Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno, Episode 9: Hot Bargains

Previously on The Inferno: Road Rules players sought to dump Katie into the Inferno, but the plan backfired when Christena, the nominee, gave up in the Don't Yank My Chain challenge. In happier news, RR won their second mission in a row, upping their bank to $50,000. Kendal rubbed it in that RR had a 5-3 advantage over Real World. In the worst Inferno yet, Christena defeated her best friend Mallory, leaving RW with seven players.

It’s a quiet night at the villa. Katie reads the mission clue off the sponsored device, telling the others of the 7:30 a.m. pickup time. She interviews that she's sure to do a lot better than before. She decides that she's going to exercise. "I'm going to try and work out," she adds, "and win this with dignity." I have to ask once more: do these people know what show they're on?

Back inside, Coral asks anybody if they want to join her in making sandwiches. At long last, she's wearing her shout-out shirt, "Melissa Will Kill You." Veronica insists that Abram wants one. Coral fixes a sandwich as Syrus looks on. She spreads mustard on the bread... and then she licks it and laughs. It's not that clear if her tongue makes contact, but it is disgusting regardless. Syrus laughs, saying he'd never do that to her. "I wouldn't do that to you!" she responds. More licking, more cackling, and then she hands the sandwich to Abram. After what he did with Rachel and Veronica in Telluride, he shouldn't be that uptight about germs. Shane warns Abram, but he takes a bite. "Why is she filming the sandwich?" he asks of a nearby camerawoman. Maybe Abram isn't as dumb as I thought. Coral laughs while Abram takes a big bite.

Outside, David and Holly do stomach crunches. He jokes that this is better than going to work. He then engages in Jane Fonda-style aerobics, which cracks Holly up. "I'll put it straight," he interviews, "I'm here for a good time. I guess my motivation for this challenge was Acapulco, paid vacation, suntan. That's pretty much it." Gotta love the honesty. "When it comes to competition, I'm pretty much going to take it as it goes." Mike interviews that David is a good guy, but he's been lackadaisical lately. More aerobics, as Mike and David grin from the pool. CT interviews that he's comfortable with David, since their mothers knew each other. "He does little things that make him look weak to everybody else," CT interviews. "The kid's legit. He's one of our best players."

Sunrise. Dave welcomes everybody to the next mission, Come Sail Away. Each team is given items to sell to passengers disembarking from a cruise ship. The team that earns the most money gets $10,000 for the bank account. Mike interviews that he doesn't want RR to win three missions in a row. Dave reveals the catch: these items aren't very popular. The camera scans as Dave's words sink in: sombrero, iron, cotton balls. Dave adds that the teams get three and a half hours to sell their wares. Abram interviews that they need to sell at the highest prices.

David volunteers to pick the items from RW. Mike interviews that David has to step up, and hopes it's good enough. Veronica picks for RR. David grabs a toy torpedo. Coral gets pissed as David snares a sombrero. "Coral gets pissed" will be a running theme today. Veronica grabs roller skates. Syrus carries a pinata. Veronica gets a CD player. Syrus grouses about a toy fish. RR gets a microwave, RW gets a car battery. To sell. Yeah, good luck with those.

Coral instructs David to get a swimsuit, but he veers away from that. Coral openly wonders if he's on crack. Syrus rubs his head, already in agony. "David is having a terribly off day," Coral interviews. "We're all just like a deer in headlights, we can't believe this is happening." David threatens to smack everybody, insisting he's had coffee. Veronica smiles. Julie looks perplexed. Coral looks pissed.

After commercials, Dave blows his air horn to start things off. Back in Extreme Challenge, Syrus was going into a cheerleading mission with little prep time. His idea? "Be a ham. Ham this up. Honey. Glazed. Ham." Cut to today: "Get your beautiful Mexican sun piñata! Comes equipped with a black man!" Holly has trouble selling pliers. Julie lures a younger tourist away from RR, offering to juggle and dance for him. RR sells a pair of briefs. Mike gives an older woman a sombrero so big, it almost knocks her over. David unsuccessfully tries to sell a bikini top to her. Mike interviews that he's having a blast. "I'm just lying my ass off," he continues, "trying to get her to buy anything."

Time remaining: three hours, 17 minutes. Timmy has his Pirates cap on, along with an oversized clown nose. I miss Jon and Al from The Amazing Race. Timmy asks a guy if he wears muumuus. Coral grabs some cash, and we see the first returns: RW has 1,660 pesos, while RR has 940. Kendal fits an old lady for a sarong. She interviews about not being good with sales or being pushy. Katie talks to Darrell about booth position. He interviews that they have to push the stuff cheap. It would be different if they had to make a profit, as opposed to just selling the stuff. I'm sorry I compared this to The Apprentice last week. I'm actually having more fun watching this than that episode.

Time remaining: 2:30. David: "I'll be straight, I brought my C-game to this challenge." Cut to David yawning in a chair. Syrus: "He's kinda ADD. I don't think he's much help." Katie pushes the CD player and interviews that she's happy with this mission. Timmy interviews that she's making a comeback.