We’re a few episodes into Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 13 and the drama is already thicker than Danielle Cabral’s Staten Island accent. Teresa Giudice has totally entered a new (and way happier) phase of her life with Luis Ruelas. Joe Gorga, however, doesn’t feel like he fits into his sister’s new life and he’s definitely not good at hiding those hurt emotions.
The latest RHONJ episode, titled “Housewarming History Lesson,” features the Gorgas truly drawing a line in the sand while Tre floats away in her Luis love bubble. The latest episode also showcases plenty of drama outside of the siblings, especially with the RHONJ newbies who are off to a great start. Here are five takeaways from RHONJ Season 13 Episode 4.
Luis Has True Peacemaker Potential
The latest episode picks up after the disastrous boys’ night. All of the RHONJ House Husbands had a few too many shots and are feeling it, but Luis and Joe Gorga are the ones filled with regret. They fought over Melissa’s family not being invited to Tre’s wedding and MelGo bringing up Tre’s dorters on a podcast. Both men download their wives after the fact, and Tre is mad. Joe feels totally left out of Tre’s new life with Luis, but his way of showing it doesn’t make Tre want to be closer to him.
Despite Tre’s embarrassment that another one of her husbands has to deal with her brother’s antics, Luis tries to make peace. He makes Tre call her brother and smooth things over. Joey has no interest in talking anything through with Tre and says they can move on. The entire time, Luis is by Tre’s side literally writing her notes of what to say to her brother.
Luis praises Tre’s way of handling the conversation afterward, saying it was a baby step, even though Joey was obviously icy to his sister. Luis seems to genuinely want Tre and Joe to find a way to move forward, truly, without reopening any past wounds. Luis gave us plenty of red flags when he first got with Tre, but the way he’s behaving in front of the cameras proves he might be the real calming force Tre needed in her life.
The Gorgas’ Actions Speak Louder Than Words
The Gorgas love to talk a lot of smack about Tre, but they forget they’re on a TV show where we literally get to watch how they behave. You know the old saying, actions speak louder than words? This is a classic case. Joe is apparently so mad at his sister that he decides to disconnect altogether. Tre and Luis host a love bubble housewarming party in this episode that Joe decides to flake out on at the last minute. “He’s like missing milestones in our life,” Tre says once she learns her brother can’t make it. This comes just a few episodes after the Gorgas skipped Tre’s 50th birthday celebration, so it’s hard not to see where Tre’s coming from.
Melissa ends up showing up to the party alone, even though Joe and their kids were also invited. “Melissa coming here without Joe is making a very clear statement,” Jennifer Aydin says at one point. Tre’s dorters are upset not to see their cousins, and the tension between the families is clear when MelGo approaches the girls to say Hi. MelGo says in a confessional that she feels the girls have hate for Joe and his family, which is a terrible feeling for her. However, she is the adult in the situation at the end of the day. She can’t be cold when approaching her nieces to catch up after not seeing them for months. Tre’s dorters might be getting confessionals, but Melissa should rethink her approach to make us believe she genuinely wants a healthy relationship, not just when cameras are rolling.
RELATED: Melissa Gorga Is “In Shock” That Jacqueline Laurita Called Her “Manipulative”
Jennifer Aydin’s Recruitment Gone Wrong
Jennifer Aydin always finds herself feuding with someone in the RHONJ group, so she’s going after the newbies this year. Rachel Fuda and Jennifer Fessler go out to lunch and both come to realize that Miss Messy is trying to stir the pot. Jennifer A. apparently called both Rachel and Jen Fessler to talk smack about Dolores Catania and Margaret Josephs, respectively. Jennifer is feuding with both ladies, but Rachel and Dolo have a history and Marge and Fessler have been friends for years. Jennifer Aydin seems to try to be recruiting some of the fresh meat to her dwindling team, but it backfires pretty quickly.
Her messy antics all boil over at Tre’s housewarming. Marge thinks that Jennifer is looking for attention because she gets “none at home.” The dig particularly cuts considering Jennifer and Bill Aydin spend every other scene fighting about how he doesn’t back her up in fights. Uh-oh. Marge confronts Jennifer in front of everyone, and Dolo is just mad to even learn that Jennifer is running her mouth about Dolores even after their big blow-up. The entire fight leads to Jennifer Aydin calling Rachel and her “terrible nose job” a “f–king idiot.” Jennifer Aydin is a lot, but she’s so freakin’ good at the TV game. The episode ends with Rachel leaving the party in a tizzy. Jennifer’s recruitment might have not ended the way she wanted, but Jennifer’s always good at coming up with a quick clap back.
Tre Picks Her Chosen Family Loud And Clear
The main drama in the episode centers around Tre’s love bubble house warming party. Joe might have not shown up, but Tre continually makes digs throughout the whole party that seem to slight her brother. Tre goes around the party introducing people to Luis‘ family members, bragging about how she finally has sisters. Ouch. At least MelGo shows up late so she doesn’t have to hear this in person.
Tre and Luis give a speech to thank everyone for coming, where Tre calls the crowd her “chosen family.” She rubs it in by saying that there’s no one else she wishes was at the party because everyone she cares about showed up, and Marge audibly can’t hold back her shock. Bill even yells, “We miss you, Joe!” So it’s obvious everyone was feeling for MelGo after the speech. Melissa storms off to the bathroom to cry about Tre’s chosen family. Melissa has Marge to back her up, but it does seem odd for her to be so mad when Joe chose not to show up.
Danielle Is The Future Of RHONJ
Danielle Cabral’s star power shines through the more that we get to watch her. She isn’t even a major player in this episode, but she continues to prove she’s ready to take the RHONJ torch from Tre once she’s ready to move on. She even has messy family dynamics that are eerily similar to Tre and the Gorgas. Danielle’s a star– I’m calling it already. Anyone who thinks about bringing Tupperware containers in their purse to a party for leftovers is a woman of my own heart.
Danielle’s main beef in the episode is with Jackie Goldschneider. Jackie didn’t get that coveted invite to Danielle’s mozzarella-making party after Danielle felt like Jackie judged her beforehand. Jackie did have a lot to say about Danielle’s fashion choices, which comes up again at Tre’s housewarming party. Danielle approaches Jackie and asks her if her clothes are appropriate, which Miss Meriam Webster obviously wasn’t anticipating.
Jackie tries to say she didn’t look Danielle up and down, but Danielle says Jackie might’ve pulled a muscle, that’s how hard she was staring. The two end their fight without any resolution, but the little spat shows that Danielle is a fighter that is reminiscent of old-school Teresa. The season is just starting, but Danielle has a great shot at RHONJ rookie of the year.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE EPISODE? DID YOU THINK TRE WAS TRYING TO SHADE HER BROTHER WITH HER “CHOSEN FAMILY” COMMENT?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]