DC ExtraTime: The Chosen One

From during The Challenge XXX

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Last week in that Challenge house, we saw Bananas go into his playbook and dust off something he hasn't done in quite a while: apply Super Glue to a bunch of feathers and stick them to the face of the first person to snore in his room. This was the same prank he pulled on Derrick and got a rather hot reception from what was his teammate on this week's mission, and this time he pulled it on Tony, though the reception was heated but didn't escalate into what happened on The Ruins. That latest trick by Johnny offers the bridge to this week's first piece of ExtraTime, and for this story we have to go back a bit to the year of his first Challenge win and a cast who we last saw on MTV a long time ago.

In 2008, The Challenge/Real World franchise followed the lead of one of my mom's favorite cable channels Bravo and expanded its main reality TV franchise (and ultimately its entire reality slate) to one hour. This meant a reduction of episodes from over 20 half-hour episodes to about 13 hours, and in the case of The Challenge that meant seeing all of the competition and drama jam-packed into weekly appointment TV, as does Are You The One. In the case of Real World and other docuseries like Teen Mom and Siesta Key, it has allowed for more time to focus on the roommates and deeper into their storylines over those 60 minutes, sometimes featuring more of them too.
   After The Gauntlet III became the first MTV reality series to expand to one hour nine years ago, Hollywood hosted that first hour-long Real World season - Season 20 afterwards, which saw the show return to Los Angeles and to its roots of following those with aspirations on the entertainment & media world. We saw Joey Kovar deal with alcohol which he would succumb to a few years later, a romance between a Detroit music producer and a Real World alum, and racism even invade the house for a time too. And who can forget being able to head to MTV.com each day for those juicy dailies clips seeing all of that uncensored footage from the house too?

However, the most controversial and talked about castmate of that season and one of the most of any season was someone who earned his way into the house in a different manner than any other castmate before him. Greg Halstead from Daytona Beach, FL was chosen to join the seven strangers not in the traditional way of going to an open casting call or mailing in an audition tape, but just by the mere vote of an online popularity contest when MTV.com opened a spot in the Hollywood house for the winner of that contest, with help from friends, family and his nickname of "PretyBoy." He had a fairly unorthodox outlook on people in referring to women as "associates" and others as "peasants"... and came to Cali with aspirations on being a high-end fashion model.
   With him being the last to arrive in the house (CBS' former West Coast headquarters and where the LA operations of Viacom are now located in), that position put him in a precarious position that the rest of his roommates knew what he was thanks to having seen him on the web, but he had no idea about them either. Once he moved in, the man who called himself "The Chosen One" found himself as the odd man out in a group that had already clicked and stated no ambitions to get close to Briana, Kim or Sarah - the three female roommates in Stage 20, though he did give the guys a tutorial on doing wall flips.
   However, there came a mystery in the house of who left a bloody napkin and a trail of rocks in the room of roommates Dave and Will, and who left $100 bills on Greg's bed? It was a strategy by him to try and get a laugh from the roommates for pranks that he himself pulled off, but unfortunately it backfired. And a few weeks in, the roommates had gotten tired of his antics, and several of them got into verbal jarring with Greg over his arrogance -- and in one instance before Joey returned to the house after his stint in rehab, Will and Dave got in a heated verbal fight with Greg that almost got them sent home in almost the same manner that we saw Tony and Camila get the heave-ho from Rivals III for similar reasons with no punches being thrown.
   Along with that, Season 20's group assignment was doing improvisation comedy at a local club in Hollywood, which was memorably invaded by the always entertaining Andy Dick. At first, Greg was excited about getting out of that comfort zone and trying something new, but then he realized that it was impeding on his fashion ambitions, and he didn't go to either the first show the roommates attended when they began, showed up late for a second session for just getting a haircut without letting his teacher know about it, and third he didn't make it to the group's first performance in front of a live audience. For this instance, it was three strikes and out for Greg, which saw him being fired from his task, and also meant that he was kicked out of the house. And the experience ended so badly for him he wasn't present for the season-ending reunion to perhaps get into fights with his castmates.
   Just like those who have had to endure a lot of hate, Greg has been left in hiding for some time after that Real World season ended, but thanks to Instagram he has emerged from that exile and has been posting stuff on there too. And it was just recently that a fan of The Real World and The Challenge, Drew Scott, tracked him down for an exclusive interview which you can listen at The Drew Scott Show site.  Some of the stuff we've found out about him is that for the ladder half of last year, he went across to Russia (no word on whether it relates to what's been happening in the past year), did stuff for Comedy Central's Tosh.O, and pay attention to his last two IG posts with that low voice.

View this post on Instagram

~#mood#vocals#soyouthinkyoucansing#singer#music#night#itry#oneday#trifling#bitch#bitches#triflingbitches

A post shared by Gregory Halstead (@gregoryallenhalstead) on Sep 4, 2017 at 8:52pm PDT

- I AM DC
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DC ExtraTime: Catching Up with... Theo Von

From during The Challenge Invasion, post updated to include video not included in original post

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Last week on Challenge ExtraTime, we caught up with a Real World original in Syrus Yarbrough - the series' first ladies man who, twenty years after doing RW Boston, remains a proud representative of the RW/Challenge franchise to the many people he's met over the years - both on five Challenges and in the streets from Santa Monica Pier to Spring Break in South Padre, TX. Well, as Shane and Darrell appear on our screens now once again for this Challenge, it brings us to their original show and what was, for a time, the third jewel of the MTV Trifecta - Road Rules.
   Seventeen years ago - and right as reality TV was starting to grab everyone's attention outside MTV land thanks to the enormously successful first season of Survivor, Road Rules went big time for its ninth season on the Maximum Velocity Tour. That season saw the show return to the U.S. after trips overseas, and saw that cast encounter a man by the name of "Roadmaster," who gave them clues on their weekly missions. It saw them - among others - tackle their Winter Olympic dreams, became fugitives on the run, partied in New Orleans, synchro swam with Playboy playmates, rode in planes and monster trucks, sea dove in Key West, went underwater with sharks, faced Team Real World New Orleans in South Africa and boy band O-Town in SoCal, spent 48 hours alone in the wilderness, and finally got married in Las Vegas, earning them the handsome reward.
   The show itself was also shortlisted for the first-ever Emmy nominations for Outstanding Reality Program, and of course other reality competition shows including The Challenge, Are You The One? and Stranded with a Million Dollars, among others, have followed the path set by Road Rules. And the cast of Season 9 comprised of rugby player James, business major Kathryn (not the Kathryn of the current AYTO season), ladies man Laterrian, snowboarder Holly, tap dancer Msadda, and our latest "Catching Up with..." subject.

When we first met Theo Von on that RV back in the summer of 2000, he was a 17 year-old from just north of New Orleans and who had the actual longer name of Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski on his birth certificate...makes you glad he shortened his name to just two syllables to make it easier for everyone to pronounce his name instead of voicing that mouthful. His original MTV.com bio went something like this...

"This 19-year-old guy is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. He is studying at the University of Louisiana and dreams of being a children's author/magazine editor. Raised in Louisiana all his life, Theo is an adorable southerner who speaks his own language, "Theoisms." Theo has the curiosity and imagination of a two-year-old with the cunning of a natural instigator. He loves to make people laugh or make them irritated. He says he hates to be alone. Theo is a self-professed slob. His roommates call him "the dirty bird." He has a girlfriend, Mandy, who he has been seeing for a few months. He cares about her, but it does not seem to be serious right now. "If I'm wise, I'll make things work. But knowing me, I'll find a way to completely screw it up." Mr. Charming will be pursued on this road trip, no doubt."

Theo would go on to do four Challenges: partnering with Holly on the first Battle of the Seasons a year later, then notching two wins with Team Road Rules on The Gauntlet and with the Guys' team on Battle of the Sexes II, and most recently partnering with Chanda on Fresh Meat, losing in elimination to eventual runners-up Kenny and Tina.

It was after that stay in Australia that an opportunity came calling for Theo to shift gears from competition to comedy, appearing later that year in 2006 on the fourth season of NBC's Last Comic Standing. In his initial interview, he came to that summer comedy showcase to reintroduce himself as a guy who could make everyone laugh along with being a reality TV pioneer: "I was on Road Rules years ago. I feel like a lot of times people don’t take me seriously as a comedian because I’ve been on television before. Let’s put it up on the stage, let’s see what’s going on."
   With a joke making reference to Britney Spears' one-time husband Kevin Federline advancing him past the show's first round, that night at the comedy club opened many doors for Theo. In 2008, Comedy Central casted him, as well as fellow LCS alum Amy Schumer and many others for Reality Bites Back, hosted by Michael Ian Black. Then after two other shows, the next year Theo helped to create the art of "crank texting," where a user would send a text message to random phone numbers on the hope that they can incite conversations, which after launching a blog devoted to crank texting caught the attention of CollegeHumor and was picked up as a column on that site later on.
   Those folks at Yahoo! would then come calling by taking over one of the web's most-watched daily shows, "Primetime in No Time," offering recaps of the previous night's TV shows, followed by a half-hour stand-up special on Comedy Central and his first film, InAPPropiate Comedy in spring 2013. And that summer came his most-notable gig: hosting TBS' hidden camera show Deal With It, which aired for three seasons and was executive produced by Howie Mandel. And last year, Theo had his first hour-long comedy special when Theo Von: No Offense premiered on that binge-worthy platform of Netflix.
   Along with appearing on a few late night talk shows, two years ago Theo added the title of "podcast host" to his resume when he joined with filmmaker & journalist Matthew Cole Weiss to co-host "Allegedly," which sees the guys talk to high-profile celebrities and share their stories of making it in Hollywood. Christina Milian, David Spade, Mandel, Jamie Kennedy, Spice Girl Mel B, Kato Kaelin, Dr. Drew, Teen Mom's Farrah Abraham, Bravo's Andy Cohen and, as we mentioned in the past, The Miz, among others, have all talked to Theo and Matt. And the Allegedly podcast remains one of the industry's highest-rated celebrity podcasts.

We have discussed a few times here before of the hilarity and humor of comedy being prevalent in the Trifecta, from Are You The One? Original JJ to hilarious videos by a few others. In this day & age when anything that takes place in Washington, on the Oscars stage or viral videos become fodder for jokes by comedians, late night hosts and podcasts, in his post-MTV phase, Theo Von has surely chosen the right occupation in making us laugh.

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

DC ExtraTime: Catching Up with... The "Danimal"

From during The Challenge XXX

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Often in ExtraTime, we like to help liven the mood a bit after our episode coverage with something that'll make you want to laugh. Our first subject this week made his MTV debut ten years ago, and now in his post-MTV life makes a living in a field where all that's necessary is to have a mic, a mic stand and a knack for telling the right jokes. Yes, we're talking about being a comedian.

We first met Dan Walsh in 2007, where he was just adjusting to life back home in St. Louis after a tour of duty on the home front with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom. Knowing that so many servicemen & servicewomen were in need of a morale boost in this ultimate of demanding occupations being far away from home, during down time Dan took to the stage to perform comedy and help bring laughs to his fellow compatriots. And before he went abroad to defend our country, Dan also earned his stripes as an independent pro wrestler, spending a decade & a half on regional circuits in the Midwest and Great Lakes.
   One day, an opportunity came calling for him to take a break from the stage, the ring and performing in front of crowds to do television and to take his talents to a larger audience than he had before. And in 2007, he joined Road Rules: Viewers Revenge, where he got to become a member of the Pit Crew: him and seven other castmates -- including a relatively unknown Kentucky pageant queen named Tori Hall -- who were chosen to be on the cast. They joined six alums of the RV: all-time Challenge legend Abram, Adam of The Quest, Kina of Derrick's X-Treme season, Ruins champ Susie, Invasion breakout star Shane and Veronica who we just saw up above.
   After his time in the RV, Dan then was invited to his first Challenge: The Island in 2008, where as a rookie he almost made it to the end, and him falling into the water and getting eliminated in the same Water Bound mission -- a Purge-like mission -- that saw Evelyn prove why she was one of the best girls ever on this show. Then, he went to Prague for Cutthroat in 2010, where again he made it past the halfway point and eventually succumbed in his only elimination to eventual champion Dunbar.
   But along the way, Dan also had his own challenge: battling his own demons, and it was there that his alter-ego the Danimal was born. On the Panamanian coast, he was described as a hot mess: someone who was stumbling around the beach drunk. He would then find himself in a dark place, that was a wake-up call to change his ways. Going into Cutthroat, Dan explained his life-changing experience: "I went into recovery for my alcoholism. I quit drinking and got real healthy, and fixed my life. I got my head into the game and decided to come back and win one one of these."
   Though he would up come short, him becoming sober and changing his ways towards a positive direction allowed him to establish a better name for himself in his post-MTV career: being by day a self-confessed "gym rat" and expert on health supplements, and by night and weekend accomplishing that lifelong goal of conquering the world of comedy.

As this is being posted this Friday the 13th, tonight Dan is taking the stage at The World Famous Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. This is the same comedy club where the likes of Joe Rogan, Jeffrey Ross, Dane Cook, Judd Apatow, Greg Fitzsimmons and so many other comedians do what they do best... and just two nights ago, fellow Road Rules alum (and someone who we featured here a little while back) Theo Von also did stand-up in this very nightclub.
   Dan has held the mic several times at The Comedy Store this year, which is where any big name and rising comedian wants to take the stage at, and its list of those who've taken the stage is a who's who. Given where he's come from when he rode in that RV, it's been a long and winding road that's brought him to this world of laughter... perhaps he might follow in Theo's footsteps and become the next great comedian. Below is Dan's standup last year at Flapper's in beautiful Burbank.

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

DC SocialPulse: Ex On The Beach S2 - "Revenge is Sweet" (Backtracked)

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

It is the weekend, and as everyone knows by now it has been an eventful week in the MTV Reality world... we'll have the opening salvo of a new season of The Challenge and other matters covered ahead in the following days. But before we bring you all the action, reaction and interaction of a week that also included two queens making their returns and summer wrapping up by the Shore, we have things changing up a bit on Ex On The Beach.

In DCBLOG time, last we were in Malibu (last Sunday after the Super Bowl) the house had seen not one, but two exes get the boot when, after two tied rounds of Cut or Crush, Nelson gave Kareem and Cory Z. their marching orders. It was only the start of the kind of crazy that those who watch this show have come to know, as after Jozea's ex Rob came in to no surprise for our BB friend, things began to go to another level when a kiss Diandra had with Janelle's ex Darian saw her run down the stairs to confront him... and we nearly had another one with Farrah and Nurys.

As we rejoin matters for what is now Week 7 as we cover Season 2 (things are backed up due to our Challenge preseason coverage), if the two fights were an indication of what's to come, it pales in comparison to the next big twist to come to the house. Midway through last year, the exes were given a big task to send one of the originals home, and here this season's set of singles will eventually send one of the OG's home. And the girl who won a streaming-only Big Brother season - and who will have two shows to look forward to now - sees another ex come by, and one of her exes isn't having it.

After the jump, join us around the table for some cake, and the Pulse of Episode 7 of Ex On The Beach. Thanks for joining us here this Saturday night - National Pizza Day... dive in.

DC SocialPulse Extra: Lohan Beach Club EP4, and Before Ex On The Beach Week 7

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Hey there... glad you've came. If you know by now, this is a a packed week of MTV Reality, which last night saw its main course in the premiere of The Challenge: War of the Worlds. We'll have that opening salvo covered here during the coming Grammy's weekend along with one last wave by the shore, returns of a couple familiar faces and even a trip to the zoo. But before all that, we have some unfinished business to attend to.
   Our focus on covering the new Challenge season with our preseason preview and our traditional Who Are These Newbies? deep dive into the rookies (which took us two posts to do this time due to the large rookie field) saw us take a break from offering our usual weekly SocialPulse journals. But need not worry: we've already covered the episodes of two weeks ago as well as last week's Challenge launch special introducing the TV crowd to the rookie field in the lead up to this big week. Here and now, we'll have last week's episodes of Ex On The Beach and Floribama Shore covered ahead, and first up as part of this pre-diary - Episode 4 of Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club.
   When we last left Greece, the summer had just begun as far as the increasing number of guests rolling into Greece, and LiLo brought in two notable people - the soon to ubiquitous champagne gun and a new host in Mike's fellow co-worker Alex, who came to the beach with a solid work ethic to encourage everyone else to follow in his lead... while we saw the latest chapter in the Brent & Sara show. But when you have personalities that clash, as it often does in these shows, it's what happens with two girls with contrasting personas that cause things to boil over... And for our West Hollywood co-workers, there's the temptation to take their relationship beyond just work.

After the jump, it's Episode 4 of Beach Club, and the lead-up to Week 7 of Ex On The Beach, as we look back at last week in MTV Reality before we delve into an epic week just to come here.

DC ExtraTime: Catching Up with... Real World Austin's Johanna

From during The Challenge XXX in 2017, and reposted after her appearance on this week's Challenge Mania podcast, for which her ex is on the cast of War of the Worlds

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

With the always fascinating sight of a Kansas City entrepreneur and dog's dad with ginger hair about to take over The Challenge once again, seeing Wes on Champs vs. Stars in a few days along with a meeting that took place on Instagram this past week brings us to this "Catching Up With…". And this takes us across the pond to an unlikely place, and that's where we find.... the ex.

   The United Kingdom is a union of four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is the epicenter of the British Commonwealth whose leader has been around before so many of us were born, as Queen Elizabeth's crowning moment came 65 years ago next summer. And Americans have always had a strong fascinating with the Brits: the Premier League, One Direction, Downton Abbey, and the Royal Family. And its capital is a city rooted in the past but whose feet are planted in the present and whose eyes are on the future in the vibrant city of London.
   And it was there eighty years ago that Edward R. Murrow moved from New York to London as head of CBS News' European operations. He traveled across the continent to gather a team of reporters called "Murrow's Boys" who helped to establish the tradition and standards of broadcast journalism, all during World War II. Though he never anchored the CBS Evening News, Murrow has had a greater impact than any other newsman of his time, and a highly sought-after TV and radio news award bears his namesake. And it leads us to another American living in jolly old England, and someone who those there refer to as a "presenter" rather than a TV broadcaster.

When we first saw Johanna Botta twelve years ago on The Real World Austin, she was a stunning and fiery Peruvian who had moved to the U.S. when she was 11. Along with her looks, her intellect, motivation and her manner of being opinionated and augmentative made her ready to enter that warehouse that hosted that memorable season. When she moved in, she was first attracted to Bostonian Danny, but ultimately she would become attracted to that ginger man.

   The relationship of Jo and Wes had us glued to that season, but it wasn't the only person she got to see: a local guy named Leo was also in her sights in Texas too, but ultimately settled for Wes in the end. Plus, there was that time when she was on a night out and she stole a rose from a homeless man, and they get a call that she was cuffed up for public intoxication… one of two scenarios of the Austin cast having run-ins with the law.

   Jo and Wes were still a couple when they made it to their first Challenge: Fresh Meat I in Australia and she then went to The Gauntlet III by herself, as part of that Rookie team that made it to the end they were, of course, gifted with the ultimate stunner: the title of champions in that Big Easy final along with castmates Nehemiah and Rachel. In fact, she & Wes were engaged, but when she went to The Island, Jo went there single after breaking up with him.

   And it didn't take long for her to get cozy with the one who would become his arch enemy. Yes, that would be Kenny, and their hookup in Panama was one of the big stories that emerged out of Mr. Beautiful winning that season with Bananas, Derrick and Evelyn. And though Kenny and Jo didn't really work out in the end, it more than fueled that now famous rivalry between him and Wes. That turned out to be the last time we would see her on these shows, and a career in the real real world awaited Jo.

   That career has seen her stay on camera, but in a different capacity than just competing or just making out on camera: Johanna has become a TV broadcaster, or as the Brits call her, a "presenter," much like what they would refer to someone like NBC Premier League host Rebecca Lowe. She has gone on to a career that has seen her handle anything from news reporting to lifestyle hosting and presenting like a pro. Below are some of her work from her YouTube channel.

Last year, Johanna became a new mom, and just this past week while he was in Europe handling songwriting duties - and in the same country that gave the world one of those he got to interview before stardom in Ellie Goulding, Davis Mallory from Real World Denver ran into Johanna in the streets, and we've embedded their meeting below here too.

View this post on Instagram

Hanging out in London today with my @MTV Real World co-star @johannabotta (go follow her), she's done super cool things since the show: she's now a mommy and has a thriving career as a host and actress in Europe #Goals

A post shared by baby d (@davismallory) on Nov 14, 2017 at 4:26am PST

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

DC SocialPulse Extra: Welcome To The Challenge - War of the Worlds

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language and objectionable content. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its long length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Well tonight, it all begins again. It was 78 days ago tonight -- two days before Thanksgiving -- that the year's most-talked about MTV Challenge moment went down: Ashley M. pulling a Bananas in taking all the $1 million of the total prize pool when she and Hunter won a much maligned last act of Final Reckoning. That moment is still very much on everyone's mind as we begin this new year fresh -- many hoping that they can forget the past three seasons of the trilogy & the long nature of the most recent season -- but with some high hopes for Season 33, War of the Worlds. And when it debuts in anywhere from nine to twelve hours from now as this post goes up this Wednesday February 6th, it's smack dab in the middle of a big MTV week with Kailah invading Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club, an OG returning to Ex On The Beach and summer's last blast down by the Floribama Shore.

If you are scrolling this on your phone, it's likely you have a Twitter app and an account to that social media platform... and seeing what goes with the interaction of the cast during that one fresh hour of TV each week -- and what happens before and after those episodes air -- is just as delicious as the episodes themselves. That's what those of you who interact and occasionally spar with the MTV Reality community do, and DC SocialPulse has been your ticket to everything that happens there ever since we started this journey back in summer 2013.
   Back six years ago, social media had just begun to help bridge the gap between the cast and the fans who now have a direct line to them to tell them how they feel about what happened on TV, and the cast have used social media to a greater extent. And although it hasn't always been for positive reasons - and my good friend Andrew Kirk has decreed that it has helped in dumbing down this thing including igniting many a beef that seemed to be tailor made for the digital age, social media has also brought a sense of intimacy and interactivity to this show which wasn't the case when the MTV Reality story began with Real World in 1992 - which coincidentally moves to Facebook this year.

It's with this in mind that, once again, we at DCBLOG will task ourselves with the responsibility of compiling all the action, reaction and interaction from cast, from their fellow alumni across the entire reality spectrum and from fans like you from Twitter land for posts like these for your enjoyment & pleasure... something you'll only see here at this site. The 'Pulse will have every big moment covered from the episodes and from the week that was, and will appear here as part of our weekly MTV coverage for those who watch the episodes live and want to relive the interaction again, and those of you who just rely on streaming & over-the-top services who sometimes have to wait for those shows to be posted after they air. It's with the ladder in mind that, unlike other sites, we delay posting our top-class content until the weekend, and once you catch up on the episodes we'll be here to bring the Pulse to your mobile & desktop along with traditional episode coverage and original storytelling.
   We begin our Challenge Pulse diaries here with how the road to tonight began, when the first tease of this season debuted back on January 15th during Episode 2 of the Lohan Beach Club, and the cast reveal a day later along with the first look at the season shortly after. And it culminates with last week's reveal of an expanded "red look" trailer and the launch special that, just as we did here on this site, introduced viewers to the eighteen prospects/rookies of this season.  And of course, we'll have all the episodes and the pre- and post-show buzz covered from the social sphere each week.
   After the jump, the Road to War of the Worlds begins. Enjoy friends...

DC SocialPulse: Floribama Shore S2 - "Newsworthy" (Backtracked)

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Hey there folks, we're at the beginning of fight week of sorts in MTV Reality --  a week that will reach its zenith with a new season of The Challenge in less than 48 hours from now, among other things. And one of those who'll be heading to The Challenge is one who is winding down his summer in Floribama Shore, and Gus will get to spend a few more weeks at least there on War of the Worlds in a day or so.

When we last left him and our friends in Panama City Beach a couple weeks ago, we've seen Kortni in just about every single stranger situation we've been able to see in PCB, but it didn't prepare us for her latest moment: kissing an elderly lady while at the bar. We also had the latest visit by parents of one of the roommates when Codi's mom and dad rolled into Florida from South Carolina for a weekend visit. And their visit once again saw Gus struggle with the feelings that stirred up from pondering what life may have been if he had a good relationship with his parents.

The visit of the Butts' also gave Codi encouragement to do what he didn't get to convert the attempt to go on a date with Candace, and this time as the summer is reaching its golden hour they will finally have the opportunity to enjoy the night by themselves on the town. But they have no idea of what is taking place outside that date, as a rough night for the rest of the group leads to yet another brush with the law, and a dust-up at a bar leading to big consequences for whoever finds themselves handcuffed. And there's another musical moment to remember from Florida.

After the jump, it's the Pulse of Episode 10 of the winter half of Season 2 of Floribama Shore, as we welcome you to a big week in MTV Reality at DCBLOG.