Bravo / NBC
For three long years, a bronzer-caked cloud hung low over Salt Lake City. It cast a shadow so wide and far-reaching that it cascaded over the Mormon church steeples and the tippy-tops of whatever the mountain ranges in that part of the American Southwest are called. Its presence instilled fear in every last resident of Utah’s capital city, leaving them trembling as soon as night fell. That cloud’s name was Jen Shah, and it was wearing a silly little hat.
But the skies have parted, and the cast of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is singing a triumphant song. Jen Shah is gone, serving an almost seven-year sentence behind bars after being found guilty of fraud. Now, Meredith Marks, Heather Gay, Whitney Rose, and Lisa Barlow—along with new cast members Monica Garcia and Angie Katsanevas, the latter bumped up from friend-of status—can breathe a deep sigh of relief in Season 4, which premiered Sept. 5 on Bravo.
Any fans who thought that RHOSLC might become rudderless without Jen Shah steering the ship—as she did from the moment her shaky stiletto stepped out of a car and into a pile of snow in the series premiere—will be delighted to know that this franchise never needed Jen. She was merely an added bonus, a histrionic diamond amid a wealth of other reality television treasures. In fact, the only reason that I noticed Jen’s absence at all while watching the Season 4 premiere was because her prison sentence is still a major topic of conversation among the ladies.