Episode 7: Finale
Nate and Cecille return from the elimination room and rejoin the winners of last week's competition, Scooter and Megan. Cecille is very relieved to have made it this far along in the competition but Nate appears troubled, possibly due to the fact that he will be separated from Jennylee. In the Final Week, there is no challenge and each contestant gets the opportunity to show his/her partner a new skill or hobby. Megan, as evidenced by her prowess in last week's grueling farm challenge, demonstrates her athletic ability by playing a fast-paced game of tennis with Scooter. Scooter, too, reveals how physically fit he is by taking her on a vigorous hike; they end their journey with a picnic and a beautiful view of the city. Nate and Cecille, on the other hand, show each other how creative and fun they really are with their chosen activities. Cecille makes known her intense passion for Hip Hop dancing (having been involved with the art form for over seven years) by teaching Nate a few of her favorite moves. Nate also shows his partner why he's more than just a "geek" by playing a loud, rockin' set with his fellow band members. After the group spend time having fun with each other, they must face the cold, hard fact that only one team will win tonight. Furthermore, the two remaining teams are shocked when the previously eliminated beauties and geeks return to the mansion for one very special visit. Their fellow contestants must choose which of the final two teams (Nate/Cecille and Scooter/Megan) deserves to win, based on how much growth and transformation they have demonstrated since the beginning of the competition; the majority vote decides the winners for this season. Cecille fears for the worst because of the fact that, throughout this season, she has alienated quite a few of the previously eliminated beauties and geeks with her brash, competitive attitude. This no-holds-barred approach towards the competition proves to be the biggest thorn on her team's side, with the majority of the contestants championing the opposing team as having the most significant transformation. As a result, Scooter and Megan are crowned the winners of this season's Beauty and the Geek competition and take home the coveted cash prize of $250,000.

Beauty and the Geek 3, Finale: Meltdown by Dale Sherman -- 02/15/2007 The two final couples get to indulge in their favorite pastimes before having to go to the Elimination Room, only to find that there’s a twist in finding out who gets to win the $250,000! Want to know how far someone can dig themselves into a hole? Click here and find out all the details! Going to jump right into the show this week, since I’m sure everyone who didn’t catch it will want no delay in finding out who won. Not that it stopped the producers from filling the first eight minutes of the show with filler about what had already happened so far this season on the program, but let’s cut them a break. After all, they’ve got a full hour to go here and only two couples – Scooter & Megan and Nate & Cecille – left to showcase on the program. Nate & Cecille climb the stairs to one of the bedrooms and are greeted by Scooter & Megan. Things go well until Nate mentions that he was sorry to see Jennylee go. That gets Cecille into a huff and she asks if he would have been sorrier if they had lost. Without much hesitation, Nate admits that he probably would have happier if Jennylee & Niels were still there instead of them. Later in the hall, Scooter and Nate talk about Cecille’s “Bikini Thing” in the Elimination Room that was not only embarrassing due to the ineptitude of the comment but insulting to Jennylee as well. By the way, it is clearer in the flashback in this episode that Jennylee actually said Cecille’s comment was not acceptable (in the previous episode it was edited in such a way that it almost made it look like Jennylee was apologizing for saying she was going to be sick). Nate tells Scooter that he didn’t think it was really appropriate either and was very sad to see Jennylee go. With Nate down in the dumps, Scooter & Megan search out Cecille. Scooter tells Cecille that she should try to understand why Nate was feeling a bit torn-up at the moment and to cut him some slack. Cecille, offended by Scooter’s attempt at trying to explain Nate’s reaction, accuses Scooter of always picking on her and saying negative things to her. Because – as always – it is all about her. Megan jumps in to defend Scooter, but Cecille is on the defensive and isn’t really hearing anyone at all by that point. In an interview, Cecille says that she was mad because Nate was too worried about Jennylee instead of concentrating on winning. Says it with jealousy dripping from every word, that is. The next morning the two couples arrive in the library to find a very nicely decorated room with lovely furnishings and tasteful shelving of books. Yet no one ever talks about the beautiful room because they’re all too busy being about “winning” and all that. “Oooh, gotta win, gotta win, blah, blah, blah.” And the walls cry out in loneliness! Dark, empty (well, unless there’s people in the room like now, but that’s beside the point) LONELINESS! After all that room has done for us and this is how we treat it? Does anyone shed tears for the room? No, I tell you! NO! Hmm. Kinda got away from my point there. Anyway, the four remaining contestants arrive to hear Heatmiser Mike Richards tell them things would be different that day with just the two couples left. Instead of challenges, they will have the day to show their partner one of their favorite hobbies. Nate is excited, as he feels that Cecille sees him only as this geeky guy and now he can show her that there’s more to him than what she believes. They go out to an empty club where Cecille shows Nate some hip-hop moves she had picked up during seven years of dancing (four in high school, two in college and one year as a professional). Nate quickly picks up on the moves. Unfortunately, he can’t get away from looking like he has a board up his butt, but hey – he’s doing the moves properly, so credit where it’s deserved there. Nate then takes her to an empty club that looks strangely the same and introduces her to his band. They perform a song for Cecille called “Stormtrooper” which is a fun, little goofy song. Cecille thinks the song is cool and is amazed in the talent she sees in Nate. Ironically, Nate is happy to see the hidden talent in Cecille with her dancing, so it turns out to be a good experience for the both of them. Nate invites her to the stage to help sing the song with the band and it is obvious that they are all having a good time. Meanwhile, Megan takes Scooter out to a tennis court for some tennis. As RNO Editor David Bloomberg said, “if she plays tennis all the time, then I’m the King of France,” and admittedly, the footage shown of her does not showcase an expert at the sport by any means. In fact, it appears she didn’t even know how to keep score. On the other hand, one could say that she just likes batting the balls around (No! I can see the joke forming in your head now, Megan! So just stop it.) and doesn’t take it any more seriously than that. Either way, she and Scooter seem to have fun with it, and that’s what matters. Scooter follows up the tennis by taking Megan on a hike. She’s seems iffy on how well she would do, but if she could play tennis she could certainly take on a hike with no problem. The bags they have to carry weigh them down a little, and Megan asks what are in them, only for Scooter to tell her that the contents were part of a surprise. When they get to a scenic location, Scooter opens the bags to reveal wine, fruit and cheese and they have a little picnic. As they talk about how amazed they both were to make it so far in the competition, Megan states in a separate interview that she had gone on the show because she wanted the experience and wasn’t interested in the money as much as what she was getting out of the competition with her fellow contestants. As for Scooter, he is happy to have had such a wonderful partner for the show. Once back at the mansion, the four start packing and Nate stops momentarily to point out some lipstick on one of his jackets to Cecille. It is from Jennylee and he hasn’t bothered trying to wash it since he found the smudge. Cecille talks about the final challenge they are to face and figure that if it has to deal with knowing about their partner, then they’ll ace it. Elsewhere, Scooter is saying something similar about his and Megan’s chances to win if such a quiz occurs. Going into the Elimination Room, however, they are told by Streetfigher Mike Richards that there was to be no quiz and no challenge in determining a winner on the show. Instead, they would be judged on how much they changed over the course of the program by the people who knew them when they came in – the eliminated contestants! As Megan, Scooter and Nate have a good laugh in seeing the others sitting in the library on the television set in the Elimination Room; one could almost hear an audible gulp sound coming from Cecille. Cecille states she is in shock and while she may be happy to see some of the people, she was not really happy to see any of them at that point in the program… or really at any other time, come to think of it. Dreamweaver Mike Richards tells the four that they will spend the next 24 hours with the others to give everyone time to see how much they have changed. After the 24 hours is up, each eliminated contestant will pick which of the two teams has learned the most from the experience, with seven votes being enough to make one team the winner. Cecille is upset. Instead of seeing the setup being one where the final winner is not determined by the luck of a challenge or answer to a question; but rather on the emotional development of a person from the viewpoint of others; she feels it will all come down to “having to kiss ass and I have nothing to say to any of them.” As everyone hugs in the library, Mario toasts the couples and states that he is happy to be back for the final moments of the show. Scooter feels that there is some tension between the contestants due to all the days of being judged and competing, while some of the people who left early have lots of questions for Nate about his relationship with Jennylee. Nate states plainly that they always tried to keep it on a very innocent level in the house, and from the footage shown they stuck to that promise. After talking with Nate for a bit, Mario says that he felt sad for Nate having to be stuck with Cecille as a partner. Near the stairs, Andrea meets up with Cecille. Cecille seems hesitant to even talk to Andrea, but Andrea wants to talk. The discussion they have is mainly Andrea trying to convey why Cecille is looked upon as a negative factor because of her initiation of the “Blonde Clique.” Instead, it comes off as if Andrea is more lecturing Cecille than trying to really communicate with her – which was the same thing that occurred between her and Jennylee in the hall in one of the previous episodes. It is as if Andrea really does want to work things through with others, yet can’t quite let go of her anger at the same time and pushes the other person into a corner where they feel they have to defend themselves. Not that Cecille doesn’t really need the lecture, however. Nor that Cecille is really listening to anything Andrea says anyway. Cecille tries to worm her way into Andrea’s head with talk about “changing,” and Andrea admits in a latter interview that for a few seconds she would be almost convinced that Cecille was speaking the truth. Then she would remember who was doing the talking and everything would snap back into reality. Finally Cecille gives up, telling Andrea that she wasn’t there to make friends, as she had friends outside of the show. Later, Cecille complains about EVERYONE to Megan while a camera in the corner of the room catches her every complaint and four-letter word (and a twelve-letter one in there as well). Considering she knows all about the cameras around the house from her earlier experience in nearly getting killed thanks to one, you would think she would know better than to say all that she did. Cecille continues whining about the others with Nate, yet Nate is not sympathetic. He tries to explain to her that she needs to be humbled, but admits that Cecille can’t repair all the hard feelings she created with the others in just one day. The next morning, Megan is surprised to find that Cecille is refusing to talk to her. Megan guesses, rightly so, that Cecille is upset over what she sees as Megan gaining an edge on her in the competition now. Footage is shown of Megan, Sheree, and some others sitting in the kitchen as Cecille walks in. Sheree offers a “Hello, friend!” to Cecille, who immediately turns around and walks off in distraction. Sheree offers up a “Goodbye, friend!” in response to the brush-off. With Cecille not helping herself, many of the others simply do not see her having a chance to win the contest. Jennylee, however, wants to see Nate win so much that she’s willing to overlook Cecille. The whole thing gives Erin a migraine, as she respects Nate a lot and would like to see him win, but isn’t thrilled with the idea of a Cecille win at the same time. Matt is one of the few who is definitely in Cecille’s corner, feeling that she took an interest in him when no one else did. Mind, that was very early on when Cecille said that she just wanted something to play with and decided that something was to be Matt, but Matt doesn’t quite see the manipulation involved or how embarrassing he looked to the others (including his partner, Andrea) when the situation occurred. Especially now in retrospect; when Cecille’s inability to see others as people instead of objects to toy with has become so obvious. Matt spends some time with Cecille and she mentions which of the others probably have something against her. She would have saved more time if she had just said who DIDN’T have a problem with her, however. Later on, Nate talks to Cecille and she admits that her whole speech to the others about “changing” was just an act on her part. Nate finally admits that there is nothing he can say to Cecille to see the errors in her ways. Feeling that she needs to take some responsibility for her actions, Nate goes on a campaign through the house; telling everyone he meets NOT to vote for them in hopes that it may finally sink in a message to Cecille. (Funnily enough, I made the point last time that Nate should try to just throw a wrench into the works so that Cecille doesn’t win. Seems I was just a step ahead of him here.) The two couples go down to meet Mindbender Mike Richards, with Nate feeling glad that he probably won’t win after talking to everyone earlier. Richards sends them out to the hallway to stand by the stairs and then has Jennylee & Niels come out to give their individual votes. Jennylee, for obvious reasons, votes for Nate. Niels feels Nate is a great guy, but Cecille manipulates and hurts people, while Scooter & Megan had shown signs of changes, so he goes with Scooter & Megan. Nadia & Mario come out and they both vote for Scooter & Megan as well. Erin and Drew emerge, with both giving their votes to Scooter & Megan. As the line of votes grow to five for the other team and only one for them, Cecille says in an interview that she knew the reason they were voting that way was “because I told them what they were and where they stood.” It appears they were all standing behind Scooter & Megan, but I doubt that’s what she meant. Andrea and Matt arrive, with Andrea happily siding with Scooter & Megan. Matt goes with the thinking that Cecille was one of the few people there that was nice to him and he votes for her. My wife suggested that he was voting with another part of his body instead of his brain, but let’s move on… Sheree & Pi come out to cast their votes and Sheree couldn’t look happier as she tries to swerve her vote a little before finally and clearly saying that she was voting for Scooter & Megan. With her vote, Scooter & Megan have enough votes and become the winners of Beauty and the Geek 3 and the recipients of $250,000! The contestants are, for the most part, very happy with the decision. Megan states again that she was more into the experience of doing the show than the money, and found that her attitude changed about Scooter from one of shock and horror to truly loving him as a friend. Scooter was just as happy to be Megan’s partner and respected her hard work, saying that they would remain friends. As for most everyone else, they put forth full respect and admiration to Nate for telling them to not vote for him so that Cecille would lose. As with many of the others, the experience outweighed the money, and as one contestant put it, seeing Cecille not win has helped the world be a better place. Yet, what did Cecille learn from all this? Her final response at the end of the show was this: “Anybody who thinks that you know they learned something by some nerdy guy, then those girls are as stupid as they look, pretty much.” Or, to put that into English, “the women are fooling themselves if they think they had changed by being around these geeks.” In other words, none of what Nate did sunk in at all. To Cecille what occurred was a deliberate loss by her “nerdy guy” partner; not because of anything she did. She felt that she did everything right in order to win the competition, and she would have gotten away with it too if it hadn’t been for those kids. The point of the program being about a social experiment where people learn about each other and in the process about themselves never hit home with Cecille. In fact, she said more than once that she was proud that she had not changed at all while on the show. Thus, her loss on the show had nothing to do with her, but everything to do with everyone else. Was Nate right in suggesting to the others that he and Cecille should lose? Yes, because it was obvious that Nate, although a great guy who everyone loved, was still Nate and Cecille was DEFINITELY still Cecille. Scooter & Megan were the two that went through the most changes of the two remaining couples (actually, Drew probably was the one that went through the most changes out of all of them, but that’s beside the point here) and deserved to win. Did Cecille’s loss cause her to focus in on what others saw as the negative in her? Not for a second. Will her opinion be different now that the show has aired? We’ll find out next week when the CW Network runs a reunion special with never-before-seen footage of the contestants, the first meeting of Nate and Jennylee since the filming of the show and the answer to the riddle, “Which Beauty OR Geek got married?”