Paradise Hotel, September 23: Twisting in the Wind

After commercial, we see a belly dancer arriving at breakfast, which is coed today. Dave, who is drooling prodigiously, decides that that was the “best letter entrance ever.” As he lustily stares at the belly dancer’s, um, assets, he reads the letter – it’s a costume ball, followed by Pandora’s Box! The butler arrives, bearing presents for the guests. The girls get scanty belly dancer/harem girl costumes, the guys get shiny outfits that look like the production staff mugged the cast of a high school production of 1001 Arabian Nights. Tara looks at her costume and raises her eyebrows at the lack of fabric. Keith looks at her and says, “Whatever. You’ve had on less than that.” Heh.

Faster than Jeannie can cross her arms and blink, it’s time for the costume party. There are lots of sexy belly dancers, each of whom came equipped with a snake. The snake gets near Keith and he jumps up and screams like a little girl. I guess we know why he’s on Paradise Hotel and not Survivor, although Osten did the same thing on the latter show last week anyway. The other guests call him a “wuss” for his snake phobia. Sensitive bunch, these Paradise Hotel folks.

Dave puts a snake around his neck. And then, so does Charla, who then really gets into the act and starts belly dancing with the snake. I told you the girl could move! She then starts telling Dave how she really liked the snake (and apparently eye shadow, too – who did her makeup, Tammy Faye Baker? Yikes!). She really dug the feeling of the snake moving on her skin. Fox cuts to a flashback of her saying at Pandora’s Box that she doesn’t like Dave touching her. Ouch. The party continues, with the female guests belly dancing for the male guests. Let’s just say that rhythm isn’t Holly’s middle name. Amy’s not bad, though.

Well, if the costume ball is over, it’s time for Pandora’s Box. First up is Amy, who is asked if she still wants Keith out of the hotel. You betcha. Tara’s next. Who would Tara rather send home, Amy or Holly? Amy, because of all the “riff raff” this summer. Wait, I thought that Amy was the riff raff. Either way, it’s the same result, I guess. Charla’s turn. Has she tried to seduce any of the guys here and been turned down? She admits to trying to seduce Scott and getting turned down. Holly’s eyebrows go sky high. Scott confirms that she made an attempt. Interestingly, she doesn’t mention the play she made for Keith. Could it be because her girl Tara is now his bed buddy? Or, could it be because she doesn’t want to set off Dave’s jealous bug? Who knows? At any rate, she heads up to the box to ask the next question, muttering “seduced” under her breath.

Dave’s up. What was the reasoning behind sending Beau home and would that theory apply to anyone here? Dave morphs into Strategy Boy and says that he hopes that the people he’s saved (read: Scott) will hopefully have his and Charla’s back more than Beau and Amy would have. And then he gets diarrhea of the mouth and says that he could have easily taken Scott or Keith out. Keith’s ears perk up and he turns to Scott and asks if Scott really thinks that Dave would have taken Keith out. Dave interrupts and says that it was “in his mind” to take Keith out. Keith’s head whips around he asks incredulously, “You would have taken me out over Scott?” Dave, who finally realizes he’s in a bad situation, wavers, “Well, I don’t know what I would do.” The drama level rises as Keith gets asked if it will be as easy for him to eliminate Dave as it was for him to eliminate Zack. Keith, ever the ruthless player, replies that if, at the end, it was between him and Dave, “Hell yeah, it would be easy.”

After Pandora’s Box, Dave and Charla retreat to their room to whisper about how they feel badly for Keith and Tara because of the treatment Keith and Tara received at Pandora’s Box. Dave and Charla also decide they need to reach out and reconfirm the alliance. Charla believes that Tara and Keith have been excluding them; Dave worries that Tara and Keith might take them out. Over in Tara and Keith’s room, Tara and Keith are pissed off about Dave’s comments at Pandora’s Box. Back in Dave and Charla’s room, Dave theorizes that Keith is too smart to take Charla out, as he knows that it would “all be over.” Charla flicks her hair and says that if Tara got booted she wouldn’t take Charla with her.

It’s time for Dave and Keith to have a heart to heart in the pool. Keith can’t believe Dave’s comments at Pandora’s Box. Dave admits that he lied to “save face” and asks, sarcastically, if Keith wanted him to reconfirm the alliance in public and weaken their position. Keith says not to worry – he’s there to win. And then he cackles evilly. You know, I really wouldn’t be surprised to see Keith on a soap opera in the next few months. He’s got the looks and I’ll be damned if he doesn’t have the evil cackle, too.

The next morning, Keith is in the shower bellowing Tara’s name ala Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire. Tara fills the trash can with cold water and dumps it over the shower door on his head. He screams in pain. Heh. She then starts running around the room and wipes out on the water she spilled all over the marble bathroom floor. Heh heh.

Next is a quiet, ladies only breakfast. Everyone thinks they’re going home tonight. Charla tells Amy that Amy isn’t going home; Amy disagrees and declares that she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. Ignoring her, Charla says that the stairs out of the hotel aren’t the walk of shame; they’re the walk of freedom.

After breakfast, Tara asks Charla if Charla really thinks that Amy is going to stay. Charla replies that she thinks that Amy will win and that she (Charla) will be going home tonight. Amy and Scott have a little chat by the pool and Amy notes to Scott that the two of them are barely hanging on and that it could go a million different ways. Well, actually, Amy, there’s only seven people left, so it could really only go a few ways, but why be reasonable when you can be a drama queen?