To become a fan of Mob Wives, you have to accept the push-and-pull of pretty much every episode. Although each of the women in the cast has experienced personal and/or professional triumphs this season, they’ve also dealt with crushing blows to their stability. That type of hard swing in momentum, from pure joy to even purer pain, can make for a hard watch, both emotionally and tonally. However, when it works well, when the life becomes another character on the show, when the bad news is as devastating as it has been lately, it produces some rather compelling episodes.
On tonight’s Mob Wives, the swing happened in the final few minutes. While we were still basking in the glow of Karen’s persecution complex book party and the first step on the road to bestseller, Renee received word (off-camera) of Junior’s continued cooperation. Brought down in the latest sting were several men that Renee and Big Ang were well-acquainted with, including Renee’s best friend’s husband. The bust was made especially heartbreaking due to the fact that Renee had been kind of killing it all episode. You’ll remember that she promised in front of God, Ramona, and America to put herself first a little more often and by the looks of her tonight, she had been. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, it’s the best Renee had looked and acted in weeks, the new attitude resulting in a mea culpa with Carla and a renewed sense of self. Renee may have been bruised from her recent string of hard luck, but she hadn’t been broken…until now. Granted, she seemed to be okay at the end of the episode, going to face her father in court, but it was hard to tell how much of that was for the cameras and how much of that was emotional numbness taking over. Renee mentioned last week how cried out she was, but could that survive another huge betrayal from Junior?
That revelation contrasted with a bunch of fairly positive moments during the rest of the episode. For all her worrying about them, Drita’s daughters seem to be unaffected by the recent divorce announcement, Gizelle earning an award from her school that leads to her getting a puppy. As much as Mob Wives is about Carla, Drita, Renee, Ang, Karen, and Ramona, it’s also about the children of each woman and making sure that the mistakes made in prior generations don’t get passed down. It’s good to see that the kids are taking everything in stride and that Drita, spurred by Renee’s ordeal with Junior, has been holding them closer, making sure to keep reinforcing positive behavior. Karen finally having her book party may have been a nice move for her professionally, completing a long-standing project and beginning the process of promoting it, but the fact that she considers herself to be the “real victim” in all this is laughable. Yes, being raised in the life may have made a certain impression on her and yes, her dad’s currently incarcerated, but y’know what? Karen’s alive, her child is alive, and her parents are alive, which is more than you can say for the victims of her father’s brutality. I’m not fully opposed to the idea of a book about the mob/connected to the mob, in that you can learn a lot from somebody with the type of access that Karen has. There can be a perspective gained that you wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to, which is important in understand any subculture.
But her book isn’t the same as the show, to me; the show, though tawdry reality at some moments, has lifted the veil a little bit on mob life and told the story of the mothers and the daughters affected by the actions of the men in their lives. It may feature women there only for their family connection, but they represent a number of women in similar situations who are finally getting their voice heard. It could be any six women and it’d still be Mob Wives because it’s about the group, not the individual. The book, on the other hand, is Karen cashing in her fame from the show and her fame as her father’s daughter to make a profit; Karen writing a book isn’t a problem, but writing a book about your life, which has included innumerable deaths and lives ruined, is a pretty sticky situation. I haven’t read the book, but judging from how Karen drops her father’s name and occupation as often as she can, I doubt it’s 400 pages of atoning for his sins, let’s say. The least she could do would be to donate a certain % of the profits to a related charity or the victim’s families, if only to show that the purpose of the book actually was to tell her story rather than make a quick buck.
Mob Wives may have ended on a sad note, but it was a comparatively lighter episode, filled with make-ups, fun nights, and time spent with the ones you loved. There are only a few episodes left before the reunion, so cherish episodes like this. I have a feeling things are about to get really dark really quickly.
Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-“Caviar looks like dirt.”
-“Big Ang invitesme to a Christmas party in Scarface’s house.”
-“I want to have fun and get wacked.”
-“I feel like I’m drinkin’ a tree.”
-“As long as we’re not rolling on the floor, let’s roll.”
-“I ain’t f-ckin’ naming no dog Sparkles.”
-“It’s like talking to me about how much sodium is in soy sauce. I don’t give a f-ck.”
-I don’t know about you, but I’d die to be able to go to a Big Ang holiday party. It looked very fun.
-Big Ang talks food in New York, while Karen talks about her book in Miami.
–Mob Wives season 2 will be hitting Europe on TLC stations soon.
–Which comedian will be hosting the two-part Mob Wives reunion?
-Next week on Mob Wives: Drita gets the call about the French Montana video, Ang gets botox, and the ladies try to bring Drita and Karen back together to reconcile.
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