September 4, 2003
By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
One viewer's impressions of the desires and deceptions this week on Fox's island of seduction.
'Temptation Island 3" promises:
No games. No millionaires. No prizes.
No kidding.
Let's face it: Shows like
this are all about games. The pawns are willing participants who trade
a little bit of their dignity for a free vacation to a tropical island
where they're televised flirting and often making out with 14 hot members
of the opposite sex.
The puppetmasters are the
producers who orchestrate the drama. Get the couples to vote off the men
and women they think their significant others are most likely to fall for
and you can almost feel their sense of relief. Then--surprise! The hotties
are back. And guess what? They're going to retaliate by being the first
ones to date your partners.
Among the four couples are
Chicagoans Anthony and Stephanie, who met three years ago at a suburban
club. They've been living together for six months and are still getting
used to each other's quirks. Anthony, for one, would like Stephanie to
learn how to iron her clothes. But gorgeous Stephanie doesn't look like
the type of woman who wears clothes classy enough to need ironing.
Of the four women in committed
relationships, Stephanie is the most popular. Six of the 14 single men
said they were most attracted to her. It's the kind of popularity contest
that's a mixed blessing. Having other people validate your girlfriend's
beauty is an ego booster. Worrying about them swooping in on her is another
story.
It works the other way as
well. Las Vegas Jason is clearly upset only one man found his girlfriend
Kara to be the most desirable. He takes his frustration out on cocky Jeff.
The two don't like each other, and Jason was only too happy to give him
the boot. When Jeff returned at the end of the episode to be Kara's first
date, I was surprised Jason didn't give him an ass-whupping. At this point,
it was less about Kara than about how the men could torture each other.
Clearly, Jeff wasn't thinking
about Kara's feelings when he said, "I pick girls that are intelligent
and she can't be intelligent. She's got a big
monkey as a boyfriend."
Our boy Anthony, on the
other hand, is being dubbed a "player," and he has the looks and flirty
personality to pull that off. But he won a place in female viewers' hearts
when parting with Stephanie brought him to tears.
"When I saw Anthony had
started to cry, I started to get mad because this was [his] choice," says
the ever-pragmatic Stephanie.
The girl does have a point.
On tonight's episode, we'll
see what happens on the first dates. Anthony appears to have his eye on
three Stephanie look-alikes: Ashley, Ida and Kaileen.
Know your cast
Biggest loser: Long
Island Mike, who's dating former Miss New York Melissa, and still lives
at home with his parents. So does she, but she has the good sense not to
brag about it.
Biggest liar: Long
Island Mike, who says of Melissa, "I love her so much. I'd rather see her
happy with someone than unhappy with me."
Hottest tempter: 21-year-old
blond male model Derrick. The TV gods were with me when his ejection proved
to be just a ploy.
Hottest temptress: Bodacious
Tiffany, 23, who looks like Ali Landry's cuter sister.
Why Anthony should worry
about Stephanie: Because she believes having a lot of broken hearts
gives you more life experiences.
Why Stephanie should
worry about Anthony: Because he's really, really cute.
Read more about Temptation Island:
September 11, 2003
September 18, 2003
September 25, 2003
September 29, 2003
October 1, 2003
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