At the time that this originally aired, fans had already heard about the catfishing situation in the press. Apparently, the catfish was threatening to expose Meri publicly, so she came forward before any of the season aired to put an end to any type of blackmail. The episodes are definitely edited with the assumption that the viewers have at least some idea of what was going on, even though at the rest of the family had no idea at the time it was filmed.
I was widowed suddenly in my 40s and belong to a few widow/widower grief groups. I can't believe how many widowed people get catfished and scammed, sometimes repeatedly. You would think no one would fall for these scams, but when extremely lonely or grieving, so many do it's frightening. I have spent months trying to get people to realize they are not engaged to the person they have never even seen in person, and of course, the majority send large amounts of money. No man genuinely interested in a woman would ever ask to borrow money. A man would starve before looking bad in front of a woman who he is trying to impress.
Yes!! I was right; I commented before that there were a couple events in your plan-to-skim seasons that I thought you would want to address, and this was one of them! Excited to see your take :)
MAYBE... now that there are no new Love is Blind episodes till February, you could pop up the odd reaction video to Sister Wives again? I'd waaaaaatch them all and be soooooooo happy!
Also, I love your take on this. At the time I found Meri annoying, and so all I really saw was her cheating, and I hadn't really clued into how things were for her (especially with Kody) so I wasn't as compassionate as I should have been. Watching this now IS so heartbreaking. It was and should have been then, but with hindsight it is even more so, knowing more about how Kody was with all of them and what she was really going through. So sad. And just so devastating to think of her reaching out, thinking she found someone who FINALLY gave a shit about her, and then finding out it wasn't real. Frick I want Meri to be surrounded by people who love and appreciate her. She so deserves it, and has been without it for way too long.
I think after this is all over you should go back and re-watch the meri divorces kody segment. I never see anyone go back and watch this, but its such a crazy scene when you see what happens in the future. I would LOVE to see if your opinion is the same or different.
What came out about the ex husband was that he didn’t want the kids to be on the show. That was when Robyn and Kody hatched this plan. Kody also told Robyn that it would help Their own relationship if she did the divorce from Kody.
Back when I was watching this all go down it drove me crazy how she never once admitted that she was having a relationship with another man, catfish or not. This was ALWAYS (even to this day) described as a catfishing experience. I have a slightly different take now but it's too spoiler-y to get into it
I think she didn't want to take accountability because if the catfish had kept things quiet, Meri would have never said anything. Also, the catfish was actually woman so she (& probably the other wives) didn't want that speculation on their sexuality.
So... Is nobody going to blast Kody to the moon for failing to emotionally take care of Meri in this difficult time? I understand that in Kody World, this is par for the course, but Kody's husbanding warrants a fiery diatribe from Dr. Honda at some point, right?
Another episode to come back to later. You may want to go back and revisit some of these things like the kids surgery, the legal divorce, and how those kids came to understand Kody as "dad".
They mentioned at a time early on the family (adults,) made the agreement of not to share anything that embarrassed or was mean about another. Which is a big reason current time has been interesting with revelations of what was actually going down the whole time.
At this time Meri had no active marriage. Kody hadn't spent time at her house or had any sexual relationship with Meri for years. She didn't have Kody at all, and he had long stopped spending any time with her. Her one of every 4 days had long been over at this point. She was abandoned and completely alone, having no one, except family get-togethers or dinners like this every few months when they filmed. Kody had taken her 1/4 time with him away long before the catfishing.
I have a writer friend who does this once in a while. She rents a room in a secluded monastery to relax and focus on her writing. It's ascetic, but seems to do the trick for her. 😊
I believe at this point that all new about the catfishing, I think they were bringing up for it to start the convos on camera if I'm not mistaken which is why Meri talking about it at dinner was awkward
I don’t always like what Meri does but I really feel for her in this situation and understand that when real and deep needs are not met and will not be, and then suddenly ARE seeming to be met by someone - I can just understand how she got swept up.
I had someone steal my pictures from social media and catfish other people as me. It was frustrating and sad because people would contact me, very confused of I was the real me because they had been having a relationship with someone they thought was "me" for over a year. I never could figure out who was doing this with my pictures, but people were very hurt to find out that it wasn't "me".
Kody was emotionally neglecting and ignoring Meri for years, which contributed to her vulnerability to the catfishing. Maybe you missed this in your haste to get through the episodes.
Exactly. He wouldn’t be intimate with her for over a decade. That all happened before she was catfished. Oh and Kody had melted down the wedding ring Meri gave him. He had it made into a ring for Robyn’s daughter. AND the catfish was a woman who was an acquaintance of Robyn’s. I’m betting R set it all up to make it easier to get Meri to divorce K. Robyn had a long game I. Mind
Hey do you think you could Analyze the characters in Arcane ? If that’s not your kind of content I understand, I’ve always appreciated your takes on these TV shows while using them as talking points 🙂
Liked your non judgemental take this issue. I think Meri is a complicated person but she was mistreated just like all the other wives by a high demand religion they followed. As much as ladies joke the sharing the burden of a husband is a benefit I doubt most of these women in this cult have access the sisterwives wives have to money, ideas 💡 and people outside this group.
Meri divorced Kody while being catfished. She was telling the family in Alaska she might be leaving, because she was still “dating” the catfish (there are voicemail phone calls from Meri in Alaska to the catfisher) and DID plan to run off with him/her. The catfish did not expose themselves/get caught until after Meri returned home from Alaska.
The father being a supposed “deadbeat” but the kids visiting right after was very strange to me. The adoption always struck me as a tv plot and not real life.
OK, long time listener/watcher here. I think you’re just saying it as a turn of phrase, but as the wife of a video editor, I have to make this comment. It’s not the editor that’s usually making these editing decisions. They are there being directed by a producer, who is creating a narrative. I just feel bad when the editors get blamed because it’s not them creating these stories, particularly the Franken-edits. They are given a script and they knit the pieces together.
WHAT!?!? Dr. Honda, you are so generous to Robyn and Kody. Do you really believe that the divorce was nothing more than Meri's "gift" to Robyn and the kids?!?! Do you not realize that Meri was manipulated by Robyn so that she could take Meri's position as the legal wife, and have control over all of the family money??!?!? I am not being mean, I just can't believe that you are being so generous here.
what if robyn was the catfish lol... I feel bad for Meri but these ppl are in a really messed up situation, so that wouldn't even surprise me. i knew someone from utah who wasn't poly but was around poly ppl sometimes and she was legit targetted and catfished and it ended up being a female pretending to be a guy
Please analyze the show Scamfish on TH-cam!! And or the Darrell Brooks trial (the man who ran over a crowd at the Christmas parade then had insane behavior representing himself in court)
I had thought that Sister Wives reactions were over and done with. You don't seem to like doing them very much, and there seems to be so much more background research into other series that are covered on this channel. I wish that there was more research into the fundamentalist cultural pocket to provide more insight into the show.
Overall, you've done a really good job theorizing about what Meri might be going through, but how might only having one child impact a family such as this? How do husbands treat wives who are no longer of childbearing age or who have trouble conceiving? Was the divorce Meri's idea or was she shoehorned into it? Are legal divorces from first wives usual in this culture?
I mean there’s a years and years of sister wives content for him to get through. A lot of us have been watching this show since the beginning so we’ve had a lot of time to decipher these things. I suspect once he gets caught up to the current episodes he made go back because it all starts to make sense.
@@tanyah6184 I agree that there is quite a bit to get through. I am not sure what part of my comments you are specifically replying to. I am assuming it is the bit about understanding the cultural background of the people on the show. It is a quite a bit to take in coming from outside the culture for most people, and I do agree that looking back things take on a much different hue. However, seeing that the intent is to come from a psychological lens, it is frustrating that DKH does not do more research on the cultural aspects in order to provide a better understanding of how the psychological concepts are at play within the family. He also seems to enjoy reacting to other series quite a bit more - citing the 50 some odd episodes on Love is Blind between this and the prior Sister Wives reaction video - again, yes, there is quite a lot to catch up on and some seasons are incredibly tedious with regard to content. He does seem to put in more effort to understand other cultural pockets people are coming from in other reaction videos he's made in the past. It seems to me that he is just reacting to Sister Wives because the fan base asked him to. I have really wanted to get away from some of the other content creators who offer a more tabloid take on the show, but have far more inside information on the cultural aspects of the AUB, Fundamentalist religions adjacent to the LDS, and high demand religions in general and the psychologist(s) that comment, but come from a more pop culture aspect and do psychology a disservice in their delivery of their commentary. I was really hoping to get some good psychologically and culturally informed reactions from Dr. Honda, but have, unfortunately, been disappointed. That said, he puts out the content he feels is good and meets what he is looking to provide to his general audience. I can choose to watch or not.
There is so much occurring off screen regarding the catfishing. At some point, maybe as you get ready to watch seasons 14-19, I would maybe check out the evidence online for the catfishing and maybe even read their book Becoming Sister Wives.
Victimizing yourself when you cheat is wild. Yes, this person took all of it too far. However, none of it would have happened had she not been in that position. I know she's lonely and has been lonely but you can't cheat.
I don’t think it’s victimizing yourself to acknowledge how you were vulnerable. Victimizing yourself would be to act like you had no hand in it. Here she is very open that she had a hand in it. I feel like it’s okay to explain why you cheated, it doesn’t forgive the cheating, but it can help with healing and repairing a relationship (if the other person wants to) if the other partner listens and they make a plan to avoid that situation in the future.
Most don't even think this could be considered "cheating". We now know she had already been abandoned for years by this point. If your "husband" has not slept at your home for YEARS and you haven't had sex with him for YEARS, while you beg to have contact, while he has an active sex life with other people, most wouldn't consider that even having a relationship/marriage upon which to cheat, which was just talking to someone, being actively preyed upon.
So happy Sister Wives reacts are back!
Me too!
Me three!
Me four!!!
Me too ❤❤
Oh!!
ME FIVE!! 🧡🧡🧡
"I don't want people to think my face is falling off bit by bit" 😂😂😂. Thank you for calming us down 🤣.
I think she really cared about the divorced. She cried. It was not just paperwork.
My guess is she was getting catfished during the divorce.
Later tho , everyone admits Kody had abandoned Meri before the Catfishing happens
@@IndigoBellyDancethey are now saying he cut Meri off before the show even started
Glad you’re excited, I don’t watch Love is Blind & I was worried you weren’t going to continue with this!😅
Same!!
At the time that this originally aired, fans had already heard about the catfishing situation in the press. Apparently, the catfish was threatening to expose Meri publicly, so she came forward before any of the season aired to put an end to any type of blackmail. The episodes are definitely edited with the assumption that the viewers have at least some idea of what was going on, even though at the rest of the family had no idea at the time it was filmed.
This really made my heart break for her, people at the end of the day just want to feel seen and appreciated and useful.
And cheat?
Sister wives reactions are back!! Woot!! I'm glad it seems Kirk is enjoying the show 😊
Yay you’re back with sister wives
So glad Sister Wives are back on this channel!!
I was widowed suddenly in my 40s and belong to a few widow/widower grief groups. I can't believe how many widowed people get catfished and scammed, sometimes repeatedly. You would think no one would fall for these scams, but when extremely lonely or grieving, so many do it's frightening. I have spent months trying to get people to realize they are not engaged to the person they have never even seen in person, and of course, the majority send large amounts of money. No man genuinely interested in a woman would ever ask to borrow money. A man would starve before looking bad in front of a woman who he is trying to impress.
I’m sorry for your loss. You are exactly right about a man asking a woman for money - IMMEDIATE NO
Yes!! I was right; I commented before that there were a couple events in your plan-to-skim seasons that I thought you would want to address, and this was one of them! Excited to see your take :)
MAYBE... now that there are no new Love is Blind episodes till February, you could pop up the odd reaction video to Sister Wives again? I'd waaaaaatch them all and be soooooooo happy!
Also, I love your take on this. At the time I found Meri annoying, and so all I really saw was her cheating, and I hadn't really clued into how things were for her (especially with Kody) so I wasn't as compassionate as I should have been. Watching this now IS so heartbreaking. It was and should have been then, but with hindsight it is even more so, knowing more about how Kody was with all of them and what she was really going through. So sad. And just so devastating to think of her reaching out, thinking she found someone who FINALLY gave a shit about her, and then finding out it wasn't real. Frick I want Meri to be surrounded by people who love and appreciate her. She so deserves it, and has been without it for way too long.
I think after this is all over you should go back and re-watch the meri divorces kody segment. I never see anyone go back and watch this, but its such a crazy scene when you see what happens in the future. I would LOVE to see if your opinion is the same or different.
Finally your take on Sister Wives again, thank you
This whole catfish thing ended up being really weird....much much later it had come out that Robin was connected with them 😬 through friends.
I have been trying to understand that part; I heard the whole rumor that Robin was connected somehow but does anyone know exactly how?!
What came out about the ex husband was that he didn’t want the kids to be on the show. That was when Robyn and Kody hatched this plan. Kody also told Robyn that it would help
Their own relationship if she did the divorce from Kody.
Back when I was watching this all go down it drove me crazy how she never once admitted that she was having a relationship with another man, catfish or not. This was ALWAYS (even to this day) described as a catfishing experience. I have a slightly different take now but it's too spoiler-y to get into it
I know what you mean 😫
I think she didn't want to take accountability because if the catfish had kept things quiet, Meri would have never said anything. Also, the catfish was actually woman so she (& probably the other wives) didn't want that speculation on their sexuality.
Love the beginning dance!
Yes!
I was really wanting to see your reaction to Christine and Kody's anniversary trip with their counselor!
Had that happened already at this point? How could he not address that?
@@lisanoellbecause people keep getting on to him for not being further in the series even though he just started this series.
I feel like if you’ve watched him for a while, you can kind of infer what he’d say 😂
So... Is nobody going to blast Kody to the moon for failing to emotionally take care of Meri in this difficult time? I understand that in Kody World, this is par for the course, but Kody's husbanding warrants a fiery diatribe from Dr. Honda at some point, right?
Love this! I’m perimenopausal and peri-empty nester. So feeling that! It’s why I started a new job this week!
Another episode to come back to later. You may want to go back and revisit some of these things like the kids surgery, the legal divorce, and how those kids came to understand Kody as "dad".
Nice to see Dr. Kirk did one of our famous Irish goodbyes the other night 🇮🇪😂
They mentioned at a time early on the family (adults,) made the agreement of not to share anything that embarrassed or was mean about another. Which is a big reason current time has been interesting with revelations of what was actually going down the whole time.
By this time: Kody had already abandoned Meri, she was desperately lonely & no adult in the family came in to help her.
At this time Meri had no active marriage. Kody hadn't spent time at her house or had any sexual relationship with Meri for years. She didn't have Kody at all, and he had long stopped spending any time with her. Her one of every 4 days had long been over at this point. She was abandoned and completely alone, having no one, except family get-togethers or dinners like this every few months when they filmed. Kody had taken her 1/4 time with him away long before the catfishing.
Nothing is ever truly a choice when indoctrination is involved.
I have a writer friend who does this once in a while. She rents a room in a secluded monastery to relax and focus on her writing. It's ascetic, but seems to do the trick for her. 😊
I believe at this point that all new about the catfishing, I think they were bringing up for it to start the convos on camera if I'm not mistaken which is why Meri talking about it at dinner was awkward
I wish you had covered the divorce. This was a pivotal moment for this family.
Kody and Robyn were doing the bate and switch shenanigans!
I don’t always like what Meri does but I really feel for her in this situation and understand that when real and deep needs are not met and will not be, and then suddenly ARE seeming to be met by someone - I can just understand how she got swept up.
The little dance at the beginning 🥰
❤😂" thank you for noticing "... ran to my phone to see the fresh cut
The little dance at the beginning lured me in hahah
I had someone steal my pictures from social media and catfish other people as me. It was frustrating and sad because people would contact me, very confused of I was the real me because they had been having a relationship with someone they thought was "me" for over a year. I never could figure out who was doing this with my pictures, but people were very hurt to find out that it wasn't "me".
29:22 I always do that. It’s the Norwegian way to leave without saying goodbye. Hahah
They don’t want Meri to leave because they need her paycheck.
I love the reactions! 😍 I wish the show would have pointed out that ROBYN introduced Meri to the catfish.
Excellent! Thank you!
Loving your new sister wives intro song
This woman is also deeply depressed.
Hair and beard look great - nice job, haircutter person! 😂
Kody was emotionally neglecting and ignoring Meri for years, which contributed to her vulnerability to the catfishing. Maybe you missed this in your haste to get through the episodes.
Catfishing = cheating and getting caught
@@Euyoo412and Kody had three other wives….
@donnafisher6212 Which was a part of a deal that all of the consenting adults approved, yeah?
Exactly. He wouldn’t be intimate with her for over a decade. That all happened before she was catfished. Oh and Kody had melted down the wedding ring Meri gave him. He had it made into a ring for Robyn’s daughter. AND the catfish was a woman who was an acquaintance of Robyn’s. I’m betting R set it all up to make it easier to get Meri to divorce K. Robyn had a long game I. Mind
I don’t feel like that was clear at this point in the series.
Meri only revealed because the catfish went public and posted screenshots of the conversations and posted audio
Hey do you think you could Analyze the characters in Arcane ? If that’s not your kind of content I understand, I’ve always appreciated your takes on these TV shows while using them as talking points 🙂
And we’re back, yes!!
Liked your non judgemental take this issue. I think Meri is a complicated person but she was mistreated just like all the other wives by a high demand religion they followed. As much as ladies joke the sharing the burden of a husband is a benefit I doubt most of these women in this cult have access the sisterwives wives have to money, ideas 💡 and people outside this group.
Yay we’re back!!!!!!!!
Meri divorced Kody while being catfished. She was telling the family in Alaska she might be leaving, because she was still “dating” the catfish (there are voicemail phone calls from Meri in Alaska to the catfisher) and DID plan to run off with him/her. The catfish did not expose themselves/get caught until after Meri returned home from Alaska.
THEY cut the bio Dad off!!!
The father being a supposed “deadbeat” but the kids visiting right after was very strange to me. The adoption always struck me as a tv plot and not real life.
OK, long time listener/watcher here. I think you’re just saying it as a turn of phrase, but as the wife of a video editor, I have to make this comment. It’s not the editor that’s usually making these editing decisions. They are there being directed by a producer, who is creating a narrative. I just feel bad when the editors get blamed because it’s not them creating these stories, particularly the Franken-edits. They are given a script and they knit the pieces together.
Total speculation ❤❤on my behave...
"Catfish"= Mary confided this to Robyn😢=
Robyn tells Cody😮
CODY AND ROBYN WERE THE CATFISHERS😢😢
JUST A 🙋🏻 GUESS
That has always been my belief.
WHAT!?!? Dr. Honda, you are so generous to Robyn and Kody. Do you really believe that the divorce was nothing more than Meri's "gift" to Robyn and the kids?!?! Do you not realize that Meri was manipulated by Robyn so that she could take Meri's position as the legal wife, and have control over all of the family money??!?!? I am not being mean, I just can't believe that you are being so generous here.
He hasn’t seen how everything plays out like we have. I feel like a lot of people believed this when it first aired.
@@amandaschreiber7546 I didn't. From the very beginning I found her to be manipulative.
I believed the same as Dr.H.
I’d love to go back to the New Kids on the Block days!!!
what if robyn was the catfish lol... I feel bad for Meri but these ppl are in a really messed up situation, so that wouldn't even surprise me. i knew someone from utah who wasn't poly but was around poly ppl sometimes and she was legit targetted and catfished and it ended up being a female pretending to be a guy
Oh yeah 👏🏻👏🏻 keep going Down the rabithool please 🙏🏻
Please analyze the show Scamfish on TH-cam!! And or the Darrell Brooks trial (the man who ran over a crowd at the Christmas parade then had insane behavior representing himself in court)
FINALLY!!
Wow I have to send my husband to a barber!
Does Dr. Honda and his wife have kids?
Let’s go!!!
There’s some backround that Robyn was involved with setting up the catfish.
revisit the divorce
NKOTB FTW!
Meri is the least likely one to rock the boat??? Really???
When it comes to Robyn and Cody yes. She's extremely deferential and will do anything for their approval
yayyyy
I had thought that Sister Wives reactions were over and done with. You don't seem to like doing them very much, and there seems to be so much more background research into other series that are covered on this channel. I wish that there was more research into the fundamentalist cultural pocket to provide more insight into the show.
Overall, you've done a really good job theorizing about what Meri might be going through, but how might only having one child impact a family such as this? How do husbands treat wives who are no longer of childbearing age or who have trouble conceiving? Was the divorce Meri's idea or was she shoehorned into it? Are legal divorces from first wives usual in this culture?
I mean there’s a years and years of sister wives content for him to get through. A lot of us have been watching this show since the beginning so we’ve had a lot of time to decipher these things. I suspect once he gets caught up to the current episodes he made go back because it all starts to make sense.
@@tanyah6184 I agree that there is quite a bit to get through. I am not sure what part of my comments you are specifically replying to. I am assuming it is the bit about understanding the cultural background of the people on the show. It is a quite a bit to take in coming from outside the culture for most people, and I do agree that looking back things take on a much different hue. However, seeing that the intent is to come from a psychological lens, it is frustrating that DKH does not do more research on the cultural aspects in order to provide a better understanding of how the psychological concepts are at play within the family. He also seems to enjoy reacting to other series quite a bit more - citing the 50 some odd episodes on Love is Blind between this and the prior Sister Wives reaction video - again, yes, there is quite a lot to catch up on and some seasons are incredibly tedious with regard to content. He does seem to put in more effort to understand other cultural pockets people are coming from in other reaction videos he's made in the past. It seems to me that he is just reacting to Sister Wives because the fan base asked him to. I have really wanted to get away from some of the other content creators who offer a more tabloid take on the show, but have far more inside information on the cultural aspects of the AUB, Fundamentalist religions adjacent to the LDS, and high demand religions in general and the psychologist(s) that comment, but come from a more pop culture aspect and do psychology a disservice in their delivery of their commentary. I was really hoping to get some good psychologically and culturally informed reactions from Dr. Honda, but have, unfortunately, been disappointed. That said, he puts out the content he feels is good and meets what he is looking to provide to his general audience. I can choose to watch or not.
There is so much occurring off screen regarding the catfishing. At some point, maybe as you get ready to watch seasons 14-19, I would maybe check out the evidence online for the catfishing and maybe even read their book Becoming Sister Wives.
PETITION FOR DR. HONDA TO REACT TO MTV CATFISH!!! Like this comment if you agree!!!
Victimizing yourself when you cheat is wild. Yes, this person took all of it too far. However, none of it would have happened had she not been in that position. I know she's lonely and has been lonely but you can't cheat.
I don’t think it’s victimizing yourself to acknowledge how you were vulnerable. Victimizing yourself would be to act like you had no hand in it. Here she is very open that she had a hand in it. I feel like it’s okay to explain why you cheated, it doesn’t forgive the cheating, but it can help with healing and repairing a relationship (if the other person wants to) if the other partner listens and they make a plan to avoid that situation in the future.
Most don't even think this could be considered "cheating". We now know she had already been abandoned for years by this point. If your "husband" has not slept at your home for YEARS and you haven't had sex with him for YEARS, while you beg to have contact, while he has an active sex life with other people, most wouldn't consider that even having a relationship/marriage upon which to cheat, which was just talking to someone, being actively preyed upon.
Buu! Not this agaiiiiiin.... !
Dude talk about the show. Not yourself.
You don’t need to watch if you don’t like what he talks about.