Roxanne 
Another Sunday, another episode in the books for the RHONJ! It was a very weird episode for lack of a better word (I’ll get into that later!) and the only thing it had going for it was the anticipated return of ex-housewife Dina Manzo!
The women are back in Jersey from the Napa trip that didn’t exactly end on a high note. Teresa and Caroline officially want nothing to do with each other, the Gorgas and Giudices are good, Jac and Teresa are okay, and Kathy is still working with Teresa. The episode begins with the Gorgas preparing their kids for their return to school. How cute are their children!? Joe is making pancakes and Melissa is the proud mommy taking pictures and video. It’s too adorable of a scene except they miss the school bus and Melissa has to rush back to get the car and drive Antonia herself. Over at Casa de Giudice, the girls are also going back to school. How fabulous it was to see Milania again! The girls take off for school, leopard print Jansports and all. So Jersey!
Melissa pow-wows with both Jacquelina and Caroline separately. With Jacqueline, they break banana bread together and discuss that Jacqueline is fine with Teresa as long as they maintain their boundaries. Melissa continues her rounds and goes to Caroline’s. Melissa tells Caroline that what she did was very high school and I can’t believe she talked back to her! Surprisingly, Melissa is still in one piece.
Teresa also visits Kathy, and Kathy brings up being left out of the toast. They get over it and I’m not sure what this scene was for. Kathy and Rich also discuss Victoria possibly leaving for college. They take a tour at a university in Maryland, and well that was about it. Zzzz.
It is the Fabellini launch party and only close friends and family are invited according to Teresa. Melissa tells the audience that Teresa doesn’t have a sitter for the evening so her and Joe will watch the kids. Melissa takes Milania and Gabriella for a girls spa day with Antonia.
OKAY. This is where things get strange. The Fabellini launch party was October 7, 2011. The Posche fashion show from the finale was on September 27, 2011. This means Teresa was already not speaking to her cast mates. Good one, producers! What is most embarrassing is Melissa lied in her talking head interview and said Teresa didn’t have a sitter. Also, who babysat Audriana and Gia!? Unless I missed it, there wasn’t a fabricated excuse for why the Wakiles missed the Fabellini party. So stupid. Hey Bravo, your viewers aren’t idiots. More annoying than this, on WWHL Andy asked Teresa why Jacqueline wasn’t at the Fabellini party. Surely he had to have known the truth about the editing? Teresa looked so confused and put on the spot and just said it was a party thrown quickly together. Hmmm. FYI: these producers are now fired and won’t be producing season 5.
Back in New Jersey, Caroline and the whole Manzo bunch are hosting an advice show for satellite radio. It doesn’t go so well, nobody is calling in and finally someone calls and asks some questions. At the Fabellini launch, Teresa looks great and is posing on the carpet and with Joe. Dina Manzo arrives, almost falls on the carpet and the step-and-repeat almost falls on her. She greets Teresa and they discuss Napa and what has been happening with Caroline. Dina tells her she will not let this pettiness get between their friendship. Teresa says blood is thicker than water and Dina says “not always”. Dina tweeted that she said this when they were discussing the Gorgas, but of course because of the editing they couldn’t show this because Teresa was supposed to be friendly with the Gorgas at this point!
Back at the Manzo radio show, someone finally calls and asks about Dina’s relationship with Caroline. She says the same thing as always – views change, but they’re still family blahblahblah. So yeah, very basic and drama-free of an episode. And very edited. Next week we will see part 1 of the finale, which I presume ends right when Melissa’s old boss shows up and leaves us hanging until the part 2 of the finale. How do you feel about the blatant lying and editing from these producers? Did you enjoy seeing Dina back on RHONJ?
