'Sister Wives' Star Kody Brown Says Christine Is 'Acting Independent'

Christine Brown got a little more vocal about her feelings in the latest episode of "Sister Wives," and her ex-husband Kody Brown commented on the dynamic shift.

Episode Three of Season 17, which aired on Sept. 25 and was titled "The Labors of Love," focuses on four main storylines: What would have been Christine and Kody Brown's anniversary, a Zoom meeting between Kody and the four women he shares children with, the death of Meri Brown's mom Bonnie, and the birth of Mykleti Padron's daughter, marking a new grandchild for Christine and Kody.

During the family Zoom meeting, Kody caught up with Robyn, Janelle, Christine and Meri Brown. At the beginning of the meeting, Kody started by acknowledging that they were unable to meet in person, saying, "So, another COVID-19 meeting."

Christine replied, "Well, it's important because two major things have changed. Schools have opened up, so kids can go back into the classroom."

While she was speaking, Kody put his hand up briefly and looked as though he was about to interrupt her. In a behind-the-scenes interview, Kody explained what he was thinking in that moment.

“We’re having this meeting, but it seems like she’s trying to actually run our meeting, like she’s trying to take charge of it. She’s getting kind of ‘independent woman’ now,” he said.

Kody went on to say that he didn't appreciate Christine's "attitude."

"There’s literally an attitude of, 'I don't need you guys anymore and I don't have to really submit myself to what the group wants,'" he said.

While discussing COVID-19 school protocols, Christine mentioned that their daughter Ysabel wanted to go to school in person since she's a senior and wants to be around her friends.

Kody was concerned about exposing himself to the virus if his daughter was back at school. He implied that he wouldn't want to visit his children at Christine's house if, indeed, Ysabel returned to school.

Janelle Brown interrupted at this moment and said, "I don't know, Kody, I think, I don't know, I guess that's up to you." In a behind-the-scenes interview, Janelle admitted that she felt bad that Ysabel had to essentially choose between seeing her father and her friends.

Back in the meeting, Janelle asked Kody when he would start to feel comfortable going back and forth between all the houses once again to visit his families.

“I am crossing a line, but I don’t know, it just frustrates me so much that I can’t keep my mouth shut,” Janelle said in a private interview.

Meanwhile, Kody expressed his own frustrations in a confessional.

"I feel like Christine’s trying to pin me down, even Janelle is trying to pin me down on what I’m gonna do," he said. "I sometimes feel like they want to catch me in some kind of COVID protocol hypocrisy, so I'm being super careful about answering them."

The 53-year-old then said that he obviously wanted to see his daughter, but was waiting to see how "how accommodating Christine will be for that."

"She's traveled like crazy, making it so that I wasn't able to see the kids anyway," he explained.

Later on in his confessional, Kody said he didn't like Janelle's and Christine's tones during the conversation.

"I’m kind of wanting everybody to make their choice but I’m really feeling awkward because you can hear it in Janelle and Christine's voices.

"I hear this sort of nuance, this sarcasm of, 'Well, are you gonna keep doing what you're doing? Cause it's really stupid compared to what we think,'" he said. "And it's this snotty little attitude about the rules and stuff like that that I've had and I'm sort of tired of the snotty attitude."

Back in the meeting, Kody explained that he asked two of his children with Robyn Brown are not planning to go back to the classroom.

In response, Christine expressed her frustration with the set-up in a private confessional.

"So he asks Breanna (Kody and Robyn's daughter) to not go back to school in person cause he wants to be around her, but he says Ysabel can go back?" she said.

"Gosh, Ysabel would love a phone call from her dad saying, 'Can you please not go back to school in person so I could come see you? Could you please go get COVID tested so I can come over and hang out with you cuz I really miss you?' But it’s really hard for me that he just doesn’t call Ysabel and talk to her in person or even text her," she said.

This interaction follows previous comments from Christine over the way Kody splits his time.

In last week's episode, Christine critiqued Kody for not watching the children they share. Responding to Christine's comments, Kody admitted to “almost never” watching his children.

“I’m good at watching my kids, but I almost never do it. It’s easier for me to pay somebody $20 an hour than to lose $200 an hour with the business that I have at hand,” he said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com