The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Recap: She’s Coming for the Crown
We’ve reached a wrinkle in the MomTok-brand tenets. It’s been long established that the group’s No. 1 core value is some flavor of “women supporting women.” But what happens when MomTok exists in a world where supporting the collective can also mean stirring up some supremely stupid drama in order to give everyone a boost in followers and maybe even some extra clicks on those ol’ affiliate links? Is it better to “support” by being nice or by being good at stoking online engagement for all active and potential MomTok members? Let us examine!
Two days after the Friendsgiving Bake-Off, Taylor went to the CMAs. She got to present an award and was real jazzed about it. Naturally, she posted this to the grid and then not a single one of the MomTok girlies commented. To Taylor, this was a slight that the entire world (or at least her 1.1 million Instagram followers) needed to know about. All the other girls were like, “What are you talking about?,” sharing screenshots of supportive texts. Demi then went on a rampage, trotting around IG commenting things like “Let’s not feed the extremely large ego” and “You don’t need her, bb.” It only spiraled from there.
So, of course, Mayci and Mikayla go to Demi’s house to drink hot chocolate and further analyze Taylor’s Instagram Stories. Mayci says that at first she thought Taylor’s story was satire, and Demi counters that Taylor hides behind her page being mostly satire — and it’s bullshit. She goes on to insist that Taylor is a liability to MomTok. I told y’all she was gunning for a vote of no confidence. The coup is in motion.
In Taylor’s corner, she dishes about the saga to her parents. Taylor points out that it wasn’t normal that none of them posted anything on her big accomplishment, citing the fact that this is their job. It’s a fascinating framing — less about being hurt that your friends didn’t care (she admits they texted her!) and more like being frustrated that your co-workers aren’t showing up to help launch your big project. She says that in MomTok, “we’re about supporting each other privately and publicly.” All of this could have been avoided if the MomTok-brand guidelines outlined these expectations explicitly: “It is the responsibility of each member of MomTok to like and comment on a fellow member’s grid post within X hours with Y emotional sentiment.” But I guess clear expectations don’t get you featured on The Viall Files.
Taylor then goes on to say how she doesn’t feel good about herself and how she questioned whether she deserved to be at the CMAs since her friends didn’t publicly gas her up afterward. We need the Al-Anon auntie here to tell Taylor that public validation is an ill-advised way to increase her self-worth. She’d pat Taylor on the shoulder and say, “Self-esteem is built only through esteemable acts,” before encouraging Taylor to get a service commitment, like setting up chairs before the meeting (the 12-step version of touching grass).
Instead, Taylor hops in the car with Mayci and Mikayla and tells them that she feels fine and would do it all over again. They explain that it’s not fair to stir up all this mess and turn their DMs into a “You’re a bad friend” hellscape. Mikayla asks whether all of this is about their online or their real lives, and I’m dying for each of the moms to explain where that line is for them. Because, yes, this drama is technically all happening on Instagram, but here you all are, drinking real-life 12-ounce frozen hot chocolates and spending real hours of your one wild and precious life hashing this all out. They eventually get Taylor to say she feels kind of bad that they all got bullied online.
Wholesome alert! In a very rare MomTok drama-free scene, Mayci and Jacob go to San Diego to do a frozen-embryo transfer. I had no idea this was a procedure you were awake for, and Mayci also teaches us that the church’s stance on IVF is not defined, but they all love babies more than almost anything, so it’s probably chill. As always, love to learn!
On the other coast, Layla and Taylor are in NYC to shoot a commercial and a billboard for [redacted brand]. Taylor has since sent an apology text to everyone, and Demi immediately wrote back “a chapter book” about how she doesn’t accept. Since then, the group text has become a war zone. Demi also asked how much Layla was getting paid for the [redacted brand] photo shoot. I’m begging the official members of MomTok to make a Google Sheet right now. At minimum, we need to be sharing the brand, deal amount, and contract details. The only way you all earn more is collective bargaining and wage transparency! Or I guess not the only way, since surely this episode’s nonsense helped them gain relevance for the algorithm. But the sanity cost here seems high.
Taylor manages to convince Layla that Demi took it too far at the photo shoot, but it goes even further once the two of them jump in the PJ to fly back to Utah. Layla says that looking back, she has gotten sucked into Demi’s negativity before when it came to Jen and now doesn’t want to have to choose between Demi and Taylor. She’s also afraid of Demi. This situation is screaming “ripe for producer manipulation,” and this is your reminder that Layla was 23 years old when they shot this.
Back home — the [redacted brand] shoot and the “Saints and Sinners” party are happening on the same day — Whitney and Demi go to JZ Styles to further shit-talk Taylor. Whitney thinks Demi can take it too far but feels validated that others are now onboard with her long-standing opinion that Taylor doesn’t know how to be a friend. Demi is getting those numbers, and the next board meeting is looking doomed for Taylor.
But wait, it’s not over yet. Layla is either the messiest queen you’ve ever seen or she took a Xanax and then the producers used her body like a meat puppet, because she gives her phone to Taylor with the entirety of the Taylor-free group text as the new in-flight reading material. Demi says Taylor is “dumber than a rock truly.” Jessi says Taylor is “bat shit crazy.” Mikayla is smart enough to send her shit-talking as voice notes. There’s also a lot of Demi acting as minority whip, urging all the other girls to back her in the full group chat. Separately, I’m loving how texts are dramatized in this television program. A serif font? The word bitch has never looked more chic.
We finally arrive at the “Saints and Sinners” party, which is actually a combined business event for Baby Mama and JZ Styles. The local girlies cannot say “no” to free barrel curls, so the party is packed. Mayci is running around trying to act like she didn’t just find out she’s pregnant, not knowing that, in mere seconds, this will become a nonissue, as all attention will be on the Demi-Taylor smackdown. Taylor shows up with Dakota in tow, both for emotional support and to help keep her 12-foot moth-man wings balanced. And with that, Jessi moves everyone to a corner so they don’t bother the guests. Let the brawl begin.
Taylor says she’s apologizing to everyone else but not Demi because Demi took her counterstrike too far. Jessi says Taylor should have known that her army of acolytes was going to jump to her defense and bully the other moms. Taylor says, “Well, you guys think I’m dumber than a block …” At this, Layla’s soul leaves her body through her eyeballs. It is pure regret — for showing Taylor those texts, for doing this show, and for the fact that her contract surely includes at least ten more episodes. Demi says Taylor has a victim complex, and Taylor says Demi is fake — to which Demi requests evidence.
Taylor then reveals that Demi does not think Jessi is good at doing hair and that she told Taylor to go to another salon and that Demi goes to JZ Styles only because she’s stuck and obligated. Now THIS is something to chew on! I cannot relate to the Instagram Stories saga, but who among us hasn’t had a bad-hair situation like this? This was my entire life before I found someone who knows what to do with a curl pattern. Whitney and Miranda try to squash the hair-fighting and get resolution about the IG Story so they can also move on. This only makes Taylor more mad because she’s been the only one supporting both Whitney’s and Miranda’s inclusion in MomTok. No loyalty!
Demi then gets into how Taylor is “behind closed doors,” saying they should go get Dakota and implying that now is the time to dredge up Taylor’s old domestic-violence arrest. Even Mikayla is like, “This is too messy for me.” Whitney just wants to know if Taylor is sorry, and Taylor is like, “Fine.” There’s no way we’re done with this, which sucks. I will forever prefer my reality-television interpersonal friction to be of the in-person variety (or at least containing an in-person element) versus exclusively online feuding.
There’s potential hope, though. Jessi seems to be on a radicalization journey of her own, and it’ll be interesting to see if “trying to cut her out of a television show” and “publicly and privately saying she’s bad at her job” will be enough to turn her against Demi. Perhaps in New Orleans, a city known for tranquility, we will get some clear-eyed MomTok restoration. Not holding my breath!