Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Exes, Week 4 Power Ranking

“I just want to be on the same page as her, and I don’t know what page she’s on… or what chapter. I don’t know what book she’s reading.” —C.T.

 

“What is a second? It’s like… a second!” —Jasmine

As reality television has grown and evolved, a lot of attention has been paid to producers’ Orwellian attempts to spy on every aspect of the participants’ lives: The Real World producers alone have infamously put microphones in headboards to capture the cast’s pillow-talk, filmed a cast member receiving the news that his mother died, and captured a girl getting slapped in the face. Lost in all of this, though, is the fact that the secret to reality TV’s success is what the cameras don’t show.

Last night’s episode of Battle of the Exes was a perfect example. With Johnny/Camila once again in the position of Power Couple, they have to choose which team to send into the Dome against Tyrie and Jasmine. Johnny is leaning toward sending in Rachel, who voted against him on The Island (Dude, can hold a grudge—that Challenge was almost four years ago), and her partner, Aneesa, but Mark, Rachel’s friend, tries to intervene on her behalf.

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Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Exes, Week 1 Power Rankings

“I know she’s a great competitor, but then there’s also the fact that I hate her.” —Ty

 

“We do not talk. We are not Facebook friends. Nothing.” —Diem

 

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back!

MTV is back with another installment of The Challenge and this time, fresh off the success of the Rivals format, it’s embracing a similar concept: Battle of the Exes will pair players with partners who they hooked up with/dated/sloppily-made-out-with-while-drunk on previous challenges.

Of course, it should go without saying that I love this season’s format, but I feel the need to stress something: I love this season’s format. There’s the obvious drama factor—always-quotable Paula called this season “drama’s wet dream”*—but this season also addresses a lot of concerns I have about challenge format. First of all, I almost always prefer individual or paired competitions (like The Duel, Fresh Meat, Rivals) to team challenges (The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Cutthroat). They prevent players from skating by and force everyone to strategize.

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Cutthroat, Week 8 Power Rankings

“I don’t even know what’s going on. They finally just let me out of my cage and I haven’t eaten yet.” —C.T.

 

“C.T.!!!!!!!!!” —Me, upon C.T.’s first appearance

 

Well, C.T. finally made his much-anticipated return to The Challenge this week, even if MTV decided to end the episode without showing anything he did. C.T. was brought back, along with Tina, another former Challenge participant,* to serve as an obstacle in the Gulag. Rather than go against each other, Tyler and Johnny will each have to go against C.T., and whoever does better will survive. If this sounds like a gimmick, that’s because it is, but I’m not going to complain about having C.T. back.**

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Cutthroat, Week 7 Power Rankings

“Let’s be honest: Cara Maria’s cute and she’s way more fun than the other girls. Of course, that plays a role in my decision.” —Abram

“They have the team that they wanted now, but I’m sorry—I don’t think that’s going to be good enough.” —Camila

 

The theme of last night’s episode was “proving yourself.” There was debate about what constitutes proving yourself, who had done it, and how much that should matter. Most of those surrounded Camila who, after last week’s fiasco, is as on the outs with her team as anyone can be. Tori, Brad, and Paula had all vowed to send Camila into the Gulag at every opportunity.

And yet, as several people pointed out in last night’s episode, Camila was really the only girl who had “proven herself.” In addition to winning the Gulag twice (while no other girl on her team has won even once), Camila has also been the strongest girl in challenges. Last night was no different: In a challenge that involved tight-rope walking in pairs across two skyscrapers, Camila was the only girl on her team to make it across. Paula fell off (and brought Dunbar with her), and Tori didn’t even try, since by then Red had already lost.

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Cutthroat, Week 4 Power Rankings

“I think it’s something with fire” —Brad

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say if it’s against the Geneva Convention, they’re probably not going to make us do it in a challenge” —Dan

 

Man, all TJ Lavin has to do is show up and it scares the crap out of the contestants.*

*Speaking of TJ, reports say that he is getting better and should make a full recovery in time.

Before last night’s Gulag, TJ stopped by the house and mysteriously told Eric and Luke to shave their faces, leading to a rash of speculation about what the actual Gulag event would involve. Brad pointed out that any hair on your face could catch fire, so they’d probably ask you to shave…

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Cutthroat, Week 2 Power Rankings

“Mandi seeks the warm embrace that only Chet can offer”—Chet

“Their whole strategy on this thing—it’s like someone in a mental institution came up with it. And then I realize that Abe came up with it, so that’s not too far off.” —Johnny

Ah, the inevitable Challenge hookups. Last night saw two on the rise, one of which would flourish by the end while the other would be stifled. First, there was Mandi and Chet. Although Mandi insisted that she usually is not attracted to guys who wear pink shirts and coke-bottle glasses, she enjoys spending time with the charming Chet, and even called him her hero when he killed a bee for her.

She only liked him more after Chet came to her defense against Laurel, who started calling Mandi a slut for allegedly hooking up with Chet. Of course, Laurel is just being a bitch—there’s no way that the strictly Mormon Chet, who on Real World: Brooklyn claimed to have never seen a woman naked, would have sex with Mandi after knowing her for like a week—but it was chivalrous of Chet to come to Mandi’s defense anyway. Laurel claimed she was trying to “push Mandi to her breaking point,”* but I’m sure it was just leftover animosity from Fresh Meat II, when those two didn’t get along.