One of the great things about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is that rather than just focus on its biggest name — Taylor Frankie Paul, creator of #MomTok and the center of the Mormon soft-swinging scandal that took over TikTok in 2022 — it has been more focused on the drama within the group of eight women that make up The Secret Live or Mormon Wives cast. Still, when it came down to the final moments, Taylor was a key figure.
Taylor has quite a lot of ups and downs with her boyfriend and father of her third child, Dakota Mortensen. And since Taylor leans on Mayci Neeley as a source of support, she gets more involved than Dakota would like — which leads to the season 1 cliffhanger.
Read on as we break down what happens with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives ending (SPOILERS ahead if you’re not caught up).
What happened between Taylor and Dakota?
Taylor and Dakota's relationship started out rocky. When they were dating and not official, Dakota slept with another woman when he had told Taylor he was having a guys' night. So there was mistrust from the start. Plus, rumors circulated on social media about Dakota, which is one reason Mayci didn't trust him.
In episode 5, Taylor invited Mayci to clear the air with Dakota. While she initially may have been on Dakota's side, the more Taylor would vent to her and the more she observed things herself, Mayci grew concerned. SHe acknowledged maybe she was projecting her past onto Dakota, because she recognized she would try to excuse her ex’s behavior to her friends, like Taylor does.
"I feel like I am so protective with Taylor and her relationship with Dakota because I see a lot of signs in Dakota that I saw in my abusive ex-boyfriend. There's a lot of things that he did — verbally, emotionally, physically — that were big red flags," Mayci said in an interview. "Although it's not as severe as the relationship I was in, I see those red flags and it scares me. And so I want to do my best to protect Taylor because I don't want what happened to me to end up happening to her."
Dakota seemed receptive to Mayci's feelings, but expressed he didn't want her in Taylor's ear telling her not to be with him. "If you guys are solid, nothing that like I say or other people say like should ruin that," Mayci said. Taylor broke down because she was not over the lies Dakota had told her early on in the relationship. The two got into a fight right in front of Mayci, which probably didn't help Dakota's case.
Before the ladies went on their Las Vegas girls' trip, a suspicious piece of information landed in Mayci’s lap. Mayci's "Sinner Sunday" posts, where she encourages people to write in their secrets anonymously saw someone write about Dakota. The message read, "I accidentally slept with Dakota BEFORE I knew he and Taylor were together. I only met her once and I'm terrified to tell her but I feel like she has a right to know. Help." Although the message was anonymous, Mayci thought it could've been Jenna, the woman Dakota was dating at the same time he was dating Taylor before they were official. In an earlier episode, Dakota denied sleeping with Jenna on a particular evening and said they only kissed. Taylor confirmed if she ever found out Dakota lied about that, she would leave him.
In episode 7, still in Vegas, Mayci sat down with Taylor and Mikayla and told her about the anonymous confession. Taylor was shocked and said if it was true, there would be no question she would be done with Dakota.
Everything came to a head in the final episode of the season. Taylor also thought the message was from Jenna. When Dakota got home, Taylor showed him the confession. He denied it was true. Taylor said if anything came out, she would end things with him.
Dakota asked Mayci to meet up so he could talk to her about the confession. Dakota said Mayci is the one coming between him and Taylor, saying she is sabotaging their relationship. Mayci explained she went back and forth if she should tell Taylor before or after she had the baby, but people agreed it should be before. "I was the messenger, but I wasn't the catalyst," she said. Still, Dakota said he was angry at Mayci, but she felt he was blaming her for things going on in his and Taylor's relationship. They ended the heated conversation no better than they started.
What was The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cliffhanger?
Right after Taylor and Dakota celebrated the arrival of their baby boy, the scene cuts to Mayci driving her car. Mayci made a phone call, and a woman on the other line answered — Jenna. "Hi, this is Mayci Neeley," she said. "I'm calling because I just have some questions about you and Dakota and your past relationship." "Oh, OK. I'll tell you everything," Jenna said before the show cut off and the season ended.
Reacting to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives ending
The timing in this whole situation isn't ideal. After all, Taylor just gave birth (though we don't know how long afterward Mayci called Jenna). But I'm not mad at Mayci calling Jenna. Mayci probably felt she was between a rock and a hard place. Does she let the question linger and drag on the inevitable to give her friend peace during this time? Or does she get to the bottom of it so all necessary parties are informed?
Based on the Taylor I saw in the show, I gauge she would want to know and wouldn't want to waste her time with someone — whether she was in newborn baby bliss or not.
I do think Mayci could've asked Taylor before she had the baby if she wanted her to call Jenna. If the answer was yes, she could have at it. If the answer was no, Mayci would have had to respect that, take a step back and revisit down the road if necessary. Overall, I think Mayci was looking out for her friend. And since Dakota was already blaming their relationship problems on her anyway, she might as well go full steam ahead.
Fingers crossed that this cliffhanger means a The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2 is in the (near) future.
All episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives are now streaming on Hulu.
