Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno, Episode 8 – Sleep Now in the Fire

Previously on The Inferno: Road Rules won Ultimate Saturn Road Trip, beefing up their bank account to $40,000. Voiceover Lady: "Leah sets her sights on Road Rules's bad boy Darrell." First of all, there never was a Leah/Darrell subplot, aside from her telling Julie and Trishelle that she liked him a lot. Secondly... bad boy? I think "incomprehensible boy" fits better. Anyway, she backed her thang up for him on the dance floor. Christena volunteered for the Inferno, but found herself slated to battle her best friend Mallory. Shot of the pier. Who will take the short boat home... tonight?

Credits. In case you've sworn off MTV videos altogether, Yellowcard has one in rotation. "Ocean Avenue" is a little weird, what with the Groundhog Day plot, nuns, and bums. But the song kicks butt, and I'm happy they're not totally dependant on reality "stars" for celebrity.

Villa. Christena and Mallory chat. Christena doesn't know if she'll be able to go back to school in Michigan due to out-of-state tuition costs. She interviews that she met Mallory at the MTV Video Music Awards. "We're unbelievably close because we're one and the same," Christena interviews. She goes on about how she feels on the same team as Mallory, and they playfully trash each other. "I really think it would be difficult to be here without her," Mallory interviews. "I'd rather not go up against my best friend." After enduring the Rachel/Sarah Gauntlet last season, I'm still not moved.

Elsewhere, Leah and Darrell cuddle on a couch. He wishes they were in Acapulco by themselves. Leah interviews that she's been spending a lot of time with Darrell, since he's really sweet and funny. "Leah's a beautiful girl," Darrell interviews. "She likes to come around, kiss, cuddle, hug. I had no idea me and Leah would be doin' what we do." Total segment time: 37 seconds. That was underwhelming.

Mission site. Buckets hang from rafters. Dave welcomes the players to Don't Yank My Chain. There's hooting and hollering, since it's a vaguely veiled self-pleasure reference. Dave lays down the exposition: each team will stand with their arms in the air. Timmy picks things up, explaining that one arm will be through a loop, which is attached to a bucket. Dave tells the players that the arm controls the bucket over the teammate on their right-hand side. The buckets are filled with nacho ingredients: cheese, guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. Very yummy. Veronica is disgusted. "None of the condiments are actually tasty," she interviews, "and you don't want this [bleep] all over yourself." Dave says that when the arm falls, the bucket dumps on a teammate. The team with the last player standing wins $10,000. Mike interviews the obvious, that RW needs to win. Dave adds that the last players from each side will receive the Aztec Lifesaver. Mallory interviews that she plans on getting the AL and staying for a long time.

RR skullduggery. Veronica tells a stretching Christena that she has to win. In fact, if RW loses, the RR members will let Christena win. Veronica interviews that Katie is RR's weakest player, and if Christena wins the AL, then she can put Katie in her place. Shady but effective, especially since RW would never want Katie to be eliminated. "Katie, we're tired of seeing you perform horribly at missions," Shane snots, as we get a flashback to her choking in Birdfeeder. "You solely have carried the team down and lost $10,000. I can't wait to get rid of you so [fake gasp] I can breathe easy at night." Is Katie a scrub? In my mind: yes. Worse than Sarah, even. But the way Shane rips into her... he's being a jerk about it. So shut up, Shane. Suck up to Adam on your own time. Christena: "I feel completely divided, because I know what's best for the team and what's best for my bank account, but Katie is a human being and a nice person."

While the kids’ table plots Katie's immediate demise, Aunt Holly and Uncle Timmy look on. She thinks it's shady, he figures it's strategy. "It's not shady," he jokes, "we're just money-grubbing whores." Looks like somebody's been reading the forums. Holly laughs, but admits she came to win. "The idea of throwing a mission doesn't sit well with me," she interviews. "But you're only as strong as your weakest player. So having Katie here in the end for the final mission could be a detriment to out team." Timmy tells Holly that they can't finish with their entire team intact. They seem to have forgotten about Jeremy already.

Christena pulls Katie aside and lets her in on the plan. Obviously, Christena didn't see Katie's meltdown with Veronica from last season. Katie tells Christena that she figured that out, and interviews that she's pissed. Christena figures that if Katie survives an Inferno, she'll be here for the long haul. Christena interviews that she wants to win the AL fairly. Katie interviews that her game plan is to keep her arms up longer than Christena.

Dave gets everybody in position and counts down before blowing the air horn. Coral's t-shirt says "Bitchcakes." Hey, it's better that Julie putting her band's name on her shirt. Everybody is concentrating on the task. David's body starts to blur, thanks to editing. He interviews that he has ligament damage in both elbows, and he injured it again in Climbing Wall. He yanks down the rope, covering Leah with a brown substance. David's time: 25 minutes. "I'm not a quitter," he interviews, "but I'm not gonna sit and fight something I know I'm not gonna win at." Timmy interviews about his "broken-up" elbows from years of football. He nails Kendal with the brown stuff, clocking out at 0:25. Suddenly, Timmy himself is covered in guacamole. He says that Holly pulled her cord at 0:26.

More shots. Darrell pulls his cord, splattering Christena (0:31). Mike yells for Julie to splash him, and she coats him in nasty sour cream (0:32). Shane interviews that his arms are getting weak and he can't hold it. He yanks, sour creaming Katie (0:47). Coral does the same to CT (1:07). Syrus pulls his cord, covering David's back with salsa (1:19). As CT flexes his fingers, he accidentally drenches Mallory in salsa (1:44), but she has enough presence of mind to stay focused.

Dave announces that two hours have gone by. Remaining RR players: Katie, Christena, Abram, Veronica, and Kendal. Remaining RW players: Mallory, Leah, and Mike. Katie interviews that the first five minutes are the hardest, and she's numb after that. Abram doesn't know how she's lasting so long. Veronica tells Christena to breathe and concentrate. Shot of Katie. Shot of Christena. And then... Christena yanks her cord, covering Abram in sour cream. Soundtrack: "Life is sweet, gooooooooood." Christena's time: 2:10. Suddenly, Veronica has guacamole dumped on her. Katie: "I knew that whoever was to my right was gonna get dumped on. I was pretty pleased to know it was Veronica." I don't like Katie, but I do dig the bitterness. Her time: 2:16. She interviews that she was concentrating on beating Christena, and she didn't care anymore. Christena: "Letting her know cost me, because Katie had fire in her eyes to stay, to keep her arms up. Otherwise, she would've been down taking a nap 20 minutes into the thing."