Mob Wives: Recap “Threats and Thongs,” Ep 303

First what we didn't see, bonus clip!

Drita defends Renee against Junior's threats!

Renee: “He’s gonna kill me.”

Renee meets Ramona at the hair salon to tell her about Junior’s letter. Renee is a nervous wreck, she reads the letter to Ramona. They both agree it sounds threatening. Junior doesn’t want Renee to turn AJ against him. Ramona wants to know how the prison let a letter like this go out, they screen all mail. Renee thinks he is coming back to kill her, she doesn’t even know where he is. Ramona advises her to talk to someone, but Renee doesn’t know who she should talk to about this and doesn‘t want to be a “rat.”

Love: “My mother used to call me Satan’s spawn.”

Love is with her mother, Lorraine. Love was so bad as a kid her mother used to call her “Satan’s spawn.” Her mother moved the family into a nice Italian neighborhood. That’s where Love met all her mobster boyfriends and Karen and Ramona. They grew up together. Karen arrives and they reminisce about the old days. Love says she broke 14 noses and then lost count. They say they grew up fast and at 14 or 15 they were like 21.. Love wants to meet the right guy and settle down and raise a family…but what guy can she tell she poisoned, shot and stabbed boyfriends and then let’s have a baby?

Ang: “We need to support her. Come on, give the girl a break.” 

Big Ang and Carla meet up. Carla tells her Joe is doing good and is moving in with his girlfriend, Raquel. Carla is bothered that Raquel is playing the mother role with the kids. Joe has a new family without her. Ang is annoyed that Carla didn’t come to the botox party. Carla says no one talks to her, it’s uncomfortable. No one likes her right now (she got that right).  Ang says the other ladies all say they have no problem with Carla. Carla says she had a sit down with all of them and Love, the new comer to their little click, will probably be next. Carla says Renee is unstable and it’s probably because of the pills. Ang says she should give Renee a break, she needs support and Carla responds, no she is done with Renee.

Karen says that everything in her life is looking up. She goes to see a financial advisor to invest her money and provide for Karina. She tells the advisor that her father didn’t keep his money in the bank, he kept it in a wall. Then she explains how she helped Dave when he got out of prison by letting him live in her house in Arizona without paying rent while she pays the mortgage because he is the father of her child. The financial planner says she has got to talk to him and have him pay rent.

Ramona and Ang meet up and Ramona tells her they are waiting on a court date to see how much time her boyfriend, Joe, is going to get. There have been no plea deals. They are in limbo right now and the future is all uncertain. Ramona tells Ang about Junior’s letter to Renee. Ang thinks he is psychotic and she doesn’t trust him. Ang says he is still manipulating and terrorizing Renee. Renee told Ramona she feels like a rat telling anyone about his threats, but Ang and Ramona do not agree with that. She needs to protect herself.

Renee: "I don’t even take pills to get high,” she says. “I take them so I can’t feel."

Renee goes to a support group with other women who are also addicted. She tells them her story and how Junior was overmedicating her after her surgery while he was cooperating so she wouldn’t know what was going on. The letter has her very scared. She tells the group she takes pills so she won’t feel anything. She takes Xanax. She has been in a place where she didn’t want to live any more, but she has to save herself.

Love: "The psychopath was stalking me."

Love and Drita catch up since Drita wasn’t able to come to the botox party. Drita reminds her of how they met as teenagers. Drita thought Love was cool. Drita asks Love if she has a problem with Carla. Love says no, but she hears that Carla that been trashing her all over the place. Drita says Carla never mentions Love to her. Love tells her that Carla started dating her ex at the same time she was dating him. Love broke up with him and he was stalking her. She tells Drita that Carla better be careful. Drita thinks this is something Carla should know. Love says she will talk to her, but Carla better not tell her that the boyfriend said this or that, implying Love is lying, or it won’t go well. Drita says she doesn’t want to get in the middle of this situation or in a fight.

Karina: "Don’t be mad or bust a cap or anything, but he has a girlfriend."

Karina has come to visit Karen and they are playing volley ball. Karen wants Karina to have a better life than she had. Karen is a little confused about what to do with the house in Arizona after talking to the financial planner. She tells Karina she has been calling Dave, but he is not returning her calls. That’s when Karina says maybe it’s because he has a new girlfriend and they are spending all their time together. It might be serious. This news makes Karen upset because she feels Dave should have been the one to tell her, not Karina. Karina tells her she found a g-string in her bedroom. Karen holds her temper for Karina’s sake. Then she tells her daughter that it is her house and if anyone goes over boundaries and is disrespecting it then she needs to know so she can take care of it.

Renee: "I want everything to go up in f—ing flames!"

Renee is packing all her belongings. She found a new house and she is moving. She is going to get rid of all of Junior’s things. She wants no part of him. Ramona comes over to check on Renee. They look at the pieces of the watch that Junior wore when he was wearing a wire and taping Renee’s father. They go through pictures with Junior in them. Renee is burning everything, it’s all going up in flames. She doesn’t want to remember him, he has been a dark cloud over her for 23 years. She has her son and that’s all she needs.

Renee, Karen and Nikole are all busy emptying out the house of furniture. The mattress goes out to the curb. Renee doesn’t know if Junior slept with anyone else on it. Everything is cleared out. Renee moves into her new house. She is closing this chapter of her life and a world that she doesn’t want to be attached to. She is moving forward to enjoy her life. The ladies all walk into her new home and they love it.

At Drita’s house, Drita and Aleeya talk about the trip to visit Lee. Drita explains how that have very strict rules about what kind of clothing you can wear on visits. She points out that many of the things Aleeya picked out are not allowed. They will have to stay overnight at a hotel because the prison is so far away. Drita says that it has been physically and mentally exhausting preparing to see Lee. Aleeya says, “I love daddy.” and wants to know if she can give him a hug at the prison. Drita tells her she can and if they try to stop her they will have a problem with Drita. Drita admits that she is nervous to see Lee and she says she cares about him a lot. There is a lot of pressure on her because she wants her family back together.

Ramona: “Your house ain’t no Hotel, Motel 6. Your house is basically the Ritz-Carlton of Arizona, so if they’re gonna be f*cking humping in your house, you’re gonna need to service them with a bill.”

Karen and Ramona meet. Karen tells her she has been trying to call Dave. He has a girlfriend and it sounds like they have been together a while. She tells Ramona that Karina said the girlfriend picked her up once without Dave. Ramona has a little stroke, she wouldn’t be happy about that. Then she tells her Karina found a thong in her bedroom. Ramona goes ballistic, saying your house ain’t no hotel, motel six! Karen feels she is being disrespected. They speculate why Dave wouldn’t tell her himself. Maybe he wanted to get a reaction out of Karen because he still has feelings for her? Ramona tells Karen that she needs to go out the Arizona and see what’s up for herself. It’s her house.

AJ: “Don’t think I’m not on your side."

Renee feels safe in her new home with AJ. She calls him down to have a little chat. She says she is moving again. She says she has been self-medicating and has decided to go to a rehab for treatment. She has a disease. AJ is 18. He tells her that doing drugs is a choice not a disease. He thinks it’s a weakness.  She says she is going away for the both of them. The rehab is in Florida. He tells Renee he is not trying to be mean, he wants her to get well and knows she can do it. He is supporting her.

Drita goes to see Carla. Giselle tells Carla that she is going to see daddy. Giselle looks just like Lee. Drita tells Carla she is nervous because things can either go very good or very bad. Carla says of course he will try to come back home. Carla says Joe tried to come back home, but she lost her feelings for him and it couldn’t work. Drita says Lee will be home in six months. She wants to do what is best for her family.

MY TWO CENTS

I woke up with my two cents writing itself in my head. First of all, the episode should maybe have been called “Bad Boys,” because almost everyone of the ladies is having some kind of man trouble.

Renee has had her fill of Junior, what more can this man do to her? He has abused her, cheated on her, and betrayed her, AJ, her father and family by wearing a wire. Now he is sending her threatening letters too? I can understand why Renee would be afraid to report this letter to the authorities. I wouldn’t worry about being a rat, but more about his retaliation if he finds out. She has been through so much and she knows what he is capable of doing. Everyone said they didn’t know where Junior was right now. What I want to know is did the letter have a postmark on it? That might tell us if he is in New York or elsewhere. Was it hand delivered to her mailbox? Then that would even be more troubling. It’s details like this that keep me up at night. I give Renee tremendous credit for how she has handled all the situations that have come up the past three years. Her decision to go to rehab makes me very proud of her, especially because she is still under a dark cloud after receiving that letter. I pray for the day she finds peace and happiness in her life.

Karen might bust a cap over Dave’s disrespect of her home and subjecting their daughter to a woman and her underwear that he never bothered to mention. She would have every right to put him out of the house. She has been nothing but supportive of him since he got out of prison and this is how he repays her? He didn’t even have the decency to tell Karen himself, instead he avoids her phone calls. That put Karina in the middle and in an awkward position. Once her mother brought up the topic of Dave, she had to tell her what was going on. I can’t believe how well Karen held it together, because I would have had a stroke on the spot. I’m with Ramona on this one. Karen needs to go to Arizona and confront Dave face to face. Give him a 30 day notice to vacate the premises. Then I would see a realtor about selling the home. Karen can stay at her Mom’s when she visits or get a nice condo if she wants to keep a residence there, until she decides if she will move back there in the future or not. Dave said he had a good job which is why he didn’t want to move to New York. If he has such a good job, why didn’t he offer Karen rent money instead of spending his money on a girlfriend?

Ramona’s boyfriend, Joe, is still waiting for a court date. What happened to a “fair and speedy trial?” It’s taking a long time to see what he will be charged with and how much time they will sentence him to serve. I am getting the impression it could be a very long time. Meanwhile her life and future is in limbo because she was planning to marry Joe before he was arrested. I hope that court date comes soon so she knows what kind of situation she is dealing with and can make some decisions about where to go from here.

Drita has the opposite problem of Ramona. Lee is due to come out of prison and now she has a decision to make. Does she try to keep her family together and forgive his cheating or proceed with her divorce? Of course she is taking her children’s feelings and interests into consideration. It’s obvious how close Aleeya is to her father. I t would mean the world to her to have him back home. That is going to be hard for Drita to disregard in her decision making. Also, Giselle doesn’t even remember Lee and needs to spend a lot of quality time with him to make up for time lost. Drita, herself, admits to still having strong feelings for Lee. What I have heard through the Staten Island grapevine is that Lee has come out of prison since this was filmed and he is at home. Whether he is there to spend time with the kids or if he and Drita are working things out, I don’t know. I guess we will find out later in the season. P.S. Kudos to Drita for sticking to her guns about not getting into fights!

Big Ang is worried about her son, AJ. He is in rehab, but she hasn’t been able to see him. That would drive me crazy too. I’m sure he could use his mother’s support in getting through this time of his life. I hope she doesn’t have to wait much longer.

Love may not have “man” issues, but she shares some history with Carla’s current boyfriend, Handy Man. Love knows a few things first hand that maybe Carla should know. Should she tell her? I don’t care either way. For my part, Carla could find out by watching the show when it airs months later, like last night. However, this meeting between Love and Carla, over Handy Man, is just too good for television to let slide. I would bet my last dollar that there is going to be a meeting and it won’t go well. Carla is always on the defensive. Even though Love would be going to warn her with all good intentions, Carla will not believe it. That’s my take. I hope VH1 hired a few security guards when they plan this meeting. Carla antagonizes everyone.

Sorry, but I have to add that I do not believe Carla when she tells Drita she lost feelings for Joe and that’s why they didn‘t get back together. It sounds to me like she wants to save face. I recall something about her allegedly being with Joe and Handy, when Joe got out of prison. Only Joe didn’t know about it.  I once saw a tweet from Joe calling out a “LIAR.” Could that have been a reference to Carla? And, why do we see an very angry Joe demanding a divorce in next week’s previews? I hope the whole story comes out!

Love’s mother, Lorraine, is adorable! I hope we get to see more of her this season. Having spoken to her on various occasions, I can tell you she is a lovely, outspoken woman with old fashioned, decent values and we see eye to eye on many things.

Now, I want to congratulate Jennifer Graziano for bringing us real and significant issues in her reality show. This drama is not just manufactured for television purposes, it is real and it is happening while we go about our own lives waiting for the next season. Jenn captures it all and brings it to us. There is no comparison between the reality we see on Mob Wives and that of any other reality show out there. She isn’t afraid to tackle tough issues, issues that concern her own family, her closest friends and she allows us into all their lives. I recall talking to Love when I interviewed her last about being on the show. She said what surprised her most is how much of their real lives the viewers get to see. Nothing is off limits. So kudos to Jenn for sticking with her purpose and intention of putting the “reality” into reality television. It just doesn’t get more real than this!

Video Credit: VH1