"Sister Wives" fans got whiplash this week: Season 21 premiered without Kody Brown or wife Robyn on screen at all, the first time in the show's 16-year run that the family's patriarch hasn't anchored the series. The new season instead follows Kody's three ex-wives — Christine, Janelle and Meri — as they rebuild their lives post-polygamy.

Even the ex-wives say they were blindsided by the news. "I was flabbergasted, really, when I got the news," Janelle Brown said, while Meri Brown added she was "actually surprised" to learn Kody and Robyn weren't returning, according to TV Insider.

The season, which premiered Sunday, October 4 on TLC, reportedly tracks Janelle easing back into dating, Meri searching for companionship and confidence, and Christine settling into married life with husband David Woolley. It's the biggest cast shakeup in "Sister Wives" history — and a sign the Brown family's TV empire is being rebuilt from the ground up without the man who started it.