This episode focuses on The Ultimate Betrayal
The episode starts at Renee’s house where she has been alone and keeping to herself. She lost the two men in her life within a couple of hours of each other, just before Thanksgiving. Nikole calls and asks how Renee is and Renee says not good, she tells her that her heart is broken. Renee wants to stay by herself. She is worried for AJ. Nikole wants her to spend quality time with AJ. Renee tells her no one know the pain and suffering of losing someone who is still alive. AJ told her he feels they just disappeared. Nikole is worried, but there is nothing she can do for Renee.
Ramona goes to the Drunken Monkey to fill Big Ang in on what is going on with Renee. She is not in a good place, she is heartbroken. Junior didn’t say goodbye, he just wrote a letter. Why did Junior turn himself in? Big Ang wants to take Renee out to distract her from everything. Big Ang asks Ramona what she is doing for Thanksgiving. Ramona says the holiday is bitter sweet because her grandfather died of cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering on Thanksgiving. He was the real definition of a gangster. He did his time like a real man should do. That was loyalty. The new generation doesn’t act like that any more.
Carla and Drita meet at Monaco’s and talk about Junior and Renee’s father going back to jail and that it is too much for Renee to deal with. Drita says she hasn’t spoken to Renee after what happened in the Poconos. Drita hasn’t taken the kids to see Lee in a year, but now with all this happening to Renee she is rethinking this decision. She still loves him even though she is leaving him. Carla says that Junior left Renee a letter. Drita can’t believe it, it’s not normal, it’s cold.
Drita goes to the Drunken Monkey to talk to Big Ang about Renee and Big Ang tells her how worried she is. Again Drita feels she should take her girls to see Lee. Drita says jail is a scary place for kids. She says she and Lee are ticking time bombs. Big Ang says there is something about guys in jail, they look hot, they don’t age, they look great in their jumpsuits.
Carla meets Joe and the kids at the skating rink. Carla is happy Joe is home. Everything that has happened to Renee makes her appreciate Joe being home even more. She wants him to be a great father and never go back to jail. She regrets that the kids were cheated out of all that time with their father. The scene ends with the whole family skating together.
Renee goes to see Ramona, who invited her over for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Ramona says Renee looks good. Renee says she is glad that Junior can’t cheat on her for the next seven years. Renee plans on waiting for Junior and wants to marry him when he gets out. She just wishes he had waited until after Thanksgiving before turning himself in. She wanted to have her holiday with her family. She asks, “When do they stop going to jail?” Renee is upset and cries that her father was only home three months after serving eleven years in jail and now he was taken away right before the holiday.
The doorbell rings and it’s Karen. Renee says she still doesn’t want to be around anyone. Karen comes in with a bottle of champagne and says they are celebrating the fact that they are all here together. Renee gets upset, she says she can’t celebrate, her son AJ is on the edge. Karen says she just wants to thank God that they have each other. Karen reminds Renee that Ramona lost her grandfather on Thanksgiving. Renee says her grandfather might be better off dead because the feds would have taken him. Renee leaves, she can’t handle the get together.
Drita and Giselle are at home and Drita talks about how hard it is to be a single parent. She has to be super mom so they don’t miss their dad so much. Drita tells Giselle that they are all going to visit daddy and she asks her if she wants to see daddy. Giselle doesn’t know who Lee is and she doesn’t want to go. Drita tries to talk her into going, but Giselle has no concept about what a father is and doesn’t remember Lee. The last time Drita took the girls to see Lee was about a year ago. Drita cries because she grew up having a very close relationship with her father and he was everything to her. She decides she will not force Giselle to go see Lee.
Big Ang takes Renee out to “Lips,” a fun place that features drag shows. She feels Renee needs to get out of the house and she wants her to have a good time. Big Ang loves drag shows. Karen and Ramona are there too. Renee can’t help herself, she starts laughing and enjoying herself. They all say “Thank God!” Renee dances with a drag queen and starts to feel a little better despite of her situation.
Carla and Drita meet up to talk about Renee. Drita drops a bomb! She says the word on the street is that Junior flipped and ratted out Renee’s dad. Carla is shocked and can’t believe it. Drita says no one ever speaks of these things, so maybe it’s true. Drita says every time she has heard someone called a “rat” it’s been true. Both Carla and Drita’s husbands went to jail because of “rats” and they hate rats. Jerry Capeci, who runs the website “Gangland News” had a story up that Junior flipped and he rarely, if ever, gets anything wrong. Drita says that in the article it says Junior wore a wire to tape Renee’s Dad. She is pissed and says if you are going to be a criminal and commit crimes, be prepared to do the time and not take everyone down with you.
She always gets around to the "cheeseburger"
Ramona and Karen meet for dinner. They also discuss the Gangland News article about Junior cooperating with the feds. Karen says all the signs are there that he is cooperating, he turned himself in and isn’t using his attorney. They talk about how much Renee was looking forward to Thanksgiving because Junior and her father were home. For Junior to wear a wire and tape Renee’s dad, that is the most scummy, low life thing he could do. Karen says her father told her to be there for Renee, her world has been ripped apart. Then Karen reminisces about her own life, when Sammy cooperated and all her friends were told not to have anything to do with her anymore. She says she remembers how Ramona came to her house and told her what was happening and said she would not stop being friends with her no matter what anyone said. Karen has tears in her eyes as she told the story of how Ramona, her loyal friend, stood by her during this extremely difficult time in her life when so many others turned their backs on her.
Karen and Ramona go to Renee’s house to support her. Renee doesn’t believe the Gangland article, she says Jerry has been wrong three times. He had to have made a mistake this time too. Renee is in denial, she will not believe that Junior was capable of ratting her father out. Renee cries for AJ’s pain and loss. Renee is extremely emotional as she worries about her dad and AJ. The tears are from her heart that is breaking because she feels AJ is being punished. She is especially sensitive to Karen and what she went through and says to her, you are reliving your life. As Karen hugs her and tries to comfort her, she tells Renee that she has people who love her. Karen says her mother was the glue who held the family together when her father cooperated. Renee starts telling Karen she is so sorry over and over. Karen feels Renee may feel guilty over how she treated her when she came back to Staten Island and in not welcoming her back. But Karen says she will always be loyal to Renee and support her. Ramona reminds Renee that she has to take care of AJ. Renee says she has to remove 23 years of love from her heart. She was planning to grow old with Junior. Karen tries to prepare Renee for the probability that this story is true because all the signs are there. Renee is still in denial and can’t accept it.
Renee goes to church to pray and ask God for His help. Renee blames herself for everything that’s happened. Big Ang goes to see Janine at the puppy store to show her the headlines in the newspaper “Hubby A Snitch,” and tell her about Junior.
Renee says that Junior has been like a son to her father and this is the Ultimate…the Ultimate Betrayal. Renee cries for her father, who is 71 and back in jail.
MY TWO CENTS:
For obvious reasons, my two cents this week will have none of the usual snarky remarks and humor that I typically insert. The topic is too serious, too real, too emotional and feelings are still raw. I will just address briefly how I feel about Renee’s strength in all she has had to deal with concerning Junior’s betrayal.
I just can’t imagine another reality show dealing with such a personal and devastating storyline. A storyline that we watched unfold in the news and then again in Renee’s life on the show. How difficult must it have been for her to live it and then relive it again for filming and relive it again for interviews and relive it again to watch it on television? How many times did she have to confront this situation head on, pull herself together and try to carry on with the show, promotion, media questions, meeting fans, and Lord knows what else?
I’m grateful for the fact that this was filmed months ago and that we have seen Renee and AJ since then and they seem to be doing well. They seem to be coping under these extremely difficult circumstances and going on with their lives. We can see the love, loyalty, and show of support from their closest friends. Friends who know and understand what it means to be in their shoes, because they have lived it too. Renee doesn’t have to explain, they understand it all. They understand how much Renee loved Junior, how she had hopes for the future; how much she loves her father and how devoted she is to him; and how much she loves AJ most of all, and wants to protect him from everything that is painful in this world. As a daughter, she must feel a sickening, grieving loss for her father, who she only had back in her life for three months. As a mother, she must feel a despair and helplessness at not being able to make AJ’s world a safe and happy because of things that are beyond her control. It’s hard for a mother when she feels she can’t protect her child from the harsh realities of life, and this is as harsh as it gets. As an ex-wife/fiancé of a man she has loved with all her heart for 23 years, and who is the father of he precious son, she has to feel a heart shattering, utter and total betrayal. It had to be unexpected, and it couldn’t have been more devastating because her father was betrayed and taken from her again by a man he considered to be like a son to him.
Renee has to carry all of this around with her every day as she smiles through her pain, deals with her battle with depression and faces several more corrective surgeries. So many people would just withdraw from the world so they don’t have to deal with it. What does our Renee do? She carries on without skipping a beat. She puts her life out there on national television and worldwide because she made a commitment to do this when she signed up for Mob Wives…not knowing or even being able to imagine how bad things would get.
You have to admire that kind of strength. She carries on with all her commitments and she still has dreams. She tells fans she dreams of being on SNL and DWTS. Who else would, after going through all that she has, turn around and focus on more positive things? That is not an easy thing to do, but we have all seen it. And we want Renee’s dreams to come true! We can help make them come true. As fans we can all do anything we put our minds to doing. We can help her put this chapter of her life behind her, support her and AJ, and together I’m sure we can help make good things happen.
