The past plays a pretty interesting role in the land of Mob Wives. The show’s entire existence hinges on past criminal behavior by loved ones of each cast member, but for the most part, they try and distance themselves from any labels that behavior may conjure. In terms of their interactions with one another, a lot of the central fights in the show’s season-and-a-half have been based on what someone said/did weeks, months, or even years prior. The Mob Wives may a lot of things, but if you cross any of them once, they’re holding on to that information and keeping their distance until you prove your worth all over again.
Each of the Mob Wives confronted some aspect of their past in Sunday’s episode and the varying reactions really showed how the experiences these women have underwent have shaped who they are today.
Karen’s early involvement in mob life has made her the only cast member that hasn’t had to struggle with their association. Yes, she’s had a moment or two when she’s missed her father or she didn’t want his actions to define the rest of her life, but the other women have been at serious crossroads in terms of where they want the rest of their life to go that Karen hasn’t had to deal with. Even though I know the rest of the ladies love their family unconditionally, Karen’s the only one that I feel revels in being tied to the mob; the others have either come to terms with it or are trying to put a little more peace in their lives, but Karen puts off this vibe that she absolutely lives to call herself Sammy the Bull’s daughter, recounting his criminal stats (19 people killed) during her Mob Candy shoot as if he were a Hall of Fame athlete. Setting aside the fact how icky that was, running around talking about how gangster you are is about the least gangster thing in the world and it comes off as very phony. Either Karen is masking the effect that mob life had on her to protect herself or she really is wearing her father’s name like a badge of honor.
I have no problem with Karen loving her father for being her father, but it makes it hard to connect with her when you don’t get to see the pain that she’s been through in the past. Vulnerability is something that makes us human and thus far in the run of Mob Wives, Karen’s been all bravado and nothing else.
Karen may be embracing her past, but Drita and Renee have been trying to come to terms with their relationships with their former husbands. Interestingly enough, they’re on two different tracks, with Drita finally getting the apology she wanted for Lee’s indiscretions and Renee drifting apart from Junior after letting their tumultuous past override their present. Despite that, there’s certain parallels between their situations, as Drita’s continued insistence that Lee was a good dad got to Renee on a personal level. Renee’s already been emotionally teetering, unable to let Junior’s past go in order to move on, and hearing Drita say the same things she used to say in order to excuse taking Junior back really seemed to get to her. These are the two storylines I’ve been most interested in this season because they’re the realest and most raw the show has ever gotten. You can invest in Drita being able to exhale and Renee trying to forget about being hurt for so many years because while the circumstances that got them there are unusual, they’re relatable in that you know a man that cheats on his wife or a couple trying to make it work but nothing seems to make it stick.
Judging by Renee’s demeanor the entire episode, I don’t think she can forgive Junior and that trying to force a relationship now can only hurt her more. They have to confront and conquer the things that made their previous attempts at happiness fruitless and that just brings it all back for her, all the pain, all the insecurity. Renee’s upbringing may have stressed “standing by your man”, but what good is that if you’re only torn up in the process?
In more recent events, Carla and Ramona seem to be on the path to cordiality, but Drita doesn’t like the fact that her friend has opened the door for someone that hurt her so badly. While I don’t blame Carla for not wanting more personal drama to have to invest energy in, I think she may be extending herself a little too much for someone whose motives don’t seem very genuine. If Ramona was turning over a new leaf and wanted to start over in general, that’d be one thing, but she seems to want to “weaken” Drita’s support system by befriending Carla. By taking Carla’s opinion of her from severe dislike to mild annoyance/apathy, Ramona’s making sure that the next time things pop off with Drita, Carla may not be as into the thought of getting involved. Carla and Drita have the strongest friendship on the show, but Carla’s not shown herself to be much in the way of fighting and drama, so if she’s going up against someone she’s not that vehemently against, Drita will be easier to “get”, so to speak. (Plus, she could try to get information about Drita out of Carla, possibly to keep messing with her.) Would I like for Ramona to be genuine and want a friendship with Carla? Absolutely, you never urge people to hate one another, especially women already dealing with so much in their personal lives. It’s just that Ramona’s seething hatred/dislike of Drita, love for anything dramatic, and previous poor comments about Carla make me think that she’s working an angle on the most chill/undramatic of the Mob Wives.
The past never goes anywhere on Mob Wives and the most recent episode is one of the show’s prime examples of that fact. You can run, walk, hop, skip, and jump from it, but what you do follows you from the moment you’re found out to the moment you prove that you’re truly sorry. Each of the Mob Wives have had to put up with a lot of stuff through their associations with the life, but it looks like a couple of them have started firmly drawing the line at what behavior they’ll put up with and what behavior is too much to handle. It’s a difficult balancing act, in that you want to be able to forgive but you know you can give some people an inch and they take a mile, and watching the Mob Wives figure out how to reconcile this has made season two more cathartic than this past summer’s season one. Drita’s personal victory tonight may have been very nice to behold, but the process of healing and forgiveness is in its infant stages for most of the Mob Wives and I don’t know how long it’ll take before they get the peace they’re so desperately craving.
Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-“I met the first douchebag in kindergarten.”
-“Oh, koo-koo-ka-choo.”
-“He cooperated and he’s the escape goat.”
-“He thinks he’s a real little baby, but, y’know, with sharper teeth.”
-“You could have took up pole dancing; that’s nice.”
-Big Ang and Louie stole the show and then some. I wish Ang got more airtime, but I’d rather her be a little breath of fresh air than get mixed up in the drama.
-It’s funny that Karen’s made an issue about separating herself from her father and creating her own identity, but she’s on Mob Wives, her book title is “Mob Daughter”, and we got to see an interview/photo shoot for Mob Candy, all three ultimately due to her association with her father.
-As many issues as I have with Karen, though, the multi-colored dress she had at her photo shoot looked phenomenal on her.
-I loved Renee’s advice to Ramona about her boyfriend. There’s no time to be idealistic when dealing with being busted by the feds, so prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
-The Mob Wives spin-off, based in Chicago, is still filming.
-If you want to buy a copy of Karen’s Mob Candy issue, you can head to their website here.
-Big Ang will be appearing on The Wendy Williams Show tomorrow. Check your local listings and whatnot.
-Here’s Ramona talking about her meeting with Carla and the current status of their relationship.
-Five words: Big Ang reenacting Downton Abbey. You’re welcome.
-Karen did an interview with VH1 about her new book and you can check out pictures from her book release party right here.
–Ramona’s friends with Chris Brown. Talk amongst yourselves.
-Next week on Mob Wives: Drita and Ramona have dueling Halloween parties, Renee’s dad’s driver gets busted by the feds, and Junior may be leaving Renee.
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