Last Thursday’s season finale was only watched by 6.8 million people, down from 8.8 million for season three. One of the likely causes for this dip is the change in scenery for the gang, which led to an awkward shift in the group dynamic. Ron and Sam stopped fighting early on, Jenni didn’t fight a single person, and Snooki stopped hooking up with guys left and right. And while there were some punches thrown here and there, they were all directed Mike, which wasn’t any different from previous season.

Another potential cause for the drop in ratings could be the girls that were brought home from the clubs at night, and their lack thereof. The language barrier and the girls’ impossibly high standards made smushing an extremely difficult task. One of the many entertaining aspects of the show is the grenade encounters, which, luckily, are in abundance in Seaside Heights for season five.

Of course, the ratings dip doesn’t mean there is no drama worth talking about this past season. After season four concluded with not one but two reunion specials (the second being a live Jersey Shore Hookup special that aired online this weekend), it looks like the dynamic of the house hasn’t changed. Everyone still hates Mike, and the guys all believe Snooki did indeed hookup with the Situation. Now, however, after Vinny put Snooki in her place during the first reunion, Snooki has stopped being overly defensive about the alleged hookup.

After discussing what it was like to sleep with Snooki on a recent “Jersey Shore” after show, Vinny then visited The Wendy Williams Show to share the story with arguably the nosiest television hosts of all time. He explained that having sex with Snooki is like having sex with a meatball. Maybe this would be a strange comparison if Snooki didn’t already refer to herself a as meatball. Either way, Vinny seemed such as uncomfortable discussing it as he did on the after show. Snooki has no filter when it comes to her feelings about Vinny, but unfortunately she blacked-out that night, so we’ll never know her take on the ordeal.

In other hookup news, it was reported a few days ago that Ron and Sam are now kaput. Like, for real this time. Of course, in the 22 months since Jersey Shore hit the air, we’ve seen the romantically destructive couple fight and breakup and kiss and makeup seemingly dozens of times both on and off the air. The phrase “broken up for good” does not apply to this couple. On the live reunion special this weekend, when Kenny Santucci asked Sam how their relationship is going, Sam didn’t say anything for several seconds until revealing that -- get ready for this -- the two are on a break because they keep fighting when they got back to Jersey. Big shocker, right? I guess we have to wait until winter to see what happens when the couple came back to Seaside Heights. As long it doesn’t involve Ron breaking Sam’s glasses, the fighting should be pretty tame. My prediction: a lot of Sam telling Ron to “staaahp it!”

On a lighter note -- or should I say, darker? -- we see what happens to Pauly when he gets a little too excited to get back to the old GTL routine. When going back to the tanning salon for the first time after months of being “pale” (by his standards), in Italy, Pauly goes overboard under the UV rays and burns his face. It then starts to feel, and he makes the mistake of exfoliating. Of course his face gets worse, and Pauly is left looking like a tomato. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the definition of guido problems!

This would’ve been ten times funnier if it had happened to Mike, who decided to come back to Jersey with the gang, despite the fact that nobody wanted him there. During the live reunion, Vinny, Pauly, and Ron seemed to be less on edge with Mike, which is no surprise because it was only the girls whose lives Mike sought to ruin in season four.

To hold viewers over until midwinter, the cast members will have plenty going on to keep viewers occupied before season five premieres. Sammi’s got an endorsement deal with Dangerous Perfume, which, according to the website, is “designed to excite, energize, and attract." Whatever that means. Sam hasn’t said much in the press about the fragrance, but she looks really pretty on the Dangerous website. Deena’s got an iPhone app, which is possibly the most fun app to ever be created. Why? To words: “Merp!” button.

Last but not least, Ron, following in Snooki’s footsteps, is jumping into the wrestling ring. On November 3, Ronnie will take part in TNA’sImpact Wrestling, which will air on Spike TV. This comes as less of a surprise than when Snooki tried her hand at wrestling, seeing as Ron is the whole guido/ juicehead package, gorilla- esque physique and grunting ways. Depending on how he fares inside the ring, if he’s looking for a good postShore career, this could be it.

Karen Malmquist is a junior at La Salle University, and the head writer and star of In Other News, a comedy series airing in Philadelphia.