A Victoria-based musician has landed her first major television placement, and the scene where her song appears could hardly be more fitting for someone raised on Salt Spring Island.
Nicky MacKenzie’s song “I Should Go” is featured in the season five premiere of Hulu’s hit reality series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which was released on September 10th.
The episode, titled “The Book of More Men,” brings viewers back into the turbulent world of MomTok following months of controversy surrounding the cast and an unexpected pause in production.
MacKenzie’s song appears as the episode transitions into a scene featuring cast member Mikayla Matthews and her husband, Jace Terry, arriving at a Utah medical cannabis dispensary.
The episode’s closed captions explicitly identify the track, reading: “♪ ‘I Should Go’ by Nicky MacKenzie playing ♪”
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Rather than being buried somewhere in the background, the opening of the song introduces the entire dispensary sequence and continues as Matthews enters the business and begins looking at its products.
MacKenzie told Victoria Buzz she knew the song had been licensed for the series, but was not sure whether it would make the final edit.
“Oh yes, we absolutely knew before the new season dropped,” MacKenzie said.
“They do pay you a fee and you have to sign a bunch of paperwork to have your song on a show. I knew when the release date would be, but a lot of the time in the world of the sync industry things can change super last minute, so I wasn’t really holding my hopes up until I received confirmation.”
When that confirmation finally came, MacKenzie said it was an exciting moment.
She was even more surprised when she watched the episode and discovered just how prominently the song had been used.
“I had no idea what it was going to look like and I was honestly just shocked that they ended up using so much of it,” she said. “I thought it was going to be like a tiny background blip.”
The dispensary setting initially escaped her attention.
“I didn’t even clock the fact that the scene was in a dispensary at first, which is kind of hilarious because, I mean, I grew up on Salt Spring Island if that tells you anything.”
The scene behind the song
During the scene, Matthews explains that she explored medical cannabis to help with sleep and severe nerve pain caused by Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).
“It was mainly just for sleep at first,” she says. “I had debilitating nerve pain through my whole body.”
Matthews calls her first experience with medical cannabis “literally life-changing,” saying it was the only treatment that relieved her nerve pain and helped her finally feel well-rested.
The scene shows Matthews and Terry visiting a Utah dispensary, speaking with a pharmacist and looking through several medical cannabis products. The business is not identified in the episode or subsequent coverage.
The segment has since become a topic of discussion because of the show’s connection to Mormonism. High Times published a feature examining Matthews’ experience and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ position on cannabis.
While the church opposes recreational cannabis use, its policy permits medicinal use when prescribed or administered under the direction of a physician. That makes Matthews’ dispensary visit less of a religious rebellion than viewers might initially assume.
A song about temptation and knowing when to leave
“I Should Go” was released in July 2025 and can now be found on Spotify, Apple Music and other major streaming services.
The shimmering pop track explores the pull of temptation and the internal struggle of knowing something may be a bad idea while still wanting to say yes.
“I wrote this song about bad habits, dark and twisted nights, and the feeling you get when you know you’re supposed to say no, but you just can’t help saying yes,” MacKenzie previously said while discussing the release.
Built around a grooving bassline, disco-inspired production and layered vocals, the song became one of the first glimpses of the musical direction MacKenzie would explore on her newest project, Morals.
That subject matter makes the placement particularly effective. As Matthews enters a dispensary and considers a treatment she once believed might conflict with the expectations surrounding her, MacKenzie’s song about temptation and complicated choices plays underneath.
The television appearance has already started introducing new listeners to her music.
“We’ve definitely been starting to notice a slow rise, which is pretty cool,” MacKenzie told Victoria Buzz.
“Before I announced it on social media, I had a few friends reach out and say, ‘Did you know your song is on Mormon Wives?’ And I was like, ‘Hehe. Hell yeah, baby!’”
MacKenzie currently has more than 11,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, while music analytics platform Muso credits her catalogue with approximately three million lifetime streams.
From Salt Spring Island to television screens
Originally from Salt Spring Island, MacKenzie later relocated to Victoria and has steadily established herself in the regional music scene.
Her soulful blend of pop and R&B has drawn comparisons to artists including Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse and Joss Stone.
MacKenzie was previously selected as one of five winners of the Canadian Songwriting Challenge and appeared as a contestant during the first season of CTV’s The Launch.
She has also performed at major Vancouver Island events including Rifflandia and Phillips Backyard, where she appeared on the 2026 lineup alongside artists including Modest Mouse, Duckwrth and DACEY.
Her latest EP, Morals, explores self-awareness, escapism and emotional growth through songs that began taking shape when she was in her early twenties.
MacKenzie has described the project as a meeting between her younger and present-day selves, combining old voice memos and unfinished ideas with lessons drawn from several additional years of life.
“I Should Go” carries many of those same themes, pairing a danceable sound with lyrics about recognizing destructive patterns and struggling to walk away from them.
A first major sync placement
Having music licensed for television, film, advertising or video games is commonly known as a “sync placement.”
The artist and other rights holders typically approve the placement through a licensing agreement and receive compensation for allowing the production to synchronize the recording with the video.
For an independent artist, a placement in a widely watched streaming series can bring a song to an audience far beyond those already following their work.
MacKenzie said this is her first released television sync, although it may not be the last.
“Not really, no, and having a song on a TV show is insane exposure,” she said when asked whether one of her songs had appeared in a production before.
“So I’m really pumped about that. This is actually my first sync that is now released. However, I may or may not have some more on the way.”
A turbulent return for Mormon Wives
The placement comes during an unusual season for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
The popular reality series follows a group of Utah-based mothers and social media personalities associated with the online collective known as MomTok.
Season five arrived with only five episodes after production was paused amid controversy involving cast member Taylor Frankie Paul and her former partner, Dakota Mortensen.
The shortened season was eventually completed primarily through additional interviews rather than newly filmed scenes.
Despite its abbreviated run, the show remains one of Hulu’s most recognizable reality franchises and is available to Canadian viewers through Disney+.
The dispensary scene has also taken on additional significance following Matthews’ announcement that she will not continue with the series for the time being.
Matthews said she was no longer comfortable participating in a show that, in her view, continued to platform behaviour she disagreed with. She did not directly identify the person or specific development that prompted her decision.
See Nicky MacKenzie live in Victoria
People who discover MacKenzie through the series will soon have an opportunity to hear her perform closer to home.
She will open for Vancouver-based duo Fionn during their upcoming tour, including a performance at Encore in Victoria on October 17th.
Until then, “I Should Go” and MacKenzie’s latest EP, Morals, are available through major streaming platforms.
And for anyone watching the season five premiere of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, listen closely when Mikayla Matthews heads into the dispensary.
That smooth, temptation-filled song introducing the scene came from right here on Vancouver Island.
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