A goody from the Gauntlet.

Did you catch MTV’s The Gauntlet 2 last night? If not, you missed quite a doozy of an episode (but don’t worry – I have a hunch that MTV just might replay it once to ten times before the week is over). As usual, the Veterans and the Rookies faced each other in yet another gripping physical challenge. Teams were told to form five person human pyramids, which then needed to, as a pyramid, “walk” down a predetermined path, collect a flag from the opposite end of their lane, then return back to the starting point, all while remaining intact. Each team had one hour to rotate their people-pyramids and accumulate as many flags as possible within the time constraint. In the event of a tie between the Veterans and the Rookies, teams would need to assemble an all-star pyramid and the two would race each other to see who could capture and retrieve the flag first. The team that collected the most flags would, as usual, win the $10,000 prize to be banked in their team bank account and secure a $1,000 Best Buy gift card for their captain.

Allow me to end the suspense here – the Veterans win because the Rookies, fearful that they’ll need to save energy for the tiebreaker lap, count on the Veterans not being able to make it back with the last flag needed to give them the win. Which they do, sending the Rookies, led by team captain Alton, to the Gauntlet. And that’s really where the drama begins.

Whiny Danny from Road Rules Extreme starts getting into a screaming match with equally-whiny Jodi, a cast member from his very same season. Mind you, they are both now part of the Rookie team, but that doesn’t stop them from accusing each other of being the weak link that lost the team this mission. Ultimately, Danny’s outburst gets him voted to fight against Alton in the Gauntlet, where he loses in almost record time. Really, that Gauntlet was easily the most laughable in the history of Gauntlets – I don’t even think Alton had to break a sweat to beat Danny in the “Beach Brawl” game, where the two were oiled up, then told to wrestle each other out of the ring. Danny is told he must vacate Trinidad within the next twenty minutes, which he does, but not before picking a last-minute fight with Cara and proclaiming that his old Rookie team is ”losing a good competitor” (presumably Danny himself, although I think this is, um, questionable to say the least) and that he believes they’ll “probably fail at every single challenge from here on out.”

Wow. That Danny boy is quite the little firecracker. I mean, who wouldn’t want someone around who has such a high opinion of himself and his own abilities, who isn’t afraid to point out the flaws in others? After all, aren’t those the qualities necessary for success in a team competition? Here’s a crazy thought - could these traits, along with Danny’s tendency to complain, lose his temper, and more-than-openly slander his castmates, also have been what led Danny being the first of his Road Rules Extreme cast being voted off? Gasp!?!?! No way!?!?!

But Danny seemed so sure of himself, so full of integrity, I felt I must hear his side of the story. After all, Danny had repeatedly stated what an asset he is/was to the team. So I tuned into “Overdrive,” when the show was over, to learn more about Danny’s hopes, thoughts and dreams. And why he seems so convinced that everyone’s in the wrong but him. The following is a sampling of some of Danny’s opinions on what went wrong and on his peers:

On hearing that Jillian, Jodi, Derrick, Kina and Ibis, the entire cast from his Road Rules Extreme challenge would also be participating in The Gauntlet 2: “I was kind of upset knowing that they’re gonna all be there…I have to deal with these people again.”

On Jodi: “If there were one person in this world that I would hit with a car, it would be her.”

On Beth: “No one likes Beth and I can see why. Beth’s sadistic.”

On Jodi (again): “I can’t f*#!?* stand her.”

On his teammates, after they made the decision to send him to the Gauntlet: “It was obviously because of the Jodi situation.”

On Jodi (yes, again): “Skanky.”

On Alton, when preparing to face him in what might have been the shortest Gauntlet to date: “I’m gonna turn around and beat his a*# in Beach Brawl.”

On Jodi (yes, Jodi again - are you really that surprised?): “The person who was f*#!?* up the team wasn’t me – it was her.”

I suppose it was just a Rookie mistake.