Why is it so satisfying to watch people in their twenties act like five year olds? Once upon a time, the Real World was almost like social experiment. In college, I took a class where one of the professors lectured a couple of times on Pedro Zamora and what his time on the Real World did for both HIV/AIDS awareness and gay rights. Needless to say, those days are over. The Real World quickly became a franchise, adding Road Rules and then the challenge seasons. Every person is now a caricature, and that is what makes this season of the Real World/Road Rules challenge so great. They no longer have anything to teach us, but they are still entertaining. To sum it up in one sentence, we have gone from social experiment to atomic wedgies in just a little over ten years.
No good reunion shows is complete without the obligatory shots of the beautiful young people as they are out getting drunk, grinding bodies, and just plain having fun. Anybody who has had a little too much alcohol on occasion knows all of the foolish things you do when you are drunk, whether it be random nudity or the innocent prank. You might do something stupid, but you get over it and usually have a pretty good laugh after it is all said and done. So when Mike gave Brad a wedgie, he probably thought it would just go down in the annals of the Miz as just another hilarious notch on the Miz belt of goofy life experiences.
Well, the Miz doesn't give anybody any ordinary wedgie. A Miz-delivered wedgie must be of the atomic variety. For those of you who don't know what an atomic wedgie is, it is a wedgie that's pulled so hard and so far that you rip the elastic off the underwear of the poor victim. If you get a good grip, you can rip the underwear off completely. At first, it looked like Brad was completely OK with it, but after a while, a little light went off in his head that said "somebody just pulled your underwear off, it didn't involve a woman, and there was no possibility of sex". When you take that information into account, suddenly it's not so much of a game anymore.
Brad went completely ballistic, but the problem was that everybody was so drunk, they couldn't tell if he was serious or not. He was acting like an ass, throwing people around and yelling at his teammates. Unfortunately for him, the more of a scene he made, the more people just started laughing at him. Brad was completely serious and continued to ask for an explanation when everybody was back at the house. For his part, Mike did try and talk with Brad and calm him down, although Brad didn't want to listen. "Congratulations son, you're a meathead, but don't ever put your hands in my udnerwear". Derrick eventually came to Brad's defense, saying "We're not in seventh grade anymore, you don't need to be giving anybody wedgies". The good guys really have no hope if they are starting to take behavioral advice from Derrick. That's sort of like taking grooming tips from the homeless.
Despite all of their debauchery, the teams make it to their next challenge. David Mirra is in a hot rod and racing down the road, about to run into what looks like a pyramid of margarita glasses (certainly not as impressive as the pyramid of champagne glasses I constructed for New Year's 2000). But right before the Mirra-cle man looked like he was going to break through the wall of margarita glasses, he hit the breaks and stopped short (that's my move!). He was doing a demonstration of that day's challenge, called "What A Drag". As the name implies, one member of each team would get in a hot rod, and race down a drag strip. Their scores weren't based upon top speed, but best time. The trick was that they would have to stop their car somewhere after a blue line and before they ran into the margarita glass wall. The barrier was only several feet away, barely giving enough room to get the front tires over before you knocked anything down.
It didn't look that hard, but there was a five minute penalty for knocking over any of the glasses. Considering most of these runs were going to be under 30 seconds, that is an absolutely huge time difference. If one team messed up, they would effectively write the check to the opposing team.
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Comments (9)
bwahahahaaaa!! that picture of brad's face is freakn' hilarious!!!!
1 of 9 | Posted by Mrs.B | Posted on May 15, 2005 5:41 PM
This was easily my favorite episode of the season. Ever since last Monday, I've been looking for an excuse to slip "Congratulations Son, You're a meathead" into a conversation.
2 of 9 | Posted by morie | Posted on May 15, 2005 7:20 PM
I love these unintentionally classic TV moments. That pic of Brad's face and the "congratulations, son, you're a meathead" is meant for the annals of TV history.
I loved Brad's comment about Miz being "bloated" too. I believe the quote was something like, "bloated son-of-a-bitch"?
3 of 9 | Posted by Jess | Posted on May 16, 2005 5:59 AM
It is just so wonderful of Rachel, Veronica and Tina to bestow their goodness and light upon Tonya, and decide not to torture her anymore.
Everytime I see them I feel like I am back in middle school and I would love to see boob-flashing, clothes-throwing Tonya take those bitches down. I hope she doesn't fall for their no-more-drama bulls***.
4 of 9 | Posted by Liz | Posted on May 16, 2005 8:13 AM
I agree Liz, Rachel, Veronica and Tina's ganging up on people is just disgusting and totally juvenile. They need to grow up. And the show's producers need to stop giving them airtime for acting like that because it's really making me want to stop watching.
J-Unit, you left out my favorite line of the episode, where Brad grabs the elastic of his underwear, pulls it around his neck and screams "NOW IT'S A NECKLACE." My favorite line of the season so far.
Drunk Brad=great TV.
5 of 9 | Posted by Amy | Posted on May 16, 2005 10:28 AM
I agree Liz.
Rachel, Veronica and Tina's ganging up on people is just disgusting and totally juvenile. They need to grow up. And the show's producers need to stop giving them airtime for acting like that because it's really making me want to stop watching.
J-Unit, you left out my favorite line of the episode, where Brad grabs the elastic of his underwear, pulls it around his neck and screams "NOW IT'S A NECKLACE." My favorite line of the season so far.
Drunk Brad=great TV.
6 of 9 | Posted by Amy | Posted on May 16, 2005 10:29 AM
Tina is in on "the whole Veronica/Rachel vendetta" because obviously she is a lesbian and everybody knows that most lesbians pretty much hate everyone and everything around them (especially other women).
7 of 9 | Posted by stevo | Posted on May 16, 2005 11:37 AM
Stevo, I really hope you are not serious about the lesbian comment. oh wait all women reject you right? are you scared of them? I find it pretty unbelievable that you would think that lesbians hate all women. Do you know what that word means?
8 of 9 | Posted by reader | Posted on May 16, 2005 1:44 PM
Gentle reader,
I was half kidding about the lesbian comment...notice the qualifiers such as "most" and "pretty much."
And women don't reject me...I'm gay, honey. I gave up on the tuna taco years ago.
I am convinced however that most women (which Lesbians are) secretly hate each other. Those three girls represent the absolute worst of the female species.
9 of 9 | Posted by stevo | Posted on May 17, 2005 4:48 PM