Beauty and the Geek

Previously on Beauty and the Geek, the teams received their final challenge, which occurred at a vineyard. Dave and Jasmine emerged victorious from the challenge. William and Jen finally started to get along, and Jasmine helped Dave get up the courage to tell Nicole that he likes her. Sam and Nicole beat William and Jen in elimination, so the two remaining teams still vying for the $250,000 prize are Sam and Nicole, and Dave and Jasmine.

Tonight's Beauty and the Geek begins. It is the evening of the final elimination. The two teams file silently into the elimination room, but Mike Richards has an announcement to make. He says that Beauty and the Geek itself is making a transformation, and he reveals that the competition will not end in the elimination room.

Three days earlier, Mike announces to the two teams that each team will be going home to meet their friends and family. Contrary to stereotype, the girls have packed lighter than the guys.

We go first to Massachusetts. Dave takes Jasmine to Somerville, outside of Boston, where he has been living for the past six years. Dave appeals to the transitive property, hoping for Jasmine to like his friends. Dave's friends are a really cool bunch of LARPers, very gregarious and friendly. They take Jasmine to the Boston Public Gardens for a big LARP-fest. They dress Jasmine up as an elf named Evergreen with a circlet of flowers on her head. Dave's brunette friend with the glasses and curly hair so looks like someone I went to college with. Jasmine is the last one standing on her team, so she gives Dave a potion to revive him and together they fell their foe. They look like they are having a great time.

Now, it's off to Davis, California for Nicole to meet Sam's friends and family. Sam, wearing a black wifebeater tanktop and Bermuda shorts, immediately takes Nicole to his gym and coaches her through a full-body workout. Afterwards, they go to a bar called The Graduate, which is where Sam's parents met. Sam's brother, Tequila Joe, is at the bar, and he's much tubbier than Sam is. Sam's friends show up too, and frankly, they could pass as geeks on the show, but they look like nice guys. Sam and his friend Adrian do a little Matrix-inspired dance, bending over backwards like Neo dodging bullets.

It's back to Boston for Sam to meet Nicole's friends. She brings him to Tufts where she studies musicology. She takes him to an auditorium and performs a song by Claude Debussy. She starts with the disclaimer that she's not a professional, but she really has an amazing voice. She's wearing the green dress that she wore to the Beauty and the Geek prom. They go to Nicole's apartment to meet her roommates. The brunette with the curly hair pulled into a bun totally looks like someone I went to high school with. Sam appreciates meeting Nicole's friends and seeing a new side to her.

Jasmine is from Columbus, so it's off to Ohio for Dave to meet Jasmine's mother and sister. Her mother shows Dave a collage of photos documenting Jasmine's entire life, including one in which she's is striking a Karate Kid pose. Jasmine's sister Janelle is a jock, very different than Jasmine who is definitely a girly girl, but they are very close. Next, Jasmine takes Dave to meet the kids she babysits. They jump around on a humungous trampoline, and Dave tries out a standing back-handspring. Sadly, it doesn't go as well as the margarita-fueled round-off back-handspring in Mexico. Good thing he's on a trampoline. Jasmine is very sweet and tells the confessional cam that she truly considers Dave to be a friend.

It's the day of the elimination and both teams are back in the Beauty and the Geek mansion in Los Angeles. Jasmine and Dave discuss their chances of winning, and she has trouble with the word “familiarity.” They recap the journey of transformation that they have undergone this season, from two positively-charged ions reversing their polarity to attract each other, as Dave explains.

Sam and Nicole hang out by the pool quizzing each other on their personal lives in anticipation for the elimination round. Again, we see scenes from their time in the mansion. Nicole admits that they are still there because of Sam's challenge winning streak, and Sam credits Nicole for teaching him how to study.

Right before elimination, all four remaining contenders get dressed up and sit down to a tasty dinner together. There is a huge vase containing goldfish acting as a centerpiece for the table. They toast to each other. After dinner, Dave gives Jasmine a Chinese charm signifying happiness as a parting gift.

The teams file into the elimination room, as was shown at the very beginning of the episode. Now it's time to find out the new twist. Mike tells the teams that the winning team will be determined by America. Each team will address the viewing audience to make their final appeal to voters at home. They have only a few minutes to prepare their speech.

Dave is stressed out by this, and Jasmine reminds him to speak from the heart and have fun with it. Sam plans on winging his plea, but Nicole is worried about the logistics about who speaks first and which points to cover when.

Their speeches are sincere, but largely unmemorable. Their fate is now in the hands of us at home. Mike tells us to vote by text message or online, and votes will be accepted until Friday, November 30 at noon ET.


-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of The CW)