Previously on The Real World: CJP explained that she knows that she shouldn't need others to bolster her self-esteem, but she finds that male attention is what makes her feel good about herself. Daddy issues much? CJP says that this is the first time in her life she's been without a boyfriend, and that it feels "lonely and empowering." Aneesa likes to be naked because she loves her body. Tonya feels that Aneesa is flaunting her body and that it's disrespectful. Hmm, we've never seen Tonya be pissed about that. I wonder, when they show new footage in the "Previously On" segment, if the producers think that people will just think, "Oh, I must have missed that episode" or "Oh, I must have fallen asleep for that segment." Or more likely, they just don't care.
CJP arrives home and introduces her ex-boyfriend Ali to her roommates. In an interview, CJP says that Ali is the first guy she ever loved, and that he crushed her. She calls him "the ex-boyfriend from hell" and "the one guy that you never should have dated in the first place." And she's hanging out with him why, exactly? CJP explains that Ali is in town visiting another friend, and she doesn't know how much her presence in the city had to do with his visit. CJP shows Ali around the place and introduces him to Tonya. CJP and Ali leave the loft to go to dinner. In an interview, CJP explains that they dated for a little over a year. They were friends before they dated, and then enemies after they dated, and then friends again, and now she's not sure what their status is. That sounds way too confusing. I can understand wanting to be friends with your exes, if the breakup wasn't too terrible, but this guy must really be something special to warrant this kind of attention. CJP and Ali have dinner, and make a toast to "friendship after dating." CJP and Ali walk down the street. Ali says that he's not going to touch her, and that he's going to walk on the other side of the street. I don't know why he said that. I guess we're supposed to think that he's trying very hard to resist temptation.
CJP, Kyle, and Tonya go out. CJP tells the others that she started becoming friends with Ali when she began dating Jared the Subway Guy, and that it was difficult, because Jared hates Ali. Kyle really looks like he could not care less. In an interview, CJP says that she's wanted to close the door on Ali for so long. So close it! Realize that he's an ass and move on! Closure is overrated. I think you create your own closure.
Aneesa sits on the toilet with the stall door open and tells Tonya that she can't pee. Tonya stands there and looks at her. Walk away from the pee lady! In an interview, Tonya says that Aneesa is "rude and crude." Aneesa holds up a few squares of toilet paper and asks if she's supposed to "wipe [her] vagina with this much?" Tonya is disgusted. Aneesa asks for more toilet paper, and Tonya gives her some. Aneesa says that she could wipe her ass with the toilet paper roll or the metal thing. See, I think that's funny, and if I were there, I would probably laugh at Aneesa. But if it offended me, I would tell her to shut up and then leave the room, not hang out there and stare at her. Or tell her to shut the damn door because nobody needs to watch her pee.
Tonya talks to Justin on the phone. Tonya says that Aneesa likes the way she is, and won't change. In an interview, Tonya says that she can't stand that Aneesa walks around naked, and calls Aneesa "disgusting and revolting." Flashback of Aneesa dancing around nude. Tonya tells Justin that her silence is a tacit endorsement of Aneesa's clothing habits or lack thereof. Flashback of Aneesa walking around the house wearing only a shirt and shoes. Tonya tells Justin that she needs to deal with it, because Aneesa's not going to change. Well, I don't think it's out of line for Tonya to ask Aneesa to try to tone it down when Tonya's around. I don't know that Aneesa will do so, but I don't think it's out of line to ask.
Aneesa sits on the toilet while her roommates get ready at the sinks. She tells everyone that she needs them to be quiet so that they can hear what she's doing, and that she needs support. Oh, God. Just don't pay her any attention, because that's clearly what she wants. Tonya (clad only in a towel, so maybe she should put some clothes on as well) asks CJP why she's taking medicine. Probably because she has this disease called "None of your fucking business, Nosy Parker." CJP says that she takes antidepressants, which is nothing to be ashamed of, but it's still not Tonya's business. CJP says that she's taken them for a while, and she kind of wishes that she didn't have to. Tonya asks whether her body adjusts to them after a while. CJP says that if she doesn't take her pill by noon, she gets dizzy, and she will start crying by about 6 PM. Which is bullshit, because the way antidepressants work is that they build up in your bloodstream, and it shouldn't really have an immediate effect if you skip one. So she either needs stronger medication, or it's purely a mental thing. Tonya and CJP agree that depression is all about brain chemistry, which is true.
After the commercial, Chris continues to look for CJP. Keri thinks that CJP is putting on an act to make Chris feel bad, or as a joke. Kyle walks in and says that CJP isn't acting. Chris finds CJP being comforted by Tonya and still sobbing. Keri asks CJP if she's okay, and she sobs, "Noooooo." Keri hugs her. Chris stands by uncertainly. The boom mike guy runs out of the shot. In an interview, Tonya says that she can relate to Tonya because she's been there, and "even when you gain two pounds, you're like, mortified." Because women without eating disorders just love to gain weight. I think that Tonya has been a little quick to slap CJP with the eating-disorder label, but then again, we've never seen CJP eat, so I don't know. The only thing that seemed vaguely disordered to me was her drooling over Kyle's cinnamon roll and then having an orgasm after allowing herself one bite. I do think that CJP has huge body-image problems, but there's a fine line between an actual eating disorder and the body issues that almost all women (unfortunately) have. Tonya tries to explain that it was just a joke. CJP says that she's gained seven pounds since she's been in Chicago, and that she knows she's overreacting, but that it doesn't make her feel any better. In an interview, Tonya says that she feels for CJP. I love how Tonya can only feel empathy for someone when she can relate it to herself. She can't possibly feel for Chris, for having struggled with coming out of the closet. Chris asks CJP what's wrong. CJP says that she weighed herself today, and that she knows it's stupid, but gaining weight is depressing. In an interview, Kyle says that he doesn't think that CJP is as happy as she seems, and that this event proves it. Chris tries to apologize and tells CJP that she's beautiful. In an interview, CJP says that she feels a little crazy and didn't think it would affect her like that. Again, get help.
CJP and Ali ride the subway or El or whatever the hell it is. CJP makes Ali feel her back, where she is allegedly fat. In an interview, CJP says that she hasn't been like this since she spent time overseas and came home fifteen pounds heavier, and she saw Ali with his new girlfriend. CJP thinks that was the most unstable she's ever been in her life. So she was worse then than she is now? That's frightening. CJP and Ali walk down the street with some random other guy, while Kyle and Keri follow behind.
They all go into a restaurant. Ali tells Kyle about running with the bulls in Pamplona, I'm assuming. What a tool. What is he, Hemingway? CJP is impressed. Of course she is. In an interview, Kyle says that Ali seems slick, but that he apparently did some bad things in the past. When even Mr. Tool is calling you a tool, you know you are in trouble. CJP tells Ali that he broke her heart, and that it's weird having him back. Ali apologizes for hurting her. Well, they said those words at some point, but we don't actually see their lips moving, so I'm guessing this was dubbed in later. Ali says, "Anyone else is just someone else, and it always feel different with you." Is it just me, or does it sound like he's talking about sex there? Here's CJP's take in an interview: "To hear Ali says things like, 'Oh, it's always been me' and to tell me I'm beautiful and sexy and especially to hear him say those things is very empowering." That right there is CJP's problem in a nutshell. A guy tells her that he likes having sex with her, and she gets confidence from that, and thinks that the guy loves her. What she should take from that is, "I'm good in bed." Or at least, "I'm not so terrible in bed that a guy doesn't want to do it with me twice." Which is not something to be ashamed of; it's just that what they say and what she hears seem to be two different things.
CJP and Ali are in the bathroom, standing together in a stall. You heard me. They dub over Ali saying, "I'm going to try to keep my hands off you" and CJP saying, "Please don't." I so do not believe that those words were spoken while they were in the stall. I think they were spoken while they were walking down the street and Ali said that he would have to cross the street to avoid touching her. Anyway. They kiss. Ali asks if her zipper goes down any further. CJP says that it doesn't. I seriously can't believe that I am recapping this. When did this show turn into soft porn? season, I think they are going to show penetration. CJP starts moaning. Draw your own conclusions. But, ew.
Now CJP and Ali are in bed together, and they start making out. CJP sits on top of him and takes off her shirt. Then, the covers go up over their heads. So if CJP really didn't know that the bedrooms were on camera, as she has claimed in interviews, why did she pull the blankets over their heads?
CJP and Chris walk down the street. CJP says that her family called her "Chubbette" for the first twelve years of her life. So? My brother used to point at the TV anytime they showed the Goodyear blimp and say, "Kim, you're on TV!" True story. Do I burst into tears every time I see a tire? No, I don't. CJP says that she had "sixteen thighs." I think she should have looked into surgical options. In the elevator, CJP tells Chris that she associates being skinny with being happy, and "that is such a follacy...fallacy...falsehood -- false thinking." CJP goes on a bit of a manic rant about how crazy she was the night that Chris touched her, and that she's sorry about it. She's seriously talking a mile a minute here, and scaring me a bit. All BMP needs to do is edit in some trains going through a crossing, and I'd be convinced. CJP says that she gets positive reinforcement from being tiny. That is so true. I know when I was at my thinnest in college, people would say really nice things to me about how great I looked. I kind of miss that. But not enough to starve myself. CJP says that this is the closest she has come to having a distorted body image, and that she's never looked in the mirror and thought she was fat until this past week. CJP blathers on and on, but then realizes that her poor body image is correlating with the first time in her life that she hasn't had a boyfriend. Chris makes CJP repeat, "I am somebody and I am worth it." Oh, brother. I think I like Chris better when he doesn't talk. Chris tells CJP to be as selfish as she wants, because she is young and single. CJP says that she's allowed to be scared and figure herself out, because that's what her twenties are for. Whatever.
Tonya, Theo, and Aneesa hang out in a bedroom. Theo and Aneesa start talking about a song that goes, "You cut me, and I'll cut you." They think that Tonya sings it to Justin. Tonya doesn't get it until Aneesa explains that "cut" means "fuck." Tonya says that she's not discussing her sexual relationship, and that it's private. Aneesa teases Tonya about having Justin spank her. Tonya thinks that Aneesa is perverted. She thinks that spanking is perverted? She really is sheltered. I don't even think spanking is weird enough to make it on an MTV special anymore.
Tonya says that it's disgusting the way Aneesa walks around naked all the time. In an interview, Aneesa says that there's something about being naked in your own house, and that she lives there. With roommates. Not by herself. That's the crucial difference. Aneesa walks out into the hallway with no pants on and says that sometimes a little nudity is needed. Ew. Put some clothes on. If she wants to walk around naked when she's home alone, more power to her. But when her roommates (and the cameras) are around, get a robe. In an interview, Tonya says that if they weren't offended by Aneesa's nudity, she would say something rude, because she just wants attention. Tonya is accusing someone else of being an attention whore? That's hilarious. Aneesa makes some comment about Tonya's body, and Tonya tells her to stop talking about it because it's offensive. Aneesa just laughs it off.
Tonya tells Chris that she doesn't want to confront Aneesa, but she also wants Aneesa to respect her wishes. Tonya says that she's going to talk to Aneesa about it, because she's frustrated. In an interview, Tonya says that her heart was pounding before she talked to Aneesa, because Aneesa intimidates her.
Aneesa is on the phone, so Tonya asks if she can talk to her afterward. In an interview, Aneesa says that Tonya wanted to talk to her, and she was thinking, "Oh shit." Tonya tells Aneesa that she's trying to understand her, but that she has a problem with the way that Aneesa talks about crude things constantly. Aneesa says that she was joking, and Tonya says that she knows. In an interview, Aneesa says that she gets defensive when confronted, especially when the person doing the confronting gets on her nerves. Aneesa says that she can tone it down, but it's who she is, and she won't change. If she says anything about "keeping it real," I'm shutting the tape off and quitting. In an interview, Tonya says that she likes that she always sticks up for herself. Tonya tells Aneesa that the nudity makes her uncomfortable, and that it's nothing to fight about. Aneesa doesn't understand why Tonya is uncomfortable with the human form, because it's beautiful. Oh, cram it, Aneesa. Tonya points out that when Aneesa asks them to talk to her while she wipes her ass, it's disgusting. In an interview, Aneesa says that she thought that Tonya could handle her "vulgarity," but she can't, so Aneesa will tone down the nudity. The pixellation guy in the editing booth breathes a sigh of relief. Aneesa apologizes for making Tonya uncomfortable, but says that often it has nothing to do with Tonya, so it shouldn't matter. Tonya says that she's trying to get used to it.
Tonya tells Chris that the exchange was pretty positive. Chris says that he didn't hear any yelling. Tonya says she's not like that. Unless she has kidney stones. Tonya says that Aneesa agreed to tone down the vulgarity, but she probably shouldn't have brought up the naked thing, because it didn't go well. It didn't? That was so not a big fight. In the living room, Aneesa tells Keri that she's not allowed to be naked anymore. Oh, whatever, drama queen. Chris asks Tonya if she feels relieved. Tonya says that she likes sticking up for herself. Aneesa fills Keri in on the discussion, and says that she never asks Tonya to come and talk to her while she's taking a shit. It's always CJP, because CJP doesn't mind. She's probably fascinated. If CJP really eats as little as Tonya claimed, then she probably doesn't shit all that much. I hope I didn't just offend Tonya with my vulgarity. Tonya tells Chris that they have to live together and will need to change things a bit to maintain common ground, and that she thought Aneesa was pretty cool. Meanwhile, Aneesa is totally bitching about her in the other room. Hee.
Aneesa does dishes. CJP walks in and says that she had an orgasm last night. Everyone cheers. CJP gets herself some ice cream (Healthy Choice, though), and says that she would have sex with someone before she would let him perform oral sex. She and Aneesa agree that oral sex is more intimate. Aneesa thinks that regular sex is pretty intimate, too. Kyle looks like he wants in on this discussion but doesn't know what to say. Aneesa launches into an imitation or reference that I don't get because I'm old. CJP laughs.
CJP and Ali stand on an El platform. In an interview, CJP says that it's weird to spend time with Ali and have him be charming and loving and open with his affection. Wow, he must have been a real asshole as a boyfriend if they went out for a year and that never happened. Ali tells CJP that he will miss her. They kiss as the train arrives. On the train, CJP asks Ali what he wanted and whether this is closure. CJP thinks that it is, because she would never date him again. Ali doesn't believe it. What a jerk. In an interview, CJP says that Ali legitimately cares about her, and that it is "slightly empowering" not to be the one who hurts anymore.
CJP and Ali arrive at the airport. Hey, what's Keri doing there? I swear, they must have reused airport footage because in one shot, Keri walked by. CJP and Ali sit near the gate and talk. CJP says she's going to tell Jared that Ali was there, and that she saw him. She doesn't plan to tell Jared that she slept with Ali. Does she understand that this is being taped? Ali encourages her to be honest. In an interview, CJP says that this is the closest thing to closure that she's had. What is her obsession with closure and empowerment? CJP and Ali make out and someone yells out, "Get a room!" I think it was one of their friends because they both laugh at the person. In an interview, CJP say that she has been "grappling with a bizarre mix of utter confidence and pockets of insecurity." "Pockets"? Those must be some huge pockets. Like the pockets on cargo pants. CJP tells Ali not to call or write, but that she's glad that they're friends again. Ali walks away as CJP watches. Then, she leaves.
week...well, not week, because there's not a new episode for two weeks. Tonya is peeing blood. Oh, Lord. Aneesa gets mad that CJP called her slow, because she's never on time. Wow, I can hardly wait two weeks. Except that I totally can.