| Tough Enough Report for July 26, 2001
This episode is an emotional one, as it is getting more and more difficult to guess who is going to get cut. It opens, naturally, with a re-cap of last week's episode and Darryl's departure. Personally? I hope that the buzz is correct, and that the show is picked up and expanded for next year--there seems to be more commercial than show sometimes. The opening segment is at the Trax, and we hear Al telling the contestants that he regrets Darryl being cut, but that it was a necessity, and that he hopes it will provide them all with motivation. We then see them all doing pushups, and hear Al telling Shad that he owes him some--not the 'Darryl' kind, just regular ones--and that he also owes him for the ones that he didn't do correctly. Shadrick is about to totally crack from the pressure, and it is obvious. He keeps saying that he is 'the underdog', and seems to be so-o-o uncomfortable in front of the camera--almost Steve Blackman-esque in his stiffness--makes you wonder how he would do cutting a promo... There is another montage of bumps--and a leg take-down sort of bump that looks really painful--and we hear the trainers and 'Big' critiquing them. This is when we hear 'Miss'Jackie beginning to really show her heart a little..she really wants Shadrick to do well, and you can tell that she is getting attached to him--a major 'no-no'.. We see Tazz getting Josh in a weird sort of shoulder-on-the-mat pivot..Looks pretty impossible to get out of, and Tazz talks about how you cannot really do any defense against this move. Then we see them all doing this new bizarre move..sorta made me hungry for pretzels..Until Tazz stops 'Psycho Chris' mid-bump, pointing out how the way that he had landed was way wrong---and Al points out that he would break both of his arms if he continued to do it that way. Whoa. Tazz then goes on to say that they need to be able to fall correctly at any time, at any place--that it has to be second nature, in other words--and that if he slipped on spilt milk at the supermarket--he would fall correctly..I believe him. We then hear Psycho Chris say that he initially thought he had some 'natural ability'--and that he is learning otherwise. We then see them all at the House, talking about what a horrible day it was.. Then, oddly enough (to blow off steam, as Harvard Chris puts it), we see them all go to 'Lucky Cheng's'--a drag restaurant. It looked like a real wild time--and there were some genuinely beautiful drag queens there amongst the paper lanterns..and lots of 'shocking' footage of them..'Big' bought Nidia a pretty acrobatic 'lap-dance'--and she raves about how much fun it was..Greg is selected from the table to do a strip dance--not too shabby, Greg--as is Harvard Chris, who just doesn't have the same appeal...nor the same body, ahhaha.. It is then that Maven (Queen of the desert?) is whisked away for a 'makeover'--a little of this, and a little of that--and we are introduced to 'Miss Anita Facelift'--a rather B-52-esque version of Maven, who, replete with wig, sunglasses and boa trim, entertains to the best of his 'secure in his manhood' ability...okay... The other guys say how he will never live this down--and Psycho Chris says that he makes'a great looking woman and that he wants his number'---this coming from the man who tried to drown Nidia..hmm.. Back to the Trax, for more armdrags and hiptosses, and poor Shad is berated (albeit nicely) by Torrie, who warns him not to use her shoulder to post off of--as he is 'violently beating her up on the way down'..Al looks on quietly from the sidelines, taking it all in.. Tazz and Al give him the 'head's up' then, to 'get his game intact'--and AL tells him to show them that he wants it--click for wav and that he can do it--a pretty fair warning, if you ask me. Shad is feeling the pressure, and he speaks about it over and over.. We then see Maven telling his mom about his 'little adventure', and how hilarious it was--we see cuts of him getting made up, etc--and what is hilarious, really, is his mom calling him a..well..a 'd*ke', knowing that she isn't even 'using the right word'.. "Big' then comes over with a tape of WWF Wrestling, and they all sit down to watch with 'different eyes'--and 'Big' says how weird it is that Josh isn't there..and they try to explain that Josh cannot watch wrestling 'with people'...huh? He calls Josh out there, and Josh looks all uncomfortable and stuff, as he explains that he cannot watch wrestling 'with people' , because they constantly critique the wrestlers, and it really 'p*sses him off..a lot'...Kinda scary, Josh... Morning at the house again. Maven on the phone again, and we learn that his mother has bone marrow cancer, and how he constantly worries about her, and how she has a tough fight ahead and how she is his whole life..man. At the Trax again, Then it is more bumps, and more criticisms..so much so that Shadrick begins to cry. He states that he is really frustrated, and just cannot do it correctly. We see Jackie talking to him, and then There are plenty of shots of Shad's heartwrenchinly tearful face, but Al is right in what he tells him--there is just no sugar-coating it, and he would not be helping this kid to do so. Shad gets back in the ring, and really is no better..Psycho Chris does not help, as he is having trouble, too; and doing a 'bunny hop' in his bumps.-click for wav He is totally shocked at how bad he is doing, and they finally end up putting the two of them together, so they can see how it feels when they do what they are doing to someone else. Ouch.-click for wav Back at the house, they are laying on a bed, talking, and Josh is predicting who he thinks will be cut next..he thinks it will be Chris, or at least that is what he sounded like he said..We also see Paulina and Shadrick practicing. Then it is on to the 'cut meeting'--and the discussion of the various flaws and pluses of each contestant-- this is the first time we actually hear AL say anything even remotely negative..-click for wav and get to see Jackie fall apart a little over Shad's crying jag..awww.. We see them again getting ready to go to the Trax with heavy hearts, knowing one of them will not be coming back. Again, they use the red tag/camera-in-the-locker method to drop the bomb...and drop it so that we here at home can see it oh, so clearly..and the unlucky one is....Shadrick. Tears and hugs all around again, but Shadrick doesn't look all that surprised (or maybe that is just his natural expression, I don't know)..I wasn't so surprised, either..Jackie holds him so tightly and for so long, crying again, that one almost wonders... Shadrick takes his leave, saying that he had trouble competing with people that he had bonded with, with friends..and that is what it is down to, really..friend versus friend here; which one will be cutthroat enough?
|