By Kim | Season 5 | Episode 4 | Aired on 2002.02.18
“ Maybe Coral was clinically dead, like Buffy, and then her undead boyfriend couldn't give her CPR because he had no breath, so then the guy who had a crush on her had to bring her back. And then another Coral was called, but this Coral was Jamaican. Or something. ”
Previously on the Challenge: Chadwick decided (and convinced the others) that theRRInner Circle should eliminate the biggest threat, which was Yes and Veronica. It made Holly not Wick "literally sick to [her] stomach," because it set a vicious tone for the competition. In an interview, Jisela said that her team needs to change the players in order to "play the game fairly." Mark and Eric introduced the game, which was basically musical chairs with inner tubes in a pool. On the first round, Piggy couldn't find a tube, so she and Chadwick were out. Jisela gloated because she figured that it meant Piggy and Chadwick would be voted off.
Theo explains the "Inner Tube Tango" game, which, as I said earlier, is like musical chairs with tubes in a pool. The prize for this one, besides the points, is a Fender guitar and amp. The music starts up. In an interview, Holly Not Wick says that the general feeling of the contest is "childish." In an interview, Becky reminds us that it's just like musical chairs. The music stops, and before the contestants can jump into the water, the picture freezes. In an interview, Tara says that people might have thought that the mission would be mellower, but it's actually brutal. Cut to the contestants churning about in the water, trying desperately to latch onto a tube. People get into tubes, and then try to find their partners to make sure that they also have a tube. With so many people, it's all very confusing, and people are just grabbing tubes away from one another. When it all settles down, Becky is the one without a tube, so Becky and Norm are eliminated. Elka gets out of the pool and the camera totally looks down her top. I'm sure she loved that shot. Or more likely, Walter did. Coral comments that this is the worst thing she's ever done. I knew her getting stuck upside-down in an inner tube was going to come up during this competition. And it does, in an interview, when Coral explains that she drowned as a child. So is this The Sixth Sense and suddenly I can see dead people? Maybe she was clinically dead, like Buffy, and then her undead boyfriend couldn't give her CPR because he had no breath, so then the guy who had a crush on her had to bring her back. And then another Coral was called, but this Coral was Jamaican. Or something.
round. NY Mike is in the pool, looking around for Coral. He and ADDam come upon the same tube, and wrestle over it for a minute. Coral swims her way over to the boys, and NY Mike throws the tube over her head. NY Mike voice-overs that he was worried about Coral, so he grabbed a tube for her and tried to find her. The funniest part is that Danny is right to ADDam and kind of ineffectually tries to grab at the tube, but keeps having to brush water out of his eyes, so then he just kind of floats away. In an interview, Lindsay says that NY Mike was the perfect teammate. Once Coral gets into the tube, NY Mike pulls her over and asks if she's okay. Aw. If he would just drop that Miz thing, I could almost like him. Danny and Kelley get eliminated. In an interview, Kelley says that this competition is "pretty much the most evil thing [she's] ever seen." And she saw David's bad rap video, people. So that's saying something.
Stephen walks along the pool and screams out, "Way to keep it real, baby! That's right!" Sean cringes away from him and shields Elka. I think Sean's body language spoke volumes, right there. In an interview, Theo says that Stephen is practically bitch-slapping people to get to the tubes. In an interview, Jisela says that Stephen is "openly hitting girls in the pool." Everyone seems to gang up on Stephen to tell him to mellow out. Stephen yells that he's not hitting anyone. Belounatic demonstrates how Stephen is acting in the pool by doing a little monkey dance. Of course, J-Dawg walks into the room right at this moment and says, "What in the hell is that?" I say all nonchalantly, "Oh, it's just Belou." That one scene intrigued him enough that he sat down and watched the rest of the episode. Plus, he hates Stephen. The best part is that I paused the tape mid-monkey dance, and if you could see the expression on Flora's face as she looks at Belounatic, you would just die. In an interview, ADDam says that Stephen punched Jisela in the nose, so if ADDam gets the chance, he will "break [Stephen's] legs out." What does that even mean? He will cause Stephen's legs to get pimples? Because, ew. Jisela rubs her nose.