The line from “The Godfather Part II” — about how one should “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” — could be the theme for this week’s mafia-influenced episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” where the line between friend and enemy sometimes gets blurry.
Like the season’s first episode, this week’s action centers around a single event: A 25th anniversary party for Angie Katsanevas and Shawn Trujillo, with Angie setting a theme — “mafia wives.”
Early in the episode, in a bit of foreshadowing, Whitney Rose makes an offhand comment to her makeup team that “there’s nothing worse than a husband jumping into a fight.” By the end of the episode, just before a tantalizing “to be continued,” that’s exactly what we get.
Angie sets the tone
Angie’s idea for a “mafia wives” party is a tongue-in-cheek callback to last season, when former cast member Monica Garcia helped float a rumor that Angie was tied to Utah’s “Greek mafia.”
Angie was angry about the accusation at the time, but now chooses to make fun of it — even having a Greek flag and the word “mafia” decorating a large cake.
Angie has one of her “associates,” a burly man identified as Gharzai, deliver the party invitations — printed in the style of wanted posters — to the other cast members.
The party allows a bridge between Angie’s “Real Housewives” family and her real family. The most poignant moment comes when Angie’s father, Louis, gives a speech praising Shawn: “He had long hair and earrings [when they met], but he turned out to be one of my best son-in-laws.”
Parenting and the grapevine
The first cast member to react to the invitation is Lisa Barlow, which comes as a surprise to Lisa and her husband, John. Lisa notes that she really hasn’t had any communication with Angie since they argued in Milwaukee two episodes ago.
“I don’t even know what this friendship is anymore,” Lisa tells John.
The issue between them is Lisa’s belief that Angie insinuated (in a conversation with Heather Gay) that Lisa’s a bad mom — letting her 12-year-old son, Henry, play video games at all hours of the night.
Henry, who’s listening to his parents talk about this, speaks up: “You’re a great mom!” Henry also suggests how Lisa and Angie should have settled their argument: “You guys should have boxed.”
Henry reminds Lisa and John that it’s Monday — the day of the week when they can FaceTime with older son Jack, who’s serving a mission in Colombia for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There’s some talk about Jack’s ongoing health issues, and Lisa mentions in a confessional that Jack has gone through a battery of tests, and “they’ve ruled out a lot of bad things.”
Lisa, in confessional, notes how sensitive she is about Jack and his health problems, adding that “this is the worst time to be criticizing my parenting.”
Calling out Heather
(Bravo) Angie Katsanevas, left, talks with Bronwyn Newport, Meili Workman and Heather Gay, from left, at Angie 25th anniversary party, in an episode from "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Heather Gay’s role in the Angie/Lisa argument — as the person who told Lisa what Angie said about Lisa’s parenting — has not gone unnoticed by Mary Cosby and Bronwyn Newport. When the two meet at Mary’s house, Mary notes that she confronted Heather about this last week, after their zipline adventure.
(Side note: Bronwyn’s reaction to Mary’s house is delightful. When Bronwyn sees Mary’s kitchen is decorated blue, like hers — though a lighter shade — Bronwyn asks, “Did we just become best friends?” Later, in confessional, Bronwyn adds, “I love Mary’s house. I would move in.”)
Mary tells Bronwyn that Heather is being two-faced in her dealings with Angie. “I don’t do two-faced people — I need one face at a time,” Mary says.
At the party, Bronwyn talks to Angie about Heather, and how Heather passed Angie’s parenting comment to Lisa. “I feel like Heather starts little fires, and then kind of backs away and watches them burn,” Bronwyn tells Angie.
Meanwhile, when Mary is talking to Lisa, Heather cuts into the conversation. Mary again accuses Heather of lying. Heather asks Mary for specifics, and the two start talking in circles.
Heather and Mary eventually agree to stop arguing, though Mary declines Heather’s offer of a hug.
Heather, in confessional, says that “arguing with Mary is like arguing with the Mormon church: You’re going to be gaslit; they’re going to tell you what you say is not true, and they’re going to tell you they never hurt you.”
At another moment in the party, Heather talks to Angie about Lisa. “Something has shifted in you,” Heather tells Angie, “and you no longer have Lisa’s back.”
Heather then takes Angie over to Bronwyn, and tells Bronwyn she’s out of line for interfering in their relationship. Heather then turns her anger to Angie, saying, “If you trust [Bronwyn] for feedback over our history and our friendship, I cannot help you.” Heather then walks away from them both.
Britani and her date
(Bravo) Jared Osmond sits for dinner and a post-breakup conversation with his ex-girlfriend, Britani Bateman, in a Provo restaurant, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Britani Bateman enters Angie and Shawn’s house with a surprise: A date who isn’t her ex, Jared Osmond. This man’s name is Aaron, someone Britani says she met on a dating app during one of her breaks from Jared.
Mary, in one of the episode’s funniest moments, is convinced he’s actually still Jared, even after Meredith Marks pulls out her phone and Googles a picture of Jared to show Mary the difference.
Heather immediately recognizes Aaron as someone she went out with once. As Heather says in confessional, “Salt Lake City is very small. We’ve all made out with each other. Some more than made out.”
Later during the party, Jared walks in. Britani sees him and lets out a gasp. Bronwyn asks Britani what she needs at this moment, and is a little surprised that what Britani wants is a hug.
How did Jared know about the party? Justin Rose, Whitney’s husband, texted Jared from Angie’s house and suggested he swing by. Whitney, in confessional, says Justin “has no idea what he just did.”
Britani gets a supportive pep talk from Lisa, who has been urging Britani to dump Jared for the last couple of episodes. Then Britani and Jared go out onto the patio to talk.
“I didn’t come here to cause drama,” Jared says, which clearly isn’t the case. Britani, in tears, tells him, “This is hard, because you know I love you.” Jared asks, “Do you want me to leave?” and Britani says no.
In confessional, Britani says, “I just want him to show up for me like this because he wants to. Because we’re together. Not just because we’re broken up.”
Whitney’s case against Lisa
(Bravo) Whitney Rose talks with Lisa Barlow at Angie Katsanevas' and Shawn Trujillo's 25th anniversary party, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Last week, Whitney was gathering evidence that Lisa was the person who was starting rumors that Whitney’s jewelry business was acquiring product from cheap manufacturers. This week, as she’s preparing to confront Lisa about this, Whitney takes Meredith out for drinks at the State Road Tavern in Kamas (near Meredith’s home in Park City) to clear the air.
Whitney starts by apologizing to Meredith for accusing her of being the one who started the rumors. Meredith appreciates this, but isn’t thrilled with Whitney’s assertion that Lisa’s the one responsible. Meredith warns Whitney to be absolutely sure of her information before accusing Lisa, in case “you come to find out it’s not her.”
In a confessional, Meredith reflects on her past arguments with Lisa, and her reluctance to be involved in Whitney’s dispute with her. “I don’t want to be in the middle of this,” Meredith says. “I don’t want any part of this.”
Later, at Angie and Shawn’s anniversary party, Meredith takes Whitney aside and suggests that she talk to Lisa and settle their differences. “You’ll feel better. We’ll all feel better,” Meredith tells Whitney.
When Whitney finally talks to Lisa, Lisa says it was an accident, not a deliberate slight, that she left Whitney’s gift — a piece from her jewelry line — in her hotel room in Milwaukee. Lisa also strenuously denies that she fed the rumor about Whitney’s jewelry line to a website.
Lisa gets loud — loud enough that the rest of the party seems to get really quiet — and demands to know who gave Whitney “bad information.”
“Who was it? Because I’m going to sue them.” Lisa then pulls out her phone, calls someone she knows who works in cyber security, and tells him to start digging — and to call both Salt Lake City and Los Angeles police if necessary.
Lisa then walks up to Justin to yell and swear at him. Justin swears back at Lisa, and then John tells Justin to stop swearing at his wife. That’s where the episode ends, with tense music and a “to be continued” message on the screen.
Next week’s episode is scheduled to air on Bravo on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 9 p.m. Eastern time — and airs at 7 p.m. Mountain time on DirecTV and Dish, as well as at 10 p.m. Mountain time on Xfinity. (The show streams the next day on Peacock.)
