The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Premiere Recap: Notes on Camp

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Following the Sprinter van craze sparked by *The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City*, the show is taking things to the next level this season with a full-sized camper van. And who’s leading the adventure? Angie K., surprisingly dressed in a sharp tan business suit! Mary questions her outfit, asking why she’s dressed for work, but the biggest surprise is that Mary is co-hosting this camping trip with Angie.

We’re jumping right into the action with a surprise trip! Instead of starting with everyday scenes, the women are immediately headed off on an adventure. However, only Angie and Mary know the details. The rest of the group is waiting outside Beauty Lab + Laser – which is surprisingly also being used as a bus stop – and they’ve been told they’re going somewhere fancy. So, you can imagine their surprise when an RV shows up! Britani even dressed for a poolside getaway, expecting something much more glamorous.

Just as the women were getting into the RV, the police arrived, mirroring the scene of Jen Shah’s arrest. However, it turned out Whitney had arranged for dancers to recreate the moment as a fun start to the trip! If they’d known the actual destination, though, some of them might have preferred to be arrested instead.

The new season starts with a lot of unresolved drama, and Heather does a great job of quickly explaining all the existing tensions – something more shows should do! It would be perfect if Steve Kornacki could chime in before each premiere with a breakdown. Basically, Bronwyn and Heather are feuding, Meredith can’t stand Britani, Mary’s loyalties are always unclear, and Angie, Whitney, and Bronwyn are all upset with Lisa. Unfortunately for viewers, Lisa isn’t joining the cast on this trip. It’s a shame, because she’d have the *best* reaction to seeing the RV arrive – I picture her immediately contacting lawyers, trying to order a private car, and dramatically ripping off her microphone while yelling. Eventually, someone would probably bribe her into the RV with a bag of KitKats.

Okay, seriously, where *is* Lisa? I keep wondering if she’s still figuring out her contract, and she says she can’t come on the trip because of work. She’s being super secretive about it, just mentioning she’ll be with Blake Lively and Ben Affleck. But honestly, listening to them all chat in the RV, I’m starting to doubt her story. Britani actually stepped in to defend Lisa, which was surprising! She called Whitney out for questioning Lisa’s work when her own business is getting criticized and compared to a pyramid scheme. Then Whitney just *snapped* and asked Britani how *she* makes money, and it was…intense. And all of this happened before the cameras even started rolling! Thank goodness for those RV cams! There’s just something about being on the road that makes these ladies go off on each other, it’s crazy!

Arriving at the campsite, the group initially worried they’d ended up in a junkyard, but they soon found a beautiful spot. Despite the lovely scenery, the conversation quickly turned back to Lisa Barlow. Over lunch, Bronwyn suggested Lisa’s absence might be due to the five lawsuits she’s facing, which have been widely reported. Heather, now on good terms with Lisa, tried to act like she knew nothing about it. Angie pointed out in a private interview that Heather was clearly aware, and then compared the situation to Jen Shah’s legal troubles during lunch. Realizing she’d said too much and caused an uproar, Angie quickly tried to take it back as a joke, but it was too late – the information was sure to reach Lisa.

Throughout all the drama, the issue of Bronwyn’s necklace – and her admission she lied about buying it last season – resurfaces. Bronwyn often seems overly prepared, almost like she’s been coached on how to handle every situation, and that can be fascinating to watch. This time, after having time to prepare during the break, she surprisingly takes full responsibility for her lie at the reunion. While she carefully chooses her words, she admits she acted childishly just to seem cool, and so far, that’s shut down the entire argument.

The scene shifts to Britani at lunch, and it felt like everything was happening in slow motion. She raised a bottle in one hand and a knife in the other, immediately creating tension. I’d seen her do this before, but I couldn’t believe what was coming next. She tapped the bottle with the knife and then said her famous phrase: “I have an announcement.” At first, I thought it was a joke referencing her public persona, but then she revealed she and Jared had gotten engaged… and then broken up just two weeks later. Honestly, everyone was drained by the drama. She explained that her kids hadn’t approved, so they called it off, but she insists they’re still together and she doesn’t believe he’s seeing anyone else. Whitney, however, claims she’s seen him on dates at the gym. Heather jokingly wondered if meeting at the Life Time café counts as a date, but at least it wasn’t at Blink.

Whitney cleverly gets Heather and Bronwyn to share a kayak, despite their recent argument – that’s just typical Housewives behavior! They can quickly move past conflicts when it suits them. The rest of the group endures a fly-fishing lesson, where Mary hilariously explains how to perform CPR on a fish before releasing it.

It’s wonderful to see Mary back on TV! When Angie announces everyone needs to cook their own dinner over the campfire, Mary immediately and openly protests, which is funny considering she helped plan the trip. Mary voices what everyone is thinking, complaining that cooking food on sticks over an open fire is a bad idea – especially since Angie admitted to forgetting essential ingredients like hot dog buns and condiments. Ironically, Angie *did* remember a huge bag of asparagus, but they have no way to actually cook it.

Predictably, the conversation drifted back to Lisa Barlow. This time, they were discussing Whitney and Lisa’s friendship after the reunion, but Britani quickly steered things back to a controversial comment Whitney had made earlier. Whitney became upset that Britani was bringing up her personal life and attacking her business, and in a surprisingly honest moment for *The Real Housewives*, she admitted her business had failed. She explained that her partner, Justin, had invested everything with her, and now they had lost it all. This vulnerability was powerful and immediately diffused the potential for further conflict with the other women. Britani even apologized right away, and the others offered support, acknowledging that everyone experiences setbacks but rarely talks about them. It was a genuinely touching moment of camaraderie, hilariously interrupted by Britani cheekily requesting an apology for the earlier comment. She’s incredibly funny, and it’s a testament to her personality.

Throughout the episode, Heather has been hinting at a creepy local legend about a man connected to a fundamentalist Mormon group who supposedly went into the valley looking for women. Armed with camcorders – a playful reference to a recording issue from last year – the group ventures into the wilderness, capturing some beautifully unsettling footage reminiscent of *The Blair Witch Project* as they become increasingly frightened. It would be perfect if Lisa Barlow appeared and gave them a real scare!

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2025-09-17 05:58