Part three of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New Jersey special, Teresa Checks In, showed Joe Giudice struggling to keep up with (and control of) the four daughters he shares with his incarcerated wife. And while sister-in-law Melissa Gorga continued to do everything in her power to help out the Giudices, her relationship with Teresa still remained tenuous at best.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the Oct. 25 episode.
1. Joe Gorga suspected Melissa hasn’t been approved to visit Teresa because Teresa doesn’t want her approved.
Teresa’s brother seemed to be suspicious of the real reason behind the delay on Melissa’s visitation approval. “It took me six months to get approved. I don’t know about Melissa. I think Melissa will be approved the last day — the last day when [Teresa’s] getting out the next day they’ll be like, ‘You can come up,’ and it’ll be like, ‘too bad,'” he predicted. But then he added something else.
“My sister does the approvals, doesn’t she?” he asked the camera. “I’m almost positive. I don’t know. We’re not in there. Who knows?” That seems like something Joe will ask Teresa to clarify when she gets home.
2. Melissa really, really wanted to make up with Teresa.
Despite the fact that she had been barred from visiting Teresa, Melissa seemed more determined than ever to make things right between them. “I hope Teresa is just prioritizing what’s important and what’s not,” she mused. “There’s probably a lot of time to think. I pray that she can put the past behind and start a new page. We’re in this family together.” She added that Teresa should face the facts before making any final decisions about how to move forward. “I’ve been here almost 11 years now. I’m not going anywhere,” Melissa quipped.
It didn’t sound like Teresa was on the same page, however. “My wife really doesn’t care about seeing Melissa,” Joe revealed to the camera. In other words, Teresa may be a changed woman when she gets out, but her relationship with her sister-in-law may stay the same.
3. Teresa learned that jail might have one unexpected side effect.
During a call with Melissa, her brother, and her husband, Teresa reported that all the girls in prison say, “After you’ve been here a while, you turn into a virgin again.” Her better half took this news with a laugh, while her brother mused that maybe he would send his own wife there and see what happened.
4. Rosie acknowledged Teresa and Joe made mistakes that put them in their current situation.
Unlike so many other members of the family, Teresa’s cousin Rosie Pierri seemed to feel that Joe and Teresa didn’t just end up with jail time for no reason. “Hopefully they realize the mistakes that they made and they don’t do it again,” she said.
5. Joe, on the other hand, (still) wasn’t (really) taking responsibility.
When his lawyer asked what he’d learned, Joe revealed maybe he hadn’t learned that much. “I’m going to do things the right way,” he said — but then he quickly added, “I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong in the first place.” He went on to mumble, “Basically I committed some kind of fraud with mortgages and I know now it was not the right thing to do.” In other words, Joe was still claiming he didn’t understand why he and Teresa got in trouble. Hmm.
6. Still, they were making good on their restitution.
Whether Joe feels they should have to pay the government back or not, he and Teresa were following orders and doing exactly that. “[Teresa’s] happy to see that we’re paying it down,” the attorney assured Joe.
7. Teresa planned to take her family to church when she’s back.
During a call with her husband and four daughters, Teresa announced she was going to make a big change when she got out. “When I get home we’re going to church every single Sunday,” she announced. (Her daughters didn’t seem too jazzed about that idea, but since it potentially conflicts with visitation times to see their father, it might not happen anyway.)
8. Joe didn’t miss “much” about his sister.
“I have no emotion,” he said to Melissa when asked how he felt about visiting Teresa for the first time. He elaborated on this later to the camera.
“The last few years, Teresa and I, we haven’t been fighting, but things haven’t been normal. I can’t really say I miss much about my sister right now. I love her, but it’s been a long time, so I don’t know what I’m going to feel when I see her.” It turned out, he felt a lot more than he expected.
9. Joe Gorga cried for a whole hour when he visited Teresa for the first time — but felt more hopeful after he left.
Despite his assertions that he was emotionally numb to his sister, Joe admittedly broke down upon seeing her for the first time. “I sat there for the first hour, tearing, crying. She grabbed my hand and said, ‘It’s okay. I’m okay,'” he recalled as his eyes misted up again. “It’s very hard for me because your sister’s back there like some chained animal,” he added.
While it was a hard moment for the siblings, it sounded like it was a good one too. “When I saw Teresa and she broke down and held me, that’s how she used to be,” he explained. “I believe prison brought her back. This visit definitely gave me a lot of hope.”
Tell Us: Do you think Teresa will have a better relationship with Joe and Melissa when she gets out of jail?
