Hulu’s new series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered on Sept. 6 and the tea is already piping hot. The women behind #MomTok went to Vegas for Layla Taylor’s birthday in episode 7, and some major drama went down, not between the girls but the husbands. It was a lot, so let’s break down what happened. Spoiler Warning: Spoilers for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives follow.
Demi Engemann planned a surprise for the moms with tickets to Chippendales, the male strip club. Most of the moms were excited to go except for Taylor Frankie Paul, Jen Affleck, and Mikayla Matthews. The moms had a meet and greet with the dancers and got to oil them up. Affleck felt this crossed a line and texted her husband, Zac Affleck, to let him know what was happening. She felt incredibly guilty because she worried about what Zac would think. Turns out, he was furious and flipped out on her for attending the show even though she didn’t do anything wrong.
Demi then explained that Zac’s reaction stems from him wanting Jen to be more traditional. “When it comes to Jen and Zac’s relationship, it is a little alarming to me the way that she talks about how Zac wants things to be a little bit more traditional,” Demi said. “Especially when it comes to the church, they think that their women owe them by doing things a specific way to prove that they are only that man’s wife and it’s so strange to me. It’s like you can have fun with your girls and go out and wear what you want to wear and be completely loyal to your husband.”
Jen ultimately left the Chippendales show with Taylor and Mikayla. Meanwhile, Zac continued blowing up Jen’s phone and saying he did not trust her and that he didn’t love her anymore. Demi went on to call a “narcissist” and “crazy” for how he was acting toward Jen. After ruining her girl’s trip, Zac texted Jen to meet him in the middle of the night and the girls did not hear from her for the rest of the day. Mayci Neeley said that as members of MomTok, they all rally behind each other and let each other know that Jen’s behavior is not ok. Men who get upset about their behavior show insecurity on their end.
Later in the episode, Jen surprised the girls at dinner, where she revealed that Zac has a habit of gambling, which is against the Mormon religion. She then acknowledged Zac was “in the wrong” and “has narcissistic traits about him” that “come out every few months.”
Jen went on to tell her friends that despite Zac’s behavior, she’s standing by him, even though Jessi Ngatikaura thinks Jen deserves better.
The series ended with Jen leaving Momtok, even though she’s the breadwinner in her family, and moving to New York because Zac got into med school. He told her that she would have nothing to miss in Utah even though she left all her friends and job to move for him.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives really brought the drama and after watching Season 1, I hope Hulu has plans to bring this show back for Season 2.