RHONJ Recap/Review 8-9-10

Article from NJ.com.

By: Vicki Hyman
Former "Real Housewives of New Jersey" cast member Dina Manzo told me last year that when she signed on for the show, she thought it would focus on her and her nutty friends and family, including sister Caroline Manzo, sister-in-law Jacqueline Laurita and pal Teresa Giudice. "It would have been a hysterical show," she said. "It would have been very Jersey, but not as dark, not too catty." Well, tonight we got a taste of what that show would have been like, as they all (except Dina, who left the show mid-season) traveled to Italy for what is made out to be a spur-of-the-moment trip to get away from it all.

Photo: Bravo

But it's impossible to gauge whether we would have liked that show knowing what we know now -- mainly that Teresa and Joe Giudice filed for bankruptcy in the middle of filming the second season but apparently didn't let that get in the way of their lavish entertaining, high-end clothes shopping (too bad for Teresa the Venice branch of Channel's, er, Chanel was closed), or luxury vacations. It also doesn't help that Joe tries to explain away his drunk driving arrest in tonight's episode by saying that he was stone cold sober when he crashed his car, and only afterwards downed several slugs of Scotch while waiting for the cops. Also not aiding their cause: Chris Laurita, who otherwise had been a fairly stand-up guy, telling Joe that Danielle Staub must be solely responsible for all the drama of the past few months because Danielle has no family or friends. See?!? I did, however, enjoy the bit of tension developing between Caroline and Teresa (well, tension on the part of Caroline toward Teresa, because Teresa's so oblivious she probably had no idea) when Teresa dumps her three girls on with Caroline and Al for babysitting.

Let's get this over with: The show opens with news of Joe's arrest for drunk driving in Montville. Joe says he hit a pole because he was falling asleep at the wheel. He managed to extricate himself from the car and tells Jacqueline and Chris that he only started drinking after he saw the extent of the crash. Jacqueline says that they were with Joe that night, and vouched for his abstinence.

Meanwhile, Danielle and Danny Provenzano meet at the Oakland Diner, where Danny says he "heard" that Teresa's husband was arrested for DUI. Yeah, like this is news to Danielle. "Why are you out 'til 2 a.m.," she rails, "as a grown man and a father, drinking. I know strip clubs are open at that hour, so let's just call it like it is." That's making kind of a big leap there, but Danielle does know a thing or two about strip clubs.

"It's a miracle that Joe got himself out of the car," Teresa says. "It was an unfortunate situation." And Teresa knows a thing or two about unfortunate situations.
Caroline, Jacqueline and Teresa (who just picked up a darling new leather jacket) meet for lunch, and Teresa announces that they just need to get away. What a good idea, the other ladies agree. Hmm, where shall they go? How about Italy, Caroline says, trying hard for casual but landing on monotone. What a good idea, the other ladies agree. Long, completely orchestrated story short, they all go, including their parents and all the young kids. Jacqueline and Teresa get drunk one night on the trip, and the next night, Jacqueline feels awful and stays in her room. Teresa has planned a special birthday dinner for 4-year-old Milania, who wails, "I didn't wanna get an eat party." But it's not about you, birthday girl! Milania falls asleep at the party and starts crying when Teresa wakes her up to blow out the candles on her cake. Caroline looks disgusted. Caroline-Teresa feud, please! Everyone says how happy they are to see Jacqueline back to her carefree self after all the Danielle nonsense. Next week: On to Naples and more profligate spending.