"Real World DC" – Season Finale & Reunion Special Recap & Review

Television Review

Real World DC – Season Finale & Reunion Special

By our guest blogger, Gita Gupte

This week marked the end of the "Real World DC" – the roommates bid farewell to the nation’s capital, but not without a few last hoorahs. We learned that Callie, Emily and Andrew decided to put their creative energies together to form a gallery exhibit of their photography, poetry and paintings.

Though this task seems simple enough, royal procrastinator, Andrew, wasted away his time up until the day of the event. He then crammed away by having to blow dry his painting to ensure they could be framed. Though Callie and Emily complained about him, the show went off without a hitch and Callie even sold some of her work. This silenced her critics (mainly Josh), who thought that photography wasn’t a true talent and that anyone could do it. He later retracted his statement and told Callie he was impressed with her work. The show was very well done. It was executed professionally and was very well attended.

A big reveal this week was that Andrew and Andrea decided that Andrea would move from DC to Colorado so that they can remain a couple. This was a huge step for a guy that has never been a serious relationship and who has only known the girl for three months. But love knows no boundaries and the two seemed happy about their decision.

The roommates decided to stay in for their last night in the house and chose to play a racy game of truth or dare which included a topless Ashley, a repeat Callie & Mike make-out session, and an awkward make-out session between Emily and Josh.

The next day, the roommates headed their separate ways and although I liked this season a lot, I wasn’t particularly sad to see them go. They were always a fun group of people to write about, but I never really felt like they had that amazing of a connection to each other. Sometimes, I feel as if "Real World" cast members try to over-indulge in friendships that aren’t there to begin with. It’s easy to say you love your roommates, but it’s your actions that speak louder than words.

Let’s move on to my favorite episode of any "Real World" season – "The Reunion Special."

The reunion special indicated that Andrew and Andrea are still together, but not without some drama to boot. Apparently, Andrea is jealous of Callie and Emily’s relationship with Andrew and because of this the two girls don’t really get to talk to or see him. I can certainly understand girlfriend insecurity, but these girls were like his sisters, and it seems a little silly for Andrea to play the jealousy card on this one.

We also learned that Ty and Emily still have an on-again off-again relationship. This was very surprising to me because the second half of the season indicated that the two were hands-off and not even really friends anymore. I have to admit though that I am kind of rooting for these two to become an item.

Next, there was Mike, who really didn’t have much to update on. He is still dating Tanner, still working towards equal rights, and still surprisingly calling himself bi-sexual. Now, early on in the season, I noted that I thought he used this classification because he was uncomfortable with revealing his true sexuality of being gay, but I was sure that after his very public transformation and experimentation in DC, he would finally open up about being gay. Bi-sexual, gay or straight, Mike is a great guy and I am happy to see he is a lot more comfortable in his own skin than he was when he first arrived on the show.

Callie is back in school and doing her photography thing. Not much was revealed about her life, except that she is striving towards becoming a fashion photographer. I really hope she stays on this path and doesn’t get seduced by the lure of being on a "Real World Challenge" show.

Ashley had to face her roommates sound-off about her confrontational ways and it was interesting to see Mike and Ty say that Ashley starts 93-95 percent of the fights that she’s in. Though I’ve complained about Ashley this season, I have to say this – I recognize that the girl means well and truly does care about people. She just has an annoying way of showing it.

Josh is back in Philly doing his band thing. He also is taking voice lessons and working on a solo project. Thought my feelings towards Josh were hot and cold this season, I am impressed with his dedication to his music. I was also impressed that he owned up to not having the best singing voice, but saying that he is taking steps towards improving. Can’t argue with that!

A wrap-up on this show wouldn’t be complete without an Erika update. Since leaving the show early, she has moved to Cleveland to be with her boyfriend and pursue her music interests. She is still self-righteous and bratty, but she fully owns up to it, so there is not much to say there. She seems happy and didn’t regret her decision to leave.

I hope MTV catches up with these guys in a couple of years, because I would love to see where they go from here.