Meri = Robyn 1.0/Robyn = Meri 2.0

Meri/Robyn: Hogging up resources at the expense of the entire family ✅️

Meri/Robyn: Play victim when their behavior is called out ✅️

Meri/Robyn: Accuse others of their own faults ✅️

Meri/Robyn: Play shy when it suits them and pretend to be empowered when it suits them ✅️

Meri/Robyn: Have ~expensive tastes~ that are so much more important than the well being of the family ✅️

Meri/Robyn: Kody's soulmate ✅️

The differences are:

1. The timing in which they came into the family. While Meri ducked up resources while the family was poor and struggling, Robyn did it while they were wealthy and weren't financially struggling. Meri also had a part-time job before going into MLMs.

2. Their skill level in manipulation. Since Meri married Kody at 19 rather than in her 30s like Robyn, she didn't have time to perfect her manipulation tactics. She found what worked early on and never refined her skills. Robyn had more than a decade of more time to refine her skills against people.

3. Meri was more aggressive in her attacks on her rival Janelle while Robyn was more subtle in her tactics against her rivals Christine/Janelle.

4. Their feelings for Kody. As toxic as it was, I believe that Meri loves Kody while Robyn just sees him as a job.