‘Real Housewives’ Recap: ‘Sinners in the City’ Salt Lake Magazine – Salt Lake Magazine

The first season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is almost over. Ive learned so much in a short time, including the etiquette of what not to say at your friends husbands Top Golf birthday party and why its rude to tell your friend that she smells like hospital. These invaluable life lessons will be on hiatus soon, but until then, we have this seasons penultimate episode. The show starts right where we left off last week with an increasingly hellish girls weekend in Las Vegas. It may be the most straightforward episode yet, but the plot goes in some appealingly weird directions in 40 minutes.

After the group split up for the afternoon, the Housewives are getting ready to enjoy their first night together. Jenwho has, in a total diva move, brought several members of the Shah Squad with heris keeping her makeup team busy. Heather and Whitney meet up, and Heather is eager to dish about Whitneys afternoon with Meredith and Lisa. Whitney is excited both by the sports car she drove and the fact that all three women reconciled after Top Golfgate. Heather then shares the bad news: when she and Jen went shopping together last episode, Jen said that she is still angry at Whitney about the party. Heather warns Whitney about Jens grudge, and both are confused because they thought this issue was resolved.

Meredith and Lisa, who of course came together, arrive first at the private dining room for dinner. Enjoying a martini called the porn star, they both agree that the car racing afternoon went well. Lisa says she and Whitney have a clean slate, 100% and both expect the rest of the weekend to be drama-free. Then Jen, who has different plans, arrives in her newly bought Versace outfit. While Meredith and Lisa are happy to share Whitneys apologies, Jen isnt buying it. Even though she believes Whitneys apology was sincere, she wants more accountability, and she especially wants to know if either Whitney or Meredith and Lisa are lying. (In the multi-episode saga of this fight, there has been surprisingly little information about who actually said what about Jen.) When Meredith and Lisa explain that they have forgiven Whitney and the bad blood is squashed, Jen gets defensive, starts yelling and accuses both of them of choosing Whitney and Marys side over hers. Meredith is not having this and she walks out, saying, in her signature drawl, Im not engaging in this. This is nonsense. No one tells me who to be friends with. As we all learned a few weeks ago, if theres anything Meredith is NOT going to do, its engage.

As Lisa tries to de-escalate, Whitney and Heather come in at the absolute wrong (or, for us, perfect) time. Jen is in the middle of staging her own dramatic exit, and when Heather asks whats wrong, Jen pushes her and hits her hand away. The gesture is much less effective when Jen immediately comes back to get her purse, but this does give her the opportunity to hurl more expletives at Whitney. Heather tries to defend her cousin; Lisa, for whatever reason, wants Jen to stay and Whitney mostly seems shellshocked. An emotional Jen then leaves with her bodyguard, because for some reason Jen has a bodyguard. After trying to mediate, Lisa talks it over with Whitney and Heather. At risk of overexplaining the obvious, Lisa says that Jen isnt over the birthday party blowupor the problems it caused in her marriage. Whitney doesnt know what else she can do to mend the situation after apologizing: Am I supposed to send a flash mob or a singing telegram? Whitney then recounts Jens own backbiting. Jen allegedly showed photos of Merediths secret boyfriend to Heather, and she also tried to stoke tensions between Whitney and Lisa. All three women are shaken and increasingly upset with JenLisa says Im not okay with the master manipulation tactics.

Back in her room, Jen drunk calls Sharieff and tearfully complains that nobody is sticking up for her. Considering the couples earlier fights about Jens drinking and temper, this cant end well for either of them. The other four women convene in Whitneys suite. Meredith and Whitney hug like they just survived a bombing and then they discuss Jens increasingly aggressive behavior. During their shopping spree, Jen told Heather, I would drown [Whitney] in the lake behind her house if she wasnt your friend. So theres that. Whitney doubles down on her initial claim from several weeks ago: she tells Meredith that Jen was trying to drop bombs in my lap to get me to say bad things about you and your marriage. Fed up with the constant speculation, Meredith finally explains the situation. Apparently, she and Seth have been separated for longer than anyone knew, and she did see other people during their time apart. This is news to everyone, including Lisa. She is visibly hurt that her best friend never shared this part of her life with her, but Meredith is protective of her privacy to the end. (Well, as protective as you can be while a camera crew films your worst moments to share on national television.) All four women agree on one thing: Jen is out of line. It always comes down to loyalty from the one person whos least loyal, Lisa observes, but Heather is still adamant on keeping the friendship, even when Jen is being toxic.

The tension has gone down slightly the next morning, but everyone still has the Jen blowup on their minds. Naturally, Lisa decides to video call Mary and explain the situation. Even though Mary isnt on the trip, shes staying busy in Utah! Before Lisa calls, she asks Charlinda to put a bin by her bed so she can step up into it (?) and is fascinated by the way her phone rings (??) As Lisa informs Mary about their disastrous night, Mary can barely contain her schadenfreude. She is not even a little surprised that Jen ruined the trip, especially after she warned every other Housewife about Jen from the beginning. If you choose not to listen, whatever happens to you you deserve it, Mary says in a confessional, though she restrains herself on the phone call. While feeling relieved that she opted out of the trip, Mary once again cautions Lisa: How do you understand crazy? she asks.

Back in Las Vegas, Whitney has a new surprise for the rest of the cast. Whitneys track record with surprises is mixed at best, but Lisa and Meredith are committed to their newly strengthened friendship and follow Whitneys lead as event planner. Heather is late because, another surprise, shes talking to Jen. The others thought Jen had left early, but at least one member of her large traveling entourage convinced her to stay. Though Heather still wants to maintain her friendship with Jen, she is not happy after last night, and she even calls Jen a crazed monster in a confessional. Jen is much calmer, but she still feels hurt and wants to know the truth behind the gossip and backbiting. She isnt taking responsibility for the night before, including pushing Heather, and Heather offers some tough love. Theres no reason to defend it or debate it with me, she says: Jens temper gets in the way of explaining her emotions or learning the truth of swirling allegations.

Without Heather or Jen, Whitney, Lisa and Meredith arrive at a mysterious mansion in the suburbs. They are greeted by a housekeeper and Kimberly Friedmutter, a hypnotist. Whitney is a fan of her book Subconscious Power, which, considering Whitneys ties to an MLM, checks out. (Scams and wishful thinking die hard.) Side note: if anybody EVER interrupts my vacation and surprises me with a trip to a hypnotherapist, no bitch will leave with their chakras aligned. Lisa and Meredith are kinder than me, and they are gracious despite the fear in their eyes. Whitney wants the women to find their inner voice, and I want to find Kimberlys interior designer, who really leans into an aesthetic best described as Intro to World Religions meets fever dream greenhouse. (Who am I kidding? These decorations are all Kimberly.) Kimberly leads the women in meditation and then says trance state is the bomb, which leaves my psyche as far from a trance state as humanly possible. The three have barely had a chance to close their eyes when the doorbell rings. In walks Heather withsurprise!Jen. Even Merediths third eye is shooting daggers. The energy just completely shifted in here, Meredith says. I think Kimberly needs a much bigger crystal. With all of the women present, Kimberly leads a group meditation exercise where the women imagine holding different kinds of balls. (In her confessional, Whitney does not miss the single entendre.) Jen cannot even pretend to take this seriously, which I honestly respect.

When the group moves to the therapy couch, Kimberly observes a lot of damage either individually or in the group. (You dont need to be a bestselling celebrity hypnotist to notice this.) Kimberly encourages the group to share their feelings. No one is backing down from their opinions, and soon everyone is talking in circles. Jen rambles about loyalty for the umpteenth time, and Meredith finally confronts Jen about the negative innuendos about my marriage. Jen may have the biggest temper tantrums and Marys passive-aggression is inspired in its insanity, but Merediths quiet rage might be the scariest of all. Jen doesnt exactly admit to the accusation, but weve already seen her gossip about Meredith on camera anyway and she apologizes.

Kimberly pivots to a new game: trust or not trust. Taking cues from the meanest girl at a middle school slumber party, she asks each Housewife to raise their hands if they dont trust another member of the group. She may be a dubious psychologist, but I am totally on board with Kimberly as a reality show plot engine. Every other woman raises their hand when Jen is mentioned. Mostly in retaliation, Jen says she doesnt trust Heather. Heather, who truly has been a reliable friend to Jen, is angry. (Cue the montage of Heather following and comforting Jen after every party meltdown.) Even Heather has her limitsshe calls Jen a really shitty friend. Though she has been unanimously called out, Jen still defends her reactions as completely justified. The episode ends in this tense stalemate. Next week is the finale, and the cast will finally leave Las Vegas and hopefully wrap up some of this seasons increasingly tangled plot lines. If its even close to as weird as this episode, Ill be satisfied.

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'Real Housewives' Recap: 'Sinners in the City' Salt Lake Magazine - Salt Lake Magazine