As for Richard, his activity was actually fairly heartfelt. He brought Mindi into a room romantically decked out in rose petals and candles and then made passionate love to her. Ew, no. Sorry, I don't know why I just went there. Truth was that they did enter a romantically decorated room, but only so Richard could play the piano for Mindi. He dazzled her with some Scott Joplin, and for once, we actually got the sense that Richard was somehow being honest as he communicated through the music. Even later as he sung a dopey song ("Mindy / It's windy / when you're not with me"), Richard seemed oddly sincere. "I really wish we had a piano the whole time," said Mindi later, noting its calming effect on her partner. She then added, "Some Ritalin would have helped too."
The next day, both teams fretted in anticipation of the final challenge, a trial so grandiose and daunting that the producers had no option other than to shroud it in secrecy. With only hours left in the house, the contestants turned introspective as they contemplated what they had learned. Mindi noted that she had learned to speak up for herself and not be a pushover. Uh, that's great, but how exactly did she do that? By building model rockets? Calculating sales tax? Wearing an oversized bikini bottom? Eh, I won't press it too much because Mindi's my favorite cast member at this point. She can really do no wrong in my book.
I guess if there's anything that should make Mindi feel better, it's that she's proven to be an ace with rudimentary trivia. "She's the geek, and I'm just the beauty," joked Richard, clearly never having seen himself meditate shirtless before. Ah, but the Lil' Woody Allen was on a roll. When Chuck told him to check out some books, Richard replied, "I won't check out those books. I'll chuck them out." This just in: Richard will be performing at the Rubenstein 50th Anniversary Party at Temple Beth-Shalom on Tuesday. The show is free, but donations to Hadassah are always welcome.
Actually, Richard's best pun was purely unintentional: "I gotta make out with Mindi, and it's all coming to a head tonight." Yeah, now that's the sort of pun I like! Juvenile and raunchy! Yay!
Well, after hours of nervousness that sent Richard scouring through his GIGANTIC wallet (ah, hence the "hip wings" -- it's starting to make sense now), the teams dressed up all purdy and headed down to the Elimination Room to find their intrepid (and underdressed) leader, Brian McFayden. Alleged irony hung thick in the air as Brian noted that Chuck and Caitilin were facing off against the very team they had sent to the Elimination Room three times.
"Isn't this ironic?" McFayden asked.
"Don't you think?" replied Mindi. Wait... did Mindi just make an Alanis Morissette reference? Hmmm... I might have to hate her now. No, not because she thought she was being clever. But because I just totally went to the iTunes store to see if other songs from Jagged Little Pill would be appropriate for Beauty and the Geek jokes. Amazingly, nearly all the tracks are ripe for punnage ("You Oughta Know," "You Learn," "All I Really Want" etc.) Sadly, had I known this, I would have laced the whole recap with Alanis puns, just as an experiment. Oh well. I'm sure I'll be FORGIVEN! Ha! I just did it! One might say that was PERFECT. Oh, I am on fire. I should go tell MARY JANE. Eh, it's over now.
"I'm pretty."Okay, so let's get right into the meat of this final challenge. The way this was going to work was that Brian was going to ask each person questions about his or her partner. The team with the most correct answers would win the big prize. Oh great. Who would have thought this whole transformation process would come down to stupid trivia... AGAIN.
Chuck and Caitilin were up first, and they immediately hit a bump in the road. Brian asked Caitilin where Chuck was born, and she replied "Sioux Falls, Iowa." (Not to be confused with Sioux Falls, South Dakota). The correct answer: Atlanta, Georgia. Yeah, not even close. I guess that'll happen when you MAKE UP A GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION.
Later, Chuck got tripped up on the same question, incorrectly saying his partner was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Caitilin tried to make him feel better as she chirped, "Good try, you were close!" Yeah, at least your city actually existed, Chuck.
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Comments (19)
Good call on Richard's wallet/briefcase. I was watching and wondering if he was actually stuffing money into one of Mindi's black stillettos.
1 of 19 | Posted by HicksPub | Posted on July 7, 2005 5:48 AM
I love this show... by the way, did anyone catch the new Punk'd this week? Richard was on it-- he walked in VIP style to Allen Iverson's party as Jermaine O'Neal was forced to wait on the sidelines... classic
2 of 19 | Posted by AliCake | Posted on July 7, 2005 8:41 AM
I KELLIED this show! Great social experiment. Glad Chuck/Cait won only because Richard did not really change that much. For such a geek he has very little insight into himself. At least Chuck showed some insight and growth. Besides, I loved his scrungy look when they previewed next week's reunion! He's becoming more beauty and less geek.
Can't wait to see next season.
3 of 19 | Posted by graceintherace | Posted on July 7, 2005 9:14 AM
I was very pleased with this show. It didn't even matter who won...it was just entertaining.
But B-side, I thought for sure you'd have some choice screen shots of Richard when he was talking about beating Chuck. He had the facial expressions, the hand gestures....come on! My sister even turned to me last night and said, "Oh TV Gasm will have great screen shots of this!"
4 of 19 | Posted by Nicole | Posted on July 7, 2005 9:43 AM
Did you notice that Richard referred to Brian as "The host" Clearly he doesn't watch MTV. No wonder he didn't know who the Miz was.
5 of 19 | Posted by mellymel | Posted on July 7, 2005 9:47 AM
I wish there would have been some way for Mindi to win...she was always my favorite.
B-Side...I did get a chuckle when she reference Alanis cause Mr. Ex-VJ didn't seem to get it
6 of 19 | Posted by Jen | Posted on July 7, 2005 10:01 AM
I enjoyed the show for what it was, but I'm pretty much over it...
Mellymel...I thought it was hysterical when Richard called Brian "the host" true classic geek moment...
7 of 19 | Posted by smithie | Posted on July 7, 2005 11:49 AM
I liked the show, it was kinda fun.
But really, could it be possible that the winners could get together? They really seem to compliment each other.
8 of 19 | Posted by debbie | Posted on July 7, 2005 12:35 PM
If Richard and Chuch had a baby, it would look like Jared Fogle.
9 of 19 | Posted by christa | Posted on July 7, 2005 12:47 PM
first of all, I really hope that J-Unit and B-side are writers for a living....because you both crack me up so much. I always look forward to coming on here to see what you guys have to say. So very, very clever.
Second, I'm glad Richard didn't win. Sorry, but he's too annoying for words. Good show, though. I'm looking forward to next week as well.
10 of 19 | Posted by Christy | Posted on July 7, 2005 2:37 PM
Mindy really deserved to win...she single-handedly brought her and Richard out of all three elimination rooms. (or elimination chambers, as Rich says)
Caitilin is so unnecessarily sappy. Honestly, there was no reason to cry that much every week.
Good call on Scarlett turning psycho-bitch last week. She had no use for Chuck anymore since he wouldn't be able to save her from the elimination room this time.
I don't know if anyone else agrees wih me here but by the finale of this show I downright HATED Chuck and was very much rooting against him. That pompous prick washing his hands as if going into surgery when cooking with Cait...we get it Chuck, you want to be a doctor! Enough with the condescending "diagnosis" of Richard's psyche and your SAT-word pretentious commentary on every challenge already!! Honestly I think Richard became a much more social and nice person than Chuck did by the end of the show. But it comforts me to know that, judging by his experience with "Scar", he so easily is going to be sucked dry of all money by his future manipulative trophy wife.
11 of 19 | Posted by Molly | Posted on July 7, 2005 5:35 PM
Chuck sucked, but Richard sucked more. Out of all the people on the show, Richard was the one that looked like he was on an audition. It was a reality show, but he really didn't take it seriously. Not everybody was in it for the experience, and some looked like they were just in it for the money, but Richard just did his schtick week in and week out. Surprise, surprise, he shows up in Los Angeles, and ends up on Punk'd.
My winning dream team would have been Mindi and Joe Hanson.
12 of 19 | Posted by J-Unit | Posted on July 7, 2005 6:37 PM
I watched StripSearch tonight. It was definitely Lauren at the bachelorette party and there was another big-toothed blonde with her. I wonder if she has a sister.
I don't think there was much footage that wasn't already in the previews last week, unfortunately. She didn't speak, but at one point I think she talked on her cell phone. It was very sneaky of her. I'm now going to keep an eye out for her in the background of every television program that I watch.
13 of 19 | Posted by burka | Posted on July 7, 2005 8:27 PM
Mindi and Joe Hanson... Priceless!
14 of 19 | Posted by Lyndsay | Posted on July 8, 2005 6:11 AM
Was it me, or was there a big ol' spot of blood on Chuck's shirt during the final elimination quiz? Did he get an unpublicized bloody nose and get some ON HIS SHIRT? Ewwwwwww......
I don't think either guy made a huge breakthrough, no. Both women, though, seemed to allow themselves to break out of the bimbo mold...though I suspect they're both pretty smart chicks to begin with. And Mindi's a saint for having chosen Richard to begin with. She totally should have won.
Yay, to the reunion show next week!!
15 of 19 | Posted by Jess | Posted on July 8, 2005 8:40 AM
Mindi should have ripped off caitilin's top and made out with her. Really.
16 of 19 | Posted by JohnnyRingo | Posted on July 9, 2005 2:41 AM
After the episode it had text on the screen detailing how the first tie-breaker question was edited out? dunno if i'm allowed to ask this here, but does anyone know why? dosen't have to be specific, but just a general idea? ie it was not exciting? or inapproprate?
17 of 19 | Posted by Joe | Posted on July 9, 2005 11:15 PM
Hey Jess, not only did Chuck's shirt have blood on it, but the stains moved back and forth from the right side of his shirt to the left as the show went on...FREAKY !!!
I love Mindi and agree with you that she is a saint ( or maybe she's the one on Ritalin ! )
18 of 19 | Posted by chris | Posted on July 11, 2005 7:32 AM
I WAS HOPING RICH AND MINDI WOULD WIN SO WE COULD SEE WHAT RICHARD WOULD DO WHEN MINDI MAD OUT WITH HIM
19 of 19 | Posted by EMILY | Posted on July 13, 2005 6:52 AM