The Real World - New Orleans

The Real World heads back to New Orleans just in time for Mardi Gras. Eric crushes on Sahar, and Ryan and Preston set the stage for a season-long feud.

Knight graciously offers to help Jemmye lose her "white-boy virginity." Sahara and Eric share a kiss. And the roommates become increasingly skeptical of Ryan after a night out sends him to the hospital.

Tired of McKenzie's games, Ryan sets his sights on her best friend and Knight makes his move on Jemmye.

The animosity between Ryan and Preston escalates to a place that shocks everyone. The roommates fear for McKenzie's safety when she gets black out drunk on Superbowl Sunday.

Mardi Gras is in full swing as the roommates trade beads for fried chicken on one of the Tucks Parade floats. As the Tucks Parade dies down so does the feud between Preston and Ryan as they "squash their beef" and decide to play nice, but still reserve the right to hate one another with a fiery passion. At the Tucks Ball McKenzie's drunken alter ego, Mary, shows up in army fatigues and she's got a penchant for beer and 40 year-old men in plumbers uniforms. Later, Knight questions Jemmye's feelings as they cuddle next to a photo of her and her towering, basketballer boyfriend, Kodi. Jemmye begins to question her own motivations with Knight, maybe he's turning into more than just friends with benefits. "Team Knight or Team Kodi?" That is the question! The next night leads to even more confusion when Jemmye, who had been toying with the idea of going to see Kodi play basketball, sees Knight flirting with another random girl right next to her. As Knight sees it, Jemmye needs to go to Kodi's game so she can stop messing up his. On a happier romantic note, McKenzie gives Mary the night off when she meets Travis, a cute, spring-breaker who is more into talking that drinking. With Knight exploring his options, Jemmye is left with the need to go to Kodi's game, so she and Ashlee venture to Baton Rouge, where they not only run into Kodi, but twenty of his closest family members. With somewhat of a shrug off from her baller boyfriend, Jemmye is more confused that ever as the roommates go into the final Mardi Gras celebration, Fat Tuesday. At the bar, McKenzie runs into Travis and she learns that, like herself, he is a fellow blacker-outer. But while they might be a match made in foggy-memoried heaven, Travis has to return home, leaving McKenzie without a man but with a valuable lesson: if you blackout a lot, you might want to cut back on the drinking. Fresh off her encounter with Kodi, and filled to the brim with Bourbon Street's finest booze, Jemmye confides in Knight that before Kodi she was in a long-term abusive relationship. As she opens up to Knight she begins to realize that she feels a deeper connection and safety with him that she has with any other man. As for Knight, the feeling might be mutual.

The Cold War heats up when Eric tattles and tells Ryan that Preston scrubbed the toilet with his beloved electric toothbrush. After having wiped Preston's cigarettes in his Grand Canyon, Ryan decides to pay Preston back even more by destroying his favorite hat. Knight urges Ryan to settle his war the Hockey Boy Method, waiting outside the house and punching Preston in the face, (but more so just threatening to.) Sahar, or "Hollywood" as the roommates call her, feels inspired by being in New Orleans and wants to use the opportunity to pursue her music. Later, Knight fuels the fire between Preston and Ryan by telling Ryan that Preston, in addition to using his toothbrush as a toilet bowl cleaner, also peed on it.To avoid the chaos about to ensure in the house, Sahar takes the girls out to see Theresa Anderson, a local musician and one woman show. After the show Sahar meets Theresa and hits it off with her, perhaps she will get the tutelage she needs after all. The next day, Jemmey's mother, Alice, who affectionately refers to her daughter as "The Little Slut Puppy," pays the roommates a visit. Knight, ever the classy gentleman, takes mother and daughter out on Bourbon Street for a romantic horse & carriage ride and, of course, a round of shots. Ryan decides to get back at Preston one final time by calling the cops and explaining The Toothbrush Situation. The cops come to the house and interrupt the criminal Preston, who they find red-handed lying on the couch and reading. All the roommates hold back laughter as the cops ask Preston and Ryan to come down to the police station and give their statements. A heart to heart between mother and daughter reveals that Alice thinks Knight is good for Jemmye and that he can help break down her barriers and begin to trust men again. Meanwhile, on the other side of town Theresa invites Sahar over to jam. With her new found mentor and filled with inspiration, Sahar makes a vow to get on stage before she leaves New Orleans or die trying. With the mounting tension in the house, the roommates decide to give back and volunteer at a local soup kitchen. They go to The New Orleans Mission, where they learn about displaced people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Ryan and Preston bond over their experience and cigarettes as they call a truce. Preston thinks everything between him and Ryan has blown over, but little does he know, that breeze he feels is from Ryan throwing his debit card out the window.

Lady Gaga fever is hitting New Orleans hard as Ashlee, Sahar and Preston dress up to attend a theme party. But when Knight sees Preston in a drag, the testosterone fueled Hockey Boy fires insults left and right. The next day, the roommates take the Katrina Tour and see just how much of New Orleans was devastated and how much needs to be rebuilt. Wanting to give back, McKenzie asks the roommates to help her build a house with Habitat for Humanity. All the roommates are eager to help... except for Ryan, a true giver, who thinks he'd be better suited helping the victims of Katrina by doing hair. When Sahar begins to feel the love pangs pulling at her heartstrings, she calls home to find out that Pablo hooked up with another girl. Being in an open relationship, they both enjoyed their right to hook up with other people, but with Pablo so far away and jealousy setting in, Sahar is beginning to rethink her decision. After a successful day working with Habitat for Humanity, the roommates go out to celebrate. Knight begins to see McKenzie in a different light, perhaps it's her bright, shining compassion, and thinks maybe she, not Jemmye, is the girl for him. But while McKenzie is willing to indulge Knight in some harmless flirting, she draws the line at that. With Knight putting the moves on McKenzie and McKenzie playing hard to get, Jemmye is left watching this all unfold before her eyes, and wonders that maybe Knight isn't the trustworthy, gentleman she once thought he was. With Sahar boiling from the Pablo Situation and the McKenzie/Knight/Jemmye Triangle brewing, she tells Knight he's being disrespectful. Taking no prisoners, Knight immediately goes in for the kill and rubs salt in the Pablo-inflicted wound. The next day, with Sahar still plotting his demise, Knight avoids the situation altogether by going to watch a hockey game with Preston. During their man-date, Preston opens up to Knight about the pressures he feels to be a man and how his sexuality sometimes get in the way. With his new found sensitivity, Knight returns to the house and apologizes to Sahar, who sets him straight on how he talks to people. With Knight open to suggestion, the roommates urge Jemmye to talk to him about the way he talks to and treats her. But Jemmye can't help but feel a tinge of pain from the bruises of her past relationship, and would rather avoid the topic than confront it. When Jemmye decides to volunteer at a battered women's shelter she realizes that while her situation is over, she still hasn't dealt with it, and decides that she must confront Knight.

It's Saint Patrick's Day on Bourbon Street and Knight is looking to pee green. As half the roommates spend the holiday helping others at the New Orleans Mission, Knight, Jemmye, Preston and McKenzie celebrate in the traditional style of drinking until they get lost, get in a fight with a telephone, cry, run away and black out. And boy do they! McKenzie accidentally strays from the pack, and is left wandering the streets of New Orleans. With some well-needed alone time, Knight and Jemmye continue to celebrate and have a relationship conversation ending in Knight deciding to have sex with other women, but Jemmye that night. Back at the Mission, Ryan has an eye-opening conversation with a twenty-one year-old homeless man, Carlos. Feeling the good deeds done, the roommates return to the house to get ready so they can join their friends. However, they're in for a surprise when they come home to find the house in shambles after Hurricane Jemmye stormed through, flipping over coffee tables and ripping the phone out of the wall. Meanwhile, McKenzie is still lost, but has found comfort in the arms of a sexy stranger, Grant, who promises to keep her safe, as long as she continue to hang out and drink with him. Looking to call it a night, McKenzie and Grant go back to Hell House. Upon finding the phone dismantled and no way to call a cab (because cell phones don't exist yet), McKenzie and Grant have nothing else to do but make out... all over the house. Now able to walk, Jemmye decides that she wants to go home, so she throws on some over-sized sweats, no shoes and heads east towards Mississippi. When Ashlee talks her off someone else's stoop, she brings Jemmye home and tucks her into bed. The next morning, everyone is a little dazed, to say the least. Blackout Queen McKenzie and Emotional Wreck Jemmye go grocery shopping and talk about the issues that Jemmye is clearly not dealing with. After the night she had, Jemmye decides that she must confront her issues with domestic abuse and goes back to the battered women's shelter to talk to Dale, the social worker. Committed to getting past her issues with men, Dale and Jemmye decide to keep a weekly appointment. Back at the house, after never having confessed her abuse to her mother, Jemmye calls Alice and reveals her secret. Feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders, the roommates offer support to the newly changing Jemmye.

It's a double serving of weird, when a pet fish dies, Ryan and Knight fry it up and feast. As Ryan goes throughout the house offering the exotic delicacy to the roommates, his eccentric behavior seems to be bothering them more than usual. All he did was cook and eat a dead pet fish! Later that night, the roommates go out for some well-needed party time and we get to meet drunk Ryan, a fun-loving guy who only wants to hit his head into the car window and punch the back of a seat. Back at the house, while he beats his head into the headboard, Ryan confesses to Sahar that he has an extreme case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. She offers her support to him and things begin to look up for Ryan. That is until we see him creeping around the house in the middle of the night via night vision cameras. The next morning, Ashlee realizes that all her Percocet are missing. After giving one to Ryan, she asks him where he thinks they might be. Ryan gives a shrug and suggests that the former prescription pill junkie, Knight, might have something to do with their disappearance. Amidst rumors flying around the house about who stole the Percocet, Eric decides to perform standup comedy, his subject, the "Peeing on the Toothbrush Incident." Too soon. As Sahar watches Eric perform, she begins to feel the stage pulling at the strings of her heart. Sahar invites some local musicians over the house to jam and decides to sing one of their songs at an upcoming open mic night. But after another playful conversation between Sahar and Knight turns heated, she finds herself questioning her singing ability. Knight, surrounded by rumors and once again caught in conflict with Sahar, goes to the sage Loretta of the New Orleans Mission for some advice. Loretta sets him straight and he goes back to the house, once again apologizes to Sahar and they are friends once again... sort of. To satisfy the roommates, but mostly himself, Knight takes a drug test and shows it to Ashlee. It tests negative for everything... too bad drug tests don't test for Percocet. With the drug test out of the way and Knight seeming to be innocent, the roommates' eyes once again fall on Ryan, questioning why he feels he needs to lie and steal. Even Ryan's confidant, Sahar, doesn't know what to make of him. But all that must wait, because it's time for Sahar to get up on stage and prove her singing chops. The soul girl gets onstage with her band, all seems to be going well until there is a lull in the song where there shouldn't be and Sahar realizes she's forgotten the words. When she gets off the stage she's embarrassed, but her knight in shining armor, Eric comes to the rescue and pleases the crowd with some ill-fitting freestyle beats. Back at the house, Ryan continues to isolate himself and the roommates concern for his behavior grows.

With the dark cloud known as Ryan out of the Real World house, it's nothing but blue skies for the remaining roommates as they enjoy some bonding time in a gator ridden boat ride. And as Jemmye and Knight act more "coupley" than ever, Ashlee decides it's time for wedding. For sober or for drunk, till liquor do them part! The roommates have fun planning Knight and Jemmye's faux wedding, but when the groom gets wind of the situation he wants nothing to do with it and Jemmye feels like she's been left at the altar. Continuously ragging on Jemmye, the Bridezilla decides enough is enough and storms in on Knight, cuddling with Preston no less, and gives him a few good knocks in the face. Knight's black and blue is something new and it seems like the abused has now become the abuser. At The Mission, Loretta throws a curveball the roommates' way when she asks them to live as the homeless for one day. So the gang packs up their overnight sacks and head over to The Mission for their homeless sleepover. When Knight and Ashlee get bored of camping outside, they decide to run away and hit up a bar. But when Loretta catches them, they've got some answering to do. With Sahar's boyfriend, Pablo, coming to visit the same weekend she's set to perform with a local band, Flow Tribe, she's got a full dance card. When Pablo comes to the house with two of his buddies we learn a few things about him that we didn't previously know, like his name is actually Elie, he has groomed eyebrows, wears adorned t-shirts, drinks like a fish and according to one of his bro-buddies, "gets more ass than a toilet seat." But really, he can't be all that bad and he proves this to the roommates when he boys a bottle of vodka for the roommates to share over brunch, the morning of his girlfriends fated gig. As the day goes on Pablo/Elie doesn't slow down one bit and continues to drink until he can barely walk, talk or remember which girl in the house he's supposed to be showing affection to... and that's still when it's light out. Sahar leaves Pablow/Elie in the hands of her trusty roommates as she goes to sound check and then to beautify herself for her big number. By the time she gets to the club her roommates and her boyfriend are waiting for her, but when she says hi to Pablo/Elie she realizes that he's been checked out of the building for quite some time. With her boyfriend a mess and apparently fascinated by McKenzie's hair, it's all too much for the Lebanese Sensation and she's brought to tears. But have no fear, her trusty sidekick and one-time tryst, Eric comes to her rescue and makes her feel all better in time for her big performance. Putting the drama of the weekend aside, Sahar gets onstage and kills it. After everything their relationship has been through Sahar wonders whether Pablo/Elie is really the right guy for her or if he's simply as two-sided as his name.

It's the roommates' last week together and in New Orleans, which means it's time to get nostalgic. As Jemmye wonders whether or not she and Knight can go the distance he decides it's time for one more crazy day. The roommates head down to The Creole Creamery and cheer on Eric and Knight as they try to down 8 scoops of ice cream in one sitting. If only it weren't for Eric's weak stomach and Knight's lactose intolerance, they might have actually been able to pull it off. For Eric, Knight and McKenzie, it's their last day at Habitat for Humanity and they celebrate putting the last coast of paint on the house and handing the keys to the happy owner. Back at the house, Pablo sends an apology to the roommates and Sahar in fruit basket form. When Sahar gushes over the Edible Arrangement, Preston takes her outside and tries to knock some sense into her. Fruit does not make up for that behavior, but Sahar doesn't know if she's ready to end things with Pablo, she has to think. The next day, as the roommates get themselves pretty for an MTV photo shoot, their dreaded ex-roommate comes for a visit. Everyone steers clear of Ryan as they put on fake smiles and try to make it through the day without any drama. And with everything that's been going wrong with Preston and Ashlee's radio station internship, they finally find a piece they want to go live with. At the radio station, Ashlee and Preston go on the air with a piece on New Orleans cuisine and it goes off without a hitch. It's the last night in New Orleans and the roommates and their NOLA friends celebrate with their own crawfish boil. But when Preston tries to give a heart-warming speech, Knight interrupts him. There's no crying in the Real World. The roommates return home and try to stay awake as long as possible. When Preston chooses to unwind in a relaxing bubble bath, Knight decides to throw everything not nailed down to the floor in the tub with him, including a life-size female statue. Preston's first woman! The next day the roommates wait to say goodbye; Preston is the first to leave the roommates realize that, they too, must say goodbye to one another and New Orleans. And so they leave, one by one until the only two left in the house are Knight and Jemmye. When Knight's cab comes, it's a tearful goodbye as the couple has to part ways.

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