One of the Best Scenes in ‘Real Housewives’ History Just Aired

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY

“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” just featured a harrowing conversation between a Real Housewife and her son that’s almost too real to air.

Is everything okay with Mary?
Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Bravo/Getty Images

Every week, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City transcends the bounds of reality television, proving the often overlooked genre can be a marvelous art form. It’s so ridiculously good in every way, from the intentional editing to the haunting choral music. Every scene tells a story, each building upon each other to produce the most sharply crafted show in the history of reality TV.

And somehow, through it all, RHOSLC manages to stay wonderfully real. It’s amazing.

This season has centered around the theme of motherhood, whether it’s Angie working through her own grief and angst, Lisa questioning if she’s been there for her son, or Mary trying to reach her son as he struggles. As the group drama continues to grow more vicious, it all ties back to this motherhood motif, something that grounds this show in a fascinating amount of reality.

Mary tries to connect with her son.
Mary tries to connect with her son.

Never would I have thought Mary would have the star solo storyline in a season of Housewives. Yet here we are, watching scenes so utterly raw I question the ethics of even airing them—though I’ll always advocate for showing your life, rather than shying away from it all.

What makes this storyline so powerful is the presentation. RHOSLC has sprinkled Mary solo scenes throughout the season, offering hints that something is awry in her life. What initially seemed like odd, innocuous moments have spiraled into a truly harrowing story, one that’s made even stronger by Mary’s contribution to the group dynamic.

All the women can tell: There’s something about Mary. She’s just not her normal self, the woman who avoided conflict and hid in her closet for two years. The new Mary is simultaneously engaged in a way we’ve never seen before, and entirely absent all at the same time.

Having left Mary’s house in shambles last week, Meredith offers her former friend an olive branch. The two meet at an art gallery to hash out their differences—because God forbid you do that in the comfort of your own home—but Mary arrives an hour late.

The viewers at home get a glimpse into why she’s late—her son—but Meredith has no idea. She’s simply perturbed anyone would make her walk the hollow halls of this art gallery alone for an hour.

Meredith gets frustrated waiting for Mary.
Meredith gets frustrated waiting for Mary.

Once Mary arrives, a conversation between aliens ensues. Transatlantic accents, monochromatic outfits, and indoor sunglasses complement the local diva convention, a sister to the Palm Springs chapter.

The hushed tones contrasting the venom releasing from Meredith and Mary is perfection. These two have wasted years as friends when, apparently, they are the funniest feud partners alive. Every line of that chat will bounce through my head for years to come. I’m tossing out “you have apparently been harboring some hostility for me for quite some time” at every function from here on. Sorry in advance.

Next, Lisa and Angie go to the aquarium with their 12-year olds in tow. Everyone knows Henry and Elektra are the RHOSLC kids. Who said Henry’s too old for stuffies? Something about Elektra’s eager “I love snakes” is just so adorable and funny. These two have raw star power not seen since Milania Giudice called her father an old troll.

As the kids go off to play, Angie and Lisa hash out their issues in front of a fish tank, one of many inspired locations in this episode. Imagine you’re walking through the aquarium on a field trip and these two are just airing it all out right next to you. I would have cried tears of joy watching the pillars of Salt Lake City make peace—even if it’s futile.

“I’m hoping that we can move forward with a new relationship,” Angie says in a confessional to heartwarming music. The midseason trailer promises a huge blow-up in Mexico, and postseason, Angie dropped rumors that Lisa cheats on John. Maybe that’s the new relationship.

Surely it’ll all be smooth sailing at Heather and Whitney’s camp day, knowing these calm, collected ladies. On the way over, Bronwyn decides to strap herself to a bomb, as though she hasn’t had enough drama this season. She’s surprised that Bad Weather would host an event together given Whitney talks trash about Heather, not quite realizing that’s simply the Bad Weather experience. Those two are arsonists for sport, and the best you can do is let them set themselves ablaze without interference.

Whitney and Heather plan a camp day for the ladies.
Whitney and Heather talk about their camp day plans.

After all, the Salt Lake City Housewives have a hamster wheel of drama going at all times. They’re either fighting, proxy fighting, or plotting their next fight.

That’s abundantly clear at the camp day. Britani vs. Angie devolves into Mary vs. Meredith almost instantaneously, as the dominos all fall right into place, just as they were preordained.

An unleashed Mary tells Britani to shut up and scolds Meredith’s bad manners for leaving the dinner party early—aided by Angie, who was disgusted Meredith would grab her goodie bag on the way out. Whitney chimes in that Meredith is “playing the Lisa game,” inciting Lisa to tag Bronwyn in to expose Whitney. It’s a doozy.

It immediately backfires on Bronwyn, too, as Bad Weather simply won’t let anyone else cause a storm. Now she has Whitney and Angie on her bad side, and that means she’s got maybe half an ally, if you get creative.

Amid it all, Angie makes an ableist comment about Meredith’s hearing aids, ensuring we will arrive at the reunion with a speech from Ms. Marks about this classless, vile display. I’m verklempt just thinking about it.

Finally, we end on Mary vs. Lisa, a feud that has been on the backburner since Season 2. Utter hatred oozes out of these ladies at every turn. As explained by r/BravoRealHousewives commenter Bronwyn Newport, it’s a “b-----s eating crackers situation.”

Adding to the list of awful Bronwyn confessionals is: “Top tier shade Mary. I’m here for it.” This really isn’t the Brat summer I hoped for, although Bronwyn’s so-bad-it’s-good strategy has almost grown endearing.

Ultimately, this fight ends in a draw. If you like Lisa, you’ll love how she handled it. And if you’re a member of Mary’s congregation, you’ll be pleased by God’s actions. What’s clear at the end of the day is every single Housewife is formidable. Even on auto-pilot, their fights pack a punch.

The next day, Meredith hosts the ladies for a Shabbat dinner in lieu of her bat mitzvah. Here, the tension from camp day washes away under the watchful eye of Mother Marks, even if some passive aggression slips through the cracks. The best part of this entire scene is Britani reacting so excitedly to the news Meredith is getting bat mitzvahed. Um, is it news? Britani was too busy waiting in the wings as Cynthia Erivo’s understudy to notice, perhaps.

As the couples partake in small talk, Todd jumps in with the cute tidbit that he did a background check on Bronwyn when they first got together. Couple goals!

It’s even more adorable when he scolds her for saying she can be a “snarky c----.” Bronwyn may have made that joke about Heather sitting her at the kids table, but she’s clearly living at it. Her third season divorce arc is gonna shake the nation.

All of this simply tees up the true event of the episode, which is Mary’s sitdown with her son. The Shabbat dinner scene ends with the women speculating about Mary’s odd behavior, a masterful storytelling move aided by a phenomenal score. It’s a gift from God that RHOSLC hasn’t devolved into those Selling Sunset songs and still maintains its haunted chorus.

The episode closes out on that Mary scene, and it’s truly harrowing. It’s certainly not great that this man is admitting to all this drug use on camera, but his rehab stint has been made public, regardless. Still, it’s utterly shocking, each new admission further growing the pit in my stomach.

Mary’s entire arc this year has finally developed her into a three-dimensional Housewife who’s more than comedic relief or a one-note villain. You don’t need these big moments to give your character nuance—I think back to her Season 2 confessional about how her husband doesn’t know the rice she likes—but baring it all like this is something unique. For Robert Jr.’s sake, though, maybe this can be his last scene for a while. We all need a breather after that.

For an episode to be this packed with petty squabbles, high-stakes drama, and absurdist comedy is truly staggering. It is the best show on TV, this and every week. This episode should be submitted to the Emmy committee, who will surely snub it for some Netflix series that isn’t half the show RHOSLC is. Justice for our Housewives.

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