Sister Wives 2 (DVD Review)
I just celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary and for the past 10 years, I’ve been joking that my husband and I need to get an extra wife. Get your head out of the gutter; I’m not talking about becoming swingers and inviting others into our bedroom. I’m talking about the rest of married life. My husband and I both work full time, and we could use a stay at home mom to take care of our son, cook our dinner, clean our house, etc. I actually don’t care which wife I am. I can be the working wife or the stay at home wife. As long as I don’t have to do both, I would be happy. Turns out, I’m not the first person to think of this as the Mormons thought of polygamy a long time ago. And wouldn’t you know it, TLC made a reality show about it, specifically the Brown Family. As the DVD begins to play I realize that there are endless possibilities for reality shows – especially after watching a preview for something called Punkin Chunkin, which I may watch just because I love the title.
Film 
Sister Wives 2 follows the Utah Brown family lead by Kory and his four wives Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn. Kody and his first wife of 20 years Meri are the only ones legally married, and they have a daughter Mariah. Next is wife Janelle of 17 years with children Madison, Hunter, Savannah, Logan, Garrison and Gabriel. Wife of 16 years Christine, is mother to Aspyn, Mykelti, Gwendlyn, Ysabel, Paedon, and the newest addition to the family, Truely. Newest wife Robyn, has three kids of her own and it was during the first season of Sister Wives when Kody courted and married her. The family lives in a ranch style home with 3 interconnected apartments so each wife has their own space. Robyn still lives in a separate house at the beginning of Season 2. In the opening of every episode a voice-over from Kody explains his philosophy that “love should be multiplied not divided.”
Sister Wives 2 contains the following episodes on one disc:
- Brown’s Out of Hiding – The Brown family comes out about their lifestyle to the world when the adults head to New York City, appearing on The Today Show and other talk shows. Many of the kids are starting public school around the same time and all are concerned about how the world will react to the news that they are a polygamist family. The Brown family learns that they are under investigation by the local authorities.
- Free Range Browns – To escape the stresses of the local investigation into the family, the Brown’s travel to visit grandparents out of town. Here we learn that Kody was not raised in a polygamist family, but his wife Janelle’s mom has become a sister wife marrying his father. The family pitches in to pain Kody’s mom’s house and assist with a cattle drive. Mykelti gets thrown from a horse and Kody seems far more concerned with correcting the horse’s behavior than caring for his daughter. You could play a drinking game with this episode where you take s hot every time someone says “don’t stress the cows.”
- The Price of Polygamy –A discussion of how it’s possible to afford a family the size of the Brown’s. We’re told that Kody’s income pays for the wives that stay home and the others work. We aren’t told what it is Kody does for a living or how much TLC is paying them because although they talk about money a lot, they don’t seem that concerned with taking vacations I could never afford, and Kody drives around in a convertible Lexus.
- Carving into Polygamy – It’s Halloween and the Brown family dresses up for trick or treating. They also take a trip to the pumpkin farm and later each carves their own pumpkins. It’s nice to see that they let each kid have a pumpkin, but I think it’s totally wrong to go trick or treating with a plastic Wal-Mart bag to put your candy in. Every child should have a trick or treat bag or even an old Boo Bucket from McDonald’s.
- Wife #3 Hits Sin City – Kody and Christine take their children to Las Vegas. The wives left behind take their kids bowling. In Vegas, the family visits a wax museum, and pretty much stays off the strip. Kody, in my opinion, has a seriously mistaken view of what Vegas is and why it’s called Sin City. Later Meri discusses getting fired after going public about being part of a polygamist family.
Video 
Sister Wives 2 is presented in anamorphic wide-screen. Nothing about this disc is visually impressive or stands out at all. Skin tones appear even and consistent. Colors look natural but it’s no better than you would normally see on television. Detail could be improved as images are often soft and lacking in detail.
Audio
Sister Wives 2 is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. There are no explosions, not even any yelling to truly test the limits of the audio. Dialogue is clear and intelligible throughout. Again, I don’t expect much from a TV show that is on DVD. I do not have any specific complaints besides the fact that Sister Wives is not offered in high definition.
Special Features 
The main menu lists a bonus episode which I will consider a special feature as there are no others. Usually I expect special features to have their own menu and be more than one item.
- Honeymoon Special – Robyn and Kody spend eleven days in San Diego on their honeymoon. The other wives discuss their honeymoons and many think eleven days is excessive in time and money. Kody and Robyn visit the wild animal park, go surfing and ride a zip line. The Brown’s left behind have a family picnic where the wives discuss their feelings about the honeymoon.
Final Thoughts
I have a friend, Nate who has had three wives (but not at the same time) and ten children and I thought he had the most complicated family I’ve ever heard of. Hands down the Brown’s win. I’m most confused by the revelation in the episode “Free Range Browns” that Kody’s dad has taken a second wife, who is his wife’s mother. If I have figured this out correctly, that makes his step mother his mother in law. The lyrics to “I’m My Own Grandpa” are currently swimming through my head as this is very hard to follow. I have one son, and have contemplated having more children. I’ve often wondered how it would be possible to love another child as much. People with more than one child have told me they had the same thought, and they end up loving both children equally. In the case of the Brown family, it seems to me that as a father, Kody isn’t very close with any of his children and maybe he just has too darn many. With the case of my friend Nate, he clearly loves all ten of his children more than life itself. Kody Brown, in my opinion should have stopped there. I should probably be happy he is able to recall the names of all his children, and all his wives and didn’t once call someone “hey you.” I enjoyed watching Sister Wives 2, but there are just too many interview segments with the parents. I’d prefer to see more of the family in action, not sitting on a couch talking about it.
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