At VH1 is mob women First premiered in 2011, it was set up as a more dangerous version of a Real Housewives show, the women were all wives or daughters of legitimate mobsters and they were just as tough as the men in their lives; They lived by a code of silence and violence. But with so much silence about what’s most intriguing about them, would the show be any good? Well, it’s lasted six seasons, and you can watch them all now on Paramount+ so you can see for yourself.
MOB WOMEN: STREAM OR SKIP?
opening shot: The show opens with footage from Staten Island, iconic images of the Verrazano Bridge and the Staten Island Ferry, and then we see our first mafia woman, Renee Graziano, exit her home in a fur coat as she says in the voiceover, ” According to the federal government, my father is a extremely high ranking gangster.” You can almost hear the airy quotes in her voice as she says those words, she doesn’t seem to care much about the federal government’s opinion.
The essentials: Like all shows that purport to be about “wives,” not all characters mob women are actually married to criminals, it would probably be more appropriate to name the show mob daughters, since the two most prominent characters in the first season are exactly that. In the pilot episode, we meet Renee Graziano, the daughter of Anthony Graziano, a member of the Bonanno crime family who was incarcerated at the time of the show. (It should be noted that Renee’s sister Jenn is the creator of mob womenalthough she never actually appears on the show herself.) We also meet Karen Gravano, whose father, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, is probably the most famous gangster he’s associated with mob women. Sammy, a member of the Gambino crime family, worked for John Gotti, was involved in the murder of rival mobster Paul Castellano, and eventually testified against Gotti. To put it bluntly, he was a snitch.
If there’s one thing to know about Renee Graziano, it’s that she doesn’t tolerate informers. She grew up around and was friends with Karen, but Renee is the kind of mafia princess who believes everyone is guilty by association, making Karen ratty and subservient. After years in Arizona where her father lived in witness protection before going back to prison, Karen plans to return to Staten Island and hopes to start a new life with her daughter. Renee isn’t too happy about the news. Rounding out the cast are Carla Facciolo, whose husband Joe is in prison for stock fraud (“stock cheating isn’t a bad thing for me. I don’t take it as ‘wow, that’s a bad crime,'” she says), and Drita D’Avanzo, who, unlike her other Italian friends, is 100% Albanian and comes from a family with no links to crime. Drita was disowned by her family after marrying a bank robber named Lee D’Avanzo who is currently in prison. (One of the great recurring aspects of mob women are Drita and Lee’s phone conversations, which range from Lee requesting a mile-long shopping list of items like Soppressata and Vanilla Coke to brutal shouting matches peppered with the most incredible, vulgar insults.)
The core of this episode, and the season as a whole, has to do with Karen’s return to Staten Island. Renee thinks Karen, the daughter of a rat, has nerves showing her face back in Shaolin, but Drita and Carla think Karen shouldn’t be punished for her father’s sins. (Ironically, not to jump too far ahead, Drita is the one most looking forward to Karen’s return, but by the end of this season, they become the show’s most toxic enemies, in part due to the fact that Drita married Lee, who it was Karen’s ex-boyfriend.) So when Carla throws a birthday party for herself and invites Karen, everyone is nervous, especially since Renee is drunk and unpredictable that night. When Renee sees Karen enter, she gets angry. Very upset. “Those bitches screwed me,” she explains. When it is suggested that she is actually trying to resolve her issues with Karen through talking, Renee tries, but she immediately goes on the offensive and Karen tells her, “Bitch, I’m not leave,” and wags her finger Renee’s Face, committing two of reality TV’s deadly sins. You don’t call another woman a bitch, and you do definitely Don’t put your finger or hands in someone’s face unless you’re ready to throw yourself down.
But will these two fight? That’s the beauty of it mob womenmost of the juiciest fights take place over the course of multiple episodes, so you’ll have to wait and see what happens next (and who else shows up and joins in the action).
What shows will it remind you of? From all Real housewives shows out there mob women shares most DNA The real housewives of New Jersey, thanks to the actual, physical proximity between Staten Island and Jersey and some of the cast’s similar backgrounds. after i said that mob women probably has more in common with shows that were (and still are) popular on VH1, including basketball wives and Love & Hip Hopwhich were hyped, at least in their early seasons, for the physical fights between the cast members that were part of their draw.
Our opinion: mob women is not a show for everyone. These are women who have dealt with crime and violence their entire lives and are not afraid to screw people. Want to watch a woman in heels and fur in a scene kicking the shit out of her friend and talking about it the next day while sipping white wine with ice cubes from glasses that say things like “corks are for quitters”. ? brush lettering? If yes, mob women is the show for you.
The thing with mob women However, the cast do have a history, they’ve known each other for many years and their connections to each other are real, which makes the show feel a little more authentic than if they were cast as total strangers. Staten Island is a small universe and, judging by that mob women alone, where everyone is part of organized crime and knows each other, which makes it feel dangerous, and anyone who dares to talk trash about someone ends up being called out…or worse. But borrowing from reality shows based on fleeting groups of women, mob women features characters who bring humor to the show that would otherwise feel too harsh, too real, too harsh.
One last thing: The most famous performer on mob women was Big Ang (aka Angela Raiola), who doesn’t appear in the show’s first season, so if you’re looking for her, she won’t show up until season two. Known as a go-between for staying out of the drama, Ang was loved by pretty much every one of her co-stars and the audience, and she helped bring a much-needed softer touch to the show.
gender and skin: None, just a pair of low-cut tank tops embellished with sequins.
farewell shot: Karen and Renee look each other in the eye, neither flinching. Karen walks away relatively calmly and tells Renee that she has no intention of leaving (meaning the party but also the little mafia universe they all live in), while Renee softly mutters “F-ing jerkoff”. And then, in the “This season on mob womenIn the clips that follow immediately, we see Drita, a woman who’s been cool with everyone so far, shooting Renee’s eyes out at the same party they’re celebrating Carla’s birthday.
sleeping star: third She is the only member of the mob women‘ inner circle, who isn’t actually connected to the actual mob (her husband, Lee, is jailed for bank robbery), but she’s easily one of the most vicious — and hilarious — characters in reality TV history. I mean, it’s bittersweet to be a fan of a woman who bloodied half of Staten Island, but she has a certain charm, you know?
Most pilot line: “If you’re a rat, you don’t belong in my circle. The fact is, I will make your life so miserable that you will no longer be able to be in anyone’s circles.”
Our appeal: Full disclosure, I’ve watched every episode of mob women. The quality of the series fluctuates, often as a result of the real-life criminal behavior going on on the show’s periphery. (As an example, in season two – SPOILER ALERT – Renee’s ex-husband Junior rats on her father just as he is giving Renee butter to make up with her and get back. It’s tragic and really wild, especially considering that we all know how Renee thinks about snitching.) The addition of the comedic foil Big Ang in season two is crucial to offsetting the harshness of the rest of the show, but even it fails to save the show from itself in its final seasons. My recommendation: stream it, but only the first few seasons when the action is at its peak.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer based in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show chain reaction.