Ever since their plural marriage collapsed, the Brown family from the TLC series Sister Wives has been through much too heartbreak and despair. They are now seemingly thinking back on how they have let each other down. Kody Brown ‘s plural marriage collapsed one by one within 14 months, starting in November 2021, when Christine Brown became the first to depart. A year later, Janelle Brown and he also split up. Meri Brown , who had a dissatisfactory, platonic, and estranged relationship with Kody, finally dissolved in January, a month after Janelle’s. His only surviving marriage is with his only legally wedded wife, Robyn Brown .
In an exclusive teaser released to PEOPLE before the Sister Wives: Look Back special spinoff premiere, the family watched their 2013 commitment ceremony and reflected on happier times together as a plural family. In the video, Kody can be seen declaring the family’s intention to keep their word to one another while spending time with their loved ones.
Christine looked at the ceremony clips, saying that she ‘decided’ to keep it sacred despite their flaws and her choice to abandon plural marriage. She referred to their commitment ceremony as ‘one of those days that was special.’ The polygamist patriarch said, “I felt like I was so inspired. We just failed to abide by it, I guess. There just wasn’t enough loyalty in the family.” Meri further added, “What is it that they say, your mission should you choose to accept it? We didn’t choose to accept it. It’s heartbreaking to me.”
Robyn found reliving these memories too much and sobs, saying she ‘can’t watch this’ and leaving the stage needing a ‘break.’ When the family finished the video, Meri acknowledged that she was “so mad at us, every single one of us,” with Christine adding that she had to “decide every day, am I going to be a good sister wife today or a bad sister wife today.” Meri smirked regretfully, adding, “We failed ourselves.”
Christine also beamed with joy as she considered how far they’ve come, just as a scene of their kids entering the ceremony plays. In the video, sister-wife Janelle can be heard pledging to ‘teach, allow and promote the value of making conscious and responsible choices’ as the other family members reflect on their special day, and Robyn promises the family will ’embrace one another with a covenant of eternal nature.’
Even though the family has split up, Robyn previously expressed to PEOPLE her hope that they might be able to get back together in the future. “I sure hope it’s possible, but I can’t have expectations. I can’t put expectations on people, I’m realizing more and more, as far as family and that connection and spending time together and stuff and operating kind of a family. So I hope and I pray that it’s possible, but that will be a situation where everybody has to choose.”