If there’s a constant on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” it’s that there’s one member of the cast who is the star of the week — the one around whom the conversation, the disagreements and the drama swirl.
This week, as the Housewives continue their trip to Puerto Vallarta, it seems like the star is going to be rookie Bronwyn Newport, who opens up emotionally in ways the castmates haven’t seen up to now. But Bronwyn’s hold on the title is strongly challenged by the person who arranged this trip, Lisa Barlow.
This episode also shows the two sides of this season, the split between arguments that are ridiculous and events that are heartbreakingly real.
Mary makes a move
One of those real moments happens midway through the episode: Mary Cosby’s son, Robert Jr., is shown going off to rehab to deal with his substance abuse problem.
“I knew I had to take action,” Mary says in confessional. “I had to do something and I had to do it quick.”
We see Robert getting ready to leave, getting an encouraging talk and a loving hug from Mary, and then getting into a black SUV — the first step on a trip to a facility out of state, Mary says.
“He was ready,” Mary says of Robert. “I’m just praying for the best, and I’m just hoping something will come out of this, and it’s got to be good.”
When Mary arrives in Puerto Vallarta, she pointedly doesn’t say anything about her tardiness to Lisa, the trip’s host, or Meredith Marks. But Mary does find Angie Katsanevas — the one castmate to whom Mary has confided about Robert’s addiction — and they share warm hugs.
“Angie is a positive person for me now,” Mary says in confessional. “I’m going through this, but there’s someone in this with me. She’s got me, and I’ve got her.”
(Jesse James Allen | Bravo) Angie Katsanevas, Heather Gay and Whitney Rose, chat after water aerobics in Puerto Vallarta, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Bronwyn talks about Todd
The second day of the Mexico trip starts with Heather Gay, Whitney Rose and Angie taking a morning water-aerobics session — which Whitney says is “really easy on older joints,” a mild dig at Heather and Angie’s ages — and a little pre-breakfast gossip.
The topic of this tea-spilling is Bronwyn and her husband, Todd Bradley. Whitney mentions that Todd didn’t immediately rush to the emergency room when Bronwyn was attacked by a dog just before the Mexico trip — and only was persuaded to go to Bronwyn’s bedside when he saw video evidence of the severity of the bite.
In confessional, Heather — who thinks Todd is “kind of mean” to Bronwyn — compares her thoughts about Todd to her feelings about her own ex-husband: “This stings when I see husbands being dismissive of their wives,” Heather says.
After breakfast, the castmates get on board The Best Day, the yacht Lisa has booked for a day trip. The boat is, of course, amply stocked with her Vida tequila brand.
Lisa talks about her 12-year-old son, Henry, and how he’s being pampered as he enters middle school while his older brother, Jack, is off on his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “It’s the year of Henry,” Lisa declares, and the other castmates show their support.
(Jesse James Allen | Bravo) From left, Meredith Marks, Lisa Barlow, Britani Bateman, Angie Katsanevas and Whitney Rose talk on a yacht near Puerto Vallarta, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
This support gets Britani Bateman incensed. She complains that no one showed that kind of enthusiasm the night before, when she declared her breakthrough with her estranged daughter. Bronwyn answers that she isn’t sure whether Britani was more excited about talking to her daughter or being able to make an announcement to the Housewives about her daughter. Britani calls Bronwyn something that rhymes with “plucking witch.”
Bronwyn — who’s still sore at Lisa for being put in a different villa during this trip — points out to Lisa that she’s missing her chance to come to Bronwyn’s defense. (Again, we’re reminded that Bronwyn and Lisa were friends long before “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” ever existed.)
“When I tell you that I don’t feel close to you, you don’t f–-ing care, Lisa,” Bronwyn tells her.
Then Bronwyn unloads with stuff she’s apparently wanted to say for a while, about the real problems she and Todd have had that the castmates don’t know. One word, though, gets everyone’s attention: “Infidelity.”
Bronwyn recounts how she and Todd, and Bronwyn’s daughter Gwen, were on a trip a couple of years ago, and Todd was sending texts to someone on his iPad — and Gwen saw over Todd’s shoulder what he was texting.
Bronwyn says she confronted Todd and he apologized. Later, she said, he gave her a ring with five diamonds — each one matched with a promise, for “five things he didn’t promise me when we got married that he probably should have.”
“The real truth,” Bronwyn says in confessional, “is that my relationship is just as hard as everybody else’s. … I want them to see that I bleed the same way that they do. I cry about things. And that side of me is there if they’re open to it.”
The rejection Bronwyn felt when she learned about Todd’s infidelity has its echoes, she says, in the way the other Housewives have been standoffish to her this season.
(Jesse James Allen | Bravo) Heather Gay, Whitney Rose and Lisa Barlow, from left, talk on a yacht around Puerto Vallarta, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
“I don’t always know that anyone knows 100% who I am,” Bronwyn says on the yacht. “That’s a very isolating feeling, to float through life and feel like nobody totally gets me.” The attitude she’s felt from the castmates, she adds, “reinforces this narrative that maybe I’m not good enough for anyone.”
And while, as everyone notes later, Lisa and Meredith hang back with their support, it’s Heather — who was most suspicious of Bronwyn in the early weeks — who steps up. “You are a survivor,” Heather tells Bronwyn. “You can recognize that you don’t need that toughness any more.”
Bronwyn says in confessional that she would never leave Todd, as Heather might be suggesting, but “I appreciate Heather trying to stick up for me, and saying I deserve whatever it is I think I deserve.”
By the end of the conversation, Meredith and Angie are empathizing with Bronwyn, and even Britani is asking if she can give Bronwyn a hug.
(Jesse James Allen | Bravo) Meredith Marks, Lisa Barlow and Britani Bateman, from left, talk on a yacht in Puerto Vallarta, in an episode of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City."
Analyzing Lisa
Back at the villa, Bronwyn eats lunch with Whitney, Angie and Heather, and the conversation turns to how coolly Lisa reacted to the conversation on the yacht.
Whitney’s summation: “Even when her intentions are good, she doesn’t know how to quite just listen.” Whitney also opines that Lisa is attracted to the surface aspects of people’s lives, such as their wealth, and sometimes doesn’t look deeper.
Bronwyn says she sees some of this in Lisa’s friendship with the family of Gwen’s biological father. Lisa speaks positively about them, Bronwyn says, but “that’s not how I feel about a family who in the past has denied or ignored and refused to claim or get to know my child.”
The action shifts to dinner, where Lisa has arranged to serve Vida tequila and supplies everyone with personalized Vida swag. As Whitney puts it in confessional, “It feels less like I’m stepping into a dinner party, and more like I’m stepping into a cheesy Vida tequila commercial.”
There’s a brief disagreement between Britani and Meredith — something about how Britani thought she heard Meredith up late crying and throwing up, which Britani told Heather, who told Angie, who told Bronwyn.
The specifics quickly get lost in the chatter, because Lisa steps into the argument. Then the dispute becomes about how Lisa steps into the middle of every argument.
In rapid succession, the disagreement cycles through Lisa’s long-standing beef with Whitney and her more recent one with Bronwyn. Then Angie tells Lisa to show some empathy toward Bronwyn — and says that, after the yacht trip, Angie now knows more about Bronwyn than she knows about Lisa.
Angie’s comment sets Lisa off. Lisa recounts years of conversations and confidences she’s had with Angie, and questions whether those years meant anything. “I feel like you’re not really my friend,” Lisa tells Angie. “You never really were my friend.” Lisa then gets up, crying, and tells the others she’s going home.
“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” is taking a break for the holidays. The next episode is scheduled to air on Bravo on Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 8 p.m. Eastern time — 6 p.m. Mountain time on DirecTV and Dish, and 9 p.m. Mountain time on Xfinity. (The show streams the next day on Peacock.)
