Mr. Personality: Did the Best Man Win?

For the first several episodes of Mr. Personality, Chris, the man in the green mask, seemed to be the only one working with any kind of strategy. In my article last week, I wrote about how Will, in the silver mask, finally adopted a strategy of his own. Hayley helpfully chose Will and Chris as her final two, so I would still have something to write about this week! Will won the game, Hayley's heart, and her hand in marriage, while Chris had to pack up his hypnosis books and go home empty-handed. Let's look at why Chris lost, and how Will won.

The episode begins with Hayley going on an overnight date with Chris to Las Vegas. She declares that Chris has "a lot to gain today" if he'll only open up to her. Luckily for Chris, that's the plan – he says, "It's all about opening my heart and just being totally real with her." The date starts off well. Chris makes a grand entrance on the stage where they're about to watch a Vegas show, exclaiming, "Somebody stop me!" like Jim Carey, the first man to wear a bright green mask. Hayley laughs, and I must admit, I did, too.

Over dinner, however, things take a bad turn for Chris. He refers to the game they're playing, and Hayley winces. She says that she hates thinking of it that way. Chris backpedals like mad, saying he didn't mean that what they were doing was a game, that he meant "the game of life." I'm not buying it, and I'm not sure if Hayley is either. When the time comes for dessert, Chris arranges for the waiter to bring Hayley a book of poems by Rumi. Chris is obviously big on the poems – a poem was one of his gifts to Hayley in the first episode. Hey, Chris, since the poetry didn't work on Hayley, try Monica instead – I think I read somewhere about another guy she, um, dated, giving her a copy of “Leaves of Grass.” Anyway, back to Hayley. In what Chris describes as a bit of serendipity, she opens the book to the exact poem he was about to read to her. She's shocked, asking him, "Is this like a card trick?" He swears it's not, but Miss Hayley seems to be wising up and is suspicious of Chris, seeing him as too good to be true. This does not, of course, keep her from spending the evening making out with him. The next morning, Chris seems genuinely smitten with Hayley, telling the camera in the limo that he can't imagine ever dating another woman after Hayley.

Meanwhile, Will is alternating between being incredibly jealous of the possibility that Hayley might be kissing Chris and doing some strategizing of his own. In an interview, he tells us that Chris has a sketchbook that he writes in, and that, "it just fell open." Yeah, right. Sure it did. Will, naturally, reads it, and is shocked to discover that the book contains Chris's game plan for winning, and that Will himself is mentioned several times. He ponders how to handle this new piece of information.

Hayley and Will's date is a trip to the Grand Canyon, beginning with a helicopter ride. Will is excited about the ride – too bad Chris's strategy was for Hayley to forever associate helicopter rides with him. It doesn't seem to matter, though. Hayley says, "I forgot about Chris the minute I saw Will." The two of them are having a great time, and Hayley really feels like Will has opened his heart to her. As we peek into that open heart, we discover that it contains a healthy bit of dislike of Chris!

Will tells Hayley that until the most recent elimination, her instincts were good. Hayley asks him if it was a mistake to choose Chris, and asks him, "Is there something that I need to know?" Now, here is Will's chance to spill everything he knows. Tell Hayley about the weird hypnosis books! And the tapes! And the creepy game plan journal! Sadly, Will did not read my article in which I advised him to tell all, because all he'll admit is that his name appeared in Chris's sketchbook, and that he fears his intentions are not genuine. Hayley totally calls him on the fact that he read Chris's diary, but seems to realize that the green mask may be hiding a big psycho. In an interview, Chris says that he's not worried about what might be going on between Hayley and Will, because Will treats her "like a librarian." In case anyone was wondering, Will apparently likes to blindfold his librarian with a silk scarf, then spend the evening with her in a bathtub filled with rose petals surrounded by candles. Wow, he must never have to pay overdue charges on his books!

The next day Will confronts Chris about the fact that his name appeared in the sketchbook. He demands to know, "Are you here for the right reasons?" Because Chris is no fool, he does not pour his heart out to his main competition for Hayley's heart. His reticence leaves Will even more worried and frustrated.

Hayley still can't make up her mind about which guy to choose, so she has her family come visit to meet the two men. Will, in a brilliant Eddie Haskell move, knows all of their names already. Chris tells them that Will is boring. When Hayley's brother Dodger asks Will if he's boring, he gives a boring answer as to why he's not. In the end, the family meeting is a split decision, with half rooting for Chris, half rooting for Will.

Hayley then meets privately with the two men. She asks Will for reassurance. He tells her that he loves her. She asks him if it's possible to love someone after only three weeks. He tells her, "My heart finally convinced my mind." Hayley melts into a little puddle of goo.

The meeting with Chris does not go as well. She confronts him on his constant subliminal messages, like his relentlessly saying "number seventeen" to her on the first night they met. Girl, you don't know the half of it! Chris starts by giving a jargony answer about how the subliminal messages are, "all about empowering people," but Hayley's having none of it and asks him to talk about her specifically. Chris tells her that hypnosis is a "misunderstood concept" and is just good fun. Hayley says that she wants to believe him... but does she?

At the gazebo, the two men make their final pleas to Hayley. Will comes first. He tells Hayley she's allowed him to open his heart, and that he's fallen in love with her. He then drops to one knee, pulls out a diamond ring, and proposes to her. Hayley and Monica both gasp in surprise. He leaves so that she can make her decision.

Hayley is still trying to pull herself together when Chris arrives. Turns out that Hayley has also allowed Chris to open his heart. Hilariously, he ALSO drops to one knee and proposes to Hayley, holding out a ring in the exact same burgundy box as Will had. Apparently they shop at the same jewelry store. At no point in the proposal does he tell Hayley that he loves her. He does, however, tell her to trust her heart.

After he leaves, Hayley and Monica gasp in surprise some more. My husband points out that Monica is probably not used to not being the one on her knees. Hayley goes to the Deliberation Room to make her final decision.

By now, we all know what happened. Hayley tells Chris that she is following her heart just like he said, and that she finds herself falling in love with someone else. Chris lost because he plotted and schemed too much. He was more interested in winning the game to win than he was in winning Hayley's heart. Will, on the other hand, worked to win her over, not just to win. Hayley accepts Will's marriage proposal even before seeing his face. Will says, "I came here to play a game... but I never expected the greatest prize of all." It's a romantic moment, for Fox anyway. The game is over, and the best man won.

Betsy can be reached with any comments at betsyw42@hotmail.com.

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