MTV Reality: Floribama Shore - The Fun Begins Yet Again

A Review of Season 1
BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

When we say hello to the second half of 2018 in MTV Reality that's about to take off, it'll be time to warmly welcome back some familiar faces and offer a welcome to new ones. And before tomorrow's main event in The Challenge: Final Reckoning, tonight sees the start of a Premiere Week that sees the return of Catfish and Wild N' Out, and which begins with a passing of the baton down in Florida. It's something that was made possible by an outpouring of fan support and an alum of an worldwide franchise making his way to last season's Vendettas that saw this all-around MTV fan expand his horizons to the most famous show of all.
   This spring, we've been enjoying the company of Mike The Situation, Snooki, J-WOWW, Pauly D., Ronnie, Vinny, Deena - and for a time, Angelina - as the Jersey Shore cast and their Duck Phone returned to where they spent the first of two times away from Seaside Heights: Miami for a Family Vacation. From a high-profile baby mama cheating scandal to an epic return to a magic moment of a proposal to the fiance of the most improved man in this MTV community, a lot went down there on South Beach, with more to come when they return at summer's end, and where they have given so many people reason to watch this channel once again as well as look forward to Thursdays.
   The prelude to that reunion took place up the ways in Panama City Beach when eight strangers who grew watching them while they were in middle & high school had the privilege of following in their footsteps and creating their own mark on a franchise that's thrived overseas in between Jersey's 2012 finale and introducing its brand of crazy to a new generation. Combine what made the original so great with a slice of the South as seen on Party Down South and Buckwild, and Floribama Shore dazzled viewers in offering plenty of heat to our cold winter. It was a new take on a concept that seemingly woke MTV as it looked to find the next big thing at the beginning of this decade, which helped this channel ultimately embrace the one thing that it does best aside from music: reality TV.
   And as dessert to what Jersey Shore fans got to enjoy in Miami and as appetizer for MTV Reality fans before the main course of The Challenge debuts tomorrow, Season 2 promises to bring more of the same and even more of what fans enjoyed about Jeremiah, Aimee, Candace, Nilsa, Gus, Kirk, Kortni and Codi. And recent trips to New York and to Hollywood for the MTV Movie & TV Awards in the ramp-up to tonight's premiere saw them mingle with their Challenge counterparts and some of showbiz's best, as they now get to embark on doing this all over again. But it's worth a second look at where we began this ride just before Thanksgiving.

That cast who came to this erstwhile Spring Break hotbed – six from all around the South and two locals who simply moved just across town – all came to the Florida panhandle with this opportunity to live it up like their predecessors did in Seaside Heights nine years ago. But also, this group of eight strangers came here with something a little but more fascinating in the biography department than the Guido stereotypes that defined the show that started a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. All of them found themselves at a crossroads and looked forward to spending a summer by the beach and living out the summer of a lifetime with new friends who shared in this common experience.
   For the women, two of them came from failed relationships: Alabaman Aimee came out of a decade-long relationship with the same boyfriend who later got another girl pregnant, while PCB local Nilsa got married to a serviceman and later turned in the divorce papers. Fellow resident Kortni couldn't wait for the chance to finally get a chance to party up, and Memphis girl Candace came here ready to enjoy a care-free summer while also being quick-witted. And for the guys, Gus had to grow up fast when he was kicked out of his house while in high school, and he quickly formed a bromance with Superman lookalike Jeremiah who was home-schooled. South Carolinian Codi took on the role of being that Southern gentleman, while Atlantan Kirk simply looked forward to what this summer by the beach would be all about.

Like what's gone down on not just the Shore series but most other MTV reality shows, you'd expect to have those moments that will make you laugh out loud... and Floribama sure offered a lot of them - starting with those first two episodes that aired just before Thanksgiving.
   There was that time where everyone had deserted her on their first night that Kortni was left all alone like the young kids who had to fend for themselves while mommy & daddy went off on an overnight casino trip (just like I do often now on a Friday). There all drunk and by herself, she decided to go and pee, but not in the bathroom but in the bed next to her's where Candace sleeps. And that same night, the rest of the house came home not only to the smell and sight of pee in the bed, but also wanting to extend their night by having Nilsa calling the local pizza place to ask for pizza after hours when every business has closed up shop for the night... and an exception was made for them through the help of the Gator Phone.

If you've watched the entire Jersey run, there were a lot of oddities and humor: Pauly's "girlfriend" emerging from the kitchen to surprise him in the Vacation villa, Snooki getting drunk on the beach, Angelina arriving with those famous garbage bags. For our Florida friends, the housemates were scared by the sight of a possible shark by the beach when they found that it was just a dolphin and his fin swimming in the sea, and Kortni's pet parrot attacking the group when they paid a visit to grandma, as well as her going wild on the beach. And who can forget the many times Codi decided to bare all by showing off his undies both to honor America and to serenade the house before the ultimate turnt up moment: the parents coming in to celebrate the end of summer and becoming one of the housemates.

Just as it was for Jersey Shore, the most memorable moment from the first season of Floribama was a fight that got everyone talking and made a lot of viewers take notice. But unlike what happened that chaotic night in that Seaside bar when Snooki was punched - and brought together a then-divided shore house, the fight that took stretched out into the streets - and it was the just of two that took place in back to back weeks. And it all began when the group took advantage of discounts on draft beer at a local bar, and continuing when one's outrageous comments toward them caused a girl who we also saw on a show that aired last summer to pop off.

Yes, those two fights that went down in a matter of days - along with another one that took place with a local girl that took place in the premiere - were the pickup joint of the drama that took place in Panama City Beach, and it was only part of the commotion that went down in that house. Nilsa hooked up with Jeremiah's brother only for her to have her heart broken not once but twice, and she and Jeremiah had it out over his actions around women. It was only part of the war of the guys vs. girls that we've seen over the years in MTV reality series as well as the body-shaming that we've had to endure lately, too.

There was also fights involving chicken, Codi becoming the gossip man of the house, and something that went down before they left the house: Aimee and Kirk having it out for her and Nilsa still having feelings for their exes.

Sure, both the Floribama bunch share traits with not just Jersey and even international iterations like Geordie in the UK -- partying, drunken drama and getting smashed is a fact of life. And also, locals expressed their displeasure over their town being portrayed in a negative life before the show began like what happened the very first time up in Seaside.
   But what made this Shore so unique is that there were of a few things that their counterparts to the North didn't have: a sense that these people are human, and that had much more to offer than just being pretty faces and just being ready to party. Those who've been longing for a Real World-type docu-series that can be as relatable as that and Teen Mom (for which this show is the latest series to be given the launchpad of airing after the ongoing baby mama drama) were certainly satisfied with this season, with both Rolling Stone and Vice Magazine agreeing that Floribama is more realer than its northern counterpart.
   For Nilsa and for Aimee, they were just coming off bitter ends to their long relationships, and they had the chance to open up about what went wrong along with the feeling of being single for the first time. For Gus, it was a chance for him to reconnect with a family who he had trouble with in the past with the hope that this is a new beginning. Candace and Kirk were the first two castmates of color to be cast into the international Shore franchise to add more diversity to this series. And true to its season 1 synopsis, this was a "coming of age story" where each of the housemates grew up from when they moved into that house until their last moments together.

The Jersey crew all sat around for Sunday dinner together in Seaside, in Miami and that Season 4 trek to Italy, including Vinny's parents flying down with all their homemade food to their son's vacation. Here, the Floribama crew had their own special dinnertime tradition that characterizes what life is like for those in the South: a prayer around their food thanking God and everyone before they munch down. It can be crawfish, taco soup that left everyone having to go to the bathroom, and even being clueless over what kind of restaurant food was being offered to them.
   And at heart, this group is now officially a family: one who can openly express their Christianity, life with family and who have had hardships along the way like homelessness and school difficulties to now becoming adults. They were there for Codi when he experienced the most painful experience of all: losing a family member while away filming, and took time away to fly back home and tend to matters much bigger than anything else. They were there for Aimee when, after she was getting taken down by the men in the house, she was given a day in her honor in being treated like the Princess she truly is - Princess Goddess Mermaid as she calls herself. And bonds were formed among the entire house among complete strangers... something these people never expected going into this trip.

For a sophomore season that opens its curtains tonight, it is an extended season than the first one that aired in between the first and second halves of fellow Florida-based series Siesta Key. After filming over the spring, the cast went straight into promotion mode in spending the past month touring the tabloids and media outlets such as Sway's Sirius radio show and US Weekly teasing us about what this season has to offer.
   Usually for a reality series with the same cast season to season, the drama factor goes up a notch, and it's no different with this season. Candace and Jeremiah teased to TooFab about drama taking place during tonight's premiere (as seen in the clip below) that will set the tone for a second season that promises plenty of hookups, drama and fun that will sure make Mondays feel a little more easier to handle, and will make Jersey Shore fans open up more to this new bunch before Snooki, The Sitch and friends return at summer's end.

Often, the hardest act in the entertainment industry is to follow up an enormously successful first season of a new TV show, a big Hollywood blockbuster or a chart-topping debut album with a second one that can match or even exceed expectations. Jersey Shore did it eight years ago when it was the talk of not just MTV but of the entire television world when they invaded South Beach. Now, it's Floribama Shore's turn to prove that what happened last winter was no flash in the pan: it's now ready to take the next step that begins tonight. Bring on the fun.

Floribama Season 2 from EarShock on Vimeo.

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As it was the first time out, DCBLOG will be covering Floribama Shore weekly during Season 2, starting next week when we will be featuring posts on the first two episodes covering the SocialPulse reaction and a recap of those episodes (the post on tonight's premiere won't be posted this week due to extensive focus on the premiere of The Challenge 32 and a planned family outing). These FBS posts will generally be posted first in our weekly wave ahead of our traditional look at The Challenge each weekend. And as teased during this post, one of the Floribama castmates had the opportunity to be on another MTV series that debuted last year, and we'll be sharing that story during this season.
   In case you haven't check it out, yesterday DCBLOG posted our season preview of The Challenge: Final Reckoning which debuts tomorrow night, and features our look at what we can expect from South Africa as well as our traditional introduction to the newbies of this season. And to follow Twitter buzz from MTV Premiere Week as well as this week's climax of the FIFA World Cup, follow my DCNOW live hub at @DC408DxNow, or chat up with me at @DC408Dxtr. Enjoy tonight.

- I AM DC
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