The Real World: Las Vegas: Secrets in Sin City
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What happens when people stop being polite and start being real? But, not real enough yet to divulge some truly salacious secrets to their new housemates. Ladies and gentlemen, season 25 of The Real World has begun, and it's a doozy.
Another year, another season—the twenty-fifth, to be exact!—of The Real World. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess. As a coincidence, I'm pretty sure the last time I actually watched the landmark MTV reality series was in 2002, which marked the first season to take place in Vegas. While Vegas Part 2: Electric Boogaloo takes place in a different casino (the Hard Rock instead of the Palms), and isn't as immediately STD-infected as the first Vegas season (Oh, Trishelle!), the setting of Sin City still serves as a perfectly dramatic reality TV backdrop. However, in this season, a good part of the conflict seems to stem from secrets kept by the housemates - past transgressions that have been buried under polished young exteriors, much like the glittering towers of the Vegas strip serve to push the city's famously seedy history deep underground.
So who are these housemates anyway?
Nany, 21, from Jonestown, NY - Gorgeous and personable…but the only housemate in a serious relationship. There's one of those every season! Let's see how long it takes her to crack.
Heather, 21, from Delran, NJ - Cute, blonde, petite…don't really know much about her yet, except that she has a thing for Dustin.
Michael, 23, from Woodbridge, VA - The conservative religious one. Another Real World archetype. He just lost his virginity a few weeks before filming, though, so good for him!
Dustin, 24, from Rayne, LA - Southern boy, Abercrombie good looks, secret past. What could this good guy be hiding?
Adam, 22, from Falmouth, ME - The resident villain. But unlike other classic Real World jerks in the vein of Puck, this guy's been known to use a gun.
Leroy, 25, from Romulus, MI - Sanitation worker working in Dallas. But really, the only thing I know about him is that he's a big University of Michigan fan, judging by the shirt he's always wearing.
Naomi, 22, from Bronx, NY - Again, we don't know much about Naomi yet, except that she's pleasant enough, and most, if not all, of her wardrobe seems to come from American Apparel.
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Let's get this out of the way—Adam sucks. Adam is a jerk. Who knew Maine was so trashy? I thought guys from Maine wore LL Bean sweaters and boat shoes, not gold chains and 5-o'clock-shadows. Anyway, the main focus of Adam's arc is that he's got a thing for Nany - the hot one with the boyfriend. Although Nany says she has a "thing for bad boys," I'm not sure if she'd have a thing for Adam if she knew he'd spent three years in juvie for a drug robbery gone wrong. Or, if she knew that his sweet-talking her about being shy around pretty girls and not being much of a player was just a script he repeated to another girl later on in the episode. If Nany does end up cheating on her boyfriend of six years during the season, I hope it's not with this disgusting slimeball.
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Just like Adam is hiding the secret of his criminal past, Southern charmer Dustin is hiding something, too. Oh, and it's a doozy. During a game of "never-have-I-ever" - which, by the way, is probably not the best game to play with people you've just met - the rest of the housemates are shocked to discover that Dustin has had a threesome, has had sex in a hot tub, and has kissed a member of the same sex (but, uh, just in a threeway kiss with a girl and another guy). Dustin reveals in the confessional that he's terrified that the salacious truth about his past - as a star of a gay webcam series called "Frat Pad" - will come out to his housemates. What if Heather - the object of Dustin's affections - discovers that his naked, all-American body has been ogled by thousands of men over the internet?
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Someone whose naked body has certainly not been ogled by many people - on the internet or in real life - is Michael, the token religious one of the group. Although he's constantly worried about what his grandmother would think of him ("No strip clubs!"), he's willing to give in to the godless temptation of Vegas. Too bad the guy has zero game. He manages to finagle two girls into coming back to the penthouse with promises of bowling, but ends up reading them prayers instead. Not the way to seal the deal, dude!
And so, we have our questions. Will Adam's violent side show itself? Or will Nany continue to pine over his undeserving ass? Will the housemates discover Dustin's gay-for-pay past? Will Michael ever score with the ladies? And will we find out anything more about neglected housemates Heather, Naomi, and Leroy? I guess we've got a full season, and a ton of Casino nightclub scenes to find the answers.