Mob Wives: Recap “Make-Ups and Break-Ups,” Ep 203

Episode three begins with Big Ang and Drita meeting for lunch. They have known each other since Drita was 16. Drita keeps saying that “Karen wanted to make up with her.” Now wait just one minute! I have watched every episode very closely and Karen has never said she wanted to make up with Drita. Drita was the only one who said, several times, that she wanted to talk to Karen. However, Big Ang agrees with Drita and says that Ramona was acting like Karen’s body guard. She feels that Ramona should have left Drita and Karen to talk alone. Then they begin to discuss Carla and Renee’s issue. Both of them feel that Carla was wrong for not calling or visiting Renee after the surgery. They want to get Renee and Carla together to they can talk it out and move on.

Ramona visits Renee, they hug and kiss. Ramona says that she and Karen had no intention of fighting at the party. Renee has second thoughts about her decision to invite Drita, under the circumstances. Renee and Ramona are very close too, their families go back a long time. Renee says she is tired of the fighting and the “tough guy BS.” Ramona doesn’t like the fighting either, but adds that Drita isn’t going to treat Karen like a “human pinata.” Renee tells Ramona she didn’t invite Carla to her party because they hadn’t talked in months. Ramona says that Carla is Drita’s puppet and her brain is molded by Drita!

Carla and Drita meet for drinks. They discuss going to Big Ang’s get together for all the girls. Drita wants Carla to make up with Renee. Carla says she is not a troublemaker and that she is done with all of it. Drita says she isn’t getting in the middle, but she doesn’t want them fighting and they should put it in the past. Drita adds that Big Ang better hire security for her get together.

Renee is at home writing a letter to Carla about the way she feels. She has agreed to go to Big Ang’s get together and thinks the letter is a better way to communicate. While writing her letter Renee gets a call from a friend, Nikole, who thinks Renee shouldn’t write the letter at all because Carla disrespected her. She says that Renee didn’t do anything to Carla and she feels Carla is making a fool out of her and doesn’t like it!

At Big Ang’s house, her friend Linda comes to visit. They both have hangovers from all the drinks that were bought for them the night before. Big Ang likes wise guys, they are generous and good looking. They bought her lots of things over the years: house, cars, jewelry. Linda asks about Renee and Ang tells her that Renee is upset with Carla for not calling her after surgery. Big Ang adds that she wants a facelift.

Back at Drita’s house, she has a real estate agent come over to look at her house. She has decided she wants to sell it. Drita says Albanians don’t get divorced, they work things out together. But, Drita says she is alone and has no one to work things out with. She feels she needs to live life, be happy and move on.

Karen and Ramona go out partying, drinking and man hunting to have a little fun. Karen needs a night out. Ramona really has no tolerance for Drita. Ramona says that she married an Arab man to get out of the mob lifestyle. But one day she learned her husband was doing business with the mob and she ended it. Karen calls Ramona her crew. Ramona talks tough, but it’s always in a protective context regarding her friends or family and anyone who tries to hurt them

At Drita’s house, Drita talks to her daughter Aleeya. Drita says Lee is still very involved with his daughter. She wants to send Aleeya to dance camp. Drita tells Aleeya to tell Lee that she wants to sell the house, it’s too big and expensive. Aleeya doesn’t seem to like that idea, but Drita says that can have a smaller house that is nice. Drita says that she grew up in a small apartment in the projects. Drita worries that Aleeya will be destroyed when she tells her she plans to divorce Lee.

The day of the girls get together arrives. Big Ang and Carla get there first and talk about the situation between Carla and Renee. Big Ang wants them to resolve it. Carla isn’t sure that it’s possible. Drita arrives and joins them. She wants Renee and Carla to make up too. They say maybe Renee will be in a good mood because she is in love. Renee arrives and it’s the first time she has seen Carla in months. Renee immediately says that she is tired of all the BS. It happens so fast and suddenly that Drita starts laughing. Renee asks right away, why Carla never called or visited her. Carla says she never knew what was going on, everyone knew about Renee and no one told her how serious it was. Renee asks her why would you want to hurt me? Carla says she didn’t want to hurt her. They end the conversation while things are going well. Renee says she has a letter that she wrote to Carla and wants to read it to her in private. Carla wants to know if Renee has any other problems with her that they should talk about now. Everything seems fine at the moment and they all laugh and joke.

Renee meets with Tiffany, her wardrobe stylist, and tries on some clothes for her new slender body. They start talking about Junior. Renee tells her he confessed his love to her and Renee has fallen in love with him all over again. Tiffany advises her to take things slow and date. Renee says it’s all or nothing, he has to stop cheating. 

Drita goes to get some of her jewelry appraised. She is thinking of selling some pieces now that she filed for divorce. She shows the appraiser the first gift she ever got from Lee. The appraiser says is has sentimental value and maybe she wants to give it to her daughter on her wedding day. Then Drita hands her the engagement ring. The appraiser looks at it and says Lee has very good taste, it’s a three carat clear stone and worth about $35,500 a carat or $106,500. Drita was shocked to hear how much it was worth because she was busy throwing it around the house every time she got mad at Lee.

Junior takes Renee out on a date so they could talk and spend a little time together. They go to a steakhouse. They both say they feel like they don’t know each other.  Junior explains that they are older now and they have both changed. Junior tells the story of when he wanted to marry Renee and how her father brought in a bag of engagement rings and dumped them on the table and asked Junior, which one do you want? He hadn’t even asked her yet. Renee says they got off to a rocky start from the very beginning. Junior says that’s because she likes to control people. Renee frowns. Then he adds, he is not able to be controlled and that’s what her problem was. Renee says, “No Junior, we didn’t have a successful marriage because you were having affairs.”  Renee says Junior’s cheating started before they even got married and he kept on cheating and blaming her, saying she was the reason he was cheating. He says she wanted to control him and not let him do what he wanted to do. Renee answers, “You wanted to have sex with other women.” After a few back and forth remarks, Junior admits he made mistakes and so did Renee. He agrees he did the most damage. The fact he is admitting and owning his part in their marital problems brings tears to Renee’s eyes.  She has been waiting for this for 22 years, she’s been in therapy for this. Junior says he didn’t know if was hurting her, he didn’t know what he was doing. Junior says he is having a good time, they are talking without fighting. He wants to continue moving on from this point and put the past behind them. Renee says, “Are you asking me to do steady?” Junior raises his glass and says, “We are exclusive.” And they toast to exclusivity!

Karen hasn’t heard from Ramona and is worried. She has been calling several times and leaving messages. Karen says, Ramona never goes all day without calling and checking in or answering her texts. Karen’s phone rings. It’s Ramona with some real life drama. Karen says she has been waiting and calling her, but her phone started going to voice mail, and she was sitting there worried sick not knowing what’s going on. Ramona explains she was just with her boyfriend. They were driving and all of a sudden a regular car comes out of nowhere. And it’s tailgating them. And then the driver puts on flashing lights in his window and she thinks it’s an undercover cop! So they pull over and when they do the driver rips open the door and pulls her boyfriend out of the car. Karen is in disbelief. Then Ramona adds that the next thing she knows, seven cars are on the side of the highway. She believes this was carefully planned. She says her heart is pounding and she is ready to have a nervous breakdown. She really doesn’t know what happened and is so confused. She says that she has never been through anything like this in her life. She feels violated. Karen asks where she is and Ramona tells her she just got out of jail.

Renee and Carla are alone together and Renee wants to read her the letter she wrote in private. Renee starts off talking about friendship and says they have known each other 27 years, longer than any of the other girls, and have never disagreed before. Renee said that what she said about the boyfriend was out of love and loyalty. Renee says she felt Carla was questioning her motives. Carla says she felt attacked. Renee agrees that she did attack Carla at the time, but it was because she didn’t want her to be hurt by the boyfriend. Renee gets to the end of her letter and wants to be sure that they still trust each other and can put this behind them. They agree. Then they start talking about Ramona. Carla doesn’t like what she has heard about Ramona. Renee says she is just tired of all the fighting between the girls and wants everyone to get along.

My two cents: First of all, let’s be clear that the only place Karen ever said she wanted to make-up or talk to Drita is in Drita’s mind. Outside of that, it never happened. Karen was still pissed about the rooftop fight and the lies Drita was spreading and was not in a forgiving mood. I think the only reasons she went out to talk to Drita on the balcony was out of respect for Big Ang, to get everything off her chest, or the producers told her to. Making up was definitely not on Karen’s agenda that night. 

Big Ang is the peacemaker and also the comic relief in the show. Somehow she makes everyone happy and relaxed. You could see it at the get together. She is exactly what the show needed to help reduce the tension for the cast and viewers. 

Ramona has some more explaining to do! I still have no idea what happened and why. By now she surely must have gotten to the bottom of it. What’s the scoop? Why did they get pulled over? Was it undercover police? Why were they taken to jail? This sounds like a whole episode’s worth of drama.  We need to know!

Drita has barely gotten her divorce underway and she is already selling the house. I can understand it being too big and expense to maintain and having to downsize. What I can’t understand is the rush to sell her jewelry. She is on one of the most popular reality shows ever. I don’t think she needs to sell her bling so fast. She should rent a safe deposit box and put everything in it until she is less emotional about the divorce, before making any decisions. As for the engagement ring…I was just wondering how Lee, the bank burglar, got it. Did he actually buy it and have good taste or was it a “hot” item from one of his heists? 

As for Junior, I am beyond disgusted! All the while he is wining and dining Renee he is working for the Feds. How could he say he wants to work things out while betraying her, their son and her father by wearing a wire to save his own ass from going to jail? In this episode it now looks like he was using Renee to get closer to her father and really, how LOW can you go? Renee has said she still would like AJ to have a relationship with his father, but honestly it is going to be along time before that can happen, if ever. The hurt from betrayal runs very deep and is not soon forgotten. 

Now, for the most disappointing part of the episode, Renee and Carla’s confrontation. What a huge let down! Renee started off with a bang and I really thought she was going to let Carla have it. Renee had every right to be angry for more reasons than one. First of all, last season’s reunion ended with them at odds over the boyfriend issue. It really wasn’t about the boyfriend, it became more about Carla not believing Renee and calling her a liar. Renee tried to tell her, on three separate occasions: Drita’s party, at a lunch, and then at her house, what a dirt bag this guy is, but Carla talked over her, made jokes about it and kept saying it didn’t happen. Renee even swore on her son’s eyes that she was telling the truth and Carla, her dear friend of 27 years, di-ent believe her. That alone is enough to make someone intensely angry and frustrated, and it showed on the reunion show. By the way, Carla dumped the boyfriend soon after. Some prize package he was.

Then, two weeks after the reunion shows airs, Renee goes in for a body lift. This is no small operation. Renee almost died on the operating table and then her life was still at risk from the infection afterwards that could have killed her. Carla never called or visited her. She claims she never knew how serious it was, no one told her. I don’t believe that. I think the news spread all over Staten Island. But, even if they managed to keep it quiet, if Drita knew about it, you can bet that Carla was told five minutes later. Drita always runs to Carla with everything. Karen gave her chapter one of her book, Drita went straight to Carla. Drita “finds out” Lee cheated, she runs straight to Carla. Renee says she isn’t inviting Carla to her party, Drita is meeting Carla to tell her. Now who is going to believe Drita kept Renee’s complications to herself? Please! Do we have stupid written on our foreheads? It just doesn’t make sense, that’s not what girlfriends do. So I think Carla knew about it, early enough to do something about it and make it right. Something like, “I called as soon as I heard… or “I’m so sorry, I just heard what happened…” and make amends as soon as possible. But she di-ent.

Renee was not hard enough on Carla at all. She was in the right on both counts. Carla showed her true colors. This is not how good friends treat you. Where is the loyalty? Where is the respect? Renee’s letter was too kind, as though she was in the wrong. I agree with her friend, Nikole, that was on the phone, Renee shouldn’t be the one reaching out to Carla, she did nothing wrong. Carla should have been the one asking for Renee’s forgiveness. She didn’t even look or sound sorry for what she did. I’m not suggesting another brawl, but Renee should have done what Karen did on the balcony with Drita, and give Carla a huge piece of her mind and told her to kiss her “flat ass!” 

Renee, I have to repeat Ramona’s words here (insert clapping) STOP…BEING…NICE!

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