I have had mixed feelings about Louis from the start. I do appreciate how he calms Theresa and her family down and helps them think rationally during conflict. I also like seeing how happy Theresa is and how he makes her glow. But underneath it all, I can’t shake that we may be dealing with a Vicki and Brooks 2.0 situation - or even worse.
The most troubling Louis topic to date for me was during this past week’s episode when multiple cast members, including both the wives and husbands, after confronting Louis on past allegations of partner abuse, chose to “give him the benefit of the doubt” and accept his explanation that his exes are “crazy” and “seeking attention”.
I know the RHONJ cast tends to think in sexist or “old school” ways (remember Theresa last season saying that she would never be assaulted, because she is a strong woman?), but have we not learned anything from the past few years? After the Me Too Movement, the Womens Marches, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the Olympics and Larry Nassar - and too many other examples to list - are we still not believing women?
And to top it all off, it’s not one allegation or one questionable video or one ex - multiple exes have claimed emotional, psychological, or physical abuse from Louis. And as they say: where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I recognize some cast members were staying quiet to keep the peace with Theresa, but is this really a topic we should choose to be silent on? Thank god Margaret was there as a progressive voice of reason, but I’m still disappointed overall on how it was handled.
I truly hope that the allegations are false about Louis and that Theresa and her girls are safe - but until we start believing women, we will continue to stay in this cycle of silencing women’s voices and potentially allowing abuse to continue.
The last season of Real Housewives of New York was one of the worst of all time, and so was Vanderpump Rules, which hasn't even been picked up for their next season. After these disappointing seasons, we all took to social media to give our two cents about how to fix them: who to fire, who to hire, and we hoped our voices would be heard.
As this season of Real Housewives of New Jersey comes to a close, it's time to reevaluate its standing, too. Ratings didn't struggle this season -- it did better than the other Housewives franchises currently on air -- but the show is starting to feel a little stale. A little repetitive. And we have to talk about it.
We can't have one person control the entire show, we can't have one person ice out the entire cast and make it hard to move on. And that person we can't have anymore is Teresa.
So my two cents: let's give Tre her own spinoff with her girls, kind of like what they did with Kim and Kroy. First the wedding special, then the show. And let the other RHONJ girls rebuild without her.
We can't have another season of the same fights over and over again. I just feel something has to be done, even though it might be hard to envision a show without Teresa, it's necessary.
What do you think: should Teresa stay or go?