Here’s Why Snooki & Vinny Are Having Such Dramatic Tension on ‘Jersey Shore Family Vacation’

Right when we all thought that the big drama in Jersey Shore Family Vacation was going to be coming from Ronnie, the usually mellow and drama-free Vinny stepped up to deliver the biggest fight of the reunion series yet. In Thursday night's new episode of Jersey Shore Family Vacation, we all learned that apparently Snooki and Vinny have not repaired their tense relationship since the original Jersey Shore series, and it erupted in a massive fight. So what happened between Snooki and Vinny on Jersey Shore? Get your refresher here so you can really understand what was going on in that fight.

All of this tension between Snooki and Vinny goes back to the third season of Jersey Shore, which heavily focused on their tenuous romantic relationship. The two housemates had become "snuggle buddies" in the prior season, and then Snooki admitted she had feelings for him in Season 3, but it was also around that time that Snooki had first met her soon-to-be husband Jionni. Snooki and Vinny hooked up, but Vinny continued hooking up with other girls (and openly talking about his sexual exploits in front of Snooki), and Snooki was starting a relationship with Jionni, so the Snooki-Vinny relationship never really became anything.

Flashforward to today, and that one-time hookup is still causing major issues. In the latest episode of Jersey Shore Family Vacation, Vinny begins to notice how distant Nicole has been from him throughout the reunion. At first he just laughs it off, but Pauly D notices it too, saying that Nicole is noticeably meaner to Vinny than the rest of the housemates, and although she is just joking, there may be some underlying truth there.

Snooki's standoffishness finally gets to Vinny when he gets drunk — which only takes one drink now that the Keto Guido doesn't eat any carbs — and he takes it upon himself to sloppily force a friendship with Snooki. He offers her drinks, makes jokes, and in a final effort, starts grinding on her. That's where Snooki draws the line, and tells him to respect her marriage, repeating the phrase "I love you, but not like that" multiple times as the gang departs from the bar.

But the fight is not over there — not by a long shot. Back at the house, Vinny and Snooki really get into it. Still wasted, Vinny just can't leave Snooki alone, barging in on her while she is in the confessional, and she finally erupts. She yells at Vinny, saying that his antics could ruin her marriage, and Vinny throws it back, saying that he just wants to be friends like they used to be. Honestly, I can see the point that they're both trying to make here:

Snooki's argument: She cheated on Jionni with Vinny in the past, and now that she's married, she doesn't want anything between her and Vinny to be misconstrued on camera. After all, you never know how MTV is going to edit the show together — even a friendly hug could become a romance storyline after the editor get their hands on it.

Vinny's argument: The whole cast returned to this show to have a good time together again, but he feels constantly on edge around Snooki based on how she's treating him. They should just get the awkwardness out in the open and move past it.

It's a tricky situation to handle, which is why it does not get a clean solution. In the end, the entire house winds up involved in the Vinny-Snooki argument somehow, and it eventually spirals into a screaming match between Snooki and JWoww. Let's hope that Vinny and Snooki can find some way to get along for the remainder of Jersey Shore Family Vacation — it would be too weird to watch them awkwardly avoid one another.