These days, life has pretty much ground to a halt thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, but as we were reminded during last night's episode of Jersey Shore, a lot happened during the eight months that Mike Sorrentino was in prison.

Deena welcomed her first child; JWoww started dating Zack Carpinello; Vinny became a stripper ...

The guido gang filled Mike in on everything that happened during his stay at Club Fed, but first, a cinematic tribute to the man they call The Situation.

Things got off to a rocky start with the death of a rabbit and the decision to go with the The Shorefather instead of The Shore-Shank Redemption (Vin was right on that one), but in the end, the movie montage of Mike's life was a hit.

After the big premiere, it was time to bring Mike up to speed.

And while The Sitch was clearly moved by each individual's account of where life took them in 2019, one story seemed to have special significance.

We probably don't need to tell you that last year was not an easy one for Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.

After years of rocky relations, Ronnie was arrested for allegedly assaulting his baby mama, Jen Harley.

His future remains uncertain, and these days, Ronnie is battling not only for his freedom, but for custody of his 2-year-old daughter, Ariana.

Amid all of the drama Ronnie got sober, and he says he wouldn't have been able to do it without Mike's support.

So it made for a poignant moment when the former rivals snuck off for a private conversation amid the revelry.

"You look good, you look clear," Mike began, prompting Ronnie to reply, "I feel good."

"I know you went to treatment and what not, but I've been in prison for 8 months so I don't know what happened," Mike continued. 

"I would have wished for me not to be in prison so I could be there for you."

"It's been a good change, definitely in a better place than last year," Ronnie responded.

In one of the more moving confessional segments in the show's history Mike stated that he was "always thinking about Ron" while he was in prison, "because Ron is in for an uphill battle for the rest of his life." 

Mike then reminded Ronnie that he had to check into rehab several times before he finally got clean.

"My mistake was I didn't really listen when I went," Sitch continued.

"But if you went and you listened and learned some of the tools to live your best life and be your best self, it's invaluable."

After enjoying some laughs about their shared struggles, Ronnie called Mike "such an inspiration" and revealed that he's deeply moved by the manner in which Sorrentino's "turned himself around" after hitting rock bottom.

"The fact he's been through what he's been through and can keep a positive attitude no matter what, I wanna be like that," added Ron, "I wanna be that happy."

Jersey Shore might take a lot of flak for its glacial pace these days, but the scene was about as moving and significant as reality TV gets.

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