DC WRAP Double Shot: Challenge Invasion Final Pt1 & AYTO 2nd Chances Ep7

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

As we wrap up this Sunday - MTV Awards Sunday, that is - welcome back to DCBLOG as we wrap the first part of The Challenge Invasion final and Week 7 of Are You The One? Second Chances. So far in Thailand, one champion has had the edge for the guys, while the other is struggling with her crush in the house. And after seeing the final six swim, vomit, run, climb and smash coconuts, there is still a lot ahead for them in the first 3-day final. And in Australia, the perfect matches had to drive blindfolded as it tested everyone's patience but saw a familiar result in the end. And the only true relationship that came to the house reached a crossroads that could bring them to an end here.
   We will have a full recap of the Challenge final coming on an expanded WRAP next week, but coming up we'll have poll results of who you want to win, a recap of what went down in Australia and fantasy scoring. But you will want to stick around for ExtraTime afterwards as we'll go down memory lane with an old school Real World cast, plus find out which hip hop heavyweight got to mingle with Team AYTO. See you after the jump.

 THINGS TO KNOW 

AYTO Second Chances - Week 7

♥ DRIVING BLINDFOLDED: The week's mission combines the necessity of driving, the potential for a danger taking place around the corner, and most importantly about trust and communication. Here, the matches have to complete tasks together while one drives blindfolded and their significant other giving them directions in driving in the dark. This sees everything from having to parallel park (which is something we don't usually do when I'm out & about), to going to "hardware shops" when in reality they're just makeshift ones on a table. For Tori & Morgan, they get back into the groove after what happened last week. But that only shows up in them finishing 3rd behind Cameron & Mikala in 2nd, and Devin & Rashida winning their 3rd mission of the season. The big story here is of seeing Adam & Shanley's struggles continue, but they are not put that drop zone, as Alicia & Mike finish last.

♥ COUPLES THERAPY: Going into this week, a lot was on everyone's mind in the house, including Tori having no worries after last week's choice that turned out to not be one at all thanks to the blind choice, and the two have a talk afterwards. For Adam, he let out his frustrations with Shanley on the patio and her not having some confidence. Later, she decides to do the same on the Hulk for the way he's been behaving around her, which got my bud Andrew to question whether Adam wants someone else to take the lead in this, and the way he acts around girls was put into question. It's been clear that Shanley has been feeling frustrated with him not helping her in these challenges and them having not attained a single challenge win here, and Adam thinks she is someone that rhymes with the word "itch." And asked if she would prefer to be with someone else here, Shanley says yes, all as Mike tells him to take all the cash.

♥ MIKAMERON CHOSEN: As for Cameron & Mikala, they begin to show some flaws in their seemingly perfect relationship, and Cameron admits that their conversations are actually a bit shallow despite coming into the house together. Later after the mission, they finally get a chance to hash things out, and he surprisingly tells her, "I'm bored, I need someone else from you," in calling her boring. This comes as a surprise to Mikala, and she gets angered...which may not be the best words to choose there. Not surprisingly, they get sent into The Choice, which comes as a relief for the originals and there's a sense this could go any way. But true couples are those who stick together though thick and thin, and Mikameron choose to share and give hope that this can stick around to the end.

 DC FORUM: POLLS @DC408Dxtr 

Of these four matches left, who 
are you rooting for to win AYTO
Second Chances?
● ADAM & SHANLEY               2% 
● CAMERON & MIKALA          19% 
● DEVIN & RASHIDA              50% 
● MORGAN & TORI                29%
  OUT OF 96 VOTES

So, who will win it all for the guys?
● CORY                                  4%
● CT                                    90% 
● NELSON                              6%
  OUT OF 77 VOTES

And, who will take the crown 
for the women?
● ASHLEY                            32%
● CAMILA                            57% 
● NICOLE                             11%
  OUT OF 69 VOTES

 FANTASY TRAX 

#DCCHALLENGE

■ WEEKLY POINT SCORERS
 T-1. CORY and NICOLE: 50 Points each
    3. NELSON: 20 Points
    4. CAMILA: 15 Points
    5. ASHLEY M.: 10 Points
    6. CT: 0 Points

■ TOP 10 TOTAL SCORERS
    1. CORY: 530 Points
    2. ASHLEY M.: 460 Points
    3. NELSON: 435 Points
    4. NICOLE: 355 Points
    5. SHANE: 315 Points
    6. CAMILA: 305 Points
    7. AMANDA: 285 Points
    8. HUNTER: 265 Points
 T-9. JENNA & SYLVIA: 220 Points each
  13. CT: 140 Points

■ POINTS BREAKDOWN
● CORY: As co-top scorer this week, Cory scores 50 overall points: 40 points for vomiting four times: after Camila asks for a plate check, after vomiting on Nicole's leg, before Ashley & CT finish their plate, and after those two run out of the cave. He also gets 10 points for verbal fighting with Camila on Day 2, and adds on to his healthy 70-pt. lead in the overall points standings at 530 points.
● NICOLE: As co-top scorer also, Nicole earns 50 points this week: 30 points for admitting to a fear of heights three times during the wall climb. She also gets 20 points for verbal fighting two times: with Nelson after they finished their swim, and then when trying to load puzzles onto their cart while on board. She's 4th overall in the standings at 355 points.
● NELSON: Nelson scores 20 points for verbal fighting two times, first when he gets into it with Nicole after finishing their Day 1 swim, then when trying to figure out their Day 2 puzzle. He stands 4th in the points table at 435 points overall.
● CAMILA: Camila gets 15 points: 10 for verbal fighting when she tried to figure out the puzzle with Cory, and 5 for crying when complaining about her partnership with Cory. She sits 6th overall at 305 points.
● ASHLEY: Ashley receives 10 points for vomiting, and maintains status as top-scoring female at 460 points, 2nd overall.

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 #DCExtraTime 

REAL WORLD LOS ANGELES - REUNITED

The two guys who represented the original third component of MTV's reality triple crown, Darrell and Shane from Road Rules Campus Crawl fifteen years ago this summer, may have fallen short of making it to The Challenge Invasion final, but it leaves the torch to CT to carry the flag of both the champions and the old school challengers of years past. And if you happen to see who we might see on the next season of this show which is filming right now out of country, this might as well be just the beginning. This offers the segue way to this nostalgic piece of ExtraTime.
   This month marks exactly twenty five years since the lineage of the MTV Trifecta began in a loft in SoHo in New York City. There, seven strangers from around the Tri-State area and Alabama came together to create TV history in the first season of The Real World. What we saw with Eric, Heather B., Kevin, Norman, Becky, Julie and Andre helped set the pace for cable's longest-running series and reality TV as we know it. And a quarter of a century later, the show has evolved a bit, but the core elements of what makes MTV original unique in this voyeuristic genre still remain today.
   A year later came season 2 of Real World which, after an ode to the originals who paved the way for 31 succeeding seasons and a new TV genre, brought viewers 3,000 miles west to that sun-baked west coast paradise known as Los Angeles. There, a new group was tasked of following up that first class of seven strangers, which would eventually grow to nine once they moved out. That season saw an expanded 20 episode slate compared to Season 1, an RV which would be the motif of Road Rules, and the introduction of that private place of intimacy known as the confessional.
   There, we saw the first TV appearance of longtime reality staple Tami Roman, who came to SoCal and established herself as one of the genre's most enduring personalities thanks to her tough, no nonsense personality that set the mold for many others to follow. Her presence was first felt in her fight in the hallway and the bedroom with comedian David Edwards, which saw him become the first castmate to be evicted. And she also dealt with real life herself: on the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, Tami decided that she was not ready to become a mom this early in her life, and took the bold move of having an abortion, which was documented on camera in its rawest form. Of course, she has gone on to bigger and better things as star of VH1's Basketball Wives, appeared on Marriage Boot Camp and Celebrity Wife Swap - first as wife to NBA veteran Kenny Anderson and currently as partner to Reggie Youngblood.

Twitter @MTVBeth

Last week, two members of that second class of seven strangers got together back in the city where they became part of this esteemed community, and revisited the same house near Venice Beach where they lived. This brings us back to 1993 when, of course, The Real World was MTV's only reality show and one of a few on TV overall -- Cops and America's Funniest Videos most notable. Of course, Real World was much different back then as it is now, and if you're one who came onto the scene in the past ten years or so, you'll notice things were much simpler back then when you were 20 years younger and in many cases, you weren't even born yet.
   First, there's someone who is a would-be Challenge Hall of Famer. Beth Stolarcyak came to us from a Cleveland suburb and was a production assistant and "starving actress" who came, appropriately enough, to Tinseltown to further her resume… she would go to casting calls, took headshots and the like there. Like what happened to Jenny two decades later, Beth also had to endure her own Ex-Plosion moment when both her ex- and new boyfriends came to the house in the same episode and had to cover up that moment when she had sex in the closet. In the longer term, she would make her mark in The Challenge's first decade, taking part in the first one in 1999 and six more after that. She developed a rivalry with fellow RW original Coral, got slapped around by Tina, had her clothes thrown in the pool by Tonya, and having something in common with Mike of RW Bad Blood and AYTO 3 in quitting two MTV shows. And Beth added to her resume when she joined fellow MTV alumni to pose for Playboy Magazine… before she got married after The Gauntlet III and is now a proud mommy in her post-MTV life.
   And the person who came along with her was a pioneer himself. Jon Brennan was a 20-year-old from Kentucky who had a career going for himself: he was a country singer, and perhaps the first country artist to appear on MTV. Him moving to, and performing around, the Southland, took place at the same time a man named Garth Brooks had ascended into being the most-popular country artist of his era and kickstarted his genre's rise from a regional happening to a national phenomenon. Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, and of course Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, have all made successful crossovers into the mainstream and become even bigger stars than those early pioneers had envisioned. And also, Jon was a virgin, which given his conservative roots was a key storyline that season during a time when romance and hooking up in the Real World house wasn't as commonplace as it is now. These days, he has stayed true to his beliefs as a youth pastor in Birmingham, AL, and whose journeys have also taken him to Uganda as his church has a missionary in that African country.

Twitter @MTVBeth

First, Beth and Jon got to catch up with someone from across the pond. Dominic was the first-ever Real World roommate of non-American origin, having been born in Dublin, Ireland and whose favorite bands were The Beatles and The Rolling Stones - both proud native sons of the British isles. He was the first person cast for the season and became known for his humor, charisma and, yes, that rock star's hair. Before that famous fight with Tami, David found himself at odds with Dom at a bowling night, and with Jon over his music tastes. Dom came to the U.S. to pursue a career in music journalism, which he would eventually do after leaving the house, and expanded his horizons in working in movie journalism including being a film critic for Variety magazine, being a radio show producer, and also a music executive for Disney.

Twitter @MTVBeth

   Then another original: Irene came to that house in Venice Beach with no idea of what this TV thing is all about after casting directors sought to put someone in law enforcement in the house in the wake of the L.A. Riots. She was working as an L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy and Marshal well after her MTV days ended, but she knew that her time in the house was fairly limited as she was also anticipating the biggest day of her life. Tami remembered, "We always felt like she was the mom because she was the oldest and because she was getting married." And the roommates joined Irene as she and her husband Tim walked down the aisle and uttered their "I do's" as the two got married and went off on their honeymoon and into becoming a mom to two kids like Beth, and Real World's first lesbian castmate, Beth A., took her place in the house.
   We've talked before about how The Real World and the show's production company, Bunim-Murray Productions, have been the first stop for many in the reality TV biz. Also in that photo above, two producers from that second season in LA and have gone on to bigger things production wise in this industry: Dave Albrecht - an associate producer during RW's first few seasons and who's also been on the production teams of The Bachelor franchise and the first season of Big Brother; and veteran reality producer Matt Kunitz - whose first TV job was as a production coordinator in LA, then AP in San Francisco, and in London became coordinating producer right up until the Hawaii season - the first RW season I watched in its entirety. There, Kunitz emerged from behind the fourth wall to give Ruthie the ultimatum of leaving the house for a month to go to alcohol rehab after a bout with drunk driving. He would go on to establish a stellar reality TV resume: executive producer of the original NBC run of new MTV show Fear Factor, ABC's Wipeout, and FOX's Kicking & Screaming... earning the fitting title from the L.A. Times, "king of reality TV."

That year of 1993 in television saw the last episode of Cheers, David Letterman's move from NBC to CBS, Conan O'Brien's late night debut, and the Mickey Mouse Club welcome Britney, JT and Christina. MTV wise, Beavis & Butthead got their own show, Jon Stewart made his talk show debut that year, as did the cult sketch comedy The State. And by our count, many of those in this current generation of Trifecta cast members were either still babies (around age 24-25) or were not around back then to see Jon, Beth and that season.
   While the first season in New York 25 years ago this month was, as we coined in our look back at the legendary Las Vegas season last year, the baptism of fire for The Real World - and graduation day was the memorable San Francisco season the next year, RW Los Angeles helped to set the mold for the show's long tenure: some more big time drama that wasn't prevalent much in the Big Apple, the room that become a staple of MTV shows, and memorable personalities: one who would go on to become a Challenge legend, another who became an enduring reality TV personality, a third who helped bring a sense of Nashville to the MTV airwaves for the first time, and a lot more.
   Below is the moment Tami and Dom get to meet Jon for the first time during their journey from New York, through the rest of the country to pick up their roommates en route to L.A.

TEAM AYTO MEETS BIG SEAN

Also born that year in 1993 was pop icon Ariana Grande, which leads us to this week's last bit. Before recently turning her attention to Mac Miller (who performed at a college event put on last week by a friend of this blog, Kaitlyn), Ariana dated for some time Big Sean, who is a performer on tonight's MTV Movie & TV Awards as it takes place in Los Angeles. The big man also happens to have a link, at least friends wise, with two members of Team AYTO.
   Earlier this season, we saw Ellie and Nate from Season 2 on AYTO Second Chances, as well as fellow castmates Dario and Anthony on The Challenge Invasion... and Dario has seemed to have found his perfect match in Champions member Ashley K.  This brings us back to when two other members of their cast got to meet the Detroit hip-hop heavyweight and a protege of Kanye West.

Twitter @MTV_JESS

   After that season ended three years ago, Jessica and Jasmine got the chance to meet up with Sean at a club down in SoCal. Jess tweeted along with picture on the right, "You da sweetest homiee @BigSean ❤️ humble ass celebrity glad I got to meet you 👌." This wasn't the only time that Jas got to hang out with Sean: in the summer of 2015 as his third album Dark Sky Paradise went to the top of the Billboard charts, they got to hang out again. And she tweeted, "When my thirst level for @bigsean becomes an issue 😂👍🏽 #BigSean #FluxxSD #MyFavorite."  Obviously, she is one of his biggest fans.
   On a side note, it's clear that from the pictures we've seen from Jasmine, Jess and the rest of their Season 2 castmates that they will be pulling for Nicole to take the win on Tuesday's finale, especially Jaz who got to hang out many times with, both in SoCal and then in New York.

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And that's all for this week's wave of posts here. Before we go, a few reminders...
● If you're a hip-hop fan who calls New York City home, then you know about powerhouse station HOT 97. This past week, the Ebro in the Morning show, and co-hosts Peter Rosenberg and Laura Stylez, were joined by the host of The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros, Victor Cruz, as they discussed what to expect come later this month, plus life after football after he was cut by the New York Giants and what he has coming up in the future. Check out their interview here, and we'll be previewing that new season for you here next week.
● Check out Ace Nichols (@AceNichols33) and her unique Challenge recaps on her YouTube channel.  Posted there are her videos for episode 12 and episode 13, with the episode 14 video still to come. Next week, she will join Andrew Kirk (@CSUGradAKirk) to review the season and the finale on his YouTube, and check out his chats with Shane, Cory and Ashley on his page. The both of us will have the mid-year Reality Debrief review coming up here later this month.

Make sure to follow DCNOW @DC408Dxtr for all live episode tweets (which you can join at #DCChallenge), plus a big slate of events and shows planned for this May including tonight's MTV Movie & TV Awards, Champs vs. Pros, the NBA Playoffs and much more.
   Of course, make sure to bookmark DCBLOG for everything MTV Trifecta, taking you beyond the screen for the stories behind the story, social reaction and so much more... we have our look at Asaf coming up here, plus lots more in addition to covering the finale next week.

That's is how we look at it in the MTV Trifecta...thank you for joining us. See you here in a few days for our latest In-Depth posts. And until then, enjoy the week ahead.

- I AM DC