In the previous two weeks we have seen the elimination of Ibis and Tonya, who did nothing to justify being eliminated other than being a leader on the woman's team. The guys lost Randy in their usual process of eliminating the people with the most disqualifications, and Steven in a very unfortunate bitch-slap incident. During the last challenge, there was a portion when the teams couldn't talk. Although there was no disadvantage for them being silent during the portion the producers chose, everybody got pretty worked up anyway. When the teams could talk, each had separated to discuss strategy, and when the guys huddled, Shane grabbed Steven's arm, and Steven responded by slapping Shane across the face with a Rock-Hudson-on-Dynasty kind of ferocity. It wasn't enough to get anybody worked up except for the producers, and that was all that counted.

Now we all know that the folks in the Bunim/Murray clique are quite incestuous when it comes to relationships, at least when it comes to the filming of the sows. But honestly, who can blame them? They film a couple of reunions a year, which takes time, and the post Real World/Road Rules speaking tour that follows their seasons always attracts many of the same people. Many live in Los Angeles, and they end up being roommates with each other. They get invited to the same parties(often parties they throw themselves), hang out at the same bars and clubs, and throw up in the same parking lots. You covet what you see every day, and so everybody hooks up with each other.

While I can't say that these relationships ever amount to anything, I can tell you that whenever they feature a new relationship on a reunion show, it usually means impending doom for one of the members. The latest couple to be set up for a fall was Mark and Robin. They feel a close connection because they are very similar. For example, they both are on this reunion show and both have deep voices. If that doesn't mean love, I don't know what does.

This week Jonny Mosely tells the contestants that they will be participating in one of the rare "no swimsuit required" types of challenges. God, if this is as difficult as they last time nobody had to wear swimsuits, uhhh, well everybody will finish, but you get my point. And to add further difficulty to this challenge, long sleeves were required.

"Semi-Cross", as this challenge was named, involved each of the players going across an obstacle course that consisted of a balance beam, tire obstacle, a see saw, and an over and under segment. Wow, I haven't seen a set of obstacles so challenging since my kindergarten playground. OK, the Road Rulers and Real Worlders did have the added difficulty in that they were on top of a group of trailers being pulled by a semi at 30 miles an hour. Advantage: Second Street Elementary. Then again, if you fall off the trailers, you get caught by a net. Fall off of my kindergarten playground, and you have nothing to break your fall but some wood chips. Advantage: Bunim/Murray. The guys and the girls would do the obstacles in groups of three, so they wouldn't distract each other while competing. In kindergarten, we were too young to even imagine that girls or boobs could ever be a distraction. Advantage: Push. After each group of three finished, the total times would be added together and the team with the lowest time would each get a Vespa. At my school we didn't get an award for anything we did on the playground, but if we colored in the lines, we got a sticker and/or a gold star. Advantage: Second Street Elementary. The Bunim/Murray stars had Subway and Snapple for lunch. I brought my lunch in a Knight Rider lunch box and an ice cream sandwich cost 35 cents. Advntage: Second Street Elementary

So, as you can see from my careful analysis, my kindergarten class was probably more difficult and more rewarding than any challenge, but I was never in prime time, so we will continue with our show. Sophia, Tina, and Robin were captains for the girls, while the guys chose Mark, Brad, and Dan. As easy as I made the obstacles sound, it took the first group of guys, Shane, Brad, and Mark, quite a long time figuring out how to get past the balance beam. It wasn't one long beam, but instead went back and forth along the top of the trailer. Whoa, might this be an obstacle that would really cause a lot of stress and require some strategy from the captains? Well, of course not. B-side, quite obviously a playground veteran in his day, took one look at the balance beam and noticed that since the sections were close together, you could shimmy along using a second beam for, well, balance, and your momentum down the last beam helped you jump to the next obstacle.

Posted by J-Unit on January 3, 2005 10:26 PM