Can NJ Housewives Top Last Season's Finale?

Bravo/NBC

During last year's season finale of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New Jersey, an elegant dinner among the wives (and their families) devolved into an unlady-like shouting match. At one point, Teresa Giudice called Danielle Staub a "prostitution whore" and overturned the table in anger. It was one of the highest-rated episodes of the whole Housewives franchise to date.

The second season finale airs Aug. 23 at 10 p.m. ET. Will it be possible to top the first one? One thing's for sure: They won't be capitalizing on the drama now swirling around Giudice's bankruptcy scandal. "We had no idea about any of that," a Bravo spokesperson recently told the press. "We just follow the ladies…[and] it's easy for them to not give us that information."

So it looks like the producers are simply going for Round Two in the show's overarching conflict. In other words… get set for yet another stormy showdown involving Staub! This time, though, it's the formidable Caroline Manzo, Queen Bee among the other Housewives, who has summoned Staub for a sitdown. "I'm not going to pretend what's going to result from meeting with Caroline," Staub remarks ominously in this clip. But with a sneak peek of Caroline reiterating that she meant what she said when she called Danielle "garbage," we can only imagine that it won't end with them hugging it out.

They will have plenty to talk about. In the July 12 episode, another heated exchange between Giudice and Staub led some of the wives to chase Staub through a country club, screaming profanities (as usual). Jacqueline Laurita's daughter, Ashley, yanked on Staub's hair, pulling out some hair extensions. Staub later called the police and pressed charges against Ashley (all of the ladies are now banned from the country club). No doubt Manzo would like to sweep this incident under the carpet. Perhaps she'll try to broker a truce (highly unlikely), but with recent rumors that Staub won't be returning to the show, it seems as if the Queen Bee's power of intimidation might just work. Remember, her family is "thick as thieves."

Do you think the show will top last season's finale? Chime in below!

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