Now, Cristal, don't get hard feelings over your elimination...

That's the spirit!

At the start of the episode, we're reminded that Larissa isn't a morning person.

We already know that she's a delight at breakfast. With the expression above, you know she would get up all in a bran muffin's face like, "Give it up. You can't do anything for my regular-ass ass."

Also, Buckwild and Saaphyri talk about Cristal.

...especially if "you" are a bran muffin and "they" are Larissa. Also: it's time to get Buck-civil. Except, not really.

The girls are shuttled to California State University Fullerton.

Outside, they learn that today's commandment is:

Brooke perks up at the mention of the word "spit."

Really, that's some shtick she has. You should see how wild she gets in the presence of a spittoon. Today, the girls will tackle, in Mo'Nique's words, "the art of effective communication." You know, say what you will about the way these girls interact, but you'd be hard-pressed to prove that it isn't effective. You can hear them loud and clear, and there's never a shortage of emphasis. But whatever -- Mo's the expert! Anyway, what this means is that the girls will engage in an old-school debate. But first, they must be schooled:

Here's the guy to do it. As Dr. Buschke stars, Saaphyri notes, "The teacher? He thought he was like a master bater. I mean, a master debater, or whatever it is. But anyway, he thought he was a master at it." To be fair, he could still be a masturbator. Who isn't? We see a full shot of the professor and one thing sticks out as being undebatable:

The atrocity of the sandals-and-socks combination. This suggests that he's definitely a masturbator. Can't imagine chicks swooning for socks, you know?

Dr. Buschke goes over some rules of debate:

Can you imagine what this show would be like if the girls actually followed these rules in their day-to-day interactions? Borrrring! Unlearn! Unlearn!

The always-sensible Saaphyri disagrees with these debating rules and presents her own:

Saaphyri is clearly gunning for a job at Fox News. Also: waists have bottoms?

The girls are broken up into teams:

Larissa is mad that she's on the same team as "sorry-ass Leilene." Ooops. Let's rephrase that more effectively: Indignant-ass Larissa is mad-ass that she's on the same-ass team as "sorry-ass Leilene" ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass.

The girls learn more of the basic rules of debate. Arguments, for example, have two parts: claim and support. All of this proves too much for Leilene, whom, it is revealed, did not graduate from high school.

She's not really sorry-ass; she's just ignorant-ass.

The girls are given practice topics:

Wow, these are easy. Well, for the pro side, anyway. They might as well have debated whether Charm School is a reality show or whether Mo'Nique thinks skinny women are evil or whether they all have vaginas.

Keith then informs the girls that they will participate in a tournament debate in front of an audience. The girls are first given the topic they will debate:

At first, Larissa is caught mugging like this, but that changes once she hears the full topic:

Faced-ass!

It's pretty obvious which side everyone will take, but just for the sake of effective communication:

And, there's one final rule:

The benched girl on each team will not be safe come elimination. The teams discuss which girl to bench.

Everyone on Larissa's team wants Leilene benched. Courtney reasons that because Leilene isn't one to fight, she's not going to argue about being benched. And really, because this is exactly what happens, it just goes to show that Leilene is NOT a debater. She'd probably be too scared to take the negative side anyway, because she wouldn't want to hurt the plus sign's feelings.

Over on the other side, Becky makes it clear that she wants Cristal on the bench. This is total vengeance.

Cristal is not happy about it, even though virtually everyone agrees that she should be benched. She asks to debate it. The other girls, sensing the tedium in a pre-debate debate, ignore her and relegate her to the bench. She says she lost out because choosing who would be benched was a popularity contest. Eh, that's life.

The girls hit the stage for their debate and, across the room, Cristal makes faces at her team. Saaphyri describes it best (and seriously, what doesn't Saaphyri describe best?):

"Cristal sittin' over there in the chair starin' at us, givin' us evil eyes and demon looks, sending all her negative energy over there. I could just hear her prayin': 'Let them go home. Lord don't let 'em win.' I just seen it all over her face."

Demon looks? That sounds fierce and, hey, Cristal is a model.

Leilene, meanwhile, is more supportive of her team:

You can see that she isn't quite ready to leave the whole "Smiley" thing behind.

The debate begins:

Becky's opening statement focuses on the fact that no one on Courtney's team listens to the judges. She charges them with being more concerned with beauty, hair, scheming, plots, friendships than the end result. Brooke's opening statement suggests that her team desperately needs to be there. "Putting us on the bus is running away from the problem," she says. Um, it's your problem -- putting you on the bus is running away from you.

But whatever.

Next up are Shay and Larissa.

It's funny that Larissa is listed with "Team Negative" under her. Like, what else is new, you know? She was born on Team Negative. Shay tells Larissa, "You can't even have a simple conversation without talking like a baby." Larissa, in response, says "judges" about 5,000 times in some incoherent babble that makes her sound...well, like a baby, really. Zing for Shay!

Next:

As usual, Saaphyri provides the most lively language in this situation. She points out Brooke's display a few episodes ago, in which she lifted up her dress to gross out Schatar. "Did she or did she not take her bra and her top off and shake her breasts in to your face with her nipples by your lips?" Descriptive! Also: that happened? All we saw were some panties. We were robbed! More nipple-lipping, please, Charm School! Because Schatar has nothing to say to this, Saaphyri says that we can assume that it's true. She interrupts Schatar a few times, perhaps continuing on that line of logic and definitely harking back to her debate rules. At the end, Schatar goes in for the handshake:

...and is left hanging:

Whatever. At least it's something.

Darra and Courtney close out the debate:

Again, Team Affirmative emphasizes Team Negative's self-centeredness, while Courtney says that Team Affirmative's case is irrelevant: if the members of Team Negative are so bad, they need Charm School more than anyone. In the end, that's the argument that wins: in a somewhat surprise move, Dr. Buschke names Team Negative the winners.

Mo is not happy about this at all and asks him to explain his decision. He says that Brooke's opening argument about those who are the most refined needing Charm School most of all, attacked the subject intellectually and was never shot down by the other team. And really, as well put together as Team Affirmative was, they really never did anything to disprove Team Negative's argument -- if anything, they just helped support Team Negative's case by painting them as totally out of control. Mo'Nique still cannot understand this, which is somewhat frustrating ("Why don't you get it?!"). Larissa takes issue with it, saying that Mo'Nique is just a hater. Takes one to know one!

Besides the rhythmic sway of Larissa's shoulders, what's notable about this is that, as she fights with Mo'Nique, she cries.

It's so weird to see her crack. It's like seeing your father cry. It's unnerving. Someone hold me, please.

Things get so heated that Mo gets up from her seat to approach Larissa:

"Larissa, as I told you, you ain't that special for me to point you out and say I don't like you. And the reason why I'm having this conversation with you is 'cause not too long ago, Mo'Nique was Larissa. And somebody had to dig in my ass repeatedly and say, 'Listen, little girl, grow up. 'Cause you walkin' around with a chip on your shoulder and life will whip yo ass if you keep actin' like that.' And I'mma still stand strong on it. Grow up. Know what you talkin' 'bout before you start talkin'. Now, you done pissed me off." Do you think the person digging in her ass was Bobby Brown?

Putting the ass-digging behind them (where it belongs, duh!), the girls then hit the Off Campus Pub for, as Becky says, "a little drankin', smokin', straight West Coastin'." Is this her way of telling us she has bad intentions? That communication is only semi-effective.

The partying begins:

And then, the real fun:

While it is, on one hand, admirable that Leilene isn't intimidated by Larissa's attitude, this is also pretty dumb. It's like scolding a shark out of principle or putting your face next to a nasty-ass ass because, damn it, you want to put your face there. For your noble intentions, you end up losing. And that's exactly what happens as this sets Larissa off and she ends up basically calling Leilene a bad mother for stripping (yes, she goes there). Early on in the debate, Shay attempts to diffuse the situation by throwing Larissa's hair over her face, mid-head-whip:

But Shay's effort is ineffective:

The girls really get into it, lunging for each other:

They are physically separated, with Larissa yelling, "Stripper-ass bitch! You don't know me!" But who does, really, with a tough exterior like that?

Outside, Leilene rants to Saaphyri who seems to be accompanying her out of circumstance and/or obligation.

"I am not going to have someone insult MY MOTHERING SKILLS, because I am a DAMN GOOD MOTHER!" she screams. She seems very patient and understanding. To this, Saaphyri has the best response ever invented in the history of responses: "Whoa! You mad, huh?" Exposing Leilene's irrational anger in but four cool words is a stroke of genius. Seriously: could Saaphyri be more witty?

Back at home, the girls discuss the upcoming elimination. Becky voices her opinion on whom should be the next to get the boot in no uncertain terms:

"Cristal, she makes me want to vomit in my mouth and throw up and vomit again in my mouth and throw up." Vomit and throw up? Two great tastes that...well, taste the same because they are the same! Whatever, as said above: emphasis equals effective communication. We hear you, Becky, loud and clear.

And so do the judges at panel. But first, Mo gives Larissa another talking to:

"'Cause when life get ahold of you, it uses no Vaseline. It simply bends you over, and it's very painful." All right, Mo: enough with the butt talk. She must have gas or something this week.

Meanwhile, one girl's gas is about to run out:

Leilene and Cristal are in the Bottom 3 because they were benched and obviously didn't do a good enough job of talking their teams out of those decisions. Basically, they're bottoms. Bottoms in the Bottom 3. Saaphyri is there because she interrupted Schatar throughout the debate, thus breaking the rules. But whatever, it's Cristal (whom Saaphyri repeatedly refers to as having a manface) finally gets the boot for her selfish ways and unwillingness to change. "Cristal was too comfortable being Cristal," reasons Mo.

In her exit interview, Cristal says that she'd eat a handful of dirt to be allowed back in the house. See you on Fear Factor, then!

Comments

[Penny Howell, RN]

I've always believed in the philosophy that there is a difference between being ignorant and being stupid. Being ignorant of something is simply a matter of not knowing, not having all the information or tools for understanding. Ignorance can be cured with learning and education. Stupidity is not knowing and not caring whether you know it. Leilene is in no way stupid Larissa. She may be ignorant having not had the benefit of education, but she can learn. Her ability to express herself in complete sentences without slang proves it. You, Larissa on the other hand seem incapable of learning a damn thing from anyone, nor do you seem to care. I'd say you are the stupid one.

[Gretta]

I hope Becky and Saaphyri stay around a while. They make great narrators.

Also, I finally figured out who Mo reminds me of: http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p6/Trueflight-Icons/Miscellaneous/mo_toad.jpg

[lasha]

Larissa I'm Praying for you. The lord has an calling on your life. But until you give him your life it's going to seem so hard to let go of the pain. I love all the girls but you Larissa it's something about you and i'm praying for you. Trust the lord and know that Jesus loves you. All you ladies trust the lord and give him your life. And be a lady and dont disrespect yourself.

[jules]

rich, you're the best, and thanks for calling mo'nique out for not getting the rules of debate. i mean cmon! i call bullshit that she tried to take their victory away from them. cheers to larissa for standing up to her...i've seen mo's standup-ummm her rep ain't built on charm or school. her strained voice/bad outfits/high and mighty attitude need to quit!

[Stacey]

Larissa is real tough when someone is holding her, but one of these days, she will run up on the wrong person. She is truly the most ignorant young woman I've seen on television in a long time. Leiline is a target for her because she thinks she can crush her. I hope Larissa gets expelled real soon. She's trying to play those mind games like new York did on Flavor of Love. I would love to see someone really let her have it. Shatar needs to go, and take her weave with her. Stealing Heather's dress was lowdown. I like all the other girls. Interesting show. I'm totally hooked. My daughter and I watch it every week.

[Relle]

I'm totally loving the show so far. Thumbs up to Mo for tryin to teach these girls some class. The only problem I have seen so far is Larissa. She has got to be the most uneducated, ignorant woman that I have seen in my life. Being a 21 year old African American woman, she is really an embarrassment to our race. As if the only way African American women communicate is by hollering, cursing, and trying to intimidate people to get a point across. She really needs to learn how to act like a civilized human being and be able to sit and talk to someone in a respectable manner. She can't even open up her mouth and talk when someone is asking her a question, she mumbles as if she's 7. GROW UP LARISSA AND LEARN HOW TO BECOME A WOMAN!

[JoVon Michelle Chase]

Larissa.... you've always been one of my favorite's since on Flavor of Love... Sometimes you do go off just because but your heart is where it's at.... Let these girl's know that it's the real you and if you talk a little trash then hey cause people shpuld know how to defend themselves better... Just try to be the better person that you could be cause these girls isn't worth it.... Once you see how much more you could be then your life would be so much better.... TRY IT!!!!!!

[JoVon Michelle Chase]

I meant to write should but you all know what I meant....

[Tish]

First of all I love the show. I watch it every week, but I do have a big problem with Larissa!! It's cool to be tough and defend yourself, but you don't have to be ignorant about it. People tell me all of the time that I have an attitude and I don't take no stuff, but I also know how to be classy about it. Yelling, and cursing doesn't get your point across. It shows that you don't know how to have an adult conversation. Larissa has a pretty face, but you can't see past her bad attitude. I hope that she stays until the end, because she needs to learn that this world don't owe her a thing!! I pray that this show helps her to improve herself, and release the pain she has inside.

[words said]

How the hell is MoNique supposed to teaching the girls to be charming when her damn self ain't charming. Cussing and using inapproiately dumbass. I felt what MoNique did to the negative team was wrong why aint she say something to the postive team? When she got up from the table she looked like a chocolate donut covered in a blanket.

[su]

Larissa/Bootz has always been my favorite sense Flavor of love 2. I couldn't stop laughing when you was screaming at Smiley. Pure comedy. To me Larissa is the prettiest girl on the show. Smiley please explain how you 3 kids and can't cook? You get tied up in the strip club baby-momma-daddy drama

[Danielle]

Saapharyi is hilarious. She is the voice of most of America with her dead-on narrations and descriptions of the other girls. Her voice is adorable and she has the cutest face. I love how she is poor, but she doesn't let it get her down, and she keeps trying her hardest to win that money. You go girl!

[Niya]

I think everybody need to stop hating on Larissa, because she is the toughest one on that show. And sometimes she might act like a baby, but who doesn't. And Leilene weak self need to go back home and take care of her kids. But my favorite girl on the show is Saaphyri because she keeps it real and none of those girls will ever mess with her. When they do say stuff about her they say it behind her back. And i think that is weak.

[know it all]

I hope saapharyi wins for more than one reason. She is funny as can be. Being a black girl myself and having had to deal with my share of Larissa's I can tell that she has had a hard life and her way of dealing with it has been building up this horrible wall. But I don't think that she is a bad person, I think that black women have so much to deal with and that a lot of them get high self esteem confused with getting to much pride. Therefore getting a bad attitude. But this is a question for any judgemental woman that is not black. How would you feel if you were a woman that is considered one of the most least desireable women in the world, already looked down on for stupid reasons and your chances of getting in a relationship with a good man were slim to none. Maybe the Larissa's in the world make it hard for a lot of black women. But I understand how easy it can be for a young black girl to grow up with a horrible attitude especially if she had no positive females in her life. Stop being so judgemental and pray for her!

[keysha matt]

hi ladys i love watching the show. i just have one thing to say larissa u r a very beautiful lady,but your attitude makes u very ugly. in life you have to learn when to go off and when to not go off. learn how to control your anger you can't just go around cussing, and going off the deep end on people. remember everybody may not think or act the way we want them to and that is okay because we are all different. stand strong girl control is the key.bye

leilene be proud of who you are don't let nobody talk down to you learn to trust in yourself.
be self-confident.bye

to all yall hatin on MO'NIQUE remember this:
THIS IS WAY SHE IS HOT AND YOU NOT. MO'NIQUE DO YOU THING. p.s.my mom sells some of your clothes at her boutique in louisana.charm girls do your thing and blessings to all of you ladys in life.bye

[keysha matt]

MO"NIQUE i love listening to the advice you give the ladys it is also a help to me i love the advice about growing up a being a woman it is so true the real world ain't no joke and time waits on noone
much luv MO NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE SAY DO YOU BEACAUSE YOU DO IT SO WELL. "LET THE HATERS HATE " "IF THERE WERE NO HATERS THERE WOULD BE NO MOTIVATION"

[brownsugar]

I'm loving the show larissa calm down u can make it shay dont let her give up help her.saphiyah your doing very well dont lose focus i believe in all yall we are strong females

[Denise Wood]

I love Charm School because I love studying other people. It's funny that you can see other people's faults so clearly but are blind to your own. Looking at these young ladies gives me an insight into ways that I can improve myself. I must say there are many who have not reached this crossroad of wanting to know and improve themselves. Larissa is just a young headstrong person and one day (try the next eight years) I think she will be ready. But not yet.

[me]

Larissa needs to grow the hell up. She needs a t-shirt that says I'm 22 but I act 8. They were just hating on Cristal because she looked better than all of them.

[DANNI]

IM GLAD CRISTAL GOT THE BOOT. SHE IS ALL ABOUT HER SELF. AND REMEMBER SHE IS A MODEL,WHY DID SHE EVEN DO THIS SHOW ANYWAY? I BELIEVE CHARM SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAUGHT TO THESE WOMEN WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG, TODDLERS IF YOU WANT TO BE TRUTHFUL. I BELIEVE LARISSA DOESNT MEAN ANY HARM AT ALL. SHE IS JUST A STRONG BLACK WOMAN THAT DOESNT TAKE ANY MESS FROM ANYONE. DO YOU,LARISSA!!!

[Eating Party Mix]

I Wont even acknowledge larissas behavior its such trivial garbage but on to people who have a chance winning the competition SAPHYRI she is down right awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! i want to put her on a keychain and walk around with her all day. Shes cuter than a button and i hope she makes it far. she wont win but she might come damn close.

[ecuaricanpeach]

Well I liked Crystal..she was funny. I like everyone pretty much. Everyone is different in there own ways.
I love this show!

[ecuaricanpeach]

Larrisa girl..watch out cause I think your headed out next.

[ecuaricanpeach]

Larrisa girl..watch out cause I think your headed out next.

[Ty]

One of the things that I don't get is how Mo'Nique called Courtney's victory a "hollow" one, even after the professor explained how he made his decision. And it's hypocritical of Mo'Nique to call Courtney's team victory a 'hollow' one, but (from what I've seen so far) hasn't called Schatar on stealing (which led to her victory).