Originally aired on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 Episode Rating: ** (2 stars out of 5) Episode Overview: Run out of Key West by Hurricane Rita, the castmates are forced to break in new bars in West Palm Beach. John, already on the outs with castmate Paula, makes a misstep with Tyler. Paula has another breakdown, and makes a painful disclosure.
Episode Highlights:

• The castmates arrive in West Palm Beach.
• John offends Tyler; drinks are thrown!
• Paula, after more teary drunkenness, reveals a traumatic secret from her past that might be a clue to her behavior.
• Hurricane Rita passes, and the group gets the all-clear to return to Key West.

Recap: The castmates, temporarily exiled from Key West by Hurricane Rita, hole up in a West Palm Beach hotel - all in one room. As the castmates point out, seven people in a room is difficult enough, and added to the situation is tension between Paula, our emotionally-fragile blondie, and John, well-meaning but frequently insensitive frat-boy type. They still are not speaking, and have not patched things up from last week's "cock-blocking" incident when Paula's interference in John's bar flirtation blew up in a confrontation. Paula and Svetlana take a break from the pressure cooker suite and head out for lunch. Paula insists that she has done nothing wrong to John and therefore won't apologize. She also insists she wasn't drunk during the incident. Apparently, the Real World producers haven't shown her any footage of the near-hysterical tirade from that night. If they had, she would NOT be disavowing her drunkenness, rather she would be clinging to it as a slightly more-appealing explanation than the strong possibility she's coming unglued on national television. Svetlana, nevertheless, insists that she needs to pull John aside and tell him she's sorry. Back at the hotel, Zach and Jose watch TV reports showing the hurricane moving across Florida and patiently wait for a chance to insert themselves into some kind of story arc. It's a plucky group though, and - despite exile and tension - they bravely cowboy up to head out for a night of drinking and hook-up attempts. At the bar, Janelle (who must be also waiting for her story arc), points out to Tyler, our gay boy blondie, that another lad is checking him out. Tyler and the lad, Bobby, meet and are getting drinks when John approaches and makes the tone-deaf observation that Tyler has "met a nice young female." Tyler, who in interview says he felt at that moment that John has made one too many "inflammatory" offensive statements about his being gay, throws his drink at John. John throws one right back. Tyler, seeing the situation is going to escalate, leaves the bar to return to the hotel. When Zach and Jose get back to the room, they check in with Tyler. Tyler says although he doesn't think John is a bad guy, John says words like "fag" and "homo" too much. Tyler is upset with himself for choosing to not set limits on this in favor of not being seen as the "oversensitive gay guy." Zach tells Tyler that he supports and backs him up completely. The next day, Jose, Zach and John head out for some salads (salads?) and to talk about the Tyler situation. Zach says he doesn't like the use of derogatory words. John doesn't like that Tyler threw his drink at him, but seems willing to concede he could be more careful with his language. Well! I have, on occasion, been less than thrilled with today's New Male or Metrosexual or whatever you want to call him, what with all the grooming and vanity. But if some of that also translates to: a) some open-mindedness accompanied by - dare I say it - sensitivity and b) increased vegetable consumption...well, I'll take a little excessive hair product if that's the trade-off. Once back at the hotel, John makes peace with Tyler. Tyler says he feels like John is his little brother: "annoying but [he] love[s] him." With one alcohol-fueled drama wrapped up, the gang heads out on the town to start another. Paula has met her own little hottie, Alex, who seems taken with her. She's happy about it...sorta...saying, basically, that it's nice when people want you even if you don't want them. Despite this apparent lack of interest in Alex, Paula is nevertheless devastated when she finds him in conversation with foxy Svetlana. She breaks down crying. Alex takes her outside, tries to console and reassure her and figure out what the hell just happened. Paula discloses that much of this reaction is due to problems with a prior boyfriend, primarily that this ex-boyfriend beat her up. Alex takes Paula back to the hotel, where her ex-boyfriend, Keith (apparently the beater-upper) has just called. Paula says in interview that she knows that Keith is the source of her problems, but he's also the one who makes her feel better. So, despite the presumably not-abusive hottie in her very own hotel room, she steps out to call Keith back. In her absence, Alex takes the opportunity to tell the rest of the group what just happened. The group - quite familiar now with This Other Paula - reassures him it has nothing to do with him. Paula says in interview that she is realizing that her actions with John are related to her troubled history with Keith. She's angry about what happened to her and so wants to protect other girls - the girls John's flirting with - from guys. Before she can do anything about her realization, though, the group gets the all-clear to head back to Key West. They arrive to find that despite a little surface damage, the house is in good shape, with nothing flooded. Paula knows that she needs to clear the air with John. That evening, the two sit on the patio of the Key West house, and she explains to him a little of her history with her ex-boyfriend. She admits that she's misdirected her feelings of shame and anger onto John, who has done nothing to deserve them. John, now understanding, points out to her that she's in a new place with new people, and can choose a different route for herself. She seems heartened by the possibility that her past "doesn't have to define who [she is] now." Usually the tempestuous antics of the castmates on The Real World are a guilty pleasure. But Paula's emotional state - raw and vulnerable - means that witnessing her drunken, erratic behavior is less pleasure and more guilt. One hopes that the insight she's gained this week will help her moving forward, but it still seems like what she needs is some genuine help and less drunken evenings. Well, we all know we'll get at least one of the two next week! -BuddyTV Staff Columnist