Watching “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” last night, it was almost an out-of-body experience. The feuding housewives held hands! They burned symbolic pieces of paper! They visited mediums and cried! It was as if the tough Italians had been held down and forcibly sprinkled with fairy dust or forced to eat hallucinogenic mushrooms and listen to the Grateful Dead.
There was some grumbling about the New Age-iness of it all, but mostly our grumpy crew had no problem getting in touch with their collective feelings in an attempt to purge the hatred and feel the love. When Teresa Giudice wants to tell everyone how much she loves them, I’m fairly sure that’s a sign of the coming apocalypse.
While I guess this kinder, gentler “RHoNJ” is an attempt to soothe the bubbling annoyance of all the fans who’ve longed to throw Teresa out a seventh floor window, I also have to wonder if maybe, just maybe, the Giudices had an inkling of what was ahead for them in real-life reality. While the full-court press against them by the legal system (“hundreds of years in jail” has been mentioned) may be a surprise to most of us, it could be argued that Teresa and Joe knew full well how naughty they’d been — and that prosecutors were gunning for them.
Though the promo for next week seemed like a rare, unscripted moment between Joe and Teresa as he confessed his fear of going to jail, it’s hard not to wonder if the pair didn’t ask to get a character makeover on the show before the season was over. God knows they’ve needed one.
And so, we get nutty-granola love-in moments, and even a tearful “I’ve missed you!” from Jacqueline. Of course, this happens right before Teresa hints that her kid’s autism is karma slapping her in the face. Jacqueline, for some crazy reason, doesn’t seem to realize that Teresa is still Teresa and no amount of hand-holding can change that.
It seems that even when Teresa is trying very, very hard to be good, it’s just not in her DNA. Her inner bitch will not be denied. I just can’t wait to see if she takes the stand in her own defense. I suspect even her lawyers will soon realize that’s the worst idea ever. We’re still waiting to hear if the show will be back for next season, but it’s hard not to think it might be fun to see the Giudices pay the piper. Too bad they didn’t use those fraudulently procured funds to buy some class and empathy.
Do you think the Giudices are headed to jail? Do you care? Or are you looking forward to seeing them go?