Real Housewives Of New Jersey Season 5 or " The Teresa Show"

                                    Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives of New Jersey

So where do I start?  Its been a while since I've written a  a Bravo TV show recap...and I have hardly  done anything regarding recaps since I first broke news on my site prior to season five airing of The Real Housewives Of  New Jersey that Teresa  Giudice and her brother Joe Gorga  were indeed making amends

( which you can read here). This was captured in photos at The Milania Hair Care Launch.

Teresa and Priscilla at Milania Launch

 I have however been recapping The Real Housewives of New Jersey live weekly on The Gina show on " Reality Reel" with host Gina Cutillo on www.inravio.com

  I originally gained a following on my site, in my opinion,  due to my love of  The Real Housewives of New Jersey and my recap blogs. Many of you reading were tweeting and emailing me as to when I would be doing another one...never one to disappoint, ( as I hate that myself) , I am recapping season five RHONJ up to the point the show is at now.

                                                          " The Teresa Show" 

The Teresa Show is a phrase heard often on social media pertaining to the fact that many of Teresa Guidice's fans feel that the show would not exist without her and the feeling amongst them  being is Teresa should be given her own show. #TheTeresaShow is even popular hashtag used often on Twitter ( do a search if you don't believe) by " Tre huggers"  which are over  600 thousand strong on  Twitter alone.
 The Phenomenon   that is Teresa Giudice began back on season one of The Real Housewives of New Jersey on Bravo TV with the infamous table flipping scene and it has not stopped since. Flash forward to season five where Teresa Giudice is now a four time NY Times Best Selling Author, has a successful haircare line, wines, and a stint on " Celebrity Apprentice " with Donald Trump where he even declared her a favorite. No wonder one would think it was indeed the " Teresa Show". Teresa has had more magazine covers than any other Bravo housewife and the fans of the show are the most passionate fans out there by far. So what is it about Teresa that has everyone watching and talking? I find the two categories are you either love her or pretend to hate her but secretly love her. She is over the top with fashion, speaks her mind, has a gorgeous house , she's funny,  has four beautiful girls ( who are characters themselves ) , a husband  and a unsurpassed work ethic where she truly connects with her fans and the people who love her. In fact Teresa is always doing appearance's for her books and products doing her best to meet , and take photos with, as many fans as she can. On Twitter alone there are countless profile photos of the user smiling with Teresa. So what's my point? The Real Housewives of New Jersey should segue into The Teresa Show because the rest of the cast have become side characters revolving around the star...Teresa. If  you have been watching, and are a keen observer as I am, the rest of the cast story line's revolve around Teresa in one way or another as that is all they are seeming to talk about at this point ( usually ) anyway. 

This season picks up where the reunion of season four left off and we find Teresa still estranged from her brother, his wife Melissa , her cousin Kathy,  former friend Jacquline Laurita, and Caroline Manzo. I feel as though with Teresa's hectic life  she would have so much to film with or without the rest of the group regardless but will get to that. Bravo TV has shaken things up with the changing of producers this season and the over all vibe ( even with editing ) so far is a more clear picture of who everyone really is. Those of you reading know that I am speaking about the former producers favoring Melissa Gorga and editing Teresa in a bad light.

The ongoing rumors of new housewives joining, and former housewives leaving,  was put to rest when the season opened and we find the same cast having " intros" although tag lines have changed. Kim DePaola, Jennifer Dalton, Elvira Grau, Linda Berger, and Priscilla DiStasio all rumored to be new housewives , although under contract, are considered just " friends of the housewives " and not official  housewives and have filmed throughout the season. We find a softer and more fair Caroline this season and she is the first to admit that even though her attitude has changed she is still the same person. Melissa this season, in my opinion,  is snippier than we have seen in the past and Kathy ( looks aside ) hasn't changed much. Jacqueline Laurita,  having revealed her son's autism at the end of the season last year, seems personally happier than where she left of at the reunion but that is NOT regarding Teresa.

Kathy Wakile, Caroline Manzo, and Melissa Gorga

Not The only Roller Coaster in New Jersey....

The show starts off with video footage of Hurricane Sandy and the effects on NJ as well as to the Jersey Shore where the cast has homes. We see commonality in the feelings portrayed as this was a very scary and hard time for New Jersey and the Eastern states. Many are still recovering and the cast is sincere in putting aside the BS at this point. As the weeks go by a few scenes with Teresa and Kim D ( who has always been close with Teresa) are shown and at this point nothing major there until Kim gets involved with family business ( stirs the pot) at Gia's birthday party held at The Space Odyssey.  

Kim DePaola stirring pots since season 1 RHONJ OG! lol

We are introduced to Linda Berger ( who appeared last season) Teresa's friend as they are shown working out at the gym where Teresa always goes
 ( she is later at Gia's birthday ). Caroline, we discover, has moved into an apartment in Hoboken with Al to see if they have what it takes for apartment living should they sell their home...meanwhile Caroline's sister, the sweet and quirky Fran, and all her animals ( including a pig ) have moved in to her home in Franklin Lakes.

Sister Fran

The Gorgas decided to put their McMansion , that Joe built, up for sale to move further away from Teresa and her family for reasons that are a little , ahem, suspect. Enter top real estate agent to stars Jennifer Dalton ( also a friend of Teresa's ) and a minor showdown regarding a bathroom faux pas at Casa Gorga.

Jennifer Dalton, Teresa Giudice, and Elvira Grau

Melissa is also writing an advice book which she assures us in her interview is " nothing like Teresa's because shes writing it and it's an advice book"  This opens up a can of worms into Melissa's past and we find out that her Dad cheated on her mother and the pain she felt.

Jacqueline and son Nicholas

Jacqueline's story line is revolving around seeking treatments for her son Nicholas concerning his battle with Autism and he is making progress as the weeks go by even saying " I love you" to Jacqueline for the first time in a long time...all caught on tape. She also reveals that she is still holding on to resentment concerning Teresa and is diagnosing her with " bipolar disorder" ( which oddly Melissa brings up too? Hmmm Shady Boots) .
 Kathy's story line is yet to be revealed other than celebrating a few milestones with family members such as birthdays, everyday life,  and school...although the editing eludes to problems within her marriage. As her story line develops ...Teresa struggles with her daughters growing up, the fact that her efforts to reach out to her brother were fruitless, then she finds out that her father has been rushed to the hospital prompting a future tit for tat with Melissa at Gia's birthday.

The showdown over the visit to Teresa's Dad at the hospital ...Gia's birthday at Space Odyssey USA

 Poor Gia. Now to the meat and potatoes...Caroline and Joe Gorga have developed a close friendship and in doing so a softer Caroline , against better judgement, decides to intervene to help facilitate peace between Joe and his sister. ( much to Melissa's dismay). This is the first of many sit downs to come. Caroline finds it within her self to call Teresa for a  sit down ...surprisingly it goes well ( Caroline needs a drink or two afterwards) no one was hurt and no tables were flipped. Caroline telling Teresa to think of her Dad and his health gets through to Teresa and even though she has tried in vain countless times to extend an olive branch she tells Caroline to relay to her brother that she is there whenever he wants to talk. A victory is a victory no matter how small.

Antonia and Milania can teach the girls a thing or two.

During all this hoopla Melissa's daughter  Antonia has written a letter to Milania in school telling her how much she misses her and Melissa decides to send it on over to the Giudice's abode. Teresa receives the letter and Milania expresses how terribly she misses Antonia.Teresa, after reading the letter, ( good thing it wasn't a card )  initiates a play date and has Milania call Antonia. We see back and forth between Melissa and Teresa as they iron out the details of when and where until the  stage is finally set. It is awkward but this time we start to see a different side of Melissa and it was not fun for the girls. Teresa is trying her best to be cordial and engaged. She even changes her daughter Gabriella's communion when she finds out that it is the same day as Melissa's ( who claimed she already booked it on the same day).

A drunk Rosie is a fun Rosie...Just Sayin'

 Much to viewers delight, cousin Rosie  ( who Twitter keeps comparing me to as a suggestion to follow )

resurfaces in a big way this season and has already been in many scenes including a future sit down this time between her and Teresa. This came about after Caroline's reveals to Kathy and Rosie that during her sit down Teresa said she was not ready for a relationship with either of them. This all goes down at Rich and Victoria Wakile's joint birthday party. Rosie basically has a fit of drunken rage and says Teresa can take it in the ass...whoa.The climax was when Teresa and Joe Gorga first appear on camera together at the gym and what seems to start of good ends in an argument where again no one is truly listening to one and other.Insults are hurled both ways causing Teresa to douse her brother with a bottle of water ( for comments he made about Joe Giudice ), storm off, " flip a garbage can",  and tell her brother to " Go Scratch"!

Started off nice enough...

Maybe Teresa was trying to cool her brother down...

So what now? The trailer for the rest of the season definitely shows a roller coaster of a ride ultimately bringing the group back together but for me it has been and will always be the scenes that Teresa and her family are in that will keep me watching. I know that executives at Bravo are smart and Teresa has all the right ingredients to make the recipe of her own show a success. I could not imagine The Real Housewives of New Jersey without Teresa and many of you would agree HOWEVER I can imagine The Teresa Show... until then I will continue to watch the original Teresa Show...The Real Housewives of New Jersey and that's the way I see it Xx Billy Charles

For The Latest On Teresa Giudice Please Visit :                                   www.TeresaGiudice.com The Offical Site on all things Teresa! Includes her own blogs!

Follow The Cast Of The Real Housewives of New Jersey and Tweet Them :

@Teresa_Giudice  @Jacquelinelaurita 
@MelissaGorga  @KathyWakile @RosiePierri 
@JoeGorga @CarolineManzo @flygirljennifer @partyelvira @kimDposche @mspriscillanyc 



PS Will Danielle Staub Ever Resurface???? I heard @DanielleStaub is getting her own show...stay tuned!