Joe Bruno on the Mob Hector Pagan Still Showcased on Mob Wives

Because this is the work I choose to do, I decided to watch Mob Wives for a second time, just to see what the young ladies were up too, especially Renee Graziano (I know this is dirty work, but someone has to do it). Because of my impeccable timing, I was able to get two shows in a row; the rerun of the 2/12/2012 show at 7 p.m., and the regularly scheduled 2/19 show at 8 p.m. Plus I was given a silly show called Sitdown from 9-9:30 pm. First off the bat, Im amazed that Hector Junior Pagan is still featured on the show, two months after it was revealed in the press that Pagan is now an informant for the government. Pagan even wore a wire while talking to Mob Wives star Renee Grazianos father, Anthony Graziano, which resulted in her father being sent back to prison. Yet the show is on like nothing has ever happened concerning Pagans flipping to the Feds. I know the show was shot before all this came to light, but the fact that VH1 is still running episodes, without even a disclaimer on the screen to set the viewers straight, is disingenuous at best. In the two episodes I watched, Pagan is still schmoozing with Renee, like they are two love bids in a wonderful nest with nary a care in the world. And thats misleading and disgraceful, considering what has transpired in the past two months since Pagan turned canary. There were a few scenes concerning Renee and Pagan that were downright laughable. In one scene, Renee snatches Pagans cell phone without his knowledge, and mischievously searches for phone numbers of his old girlfriends. I was screaming at my TV set, Look for the phone numbers of the FBI, you fool! In another scene Renee and Pagan are seeing a marriage counselor. In the presence of the marriage counselor Renee tells Junior, You said I wasnt skinny enough for you; that I was fat. I was 135 pounds, I wasnt fat. Pagan just shrugs at the remark like hes thinking, Youre still too fat for me. Then he says with a shrug and no smile, Now youre thinner. Renee looks like shes ready to pull her own hair out. She screams, Youre making me paranoid! In light of future developments, she had every right to be paranoid. But not because of her weight. The counselor finally opens his mouth, and asks the obvious question. Why are you two trying to get back together? Pagan, the sensitive bloke that he is, just shrugs and says, I dont know, knowing that at this exact moment hes talking to the Feds and there isnt the slightest chance he and Renee will ever get back together again; especially after he rats on her father, and her fathers pals like Vinnie Vinnie TV Badalamenti, who was also arrested because of Pagan being a stool pigeon.

There was a telling scene when Renee is sitting on a park bench outside the Criminal Court building with another mob wife, the name of whom escapes me, if I ever knew it in the first place. First Renee says, referring to Junior, What kind of man are you, or a father to your kids if you abuse me as a woman? Her saying this makes you wonder why she ever attempted to get back with Pagan in the first place. This woman must be a glutton for punishment. Then Renee blasts out the best line of the show; maybe in the history of the show. Pointing to the door of the Criminal Courts building she says, Once a man walks through that door, the chances that he doesnt go to jail are slim to none. Unless hes a rat. Ta Da!! As for the show Sitdown, it might be the worst show on television, except that distinction probably goes to Mob Wives itself. The moderator of the show is a blond kewpie doll named Carrie Keagan. Keagan, who looks a lot like a young Christie Brinkley, asks stupid questions, and from the mob wives she has featured on that particular show, she gets stupid answers. In one segment, Keagan hands out three cue cards to the guests. One says Marry Him, another says Date him, and the third says something like Dump Him, or Incarcerate him. (This show is so intellectual, I tend to forget.) Then Keagan blurts out the name of a famous male, and the girls turn over their cue cards to give their verdicts. Ive just turned my cue card over on the show Sitdown, and it says Dump the shownow!! Only intellectually challenged (brain dead) people would watch this show anyway. (Remember, I have an excuse; this is my job) As for Mob Wives, obviously its a big money-maker for all involved. But in the interest of fairness, someone connected with the show should have the integrity to somehow relay to the viewers that although Hector Pagan is still appearing on the show, because of his present status as a FBI informant, hes persona non grata, with everyone connected with the show, especially with Renee Graziano, and her sister Jennifer Graziano, who is the producer of the show. But I wont hold my breath waiting for this to happen. Integrity and the show Mob Wives should never appear in the same sentence. Editors note: Theres a woman on the show who isnt specifically one of the mob wives, but rather a friend of theirs. Her name is Big Ange, and believe me, shes big. Not fat, but big because she claims to wear a triple F bra. Big Ange is actually quite pleasant, and one of the bright spots of the show ( if there is a bright spot). Big Ange, who is slightly older than the other ladies, adds spice to every scene shes in, and seems to have a pleasant disposition, not like the other ladies, who always seem like theyre ready to bite the head off a rattlesnake. ( I couldnt leave without saying something nice about the show.)