Review: My Five Wives S01Ep02 Season Premiere 3/9/14

First of all, let me explain why this is episode 2 instead of episode 1. It's simple, really. Amazon Instant Video has the pilot episode listed as episode 1. So, to avoid any confusion (and accidental ordering of the wrong episode) I follow their numbering system for the episodes.

Okay, now to my review.

I absolutely hate...the dream sequence at the beginning of the episode. I hope this won't be every week because it is downright S.C.A.R.Y.!!! I kept expecting Brady to scream "This isn't a dream, this is real!!!!" as a scrawny wife's hand runs its  razor sharp talons down his naked chest and stomach.

I guess this was the producer's way to show the audience the Williams are not like the Browns, but surely they could have found a less scarier way to do that.

Of course, there were the obligatory wife introductions to get the audience up to speed with the Williams:

• Paulie is Brady's first wife. They have six children and have been married for 22 years.
• Robyn is his second wife, married for 21 years with five children. Her parents were polygamists.
• Rosemary is his third wife. They have four children and have been married for 19 years.
• Nonie is his fourth wife. They have been married 16 years and have five children.
• Rhonda is his fifth wife. Now, her story seems to be complex: She said she dated Brady when they were in their twenties, but married him after he married the previous four women. (So what was she doing in the time between dating Brady and marrying him? Hmmm...) They have four children. Her parents were also polygamists.

Now, I know the inevitable comparisons between Brady and Kody will happen, but  it appears the producers are trying really hard to show that Brady Williams is no Kody Brown.

For one thing, Brady has a J.O.B. He owns a construction company with his brother Jared who explained why he wasn't a polygamist by saying "I wasn't that much of a Mormon when I was a Mormon."

Brady drives a four wheel drive truck instead of a fancy Lexus sports car. And he is studying for a degree in Philosophy. I doubt Kody could spell philosophy let alone take college level classes in the subject.

And the Williams are not afraid to answer when a producer asks them to walk her through the wife's rotation schedule with Brady.  A major difference from the Browns was this "couch" interview was held inside one of the wife's home instead of a studio living room, and  neither Brady (nor a wife named Robyn) attempted to answer all the questions. They laughed like it was real, not scripted.

It was refreshing how low-keyed Brady and his wives were. Well, sort of low-keyed. I''ll talk about that a little later.

A couple of the wives said they were bothered knowing that Brady was "sleeping" with another wife, while first wife Paulie said she doesn't have a problem. Rosemary said she grew up knowing she would be sharing her husband, saying "It would be silly of me to expect Brady to never have sex with another wife."

Since the Williams have left the AUB church, they will be relocating to possibly another state soon. Wife Paulie didn't appear to want to move far from her family located in Montana and Utah while her sisterwives appeared willing to move to Washington.

So there will be the obligatory 'Brady finding his Plymouth Rock' story arc for sure. Something tells me they WON'T be settling in Las Vegas, however.

Now, I'm not saying Brady's polygamist family is not without its problems. The wives did appear to  have a problem talking to their sisterwives about any problems they may have with each other. Brady asked his wives to open the lines of communication between each other by utilizing something he called "Safe Talk".

On paper this idea of "Safe Talk" may have looked good. But in practice, Paulie and Nonie showed how it doesn't work, especially if you have a sisterwife like Nonie who acts as if she is walking a very thin wire between being sweet and being a complete psychopath. In fact, I've never seen a woman switch from nice to raving maniac so quickly. "Don't change me and don't tell me I'm wrong!" she screams to Brady when he confronted her about what happened between Paulie and Nonie during their "Safe Talk". One thing for sure, Nonie would fit right in with the mothers on 'Dance Moms'.

In retrospect, maybe Brady should have majored in Psychology instead of Philosophy, but to his credit he was willing to admit he may have been wrong trying to force his wives into using his "Safe Talk" concept before they were ready. That's the biggest difference between Brady and Kody -   how Brady treats, tries to understand and communicates with ALL of his wives. And his willingness to admit he may have been wrong.

I'm hoping that TLC doesn't cancel this series. It was refreshing to watch women who chose a lifestyle trying to work through the difficulties of that choice and to hear it from their mouths instead of from a narcissistic, self-centered  fame whore of a  husband.

In some sense, they are worse off than the Browns - because they chose to leave their church, they are no longer accepted in their community, basically being told to move on and leave their homes. It's not the law making them move, it's their own people who they use to worship with each week.

But there is one question I still have...Brady Williams has been out of the AUB for many years, so why the sudden push to move? It makes me wonder if the AUB didn't want the reality show filming on their property. So was the move necessitated by the show? Will the Williams move into a deluxe,  five home compound behind a gate? Will Nonie continue to feel "like an absolute failure?" or will she be able to work through her feelings of insecurity?

Perhaps in future episodes we will find out.