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“The Real World: Skeletons” (30.13): The End

It’s the season finale of The Real World: Skeletons and, conveniently, Grace Chu is unavailable to recap so I’m filling in. Which is fine because I watch this show anyway and always feel some type of way about the lesbians who are on the show.

This episode picks up exactly where we left off, with Jason upset that Nicole (AKA THE LESBIAN) is defending Tony for being a drunk douche bag, per usual. (ICYMI, he stole a bottle at the bar and no one in the house could afford to buy it which is extremely embarrassing for all involved. Nicole kissed a random guy at the bar to help pay for it so she should probably be the one who’s mad but nope.) Jason is so angry that he pushes Nicole. Nicole is almost laughing in his face because she can’t believe this is happening. Security steps in just as Nicole lunges at her friend, and Sylvia helps to pin her to the floor. (The Real World: They’re just like us?)

“Jason, you threw me and then you decided to pick me up!” Nicole can’t believe her male best friend put her hands on her. She takes off down the street and kicks over a trash can, refusing to listen to Madison who wants to help.

Inside the house, Jason is sequestered in the confessional where he tries to calm down. He tells the camera he regrets getting so wild and wishes he would have just gone to bed. “I didn’t think I could get that angry,” he said. “I hurt her and put her in a position she’d never been in before. That was wrong.”

Here’s a real thing I feel while watching this show, especially this season: There are so many entitled guys out there that think they can disrespect women, and there are a lot of women who still accept this as par for the course, and it’s fucking wrong. Madison and Tony’s two exes allowed him to douche all over them while Bruno’s temper is not only scary but upsetting to the point that I wonder how he could be put in a situation like this with producers knowing (and likely hoping) he could be set off by the simplest thing. All three of the men in The Real World: Skeletons house treated their housemates and romantic interests as insignificant sidekicks that were allowed to hang out as long as they weren’t forcing them to look at their behavior and see how fucked up it was. The only woman the boys seemed to give any kind of respect to was Nicole, allowing her into their “wolf pack” and speaking to her (for the most part) like she was one of the guys. And now Jason has not only brought up her sexuality at work in a bizarre manner during a fight over taking the trash out, but put his hands on her, and this is someone he supposedly cares about. Perhaps his seeing her as “one of the guys” makes her even more susceptible to his violence, and that is not right.

There was a time when I watched The Real World and could see the good intentions, but with Skeletons, I’ve mostly felt disgusted by the males they’ve chosen and how they’ve interacted with their female counterparts. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that twenty-something dudes are as privileged and entitled as ever, and they see women as props or toys. Have I mentioned that Jason’s baby mama just delivered a baby girl, like, a week ago?

(BTW, we’re only three minutes into this episode. Moving on.)

Jason goes to bed and Nicole eventually returns to the house. In an interview with the producer, Nicole says Jason hurt her a lot-mentally.

“That’s the one thing I take offense to,” Nicole tells Madison. “You don’t don’t disrespect a woman, ever. Sorry. You crossed the line. Done.”

But Nicole still says she feels safe in the house. “We all do something stupid in our lives. None of us are perfect,” she says. “Does that justify your actions? No.”

The next morning, Madison wants to talk about what happened but Nicole isn’t interested. “That’s the first and last time that will ever happen with anybody,” she says.

Violetta asks Sylvia what happened, and Sylvia says she’ll never agree with Jason picking Nicole up and putting her against the wall. Um, good.

Nicole and Bruno are walking in the rain and Bruno actually tells the producer “there’s no excuse for throwing somebody like that” and that he supports Nicole “100 percent.” I’m kind of surprised considering how physical Bruno has reacted in the past, but he’s level-headed for the moment.

Sylvia and Tony hash out their problems from the bottle stealing because, well, in comparison to what went down with Nicole and Jason, they are able to apologize and hug it out. “We only have a week left, why are we going to sit and argue?” she says, and then tells Tony they have to fix J and Nicole.

Jason poetically walks through the pouring rain. He wants to be forgiven. Later at home, he asks to speak with Nicole and she says, “You’re dead to me. I can’t.” She’s holding back tears and heads to the confessional to be alone, but Jason follows. “I can never forgive you,” she says. “I want nothing to do with you.”

Jason finally relents, realizing she’s serious, and Nicole gives a confession of how she’ll never forget him putting his hands on her.

“Men would never do what you did. You mentally hurt me. You took it to a different level,” she says, and tears start to flow. She’s extremely hurt and has to live with the person who did this to her. Is this good TV? It doesn’t make me feel good.

Everyone else wants Nicole and Jason to make up because it’s the last week and they want to keep the peace. But Madison admits she would have freaked out and says Nicole is dealing so much better than she would, despite Madison having been attacked by Sylvia and Violetta weeks before. Madison doesn’t want Nicole to feel alone, and they share an embrace that Nicole really needs.

A producer calls the house and says they are sending in a therapist for some group therapy. Jason’s like “Sounds great!” while Nicole is a little less thrilled. “I don’t feel that I need therapy. I’m perfectly capable of figuring out the situation by myself.” She is refusing to come and when 4 o’clock roles around, Joyce the therapist arrives, TV-ready, to find Bruno and Nicole hiding away in the house. Nicole is sitting upstairs, is listening in, watching through the glass. Joyce offers helpful advice like, “IT IS NEVER OK TO PUT YOUR HANDS ON A WOMAN OR ANYBODY ELSE.”

Nicole says to the camera she doesn’t know how Jason will be a good father to his daughter if he thinks abuse is, you know, acceptable. Joyce says even verbal abuse isn’t OK, and the housemates are all silent and nodding like they totally get it. (Do they? Madison does.) Jason opens up to say he’s sad that Nicole is ignoring him and it’s bothering him because he cares about her a lot.

“We hurt the people we love the most because we take those relationships for granted,” Joyce says. She says she hears Jason’s love for Nicole and finds it “powerful.” Nicole decides to go take a nap and I don’t blame her.

After Joyce leaves, Jason says he’s feeling emotional. “To lose Cole, my partner in crime….it sucks.” And then, the last skeleton arrives. “I came by to see Jason,” the man says. He’s wearing a suit and it’s awkward because even Jason doesn’t know who the hell he is. They shake hands. It’s Jason’s father. “I’m here today, that’s all that matters,” he says, but Jason is freaking the fuck out. He’s crying and throwing himself around on the couch. Talk about an emotional week. His dad just keeps talking, but Jason is collecting his thoughts. He hasn’t met his father ever. His dad left him and his mom, and so when he says “Your mom is a decent person,” Jason is quick to say, “She’s a wonderful person!”

Lafayette, Jason’s dad, tells the producer it was a “one night affair.” He knows nothing about her or Jason. Jason starts to be honest about how bad it hurt not to have a father growing up. He wanted to be loved by a father figure and Jason said it has made him angry for so many years. Lafayette feels “egoistically selfish” and asks for forgiveness. Jason forgives him, but will not forget. He hopes it shows maturity.

Upstairs, Tony and Nicole are listening in and Nicole says she’s unfazed by said maturity. She’s glad Jason’s meeting his father and that it could be a life-changing moment for him, but she doesn’t have a comment on it. Their altercation is still too fresh.

Meanwhile, Lafayette is telling Jason about his modeling career and Jason says he has seen some of the photos. They end on that high note and Lafayette says he hopes to see Jason again before he leaves town. Jason immediately calls his mom and she can’t believe her son met his father. “I know it’s a lot,” she says. “But everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens without God’s permission.” The powers that be could not have planned this episode better. So many teachable moments! Now they just have to hope Nicole will get in on some of that forgiveness to have a happy ending.

Later, Nicole is having fun skateboarding with Bruno while Madison and Jason are having a heart-to-heart. TBH, I wasn’t a huge fan of hers at first but she truly seems to have a good heart, despite being a little naive (a lot naive when it comes to Tony). Tony and Madison say they are going to make it work after they leave the house. They are certainly making it work right now. Tony runs around the house mid-sex.

Everyone is packing up in their last few days and trying to enjoy each other’s company. Everyone but Bruno is going out to a sports bar, and hopefully they keep Tony from stealing anyone’s drinks. After a few shots, Violetta tells Madison she’s sorry she judged her. They have a moment.

Nicole tells Sylvia she couldn’t participate in the therapy session because she didn’t want to feel sad and it would make her uncomfortable. “You are the glue that holds the house together,” Sylvia says. Nicole promises to talk to Jason, but not right now. Which is great because it’s definitely not the ideal time. She decides to go back to the house to do push-ups, which is the most lesbian thing she’s said in a while.

Nicole says she misses the person she thought Jason was but doesn’t think she can can get past what happened between them. She really wants to leave the house and forget about him. But the next day, she asks him for five minutes and he obliges. Nicole explains how hurt she was by what he did. “Nobody has ever put their hands on me ever in my life. That’s something I came to the conclusion I could never forgive you for that, ever. I can’t. Even as much as I want to say I want to forgive you, I’ll never forget the way you made me feel in that moment. I wasn’t me, in that moment. I’m still not me. And that hurts because you took a part of me I didn’t realize was in there.”

Jason says that it was a mistake and it’s not his true character. He’s hurt that she’s hurting. They come to an understanding that maybe some day, Nicole can get past it. But not this fast, not right now. Jason seems to understand. Hopefully the other roommates will, too.

Tony does the dishes in the house for the first time ever (good job, Tony) and Jason goes to meet Lafayette, the model. He shows Jason some photos of his siblings and invites him to a family function. Jason is happy to have made this connection and Lafayette seems relieved.

It’s the last night for everyone in the house and SURPRISE! Bruno doesn’t want to go out with the roommates. (I don’t miss him.) He stays home to hang out with Carla, who seems like a nice woman that is way too good for Bruno.

At the club (a straight one. They never go to Boystown on this damn show), Nicole and Jason are dancing and hugging but she says, “I’m still mad at you!” but then says she loves him. They do some wolf pack handshakes and I can hear the cameramen high fiving. (JK I can’t but you know they were psyched.)

The last day in the house, Nicole is wearing a shirt with her own selfie on it. Bruno calls her a “ride or die Alpha wolf pack leader” and only says goodbye to her. He doesn’t care if the other housemates are annoyed by his actions. He only cares about himself. (SERIOUSLY, CARLA, FIND SOMEONE BETTER!)

Violetta says she feels like she’s become a better person after facing two ex-friends as her skeletons in the house. She leaves and then Nicole is next. “What did I learn being here? That I’m not as mentally strong as I thought I was. I think I need to probably open up more. I can’t always be the hard ass that people see me as.” She hugs her roomies, except Jason. She cries to the producer saying she will be happy when it’s over. “Because I’m not happy with the way that things went, but you can’t change the situation.”

“She couldn’t do it, J,” Tony says to Jason. “She was going to break down if she did.”

Jason says he’s “good, bro. Life goes on.” He wishes Nicole could forgive him and hopes some day they’ll rekindle their relationship when she’s ready.”

Tearfully, the rest of the roommates part ways with loving words about one another, and Tony still doesn’t deserve Madison’s good-natured, well-intended heart.

So with the end of this season, I just want to say a few things about the way Nicole’s sexuality was portrayed on Skeletons. If there’s one thing I can say that is positive about The Real World franchise, it is that the lesbian/bi women chosen have consistently proven that they are not archetypes; that we are complex and completely different individuals that cannot be shoved into one big “LESBIAN” box. From Genesis in Boston, to Ruthie in Hawaii, to Sam in San Diego, to Nicole in Chicago, there have been many different queer women who have represented an entire diverse community on their respective seasons, some of them being the only LGBT women on television at the time.

What did Nicole represent? Nicole, the Staten Island EMT who loves working out and side pony tails and sees straight women as a challenge, illustrated a young woman who is successful in her job, charming (and with that accent, even!), and loved and accepted by her family. She didn’t even really have any skeletons, though I was admittedly hoping for an ex or two. Instead her triplet sisters came to Chicago and shared how much they want her to find someone (a woman!) to connect with and love in a truly committed relationship. Nicole is in the “young and fun” stage of her life, although she has also shown a lot of emotional maturity and really acted as the moral compass of the house (alongside Madison, really. They kind of pulled double duty). Nicole is looking for love, but she’s not that worried about it just yet, and that’s fine. She seems to know who she is but is also discovering some things about herself, including, like she said in her exit interview, that she doesn’t have to keep up the tough exterior that she puts on so often. She can let the guard down, open up, be more vulnerable and emotional and it won’t kill her. It’ll actually help her live.

Nicole also proved to be strong in her convictions without being stubborn about the wrong things. She knew when she felt like something wasn’t right and wouldn’t be persuaded to think otherwise. She apologized when she meant it and walked away when she knew it was the best thing to do in a heated moment. Sure she hit on some of the not-so-queer women in what could be construed as kind of creepy (I cringed a few times!), but she’s Nicole, and I’m not expecting her to represent me because she doesn’t. There’s enough reality TV out there now to show how multi-faceted we are as a community that we don’t have to hope and pray the one lesbian on The Real World won’t embarrass us anymore. But even if that was the case, I’d like to think she didn’t.

That being said, I would have loved to actually see Nicole bring home one of the women that her roommates teased her about, saying she got the most action in the house. Then again, maybe she’s happy not to see her bedroom antics on screen. Who really wants to watch themselves do that? People who sign up for The Real World, I guess. And LGBT women are some of those people.

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