Welcome back to the Jersey Shore, Vinny-Free for Almost an Episode and A Half!
Earlier I predicted that Vinny wouldn’t be away from the show for more than an episode or two. Turns out that was pretty accurate. Last week’s show began with the camera crew following Vinny out to his home in Staten Island. Once back home, there was a really awkward reunion which consisted solely of Vinny mumbling “I had to come home” several times, while his mom and 7 of his female(?) cousins nodded solemnly. And all of this took place in a really narrow hallway. With the lack of space and words, it must have been hard for the camera crew to capture a good shot, especially while trying to remember if their contracts counted drive time to and from Staten Island as work.
Well, hopefully the camera crew does indeed get paid for drive time, as they make a return trip at the end of this week’s episode. So from the beginning of last week until the end of this week, we almost had an entire episode and a half Vinny-free (if you are willing to ignore the constant phone calls).
So what happened before the inevitable Vinny return? This episode starts with a replay of Mike “doing the dip.” “Doing the dip” is apparently code for walking to a nearby restaurant for the early bird dinner special, as Mike soon returns to the house without incident. However, before Mike gets back, the house gets a visit from Danny, owner of the t-shirt shop and slumlord of the house. But wait a minute…that’s not normal Danny…it’s his evil twin, Surly Danny! Surly Danny, being the sound businessman that he is, realized that he needed to have a very serious talk with the cast about their collective effort at work. And he needed to do it with a very stern voice. I can’t help thinking that this tough guy routine from Surly Danny would have been a tad more effective if the cast hadn’t gotten away with sleeping on the job for three seasons already.
