Welcome back, ladies! A lot has changed since last season on Mob Wives, most importantly, the new blood transfusion the show received. On tonight’s episode, we met the new ladies, Alicia and Natalie, and were reminded why we love the original ladies so much. From the drunk and slurry lunches to the revelations about Karen and Alicia’s family rivalry, let’s get into the dirty details of what went down tonight.
Big Ang is back from Miami after opening her bar down there, and she could not be happier. Miami guys, she explains, are all prettier than she is, so she’s glad to be back on Staten Island where there are “real men.” She and Renee make plans to attend Renee’s friend Alicia’s party, which has a roaring ’20s, Gatsby/Boardwalk Empire theme.
“Whatever happened to ’come as you are and get f—in’ whacked’?” Ang asks. I love her desire for simplicity. I really do.
Renee’s also been working on her Mob Candy line of shoes and clothing, and she’s in a great place both professionally and emotionally. She’s focused on her fashion at the moment and it’s nice to see.
Drita’s going to the party too, and when she calls Lee — who’s out of jail and back in her life — to tell him about it, he makes sure she brings the most important accessory of all. You know, to make things authentic.
Drita explains that with Lee, they’re either “madly in love or we want to f—ing kill each other,” and right now they’re “like Bonnie and Clyde again.”
Alicia DiMichele Garofalo is the wife of Eddie Garofalo, who is allegedly associated with the Colombo crime family and he’s currently incarcerated and awaiting sentencing for charges that include murder conspiracy and racketeering.
She’s currently taking care of their three sons on her own and since she’s known Renee and Ang for quite a while, they want to be there for her to show her they’ve got her back. Well, Ang and Renee do at least. Ang informs us that Karen Gravano’s family does NOT get along with the Garofalos…so it’s a good thing Karen’s not at this party. Ang also shares the fact that Alicia herself is waiting to be sentenced to jail for embezzling alongside her husband Eddie. Of course the Post has a headline for her:
The rest of the women think Alicia’s predicament is just leverage for the Feds to get her husband to flip and become a rat, but no matter what, it means that the worst case scenario could be that she and her husband both end up in prison and their three sons have to live without their parents. It’s Alicia’s biggest nightmare.
Post-party, Ang, Renee and Drita meet to rehash and discuss what’s new in their lives. And that’s when Ang drops the bomb that Neil wants a baby with her.
“I’m gonna hafta take out the hot tub in there and make like, a little nursery,” Ang says.
Drita and Renee (and America) are all shocked.
“Are you f—ing crazy? You have kids that have kids!” Renee says.
“This one, I never saw coming. This is f—ing hilarious,” Drita responds. Ang says she’s serious about this though and is even planning to use a surrogate to make it happen. Drita’s dealing with a similar situation because Lee wants another baby himself, but she’s just not sure about that. “Don’t tell Lee that you’re gonna have a baby,” Drita tells Ang, “’cause then I’m f—ed!”
Renee is having a launch party for her Mob Candy line in two weeks and she needs to find the face of the brand. Time’s running out, so she enlists Alicia to help her find the right girl. After a day of testing models, Renee is defeated and nervous because she still hasn’t found someone, until Alicia suggests her friend Natalie from Philly.
Let’s get back to the beef between the Garofalos and the Gravanos for a minute. As Ang mentioned, there was bad blood between the two families, and now we learn exactly why: Eddie’s father was murdered…by Sammy The Bull.
“I really can’t believe what the f— I just heard,” Drita says. She’s legit in shock over this, but to Ang, it’s old hat, she remembers the news stories about the hit on Edward Garofalo from back in the day.
Alicia says she knows these women are friends with Karen but personally, she has no intention of ever getting to know her. Ang thinks Alicia should leave Karen out of thins and hopes Alicia realizes “this is a man’s thing. This is about Karen’s father and Eddie’s father.”
Natalie Guercio is, in Renee’s words, a “young, sexy mini-Renee.” She shows up to Renee’s Mob Candy photo shoot as promised to be the face of Renee’s line and she is indeed stunning.
Natalie and her family run a mob funeral home in Philly and Renee explains “If you’re from that lifestyle and you should pass away, Natalie’s family in Philadelphia, that’s who will bury you.” So she’s a knockout, but she’s also got a very particular set of skills.
At the shoot, Natalie is killing it and she’s giving Renee confidence that her party and clothing line are going to crush it.
There’s a pall cast over the shoot however, when Alicia arrives to tell Renee about her recent hangout with Drita and Ang where the topic of Karen came up. Alicia tells Renee that she’s not comfortable knowing that Karen brags about her father, knowing what he did to Alicia’s family, and several other families. “Being around the New York girls is making me deal with issues about Eddie that I really wasn’t prepared to deal with,” Alicia says. “It’s actually really difficult for me.” She gets emotional around Renee because she’s the one fighting the battles for her family now that Eddie’s away.
Renee sees Alicia’s concerns as an attempt to “shake things up with the girls,” and Renee, who has known Eddie for years and is friends with him, is equally loyal to Karen and has no plans to abandon her either as a friend.
It’s time for Natalie to meet Ang and Drita. Renee had set up a lunch for them all to meet but then she bailed on it, leaving Ang and Drita to fly this thing solo. It started off well enough, Natalie shared Ang’s love of a good, stiff drink, but she appears to have had one too many and after a few lemon drops and vodka tonics, she stops making sense. Cue the drunk montage where Ang and Drita have no clue what she’s saying.
By the end of the lunch, Natalie has confused the two women and eaten off of Ang’s plate (“We don’t know each other like that,” Drita says.) and they’re kind of worried that THIS is the face of Renee’s new line. “First impression is the real impression,” Ang says. And her first impression’s not great. “She’s got me all discombobulated!”
“If this is the person Renee chose to be the face of her brand, I foresee a lot of f—ing problems,” Drita adds.
The next day is Renee’s big Mob Candy launch and everyone’s anxious. For Renee is the biggest day of her professional life. For Ang and Drita, they just hope Natalie stays focused for Renee’s sake. At the start, it goes great and Renee is excited and happy.
All the models walk the runway and the line looks great, and when Natalie takes the stage, she looks fantastic in a skintight catsuit.
But as she exits, she trips.
“All she had to do was walk and she tripped,” Drita says. Renee doesn’t care, she keeps it moving and is thrilled at the response she gets. “It seems like my line is off to a good start.”
“I’m glad Nat didn’t f— up Renee’s moment,” Ang says, “but she’s still on probation with me. I still feel like she’s a loose cannon.”
This concern over Natalie’s behavior becomes a topic of discussion at the party and unfortunately, Natalie overhears it and becomes suspicious. “If you got soething to say, grow some balls and turn around and say it to my face,” she says.
“She might be a hit in South Philly,” Drita says, “but she has no motherf—ing idea what she’s dealing with here in New York.” Well, that goes without saying.