{"id":132393,"date":"2025-11-14T05:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T05:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/132393\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T05:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T05:18:10","slug":"secret-lives-of-mormon-wives-recap-season-3-episode-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/132393\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Secret Lives of Mormon Wives\u2019 Recap, Season 3 Episode 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

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How many things does it take to make a trend again? Three? I\u2019ve decided that for now, two is close enough, because I\u2019m certain it\u2019s happened more times and I just missed it. What I\u2019m referring to is MomTok\u2019s tendency to wear garments that are basically like \u201cFUCK MEN\u201d while also dating men and living their lives fully immersed in an oppressively patriarchal culture. Earlier this season, Layla wore an \u201cI SUPPORT A MAN\u2019S RIGHT TO SHUT THE FUCK UP\u201d hat. And in this episode, Jessi sits in the car with her emotionally abusive husband while wearing a tank top covered with \u201cBOYS LIE\u201d patches and appliques. It feels like a \u201cgirls only, no boys allowed\u201d sign on a bedroom door. Except these are grown women. So are these sartorial choices a safer way to express feelings without having to face the consequences of, I don\u2019t know, telling a man to actually fuck off? Are they a baby step on the road to a more productive and life-enriching feminism? Or are these just brand deals<\/a> and I\u2019m reading too much into it?<\/p>\n

Boys do lie, though, especially when they\u2019re named Dakota. Jessi pledges to tell Taylor about Dakota sexting Taylor\u2019s \u201calmost family member\u201d if he doesn\u2019t do it himself. And so far, he has not. He and Taylor chill in bed, looking at all their Stagecoach pictures. She\u2019s so glad they\u2019re all getting along and even tells him she\u2019ll always love him. You can already see exactly how this will be edited for an intro supercut for The Bachelorette<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m getting ahead of myself, though. It must be hard for the moms to keep all these timelines straight, especially with multiple seasons being filmed and aired in rapid succession. For instance, they just filmed the season-two reunion, where they could only talk about what happened months ago, but in \u201creal time,\u201d they\u2019re living out a totally different mess in public and online, much of which could spoil season two \u2014 and this is all occurring toward the end of season three. It hurts my head!<\/p>\n

After having to film with Nick Viall, Whitney and Conner take their kids to the park to blow off some steam. They talk about how shocked they were to see the receipts on display, specifically Demi\u2019s messages to Marciano and her recorded conversation with Jen, where she provides Jen a detailed script and acting coaching. To me, that recording will always say more about Demi\u2019s character and motivations than any other receipt we have seen as of yet. It\u2019s so transparently manipulative! In light of all this new information, Whitney feels she needs to talk to Demi to better understand the whole situation.<\/p>\n

But before that can happen, we must tease MomTok\u2019s new \u201cLGBTQ allies!\u201d core brand tenet. Mayci is buying apples at the grocery store because Jacob says she eats too much Del Taco. In the middle of the produce aisle, they discuss Jacob\u2019s gay cousin and how Mayci and Jacob aren\u2019t like other Mormons. So MomTok will host a pride event to show they\u2019re allies to the community, especially in light of Utah\u2019s shitty House Bill 77<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In what feels like a slightly more authentic conversation, Jen meets up with DWTS pro, Ezra. Like Jen, he is also Hispanic, from Utah, and grew up Mormon. Unlike Jen, he is gay, and when his parents found this out, they pulled him out of dance. He eventually left Utah and the church, and stopped talking to his parents. Then later, his whole family left the church and now his mom has a pride tattoo. After telling this whole story, Ezra says to Jen, \u201cGod doesn\u2019t give you something you can\u2019t handle \u2026 wanna film a TikTok?\u201d Impeccable stuff. Any underperforming MomTok members should be ready for an elimination vote at the next board meeting because Ezra is here and ready to PERFORM. He\u2019s fun and raw and living out most, if not all, of the MomTok brand tenets. Who cares if he\u2019s not a mom? Many of the best Real Housewives aren\u2019t wives. Semantics!<\/p>\n

Anyway, it\u2019s time for Whitney to sit down with Demi to get to the bottom of what Demi really meant by \u201ceggplant, water, clam\u201d emojis, among other post-reunion pressing questions. Demi has answers for everything. Flirty texts? It\u2019s how she talks to all her friends. Her pet name for Marciano? A \u201cfunny prank\u201d her daughter made up. Marciano FaceTiming her daughter in the first place? An accident. Talking to Marciano if he\u2019s her abuser? A trauma response and also a plan to prevent the sexual assault from \u201ccoming out.\u201d Any other questions? Bret knows everything.<\/p>\n

Whitney returns to the hotel after hearing Demi out and immediately reports everything to Conner, as it\u2019s not adding up for her. He points out that Bret wanting to order DoorDash food to his wife\u2019s abuser is \u201codd\u201d (a very diplomatic way to put it!), then goes on to say if Whitney came home and reported she was assaulted, he\u2019d do everything in his power to keep this person away from both her and their kids. Whitney ultimately thinks Demi is not being 100 percent honest with her, and also likely not being honest with herself. Conner ultimately wants to err on the side of believing the person who said they were inappropriately touched but the story isn\u2019t adding up. If you\u2019d have told me during season one that these two would have the most measured and mature response to really anything, I\u2019d have done a hearty chortle. But my favorite part of being a reality television fan is being proven incorrect! People are complicated.<\/p>\n

Back in Utah, the Swig sponsored beverages are flowing at the MomTok pride event. Taylor eats funeral potatoes while Jessi feels sick to her stomach knowing Dakota is there doing bumps of caviar and wooing his baby momma back. Everyone, including the podcast bozos who busted their way onto the guest list, is well behaved. Mayci pops over to Joseph (Jacob\u2019s cousin) and is all like, \u201cI [production] was JUST wondering: was it hard to come out to your family?\u201d Mayci compares his coming out journey to her telling her parents she was pregnant out of wedlock while at BYU. Mikayla asks about any changes at BYU with the pride flag law as if BYU was flying pride flags in the first place. When Mayci and Jacob get home, they plant a pride flag in their yard because MomTok needs to use their platform for good and be more active allies for the LGBTQ community. Okay, so \u2026 y\u2019all are going to be supporting progressive candidates and measures up and down the ballot from here on out, then, right? RIGHT?!<\/p>\n

Earlier in the episode, Jace and Mikayla went to a couples therapy session. It\u2019s the same therapist who tried to refer Mikayla to a sex therapist, so I assume it\u2019s an interim situation. They rehashed their struggles around vulnerability and disparate sex drives. Jace was concerned Mikayla wouldn\u2019t have the motivation to work through this stuff, but the therapist reminded them that building a better relationship as an example for their kids could be a powerful motivator. This seems to work. While discussing their birth plan, Mikayla tells Jace for the first time that her abuse started even earlier than at 15 \u2014 that there were other instances when she was six, but she felt like she had to protect her abuser. Jace\u2019s heart hurts so bad (same!) and he says his job is to create the first safe space for her. If Jace ends up taking an evil (or even just classic shitty man on this show) turn, so help me god.<\/p>\n

Speaking of classic shitty men on this show, Taylor learns about Dakota\u2019s discretions. Her therapist told her she was going to get news of something really hard. Is this normal? I\u2019ve never had a therapist who also acts as an oracle. The therapist tried to get Taylor and Dakota to come in so he could tell her in a controlled setting. This did not happen because Taylor was about to leave for Los Angeles, so Dakota told her immediately about his dalliances with [basically-a-family-member]. I totally get Demi\u2019s daughter\u2019s name being censored out, but a friend of Liann\u2019s mother, who is presumably a grown woman? Surely the TikTok detectives will figure it out soon enough.<\/p>\n

Alas, it\u2019s a mess and Taylor is mad she\u2019s going to have to disassociate while filming Jimmy Kimmel. She had a glimmer of hope last week, and now she has nothing. But soon, she will have no less than five limousines full of suitors vying for her hand. And that\u2019s to say nothing of the most important thing she has: SISTERHOOD.<\/p>\n

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