TV Review: Real World Austin 11/1/05

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

My Rating: 2 out of 4

On this week's episode of the Real World Austin, our seven strangers headed out into the world to Costa Rica for their vacation. They had been working hard or barely working - depending on how you view their work activities throughout the season. Now it was time for them to travel to a far off destination and have some fun.

However, the focus of this week's episode wasn't on the beautiful location they had traveled to, but once again the focus was on the relationship of two of the house mates, Danny and Melinda. Throughout the episode, we see many incidents in which Danny becomes jealous and angry when it comes to the attention his girlfriend receives from the males they encounter on their trip.

During one night of their trip, a fun prank turns quickly sour and in a drunken rage, Danny actually goes so far as to end his relationship with Melinda. The next morning, Danny doesn't even remember what happened exactly until Wes tells him that he broke up with Melinda. Danny is shocked and is quickly apologetic, but he doesn't know exactly how to approach Melinda to apologize. Once he does approach her, things are resolved, but Melinda is still hurt by what he did. The rest of the episode shows them making up and healing the small rift the fight caused between the two of them.

While in Costa Rica, the seven house mates participate in many activities. They learn how to surf, go river kayaking, and by using lines they propel themselves high above the ground through the tree foliage. This last one was a problem for Melinda, as she is the house mate afraid of heights. The water activities were worrisome for Lacey because she doesn't know to swim. Lacey was quite proud of herself once she is successful at kayaking. Being in the kayak with one of their instructors does help ease her worries somewhat as well.

By the end of the episode, the house mates were headed on back home to Austin. A quick trip it seemed, and I almost didn't feel as if they had actually done anything all that special. If they hadn't done those extra things you do on a vacation, it would have felt like any other episode of the Real World. Once again, the show depended on the relationship of two of the house mates, and it actually brought forth a good episode. However, at this point in the season when the entire focus has been on Danny and Melinda to begin with, it is smart to focus on this.

They really hadn't paid much attention to the rest of the cast, and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface on knowing who these people are. That is a bit of a shame actually. In my mind, this show is supposed to put seven people together so they can see how they all interact. This allows the viewer to see how people interact in different environments. During the course of a season, we should learn more about each of the individual cast mates.

On this cast, I don't really feel I know anything about Johanna or Wes or Lacey. We've learned a bit about Rachel and Nehemiah, but not nearly enough. Outside of their relationship, I don't feel I know much about Melinda, but I do feel the most developed cast member of this season is Danny. He was so much of a focus on earlier episodes it made it easy for us to get to know a lot about him. This season started off really great in my mind, but these most recent episodes are really failing to capture my interest. Next week, the house mates return to work on their documentary.

What did you think of this episode of the Real World: Austin? Are you enjoying the Danny and Melinda show or are you ready for this season to be over? Let me know what you think.