The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (S5)

BEST FICTION

BEST FICTION

I’m assuming Fraudwyn is just too scared to talk about Todd cheating while he’s in front of her, but it’s hard to sympathise for her when she acts like it’s nothing now that she opened that can of beans. And then wants to vilify Meredith & Lisa for not jumping to her defence when… clearly they were right not to. Bronlose strikes again.
 
sesita

sesita

All of these husbands seem genuinely... douchey. Let Shawn have his circle jerks, he seems the nicest to be around.

I love Mother Marks, she's just a fascinating human being, but at times I fear she's gonna head the Vanderpump route as she's very preoccupied in controlling her status and how she's perceived until she eventually checks out mid-point.
 
RHOPJ

RHOPJ

Shawn actually seems like a really great person. The way he tried to give Meredith the kindness she didn't deserve shows his decency. I think Meredith seems so jealous of Angie, but I'm not sure Angie understands that yet, or realises the depth of it. When you're that determined to find a problem with everything someone else says or does, it gives off a strange vibe to me. Also, speaking of the husbands, for all his bluster and the way he speaks to Bronwyn, I actually believe Todd really loves her and Gwen. He's stuck in his ways, but the benefits of being on television is that he gets to see himself (which I suspect is one of the reasons Bronwyn wanted to be on the show in the first place).
 
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allyshone

allyshone

sesita said:
All of these husbands seem genuinely... douchey. Let Shawn have his circle jerks, he seems the nicest to be around.

I love Mother Marks, she's just a fascinating human being, but at times I fear she's gonna head the Vanderpump route as she's very preoccupied in controlling her status and how she's perceived until she eventually checks out mid-point.
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Coming in to defend Ms Marks again, I didn't even love her this season dddd.

I don't think this is true. Yes, she does have an air of elitism about her, but I don't think Meredith would go wacko mode like she does if she was so concerned with her image. Vanderpump never let down her guard, especially to the other women. I think Meredith's issue ultimately is, she doesn't feel heard and respected in this group, which includes production. She said as much to Heather this season about not feeling heard unless she screams and shouts about something. A few examples of why she might feel slighted...

- There was a whole dinner last season dedicated to screaming at Meredith for things no one had any evidence for and it totally got bypassed come reunion, because of the Monica of it all. No apologies or remorse from anyone.
- Her car veered off the road into a bank of snow, which I assume was on a hill (I can't remember). Her IG post at the time said it was pretty traumatic. The producers and cast... made a joke of it.
- Being held solely responsible for the Shawn gay rumours to the point where she's still trying to clear it up at the following season's reunion.

I say all this to say, yes, it's annoying to hear Meredith repeat herself over and over again. Yes, it makes her seem like she's trying to be a victim all the time. Yes, it makes her seem miserable. But, I don't think I can recall off the top of my head any instance where Meredith got a decent resolution on anything she feels slighted by. I wish she would just move forward with things, but everyone has their limit.

I do think her living in Salt Lake just to film might become an issue going forward. For example, Mary and Angie bonded so well because they could build a friendship without cameras which clearly worked wonders for Mary. Meredith puts herself at risk because her friendships stay surface level. So she wants Angie and Shawn to know her intentions, but they can barely get to know her or her intentions because they don't get any opportunity outside of filming.... hmmm... so maybe she is like Vanderpump in that way. You could be right! Anyway essay over, back to work dddd.
 
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constantino

constantino

I think I would have a lot more respect for Meredith if she actually did leave the show (like Mary) to demonstrate her integrity and values, rather than threatening to constantly and affirming the sense that she has a victim complex. She's also proven herself to be just as thirsty and obsessed with the platform as Lisa, who actually shows gratitude for the show and goes the distance with the brand both on and off the show.

Despite what she says, Meredith hasn't had a particularly rough run on the show compared to her castmates and she has been messy and vindictive at times, so her theatrics and obsession with semantics, combined with her dour attitude most of the time, makes me like her less than everyone in the cast (bar Heather).
 
allyshone

allyshone

constantino said:
I think I would have a lot more respect for Meredith if she actually did leave the show (like Mary) to demonstrate her integrity and values, rather than threatening to constantly and affirming the sense that she has a victim complex. She's also proven herself to be just as thirsty and obsessed with the platform as Lisa, who actually shows gratitude for the show and goes the distance with the brand both on and off the show.

Despite what she says, Meredith hasn't had a particularly rough run on the show compared to her castmates and she has been messy and vindictive at times, so her theatrics and obsession with semantics, combined with her dour attitude most of the time, makes me like her less than everyone in the cast (bar Heather).
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I mean I get that and I do think Meredith loves being on the show for sure, just not the filming ddd. Here's hoping, if she's back, we get to see more of her funny side next season which Lisa and Heather always talk about, which also seems to be the side which has fun with Angie when the cameras go down dddd.
 
lilylu

lilylu

he/him
Shawn follows many alt-right media figures for the record. Now, I don't think litigating political opinions of Real Housewives characters usually has a point because most of these people probably have awful politics and I'm not looking to them as role models... but it does affect how I see Shawn and his actions to be honest. (Also this is probably where high body count hair came from.)

Re: everyone's feelings on Meredith... Whether there's truth or not to any critiques from you guys on her, I think it's important to step back and realize that it's funny. I don't want her to act rational. I do understand sometimes she could stand to lighten up but I do love to watch a Meredith meltdown. I tend to see where she's coming from anyway, too.

With Heather, I don't feel like she's been a huge presence during this reunion at all, so I feel like some of you just put a bit too much energy into hating her.
 
Jonathan27

Jonathan27

allyshone said:
Coming in to defend Ms Marks again, I didn't even love her this season dddd.

I don't think this is true. Yes, she does have an air of elitism about her, but I don't think Meredith would go wacko mode like she does if she was so concerned with her image. Vanderpump never let down her guard, especially to the other women. I think Meredith's issue ultimately is, she doesn't feel heard and respected in this group, which includes production. She said as much to Heather this season about not feeling heard unless she screams and shouts about something. A few examples of why she might feel slighted...

- There was a whole dinner last season dedicated to screaming at Meredith for things no one had any evidence for and it totally got bypassed come reunion, because of the Monica of it all. No apologies or remorse from anyone.
- Her car veered off the road into a bank of snow, which I assume was on a hill (I can't remember). Her IG post at the time said it was pretty traumatic. The producers and cast... made a joke of it.
- Being held solely responsible for the Shawn gay rumours to the point where she's still trying to clear it up at the following season's reunion.

I say all this to say, yes, it's annoying to hear Meredith repeat herself over and over again. Yes, it makes her seem like she's trying to be a victim all the time. Yes, it makes her seem miserable. But, I don't think I can recall off the top of my head any instance where Meredith got a decent resolution on anything she feels slighted by. I wish she would just move forward with things, but everyone has their limit.

I do think her living in Salt Lake just to film might become an issue going forward. For example, Mary and Angie bonded so well because they could build a friendship without cameras which clearly worked wonders for Mary. Meredith puts herself at risk because her friendships stay surface level. So she wants Angie and Shawn to know her intentions, but they can barely get to know her or her intentions because they don't get any opportunity outside of filming.... hmmm... so maybe she is like Vanderpump in that way. You could be right! Anyway essay over, back to work dddd.
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As someone who was incredibly frustrated watching her last night, this really maps things out in a way that at least adds context to her performance in part 2 and also makes me think I need to give her more grace. Thank you!

I get frustrated any time there's an obvious alliance with one couch. It happened on Beverly Hills for multiple seasons and it was happening in this part too pretty egregiously: multiple cuts to Lisa, Heather and Meredith all talking at once when something would be directed solely at Meredith made it more stifling than it needed to be.

I think the Todd emotional affair conversation made sense? Bronwyn pretty openly explained why in the moment she spoke the way she did, and why the immediate response being to side with Todd frustrated her. I think wanting your friends to listen and support you instead of redirecting it to be about your own failings is a fair ask. She didn't ever say he slept with someone else, as evidenced by the flashback footage. It all feels like a classic season 1 fumbling to me so I guess I'm affording her more grace than the veterans. Todd was also visibly trying to hold it together with the conversation. I thought he came across a lot better here than in the season, but I also find grumpy old men can be misunderstood at times!

Mary handled all of the conversations in a really powerful way? I can't think of another adjective but I'm just astounded by how vulnerable she's been, and the beauty of her friendship with Angie in precipitating that. I also thought her points about her friendship with Meredith were well said and made sense, seems like Meredith understood too.
 
lilylu

lilylu

he/him
I posted it more to point out Mary's comments. I don't think she's in for an easy season coming up as I think the cast sees her for what she is now after watching the season back.

All-time best seems premature regardless of how you feel about her. I personally feel like she's pretty joyless and an unfun pathological liar. It seems to me people are convincing themselves they love her just because they don't like Lisa. Maybe some people do just genuinely like her, that's fine, but I just don't see it. I think if she stays (which I'm sure she will), we will see a broader picture and then we can discuss if she's the best or worst or mediocre or okay or fine.
 
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