Season 5 begins with two daughters graduating high school, Mykelti and Madison. The grown ups plan to lip sync a song to celebrate, but it brings out some negative feelings for Janelle, who is not comfortable being so outgoing and admits to being embarrassed in public by the others' behavior. And a deeper issue of feeling like she's not heard bubbles to the surface and she sees a therapist to discuss that along with her challenging relationship with first wife Meri. On a business level, the family discusses whether to turn down investors' money and keep full ownership of Sisterwives' Closet and whether to keep the products all their own creations or branch out and resale other artists' designs and products. Christine's mother moves in with her in Las Vegas, and in episode four, the Browns allow two anthropologists to live with them for two days to see the inner workings of polygamy, an arrangement that could either put their lifestyle in a positive or negative light.

Finally, after five years of mental deliberation, Meri files for legal divorce from Kody. Her alleged reason for the divorce is so Kody can adopt Robyn's three children from her previous marriage. By the end of the season, Meri and Kody maintained that they would continue their relationship, although some reports claim Meri will not be appearing in the series' upcoming sixth season.