Now remember that flashback about the teammates pulling names out of a hat during the next voting ceremony? Well, that's all nice and friendly, but let's not forget that we're watching Bunim/Murray spawn here. Selfish motivations will always prevail. While I will say this cast has been free of obnoxious attention whores, these guys are not above vilifying a teammate for self-preservation. In this case, Jodi - surprise, surprise - became the clear cut victim of a changing tide away from the random name in the hat strategy. While munching loudly on snacks, Ibis (who overnight seemed to have accumulated a significant amount of junk in the trunk) and Kina resolved to vote off Jodie. Separately, Patrick and Derrick reached the same conclusion.

Nick occasionally popped up to see what was going on, but his presence was again met with blank stares that seemed to connote "Who are you and why have you been sleeping in our RV with us?" As night fell, the roommates suddenly felt that most fleeting emotion of Bunim/Murray productions: guilt. Everyone returned to the name in the hat strategy (impressive adherence to a pact, I must admit), but before that, Kina went out of her way to tell Jodie that they ALMOST voted her off, but they were so damn nice that they decided not to. The exchange was intended to convey how much Kina cares for Jodi, but instead it felt like Kina was digging for brownie points by announcing how big she was to stick to the plan.

After what felt like an eternity, the kids finally began their voting ceremony. The ground rules: everyone would draw a name, announce it, and then return it to the hat. Whoever's name got called the most would be voted off. Um, yeah, is that supposed to be X-Treme Name In The Hat Voting? Because usually people just draw a name once and that's it.

As I mentioned before, my Tivo ceased recording at this point. Thanks MTV for starting the show two minutes late. Then again, maybe it's not MTV's fault. Maybe my Tivo was so disgusted at the programming I had burdened its memory with that it simply shut down. Nevertheless, with only a few minutes left in the show, I got the impression that this inefficient vote was going to be a tie and therefore cliffhanger. I suppose my overwhelming curiosity will be sated tomorrow when MTV updates its website. Regardless of who leaves, I just hope the new cast member is cool so that poor Nick has someone to interact with. Chances are they'll still keep him in the corner though. Oh the cruel world of Road Rules...

Posted by B-side on July 26, 2004 11:14 PM