Are You Tempted?, Episode 4: Mandy Gets Her Due

Last episode, Mandy's date with Johnny included her licking food off his nipple and him licking her stomach. Then she chose to watch a video clip of her boyfriend Billy's date, knowing full well that this would mean he'd have to see her date. Much of this episode deals with the repercussions from her date, and her total inability to accept blame for her actions.

We begin where we left off, with Billy heading towards the cabin of Vanessa, his most recent date, at 9:03 at night. An hour later, they appear at the bar where the other three guys had been hanging out, and Vanessa is hanging out as well, wearing barely enough to cover her breasts.

Billy starts talking about how, after what he saw at the Bonfire, he felt he could do whatever he wants. And he does. He puts on a little strip show, pulling off his shirt and then undoing his pants, though leaving them on.

Cut to the guys and girls getting their videotaped messages from the previous night. Mandy hears Billy talk about how he "couldn't watch your whole tape." He ends on a rather ironic note, saying he trusts her judgment. She tells the camera that she knew they'd show the worst part. Well, duh. Then why did you make him watch it, moron? Meanwhile, her tape to him talked about cutting loose and having fun. Yes, we saw.

Contrary to his rather stupid girlfriend, Billy seems to be gaining wisdom. He notes that you can think you're preparing yourself for what's going on, but "we're all in a state of denial here, and when something actually happens, it's not pleasant." Well, maybe there will be an upside to this show – at least one person will learn a lesson.

Valerie let Kaya know that she saw him on his first date, and waved to him, but he didn't wave back. Kaya tells the camera that he never even saw her. Meanwhile, his message to her said that she's in his head and everything is good.

Andy's message responds to Shannon's earlier one by assuring her that he's spreading himself around rather than concentrating on one girl. Shannon explains that she didn't watch the previous tape because she was continuing his closed-door policy.

Taheed was the most surprised because he got a tape from Ytossie (he, of course, hadn't sent one to her). It's not exactly a loving tape, mind you. She says it's obvious that he's going to do what he said he would, and so will she. He explains to the camera that she is "prone to want to get back."

Then the big story of this show finally hit. Greg (the naval flight instructor) took a walk with an upset Ytossie, who told him that she and Taheed had an 18-month-old child together and that she wanted to salvage the relationship.

Whoops! Big mistake there, Ytossie – even bigger than coming on the show to begin with. The couples were not supposed to have kids! So Chris, the producer, shows up. They bring Taheed and Ytossie together and inform them that they should never have been there, because it would kill him to know that they broke up a family. OK, for those keeping score in the morals department: Breaking up a couple is fine; breaking up a couple who has a kid is not. At least we've got that straight.

So, he informed them, the producers were taking the two of them out of the mix. They were offered another suite at a new location where they could try to work out their problems, or they could just send them home. Chris left to let them decide, as if it was in private; of course, the camera stayed. Taheed, who acted like he couldn't possibly care less, left it up to Ytossie. She wanted to stay to talk. As she explained to the camera, you can either choose to work it out or walk away, and she wanted to work it out. With that jerk, I'm not sure why, but whatever.

They each go back to say goodbye to their cohorts. Taheed tries to explain himself and says that two people shouldn't stay together just because they have a child. I won't argue with that, but if two people with a kid are having such problems, they might want to consider counseling, not a television show where the whole point is to cheat on each other!

Incidentally, there has been some speculation that Heather left last episode because she found out about the child. However, nothing in this episode supports that.

After this wonderful scene, we cut to the pool for the next picking of the dates. Mandy thinks Billy is not happy to see her. Gee, I can't imagine why. But Billy just mutters something about it having been a tough day.

The next date will be a triple-date, all going together in a group. And the other two get to choose two guys as possible dates for the third, with each taking turns. Then the third does get to pick which of the two s/he will take on the date.

Mandy and Shannon pick Johnny (the singer/poet/licker) and Jon (the social worker and special education teacher) for Valerie. Valerie chooses Jon (she must not have heard about Johnny's tongue action).

Shannon and Valerie pick Greg and Tom (the Ivy League graduate) for Mandy. She decides on Tom.

Valerie and Mandy pick Dano (the motocross racer) and Jim (the artist) for Shannon. She takes Dano.

Billy and Andy pick Elizabeth (the real estate agent) and LaWonna (the teen crisis counselor) for Kaya. He goes with LaWonna.

Kaya and Andy pick Megan (the kindergarten teacher and former Laker girl) and Alison (doctor and former Playboy model) for Billy. He goes with Megan. Billy? You just turned down a Playboy model. Hello?! Meanwhile, Tom leaned over and asked Mandy if she was okay. Mandy talked about how great he was and how he rose above Billy by respecting her. Um, yeah. Because if there's one thing I associate with Mandy, the nipple-licker, it's respect for a relationship.

Kaya and Billy picked Venus and Vanessa for Andy. Being the stand-up guy that he is, Andy asked Venus if she'd been on a date yet. She hadn't, so he picked her. Shannon thought this was just great, showing how selfless he was. Venus was somewhat less impressed and said it felt like a "pity date."

Mandy shares with all of us that Tom is the one guy she really wanted to go out with (she tried to pick him last episode, but there was a tie and she didn't get to). She added that he was the only guy there that really tempted the boundaries of her and Billy. So I guess all that licking and kissing with Johnny somehow didn't go over those boundaries. I bet Billy would have a different take on that.

So, they go out on their triple dates. Billy had fun. Andy didn't. In fact, he said Venus was a bore and wished he could have dated Megan instead. Venus apparently wasn't thrilled by Andy's lack of attention, calling him "pansy Andy." How mature.

Mandy, of course, had fun on her date, and said she could date Tom if she broke up with Billy. Give it a little time, honey, and keep acting this way – then there won't be an "if." Oh, and she indicated she would kiss him if the opportunity arose. Thanks for that revelation; we couldn't figure it out from your recent history.

At this point, my wife, who decided to watch this show for the first time, got up and walked out, disgusted. But she missed the best part: The bonfire.

The guys had previously brought up the idea of removing the blocks that had been put on each of them, preventing them from dating certain girls. Host Mark Walberg said they could vote to remove the blocks from their "significant" others, and then he would challenge them to do the same. While Andy thought Shannon would read too much into it, they all signed on to the idea.

Now, on to the videos. The first time, the guys got to choose whether or not to see a video, and their opposites had to do the same. The second time, roles were reversed and the women got to choose. This time, it was up to each person, but the videos were not specific to a certain person, nor were they of the dates. Instead, they showed clips of off-hours activities. The three choices were "Jacuzzi Jump," "Flesh Parade," and "Make Him Do Anything I Want." Kaya took "Flesh Parade" (chosen at random) and saw a clip from the first episode, where the girls had the guys compete to stick around. One guy came up in a towel and, well, pulled it off to show "what he has." Billy was relieved and called it "painless" and "good clean fun."

Andy picked "Make Him Do Anything I Want," which showed Sean (the masseur) holding Shannon in the Jacuzzi. No biggie, but he didn't seem terribly happy about it, calling Sean "arrogant."

Billy took the "Jacuzzi Jump." It showed Valerie and a guy approaching the Jacuzzi, ready to jump in. Valerie looked like she was about to take off her pants, but decided against it, to Kaya's relief. The guys classified it as "harmless."

No video messages tonight, so that was it for the guys. Now comes the real fun.

Walberg begins by asking the girls if they're nervous, and Valerie says coming to the Bonfire does indeed make her nervous. Still, they unanimously decide to get rid of the blocks, just as the guys did.

Their choice of videos are "Sex Advice," "Strip Tease," and "Hammock Ride." Shannon and Valerie don't really seem to want to watch, but Mandy persuades them, saying, "I enjoy torturing myself." Well, good, ‘cus you're about to get a good dose of it.

Shannon picks "Sex Advice," which shows the guys – sans Billy – talking about Mandy and Johnny after the previous Bonfire (which occurred at the end of last episode). This is when Taheed talked about wanting to go after Johnny, but Kaya and Andy say that they blame Mandy. They wonder where Billy is and suggest that he should be at Vanessa's yelling "ride ‘em cowboy!" Mandy, contrary to her previously-stated enjoyment of torturing herself, doesn't seem all that happy. She wants to know what happened. Hmmm. Take a guess.

Mandy picks "Strip Tease" next. Well, she wanted to know what happened. This shows the strip act Billy put on earlier in this episode, cutting off immediately as he reaches to unzip his pants, leaving them to wonder what happened next. At first they were all laughing, but Mandy soon stops and asks, "Is this torture Mandy night?" Well, you said you enjoyed it. Besides, last night was torture Billy night, so it seems only fair. Showing an amazing lack of insight, she says Billy looked trashy and, "I don't think I've done anything to look trashy on television." No. Nothing at all. Licking a guy's nipple and having him lick your stomach in return is really high class. Still mad, she adds, "If he wants to ruin a year-and-a-half, go ahead." Wow. You really are clueless, aren't you?

Valerie picks the "Hammock Ride," which is the one that has nothing to do with Mandy. It shows Andy's first date (from the second episode), where he was lying in the hammock with Megan, rubbing her legs, and talking about his own butt. Shannon says that at least he was talking about himself instead of her! But she adds that she really didn't need that visual; she wanted to have fun. Then I guess she shouldn't have given in to peer pressure to watch it.

Mandy keeps ranting, saying it's good that they don't get to exchange video messages because "he does not want to hear what I have to say."

As they head to the boat to go back to their quarters, Mandy keeps ripping on Billy, saying, "he looked like such an idiot." Shannon steps in and says she's not defending him, but she wonders how many times they have looked like idiots as well. She also adds that they shouldn't have watched because, "what you don't see can't hurt you."

Mandy continues her pity party, finally admitting that she might have pissed him off, but… No, really? She jumps out of the boat before it leaves, and runs to the bathroom to cry. "God I hate this." If you hate it so much, maybe you should have considered that before you had your fun with Johnny. But I guess that would have meant thinking about somebody other than yourself.

In case the reader couldn't tell by now, I have absolutely no sympathy for Mandy. She brought it all on herself, and is so self-centered that she seems to not even have a clue that she is responsible for what has happened. In fact, the only person I feel sorry for at all is Taheed and Ytossie's child, who did nothing to deserve these two idiots as parents. The other folks here all deserve whatever they get.

Check out our Temptation Island page for our full list of articles about the show.

And remember to take a look around the site. Check out our most recent articles at the Home page, take a look at our sections on Survivor , Boot Camp, and The Mole, and browse through our book reviews.