Everyone’s favorite trainwreck reality show returned with a brand-new episode, and of course, we’re here to dish on every messy detail. On Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 14, Episode 7, “Gifts & Receipts,” we saw the Gorgas throw a housewarming party for their Frankenstein of a house. The entire cast showed up, except for Teresa, who decided to stay home and make meatballs. However, the most important guest at the limoncello-themed bash turned out to be a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label.
Teresa and Rachel’s post-fight commentary
The latest episode of RHONJ started right where we left off last week, with the aftermath of Teresa and Luis’ sitdown with the Fudas. Teresa was completely dumbfounded by the whole thing.
The Fudas stormed off to their car, while Teresa sat inside continuing to throw jabs at John. Now, she’s calling him a “wannabe gangster.” She couldn’t just stop calling him a drug dealer.
Over the next few days, both ladies decompressed from the fight by spending time with their families. At the Giudice residence, they had a barber show up at the house for Luis’ son. All of the nonsense aside, they do look like a happy little family, until Teresa starts breathlessly ranting about all of the RHONJ drama.
Elsewhere in New Jersey, Rachel went back into full-time mom mode as well. We saw her and John working with their little one who has developmental differences. It’s sweet, and as Rachel tried to move past the war with Teresa, she said she was trying to find glimpses of gratitude.
“You know what that lunch taught me?” Rachel asked in a confessional. “Teresa, I think you are exactly the person I hope I never am. Thank God for showing me this.”
Pregaming for the housewarming
The event on everyone’s lips this week was Melissa and Joe’s housewarming party. Melissa said she wanted it to be “intimate,” while Joe was planning his usual frat party stunts. Melissa kept trying to tell her husband that this wasn’t the type of party where he and the boys would be slamming tequila shots. However, greeting all of the partygoers with a naked “statue” of Joe with a clipart lemon over his junk would suggest otherwise.
Meanwhile, the rest of the ladies were gearing up for the party like they were preparing to go to war. At Marge’s house, she talked Joe’s ear off about the drama with Jackie. You know he’s so sick of hearing about all of this, but he just nodded along. She’s trained him so well.
Even the Aydins planned on going behind enemy lines by attending Melissa’s housewarming party. It felt good to see that Jennifer wasn’t so hung up on Teresa. Still, it seemed like she was less interested in seeing Melissa’s houses and more fueled by the idea of confronting Danielle. The two ladies were still sitting on some unresolved issues related to the hairdresser who claimed she got booted from the VIP section at Danielle’s’ charity event. It all came to a head at the housewarming party.
The worst housewarming gift
Let’s talk about this godforsaken bottle of Blue Label. At the sitdown with Rachel and John, Teresa tried to give them a bottle of scotch to give to Melissa and Joe on her behalf. They were going to do it at first, but when the conversation went completely off the rails, they ended up leaving it behind — or so they thought.
At the housewarming party, Rachel eagerly told Melissa about the messy interaction she had with Tre. Melissa said she made the right call by not bringing the gift because frankly, they didn’t want it. Moments later, here comes Dolores trying to be Switzerland, with the exact bottle in her hand. Rachel was like, “How the hell did that get here?”
When the present made its way to Joe, the whole thing set off a flurry of emotions. While Teresa might have seen the gift as an olive branch, Joe didn’t feel like it was authentic. In his mind, she should have shown up at his house without the RHONJ cameras. He just wants them to act like a normal family. Sending a bottle of liquor with a bow and a little card from CVS attached to it felt like more of a stunt.
As Joe ranted to his guests about the unwanted housewarming gift, he took the card off, making everyone think he was about to read it out loud. Instead, he chucked it into the fire. He never even read what the card said. Who knows, maybe Teresa scribbled a sweet message on the inside! We’ll never know.
Danielle and Jen face off
Elsewhere in Melissa’s mansion, Danielle and Jen came face to face over the hairdresser and charity drama that we’ve been hearing about for the last few episodes.
Now, we know these two had a physical interaction at some point in the season. As the two talked over the charity drama, it became clear that this wasn’t going to be the big fight we’d all been hearing about. Instead, they talked through their issues like Real Housewives are supposed to do.
Danielle gave her side of the story on what happened at the charity event. She said that the VIP area, which was supposed to only be for Real Housewives, got overrun by hairdressers, friends, and a bunch of not-very-important people. Danielle admitted to having security clear out the section because it was a “safety” issue.
Jen admitted that she was mad over the hairdresser thing, and then she completely moved the goalpost on Danielle. She shifted the conversation and said she was also upset that Aydin Plastic Surgery wasn’t featured on the step and repeat at the charity event. Okay, Jill Zarin.
Ultimately, the ladies seemed to squash their beef. Danielle encouraged Jen to speak up sooner. So, how is it that next week they’re back in each other’s faces? Oh, this show.
A big waste of Jackie’s time
From the moment Jackie entered the housewarming party, she was doomed. She walked into the party and immediately fell right on her butt. She should have taken that as a sign to just leave. Get in the car and go. Instead, that fall on her tush ended up being a metaphor for how the rest of her night would go. Just messy.
Jackie’s reign of chaos started as Rachel recounted her sitdown with Teresa for the one-hundredth time. This time, Jackie randomly jumped in, talking about how Melissa and Marge were putting bugs in Rachel’s ear. In Jackie’s mind, Rachel won’t reconcile with Teresa as long as Melissa and Marge have influence.
Rachel wasn’t feeling that, but more importantly, Marge wasn’t feeling that. When Dolores decided to tell Marge what transpired, she and Jackie went head to head in a nasty confrontation. All of a sudden, it became extremely clear why the rift between them got so huge. Yes, it’s about the book, but it’s more than that.
“You’re mad that I’m friends with Teresa,” Jackie snidely told Marge. “And too bad.”
Jackie stormed off, claiming the conversation was a waste of her time. A few minutes later, she went into the kitchen and started trying to make conversation with Joe Benigno. Not on Margaret’s watch. The Marge came stomping over and told Joe not to acknowledge Jackie. Of course, Joe had to oblige.
A little later, Jackie tried to have a conversation with Dolores. Marge derailed that too. As Jackie and Dolores were chatting, Marge watched from the other side of the room. She pulled out her phone and sent a screenshot to Dolores showing her that Jackie called her a “slob.”
Joe was over in the corner waving trying to get Dolores’ attention. He’s like, “Check your phone!” It worked, and Dolores popped off on Jackie once she saw the receipts of Jackie talking badly about her. Welcome to the party, Paterson Dolores!
Melissa’s goal for this housewarming party was to have an intimate gathering with their friends while celebrating the completion of their mansion. Ultimately, it turned out to be a breeding ground for even more toxicity in this group. These friendships are crumbling right before our very eyes, and no amount of limoncello can stop it.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey continues with new episodes on Bravo, Sunday nights at 8/7c.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY SEASON 14, EPISODE 7? DO YOU THINK THE GORGAS OVERREACTED OVER TERESA’S GIFT? WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT MARGARET SENT THE SCREENSHOT TO DOLORES?
