Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Sexes - Men's Midterm Review

Now that we've done a mid-season review of the show, it's time for a midterm review of the guys (one of the women will be coming shortly).

What have we learned from the men on Battle of the Sexes so far? For one, most of them have a high tolerance for Puck. For another, they've been willing to sacrifice themselves in order to put the best team forward, voting off the lowest overall scorer. After Battle of the Seasons, where cast members agreed to split the winnings based on performance, collusion has been outlawed. The biggest positive has been the lack of drama in their Villa, in stark contrast to the soap opera going on with the women.

Let's take a look at those who are no longer competing.

David Edwards (RW: Los Angeles)

You hate Puck. You can't stand the sight or sound of him. You want somebody to step up and knock him down a peg. David was not that man. His fight with Puck left him with spit on his face and nobody watching his back.

When I saw the preview, I thought I'd be siding with him. Yeah, he was a headcase during his season, but that was way back in '93. So what if he bragged about inventing "tribal council"? Who cares if he humped a stuffed beaver in the Lost Season movie? Well, his ravings were a thinly veiled attempt to oust Puck early in the game. He wouldn't shut him about how Puck disrespected him, going so far as to call producer Jon Murray to bitch. After getting eliminated early in Sergeant Says with Eric N., he saw the writing on the wall, muttered the dumbest quote ever, and left with his tail between his legs. Goodbye and good riddance.

Memorable Moment: What else? "No one… not even Jesus Christ… would spit in my face and get away with it." Does anybody have JoAnna Ward's phone number?

Laterrian Wallace (RR: Maximum Velocity Tour)

Poor Laterrian. All he wanted to do was to win. The bitter taste of defeat in Extreme Challenge was probably still on his lips. Finding out he was going to be opposing Emily, who had cost the RR team some money, might have been more incentive. And maybe he would step outside the shadow of James, whom he had shared time with on two other shows.

So what happened? For starters, he missed a flight to Jamaica and almost missed the show. By Colin's reckoning, he was awake for 72 hours. He rallied the guys before Sergeant Says with the famous war cry, "RIDE OR [OEDIPUS REXING] DIE!" Sadly, he blew it and got only two points. When Jake suggested he should be voted off, Laterrian threw a huge fit. Going into Dead Man's Drop, he knew he needed a huge performance. In the end, he had the fewest points of anybody in the game. Fewer than David E. and Julie, who competed in only one event. Fewer than Gladys, who was unable to compete. That's a whole new level of sad.

In the end, Laterrian left behind an infectious spirit for his team. Also, according to Melissa, he stayed in Jamaica when he was supposed to be going home, becoming the show's version of Bigfoot. Once again: Laterrian, you're a nice guy, but please don't do this again.

Memorable Moment: His farewell speech, complete with "HOO-RAH!" He's lucky Ian hasn't sued him yet.

Eric Jones (RR: Campus Crawl)

I thought of this guy as his season's token uber-tool. On his show, he kept mostly to the background. Good move: let the maniacs and shrews get the camera time. It took his appearance on 19 Degrees of Reality Hook-Ups to awaken the hatred of him. But it was momentary.

Eric didn't do well, turning in low scores in Sergeant Says and Dead Man's Drop. He got 30 points teaming with Syrus in Tree House, but it wasn't enough to elevate him out of last place. It also wasn't enough to increase his visibility, as Colin and Melissa had forgotten that he existed. According to Melissa, members from Campus Crawl actually watched their episodes along with the crew who filmed it. On the plus side, nobody saw Eric scarf down all that crap in TCU.

Memorable Moment: Dissing David E. and Puck in an interview, saying that he was the youngest person there and he was more of a man than those two.

David Broom (RW: New Orleans)

For those not in the RW loop, you have to understand: David is a popular guy. On the Television Without Pity forums, we either love him or love to hate him. He has a nickname: "Bishop Woo Woo." When he came to New York to appear on Chappelle's Show, the guy who checked him in (a TWoP regular) almost had a heart attack, since he dug David's season that much. So when we found out that he was on the show, it was cause for celebration. I would be in a position to take potshots at the Ego That Walked Like a Man, the dude who scored with various women in New Orleans, the guy who wouldn't listen to his roommates nine times out of ten.

Sadly, we got a mere four weeks of the Bishop. The big twist was that he made a connection with Ayanna. That's a good couple: he scats nonsense and she babbles a lot. Before he was voted off, he was figured into the plans for Puck's wedding. He even went as far as to ask Lori if she'd like to collaborate. Unfortunately, she was still getting ridiculed for the "tanky" song and refused. Shoot, who needs Kelly and Justin? Hopefully, David can get his career on track and be known for something other than "Come On Be My Baby Tonight."

Memorable Moment: David trying to negotiate a truce between David E. and Puck. Yeah, since this was the same guy who gave his roommates grief back in New Orleans, I was taken aback. Kelley and Danny were probably wondering if that was some other guy wearing a David costume.