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After a season premiere that brought the gang back to their lighthearted roots, Jersey Shore is revving up to have its most explosive season yet. With both sides looking to smush at least one other member of the group, season four is beginning to look like a week at band camp. After the revelation that The Situation and Snooki hooked up during their off time, their drunken flirtations drew the attention of the whole group, especially Ron, who looks like he just walked in on his parents.

Along with this situation, Pauly and Deena are looking to become a one-night item as well, as the newest episode begins with Pauly D making sure that Deena wouldn’t become attached after a night of hair gel rub down. Of course, with these two being roommates for the time being, the possibilities for awkwardness and developing feelings are extremely high. Meanwhile, as the crew drunkenly staggers back to their beautiful Italian manor, The Sitch continues to make moves on Snooki, to no avail. Ron makes a late night call to a friend from home, a girl named Hannah who looks like she will become a big part of this season.

The next morning, Pauly D, Vin, The Sitch and Deena head to an Italian grocery store, where they spend about an hour shouting “What the hell?” over Italian food labels. As tradition states, Sunday dinner is cooked up by the guys (after a botched attempt by Deena and Sam) and the family takes time away from partying to eat and relax with each other. Serving as a nice little dessert, Mike overhears Snooki have an argument with her boyfriend back home and swoops in to save the day, replete with knee touches and kisses on the cheek.

Before the group has time to truly enjoy themselves, an Italian fellow named Marco informs them that they will be working at his pizza shop for the summer, similar to the shop on the boardwalk back at the Shore. After Snooki manages to make a decent looking pizza, the group heads home to make some coffee, which of course comes across as a challenge. But now that the mundane chores are done for the day, it’s the most hallowed part of the night: T-shirt time! After the obligatory montage of hair, shirts, and various other useless appendages, the group heads out for another night of premeditated culture rape.

Immediately, Mike meets a tourist who causes a stir for the crew, while Ron’s decision to fly out his friend Hannah starts to spread around the group. Ron, in perfect drunken form, gives Sam some trouble, which leads to her crying (again) and moaning to the other girls (again again). Once everybody has staggered back to the house, Mike hooks up with his ugly chick (which she totally was), and then has another heart-to-heart with Snooki, laying out his feelings to have her ultimately deny him (for the time being).

The day after, Mike details a story about Ron in front of Sam that will most likely lead to more Ron/Sam drama when the drinks come out again. And since all trouble centers around Mike, a debate between him and Deena emerges that will decide whether or not Deena really wanted to cuddle with him or not. As stupid and tedious as it is, it’s quickly swept under the rug in favor of another night on the city.

As the drinks flow, so does the rivalry between Ron and Sam, because once again they are at each others throats. But then the other shoe drops, and everybody knows what happens after that: Sam admits her true feelings to Ron, and all the sad, slow music starts playing as they look at each other for an ungodly amount of time. Luckily, this time Ron gets smart and walks away before he gets hurt again.

Overall, tonight’s episode was decidedly average, especially after the great premiere that kicked off the season last week. There was nothing that different happening this time around, and the whole “gang doesn’t understand Italian language” joke is getting old surprisingly quick. I’m still excited for what the season has in store, as the fights look even more brutal than before and the various romances are set to explode. But this transitory episode is meant to be just that: a filler bridge to get us from the happy reunion to the ambulances, arrests, and shed tears.

All hope is not lost for season four, especially with single Ron constantly on the prowl, but if the Ron/Sam drama tries to flame up again, not many viewers will be willing to put up with it for long. By the looks of the preview for next week, the Mike/Snooki situation is ready to come to a head, while the sexual tension between Pauly D and Deena is constantly getting thicker. Hopefully next week can get the ball rolling again and keep the gang from getting stale too soon.

What did you think about last night’s episode?