Its Over: Sister Wives’ Janelle And Meri Finally Lawyer Up For Coyote Pass Fight
Coyote Pass was an issue long before Season 19 of the long-running reality TV show debuted in September, and as we noted on Friday, it’s almost like a real-life metaphor for where things currently stand with the Brown family.
The then-intact Brown family purchased Coyote Pass – a 14-acre parcel of land in Flagstaff, Arizona – for between $800,000 and $850,000 back in 2018.
A lot has happened since 2018, and with respect to Sister Wives, the collapse of three of Kody’s four marriages occurred after the land was purchased; Christine Brown walked out in 2021, followed by Janelle Brown, and then Meri Brown.
Divvying up assets like undeveloped land is no easy feat during a standard divorce, much less three consecutive divorces.
And while Coyote Pass began as a hopeful foundation for the family’s future, now it’s just a bitter reminder of what wasn’t to be … and, arguably, a means for Kody to retain some level of control over his now ex-wives, Meri and Janelle.
Christine cleverly disclaimed her interest in Coyote Pass when she and Kody parted ways, but the fate of the land has been hanging over Meri and Janelle’s heads for the entirety of Season 19.
As they’ve repeatedly said throughout the season, Janelle and Meri have been “in the dark” about Coyote Pass — and it’s fair to say the legal gray area in which their plural marriage existed has been viewed as something of a boon to Kody in terms of alimony and asset division.
As such, watching Kody and Robyn take their sweet time deciding what they and they alone want to do with the parcel feels like a slap in the face to Kody’s former wives, both of whom are eager to cut this remaining tie and move on with their lives.
Meanwhile, Kody is saying things like this:
“Robyn and I haven’t really synced up. We’re in different places, and it’s – it’s – it’s an in and out. It’s like sometimes I want to keep it, sometimes I want to sell it, and Robyn knows we need to sell it, but sometimes [she] wants to keep it.”
Kody has a tendency to frame the fate of Coyote Pass as, ultimately, his decision alone, albeit one he’s willing to hash out with Robyn.
In our recaps, we discussed Janelle’s attempt to “warn” Meri about her stake in Coyote Pass back in Episode 9, “Baptism By Fire” — and Meri was subsequently assailed by Sister Wives fans for raising the issue to Kody and Robyn.
Janelle floated the possibility of involving lawyers, and in Sunday’s episode, she and Meri again got into their legal options.
Meri Thinks She Needs A Lawyer
At separate junctures in Season 19, hints that Kody might try something underhanded have emerged — Meri claimed Kody told her her share was smaller because she only had one child, Leon, and Kody himself admitted on camera that he considered “screwing” Janelle on whatever ends up happening with Coyote Pass.
Another theme threading throughout the season has been Meri’s fledgling freedom from Kody, and whether she’s truly free of his influence.
On Sunday’s episode, Meri addressed Coyote Pass and Kody’s specific treatment of her in a confessional, and she explained in part:
“There’s been a lot of confusion surrounding the way things have been done in the family, the way that Kody is with me and has been with me for many, many years, so I think that’s why I’m going to get a lawyer to help me through this process.
“I felt like for quite a few years, I’ve just kind of sat back and just not wanted to ruffle feathers. So I haven’t pushed the issue on many things, but I will push the issue.”
In that segment, Meri conceded she’d previously been reluctant to rock the boat – presumably to keep the peace – but she indicated she doesn’t plan to keep her mouth shut any longer.
But Meri obtained the release without Kody’s say-so, and it’s possible she feared she might “ruffle feathers” by asking about Coyote Pass before she had her freedom in hand.
Meri informed Janelle of her decision over Zoom, and Janelle said in a confessional: “I’m so, so glad Meri understands it’s wise to have a lawyer because we’re not family anymore. I mean, this is people now trying to dissolve a business that went bad, basically.”
To her credit, Janelle also pointed out that one proposed Coyote Pass division was inherently “unfair” to Meri, and she added: “We all paid for [Coyote Pass] equally.”
Meri also recalled being confused by the initial division of Coyote Pass back when the Browns purchased it, and said that Kody “had a big issue with the fact” she had the temerity to question it.
