Love in the Wild - Season 2 Episode 3 - Recap - The Trios Face a Challenge
The Twist:
Last week's show ended with a surprise twist, as six new ladies were brought on at the end of the Couple's Choice ceremony. In Episode three of Love in the Wild, in a reversal of fortune from the season premiere, the remaining six guys will get the chance to select one of the six new ladies to form our second group of trios this season. Turn about is fair play right? The guys think so. The girls, not so much.
So here's how the new trios formed up:- Chase gets to choose first and he selects: Jenna Gillund, a 23 year old former NBA team dancer. Chase comments that he was instantly attracted to her smile and bubbly personality. Jenna lets us know that she was excited to be chosen first and she thinks Chase is cute.
- Ryan is up next and he chooses: Natalie Korzon, a 24 year old former college ice hockey player. We don't get any commentary from either of them, but I think Natalie is probably the cutest of the new blonds and having two former high level athletes in his trio should make for some interesting competition, so nice choice Ryan!
- Jesse chooses next and picks: Melissa Alatorre, a 23 year old media and entertainment professional. Tara and Melissa immediately get a bit catty, with some urging from Jenny McCarthy. Tara snarks that she hopes Melissa likes sleeping on the floor, while Melissa comes back with her opinion that every blond secretly wants to be a brunette. Jenny McCarthy snarks back "every blond really is a brunette." Jenny McCarthy ftw!
- Jason gets the fourth pick and goes with: Vanessa Ramirez, a 30 year old television and in game host for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Vanessa lets us know that her last relationship lasted seven years and it has taken her awhile to get back on the horse after that relationship didn't work out. As a huge baseball fan, I'm inclined to root for this one and she's pretty hot in spite of being a few years older than some of the other competitors.
- Ken gets to pick next and Yanina lets us know that she really didn't want him to pick Michelle, because she thinks there's already "enough boobies" in the tent, so I guess she should be happy that he went with the decidedly less boobalicious: Lindsay Furman, a 29 year old marketing freelancer and part-time model. Lindsay, who likes dating older men, thinks Ken is "intriguing."
- Ben gets stuck with the aforementioned: boobalicious Michelle Sacco, a 26 year old esthetics student at The International School of Skin, which sounds a lot like it should be the title of a porno. Michelle tells us that if people can just get past her good looks, they'll discover what a down home, good girl she is. I hate her already. Bitter, jaded Jenny does not look happy.
There's trouble brewing in Jason and Cina town as well, as Jason tells us that while he thinks both Cina and his new partner Vanessa are pretty girls, he's more physically attracted to Vanessa.
By contrast, Ken feels bad for his new partner Lindsay, because he thinks he and Yanina are already an "item" and he's not interested in shopping around at this point. He lets Lindsay know this straight off and she's none too happy about it.
Ali is already considering smothering bubbly Jenna in her sleep and Chase isn't helping matters much by talking about how much he likes southern girls, meaning Jenna, in Ali's presence. Can't say I really blame Ali for being catty on this one, as he's pretty much saying "I like her better than you" already.
Tara is annoyed that Jesse tries to do the gentlemanly thing and sleep on the floor so she and Melissa can share the bed. In her mind, he should be sleeping with her. Plus she did make that snarky comment about Melissa sleeping on the floor earlier in the episode. Melissa tries to play nice, but Tara is having none of it. Meanwhile, Jesse lets us know that while some "romantic stuff" did happen with Tara, he thinks he "could do better." This one is shaping up to be quite the cat fight.
Over at the outdoor vanity, bitter, jaded Jenny is becoming more bitter by the minute as she whines to Ben about how she doesn't want to go to The Oasis with him and boobalicious Michelle. Ben tells her to calm her nerves because for all she knows Michelle might turn out to be a complete plonker. At least I think that's what he said. I have no idea what a plonker is, but I'm assuming it's nothing good.
The Adventure Challenge:
Jenny McCarthy gets things started by telling the competitors that in the D.R., they consider amber to be something of an aphrodisiac. She then drops the bomb on them that at the end of this week's couple's choice ceremony, half the ladies will be headed home.
The first task on this challenge is to locate a lantern with a map, hidden somewhere in the surrounding palm trees. They must then use the lantern and the map to find a piece of hidden amber. Sounds simple enough, right? Not so much. Turns out to make things just a little more interesting the trios will be shackled together via leg cuffs for this leg of the adventure. If we have learned anything from the success of Wipeout, it's that it's funny when people fall down. Hopefully, hilarity ensues!
The teams are off! As expected, within the first 30 seconds, people are already falling down. Ben, Jenny and Michelle are the first team to find a map, however bitter, jaded Jenny tells us that she really doesn't want to win the challenge, because she's still riding the waambulance about potentially sharing the Oasis with boobalicious Michelle. Seems like a poor strategy on her part because a) being all pitiful and whiny and potentially tanking the team probably isn't going to endear her to Ben and b) the better she finishes the more chances she has of getting picked by someone else if Ben does like big boobs and he can not lie.
Ryan, Summer and Natalie score the second map. Ken, Yanina and Lindsay are running, or shuffling as it were, in third. Chase, Ali and Jenna are currently dead last.
While we see Ali struggling to untie the lantern, we learn from Chase that he equates Jenna's youth with her being more positive and less jaded than the older Ali, which kinda sounds like some BS excuse to go with the younger, hotter girl. In his opinion anyway. Personally, I don't think Jenna's all that. I was kinda on his side in the early going, but he's seeming a bit like a jerk this week. Or maybe he's finally learning that playing nice hasn't paid off for him so far in this competition.
The second task involves unshackling one of the ladies and taking the other into a cave, where the couple will share a kiss. Bitter, jaded Jenny pleads her case to boobalicious Michelle and Michelle and Ben, who both seem more focused on winning the challenge than Jenny's drama, go along with it and Ben and Jenny head into the cave.
Ken, Yanina and Lindsay, currently in third, are getting along pretty well and Yanina is impressed with how Ken is being so helpful to Lindsay, however it's a different story for last place Chase, Jenna and Ali. Jenna tells us that Ali is driving her nuts.
In spite of having their lantern go out, Ben and Jenny are the first team to reach the bottom of the cave, where a locked treasure chest awaits them. In order to solve the combination lock, they must solve a puzzle written on the chest. Ryan & Summer are the second team to arrive. Ben & Jenny seem to make short work of the lock and quickly retrieve two ropes and their next clue from the chest.
Back at the cave entrance, Jason is the first guy to choose his new partner to go into the cave instead of his old one. Vanessa doesn't seem all that thrilled at the prospect of heading into the "scary cave" with Jason and Cina is understandably annoyed at not being picked.
Meanwhile, trouble is brewing with Ben & Jenny as they discover that neither of them remembered to pick up the map before leaving the treasure boxes. Ben seems convinced that Jenny was supposed to have the map, but she plays dumb. Sabotage? Ben is super pissed and screams at her all the way back to the map and she's like "shut up Ben." Ben has apparently caught on to Jenny's shifty eyed ways, as he is now convinced she is sabotaging the team. Looks like the honeymoon is officially over, but in spite of their spatting, they are obligated by the rules of the challenge to share a kiss before leaving the cave in first place.
Unsurprisingly, Jesse opts to take new partner Melissa into the cave over pretty, pretty princess Tara, because he doesn't want Tara getting too attached to him. Also unsurprisingly, instead of blaming Jesse for this, Tara blames Melissa. Chase, Ali and Jenna are still in last place, but they seem to have caught up to the pack.
In spite of all his flirting with Jenna, Chase decides he should take Ali into the cave, because he wants to see what she will "put into the kiss." That's not creepy at all....Meanwhile, Jenna is starting to think maybe Chase isn't that into her after all.
It's now pretty much a cluster down in the cave as there are four couples trying to open their puzzle boxes. Unfortunately for Chase and Ali, they pretty much all figure it out and leave just as they arrive and they're still running dead last.
So far, all the required five second kisses have seemed pretty perfunctory, however there does seem to be a bit of a spark during Jason and Vanessa's smooch. Jason reveals that so far he hasn't felt any spark between him and Cina, but thinks he's making a connection with Vanessa. By contrast, Chase isn't impressed with Ali's emotionless kiss.
Jenny, Ben and Michelle are still in first place when they arrive at the next challenge, which involves matching up a symbol from the puzzle box ropes with a symbol wrapped around a tree. They then must tie both ropes around the tree and pull them tight to the nearby sand, where they will dig to find their hidden piece of amber.
Jesse, Tara and Melissa have moved into second position. Ken, Yanina and Lindsay are in third, Jason, Cina and Vanessa are fourth and Ryan, Summer and Natalie have fallen into fifth.
In spite of bitter, jaded Jenny's attempted sabotage, Ben, Jenny and Michelle are the first team to find the coveted piece of amber and race off towards the finish line. Ken, Yanina and Lindsay find theirs second. Chase, Ali and Jenna arrive at the beach still in last place, but see a glimmer of hope when they discover Jesse, Tara and Melissa still searching for the amber when they arrive. As luck would have it, they manage to find their amber quickly and potentially avoid a last place finish as they race for the finish line ahead of Jesse, Tara and Melissa.
Ken, Yanina and Lindsay manage to make a footrace out of the sprint down the beach, but in spite of boobalicious Michelle's fall, Ben, Jenny and Michelle had too much of a lead to be overcome and finish in first place. Which probably means we have more of bitter, jaded jenny's whining to look forward to. Yay!
Ken, Yanina and Lindsay end up in second place. Ryan, Summer and Natalie recover from their failure at the cave to finish third. Jason, Cina and Vanessa claim fourth. Chase, Ali and Jenna claim a victory of sorts by avoiding last place, and the lean-to, and finish in fifth while Jesse, Tara and Melissa shuffle home in last place. The pretty, pretty princess is not amused.
The Social Game:
Over at The Oasis, boobalicious Michelle, tells us that she thinks bitter, jaded Jenny is her polar opposite and in case you were wondering, she doesn't mean that in a good way....As annoying and whiny as Jenny has been, so far Michelle's only asset seems to be her generous boobage, as she doesn't exactly have a sparkling personality. At this point, I'm hoping Ben dumps them both and steals someone else's woman. Bitter, jaded Jenny agrees with "Boobs McGee's" suggestion that they are polar opposites, and in case you are wondering, she doesn't mean that in a good way either. She's not at all impressed with Michelle's fake boobs, fake eyelashes and fake tan. Neither am I Jenny. Neither am I.
Back at the cabins, Ali convinces the other "original girls" that the new girls should be in for a bit of hazing. She devises the brilliant, evil plan to STEAL ALL THE TOWELS! So like, the other girls won't be able to dry off when they get out of the pool and they might get cold and their hair will get frizzy and stuff....Lamest. Prank. Ever.
Just to make towel gate a little lamer, it takes like 30 seconds for someone to figure out they hid the towels in the back of the vanity. Melissa isn't at all impressed with the original girls "childish" prank. Me either Melissa. Me either.
Melissa calls out All Your Towels are Belong to Us Ali on her lameo prank and Ali defends herself by saying the new girls have to expect some grief and they should just "roll with the punches." This doesn't impress Chase at all and he thinks Ali should quit acting like such a spoiled brat. My favorite moment of the whole episode: When Ali, who doesn't seem to realize just how lame her prank was, asks the new girls how they found the towels, one of them replies "We looked for them." Ali then smirks at one of her co-conspirators as if she has pulled off some major coup. If Ali makes it to next week, perhaps she will show the new girls who's boss by hiding all the spoons so they have to eat their cereal with a fork! Muhahahaha!
Back at The Oasis, Ben admits that he's physically attracted to Boobs McGee, but he's not sure there's anything else there.
Meanwhile, at the cabins, apparently two women aren't enough for Jesse, because he's now sniffing after a potentially available Ali. Perhaps he was impressed with the evil genius of her towel thievery....Ali thinks he's a nice guy, but she's not convinced that it isn't just an act.
Reward day arrives and Ben, Jenny and Boobs McGee get to celebrate their victory with a sailboat ride. Ben is conflicted because while as he's gotten to know Boobs McGee better, he's come to believe there is more to her than boobs, he also feels Jenny has a lot to offer. Ben wishes he could mash the two together and create "the perfect girl."
Over at the cabin, Chase is chatting up Summer and they both seem to be warming up to each other. Jenna has apparently seen the writing on the wall and is now working on Ryan, who is undecided on whether he will choose either of his current girls.
Jason is still digging Vanessa, but Vanessa isn't convinced he's the nice guy that he seems to be. Meanwhile, Jesse breaks the news to Tara that he doesn't feel like they are clicking and his goal is to hook up with Ali. Tara concludes that Jesse is a big ole phony. She feels very hurt that after they already had "intimate relations" he's ready to ditch her. I guess that was the "romantic stuff" Jesse kept mentioning earlier in the ep. You shoulda listened to your mama about free milk and cows Tara!
Going into the Couple's Choice ceremony it looks like Ken is the only guy who has made up his mind about who he is going to choose. This should be interesting!
The Couple's Choice Ceremony:
In tonight's ceremony, all the guys, except for Ben, will first choose one of the two girls in his trio and then later have the chance to swap her out for one of the girls in the unmatched area and tonight the girls can't say no to whoever picks them. Ben, by virtue of finishing first, can choose any girl he wants right from the start.
This is how it went down:
Round One:
Ben, Jenny and Michelle are first up. Ben is still struggling with his decision but ends up choosing Boobs McGee and sending now even more bitter, jaded Jenny to the unmatched area.
Next up is Ken, Yanina and Lindsay. Ken has been saying all episode that he's going to pick Yanina and he does.
Ryan, Natalie and Summer are next. Ryan and Summer agree that they're better off as friends, so he chooses Natalie. I think we may have our first amicable parting of the ways this season. Boring! Perhaps Ryan will spice things up a bit down the road by choosing Jenna. Of course for him to have that chance, she has to end up in the unmatched area first....
Jason, Cina and Vanessa are the next trio to face the music. Jason has been hinting that he's going to dump Cina all night and he does, choosing Vanessa and sending Cina to the unmatched area. When Jenny McCarthy asks Cina to head to the unmatched area, she responds with a pointed "gladly." Take that Jason!
Next up are Chase, Jenna and Ali. Chase has pretty much told us that he doesn't really like either of the girls in his trio, so when he chooses Ali, I'm not sure he's actually doing her any favors. As the fifth place team, if Jason ends up dumping All Your Towels are Belong to Us Ali in the second round, her fate will end up in the hands of Jesse the phony, as the last guy who will be available to choose her.
Finally, we have Jesse, Tara and Melissa. In spite of the fact that Jesse thinks Melissa is a beautiful girl and Tara just told Jenny McCarthy that she feels no connection to Jesse at this point, Jesse chooses Tara, supposedly out of gratitude for her keeping him in the competition. So, either he's stupid enough or evil enough to doom Tara to elimination when he dumps her in round two for Ali, or the guy actually feels bad about banging her and then telling her he's gonna dump her. I don't know about you, but I'm betting on the first one. Pretty, pretty princess Tara seems to realize what Jesse has done to her, because she doesn't look happy about it at all.
Round Two:
Ken jokes around about taking one last look, but predictably sticks with Yanina.
Ryan says he's very attracted to Natalie, but the girl who has really made his heart "skip a beat" is Jenna, so he chooses her and sends poor Natalie to the unmatched area.
Jason thinks Vanessa outshines all the other girls, so he opts to stay with her. This guy is such a BS artist!
Surprising to no one, except possibly Ali, Chase dumps Ali in favor of Summer, who seemed pretty confident he would pick her.
That leaves Jesse as the last man to choose and he screws Tara for the second time and sends the pretty, pretty princess packing in favor of Ali, who will get to spend another night in that lean-to she loves so well. Tara does not go quietly into that good night. When Jenny asks her how she's feeling she tells her that all the guys are such sweethearts, except for Jesse, who is "fake as hell." You go Tara! I haven't been a huge Tara fan, but I can't blame her for being bitter this time. Jesse could have at least given her the chance to be picked by someone else by sending her to the unmatched area in round one, knowing that he had no intention of keeping her, but instead he sealed her fate. I hope Ali steals all his towels. That will learn him!
And with that we say goodbye to even more bitter, jaded Jenny, never had a chance Lindsay, I fall for you Cina, towel-less Natalie and Melissa and warrior princess Tara.
We close the show with Jenny lamenting having her heart broken yet again, but thinking Ben is stupid for not picking her, since she's such a catch and Tara taking her parting shots at Jesse, who she assures us will suck for the rest of his life. At least she's not bitter about it.
The teaser for next week promises some hell raising and a tantalizing clip of Ali declaring Jesse as the "one night stand who won't go away." Tune in next Tuesday at 10 EST/ 9 CST to watch the drama unfold on Love in the Wild!
Bonus Pic:
I just happened to pause my screen on this shot and I had to share it with y'all. Jenny McCarthy truly makes some of the weirdest faces during this show.