This episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey has a lot of unresolved issues that snow ball into even bigger problems. Things did not end well during the meet up with Louie and Teresa and so the Fudas are fuming. But there are other small fires that need to be put out, starting with Margaret and Jackie. Their beef is one that gets personal, and Margaret makes it her mission to have Jackie go down in flames.
As John Fuda storms away from what was meant to be a reconciliation with Louie and Teresa, he shouts that Teresa is the poster child for mortgage fraud. Teresa yells after him, “That was my husband, thank you very much” and she continues to repeat that John is making a big mistake because he’s f*cking with the wrong lady. On their way out of the restaurant, John and Rachel plunk down the gift Teresa wanted them to deliver to the Gorgas for their housewarming. There’s zero chance Rachel is going to do something Tre wants, especially after that encounter, plus she knows Joe wants NOTHING from Teresa.
John feels like if Teresa was giving a real apology, it would have been sincere. Teresa finds it strange that John didn’t wanna address the rumors HE put out there. The finger pointing is next level. Louie calls John a hothead NOW, which is interesting since he didn’t say one word during the entire ordeal.
Danielle is still in awe of her NYFW debut, but reality has kicked back in as momming takes over. Melissa is prepping for her “classy” housewarming party, and Dolores is hosting her usual Tuesday lunch date with her mother and daughter, Gabby.
Frank’s proposal gets brought up, which leads Gabby to ask about Dolores’s situation. Her mother agrees that it’s time Paul gets divorced. Dolores fills them in on how Paul wants her to become a part of his electrical business (despite her knowing nothing about it) and she claims Paul’s intentions are good. BUT it almost seems like she is saying it to make herself feel better. Dolores DOES have a right to know her future. She claims she is not concerned about this business opportunity, but when Paul sneaks in on the convo, it’s slightly awkward since it’s unclear how much he heard.
In a stark contrast to the last time we saw Teresa, this time we see her with her family, assisting Louie’s son, Nicholas, get his hair cut at their house. It’s moments like this that help Teresa be at peace, especially after her run-in with the Fudas. Although the ladies are like oil and water, Rachel also finds solace in her family. She is working hard at helping her youngest daughter reach her developmental milestones and mentions that she is glad to have had that interaction with Teresa, since it reminds Rachel how to avoid being a person like her.
Marge talks about the “hoopla” Melissa’s housewarming party may bring cuz she has to see Jackie. According to Margaret, it seems like any time Teresa gives Jackie the time of day, Jackie runs to her. Marge does not appreciate the trash talking on Jackie’s end and even Melissa is weary of having those two together at the same event.
Jennifer Aydin is going to the party, but she worries about how it might go down when she sees Joe, as she has yet to have a conversation with HIM. Jen tells Bill that Teresa advised Jen that if she wants to go, she shouldn’t talk about her. The whole Lina/ Danielle debacle comes up again and Jen makes it clear that Lina wasn’t talking sh*t, she was stating facts. Jen feels like Danielle acts “entitled and elitist,” and Jen wants her to be nice as she tries to make a name for herself.
It’s finally time for the Gorgas to show off Joe’s “schlong covered by a lemon tree…” I mean, their house. The theme of this party is limoncello, a nod to Italy, naturally. Danielle throws some shade when she said she was expecting a big, grandiose house, insinuating that it’s not that much inside. Rachel missed the wear white or yellow memo, but she wastes no time to run to Melissa. She says she talked to Teresa and Louie for 9 minutes.
Rachel goes on to say Louie said maybe one sentence and it was to tell Teresa to stop talking. Rachel tells Melissa they gave her a bottle to bring as a housewarming gift for Joe and Melissa is relieved to hear that they left the gift at the restaurant. Melissa muses that the bottle was probably bugged or had an air tag. BUT LOL @ Dolores. She is now the delivery lady and Melissa is aghast. Dolo hands over *the* bottle and Melissa calls Teresa fake, considering the last thing Tre said to her is “we’re done.”
Back at Teresa’s house, she is chatting about Gia’s upcoming moving plans. Teresa discusses the importance of living with a boyfriend before marriage and then changes the subject to Danielle. Teresa mentions that Danielle is hanging out with people she is “not too fond of” and Teresa worries that the water will get muddled if they start to sway Danielle.
John cannot believe that *the* bottle of Blue Label (Tre and Joe’s dad’s favorite) made its way to the house and Joe wonders if Teresa respects her dad after what she did to them. Melissa removes the bottle before it riles Joe up too much. He becomes emotional when he talks about Louie and he claims Louie screwed him after he hired investigators. Fessler doesn’t feel like this is necessary, but Joe believes this is a lame example of an olive branch. Joe proceeds to throw the card from Teresa right into the fire and reminds the group that he is dead to Teresa and her family… Interesting that Teresa is not even there, but the entire party is about her.
As Jen walks up to the Gorga house, she mutters that she has valet parking at HER parties and throws shade at the Joe statue, since she’s never seen him taller than her. Melissa states she invited Jackie cuz she likes her…but also cuz she is sick of hearing Jackie b*tch about always being left out.
The ladies gather around and Dolores says that it wasn’t warranted for John to call Tre a poster child for mortgage fraud. But, Rachel wonders who Teresa is for speaking about things she doesn’t know enough about. Jackie points out that since Margaret and Melissa are Rachel’s best friends, it doesn’t seem like Rachel had any true thoughts of reconciliation.
When Marge hears that Jackie was trying to put her two cents in about being in Rachel’s ear, she calls Jackie a “real douche” and hunts her down. Meanwhile, Melissa reiterates that she isn’t mad at Jackie for being friendly with Teresa again, but she knows that Tre caused Jackie to relapse in the past…and she doesn’t want Jackie to forget that.
Margaret tells Jackie she’s been nothing but good to her, but Jackie feels like Marge insinuates that all of her successes came from Margaret. Jackie feels like Margaret is mad she is friends with Teresa, and she walks away before Marge can get another word in. Margaret tried to stay calm during the moment, but now she is spiraling. She lets Dolores know Jackie was talking sh*t about her when she didn’t tag her in a photo. Marge looks over to see Jackie hugging her husband, Joe, and she storms over to tell him not to acknowledge her. #mature.
A separate issue is getting worked out between Danielle and Jen Aydin. Jen says she didn’t agree with Danielle’s behavior about Lina and so she didn’t stick up for Danielle at the brunch. Danielle states she doesn’t know Lina from a “hole in the wall” and that she simply blew her hair out. Danielle claims she kicked her out of the VIP area since it was a safety issue. Jen feels like Danielle could have had more consideration and perhaps she should have put Aydin plastic surgery on her step and repeat. Jen states that when she throws parties, she doesn’t pay herself back- all the money goes to the cause. Danielle wants Aydin to quit festering her issues and instead come talk to her right away.
Dolores confronts Jackie to ask why she’s upset about not getting tagged in her photo and as they talk, Marge uses this moment to get messy. She finds the text Jackie sent her talking crap about Dolores and sends it to Dolo. Margaret looks on as Dolores puts on her readers to see the text she sent in the midst of the Jackie convo.
RHONJ: Margaret Josephs sent Dolores a screenshot of Jackie’s text trashing Dolores as a “slob”
In the text, Jackie refers to Dolores as a “SLOB” and this sets her off (even though Jackie tries to make the word not as bad as it truly is). To try and soften the blow of that text, Jackie tries to spin it and says that Margaret says “horrendous” things about Dolores and Paul, but Marge doesn’t put it in writing.
Dolores feels like Margaret is smarter than Jackie for doing that. Marge looks on thrilled that her plan worked since Jackie is learning what it’s like to be against Marge. As Dorinda Medley once said, “write it, regret it.”
Tell us your thoughts on this episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
