If there's one thing that's clear on Jersey Shore Family Vacation it's that Ronnie Magro-Ortiz has no idea what he wants.
Just last week, we watched as a drunk Ronnie cried in a Senor Frog's' bathroom stall whilst wearing a balloon hat after possibly cheating (depending on your definition though, apparently?) on his pregnant girlfriend Jen Harley and admitting he still loves his ex-girlfriend and former co-star Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola.
But then in tonight's episode of the MTV reality hit, Ronnie said he wants "to be with Jen and to be a father." But this epiphany came after he found out Jen had been alerted to photos of him dancing with "French Fry" at the club on Instagram and then proceeded to get mad at her over the duck-phone for not being mad at him, all in front of his baffled male roommates.
It's almost like he wanted her get angry and to break up with him, giving him the out without having to actually do the dirty work of being the one to call it quits, no? (A very Jax Taylor move.)
Still, he seemed genuinely excited and nervous for Jen's impending visit (which we will see in next week's episode), saying, "Jen is going to come visit. I'm excited. This is something that I needed. It brings tears to my eye because it makes me so happy."
Yeah, we feel like we're just as confused as Ronnie seemingly is.
In a rare moment of brotherhood with Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Ronnie reflected on his behavior.
"I'm not happy right now. Because I got to deal with this s—t, regret. Regret. It's more of a disappointment in myself," he said. "I feel guilt. I disrespected Jen. It doesn't feel good because I've done it before with Sam. I keep saying I've grown up, I've grown up, I've grown up, but have I really?"
Throughout the episode, most of his roommates, including Mike and Paul "Pauly D" Delvecchio, seemed to be gently trying to suggest to Ronnie he can still be a good father even if he's not with Jen, a situation Pauly D once found himself in after having a child with Amanda Markert, a former Hooters waitress, in 2013.
"This relationship doesn't need to happen for Ronnie to be the most amazing father in the world and I can teach Ronnie that," Pauly D (once again our episode MVP) said.
And the advice he offered to Ron was pretty sage stuff: "Don't force your relationship that you're not going to be happy in. If you end up with the baby mama, yes, that would be ideal. At the very least, you should have a co-parenting relationship with this woman. Mine was so rocky in the beginning it was nuts. But we got over it and now it's the best thing that ever happened to me, and I think that can happen with you."
But this entire episode just feels like watching a horror movie after you skipped ahead to watch the final scene to find out who dies and how it all ends...because we all do know how this saga of Ronnie and Jen ends up.
After welcoming their daughter, Ariana Sky, in early April, Ronnie and Jen got into an explosive argument on Instagram Live, with Ronnie writing, "Note to self, can't turn a natural born HOE, into a HOUSEWIFE, if you find them in the gutter then leave them in the gutter."
While Ronnie later apologized, a source then told E! News that the couple had broken up. "They're done," the insider revealed.
Calling their relationship "a rollercoaster," the source rexplained, "He messes up and then he's so apologetic and they get back together, then there's the baby, so it's hard."
Seems like it's same s--t, different season.
Jersey Shore Family Vacation airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on MTV.