Noting that the summer has been "rocky" between her and Kody, Janelle tries to go out for a solo meal with her husband to "bring us back to a more stable place."
But if anything, the meal puts their marriage in question more than ever before. Kody immediately starts calling out his and Janelle's kids for their recent estrangement and for putting his fourth wife, Robyn, "in their crosshairs."
Robyn says in her confessional interview that she received texts and phone calls from Gabe and Garrison blaming her for the tension in the family.
"When Robyn comes into the family, she gets time with me and she gets attention to her children. I think that was just too much for some of them. I think they were just jealous," Kody says in his aside interview, adding to Janelle, "I have somebody in my life who is fundamentally loyal to me, who sees me as the head of the family. I'm saying to you that you and I get that if you're loyal to me."
Janelle is shocked by Kody's statement, thinking that he's saying he wants her to be more like Robyn.
"I'm not telling Janelle to be more like Robyn. I'm telling Janelle she should be loyal. I have 100 percent loyalty from Robyn," Kody says. "I'm asking for loyalty. I'm asking to be the head of my household."
Janelle is upset by these comments, calling out Kody after he's made several references to the return of "the patriarchy" in their plural family.
"Here he is blatantly saying what I've suspected," she says. "'This person is loyal and treats me like the head of the household and if you really want to be a wife to me, this is how you need to be. I'm not going to be this person. I'm not going to become Robyn."
Noting that Kody's take on their family "frustrates me beyond belief," she adds that her husband sees Robyn as "so perfect" and says she "was treated so wrong," and thinks everyone should apologize to Robyn.
"I don't perceive it that way. I perceive we were a plural family trying to figure it out and she always kind of kept herself a little separate," Janelle says of Robyn.
"Trying to blend with the family wasn't easy. There was always challenges, but it's something I wanted desperately was to be a part of this family," Robyn disagrees in her confessional.
Janelle asks Kody if he would defend her the way he defends Robyn were the situation reversed and he replies, "You and I have been acting like we weren't a married couple for most of our marriage, Janelle. I don't know why it's been OK for so many years and it's not now, but you actually live like a single woman."
"I always felt like I had to make my own decisions for me. I thought that's what plural marriage was about, being independent," Janelle tells him.
She adds in her confessional that in the past she's asked her husband for help, saying that her needs have been ignored.
"I decided to be my own hero and I rescued myself and I started doing things for myself," the mother of six says.
Janelle finds herself really trying to decide whether her marriage to Kody still works, saying he thinks "everybody's gotta conform and then we're good. No, that's not what I signed up for."
Things come to a head when Kody tells Janelle, "Maybe this is not a good fit. Maybe this doesn't work."
Janelle seems confused by Kody's comment, saying she feels like he's changed the rules of their marriage on her.
"You always acted like I was a good wife. We were great," she tells him. "I was making my own decisions and we would come together and it felt like you were OK with that."
Kody comments that it feels as if they are "unraveling" and Janelle adds in her confessional interview that she too is questioning whether she and Kody are still a good match.
"I never thought that I would ever be in a place where I would be questioning my relationship, but the last few years I began to wonder if we're compatible anymore," Janelle admits. "Maybe this doesn't work for me anymore, I don't know."
She elaborates, "I don't know if you can change the way our relationship was for 30 years all of the sudden. Maybe that's a sign that it just doesn't work anymore. I'm not someone who throws the towel in on a marriage, but it seems almost like there's this gulf now."
Fresh off his split from Christine, Kody finds himself comparing his marriage to Janelle with his previous one to Christine.
"I'm evaluating my life. Are we going to be any better than me and Christine? If we don't improve something here, that's what I'm looking for," he says. "For me emotionally, it's sinking. The ship is sinking."
Janelle tries to smooth things over, telling Kody, "You're my best friend. You're the person I want to tell everything to," but Kody responds, "You've got to know it too. There's something fundamentally wrong here."
Janelle says she doesn't know if it's possible for them to come back from their current place, even admitting that while she has "so much affection" for her husband, she's not sure if it's love.
Janelle asks Kody if he still wants a plural family, and he responds, "I question it all the time. I guess."
"Me too, I've had to really question myself in this last year," Janelle admits. "Do I really want to stay? I feel really connected to you. You're my best friend. You're my lover, everything. I want to stay."
Kody tries to bring the conversation back around to Janelle's loyalty to Christine over Robyn and she points out that she and Christine raised their kids together while Robyn came later.
"I think he's looking for validation from me, but I think it's really dangerous territory," Janelle says. "I feel really bad because Christine talks about lack of intimacy and all these things that were problems and that was not my marriage experience. Kody and I were great on all fronts."
Ultimately, the tense conversation ends on a positive note as Kody says he thinks they can make it through the transitional period, but they'll have to work on things together.
"I think you and I are at a very logical place where the kids are leaving and I'm looking at you going, 'Oh wow, maybe you and I should have a better relationship,'" Janelle says.
"I agree," Kody replies.
But in the preview clip for next week's episode, Kody and Janelle are once again seen at odds as she walks out following a difficult family discussion, which Kody tells her is a "bad idea."
Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
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