Picture Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Each day Beast/Bravo
It all began with a dramatic cellphone name, like so most of the nice actuality TV scenes do. Behind a now-infamous black Sprinter van, 5 stars of Bravo’s Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis had been ready to depart for a women’ journey to Vail, Colorado. That’s when Jen Shah answered her cellphone.
After Shah hung up the decision, she requested her co-star Whitney Rose to modify her microphone off. (In actuality TV, this at all times means one thing is up). She then instructed the ladies that her husband, Sharrieff “Coach” Shah, was within the hospital and swiftly exited the scene. In her absence, Shah’s co-stars reeled from the information. However none of them may have recognized what was actually happening, or that what was about to occur would change their lives—and actuality TV—endlessly.
An hour later, Shah was arrested by the FBI alongside her assistant Stuart Smith. As a part of a decade-long investigation, they had been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and cash laundering, which carry a most sentence of 30 and 20 years respectively. Each pleaded not responsible, although Smith later modified his plea to responsible. Her trial is ready for later this 12 months in New York.
Folks typically ask me why I watch Actual Housewives. It’s a good query. I’ve spent tons of of hours watching roughly 12 completely different Housewives reveals from world wide, some for over 10 years, typically greater than as soon as. However when the teaser for the second season of RHOSLC hit Twitter in September 2021, even Bravo virgins had been captivated.
9 episodes in, we received to see the solid discover out about Shah’s arrest in actual time. Shortly earlier than the remaining ladies departed Salt Lake Metropolis, cops from the FBI and NYPD had surrounded their automobile, asking the place she was. As cameras rolled, a few of the ‘wives thought it was an elaborate prank, suspecting the “cops” is likely to be strippers. However then helicopters started to fly overhead. Because the van sped towards Vail, the information hit the media.
Shah’s arrest turned an worldwide information story. Instantly, everybody was speaking about Actual Housewives. However this isn’t the primary time that criminality has hit the Bravo franchise: Teresa Giudice, an unique solid member of the New Jersey present, spent 11 months in jail in 2015 for mail, wire and chapter fraud. Her husband Joe Guidice, who served 41 months, was ultimately deported to Italy by ICE.
The most recent season of Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills was equally scandal-hit. Tom Girardi, estranged husband of Actual Housewife Erika Girardi (who additionally goes by the moniker Erika Jayne), was accused of swindling thousands and thousands of dollars from his authorized purchasers over many years. Girardi, whose authorized work impressed the movie Erin Brockovich, stands accused of treating his regulation agency like a “ponzi scheme” and embezzling cash he received on behalf of orphans and aircraft crash victims to fund the pair’s lavish way of life. Jayne has at all times denied any information of her estranged husband’s monetary dealings.
Elsewhere, there have been a slew of bankruptcies, tax points, money-related lawsuits, assault fees, and alcohol-related offenses. Probably the most highly-publicized of those was in 2017, when a newly divorced “Countess” Luann de Lesseps was arrested and charged with 4 felonies in Palm Seashore, Florida. Footage from the police automobile, which was aired on Actual Housewives of New York Metropolis, confirmed the intoxicated actuality star escaping a police automobile.
Jen Shah in The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis
Bravo
Shah’s arrest took issues to a complete new degree. Not solely had been the fees far more critical, however the cameras had been actually rolling because the feds confirmed as much as apprehend her. Like Jayne, she stored filming after the information broke, perplexing and horrifying authorized consultants.
All issues thought of, expectations for season 2 of RHOSLC couldn't have been increased. Because the season involves a detailed, did the present stay as much as the hype?
In some methods, sure. The three episodes that chronicled the lead-up to, climax, and fast aftermath of Shah’s arrest had been a few of the most fascinating episodes of actuality TV ever made. When the ladies arrived in Vail they tried to work out what had occurred, every including items of the puzzle that they knew or suspected, however had by no means dared say on digicam. Meredith Marks even revealed she had employed a non-public investigator following a long-running feud with Shah. It was jaw-dropping.
Apart from its apparent leisure worth, Shah’s arrest highlighted how actuality TV rewards its stars for projecting a picture of wealth. It was confirmed by her lawyer that her palatial Utah dwelling, nicknamed the “Shah Chalet,” was really rented. The super-rich picture that she created on the present, which undoubtedly influenced her casting, turned out to be a mirage. Her lawyer insisted she had no important belongings and, after her arrest, she was filmed counting on her mom’s retirement fund for monetary help.
Housewives offers us a snapshot into how the rich and wannabe-wealthy function. Time and time once more, its scandal-embroiled stars use their cash and standing to insulate themselves from penalties. Giudice’s pay reportedly sky-rocketed after she returned from jail, making her one in every of Bravo’s highest-paid stars. She additionally cashed in with a guide deal and spin-off present. De Lesseps, whose “tagline” on the present after her arrest was “I plead responsible—to being fabulous,” used the publicity to launch a profitable cabaret profession and an alcohol-free rosé model.
These scandals go to the guts of what makes Housewives so fascinating: it’s a narrative about American society. That's what pulled Kate Aurthur, editor-at-large at Selection, towards the franchise. “Watching Actual Housewives since 2006 has taught me extra about American tradition than the rest,” she tells The Each day Beast. “Greater than mainstream information retailers, greater than any documentary, greater than any guide.”
The idea of a Actual Housewife being arrested by the FBI was enthralling. However the present struggled with the on-camera actuality of what occurred subsequent. Shah is going through critical felony fees, so she was unable to debate many particulars of the case, or say something apart from profess her innocence. Followers hoped she would communicate in regards to the case as a lot as Jayne had mentioned her estranged husband’s authorized points on RHOBH. That was a really completely different scenario, although: there was intense hypothesis about how a lot Jayne knew, however she had not been charged with against the law, so may communicate far more freely.
Shah’s incapability to speak in regards to the case created a vacuum. Usually, there are one or two central conflicts per season of Housewives, which function the central supply of the drama. However with none particulars, it was troublesome to show Shah’s arrest into an extended, season-defining storyline. As a substitute, the present turned a round firing squad of battle: Meredith vs. Jen, Mary vs. Whitney, Lisa vs. Meredith, Jennie vs. Mary, Whitney vs. Lisa, Meredith vs. Whitney, Heather vs. Mary—the checklist goes on. A few of these arguments had been doubtlessly life-ruining: A number of ‘wives had been branded adulterers and Cosby was accused of working a spiritual cult. Marks was even accused of leaking Shah’s whereabouts to the feds—as if the FBI would wish such a tip-off—and mendacity in regards to the timing of a memorial service for her just lately deceased father.
It'd sound unusual to speak about battle as a foul factor, as a result of most actuality TV revolves round it. A number of the most iconic Housewives moments—like Aviva Drescher throwing her prosthetic leg throughout a New York cocktail get together, Giudice’s Jersey-style table-flipping, and vape-puffing Beverly Hills medium Allison DuBois—had been born out of confrontations. Lisa Barlow’s electrifying “scorching mic” second, through which she was heard suggesting Marks had “fucked half of New York,” is actually an addition to the Housewives Corridor of Fame.
However on this season of RHOSLC, battle has felt relentless. When arguments aren’t interspersed with comedian reduction, or scenes with a distinct quantity and vibe, they rapidly lose their leisure worth. It’s unimaginable to get into the minutia, or work out why somebody is absolutely harm and what it says about them and their values, when everyone seems to be screaming at one another. And it’s tougher to “choose a aspect” when it looks like everyone seems to be within the mistaken.
Author Louis Peitzman, who has recapped episodes of RHOSLC for Vulture, thinks the showhas forgotten that Housewives works greatest when drama feels natural, quite than for the cameras. “If it feels just like the solid haven't any actual motive to hang around, and that they’re preventing solely for a storyline, it’s not entertaining to me,” he tells The Each day Beast. By the tip of the season, many of the Salt Lake Metropolis solid seemed depressing in group scenes. Cosby did not present as much as the reunion, blaming “lies” her co-stars had mentioned about her, earlier than quitting the present altogether.
From L-R: Heather Homosexual, Jen Shah, Lisa Barlow, Jennie Nguyen and Whitney Rose on The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis
Bravo
These issues come again to casting. In The Housewives: The Actual Story Behind the Actual Housewives, Brian Moylan argues that every present wants a mixture of characters who exist in actual friendship teams: queen bees, betas, pot-stirrers, and fence-sitters. Salt Lake Metropolis struck that stability in season 1, however in season 2 it looks like everyone seems to be striving to be the Essential Character. This typically occurs on Housewives: after one season on the present—which comes with newfound fame, enterprise alternatives, and social media followers—the habits of solid members adjustments. “The ladies are far more aware about how they arrive throughout on digicam,” Peitzman says. “Even with the backdrop of Jen Shah’s large case, the present solely actually produced a handful of nice episodes, and I feel that ought to educate an essential lesson on the necessity for stronger casting, clearly stronger background checks, and ensuring there are actual, dynamic relationships at play.”
The background checks Peitzman mentions are a reference to the casting of RHOSLC beginner Jennie Nguyen. The tip of season 2 was engulfed by controversy after social media posts from Nguyen’s Fb profile surfaced. A number of the posts featured anti-Black racism, similar to mocking violence in opposition to BLM protesters and conspiracy theories in regards to the homicide of George Floyd. Bravo fired her from the present, apologizing for not firing her sooner and never catching the posts of their vetting course of. On the reunion, racist feedback made by Cosby towards Nguyen, who's Vietnamese, had been mentioned in Cosby’s absence. However the reunion was filmed earlier than Nguyen’s anti-Black posts resurfaced, so her feedback and firing weren’t addressed. This solely added to the unresolved, unsatisfying feeling that has stalked the latter a part of the season.
The most recent seasons of Bravo’s Beverly Hills and Salt Lake Metropolis reveals have normalized Housewives revolving round “an enormous story.” This began with Giudice’s authorized points and continued on Actual Housewives of New York Metropolis when, on the peak of the present’s recognition, de Lesseps was arrested and a solid boat journey in Colombia turned a horrifying near-death expertise. These tales—which felt just like the exception, not the norm—had been closely leaked to the press as they occurred, encouraging followers to tune in months later. It’s the same technique that was used to advertise Maintaining with the Kardashians, the place followers received to observe the “actual” story behind the headline-generating divorces, secret pregnancies, and robberies of actuality TV’s First Household.
The issue with that is that it's unlikely that Salt Lake Metropolis, or the Housewives franchise as a complete, will have the ability to sustain the tempo. Looking forward to the third season, Shah’s trial can be a spotlight (except, as has been reported, it has been moved to July) and maybe Nguyen’s firing, too. However past that, it’s unclear the place the present—which is among the many lowest-rated Housewives reveals—will go. As Jayne’s authorized scandal fades from the headlines, Beverly Hills faces the same dilemma. Its solid have used a frenzy of leaks and cryptic Instagram posts to tease the following season’s feuds, however will it's sufficient?
As fascinating as the most recent seasons from Beverly Hills and Salt Lake Metropolis have typically been, they characterize a transfer away from conventional Housewives drama. If we take a look at the reveals which have had probably the most constant help from followers—Potomac, Atlanta and, till just lately, New York Metropolis—their golden eras have largely revolved round the actual fluctuations and conflicts between a friendship group of wealthy ladies. “Housewives was extra of a vibes present: you construct an important solid and we’re content material to observe them hanging out, throwing dinner events, often throwing wine glasses,” Peitzman says. “Erika’s marital and authorized drama revitalized RHOBH and gave us probably the most compelling season of that present we’ve had in years, however the draw back now could be that the stakes have been raised. The mediocre final season of RHOSLC is an effective reminder that having a ‘massive story’ doesn’t essentially make for an important season.”
Jen Shah and Mary Cosby in The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis
Bravo
What makes the proper season of Housewives is tough to outline. As Peitzman says, it’s a vibe—which might shift drastically from one season to the following. There are pockets of promise in Salt Lake Metropolis: Weight-reduction plan Coke and Taco Bell’s unofficial ambassador Lisa Barlow is virtually a dwelling meme. Heather Homosexual’s post-Mormon journey has offered a much-needed respite from the screeching. With newbies changing Nguyen and Cosby subsequent season, plus Shah’s trial at any time when it comes, it’s too quickly to put in writing it off.
Nonetheless, the “new regular” that RHOSLC has helped to create—of an enormous sandal ramping up the drama and fan anticipation—has franchise-wide ramifications. There's potential for short-term gratification, but in addition disappointment: with the stakes raised so excessive, the place can the franchise go subsequent? Will reveals now be written off if there’s no “massive story?”
RHOSLC season 2 has taken me again to the central query of why I like watching Housewives. Battle and scandal are a part of it, for certain. However once they change into so loud that they drown all the pieces else out, I’ve discovered myself feeling nostalgic for the reveals about wealthy ladies doing issues—ladies who didn’t at all times get on, however had been genuinely invested in one another and knew the place the “traces” had been once they argued. Watching RHOSLC this 12 months, I’ve been shocked by how a lot my love for Actual Housewives has been examined.