In what Andy Cohen called a “top 5” episode of any of The Real Housewives, Sunday night’s Real Housewives of Salt Lake City saw the women of Utah learn of their castmate Jen Shah‘s alleged crimes, as she was arrested mere moments after fleeing their production.
The arrest of Jen Shah is arguably the biggest Real Housewives story to come out of 2021, a year that included the drama surrounding Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi, bombshell rumors, and more from the other cities. In March, Shah was indicted and arrested in a federal telemarketing fraud case, as theGrio previously reported.
Last week’s episode ended in a jaw-dropping cliffhanger, with several of the women left shocked as police and Homeland Security officers arrived at the scene. Sunday night’s episode followed the fallout of the arrest, with the women finding out in real-time of Shah’s alleged crimes, as they ride on a bus to their cast trip in Vail.
While cast members Meredith Marks and Mary M. Cosby traveled by themselves, the rest of the women, including Lisa Barlow, Heather Gay, Jennie Nguyen, and Whitney Rose, were waiting to leave the parking lot of Gay’s med spa when the feds arrived.
Immediately following their departure, the women on the bus began to break down why federal agents would come for Shah in the first place, and whether or not they believed what Shah had told them moments before. As she left, Shah told the women her husband Sharrieff Shah had internal bleeding.
Some of the women seemed to immediately know something was off, including Barlow, who called six lawyers on the ride. The episode took a dramatic turn when the women find out, in real-time, that Shah was arrested moments after fleeing.
Rose reads the reports as they began to flood the internet, with many of the women breaking down into tears when thinking of Shah and her family. “I’m devastated, all I can think about are their families, and the fact that this is going to like take off like wildfire.”
As the long bus ride continues, this leads the women to start to speculate which of them may have known about Shah’s alleged crimes, or even may have tipped off Shah’s location. Barlow shares in a confessional, “Other than our families, there was seven people that knew we were meeting at Beauty Lab today. I can’t imagine anyone here would turn Jen in, but this looks really sus.”
As theGrio previously reported, one storyline that seems to play out this season is the idea that Marks may have tipped off the feds. The trailer previews a confrontation between Shah and Marks, with Shah yelling at her, “I swear to God if you have anything to do with the bulls— charges against me, Meredith, you’re f—- disgusting. You’re f—– fraudulent.”
During Sunday night’s episode, the women already began to question Marks’ behavior, specifically her abnormally calm reaction to the news of Shah’s arrest.
Check out her reacting to the news below:
As the episode closed, the women made it to Vail and began to debrief their action-packed day. Per the preview for next week, the following episode will continue to follow the women on their trip, as more information pours out regarding Shah.
Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Sunday nights on Bravo.
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