Alex-RHONY Reviews RHONJ Finale

Alex's RHONJ Review from Bravo.

No More Drama
NYC's Alex McCord recaps Caroline and Danielle's confrontation, and looks forward to Andy and Teresa's reunion throwdown.

It’s the season finale of NJ, and the clock is ticking, the music is ominous and the entire episode leads up to the BIG CONFRONTATION. I have to admit, I am distracted writing this blog because I’m thinking about the preview for the reunion special where Teresa lays hands on Andy and he is seen leaping after Jacqueline. Oh my.

Back to this week – I think everyone has had enough with a capital E of the drama, trauma, whatever you want to call it, between Danielle and everyone else. The Manzo clan felt (rightly, I think) that there was no point in either Teresa or Jacqueline speaking to Danielle. If anyone was going to call a meeting, it had to be Caroline. If they play by the rules, after this discussion there should be no more drama between these families. Why then, could Jacqueline not meet Ashley’s eyes when they spoke? I still think Ashley has no idea that her mother and step-dad and boyfriend and extended family are all trying to help her. What do they have to do, skywrite it?

I was a little surprised that Danielle chose to read the text from Caroline out loud to her daughters, but suppose I really shouldn’t have been. This has been going on SO long, she may as well consult them too. And Danny. Does anyone else want to know what’s going on between the two of them? I do. My guess is that they are friends and nothing’s happened but he’s secretly in love with her. Or the cameras. Or both – what do you think? I don’t believe for a moment that Caroline put Teresa and Jacqueline up to confronting or chasing Danielle through the country club. She isn’t Carmelo, or even Carmela. Is Danielle being real or being a drama queen? The histrionics in her interviews amaze me.

The only thing I want to know about the scene with Caroline talking to Lauren and Albie is whether her tea kettle and canisters are from Mackenzie Childs – is that their famous harlequin pattern? Love Caroline, love the kids but this scene felt like filler. Ditto the energist scene with Danielle – glad she felt clean going into the meeting but didn’t need to see it.

Wow – for the first time the Jacqueline Laurita who gave birth to Ashley Holmes showed up. Wow – like mother, like daughter – they both have that sardonic “I don’t care” face that drives the person on the receiving end of it absolutely crazy. Holy moly, I get it now. These women are going to knock heads for the rest of their lives and I don’t think anyone can stop it. What they CAN do is respect each other, and it’s clear they love each other dearly. Good on Lauren for defusing the situation and getting Ashley back into the room so they could all wait for Caroline to return.

What do I think about the charges levied against Ashley? Caroline and Danielle both made good points. Danielle did have to learn the hard way from her mistakes, and one can see why she thinks Ashley should do the same. Caroline also pointed out that because Danielle went through her legal trouble and had no one to feel compassion for her, that this is her chance to feel compassion for someone in her shoes. All good points. Unfortunately it didn’t work, because the meeting devolved into name-calling. Ms. Staub couldn’t give Caroline an example of when she attacked Danielle, so she gave her one on the spot by calling her a clown and garbage. Not Caroline’s finest moment. But Caroline held her ground by stating simply that she stood behind every member of her family. As far as we can see from the season, Caroline wasn’t the one trying to make friends with Danielle’s friends (Kim G?) In that case at least, Kim approached her. The only thing I’ll say for Danielle is that she didn’t get hysterical with Caroline one-on-one – she saves that for her interviews.

What did we learn? No charges were dropped. No bridges were crossed, except perhaps one between Ashley and Jacqueline, which is a good thing. In the mean time we have the reunion to look forward to.

Have a great week, and if you’d like to know what we’re up to, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.