Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet, Episode 3: When Drama Mamas Attack

Just want to acknowledge those who wrote to me last week. Thanks for the support, and also to Laura, for telling me that people can tread water with their arms raised. I really didn’t know that. Thanks!

Previously on The Gauntlet, Elka braved the ice cold water to win Snake Soup, earning $10,000 for the Real World bank. Both teams had to sacrifice one of their own into the Gauntlet. Get used to the word “sacrifice,” since the players and Jonny will run it straight into the ground. Kind souls that they are, Darrell and Rachel R. decide to gun for ex-teammate Sarah, based on past experiences with her. Over on the other side, RW sends David. In the Gauntlet, David’s upper-body strength proved no match for gravity in Dead Man’s Drop, as he fell to his elimination.

Credits. There’s no rearrangement of the cast members, although a few seconds are clipped here and there to speed things up. Seeing David smile depresses me. David, if you’re reading this: don’t do another Challenge. Or if you do, at least learn to swim.

Whoa, Bunim and Murray chipped in for decent music this week! Junior Senior’s “Move Your Feet” plays as the RR gang has a good old time, carousing, hot-tubbing, and the like. Dave is pumped since they’re a complete team. Even Sarah’s laughing! In a sequence that might induce seizures, we flash between Bubble Bath Santa Theo (with Rachel, Darrell, and Tina) and Interview Pirate Theo. “I’m actually glad that we haven’t lost anyone,” he says. “I don’t want to see anyone go home.” BBSTheo: “This is the Road Rules soup! This is the soup of the day!” Dave sees Veronica in the shower. Theo asks her to write “Real World Sucks” on the door. She does, and they whoop it up. “I’m excited to be here,” Katie interviews, “and I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

Outside, Elka and Montana share a hammock. Elka talks about getting to know people. Montana: “There’s not as much incentive when you have a real job and another life, and you’re not just making your money doing the Challenges.” Nice. Elka laughs, since this is only her second Challenge. Montana confesses that the others are younger, and she might be at a disadvantage. Cut to shots of the RR kids, including Katie flicking a lighter really close to Adam. Elka thinks she doesn’t have the gusto. Montana warns her to keep that to herself since the others could pick up on that.

Sunrise shot from the mountains. Game site. Jonny welcomes everybody to the next event, Masquerade. It’s a team challenge, where all of the players work together to solve a puzzle. In this case, it involves comedy and drama masks. The boards have seven frown faces and five smiles. The players must rearrange the pieces to form thirteen masks: nine frowns and four smiles. Elka expositions that only two people can work on the puzzle at a given time. Mike follows up, mentioning that everybody else directs. Jonny says that the team that completes the puzzle “to my satisfaction” wins $10,000 for the bank.

Both teams huddle to form strategies. Theo V. wears a “Where’s Timmy?” t-shirt. Aw, I miss him, too. I heard he was supposed to come to the show, but scheduling conflicts got in the way. Mike is still wearing his “Be Miz” tee. Abram, Mike, Cara, and Alton interview to say their teams have it nailed.

Jonny sounds the airhorn to start things off. On the RR side, Abram and Theo start reassembling the pieces. Make your own jokes. Over on RW, Coral calls Tonya to help her, and tells Matt to stand back. Rachel B. starts to direct from behind the line.

Back to RR, Steve is figuring out the puzzle. “I had no friends when I was little,” he interviews with a straight face. “I had puzzles. Puzzles were my friends, and I’d solve them. I’m great at these things.” The teammates up front also shout their advice. On the RW side, Rachel instructs Coral and Tonya to remove the top pieces. Elka interviews that she’s confident with those two, but they were taking time. Irulan interviews her concerns for the duo representing.

RR. Abram and Theo quickly move the pieces. Adam, donned in a different “Where’s Timmy?” t-shirt, tells the pair that they’re kicking ass. A graphic shows that RR has four out of four smiles, five of nine frowns. On the RW board? Zero smiles, zero frowns. Coral shushes encouragement from Matt. I guess he’s still on her list. “Let’s be honest,” Rachel B. interviews. “Anyone could figure out the puzzle. I had to look at it for two seconds, and I figured it out.” She asks if she and Matt could take over. Quickly, the blondes rush in, going at a faster clip.

RR. Abram and Theo are keeping the pace, getting feedback from their teammates. Meanwhile, Rachel and Matt have one smile and two frowns up. Matt puts up a piece, only to have it drop from the board. Nathan yells for Matt to listen to them. “We just got kind of jumbled up,” Nathan interviews. “Too many people talking at one time.” Elka doesn’t feel that they’ll win. Matt takes out a piece and another pops out.

Back from commercials, RR has five smiles (one over) and eight frowns. RW: two smiles, five frowns. Finally, Abram and Theo get the faces in. The others simultaneously count the masks, then they celebrate. The RW folks encourage Matt and Rachel to keep working, in case the RR solution isn’t done to Jonny’s satisfaction. They have three smiles and six frowns before Jonny blows his horn, ending the game. Abram tells us the obvious: RR won $10,000 for their bank. Nathan interviews that his team did well but “the Road Rules team was just a better team today. They got it done faster.”