Jersey Shore, Abridged: Angelina, Borne Back Ceaselessly Into the Past
EntertainmentIn Jersey Shore, Abridged, Jezebel planned to recap the first season, and maybe the entire series, of Jersey Shore in 3 to 5 sentences followed by viewing comprehension questions and therapeutic prompts. An editorial decision was made to jump ahead to the latest season because rewatching the entire series was bad for my brain and heart. This series is in honor of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation and me, for my decision to watch and appreciate Jersey Shore for the first time. Please enjoy recaps of episodes 4 through 9 because I forgot to do this for a few weeks.
Season 1, Episode 4
In a cab on the way to the club, Deena and Ron get into an argument over Sammi. Would Deena defend him if Sammi disparaged him, Ron demands to know, using the pretense of the fight as a means to once again discuss Sam. She doesn’t talk about him that way, Deena insists. “Her life revolved around me—what are you talking about,” Ron spits back, incredulousness hiding his fear that Sam may have moved on in a way that he has not. “But it doesn’t anymore,” Deena screams back. True or not, it is the most wounding thing she could have said in that moment. It’s a painful asymmetry, to be forgotten by the person you believe owes you their love. Later, Ron cheats on his partner, who is seven months pregnant with their child.
Comprehension questions: Do you recognize that feeling of asymmetry? What made you hold onto that person for so long? Was it control, dependency, or both?
Season 1, Episode 5
It is boat day, Pauly announces to the roommates. While the others are waking up to this news, Ron and Nicole are out on a bender from the night before. He continues to lie about his infidelity, the words either a hollow incantation of protection or attempt at self-soothing. “Possibly, I disrespected Jen,” he tells the camera, a stand in for the viewer’s gaze, which understands there is only one possibility here. Later, in a tender moment on the yacht, the Situation tells the roommates he intends to propose to his girlfriend.
Comprehension questions: Are Ron’s denials born of sincere moral ambiguity or an urge to disown his actions? Which is worse? Think of a time in your life in which you have tried very hard to run away from yourself. Where were you running to?
Season 1, Episode 6
“Meatballs fall, that’s what they do,” Pauly tells Deena, sweetly, on the cab ride home from the club where she had, indeed, fallen. After, she wept for fear of embarrassing her husband. This seemingly outsized reaction echoes Snooki’s earlier anxiety about her own husband and his perceptions about her behavior. Their judgement looms large. Who are these men?