Mob Wives: Recap Ep 105 Unfinished Business

"Lee's a scum bag!"

The episode starts out with the four women meeting at a very nice Supper Club. Renee says she was raised having the best of everything and she deserves the best. Carla is ready to drink and party, what else is new? Renee tells the waiter she wants all his attention, which makes Drita’s “stomach turn.” Renee wastes no time ordering her Patron with lemon, while Drita announces she has a birthday coming up. Drita and Carla tell Renee she should go to the gym to look better, but Renee prefers the faster, easier remedy of plastic surgery. Renee loves being the center of attention which Karen finds annoying. Then, out of the blue, Renee announces, in her loud, outdoor voice, that she is Anthony Graziano’s daughter! People appear to be shocked to hear this. I say appear to be, because if they live on Staten island, and if they have heard anything about the Mob Wives, they surely know who she is…plus there is always the dead giveaway of the camera crew. Renee “dances” with a stranger for even more attention. You would have to see the dance to believe it. Check out VH1’s show clips. They have put up 7 of the best clips of episode 5. Overall I would say, they were loud, obnoxious and unladylike.

Drita and Karen go to lunch and start to reminisce about the good old days. They had the best times and, Drita says, Karen is “real and fun.” Karen mentions her book, and says she has mixed emotions about reliving her past. Writing this book is bringing a lot of feelings to the surface and it’s kind of like therapy. Karen mentions that she still has issues with Drita marrying Lee and never telling her, all the while Drita keeps trying to downplay Karen’s and Lee’s relationship by making it sound less than it was.

Renee visits the plastic surgeon with her friend Nikole. She is going in for skin rejuvenation, better known as a chemical peel done with lasers. The doctor explains it’s a two step procedure, there may be some bleeding. Renee complains that her face feels like it’s on fire.

Back at Renee’s house Carla drops by to see Renee’s face. She expects it to be glowing, instead her face is all scabbed up, red and bloody with swelling under the eyes. Renee says AJ won’t look at her, and Carla says she doesn’t want to look at her either. Carla thinks Renee gets too much surgery and worries she won’t stop. My personal view is that people should age gracefully. Many of the results I have seen do not improve the person’s looks, in fact they look worse. As for the “chemical peel” Renee had, I did not notice a difference.

Karen is in her apartment and gets a call from David, her ex boyfriend and the father of her daughter, Karina. He tells her Karina is getting good grades and she misses Karen. Karen misses her daughter very much. Karen explains that David was in prison most of Karina’s life, but she wants them to have a close relationship. Then she drops a bomb on David and tells him she wants to start dating again. David is obviously disappointed to hear this. He says he is “trippin’” She says she feels stuck, and he tells her to date, but you can tell he isn’t happy about it. Karen seems to have decided she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life with David and needs to move on. (Watch for a blog on David later this week).

Drita drops by Carla’s house and wants to lay on the couch. Carla says her boyfriend is working, he is good with the kids, and they have been dating over a year…even though she is still married. This is just another reason why I do not care for Carla. No moral compass. I believe you should end one relationship before starting another, especially when there are children involved. I have to wonder if she decided her marriage was over and then started dating OR she met this man and then decided her marriage was over. She claims Joe knows about him and is okay with her dating. She is living her life. So Drita wonders if Lee would be okay with her moving on and dating. Carla says no. Drita thinks about leaving Lee, but she seems very conflicted about whether she should stay with him or move on. 

At Karen’s apartment, her cousin Rena comes by to help her with her book. They discuss making a timeline of her life. Karen says Sammy became the underboss in 1986, the same year the Gambino boss, Paul Castellano, was killed. Then her father was arrested in 1990 and at the John Gotti trial in 1992 is when she really found out who her father was and what he did. He went from being number two in command and very powerful to a “rat.” She says she started acting out and dating bad boys, and that is how she ended up dating and spending seven years of her life with Lee. But, she found out from different people, that Lee was badmouthing her on the streets. Karen mentions again that she has issues with Drita because when she started dating Lee she never called to tell Karen, and Karen needs to address these feelings she has about Drita.

Drita is at home getting ready for her big birthday party. Her cousin Amanda is applying make-up, way too much make-up if you ask me. All four women head out to the party in a limo, drinking champagne all the way there. Drita thinks Renee’s face looks awesome. Thank God it healed before the party. Of course, Drita wishes Lee could be there. They are seated in the “Chelsea Room” where they continue to get drunk. Party Renee is on the scene! Carla’s boyfriend sits next to Renee, but Renee finds him rude and obnoxious. He tells Renee if he wasn’t with Carla, he would be with Renee. Renee thinks that he is being totally disrespectful and she gets angry. Renee tells Carla that she could do better and deserves better, but Carla doesn’t want to hear it. Drita keeps drinking because she doesn’t want to think of Lee. Drita ends up on the floor. 

The next morning, a very hung over Drita calls Carla from her bed. She doesn’t even remember getting home the night before. That’ll happen when you drink straight vodka all night. Carla tells her she took her home. Drita says she needs a nap and peace of mind. She hasn’t been talking to Lee either.

Karen and Carla meet at the gym to workout. Carla is helping Karen to get in shape. Karen starts talking about trying online dating. She wants a “professional” man with “a good loaf of bread.” I never heard this expression before, maybe it’s only popular in mob circles. But, in case you are like me, a “good loaf of bread” refers to a man’s penis. Karen makes Carla laugh. Karen says her friends in Arizona want to know why she was going to see Drita after she betrayed her by dating Lee. The fact that Drita never called her, and she had to hear if from someone else, really bothers Karen. Carla seems to downplay Karen and Lee’s relationship by saying when you’re young everyone dates everyone, as though it was a teenage relationship. But Karen says this was an adult relationship for seven years and is pissed because she feels Drita has been feeding Carla a watered down version in order to make herself feel better for what she did. 

Drita gets a call from Lee, they have not talked since the big fight. Their relationship is a roller coaster. Drita feels bad about the fight, she misses Lee and wants to make up. She asks if he knows “who was pinched in the mob bust.” He says he knows lots of people who were arrested. She is still annoyed that she has no clue when he is coming home. Lee wishes her a Happy Birthday.

Karen arrives at Renee’s house to discuss Drita. She wants Renee’s opinion. Karen feels Drita is downplaying her past relationship with Lee. The fact is that Drita started dating Lee the same year Karen broke up with him. Karen feels she spent seven years of her adult life with Lee and it was a significant relationship. Renee sizes up the situation based on what Karen said. Drita owes her an apology and should acknowledge she did something wrong by dating Lee. It was wrong, she broke a code between girlfriends, she broke loyalty and trust. She didn’t respect the friendship and this has to be addressed. I can’t wait till they address it already, because we ALL get it except for Drita!!! 

Drita gets another call from Lee. She tells him about Karen’s book and that it will be about her life. Lee sounds agitated and wants to know what is the big deal about her life that she needs to write a book about it. He wants Drita to tell her he doesn’t want to be in her book. He says that a few times. He is angry and then calls Karen a few nasty names and throws in the word “fat” a couple of times for good measure. 

Ok now we finally get to the big scene where Karen goes to confront Drita. It was disappointing in that it’s not much longer than the sneak peek we got of the episode this week. Karen gets around to her agenda fast. She tells Drita she thinks she has been minimizing her past relationship with Lee. She says Drita started dating Lee soon after Karen broke up with him and that “wasn’t cool.” Drita makes excuses, but Karen feels betrayed and wants Drita to admit she did something wrong. Drita says, “It’s not gonna happen!” Karen wants to know how they can move past this? Drita changes the subject and says Lee doesn’t want to be in her book. Karen calls Lee is a “scum bag” and she will write whatever she wants about him. I see there is no love lost there. Drita gets mad, Lee is the father of her kids and Karen is disrespecting him in her house. Karen feels Lee didn’t respect her, so she can bash Lee if she wants. Drita tells her if you bash my kids’ father we are going to have a problem. So now the episode ends with their relationship up in the air, nothing was resolved and the business is still unfinished. 

I found this episode did not live up to the hype for me. The confrontation between Karen and Drita was brought up in almost every conversation throughout the night, but when we finally get to it at the very end, they only devote two and a half minutes to it and it’s left like an open, bleeding, unattended wound. The sneak peek covered the best part of those two minutes too. I felt it was a let down. As for Carla, she isn’t going to get any mother of the year awards from me. She is married and dating. How do you explain that to your children? I know there are plenty of ways to get quick divorces if you need to end your marriage in a hurry. But dating and marriage were not meant to go together. Maybe we, as a society, have gotten to lax with our values? Renee needs to tone it down. She acts like she is the mob wife to beat all mob wives. She really would do herself a favor if she wasn’t so “obnoxious.” I think many times her behavior embarrasses her son, AJ too. Then, there’s Drita. What a fine example she sets for her two young daughters. Between her cursing profanities left and right and threatening to “beat” up everyone who says anything she doesn’t like, she is one outstanding role model. She needs to figure out what she wants now, before she wastes another two to four years making packages and waiting for Lee. Karen may be the mob wife I like best, which surprises me. I think it’s because she is more open about her past, she is “calmer and more rational” in her conversational style, and she pulled on my heartstrings when she said she missed her daughter. Karen, whatever else you might have to say about her, seems to have a very close and loving relationship with her daughter. I think her reason for being part of the show is to create a better life for her and her daughter. If I have to pick one for Mother of the Year tonight, I pick Karen.

So, what did you think of this episode?  Feel free to drop a comment and let us know.

Click here to view the best moments of Episode 5!Picture credit: VH1