It’s Thanksgiving, which is all about family. So it will be all about drama, too. Teresa is planning Thanksgiving with her friends, because she doesn’t want to deal with her brother and Melissa. Kathy is taking on the family, and dessert.

For whatever reason, Joe and Teresa have elected to “meet it before you eat it,” meaning they could choose the live turkey they wish to slaughter and consume. It’s too weird, even for the Giudices, so they buy a turkey that’s already dead and plucked.

The Manzos go the deli and it’s almost as boring as watching Chris and Albie clean their apartment before Ashley stops by. Why can’t every episode be the christening? Ashley wants her own apartment in New York because she hates commuting into the city for her internship. Oh Ashley. She cleaned her room and the kitchen to butter up her parents, or because she has been body snatched.

Melissa dons her mink apron for her family Thanksgiving. As a special surprise, Joe Gorga rented a mechanical bull bounce house thing. He seizes the opportunity to make a sex joke, which I’m sure made the family feel really comfortable. It looked like they were having fun, though.

At Teresa’s “Friends-giving,” there is no mechanical bull. People brought cookies to console her over her recent bankruptcy. As her friends enjoy the dinner she cooked, Teresa yells at her children. Gia spreads the news that Vito asked Lauren to marry him in Vegas but she said no. Then Teresa brings out a card that Melissa sent them, but everyone is having too good a time to care.

“The New Teresa” is not going to call her a bitch. But The New Teresa did insult Sprinkle Cookies and talk about how she threw them in the garbage, forgetting that Jacqueline just brought Sprinkle Cookies to Friends-giving. Ohhhh boy.

At Family Thanksgiving with the Gorgas, the family urges Joe to reconcile with Teresa. Melissa wants Joe to have his family back, so it really seems like she’s not the problem. Maybe Joe is? Joe agrees to make an effort, so we’ll see if it happens.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

Carla Patton

Writer, BuddyTV

Originally from Seattle, Carla recently took a husband and moved to Austin, Texas, where she is finally using her television “problem” to her advantage. It’s sort of like Dexter, but boring and less murdering. Carla’s favorite shows include 30 RockThe Amazing RaceProject RunwayModern Family, anything with murder, and pretty much anything gross and weird (CSIThe BachelorToddlers & Tiaras, etc.). Favorite canceled shows include: Arrested DevelopmentVeronica Mars and Average Joe. In her spare time, Carla leads tours of downtown Austin on a Segway (don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it!), blogs about Netflix Instant, and visits elementary schools telling children they don’t need math to succeed (just kidding, stay in school, kids).