Welcome back!
We can all agree episode number 1 was pretty weak, right? This appears to have been expected, as the ratings for the premiere were 14% down from the Italy season premiere. Still, 7.6 million viewers tuned in, which is a really solid number, especially for a cable show. (In fact, this is virtually the same number as the Bachelor premiere, a show on ABC….. maybe it’s time to move these recaps to the front page!)
I spent the better part of the week trying to talk myself into thinking that Vinny leaving could be an exciting twist to the show, but just wasn’t able to get there. In fact, I really wonder why Vinny was ever cast in the first place. Mike is the weird old guy and the instigator. JWow is the hot insane one. Pauly is the comedic relief. Deena and Snookie are the drunk messes. Ronnie and Sammi provide make up / break up drama (even if completely played out at this point). What the heck is Vinny’s role? What was it even supposed to be? I can’t recall one memorable thing that Vinny has ever done. So really, addition by subtraction, I hope he leaves.
The only thing I can think of is that Vinny was supposed to be the grounded, normal one amongst all the animals. But he is just too passive to pull it off. In fact, before this season, when Ronnie somehow snagged the crown as “the normal one”, JWow amazingly was the voice of reason in the house. Sure, her motivations may not have always been pure, but she got the job done. Like in Italy, Deena feared she was pregnant and therefore was not having a good time at the clubs. So Mother JWow dragged Deena through the streets of Italy in the middle of the night and knocked on closed doors until she could find a pregnancy test. All while not speaking the native language, which if you think about it, is pretty impressive. Was JWow truly concerned about Deena’s well-being, or was she really worried about Deena being a wet blanket and ruining a night out? Well, who knows… but the key with JWow is to look at the actions and not the motivations. It’s not like JWow took Deena home for a nice long talk and waited until morning to buy the pregnancy test. The point is, Vinny could never have pulled this off. If Deena had told Vinny that she was worried she might be pregnant, Vinny would have given her a hug, then stared off into space for a while.
Great columns! I’m really enjoying your recaps and the funny analysis – I laughed out loud a number of times, and I don’t think I did that once last year! Looking forward to next weeks…
No offense, but your columns are monotonous, your humor is contrived, your narrative lacks a smooth and witty flow (it’s certainly never that time of the month for you), and it all just sounds so juvenile and forced. You’re trying too hard. You should read EW’s recaps of Jersey Shore by Darrien French. Now that dude is brilliant. Sorry, bro.
Nonetheless you are MUCH better than the last blogger that was writing for this site, for Jersey Shore– by a long shot.. I never got why Steve picked the last guy in the first place, not one of this posts had any substance to it. Keep up the good work.
People need to keep in mind thats this is probably a hard show to blog for.. as there isnt much substance in the show’s content and it has had the same story line/plot/conflicts etc. season after season. Not much to work with.
lisaalexandra,
i find it interesting that you say that. the irony is that the bachelor is probably more mundane and lacking of substance than the jersey shore, yet steve finds a way to blog about it in an intelligent and sarcastic manner. i don’t think it’s asking the jersey shore blogger too much to do the same.
Fair enough. Just compared to last season.. I found it was better… Im starting to feel differently though, and agree with you.