Who Wants to Be a Superhero ep. 3

Yet more fun this week as the final 7 contestants vie for the chance to become a superhero, immortalized in not only their own comic, but in a SciFi original movie. And if you don't think I'm going to blog about that, you haven't been reading me very long.

This week starts a new portion of the show, however. Before now, the challenges were set up by Stan Lee with a few twists to make things more interesting. Now there is a supervillain to match the superheroes, the Dark Enforcer. Ok, fine, so he doesn't really do anything except claim responsibility for the twists to the challenges that would have been there already, but it's amusing. Before the first challenge the competitors are told that there is a new supervillain, and as the lights flicker it is revealed that the Iron Enforcer has switched sides. They all look on in shock, and Tyveculus leaps to his feet, shouting, "What is this?" He delivers it with more than a touch of melodrama yet not a bit of irony. Really, I think I saw that same performance at a local high school play recently. I can only hope he's not on this show to become an actor. Speaking of...

It's time for the night's first challenge. They are all asked to go across the street (still in costume) and get lunch. Stan wants to know what they bring back that would be fitting for a superhero. Before I go on, a point about them going in costume, they haven't worn street clothes except for the "quick change" challenge, and they've done a lot of running. Do you think they get to wash those costumes or are they all starting to smell kinda funky? Anyway, back to the challenge...They go in one by one to the cafe and order lunch and bring it back to the lair. As they prepare to present the food to Stan (once again on a monitor in front of them), the Dark Enforcer comes up on another monitor to announce that he's got something to tell him. It seems that some of the people may have broken the biggest rule: Never reveal your secret identity. Apparently, in addition to make you worthy of having your own TV screen so you don't ever have to be in the same room as anyone else, being a supervillain makes you a tattletale, proving once again that evil doers are really just big kids who need attention.

After we recap who gave up their name (Everyone but Fat Momma and Feedback. It seems that slightly flirty members of the opposite sex might as well be kryptonite for all the others.), it's time for an elimination. Rather than going through all the trouble of picking three this time, Stan singles out Monkey Woman. Not only did she give up her name without even being asked (completely flustering the actor playing her waiter), but it turns out that she lied about her job when starting the show. She revealed to the waiter that she is an actress, but had claimed that she was a real estate investor. This doesn't sit well with Stan, who says that honesty is the most important characteristic of a superhero. Unless it has to do with your secret identity, apparently. As he dismisses Monkey Woman, and she sobs...again, I can't help wondering if I'm the only one curious about what they all brought back for lunch. I would have gotten a hero sandwich.

The second challenge of the night is fairly uneventful. The superheroes must rescue a woman from an adjacent rooftop. Stan has a beam raised between the two buildings with a rope alongside to help guide them. To prepare themselves, the superheroes go inside where Tyveculus tells them that they are all going to die. Especially you, Lemuria. You're afraid of heights, so you might as well kill yourself now. (I might be paraphrasing.) Somehow, I think he forgot that they were on a TV show that would be responsible for any injuries they get. As they go back out the Dark Enforcer blindfolds them and leads the to the beam. If he were a real villain, shouldn't he just push them off? Fortunately, he doesn't, and he leads them to a beam that is only an inch or two off the rooftop. As they walk across, thinking that they are high in the air, the Dark Enforcer points a fan at them to simulate a fierce cross wind. It all ends up being pretty pointless as everyone makes it across and back with no problems.

Since the challenge went so well, Stan asks them for help in deciding who to eliminate. Each person has to stand up and tell everyone who should be eliminated. Starting with Creature, almost everyone takes the easy way out and says what amounts to "I can't pick anyone, get rid of me." The only two who don't are Tyveculus who chooses Lemuria and then lectures her about how she is a liability to everyone else and Fat Momma who, after some prodding by Stan to pick someone, chooses Feedback because she worries that he is too hard on himself. Of course, just as one might expect, the right answer is to choose yourself. This means that when we move up to the rooftop for the elimination, Fat Momma and Tyveculus are on the chopping block. Stan has doubts about the motivation behind Tyveculus choosing Lemuria, and decides to eliminate him.

Back in the lair after elimination, Fat Momma says that she thought the others nominated themselves just because they thought it was what Stan wanted. I can't say I disagree with her since I felt the same way when they did it. Tempers flare, superheroes yell, superheroes cry and the drama has started. It's officially a reality show now.