Ryan’s stunning revelation last week regarding his recall back to the Army carried over into last night’s episode of Real World: Brooklyn. Instead of keeping it bottled up, Ryan decides to tell the rest of the roommates he’ll be returning to Iraq. The reactions were varied. Chet nearly cries and thanks Ryan for his sacrifice. JD offers to be his boyfriend. Devyn, Sarah and Katelynn suggest he break his own legs or skip to Canada. Baya pleads with him not to go; she clearly has deeper feelings for him than she cares to admit.
With their time together winding down, the gang books a trip to Atlantic City. For my money, there is no better way to shake a bout of depression than to blow cash at the blackjack tables. Hanging with sleep deprived degenerates and blue-haired grannies is better than any self-help course. You can keep paying that over-educated therapist to help with your problems, or you can listen to Dr. Scott and dip into your savings and bet it all on black. Even if you lose, you’ll feel empowered for seizing control of your life. Wink, wink.
So, the roomies hit the casino and proceed to empty their wallets and purses. The good: JD wins a cool three grand. The bad: Ryan takes a beating. The ugly: Katelynn, gambling with the cash Scott loaned her, drops $600. Good job, Katelynn; way to sully Scott’s kind gesture. To Scott’s credit, he could have made a scene, but didn’t. Here’s Katelynn’s explanation:
“What was I supposed to do?”
Chet’s retort was perfect:
“Uhm… not gamble like the rest of us.”
I like Chet. He’s naive, but he has a good heart and a great sense of humor. His nervousness over getting a massage was priceless. He jokes about getting a boner during the rubdown. Luckily, his masseuse looked like Leatherface. It’s difficult, even for a virgin like Chet, to pop a chubby in the presence of a red-faced cougar.
Scott makes another kind gesture and purchases a journal for Ryan. He has each of the roomies add some encouraging words, then presents the journal to Ryan and tells him to write down all the goals he hopes to accomplish when he returns from Iraq. Scott is still a wet noodle but he’s also a genuinely nice guy.
We’re nearing the end of Real World: Brooklyn. Only one episode remains. I can’t say I’ve enjoyed this season of seven, er, make that eight strangers picked to live in a house. The show lost steam many moons ago and should probably be canceled. Either that or the producers need to tweak the format. Maybe they could drop the cast on a remote island with no food or shelter and force them to compete with one another for a large monetary prize. You know, that just might… shit… really? I’ve been informed that concept has been taken. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Clacked by Scott Tunstall 
on Mar 26, 2009 @ 09:04 EST5EDT
I loved this season specifically for the fact that it wasn’t crappy staged drama like pretty much any other season of this show. It was actually brain first and libido second.
To each his own, I guess.