Paradise Hotel, September 23: Twisting in the Wind

Next up, the trust questions. Keith, has your trust in Dave changed in past few days and why? Keith replies that it was hard to listen to what Dave said at the last Pandora’s Box, so he doesn’t know about the trust factor. He has trusted Dave to this point and always will, but thinks that Dave should have worded things differently or said what he meant. Scott, who do you trust more: Tara or Charla and why? Scott replies that neither has backstabbed him or lost his trust. He spent the excursion with Charla and has no reason not to trust her, so he picks Charla.

And now, on to the power to pick questions. Dave, if it was up to the guests, why should they give him the power? Dave replies that they shouldn’t. He would like to save himself and Charla, but the power that he’s wielded in the past has brought with it a lot of resentment from eliminated guests, so he’ll take the power if he’s given it, but doesn’t really want it. Host Amanda catwalks in and tells the guests to think about what they’ve learned, because they’re about to make the single most important decision at Paradise Hotel. They will decide who gets the power and the only rule is that they can’t choose themselves or their roommate. They get an hour to decide whom they want to vote for and the clock is ticking.

It’s time for a commercial. For the record, my money’s on Keith getting the power. Scott and Holly have to vote for him in the hope that he’ll be pissed enough at Dave to keep them around. Charla will vote for either Keith or Tara, most likely Tara, whom she trusts and knows will keep her around. Dave will probably vote for Keith, because he trusts him the most. Tara and Keith will vote for Charla, whom they trust to keep them.

Each couple has retreated to their respective corners to strategize. Scott feels sick to his stomach; Holly looks bored. She wants to know who Tara and Keith would dump. Tara tells Keith that she’d send Dave home in a New York minute, but would never send her best friend, Charla, home. Holly muses to Scott that she thinks that Tara and Keith will vote for Charla. Scott asks her why – to take it out of his hands? Yes, Scott, that’s exactly why. Holly asks Scott if he really thinks the two of them (Holly and Scott) have any chance at getting the power. No, he doesn’t, but given Dave’s behavior for the past two days, the two of them might be safe. Holly disagrees – Dave will be in paradise tomorrow, but she won’t. Scott decides to vote for Tara and Keith, as they are Scott and Holly’s only chance. He goes to Tara and Keith and makes his “last plea,” telling them that he and Holly are voting for them because Tara and Keith are their only hope and he hopes that Keith remembers what they talked about: character and trust.

Keith tells Tara that the one conversation they had turned everything around. Scott tells Holly he wants to break a table over his head. Huh? Tara declares that she is going to talk to Charla and then Dave. Keith decides to go talk to Scott and Holly.

Tara tells Dave and Charla how things are “going down.” Dave asks why Scott and Holly are voting for Keith instead of him. Tara tells him that they don’t trust him. He asks if it was because of the infamous conversation. Charla tells him it’s because of yesterday. Tara tells him it’s that something that was said.

Keith tells Scott and Holly that he doesn’t know if he can really vote Dave and Charla off. He can’t make any promises. Say what you will, but Keith seems to be a fairly stand up guy. Scott replies that everything Keith has said is about trust and if Keith kicks them off, then he has to sleep with his decision. Scott tells Keith that everything he’s been “preaching” about honesty would be out the window, especially considering that the guy he “pinky swore” with lied and tried to stab him in the back.

Hey, don’t you think it’s a good time for a commercial? I don’t, but Fox does. While we’re on break, I’m going to predict that Scott and Holly leave paradise. I think Fox is editing to make drama, but Tara and Charla are really the ones driving the bus at this point and they don’t want to lose each other.

Keith decides he needs talk to Dave. Scott asks Keith if he thinks that Dave realizes that he did something wrong. Dave’s been very vocal until now – why is he quiet all of a sudden? I think it’s because Dave has realized his mistake and has decided that not talking is probably his best strategy at this point.

Up in Charla and Dave’s room, Dave is brooding. Charla asks him what’s going on, because she feels like he’s upset and taking it out on her. She wants to know if she’s done something wrong. Dave tells her he’s depressed because of the situation between him and her and how it feels to be rejected and relationships and making mistakes. Charla tells him that he hasn’t been rejected at the hotel, so he must be speaking generally. Dave just says, “Charla,” in a tone that tells her that he does feel rejected – by her. Hello? Charla? You can’t just make something go away by pretending it’s not there. Charla tells Dave that he hasn’t been rejected by her, because they’ve been friends the entire time. If he means romantically, then Charla thinks everyone should feel rejected. Dave points out that things are different with him because he has feelings for her. Charla tells him that she’s not going to get into this discussion and doesn’t understand why he feels rejected. She’s sorry he’s taking it so hard, because she hasn’t projected anything but friendship and wants them to continue to be good friends after the show. She asks him if he believes that she’ll still be friends with him when she goes back to Minnesota. He dejectedly replies, “Sure.”