The Real Housewives of New Jersey - Episode 18 Recap

There was no new episode of RHONJ over the Labor Day weekend.  This episode picks up after the Giudice's and the Gorga's left Sonoma after "the last supper" and the showdown between Teresa and Caroline.

It's the first day of school and we see pretty much the same scene playing out at both the Giudice and the Gorga household.  Except Joe Gorga is up and cooking his kids breakfast, while Joe Giudice is struggling to put lunches together.  Both moms are taking pictures, all of the kids are dressed in their finest, and the Giudice girls make it on the bus.  Antonia misses her bus (by what looks like to be seconds), so Melissa runs back up the drive way to get the car and drive her to school.  Both couples talked about the last night in Sonoma and how they felt about the whole situation.  Melissa feels bad that she didn't get to say goodbye to everyone.  Teresa and Joe Giudice have a similar conversation, but slightly more negative in tone.  Teresa starts talking about Caroline's siblings and Joe Giudice told her that those things are none of her business (probably one of the only things I've agreed with from him the entire season).  The Giudice's then turn to discussing Kathy, and Joe feels that she is two-faced and turned on her in the end.  During her interview, Teresa talks about how much she trusts Joe and his opinion - then of course Bravo runs the clips of him calling her horrible names in Sonoma. Why was that necessary?

The Wakile's discussed how much Victoria is stressed out about college and selecting the right place for her to be.  Rich feels that she's been babied for too long and isn't as independent as she could be.  Victoria joins the conversation and tells them that she wants to go away to school - and not 30 minutes away from the house either.  She made an appointment at the University of Maryland for a tour, and Kathy was kind of shocked.   She's upset at the thought of Victoria being so far away.  Rich was cool as a cucumber, but Kathy reminded him that the say she leaves, he will be a mess too.

Jacqueline goes over to Melissa's house, and there's more rehash from the last night in Sonoma.  Jacqueline admits that she was asleep for part of it, but part of it she was awake and just didn't want to get involved. She had already had her conversation with Teresa and wasn't interested in opening the whole thing up again.  Melissa didn't want Teresa to feel that she was getting ganged up on, which is why she stayed as quiet as possible.  Melissa commented that she has never seen Caroline so hurt and angry before.  Jacqueline feels that not even an apologywould work at this point - Caroline seems done.  Jacqueline says that she and Teresa are good, but she has learned her boundaries and has to respect what hurts her.  Although, she hasn't heard from her since they got back and that makes her sad.  Melissa feels that everything is fine, and she wants everyone to be able to be together and get alone.

Teresa brought Audriana to Kathy's for a visit.  Again, here comes the topic of "The Night", and Kathy tries to explain that Caroline was a quality friend and that's what she was trying to get across.  Teresa felt like she was being ambushed,  she never hung out with Caroline anyway, and Dina was the person that she was closest with.  And she said that she and Jacqueline are back to normal.  Teresa tells Kathy that if she has an issue with her, she will tell her (how many times have we heard this?)  Kathy wants to be able to do the same thing with her, despite being known for keeping her mouth shut.  Kathy feels they can have a difference of an opinion, it might even get ugly, but that should be okay.  She's not intimidated and feels that sometimes things need to be said before you can move on.  Teresa again focuses on "positive" and "wanting positive people in her life".

Melissa went over to Caroline's for a visit.  Caroline is working on show planning for a special that Sirius XM Radio asked her to do.  They hired her to do a one-time special, and Al and the kids will be coming along to discuss topics like family, siblings, and vacations just to name a few.  Of course, the conversation turned quickly to Teresa.  Melissa feels that Caroline is just going through something with her and she is going to get past it.  Caroline is adamant that she is done.  She wasn't going to get involved in the conversation between Teresa and Kathy, but felt like Teresa invited her in and then Caroline just let it rip.  Melissa doesn't understand that if Teresa apologized, what else is there to do?  Caroline felt like she had to save herself from Teresa, and was not going to allow herself to get beat up anymore.  She is happy that Melissa is in a good place and offered to help in any way possible, but she's done.

The Wakile's took a road trip to Washington, DC to tour the University of Maryland campus.  Kathy was a wreck during the tour, but she managed to keep it together and not embarrass Victoria (too much).  Although she asked about 100 questions about grocery shopping and laundry and things that Victoria has never had to do.  They took a look in a dorm room and were shocked at how small it is.  Kathy felt like it was a cell, especially with the cinder block walls.  After the tour, they spent time wandering around the city and looking at all of the monuments.  Kathy reflected on the fact that she didn't go to college, and she didn't realize what the experience was like.  She feels more comfortable with Victoria having the experience of college life and everything that comes with it.  Victoria, on the other hand, is starting to feel a little overwhelmed!  I love how close of a family they are and how much they encourage their children!

On the day of the Fabellini launch party, Melissa offered to watch the girls for Teresa to give her all of the time she needed to take care of whatever she needed for her party.   I'm not sure what Teresa did with the baby (or where Gia was), but Melissa took Gabriella and Millania along with her daughter Antonia to get mani's and pedi's at the "Sweet and Sassy" salon.  It's great to see Melissa get to be an aunt and be happy with the girls.  They snapped pictures, were silly, and strutted on the runway when they were finished.  Antonia doesn't have any sisters, so Melissa wants her to be close to the Giudice girls. 

Meanwhile, Caroline is in New York at SiriusXM with Al and the kids.  She's a little nervous and has no clue why people are drawn to what she says.  During the pre-show prep, they practiced a little and teased each other in front of the producer.  Caroline was thrilled that the entire family was there with her, and she got comfortable once the show started.  She began talking about the different topics they were going to cover during the show and encouraged people to call with questions.  But the phones didn't ring.  At all.   Al and the kids were so terrified in the beginning that no one talked and it was quiet and awkward and she started to panic.  During the break, the producer told her that she needed to give people specific questions to answer or specific topics to talk about when calling because they phones werent' ringing.  Upon returning from the break, they began talking about the entire Napa experience - familys issues, spouse issues, friendships going haywire.  BAM - the phones started ringing!  There was a caller (Jennifer from Chicago and NO IT WAS NOT ME!) that asked her what her relationship was with Dina.  Caroline answered that she was one of 11 children, their personalities change and sometimes they aren't on the same page.  But she loves her very much.  During her interview, Caroline said that she hold Teresa responsible for the pain she is suffering with Dina.  She feels that she needs to let the damage clear and see what happens, but she just can't fight anymore.

At the Fabellini launch party, it was just a "small group" of "close friends and family".  Except Melissa and her brother weren't there.  Nor were the Laurita's.   Teresa says that she doesn't hold grudges but she specifically didn't invite Jacqueline because she hurt her.  Dina, however, was invited.  And twisted her ankle as soon as she got on the red carpet.  And then the step and repeat fell down.  Jacqueline thought it was nice that Dina went to the party to support Teresa, but she found the timing odd.  She tells us that Dina stayed away from so many things - holidays, birthdays, the BLK launch - and now when the drama was at it's peak between Teresa and Caroline, Dina shows up.  (Teresa says in her interview that Dina is a true friend and that she can count on her.)   Teresa and Dina had some time to themselves to talk, and of course, there was more rehash of the road trip.    After making a comment about blood being thicker than water, Dina chimed in with "well that's not always the case".  Teresa asked her if she felt what she wrote in the cookbook was offensive, and Dina said no - which of course left Teresa feeling vindicated for everything.  Dina came off very snarky, which makes me sad because I really like Dina.  Dina said that the whole thing is kind of silly and that Teresa didn't do anything to Caroline.  The whole conversation was odd and there was definitely a whole back story that we didn't have privvy to. 

NEXT WEEK:  The Posh fashion show strikes again!!

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**Hope you're all having a great week!  Just an FYI, I have not been compensated in any way for this blog post.  I am sharing this recap and my thoughts on it from the perspective of a viewer/fan of the BravoTV show 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey".  I hope you enjoy it and welcome your comments!