The Real World Sydney: Friends Again

ORIGINAL EPISODES, WEDNESDAYS @ 10PM ON MTV

Isaac's back! And bringing some ruckus with him. I never knew Isaac could be so much fun. We never really saw that side of him all season until recently. The most we ever saw from him was a few back handed comments here and there which led me to believe he was not that nice of a person. Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. It's not that he's a bad person, he's just very honest and likes to enjoy himself. And now that they're showing more of his time in the house we get to enjoy his crazy antics too.
What do I speak of? Well, anyone who saw this week's episode knows exactly what I'm referring to. The guy jumped into the massive fish tank in the house and swam around with snorkeling gear on. More than that, he did it naked!!! With Noireen undressed and wrapped in a sheet and the other roommates watching, Isaac reminded everyone in the house that they're still in this amazing place for another couple months and there's no reason to dwell over Trisha. Instead, they should have fun, be friends, and rejoice in the fact that the most manipulative roommate is gone. The truth is that Isaac was right and I'm glad someone finally said it - Trisha was a mean and manipulative person and everyone in the house will now be able to enjoy themselves a lot more with her gone. We can already see it getting better; when was the last time you remember seeing everyone in the house laughing together? I honestly can't remember.

Isaac homecoming made this episode great and one of the best in a while. I think Ashli did a good thing in talking to Kelly Anne. Isaac really got to Ashli when he made her realize that not only did she not know Trisha but that she wasn't necessarily the best person. Ashli realized after this that she was in this new place with a great opportunity to make lifelong friends and she was blowing it over something that she wasn't even a part of. Her talk with Kelly Anne was very well thought out and I'm glad someone was able to knock some sense into her. I still Ashli is wrong for her extracurriculars with Dunbar and that Kelly Anne is extremely immature but at least Kelly Anne recognized how immature she was and that she needs to give Parisa a chance. It was nice to see all three of them talk and decide to start fresh. It'll be a nice change to see everyone in the house get along; maybe we'll even see some fun being had.

Speaking of Ashlia and Dunbar, who is Ashli kidding? "I never crossed the line." Just because she hadn't hooked up with him yet doesn't mean spooning and sleeping in the same bed with him isn't crossing the line. It's sad how people convince themselves that what they're doing isn't as bad as it is in order to suit their purposes. Ashli doesn't want to believe she's doing anything wrong because she wants it to keep going. And then, they had sex. We knew this was coming. They were flirting with the possibility for so long that there was no way it wasn't going to happen so long as they kept pushing the envelope. I feel terrible for Julie because she seems like a really good person. It's incredibly selfish of Dunbar to not tell her what happened. He needs to tell her so she can make a choice about what she wants, he doesn't get to decide what he wants anymore. Oh, and the dude has to stop saying he loves Julie; YOU DO NOT LOVE JULIE! Or at the very least you don't respect her if you're willing to do this and on national television!
Aside from that, Dunbar pretending it was his birthday was great and I really like the fact that he kept it a secret. It was funny watching everyone toast his birthday.This was a great episode and could be a turning point in the season. I can't imagine the Dunbar-Ashli stuff is going to work out given all the baggage and apparently the honeymoon is going to end pretty soon. Don't forget we still have the Dunbar and Kelly Anne pregnancy scare to look forward to. It seems that the condom burst and Cohutta thinks she may be pregnant. Whether or not she is, is yet to be seen. What do you all think? Is Kelly Anne pregnant? I'll do my best to find a spoiler for you and let you know. Until next week, enjoy the review!

The Real World Sydney: Enjoy Your Flight

ORIGINAL EPISODES, WEDNESDAYS @ 10PM ON MTV

This is what it comes down to - do or die; apologize or pack your bags. I guess Trisha really wanted to go home because that was probably the worst and remorseless apology I have ever heard in my entire life. Trisha literally looked Parisa straight in the eyes, knowing how much she's hurt her, and apologized with a smirk. She showed absolutely no remorse or sympathy for Parisa and this is why Parisa had no choice but to send her home. Peace out Trisha! Apparently, you'll be missed...by maybe 1 or 2 people.

From Day 1 Trisha was out for herself. She started fights, she talked trash behind the roommate's backs, and she generally manipulated everyone in the house. Somehow Shauvon (when she was there), Kelly Anne, and Ashli managed to be completely blind to this and "loved her." So when Trisha left (in a really touching and sad moment; oh please, we'll get to this soon) Kelly Anne reverted to a 13 year old with her little home wrecker buddy Ashli tagging along. To be honest, I have always been a big fan of Kelly Anne's. Not only is she cute but she was always the sane one in the group of girls. This week though I lost just about all respect I had for her. She turned into this disgusting person who not only tortured Parisa for pure pleasure but acted with less maturity than the 8th graders a friend of mine teaches. Did she really need to lean over the stairs and spit on the phone room glass while Parisa was on the phone? This was definitely a very low moment in the life of Kelly Anne and I only hope she'll realize how pathetic she looked.
I said I'd get to it so here it is: Trisha's farewell. If you're a person like me you probably felt a bit sad for Trisha even though she completely deserved to get kicked out of the house. That is, until she said her final goodbye to Parisa. You would think that after everything she might have some sense of wrongdoing; that maybe she would realize that she did something wrong. Well, as we all saw that never happened. In fact, Trisha left with the same "better than thou" attitude that she had all season and the very same one that lost her the spot in the house. She really showed just how terrible of a person she is and I for one am glad person kicked her out.

Normally a departure like this takes up a whole episode but the producers actually moved us through it pretty quickly. Probably so we could watch Kelly Anne embarrass herself the rest of the episode. Anyway, not much else took place. The rest of the night we basically saw the repercussions of Parisa's decision. Essentially, the guys have no problem with her decision (and actually support it) and the girls are torturing her for it. It should be interesting now that Ashli was moved to Parisa's team and made the leader. Considering everything that went down it might not work out so well for them.

In the end Trisha was not the bigger person she claims to be and the other girls became her heir apparents. Maybe things will get better next week. I can't imagine they'll go the next 2+ months in that house hating each other with such intensity. Only time will tell though. Until next week, enjoy the review!

The Hills: Once A Player

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON MTV

Only one more episode left of our beloved show!! I'm certainly going to miss the mayhem, drama, ridiculous nights out, and Lauren of course. For those of you who watched "Laguna Beach" and then moved on to "The Hills" you've followed Lauren (or as we know and love her, LC) for many years now and it's certainly going to be weird saying goodbye. Especially when "The Hills" is the highest rated show on MTV. But I guess we knew this day would come eventually; we couldn't really expect Lauren to walk around with camera's for the rest of her life no matter how much we hoped she would.

Before I get all nostalgic let's talk about the present and the present finds us stuck with She-Pratt once more. Why did they need to bring this girl around? Wasn't it enough that we had to deal with Spencer week in and week out? Now we have to deal with this monstrosity too? I think this girl has got to go except with one more episode left I think there's a fat chance of that happening.

Anyway, She-Pratt decided to mess with Heidi and Spencer this week instead of Lauren and Brody. Heidi approached her in confidence with some concerns that after all Spencer's issues with the wedding that maybe he didn't really want to get married and so she was feeling like maybe she should postpone it too. I fully understand where Heidi is coming from and she's actually right in feeling this way. BUT YOU DO NOT TALK TO YOUR FIANCE'S SISTER ABOUT IT!! What was she thinking? Obviously she wanted Spencer to find out or else she would have spoken to anyone else in the world before talking to Stephanie. To get mad that Stephanie said something is ridiculous because you had to know she would tell Spencer; it's her brother, how could she not. That aside, Stephanie should have left everyone alone and let them work it out. Apparently she likes getting involved in everyone else's lives rather than living her own. On a side note, did anyone catch the fact that at the card shop Spencer mentioned he really wanted the wedding party to be at Don Antonio's? The ridiculousness never stops with him; I'm so stunned I don't even know what to say about this.

As you know all of this led to a pretty big fight between Heidi and Spencer. In his usual passive aggressive manner he sat on the couch reading a book (or possibly pretending to, hmmm) waiting for Heidi to say "what's wrong?" It worked (Heidi you're a sucker) and the fight ensued. I don't normally agree with Heidi about anything but the truth is that she was right to feel like Spencer didn't want to get married. That's probably because he doesn't. I mean, who wants to get married but does not want to tell their family? This fight really highlights who Spencer is. Rather than acknowledge the things he's done he tries to win the fight by pointing out negative things about Heidi that she never really did. He twists and turns the past into this picture that makes it seem as though everyone is against him when in fact he was the one in the wrong the whole time. And now his new move is to walk out rather than lose the fights he thinks he can win but really can't. Heidi's chuck of the book at the door was a nice move and even a bit surprising. Do we have another abusive couple on our hands or the end of a couple? Personally, I'm hoping it's the latter.

Meanwhile, Lauren had her own drama do with. Brody has been a regular in the life of Lauren and many of us have been wondering what has kept them apart. Thanks to Lauren we know exactly what - "Britney Canada Whore." I'm glad to see Lauren so strong and finally standing up for herself and what she wants. It seems this was the theme of the night - the women who are usually pushovers decided to stand their ground. Lauren come right out to Brody and asked what was going on. When he refuses to acknowledge that he's a player, she asked for his phone; turns out this was a brilliant move. His phone had a fantastically long list of women's names, including the Britney reference above, and he even had perverted references for many of them. She found all of this in the phone and only got to the letter "C"! This player will never change even if he claims they're old numbers. Obviously it won't be that easy for Lauren to end her feelings for him but at least she's taking steps in the right direction. It's great to see her getting stronger.
I have to tell you, Lo is the best! I only wish she came around more often. Her comment to Lauren. "I'll be your boyfriend," was great. Lo is awesome and probably one of the most level-headed people we've seen in all the years we've been watching "The Hills" and "Laguna."
By the way, what was up with that Halloween party? The flapper outfit of Lauren's was interesting but not all that much fun. And Brody and Frankie as Batman and Robin? Interesting idea for a costume...actually it was very odd; words of advice to them, NEVER do that again. And a smoke machine in a small apartment; ummm leave that one in the shop next time.

Lastly, we have Audrina who seems to have finally moved on from Justin. Not that I get what she saw in him to begin with because as Lauren put it, he was basically worthless and didn't even shower. Her new Australian guy is kind of cool and a big step up from Justin - not that it's hard to accomplish anyway. The lip ring was a bit too much but hey, at least he showers right? Although his extremely transparent attempt at trying to get Audrina to seep with him after the date was very lame. It's great to see her moving on though and looking for decent guys now. Hopefully this will continue; her life will be much better.

Sadly this is going to be my second to last review of "The Hills." We have one more episode left until we have to say goodbye. It's been a great run and while I can't wait for next week's series finale, I wish it wouldn't come so quickly. Until next week's series finale, enjoy the review!

The Hills: A Night At The Opera

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON MTV

It's the female Pratt! I was actually pretty shocked to see her show up after all this time but I guess it made sense that she would finally make an appearance; the only thing better than one Pratt is a second. If I didn't know Spencer I would have been more upset at Stephanie's confrontation in the club but knowing her brother I couldn't help but laugh. Their parent's must have done something terrible to these kids. I can't think of any way that these two could grow up so equally messed up unless the parents fed them cocaine as babies or are the two worst people to ever walk the planet. If I were their parents I would be utterly embarrassed watching these kids on television. Then again, if they're anything like Spencer and Stephanie they either don't care or think they are the normals ones and everyone else is crazy.

If anyone could tell me what in the world must have gone through Stephanie's head to walk up to Brody and tell him he's leaving with her right now, I would be very appreciative. It makes absolutely no sense for her to have done that. Even if she feels like Lauren is in the wrong with everyone, which clearly she does, why would she take Brody away? Is she her brothers keeper and protector? I think it's hilarious that she has to fight Spencer's battles. Pretty sad for him actually. Then on top of that she starts a verbal fight with Lauren in the middle of the club?! She needs to stop fighting her brothers battles and worry about herself. Stephanie ended up looking like a complete and utter moron; what a way to make your debut.

If that wasn't enough she then meets up with Spencer and Heidi, telling them all about the scene at the club. Was it me or did Heidi look like maybe she was concerned about Lauren? I thought I saw a bit of concern for a moment which might explain some of the fighting with Spencer lately. It might be possible that she's finally starting to see that the way she's been acting was totally wrong and that Spencer's influence was a big reason for that. Anyway, did you all catch Stephanie's comment about how she's never seen two people so in love? Did I miss something the last two years? Because I've seen many, many, many people more in the love than these two. In fact, I don't even think they are in love. I found this comment very funny and really destroyed her credibility from that point on; not that it wasn't destroyed after the club scene anyway.

Oh and before I move on, can you believe Stephanie wanted to marry Speidi?! She went online and got ordained. Apparently, she thought this would be a great idea even though Heidi wanted a traditional wedding with a minister. Totally ridiculous! Even more, she looked shocked when Heidi said no. Too funny; I can't believe this family. She's lucky Heidi didn't return the ring and leave right then.

Speaking of ridiculous people, I have to say that although I like Audrina, the girl needs to grow up. She typifies the attitudes of so many women out there and I don't get it. Why does she expect so much from a guy who clearly could never live up to any expectations whatsoever? It's not like he ever seemed as though he could be a good guy and a caring boyfriend. For god sake he ditched her in Vegas once! If someone could explain why women see bad guys as good guys I would also be grateful. Justin is a loser and always has been so when Audrina keeps letting him get away with stuff and is then shocked when he kisses someone else in front of her, it makes no sense to me whatsoever. At least she grew some cajones and ditched him once and for all.

This was a very dramatic episode and I think we're starting to see Speidi fall apart. These two were never meant to be together and maybe Heidi is finally starting to realize that. Granted her learning curve is about two years slower than the rest of us but hey, better late than never right? Next week should be very enlightening and I can't wait to see what happens. Only two episodes left in what should be the third and final season of our beloved show. Until next week, enjoy the review!

How I Met Your Mother: The Yips

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

You know, Barney is a genius and I'm not afraid to say it. The man is simply brilliant. His investment plan for sleeping with women, although considered disgusting by some, is in actually ingenious in a twisted sort of way. Like I said, some people might not like it even if it works. Take Robin's comment for example, "Let's all punch Barney in the face!" The best part of Barney's plan, however, was NOT that it worked but that we got an absolutely hilarious episode with the gang attempting to get in shape at the gym.

Marshall's trainer was by far the funniest part of the trip to the gym. Not only was his trainer funny but watching Marshall cry as she forced him to more farther and farther was putting me in teers. In the words of his trainer, "It smells like there's a little bitch in my gym." Although Marshall needs to man up just a bit. Having Lilly fight his battles for him and fire the trainer was a wussy way of getting out of it. And at the same time watching Ted go through the same thing and cry also was well worth it.

Even better was Barney running into the woman who took his virginity. Clearly, he was a bit of a loser back in the day but we all thought he turned into the Barney we know and love when he broke up with his girlfriend. As it turns out he turned into today's Barney when he slept with Rhonda and she told him he rocked her world. Sadly for Barney that only happened because his brother agreed to sleep with Rhonda if she would sleep with Barney. Apparently he thought this would help Barney snap out of his post-breakup funk; which to his credit it totally did.

Good for us though, we got to watch Barney without any game at the Victoria Secret party. Which I do have a beef with however. Why couldn't they have had them at the party for more than 3 minutes?! WTF??? Come on! I was looking forward to that all week and we only got a measly 3 minutes. It was great watching Barney blow it on the biggest night of his life though. Heidi Klum was very nice considering the things that were coming out of his mouth. She was totally right though that he had to sleep with Rhonda again to get his mojo back. Now this wasn't something I'm sure most of us wanted to see since Rhonda was much older at this point but at least we have Barney back. He rocked her world for real this time and then walked straight out of her house with the usual Barney swagger that we love.

Excellent episode of HIMYM and next time they better give me a golden ticket or show more of the Victoria Secret party. Until the next new episode, enjoy the review!

Brothers & Sisters:

ORIGINAL EPISODES, SUNDAYS @ 10PM ON ABC

Tumultuous relationships. That was the theme of tonight's episode. In almost every one's life we have them caught between a rock and a hard place with their significant others. Not that this is much of a surprise in this family because if there are two things they're bad at it's bickering and relationships. No one in this family seems to be able to get in a relationship and stick with it. True, Nora lasted in the relationship with their father but he was leading a double life. Should we really count that as successful? In many was it still was except in the big picture it was a train wreck just like everyone else's relationships.

So Julia decided to come back and finally Tommy is feeling the guilt he should have been feeling all along. As I've said before, Julia was one thousand percent wrong in leaving him and going to stay with her family in Arizona. More than that, she didn't always talk with Tommy or let him hear his daughter. BUT none of that excuses the fact that he had an affair and did so over and over again. It was nice to see Julia back and happy! I guess her time away really allowed her to clear her head and put everything into perspective.

Who else felt awkward for Tommy, Julia, Holly and Lina when Julia surprised him at work? I wanted that scene to be over as fast as possible; I hate those moments when you really don't want the truth to come out. Julia is a fantastic presence on the show and I'd hate for her to find out what happened while she was away. Although in the Walker Family I can't imagine this secret will be kept for very long. And Lina can't really be trusted, right? Look at this girl! She's out of control and as soon as she's done with Tommy she moves on to his brother?! WTF? That's more than disgusting, it's slutty - and for good measure, so was her work attire. Good call Holly. I understand being hurt after Tommy broke things off but to then hook up with his brother? Not cool.

Speaking of not cool, Jason is an ass. This guy professes his love to Kevin and then tells him he has to go half way around the world on a mission but thinks a lame excuse like "the cell phone reception is spotty" is enough to explain why he hasn't called in months? This guy wanted the best of both worlds - to go on his mission and to have a warm body waiting for him at home. Too bad Kevin saw it for what it was and broke things off with him. I don't usually agree with Kevin because he's so self absorbed but this time he was right for ending things. Jason was treating him terribly and Scotty has really gotten his life together. Plus, Scotty is there and clearly wouldn't treat him like that so why not get back together? It should be interesting when Scotty does come back one day and Kevin is still with Scotty...

As for the upcoming nuptuals, Kitty and Robert have developed all sorts of problems seemingly out of nowhere. About a month ago everything was going great. Now we have Robert lying about his desire to have children, Kitty's insecurities about his prior marriage surfacing, his children unhappy about him remarrying, and the campaign messing with their marriage plans. The truth is that Robert is a great guy but he's also a man with an intense passion for succeeding; so much so that his life takes a back seat. His ex-wife tried to warn Kitty and I think she's starting to realize she might have been telling her the truth. Maybe, just maybe, this is why Kitty needs to take to Robert before they say "I do." No matter what the cause, these two need a good and honest talk. There's so much they haven't been talking about lately that they need it or else their relationship will be doomed. And just as a side note, the whole Lyle Lovitt romantic gesture was completely lost on me. Who cares if you did this so long as you keep lying to Kitty about the most important aspects of your relationship? It was a cheap move and I'm not impressed in the slightest.

The rest of the Walker Clan seems to be finding some new and interesting relationships. While Nora contacted her "first," (Go Chevy Chase!) Sarah is being wined and dined by none other than Steven Weber. Nora was so cute as she went on a first date since her last date 30 years ago with Stan. I think he was right when he said she chose to marry someone with the complete opposite political beliefs because she wanted someone to argue with. She was a fierce soul and that's what she thought she needed; and maybe it was. But he's not that guy, he just wants to love her. She might just be the woman he wanted to love now. Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything about him sticking around for a long time though so I'm not too sure how long it's going to last. I really like his character and I hope they decide to keep him coming back though.

As for Sarah her non-relationship with Graham doesn't seem all that interesting to me. He seems like a very smart business man and she might be attracted to that because he is completely opposite from Joe. Even if she is, I can't see it going all that far. They just seem to be missing that spark. In either case, I think it's great that she's might be ready to move on although I doubt a long term relationship is in her cards just yet.

While the relationships of the Walkers are falling apart, the ratings are as great as ever. The show is a huge success and apparently the sophomore slump means nothing to this great show. There's only a couple episode left before the writers strike will claim its next victim so enjoy every minute while you can. Until next week, enjoy the review!