Real World Explosion - Breaking Down the Fourth Wall

Real World: Explosion has been a huge departure from the previous seasons in the series. Not just in bringing 12 people into the house, but also the way they are presenting the show. More than every, MTV has broken down the fourth wall and is showing behind the scenes tidbits you've never seen before. The occasional conversation with a producer about a missing purse or a pregnancy scare is small compared to what was revealed this week. MTV is finally showing its dirty secrets behind making the show. We are finally getting to see into the producers' minds.

The one thing that has plagued me all season long was the question were the exes planned from the beginning or something the producers did last minute to save a bad season? Hailey answered this question and so many more when she was ranting about Tom. Tom goes on a small rant about how he wishes only the "OG" group was in the house - that is he wishes it was just the original seven in the house. Hailey then begins to yell that without her, Tom would have never made it onto the show. She goes on to say, that she had two interviews in LA before Tom was even cast for the show, meaning MTV built this cast with couples in mind the whole time. This is a Christopher Nolan style twist in the Real World.

Since the show was cast as couples, it brings up more interesting points. Who would Ashley M.'s ex been? Would it have been her current boyfriend? Would her current boyfriend have to deal with the drama of a black out Ashley AND her ex? Did MTV know this then try to push her out of the house? Maybe MTV hid all of her purses. This is all wild hypotheses but I have to imagine Ashley M. and her ex would have made for fascinating television. The other question is, what's the deal with Jamie's ex? Did he sign up for the show then back out last minute realizing how dumb it would be? Maybe his band had some serious gig to play like Warpt Tour or Chuckie Cheeze. Not to mention, if Jamie's ex and possible Ashley's ex knew, how did MTV keep this so secret for so long? This information didn't leak until the exes arrived at the house. With the fourth wall being broken down, it raises so many more interesting questions on what is really going on behind the scenes.

The other crazy 4th wall break down this week was the random videos on the computer. I have no clue how long this practice has been going on with the Real World but it seems like it has been going on for seasons. At one point during the episode, Jay says there is a video of him making out with another girl at the club on the computer. He ends up deleting it but Jamie being her meddling self tells Jenna. Jenna then EMAILS the producers asking for the video to be placed on the computer once again. How long has MTV been instigating this kind of drama? This is literally straight fuel on a bonfire. While it makes for entertaining television, I can't help but think how many of the glorious fights of former seasons have been fabricated in the same way?

Real World: Explosion has been different all season showing a lot of fourth wall interactions and presenting how the producers watch and enforce rules on the cast. But episode 9 really showed how much the producers were involved with creating drama on the show. This seems like just the tip of the iceberg – they are still only showing us very little in terms of their production secrets. I really hope as the season goes on, they continue to pepper these blatant interactions throughout as they are highly entertaining as a long time viewer. At the same time, it raises one last serious question for me: is this the last season of the Real World? It will be impossible for them to go back to the old format and they will have to continue to show the production secrets – this cannot be unseen. Either way, I really hope they show all of their methods of controlling the drama in the house.