Battle of the Sexes 2 Episode 11: Trivial Pursuit

I'm back. I know, it's been a while. I'm guessing that there's not much demand for recaps of The Challenge back before it became THE CHALLENGE, but I would like to provide documentation of the show back when I was recapping it . . . as well as my frustration at that time. As bad as it might have been in this episode, it would get a lot worse. Back to today, The Challenge: War of the Worlds is almost finished. Thankfully, this season will not drag on like Final Reckoning did, and there won't be an opportunity for someone to channel Johnny or Ashley, screwing a partner out of earned money. The bad news is that the headaches outnumber the sane people. Also, Stephen Bear -- the Brit whom BMP signed to a long-term contract -- has proved himself to be "must watch" television. In his case, that comes out to "being a fucking asshole for money." I swear, he's basically the vision Puck probably saw on RW: San Francisco way back in 1994 . . . acting like a total dick and profiting greatly from it. The only other "rookie" that can fully negate him is Turabi Çamiran  . . . winner of back-to-back seasons of the Turkish edition of Survivor, and a man that lives up to the nickname "Turbo." He's had spats with the likes of Hunter Barfield (the southerner that got screwed by Ashley last season) and Natalie Duran (one of the second-tier females from American Ninja Warrior), but most of the opinions about him have been positive. I'd be good with him winning the $750,000 grand prize. Or Wes. Yes, the casting has gotten so toxic, I'm actually rooting for Wes. And seeing how he helped nudge Johnny out of the game so early AND outlasted Bear, I think maybe he's earned a third title. As for this episode? It's one of the three wins that the girls' team got this season, and Arissa gets a heroic moment. The mission is a forerunner to the infamous trivia contests of today, that usually involve falling from great heights into water and the sadism of TJ Lavin. Sadly, the worse was yet to come, and my days recapping the series on a somewhat well-regarded recap site were numbered. I blame a lot of these people. Especially Eric Nies and that damn jump rope. Oh, and there are references to Survivor: Vanuatu and The Amazing Race 6; the latter of which was a trainwreck all its own. How host Phil Keoghan kept from pummeling Jonathan Baker, I will never know.  Episode Aired: December 13, 2004  Recap Posted: December 19, 2004   The players deal with an unholy marriage of pop culture and biking. Can the women's team win? Will Arissa overcome her fears? And because nobody demanded it: Eric and his jump rope! Before we begin, I want to congratulate Chris Daugherty for his win in Survivor: Vanuatu. Chris faced odds tougher than Sarah and Katie ever face, as his buddies got picked off and he was the last man standing against six strong women. But with a combination of skill, strength, and dumb luck, he pulled it off. I also want to thank Twila Tanner for putting the tasty gravy on this sour turkey of a season. She played the game hard, she clued Chris in on voting strategy, and she became the only finalist to fling accusations right back in the face of the jury. With Survivor on a brief hiatus, it's time to focus on more important things. Namely, conjuring up appropriate punishments for Jonathan Baker of The Amazing Race 6. Right now, I'd hand him over to the women's team. Eighteen girls, thirty-six hands, and the massive forehead of Coral Smith. It would be painful and fun to watch. Previously on Battle of the Sexes 2: Tonya fooled around with Theo, leading to a new Theoism: "Tonya and I are like two kids in summer camp sneaking across the lake in the middle of the night to go play crazy games with each other's body parts." Arissa's fear of heights caused her team to lose Sa-Wing. The guys won Electro-Shock, taking their record to 8-1. Nick and Aneesa were sent packing. Coral: "The more we lose, the worse we feel. I have no idea why we can't just win." Hot tubbin' at night. Tonya bitches to Theo about how her teammates keep doubting her. She brings up her two penalties in Snake Pit Poker. Cut to a flashback of said mission, with new footage of Coral cussing Tonya out. Theo interviews that Tonya is a good competitor, but the others think she drives them crazy. "I hate to say it," he adds, "but the way you behave has a little bit of an effect." Tonya is still determined to kick butt in the missions. "I have the mindset and the physical capability to be here," she interviews, "but I still have those two penalties riding over my head." And now, something for the diehard fans: a montage of Eric Nies and his jump rope. Seriously! We get shots of him jumping. Shane refers to his apparatus as a "stupid [bleepin'] jump rope," and adds that everything Eric does revolves about it. Eric clanks the ends together in one scene, then whips it around before competing in High Noon. "My rope represents focus, dedication, discipline, determination," Eric interviews with a straight face. "That's what a rope is all about." Cut to the men's first meeting, where Eric instructs the team to speak while holding the rope. Brad interviews that the rope is everywhere. He laughs, "I hate that rope, man!" Coral: "It might be a security rope. Maybe it's the missing link in his brain. I don't know." Eric lies down with the rope over his face. Eric mediates with the rope. He interviews: "I feel confident that my rope's going to create peace, love, unity and teamwork, especially with this group of guys." Cut to Eric twirling the rope around and yodeling.I can't begin to explain that. It's clue time! Tonya reads the instructions off the sponsor phone: wear protective clothing and tennis shoes, be ready to go by 9 a.m. Shane reads the last sentence: "Go big or go home." Ah, the Tao of James Orlando. Some days, I actually miss the lunkhead. Coral interviews that the losing streak is difficult to endure, since they can't pinpoint the exact problems. "As soon as we hit rock bottom," she adds, "that is the best time for us to fight harder." The kids arrive at the mission site, walking past an ambulance and checking out some huge ramps. Today's mission? Pop Culture Bike Jump. Veronica: "I see a big ramp, and I'm like, 'Ooo, yeah, the girls are really gonna win today!' There's another loss!" Jonny lays down the exposition about the ramps: they come at eight, eleven, and fourteen feet high. The players are expected to jump off the ramp with the bikes. Frank feels that the guys are confident to win. We fast forward through several people competing as we head to commercial. Jonny explains the rules: one player from each side at a time comes up to compete. They are given an option of picking a ramp to jump or answering a pop culture question. The ramps range from one to three points. On a side note, Eric has the rope draped over his head. Jonny says that the back wheel must go off the ramp and the player has to be on the bike in order for the points to count. They'll be tethered to cords, since they're not exactly on the same level as Dave Mirra. Now, if a player takes the question and gets it right, that person can pick any ramp to earn six points. Coral interviews that stereotypes dictate that the women win this mission. Brad explains that a wrong answer results in no jump. The winning team gets massage chairs, valued at $800 apiece. Coral bellows in joy, and I can't think of anybody more in need of a massage chair. Jonny gives both sides the usual thirty minutes to pick leaders. On the men's side, four players want to lead: Frank, Shane, Brad, and Theo. Shane's name gets drawn not to lead. On the opposite side, Tina and Arissa step up. Tina interviews that she wants to be a leader since she knows they'll win. Sophia completes the roster. Tina tells the team that have to give 200 percent. Arissa interviews that the guys will be horrible with pop culture. Meanwhile, the guys are cramming for potential questions. Theo asks Eric to name his roommates on his season of The Real World. The group argues over what would come up. Sophia leads her team in a huddle, since the events from last week are obviously still hurting her. That, and she still has the straight hair. "Let's win our respect and our pride back," she says. They break into a cheer: "GO BIG OR GO HOME!" The leaders are announced. Dan and Sophia are the first ones to compete. Dan wants the question, while Sophia is content to go for three points. Jonny asks Dan to name Anna Nicole Smith's dog. Wait, people are supposed to know that? I'm guessing Paris Hilton and Tinkerbell were out of the question, since she has a show with Nicole Richie, whose father is Lionel Richie, who played with William King in the Commodores, whose son is Adam King, who was on this show. Man, I need to stop wasting brain cells. Dan guesses "Money," which is wrong. The girls rub "Sugar Pie" in his face. Dan interviews that he doesn't care. Sophia takes a deep breath before she rolls down the ramp, interviewing that her body is shaking and she's afraid of losing her balance. She takes off, successfully completing the jump to give the women a 3-0 lead. Shane takes a question, Tonya opts for the ramp. Shane is wearing his "Where's Rachel" t-shirt. I hate that shirt. He's asked to name Madonna's two children, and he nails it ("Rocco" and "Lourdes"). The guys celebrate and mob him. Tonya goes down the big ramp, pushing the lead to 6-0. "I've always known I'm capable of doing these missions," she interviews, "and I think the girls are finally seeing that." Shane goes down the one-point ramp, tying the score at 6-6. Theo and Ibis take the question. Jonny asks them to complete this Kellis lyric: "My milkshake brings all the [blank] to the [blank]." Ibis: "boys, yard." Theo: "boys, bar." For a spilt second, I thought it was one of those deals where you hear something countless times and you still get it wrong. It turned out Ibis was right and the world goes back to normal, as the girls sing the song. Tina: "How the hell can you not know it's 'yard'? Idiot!" Ibis takes the three-point ramp, giving the women a 12-6 lead. Randy and Robin take this question: in Friends, what does Ross tell Rachel when he's accused of cheating? Side note: wouldn't Ross have been great with this men's team? He was such a tool. Randy nails it ("We were on a break"), but Robin doesn't. The guys hug Randy, while Robin can only laugh and wish she had done the jump. Randy takes the one-point ramp, and we're tied at 12-12. Mark and Tina take the question: name one member of 98 Degrees. Oh, come on! How about naming a member who isn't Nick Lachey? Naturally, they both get it right. Tina takes the three, Mark goes for one, and the score is still tied, 18-18. Ruthie volunteers to attempt a three-pointer, while Steven goes for the question. And yes, it is RW history time: name the first roommate to get thrown off the show. Steven interviews that he immediately thinks of Puck. Good thinking. Of course, he's wrong: it was David "Not Even Jesus Christ Can Spit In My Face" Edwards from Real World: Los Angeles. Ruthie nails her jump, and the girls lead 21-18. Veronica and Frank go for the question: name the activity in the movie Bring It On. Both correctly answer with "cheerleading." Frank opts for the one-point ramp, while Veronica hits the three. Girls lead 27-24. Brad interviews that he needs six points. He and Arissa take the question: name the first woman to be killed off in the Scream trilogy. That's a tough one. Brad goes with Carmen Electra. Awwww... she was the first woman killed in the Scary Movie trilogy. Arissa goes with Drew Barrymore, which is correct. The girls mob Arissa, while Brad gets a sympathy handshake from Mark. Eric: "Almighty jump rope, somehow find your way into the spokes of her tires." Yes, he's actually praying while Arissa gets ready. Sophia interviews that Eric is taking things too far with the rope. Ya think? "I hope she doesn't get hurt," Eric monotones, "but if it's the only way we'll win." I don't know if he's serious. Either way, wishing for bodily harm on the opposition still bites. Jonny reminds everybody that a successful jump from Arissa would "close the door" on the guys. Ibis interviews that she knows Arissa is scared of heights. We flashback to Sa-Wing and Arissa panicking. "When I get up there and I'm looking down this ramp," she interviews, "my brain starts to bleed." Jonny blows his horn. Arissa goes down in slow motion. We get multiple perspectives as she looks frightened. Back from commercials, the tape gets rewound for anybody just tuning in. Jonny reminds us that the women lead, 27-24. Robin says that the girls win if Arissa makes the jump. She goes down the three-point ramp, goes up and she nails it. The women win, 33-24, and they cheer while Arissa dangles from the cord and celebrates. Sophia hugs her and swings her around. For those two, it's the perfect day: the team won, they get to decide who goes home, and Steven messed up. "By the grace of God, I did it," Arissa interviews. "I'm on the most ridiculous high right now." The girls huddle and cheer: "We're winners!" Jonny awards the massage chairs to the women and Arissa accepts the certificate on behalf of her team. Coral interviews that it feels good to win, and that it gives the team hope. Jonny goes over Inner Circle procedure: the female leaders pick off a team member, the men pick off a leader. The kids ride the vans back home. Ibis and Robin look at a piece of paper. More on that later. Veronica interviews that she's glad her team won, but she's in the hot seat since she didn't lead. "It all depends on how you're evaluating these players," she adds, "and it's also in the air." In the Men's Lounge, the guys have their Inner Circle Meeting. Mark notes that Theo and Brad have no disqualifications or penalties. On the other hand, Frank got a draw in High Noon and a disqualification. Where he got the DQ, I have no clue. Steven looks glum, then Mark rubs it in that he got his question wrong. Everybody has a good laugh, while Steven volunteers to make the announcement on Elimination Hill. "I'm a little nervous about losing Frank," he interviews, "because he's such a strong competitor and he really is the glue that holds the team together." Over at the Main Lounge, Tonya lies on the couch with Theo, pissed off. Why? Well, on the ride back to the Lounges, she saw Ibis handing the Inner Circle a performance checklist. "I had no part in this list," she interviews. "If today's vote-off is based on that sheet, I'm going to be ticked." She tells Theo that this is happening because people are scared of going home. He tells her to discuss it with the team. She then has a conversation with Ibis. Turns out the list was Tina's idea. Tonya is willing to call Tina out, since it looks deceitful on Ibis's part. Ibis figures the Inner Circle wouldn't base their choice on one thing. At the Women's Lounge the women have their Inner Circle Meeting. They have the list, and Tonya's neck is on the line. Actually, it's between Tonya and Veronica. Sophia notes that Tonya has the two DQs and two "no"s (which stands for mission failures, I guess). Veronica has one DQ, and she failed Bombs Away and High Noon. Sophia thinks that using the chart is the only fair way to make a decision. Tina wonders who would they want on the final team. Time for the Elimination Hill ceremony. Jonny does his spiel, emphasizing the word "who" for some strange reason. Steven comes up, declaring this to be the worst day in the Challenge for him. He drops the axe on Frank. Of course, Frank takes this well, declaring that the allure of the money brought him to Santa Fe, but he's leaving with new friends. With any luck, these friends would pry him away from Steven. The Girls' Inner Circle comes up to make their choice known. This time, Sophia doesn't break up. She says that it was a long and hard deliberation. Tina drops the axe on Veronica. I have to stop the tape for a minute. From a logical standpoint, this wasn't a good move. Tonya has caused more ruckus here than Veronica. Tonya hasn't won a Challenge, while Veronica has won three. I'm still convinced that Tonya's body will break down soon, like it did in BOTS1 and Gauntlet. With that said, I must add this: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! Wow, I did not know that you could take Veronica out without Emily. Seriously, I don't care if she was a shadow of her dramatic self. After enduring her endless crappy personality for the last two seasons, after she tried to shove Sarah and Katie under the bus, after I named her as a member of the "Axis of Ass" in both seasons, Veronica is gone. Hip hip hooray! Anyway, Veronica takes the boot well, as Tina gets a little choked up about it. "I knew that I was gonna be a target," Veronica interviews. "They don't want to see me here at the end. Whenever I come into a game like this, it's, 'Let's get Veronica off,' and I know that I can't give anyone a reason to vote me off,." Cry me a river, then get a job away from the cameras. She tells her team to win the final mission. Coral interviews that she's sad to see Veronica go, and that she could have been an asset to the team in the long run. It's 9 p.m., do you know where your women's team is? They're at a meeting, where Tonya figures they could use a points system so she can sleep better at night. Sophia interviews about Tonya freaking out over the list because she looks bad on paper. Coral tells Tonya that nobody is getting upset about the list but her, which Tonya denies. "I think Tonya's got good intentions," Coral interviews, "but sometimes she does a lot so people will feel sorry for her, and it's just not working. It's kind of annoying." Tonya doesn't know why everybody is attacking her. Coral insists that nobody is attacking Tonya. Tonya says that she would keep using the list had they used it in the beginning. Now Tina steps up to take credit for the list, since she thought it was a good idea. Tonya retorts that everybody should be a part of it. Tina gets agitated, insisting it was "black and white." The girls argue some more, as Ibis, Sophia, and Ruthie wearily look on. "Not only can't I stand you in the missions, but I can't stand you outside the missions," Tina snipes in an interview, as the camera pans on a blank paper and marker. "That bitch can't perform and she knows she's gone!" Arissa says that they're going into the last week and a half, and everybody is petrified. She asks her teammates if they'll use the list, and they say "no." Tonya interviews that she arranged the meeting in order to ensure fairness, and that she'll play even harder. "If they thought I was a strong, tough competitor before," she adds, "they better just wait, because this gives me more drive to cream them tomorrow and not give a flying [bleep] if they go home." Coral blinks rapidly. Tonya looks to the side. Fade to black. I think this was the best episode of the season so far. We had drama. We had Arissa getting a hero moment. We had people sniping about Eric and his jump rope. On a personal note, I got my first perfect score in MTV.com's Fantasy Challenge. After seeing the commercial, I traded Veronica for Arissa, and started her with Coral, Tina, and Tonya. While I didn't get a prize this time, I'm just happy that I go things right for once. Next time: Tonya doesn't want to step up, since she doesn't trust her team. Ibis steps up, saying that she knows Tonya is going home. The mission? Throwing stuff in a giant chipper and making the kids catch it while holding buckets on top of their heads. Tina: "I think I saw an eyeball in one of the blocks." Super!

I keep forgetting about the Fantasy Challenge. That was fun. Sadly, with spoilers becoming easier to access, something like that would be harder to run these days.

Veronica would come back for one more run in the following season, teaming with Rachel and Tina to be the de facto bitches of Inferno II and making Tonya's life miserable. I still believe the Bad Asses would have won if they had treated Tonya like a human being. That ended her then-unprecedented streak of appearing in six straight seasons (seven in the span of eight). She return in The Ruins in 2009 . . . much like BOTS2, it was a horrific grind of a season where most of the people were more horrible than her ("most people" = "Evan, Johnny, Kenny") Oh, and Tonya was kicked off for smacking her, which I approved of at that time. Veronica reappeared in the recent "trilogy" of seasons (Dirty XXX, Vendettas, Final Reckoning), but she didn't get close to her prime seasons.

Frank? Well, as big of a tool as he could be, he would no longer be the most-hated "Frank" in BMP was the coming of Frank Sweeney in 2011. Mr. Roessler made his second and final Challenge was  Gauntlet III. He won three Gauntlets to stay in the game on the Rookies' side, then joined them in their improbable victory over the Veterans, caused by Eric "Big Easy" Banks keeling over and almost dying on his team, causing them to be disqualified. Frank's last "appearance" was the "reunion" season of the original Las Vegas cast . . . but let us never speak of that.