Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Sexes, Episode 17: Penultimate Plunge

Previously on Battle of the Sexes: Shane won Spidermon. Melissa in interview: "Lose, lose, lose." Antoine won Human Aquarium. Melissa: "It's emotionally exhausting." Antoine won Razor's Edge, as Lori looked down in defeat. Ellen: "It's been mission after mission of the boys just dominating."

Women's Villa. Lori is sunbathing as she tells Ruthie she likes being a girl, and wouldn't come back as a guy. Ruthie listens as she rubs oil on herself. I have to repeat to myself, "She bats for the other team, she bats for the other team." Lori continues: "Think about survival in the world. It's not smart to walk across a steel beam sixty feet in the air, where you can slip off and bang your head. It's not smart to do that. It's smart to be afraid and cautious." She adds that guys do stupid stuff all the time. I am recapping this, so maybe she has a point. Lori interviews that the ladies have been on a losing streak, and it's been embarrassing. The background music whines, "Why do all the good ones have to die?"

Lori and Ruthie are floating on inner tubes. This is the most we've seen of Lori outside of the missions. Lori realizes she's not guaranteed to place in the final three; she's gone if she gets a zero and Melissa places in the top three. Ruthie interviews that they're one mission away from the final competition, and Lori has to do well. She tells Lori not to worry about placement, to do the best and show no fear. Lori interviews that the guys can't imagine losing.

Cut to Mark drinking tea with Antoine. How do I know it is tea? Because the soundtrack is formal and British, not something they'd bring in if coffee was involved. Antoine tells Mark that he can't imagine the girls winning other than by a fluke. He figures that only competitive girl is Ruthie, and even she can't compete against Mark or Jamie. Mark feels confident that the men will do well. Antoine interviews that the guys are reaping the benefits of teamwork, as opposed to individuality.

Bathroom mirrors. Two messages scrawled in lipstick: "Be strong, XOXO" and "Beat the guys!!! - Genesis." How long has it been since we've seen Genesisms? Ruthie reads the phone details: wear athletic gear and sneakers. Ellen interviews that she doesn't know what it will take to get their confidence back. Over at the Men's Villa, Antoine reads that the departure time is 12:15 pm. Mark interviews that if any of the top three guys gets a zero, Antoine could sneak into the final competition. He adds, "Antoine, you ain't gettin' my spot!"

Shots of an elevated platform and rope. You can practically hear Melissa groan. Jonny welcomes everybody to Maximum Velocity. They named a mission after Maximum Velocity Tour? Now I'm sad James isn't here to take part. BMP was probably going to send everybody on a scavenger hunt and call it The Quest, but Ellen might have shot that down. Jonny explains the objective: to free-rappel down a rope as fast as possible. Jamie expositions that they use a device: squeeze and you move, let go and you stop. Jonny adds that the contestants must reach the red area of the rope to log a time. Mark notes that if a competitor falls and bungees, that person is disqualified. Jonny continues, expositioning that those not playing will be blindfolded, so as not to know how the others did. For the winner: a Saturn Ion Quad Coupe for each member of the team. This is the "sudden death" round, so the lowest cumulative scorers will leave.

A few moments ago, the ladies were wearing different colors. Now they have red tops. Is this solidarity, or BMP's latest continuity failure? Ellen starts about how the girls have lost six missions in a row, but Lori corrects her with seven. Ellen continues, saying that she wants to give all the little girls at home something to cheer about. Any little girl who watches this show would have been traumatized a long time ago. Lori interviews that the guys are comfortable with winning, adding "I'd really like to see their faces in disappointment when they lose."

Platform shot. Jamie and Ellen are on the ground, hands on hips. Jamie admits he's nervous, but he wants to nail it. Colin whispers to Antoine about "bombing it." In an interview, Antoine says he really wants to win the car and he has to take risks. "We have to bum it down," he adds. "I will bum it down, and I really hope those guys will bum it down as well." Is Antoine a freelance slash writer back in Brussels? Colin keeps whispering, reminding Antoine that a win by him would be a hat trick.

Shots of stormy clouds. A blindfolded Lori yawns. Jonny walks by, letting everybody know that Maximum Velocity has been postponed due to lightning. Ellen is wearing red, but Lori and Melissa wear darker shirts. Ruthie (with white top) interviews about how it sucks to wait another day, and that she wants to keep the momentum going.

Mood-setting rainy shots. A strong wind blows the curtains. At least Hurricane Juliet isn't paying another Challenge season a visit. Melissa tells the other women that she put in a formal request for a win, which Ruthie seconds. "I don't know if you heard me the first time," Melissa replies, "BUT WE HAVE TO WIN THE CAR TOMORROW!" Lori laughs on the bed. "It's going to take everything the girls got to beat the boys right now," Ruthie interviews. "I personally cannot take another loss." Shots of the girls. Dreadful music: "Tomorrow never comes until it's too late." Shut up, music.

Normally I don't talk about commercials, but I have to ask: has anybody seen the latest Snapple commercial with the bottles and the guinea pigs? Does the bottle with the blonde hair and blue visor remind anybody else of Mark? Maybe it's just me.

Time lapse shot of sunrise and cranes setting up. It's Mission Day 2. Ellen wants to set the tone for her teammates. "If I do really well," she adds, "the rest of the girls will follow my lead." Jamie is feeling good. Both contestants are strapped in, and the platform is raised. We get two shots of the Ion, in case we've shrugged off the last 1,503 subliminal messages to buy one.

Jamie gets ready as Jonny starts the countdown. Jamie barely moves as the camera stays on him and Jonny's voice fades out. Airhorn. Jamie drops quickly, then bounces back up for the disqualification. Jamie notes that he dropped faster than he thought. Mark interviews that Antoine has a shot at the final three.

Ellen hangs as Jonny asks if she's ready. Countdown. Airhorn. In comparison with Jamie, Ellen's drop is slower, with more control of the device. She voiceovers that her strategy for every mission is to think things through. Cut to her dropping, where she lets out a yelp. It turns out her hair is caught in the rope. She makes a noise so shrill, I thought it was a bleep. Jonny tells her to yank it out. Jonny has never had long hair before. Lori and Antoine are blindfolded at the sequestration tent, but they can hear Ellen. Her final time: 59 seconds. "When you get scared, fear just leads to mediocrity," Ellen interviews. "I did less than mediocre today."