If you were to ask Christine Brown, she would say that her husband, sadly, does NOT think that the third time is the charm.
Not in his selfish and sexist mind, at least.
On the latest episode of Sister Wives, attention was largely placed on this member of the cast — who came into Kody’s life after Meri and Janelle… and who has felt uncomfortable about that fact ever since.
During a meal with Robyn, Christine opened up about her romantic struggles as follows:
"I’m sure everybody hates me all the time.
"And then when we get together for family gatherings, I’m like, ‘Why would I want to go? Because it’s just going to be a hostile environment and no one there even likes me."
Robyn was taken aback and disturbed by this confession.
"Christine and I have had ups and downs with each other," Robyn told the cameras on Sunday’s installment.
"There’s times when we have gotten along really well, and there’s times that plural marriage has reared its ugly head and jealousy kind of reigns.
"And so, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not so great, and we just kind of go with the flow with that."
Cut to Christine’s confessional and a reflection on the very early years of her life as a spouse in a plural marriage… prior to Robyn coming on board in 2010.
"Looking back, with Meri and Janelle, when it was just the three of us, it was the same kind of thing — I didn’t always know if they were mad at me or frustrated with me," she said.
Christine then said she never knew where she stood with Kody or the other two wives back then.
Referencing a past comment that Robyn had made, Christine outlined how lost she has felt for years:
"You said, ‘It’s hard for us to go into someone’s house, too, because we don’t know what role — we don’t know who we are in someone else’s home.’
"You know, I know who I am in my house, I know what my role is, I know what my identity is."
As so often appears to be the case on this program, the issue of real estate then came up.
Christine said it’s always awkward to enter another woman’s home, referring to the owner of each residence as the "Queen Wife" and adding:
"It’s your domain and it’s your castle.
"It is yours, and so there’s a term of respect that goes with that. And you should be able to be in charge, you should be able to make the call."
In her relationship with Kody, however, Christine didn’t feel as though she held the "queen wife" title, especially when they all lived together under one roof in Lehi, Utah.
She felt the complete opposite, in unfortunate fact.
"Someone needed to take the basement — not fun, not a fun choice to make. It was super hard — I hated it," she told Robyn.
"Because I hate conversations so bad, I just put my needs last, every single time."
Speaking to the cameras, Christine explained that within "the plural community, there is certainly a ‘basement wife’ mentality.
"If you have a situation where there’s a wife that’s a queen bee, well, the other wife goes in the basement and she doesn’t matter as much.
"And I’ve seen it enough. I’ve seen it a lot."
In their own family, Christine added:
"I put myself in the basement and became a basement wife. I just feel like I stopped having a choice and I didn’t really matter as much."
Again, as always, Kody’s dream of having all his wives under one roof in Flagstaff was raised again, with Christine saying she had no desire to return to that set-up.
"I don’t care if Kody said it’s different because there’s ‘thicker walls.’ That doesn’t matter. I would never be queen over my domain," she told Robyn.
"I’m not doing it again. I’m not going to put myself in the situation where my kids’ needs aren’t met," Christine emphasized to the cameras. "I’m not going to do it."
For her part, Meri took exception to the way Christine detailed the whole "queen" and "basement" thing.
"Personally, I don’t like the term ‘queen wife’ or ‘queen bee’ or, you know, whatever is used," this Sister Wife said in a confessional..
"I’ve heard it a lot in the plural community and it’s definitely got a negative connotation.
"When my sister wives come into my home or when I go into their home, I don’t think it has anything to do with who’s queen wife — it has to do with that this is their home and I’m going to respect your space."
What was Janelle’s take on this subject?
"I have never really heard or thought about somebody being called the basement wife," she said.
"You know, we’ve had plenty of houses where I lived in the basement.
"Like, one house, there was a small kitchenette type thing in the basement and it was dark. I mean, it wasn’t quite like what Christine had, where she could actually see out the windows.
"Like, it was a true basement. And so there was some separation, but I never felt like it was a stigma.
"It was more like separation for me to live downstairs, so to speak."