joe giudiceTonight's episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey revealed something I had a sneaking suspicion to be true all along. Joe Giudice is the real reason for all the tension between Teresa and Joe and Melissa Gorga. Because he's a colossal douche bag.

Now, before I rip Joe a new one, I would like to say that Teresa doesn't totally get off scot-free in the Giudice-Gorga drama department. Nor does Melissa. Nor does her brother, Joe. They all add fuel to the fire. But, hooo boy, does Joe Giudice take the mean, nasty, threatening-text cake.

So, it was (one of) Teresa's book signings. (Nothing weird about that.) And she invited her brother and sister-in-law to attend. (A nice step in the right direction.) Then, on the day of the event, Teresa's animal of a husband starts sending rude -- and eventually threatening -- messages to her brother, saying things like, "I'm going to wire your jaw shut!" Holy shit, right? I mean, I knew Joe was a jerk, but I didn't think he was that big of a jerk.

Then, Teresa has her book signing. Kathy Wakile and husband Rich show up. (Aw.) And, at the very end, Joe and Melissa show up. (Joe Giudice never went.) Teresa has an oddly touching -- and sort of uncomfortable -- moment with her brother, and he tells her about the texts. She's pissed ...

... But not as pissed drunk as Joe Giudice is when she finds him at home. You know, there are certain people who get so sloppy and unattractive when they drink that it's hard to ever look at them the same again -- Joe is one of those people. (Not that I ever found him attractive before.) He was crass, he was loud, and he chipped his front tooth (and made daughter Gia cry) when he attempted a somersault-type thing on his kids' gymnastics mat. After that, he got nasty.

He starts yelling and pointing at Teresa (and telling her to shut up) when she confronts him about his texts to her brother. (In front of people.) I was actually proud of Teresa, because in what seemed like the first time ever, she actually stood up to him. But that only fueled him more.

He told her he broke up with her when they were dating way back when because he didn't need her (or, as he said it, "I didn't need yous"), and he went on and on about Joe Gorga. But he did this all sort of violently. In a word, he was a nightmare.

I don't think Teresa and Joe will ever get a divorce -- and I would never wish that on their kids -- but something has to give with that man. He is an awful, awful person, and as obnoxious as Teresa can be sometimes, she definitely doesn't deserve that.

What did you think of tonight's episode?

 

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