Seeking Sister Wife: 8 Signs Garrick Merrifield Is Too Immature For Polygamy

Seeking Sister Wife season 5’s Garrick Merrifield is too immature for polygamy, and the signs are everywhere. The show began chronicling the lives of Garrick and his long-suffering wife, Dannielle Merrifield, during seasons 3 and 4, as they searched for a second wife for Garrick. The Merrifields met Roberta Pache online and began courting her. Roberta lived in Brazil and spoke little English, so they had to rely on translator apps. When Garrick started dating Lea, a potential third wife, during season 4, it was ironically Roberta, not his first wife, who freaked out.

Despite Dannielle often being jealous, she and Garrick continued to date Roberta throughout Seeking Sister Wife season 4 and even introduced her to their teen sons. However, the marriage with Roberta didn’t work out as she strung them along and kept asking them for money. Roberta used them and dumped them via text by the end of the season. Garrick and Danielle are back to try their luck again on Seeking Sister Wife season 5, this time with another Brazilian woman named Nathalia. It takes a certain kind of person to make polygamy work, and Garrick is not it.

8

Garrick Is Selfish

His Way Or No Way

During Seeking Sister Wife season 4, Garrick wanted to bring Roberta to the United States from Brazil, so, for immigration purposes, he had to divorce Dannielle to marry Roberta. This was difficult for Dannielle, who sobbed while signing the divorce papers ending her 13-year marriage with Garrick. With their legal marriage dissolved, Dannielle would have no claim to Garrick’s estate should anything happen to him. In the end, Roberta dumped them unceremoniously after stringing them along, so Garrick jeopardized his family and their financial security for no reason.

7

Garrick Doesn’t Respect Dannielle

He Puts Nathalia First

At the end of Seeking Sister Wife season 5, Nathalia confronted Garrick for continuing to use online dating sites after promising he’d delete his accounts. When he tried to gaslight Nathalia, Dannielle stepped in and insisted that he was lying about looking at other women. As the two women ganged up on Garrick, he finally agreed to delete his dating profile. This made Dannielle even angrier because he refused to delete his profile when she had asked him to several months ago. “I said that to him in Colorado and he disagreed with me, but as soon as Nathalia says it, it’s like, “No Problem.”

“It just makes me question where him and I are at.”

The fact that Garrick would value the opinion of a 25-year-old woman he barely knows over that of his wife was heartbreaking for Dannielle. “It just makes me question where him and I are at,” she said to the camera at the end of the episode. Seeking Sister Wife season 5 has found a less cooperative Dannielle than in seasons past. Though Dannielle used to follow Garrick’s lead without question, now she brings her own opinions to the table.

“A lot of the scriptures, the terms where it says he fills you with the holy ghost, it’s actually a sexual term. It actually means, like, sperm going into, like, intimacy that way.”

6

Garrick’s Religious Beliefs Are Self-Serving

That’s Not How It Works

Though many polygamists are Mormon, Garrick and Dannielle identify as religious Christians. During the Seeking Sister Wife season 5 premiere, Garrick explains the unique biblical reading that led him to choose to live a polygamous lifestyle. With Dannielle seated beside him during an interview, Garrick says, “A lot of the scriptures, the terms where it says he fills you with the holy ghost, it’s actually a sexual term. It actually means, like, sperm going into, like, intimacy that way.”

“And even scientifically, we’ve found that, you know, when a man and a woman become one, and his sperm goes into a woman and his DNA becomes part of her.”

Using religion to gaslight his wife, Garrick continues, “And even scientifically, we’ve found that, you know, when a man and a woman become one, and his sperm goes into a woman and his DNA becomes part of her […] But yet the woman can’t transfer her DNA back to the man. So it, like, showed the proof of how Christ was with his church. Like he transfers to us, we don’t transfer to him.” Garrick’s grasp of science is as fascinating as his reading of the bible, and it’s obvious Garrick uses religion to manipulate Dannielle.

5

Garrick Is Unsympathetic Towards Dannielle

He Ignores Her Jealousy

Throughout her journey after joining the Seeking Sister Wife cast, Danielle struggled with jealousy, like many women in polygamous relationships. During season 4, during one of their trips to visit Roberta in Brazil, Garrick was secretly intimate with Roberta right before they met up with the rest of the family. Dannielle didn’t find out about the incident until long after they had returned from the trip, which triggered Dannielle’s tightly controlled jealousy. The truth is, Garrick was far more affectionate and loving to Roberta than he ever was to his wife.

4

Garrick Doesn’t Take Accountability

God Made Him Do It

Now that the Merrifields are dating Nathalia, Dannielle has made it clear that she’s uncomfortable with the pace they’re moving. She even expressed her concerns to others, like her brother and sister-in-law, Sam and Samantha. During a recent episode of Seeking Sister Wife season 5, Dannielle shared her concerns with Garrick, to which he responded, “But if God tells you to do something, you do it.” He then tells the story about how God came to him in the garage and told him to be a polygamist. Seated beside him as he spoke, Dannielle looked dubious about Garrick’s reasoning, but she kept her mouth shut.

3

Garrick Won’t Find A Compatible Woman

He’s Got A Type

The highly anticipated premiere of Seeking Sister Wife season 5 found the Merrifields back where they started, dating a new potential sister wife. Nathalia, similar to Roberta, lives in Brazil and doesn’t speak English, so they have to communicate entirely via translation apps. The language barrier adds another layer of struggle to the already complicated dynamics of polygamous relationships. Another similarity to Roberta is Nathalia’s devotion to her mother, which will likely make it harder for Nathalia to leave Brazil. The Merrifields have learned nothing from their experience with Roberta.

Instead of trying to meet a woman who speaks English, Garrick seems to only be interested in women he can’t communicate with without the help of translation. Translator apps aren’t a good way to communicate in an intimate relationship; that’s not what the apps are meant for. Relying on translator apps in a relationship ensures misunderstanding, miscommunications, and conflict.

2

Garrick Is Involving His Children

Bad Dad

Garrick and Dannielle have dragged their two teenage sons along on Garrick’s cringe-worthy search for a new wife. Instead of protecting their kids from Garrick’s proclivities, they have dragged their sons to Brazil on more than one occasion to meet more than one woman their father wanted to add to their family. Garrick and Dannielle appear to have no concerns about what values they’re teaching to their sons or how doing this so publicly will affect their sons’ lives.

Nothing comes before Garrick’s massive ego and his raging midlife crisis, not even the needs of their children. Though it’s Garrick running the show, it’s clear that he’s doing so thoughtlessly. Dannielle should do more to protect her sons from her husband’s immaturity.

1

Garrick Wanted To Make A Baby With Roberta

He’s Not Thinking Clearly

Even though Roberta kept breaking her promise to join them in the U.S. throughout Seeking Sister Wife season 4, Garrick kept sending her thousands of dollars. Garrick even traveled to Brazil, determined to get Roberta pregnant right away, even before they were married. When Dannielle expressed concern about having a baby living in Brazil, Garrick completely ignored her valid concerns and pressed on with his ridiculous plan. Garrick taking money and resources from his wife and children to send to another woman was the ultimate example of Garrick’s immaturity.