‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Season 5

By Meghan O’Keefe

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives might be the most culturally important reality television series on air today. Sure, it started out as your typical tawdry soap opera, exposing the personal lives of our favorite TikTok superstars, but it’s also a gripping look at the cyclical nature of trauma. The new season of SLOMW delves into some of the biggest pop culture scandals and surprises of the year. We pick up immediately after Taylor Frankie Paul finished filming her doomed season of The Bachelorette. In just the first fifteen minutes of the season, her friends slam her “fiancé” Doug as Dakota 2.0 while Taylor herself wistfully wonders aloud if she could ever reconcile with Dakota while she’s engaged to Doug!!! We also get to watch Layla tackle her eating disorder, Miranda address Chase’s DUI, and Whitney thrive away from the gang. Reality TV often gets knocked as being “scripted” because it’s obviously heavily produced, but SLOMW still manages to hold a captivating funhouse mirror to existential issues plaguing everyday people: the effects of domestic violence and emotional abuse on the human psyche.

Photo: Hulu