Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat, Episode 2 – Stumped

When last we left our oversexed MTV brats, they were starting deliberations to determine which couple should go into Exile with Wes and Casey. Wes, Casey, Coral, and Evan (the couple that chose Wes and Casey) are ineligible to vote and must stay out of the room during the decision-making process. TJ gives the rest of the cast 20 minutes to decide who else will go into Exile (unless they win tomorrow’s challenge, in which case everything changes, but we’ll deal with that later).

Tonya is talking to Shane and Linette about how manipulated she felt by Wes. To call him out on his “manipulating bullsh*t,” she tells us she’s voting for Danny and his partner to ensure that one of the Austinites goes home.

TJ comes back in and calls for an oral vote (ouch!). Not only that, but Linette and Shane are first. They vote as a team, naming Danny and Ev, and say it’s a direct reaction to other people’s efforts to get rid of their team. Derrick, Diem, Darrell, and Aviv all vote along the same lines. Theo says they’re voting for Tonya and Johnnie, just based on the results of the challenge. All of the pairs vote together (although I’m not sure if they have to – I’ll call the Florida State Voting Commission for a verdict on that) and the count eventually comes down to eight votes for Danny and Ev and six for Tonya and Johnnie.

Danny interviews that he couldn’t believe how Joey voted – and we see him cast his team’s vote for Linette and Shane (probably following the original instructions Wes gave him). The final tally, taking into account one random vote case “because no one else will vote for them” and two votes from teams that couldn’t adjust at the last minute, is Danny and Ev 10, Tonya and Johnnie 6, Shane and Linette 3 and Derrick and Diem 1. TJ almost runs from the room to get the other couples as Danny and Ev glare at their fellow competitors.

Back at the ranch, Danny is yelling at Johanna and Wes, saying that if Johanna had been clever enough to change strategy midstream, or Wes had been a little less conniving, their situation wouldn’t be so dire. After a good rant at all three of the other Austinites, Danny slams out of the room (strangely, no one seems sad to see him go).

Once again, the dulcet T-Mobile tones sound, and the teams receive their next clue (it has something to do with entering the bush and getting whacked). The Austinites know that unless Wes or Danny’s team wins the challenge tomorrow, one of their foursome is headed home.

And it’s challenge time! TJ shows the teams a circular array of tree stumps that are two feet tall. The teams will have to stand on the stumps (one team per stump) and swing a five-pound medicine ball on a vine at each other. They can only hold the ball for a maximum of three seconds, and after four teams are disqualified in each of two heats, everyone else will move from the two-foot-high stumps to narrower ones that are three feet off the ground. The game is simple – last team standing wins. The victors will win some sort of fancy cell phone with a year of service and the right to determine the order of the teams on the next challenge. For Wes, Casey, Danny, and Ev, they’re also fighting for an exemption from today’s Exile competition.

The teams are given helmets (in case they fall two feet?) and the swinging begins. The contest is very boring, at least until Danny is eliminated, at which time the evil begins. Danny throws his helmet and some yelling takes place between Wes and Tina. Finally, we’re down to four teams – Coral and Evan, Darrell and Aviv, Tonya and Johnnie, and Wes and Casey. Naturally, Wes and Casey are being targeted, since no one wants to allow them to avoid Exile.

Finally, the inevitable happens and Wes and Casey fall. Once they’re gone, the remaining teams feel the pressure is off, except for Tonya and Johnnie, who are screaming at each other. Theo interviews that Tonya’s silicone enhancement devices are so large that they aren’t leaving much room for Johnnie to stand on the stump. Finally, Tonya and Johnnie fall, leaving Coral and Evan as the victors (again).

TJ awards the prize to Coral and Evan, and then tells the teams that they’re all leaving now except for the Exile teams. They have five minutes to say their goodbyes. Everyone seems shocked that they won’t be permitted to watch the Exile. Wes and Johanna and Melinda and Danny spend their five minutes in each other’s arms, with the girls weeping profusely. (Are they aware that Exile means the men are just departing the country, not this mortal coil?)

All of the teams leave, and TJ explains the Exile to the four at risk. A car will pick them up and take them to the start of a race. They’re going to run the race, team by team. They’ll pass checkpoints that have puzzles. If the team chooses to complete the puzzle, they’ll receive some sort of reward. However, solving the puzzles is optional. In addition, each team must carry bags weighing the same as the weight of the luggage they brought with them to Australia. Casey tells us that she can’t believe Ev brought only 24 pounds of luggage; Casey brought 60! The teams can split the weight of their luggage as they like, as long as each team carries the total combined weight of their bags.