Plot Synopsis

ESCAPING POLYGAMY is a one-hour unscripted series that follows three sisters -- Andrea, Jessica and Shanell -- who, 10 years ago, escaped from the polygamous cult known as the Kingston clan, a secretive polygamist group based in Salt Lake City, Utah known as the Order. Now, having shed their Kingston family name, their mission in life is to help other young men, women and children escape the abusive polygamous lifestyle into which they were born and raised, and manage their new lives on the outside. In each 60-minute episode, the sisters work with people who are in various stages of leaving polygamy -- from those who are just at the point of recognizing they have to get out, to those who are actively seeking to escape, to others who are struggling to adjust to the realities of the real world and the very powerful temptation of returning to the only lifestyle they know. In one episode, the girls face a challenge when Melanie, one of their sisters, contacts them about needing to leave the Order, leading to an escape attempt occurs amid a chaotic and violent backdrop. In another installment, Shanell's aunt decides to leave the Order after raising 16 children in the cult, and Shanell must get her family into hiding as soon as possible. LMN first aired ESCAPING POLYGAMY as a two-hour special on Tuesday, December 30, 2015 from 9-11pm ET/PT.

The sophomore season of ESCAPING POLYGAMY premiered on Sunday, July 10, 2016 at 10pm ET/PT on a new network: A&E. This season is shaped by the significant impact that the sisters' work has had on destabilizing the leadership of The Order, including that of their own father, Daniel Kingston. The women embark on several dramatic and emotional rescues including a deeply personal escape when Jessica and Amanda help get their 18-year-old full sister, Jennifer, out of The Order, and out of Utah, before their father can find her and pull her back in. Other stories this season include a tenacious infiltration of the FLDS compound where a daughter of the notorious self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs searches for her sister who has gone into hiding, an inside look at the high-stakes FBI raid on the Kingston clan that made national headlines earlier this year and the "mole" from Season 1, who has been secretly sharing information from inside the Kingston clan, faces a critical turning point -- is it too dangerous to stay inside, or too dangerous to leave?

Season 3 of ESCAPING POLYGAMY premiered on Monday, August 7, 2017 at 10pm ET/PT on A&E. In the season opener, "Family Under Fire," Jessica and Andrea receive word from Jesse, a father desperate to escape the polygamous group known as the AUB -- a group that all but forces their members into a life of polygamy. As Jesse and his family try to escape, an explosive secret about Jesse's dark past in the group is revealed and puts the entire team in danger. Suddenly everyone not only fears for the success of the mission, but they fear for their lives. Later in the third season, the many people who enlist help from Andrea, Jessica and Shanell include: a son of powerful FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs who leaves the religion to find his mother who he has been separated from for most of his life; a mother hoping to find her daughters who have been hidden within an elite group in the FLDS community; and a young girl who desperately wants to rescue the love of her life in a dangerous mission that further exposes the dark and treacherous realities of polygamy.

The fourth season of ESCAPING POLYGAMY premiered on Monday, June 18, 2018 at 10pm ET/PT on a new network: Lifetime. Season 4 continues to follow Andrea, Jessica and Shanell, three sisters who escaped polygamy in their youth and now devote their lives to helping others. In the season opener, "Exposing the Cult," when Jessica and Andrea left The Order they thought they would never see their family again, but when Jessica receives a frantic call in the middle of the night from their little sister Jennifer, the sisters rush to her aid. Jennifer is being forced to marry someone she doesn't love and wants out. Everyone must act quickly to get Jennifer out of town before The Order figures out yet another Kingston daughter is leaving, but a last minute stop at The Order bank leads to a dramatic confrontation with its members over their corrupt financial system. After an eight-month break, ESCAPING POLYGAMY returned with new episodes on Monday, April 1, 2019 at 10pm ET/PT on Lifetime. In the mid-season premiere, "My Cousin, My Lover," Jessica recruits Rachel Jeffs, daughter of notorious leader Warren Jeffs, to help an FLDS member, Carole, escape a "house of repentance". After being caught in what the religion considers a highly forbidden relationship, Carole was sent to live far away from her family and friends to be closely guarded by some of the religion's most elite and faithful women taught to protect the religion at all cost. Carole's escape from polygamy grows increasingly tense and every attempt is made by the faithful to keep Carole trapped inside the group.
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Lifetime premiered the Season 4 finale of ESCAPING POLYGAMY on Monday, April 22, 2019 at 10pm ET/PT. In the season ender, "Top Ten Escapes," Sisters Andrea, Jessica and Shanell relive the series' most tearful, traumatizing and terrifying escapes, unveil never-before-seen moments and catch up with the people who have escaped polygamy and are now living a life away from the polygamous group they so bravely left behind.