This week’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” raises a question: What would Audrey Hepburn think?
The question arises when Mary Cosby throws a “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”-themed brunch at her house. She invites the seven Housewives plus “friend” Britani Bateman, and asks them to dress and behave as elegantly as Hepburn herself.
Would Hepburn, born into aristocracy, felt at home among the many strands of pearls, clip-on bangs and Tiffany blue decor? Or would Hepburn, who devoted much of her life to helping the world’s underprivileged as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, politely excuse herself?
The cast members are back from their couples’ trip to Palm Springs, but the conflicts that arose there are still simmering — as are disputes involving those who didn’t make the trip, particularly Heather Gay and Britani.
(Bravo) Heather Gay, left, and Lisa Barlow meet for margaritas at Park City's Kemo Sabe, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Two scenes to set the stage
Before Mary’s brunch, the show offers two conversations that foreshadow what’s to come.
One is between Bronwyn Newport and her husband, Todd Bradley, over breakfast in their Federal Heights home. Todd is still steaming over the drama that happened in Palm Springs — and some of his anger is directed at Bronwyn for taking part.
“In the 10 years we’ve been together, I’ve never seen you like that,” Todd tells Bronwyn. “What did you accomplish? Nothing. You ruined a perfectly nice afternoon. Frankly, it’s not very becoming of you.”
Bronwyn, near tears, says she doesn’t know what she should have done when she was feeling insulted by Lisa Barlow, who called up Heather — who wasn’t invited on the trip because of a brewing argument with Bronwyn.
Todd gives a curt answer: “Leave. Leave with your dignity.”
Meanwhile, Heather and Lisa meet for shopping and spicy margaritas at Kemo Sabe on Park City’s Old Main Street — possibly the only Western apparel store in Utah with a bar. (Heather says in confessional that she thought Kemo Sabe was a sushi bar. “Now I’m starving and surrounded by hats,” she says.)
Lisa tells Heather “I didn’t like being [in Palm Springs] without you.” She then recounts the conversations she had with Bronwyn — and Bronwyn’s husband, Todd, telling Lisa and her husband, John Barlow, to stop the drama or leave.
Lisa sums up the attitude in binary terms: “If I’m not against you [Heather], I’m against her.”
(Bravo) Angie Katsanevas, right, tosses a Greek salad for her father, Louie, at home, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Angie talks about her mom
Also before Mary’s brunch, we see a tender moment between Angie Katsanevas and her father, Louie. Angie makes dinner for her dad, and they talk about how he raised seven children alone — after his wife, Georgia, died when Angie was 8 years old.
Angie, in confessional, talks how she acts as a “helicopter mom” with her 12-year-old daughter, Elektra. (We see a bit of this helicopter behavior when Angie and Elektra go shopping at Phoenix Vine, a nursery and plant-supply store in South Salt Lake.)
“I run myself ragged, to try and be the perfect mom, because I didn’t have that,” Angie says. She says Georgia “self-medicated with alcohol” before her death, and that “the last few years of her life, I felt like I was on my own.”
Angie talks about finding a necklace, a friend’s gift to Elektra when she was born, with the letter “G” for “Georgia.” The necklace is supposed to evoke memories of Angie’s mother, but Angie says, “I felt empty when I saw it.” When Angie relates this to Louie, he gives her a big hug.
“I want to find forgiveness” for Georgia, Angie says in confessional. “I don’t want to be mad at her, but I’m still kind of mad at her.”
(Bravo) Bronwyn Newport laughs during Mary Cosby's "Breakfast at Tiffany's"-themed brunch, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Bronwyn and Heather talk it out
The castmates arrive at Mary’s house, where she has left cards and gifts for each guest — and where the hired staff are wearing Tiffany blue vests as part of their formal attire.
Most dress like they understood the assignment, and Mary’s eye rolls and sharp tongue are ready for those who did not. These include Britani — who arrived late and in a white suit that’s too casual for the room — and Lisa, who wears the same robin’s-egg blue Fendi jumpsuit that Mary wore at a Bravo event some time back.
“Mary probably bought it off the rack at Bergdorf’s,” Lisa says in confessional, “but I saw it first.”
Mary’s comment in confessional is more cutting: “Anyone can buy fashion. No one can buy style.”
When Heather enters, she makes a point of giving kisses to all the women down the line — except Bronwyn. “You’d think I was covered in anthrax or poison ivy or something, the way she swerved around me,” Bronwyn says in confessional. Even Mary asks Heather about the snub, and Heather blows a kiss at Bronwyn from a distance.
When Mary proposes a toast to friendship, Heather adds that it’s great that Mary invited all the Housewives, which “didn’t happen for the Palm Desert trip.”
A bit later, Bronwyn steers the conversation toward Britani and Heather, and their criticism of Bronwyn for not signing a prenuptial agreement when she married Todd. Heather counters by insulting Todd for his behavior on the Palm Springs trip, an opinion Bronwyn deduces was formed after Heather talked to Lisa.
Bronwyn tries to make the case that she wanted Heather to go to Palm Springs with them, and even bought her a first-class return plane ticket — a luxury she didn’t extend to other Housewives, because of the plane’s small size. (Lisa, in last week’s episode, complained about this.) Heather asks why, if Bronwyn was being so generous, didn’t she and Todd fly coach? “Because it’s my [expletive] credit card,” she replies.
Bronwyn complains that Heather is, again, moving the goalposts. She tells the others, “every time I say, ‘Let’s get all the way to the bottom of this,’ Heather changes what it is she’s mad at me about.”
Heather eventually gets to the root of her problem: She was hurt Bronwyn didn’t invite her to Palm Springs. Bronwyn replies that she is “still open to getting to know you. I think you have a very wrong opinion of who I am.”
Heather explains why this is a touchy subject. “I am fiercely defensive of my friendships. They are the family that has replaced the family that I lost,” she said, when she left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the end, Heather and Bronwyn agree to start with “a clean slate,” and clink champagne glasses to seal the deal.
(Bravo) Britani Bateman, right, gives Mary Cosby a hug at Mary's "Breakfast at Tiffany's"-themed brunch, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
As one argument ends…
The ceasefire between Heather and Bronwyn leads Britani to ask a question: “What about me?”
Earlier in the conversation, Britani complained to Angie about what happened a few weeks ago, when Britani invited Angie to a Latter-day Saint fireside, and Angie brought a wine bottle as a hostess gift. Britani drinks wine on occasion (she’s drinking champagne at this brunch), but says “I wouldn’t drink in front of a church group.”
Angie’s response: “You’re doing three guys and you drink, and you claim to be some total Mormon?” This prompts a flashback to a conversation three weeks earlier between Britani and Angie, where Britani talks about how she’s still close to ex-boyfriend Jared Osmond, is getting closer to Aaron (the guy she brought to Angie’s anniversary party a few weeks back), and is also dating a guy named Hal.
Mary, in confessional, drops another bit of scandalous information: “I do know that Jared keeps sliding into my DMs.” Mary hasn’t told Britani, she says, because “I don’t need that soap opera.”
A bit later, Angie pivots to continue her disagreement with Meredith, over Meredith’s complaints about what Angie’s husband, Shawn Trujillo, said about Meredith’s son, Brooks, on a podcast.
Meredith says she wants to move forward from that dispute. “I don’t want to go backwards. If we want to go backwards, it’s not going to be pretty for anybody,” Meredith says — which Angie and others take as a threat.
Angie and Meredith start yelling, and Mary raises her voice trying to quiet everybody down. Meredith, fighting back tears, puts on her coat and leaves.
(Bravo) Meredith Marks, left, and Lisa Barlow toast during Mary Cosby's "Breakfast at Tiffany's"-themed brunch, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Words about bangs
If throwing shade was an Olympic sport, Bronwyn would be a gold-medal contender — until Mary enters the arena.
Bronwyn and Meredith are the first to arrive at Mary’s house, with both working to approximate Audrey Hepburn’s look. Bronwyn jokes to Meredith, “There are going to be no fake bangs on the internet if we all bought them.”
In confessional, Bronwyn talks about the clip-on bangs she wore for her look. Then, she said, “Meredith one-upped me with whatever octopus she put on her head.”
When Meredith leaves in a huff, Mary gets the last word. “Thank God she took those bangs with her,” Mary says in confessional. “This is Audrey Hepburn, not ‘The Flintstones.’”
Next week’s episode is scheduled to air on Bravo on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 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.)
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