Survival of the Richest, Episode 3: Pick a Peck of Pickled Peppers

Welcome to the third episode of Survival of the Richest. The show starts off with a recap of events so far. You can read my recap of last week.

As a reminder, the poor kids are Esmerelda (eliminated), Tracy, Jim, Jacob, Michael (eliminated), Johanna, and Marcus. The rich kids are Kat (eliminated), Elizabeth, T.R., Liz, Nick (eliminated), Sammy, and Hunter.

This episode starts with Jacob being in absolute shock that he wasn’t eliminated last week. Johanna tells us that she was the one who turned Hunter against his own alliance partner, Nick.

Meanwhile, everyone is happy that the stress in the house, i.e., Nick, is gone. They laugh and even have a rousing game of Butt Wars! “What is that?” I hear you ask. Well, apparently, two players each wrap their arms around the back of their thighs and then attempt to push the other player around, Sumo-style, by backing into them. It’s like a weird demolition derby. There is more laughter as Hunter falls to the floor.

Liz tells us that there are two guys in the house vying for her attention. One is a Harvard graduate, Hunter and the other is Jim, a blue-collar hunky guy who plays poker. She just can’t get over how hot Jim is and she thinks she’d rather be with him than Hunter, the guy with the money.

Meanwhile, T.R., Jim’s game partner, is encouraging Jim to take up with Liz. He thinks that, if there is one other team that will not vote against them, their team can go that much farther in the game. “Whore yourself more!” he says. Good thinking.

Then, we move on to the humor for the day. The cameras sweep through the rich kids’ rooms and they look like a tornado blew through them. There are clothes and shoes and linens thrown everywhere. The beds are not made, the trashcans are overflowing, and it generally looks like a disaster that FEMA couldn’t help. T.R. laments that things would be a lot better if they had a cleaning staff. Note that he didn’t request a maid or valet; he requested a whole staff.

And soon, a cleaning staff appears. Tracy comes in and tells them that this is the day they have to clean the house. She never says that this is an order from the producers. The rest of the players grumble, but eventually they get to work on it.

We get to see the obligatory scenes of the rich kids fumbling around with the cleaning equipment. Liz is told to get a mop and she points to a broom. Ha, ha. Funny. Sammy squeals as she is attacked by a horde of dust bunnies. Elizabeth breaks the vacuum cleaner and dumps out more dirt than she picks up.

A little bit later, T.R. and Hunter announce that, since the rich kids are cleaning up after piss and poo, it’s only fair that the poor kids get to go out for a nice dinner. I’m not quite sure the logic there, but whatever. T.R. decides to treat everyone to a nice fish dinner. Everyone packs into the van and they head off to a nice restaurant.

Okay, now what’s going on here? First, Tracy orders everyone to clean up. Now, T.R. invites everyone out to eat. Doesn’t this show have a production staff to tell them what to do? And, is it really as it seems that the rich kids all got to bring along their credit cards and can use them whenever they feel like it?

If so, why haven’t we seen the rich kids write checks to the poor kids, buying their votes? Why haven’t the rich kids just hired maids and have food delivered to them? I mean, we got to see them buy a weeks worth of groceries with only $450, but now, we find that they can spend their own money for maybe $1,000 worth of fish dinners (ten kids at about $100 a plate)? Which of the poor kids is going to vote off the guys buying them free dinners?

And, of course, this sushi restaurant seems to have no problem with ten people showing up unexpectedly with five or six cameras and operators. This whole thing smells like a set-up. But, whatever.

Hunter is explaining all the basics of sushi and feels that everyone is impressed. The rich kids are suitably impressed, but the poor kids, led by Marcus, think that he’s just overbearing and pompous. Even worse, most of the poor kids simply do not enjoy eating raw fish and make ugly faces. Marcus even tries to unroll his sushi, mistaking the seaweed wrapper for some kind of plastic wrapper, like the paper on a corn dog. I don’t blame them. I hate sushi as well.

Hunter tells us that it is the mark of a cultured man to like sushi. You are expected to like it if you are rich and now he really does see the poor kids as less classy. Speaking of classy, the bill arrives and Hunter and T.R. each pull out five $100 bills and start waving them around, saying how money doesn’t matter. This gets the poor kids a bit upset, but obviously T.R. and Hunter are just trying to be funny. I’m not sure that they realize how upset they are making the poor kids.

Back at the mansion, things are heating up between Liz and Jim. They slip off to be alone, but the cameras follow them everywhere. They are seen kissing in the hot tub and snuggling on the bed. T.R. tells us, however, that he asked Jim whether he’d rather have the girl or the money and Jim told him that he really needs the money. In fact, Jim comes on and tells the audience that he’s had plenty of girls before and he can get more where those came from, but getting the money is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

T.R. tells us that this is all part of his plan. When the time is right, he will tell Hunter all about the fact that Liz and Jim are making out so that he will be ready to vote her out of the game.