The Climax Of Ryan Conklin

After exhibiting many seasons of drunken and loutish behavior from buffoons and tramps on the reality show The Real World, Bunim-Murray Productions was handed an opportunity with the story of cast member Ryan Conklin to transcend their previously embarrassing endeavors and create a memorable dramatic work. This they successfully and artfully accomplished with the production of Ryan's season, The Real World Brookln. In particular they used the crucial and climatic episode eleven to showcase an exquisitely intense synopsis of the situations that would make its final minutes such a dramatic tragedy, as well as reflect the season-long, well placed inclusions of all the events and sights and sounds that had foreshadowed that moment.

It's true that the actual events of the story were not created and did not occur by any direction of the production company. Instead, production demonstrated its talent by recognizing that when the taping was done that the season was not the "story of eight strangers"; it was the story of one cast member, Ryan Conklin, and its focus would necessarily be on him. Equally important, there was the crafting throughout the season of appropriate editing and of emotionally charged devices that created an increasing sense of melancholy and dreadful anticipation of something terrible yet to come. All of this built towards the powerful and gut-wrenching pathos that came from a single phone call, the one that generated a profound effect on those who watched it playing on their screen.

The foundation for success in telling someone's story is making people care about the character. Again, production didn't create the person, but they smartly didn't hold back on letting Ryan show who he is. They allowed him through his personality and strength of character to cause viewers to develop strong admiration and deep affection for him.

The following are thoughts about episode eleven.

For the 2008 Presidential election, Ryan stated his support for Barack Obama. He indicated that a major reason for that support was that Obama was committed to withdrawing American troops from Iraq and that is something very important to Ryan. It is not known what Ryan's views are on other current issues or where he would otherwise fall on the political spectrum. We do know that he has said that he voted for George Bush previously and that his home county went for McCain 59%-40%. Actually I'm glad I don't know what Ryan's politics are. It's always best to leave politics and religion out of the conversation to avoid ill will.

Ryan finally showed his castmates his scrapbooks of pictures from his time in Iraq. It was reminiscent of Pedro Zamora also showing his scrapbooks, except Pedro showed his early on, while Ryan waited until near the end. It's not clear why Ryan would want to have held off showing them. Once he had told the others that he was a veteran it would seem like a natural thing to bring them out. He had talked about his experiences before and the scrapbooks would have been a good visual aid. It must be noted that the scrapbooks were methodically put together with various picture sizes, placements, and colored borders, which show off Ryan's creative streak. He never ceases to surprise.

Ryan talked to Baya Voce about the showing of his film project at the New York Film Academy. He said his plans are to go to the University of Pittsburgh and there dual major in history and film studies. It's possible that his choice of Pittsburgh was in part because his girlfriend went there. Since he broke up with her, it doesn't seem so likely that Pitt is his choice. Ryan has said that he expects to move to New York City.

For the screening of his short film, Baya, Chet Cannon, Scott Herman, JD Ordonez, and Sarah Rice came to see it and support Ryan. Ryan was confident that his film was good but he was a little nervous about how others would assess it. You could see the nervousness in his body language.

He warned his guests that the film, "No More Tomorrow", would be dark in nature. He said he wanted to show something very different from his usual happy go lucky self. Ryan was certainly honest in his warning. The work was very disturbing with an ending showing its single character committing suicide with a gun. After seeing the film, JD wondered if Ryan was showing again some deep seated feelings that he felt he could only express by way of making this movie. It was an excellent portrayal of a troubled person and Ryan's acting in it, especially the facial expressions during the gun scene, were spot on. Treating it as a work of fiction though, the real tragedy then became that Ryan's shower scene only showed him from the head up.

Ryan was invited to an event sponsored by the Iraq Veterans Against The War. He invited only Scott to go with him. It's interesting that whenever Ryan talks with Scott it always sounds like someone talking with a good acquaintance, somewhat reserved. I think Ryan sees Scott as the adult in the group and he wants to try to act grown-up when he talks with Scott.

In a flashback from when Ryan's brother Aaron came to visit, Ryan tells his brother that he is going to talk to someone about PTSD assessment. Aaron was glad to hear it as people back home had been talking about the need for Ryan to check it out. The good thing is that Ryan may be open to stop self-diagnosing and self-treating what can be a serious medical condition, if here were to have it.

On election night, Ryan went to watch the returns at the gay & lesbian center while wearing patriotic Uncle Sam drag. The pant legs were too long as are most of his pants. I think he needs someone to measure and tell him his correct inseam. After the election was called for Obama he went outside and did some celebratory high stepping despite his bad knees (thanks to the temporary therapeutic effects of alcohol, i.e. "rheumatiz" medicine.) You knew he was going to pay for it the next day, and sure enough he was limping.

At the IAVA gala Ryan Conklin got a big kiss from Katelynn Cusanelli, which was sweet. Ryan was dressed up in a nice dark suit and tie. It was much better than the brown one he wore previously with the fake mustache. He cleans up well. Very handsome.

Then came the end and the terrible outcome that the season had been building up to. And with this sentence I can finally stop re-watching this episode and crying with every replay.

Ryan Conklin The Leader

In episode ten of The Real World Brooklyn, Ryan Conklin showed his leadership skills by organizing an event to raise social awareness. All of the RW cast were on his team to put the event together, so Ryan also got to show his ability to deal with a problem person on the team, specifically his friend Chet Cannon. He ended up with only so-so results for the event, but it was a good opportunity for viewers to see what a take charge guy Ryan is.

The adventure began when the cast was invited to a screening of the made for MTV movie Pedro. They watched the movie and then after the screening, Pete Griffin of Think MTV asked for their reactions and their familiarity with HIV/AIDS and sexual health. Ryan said, "Like where I'm from, people really think it's a big city issue, like AIDS, STDs. Living in a small town, a lot of people say, you know, not in this town. [But] you never know where people have been."

Pete said that in the coming year MTV would launch an initiative to get every sexually active young person in America tested. He asked the roommates to put together a public screening of the movie, which would be coupled with a call to action for awareness and testing. Pete mentioned it would be ideal to have two of the RW roommates host the event.

Chet grinned, immediately focusing on how an event that was supposed to be for the greater good and to help society could instead be used to help him personally work on his hosting career.

There was a discussion among the roommates about who would best be able to connect with the audience and relay the message. Katelynn Cusanelli mentioned her experience in advocacy as perhaps a good consideration for her being a host. Chet gave as his reason for doing it that it fit his career ambition. Interestingly, Ryan gave his honest opinion that his best friend Chet would not be the right choice for the part. Ryan felt that a person who was not sexually active would be less able to relate to the audience and he said so to Chet's face. Ryan steadfastly believed that there is no compromising on integrity and that he had to do the right thing even if it momentarily hurt his friend's feeling.

The roommates went home and Chet ranted in confessional that he could do a good job even though he didn't have any first hand experience. His point was valid that a person could teach about a subject with which they had no personal experience. But for Chet there would been other disqualifying factors, such as complete lack of compassion or empathy for any person (other than Ryan), his selfish motivation for "volunteering", and his inability to make normal connections with other human beings (again, other than Ryan).

Chet went down to the gym to pout and Ryan, as the caring friend that he is, went to see what was wrong with him. About being shot down for the hosting gig, Chet confessed, "I'm not a sensitive individual, but that did hurt my feelings." It bothered him that a social awareness event could happen and with it the roommates wouldn't consider Chet's career goals first above all else.

Ryan was somewhat disgusted by the self-centeredness (a.k.a as "narcissistic personality disorder") and left Chet alone. He had one final admonition for Chet, "Just keep one thing in mind. It's about the message, not our careers." Chet yelled back, "I know it's about the message!" Unfortunately, the message that Chet was referring to was "I'm Chet, it's all about me!"

The roommates convened to plan strategy and the natural leadership skills of Ryan came out and he was able to organize everyone's efforts. Ryan was able to get the seven people who were frequently at odds all on the same page.

Chet and JD Ordonez were tasked with getting a venue. It came down to using the theater at the New York Film Academy or showing the film at the LGBT Center. JD was in favor of the Center, but Ryan was adamant that it not be. Ryan asked Scott Herman, "How many of your friends would want to go to a gay, lesbian, bisexual center? A lot of people will look at our flier, and be like, 'ah, no, I'm not going there.'"

Ryan had visited the center a number of times so the view he was expressing about not wanting to go there was not one he shared. It actually was okay for him to acknowledge that there is prejudice in the world, but with the cameras rolling he probably should have inserted a comment that he didn't condone it. He may have been a little too focused on being pragmatic and on the success of the project to think about the right way to say it.

The event happened at the Academy without a hitch albeit with a very light turnout. It became clear that the location didn't increase the attendance. However since it was a stunt event, it's success was really from just getting the message televised on RW and on showing the commitment of most of the cast to that message.

Ryan Conklin Gives Advice

In episode nine of The Real World Brooklyn, Ryan Conklin didn't have any adventures of his own, so he was relegated to commenting on others. His roommate Chet Cannon always depended on Ryan for support and advice and he got some in this episode as did Ryan's gal pal, Baya Voce.

One of Chet's problems is that he doesn't always know what the normal parameters are in ordinary society. This can cause him to carry things too far or to say or do things that are just not acceptable. When Ryan thinks it is appropriate or when it is possible to make a difference, he intervenes to keep Chet in check.

Chet almost got in big trouble after talking to Katelynn Cusanelli about her vaginal stents. These are medical devices necessary for her to use for post-surgery dilation. Chet inappropriately asked Katelynn where she kept them, saying as a prank he wanted to hang them over someone's face while they slept. Ryan walked in and heard the word dilate and asked Chet what was meant by it. Chet explained it was used to plumb the depths of Katelynn's va-jay-jay and keep the passage wide open. Ryan's wasn't sure what it was all about but didn't want anything to do with it.

Chet told Ryan his idea of using the stents for a prank. Ryan adamantly said, "No way. You're not going to touch them!" Ryan was able to see that the such a thing was intrusively sick and he made it clear in his order to Chet that it was not to happen. Ryan needs to continue to try to turn Chet away from being the sociopath that he is towards everyone except Ryan.

Continuing with Chet, in this episode Atlantic Records took advantage of the RW cameras by agreeing to let Chet "interview" the group Danger Radio so that they could be seen on the show. It was kind of sad that Chet felt "accomplished" by it. He really didn't get the concept that Atlantic Records would have been just as happy having Scott Herman's water bottle interview the group if it would get them airtime.

Later, Chet was invited to a club to watch Danger Radio perform. He brought Ryan along with him. After the performance the group talked to Chet and Ryan and Chet invited them back to the house. They agreed and the band and the roommates had an impromptu party. Ryan got the opportunity to sing his "1863" song for them and they and everyone of course enjoyed Ryan's work.

At some other time, Chet needed a head shot, which JD Ordonez agreed to take. Ryan provided posing advice to Chet and was asked by Chet for inspiration. Ryan gave "inspiration" by pulling down the back of his pants, exposing his surprisingly non-hairy bottom. How this was inspiration for Chet to look happy is left to the imagination.

With Baya Voce, Ryan's advice was only to the camera and not to her directly. She had auditioned for the Hip Hop Conservatory but she had declined the acceptance. Ryan wasn't aware of that and had previously asked Baya when she was going to start. Baya explained that their instructional style seemed similar to that of the military and it was not for her, so she decided not to join.

Ryan wasn't happy about it because his philosophy is never to quit and to prove to yourself that you can do things you thought you couldn't. He mentioned that the military doesn't allow you to quit and that's a good thing. He thought that Baya had a history of giving up, so he said about her, "Somebody needs to slap her! And like [tell her] Baya! Work! Harder!"

Three things about Ryan's harsh assessment of Baya: 1) you can tell in his eyes that he is saying what he is saying not because he looks down on her, but rather because he cares about her and her future. 2) Ryan forgets that when he said that the military is not for everyone, that also means that their instructional and motivational styles are definitely not for everyone either. 3) Ryan has only tried a few things in life and they are things that he found worthy of seeing through to the end. He hasn't discovered yet that in life sometimes you need to try different things and if they don't work out you need to stop and try something new instead.

Most non-surprising moment of the episode: Chet summarized his life and career by saying, "I feel like I am a celebrity in my own mind. And it's a good feeling." Would that we all could travel to that alternate universe that is Chet's mind and bask in our own imaginary greatness.

Ryan Conklin On Camera

In episode eight of The Real World Brooklyn, Ryan Conklin began to express his inner Spielberg. He has an affinity for filmmaking and since he was in New York and had time on his hand, he decided to get some training on it. He had dabbled in filmmaking during high school and was ready now to get into more advanced instruction.

Ryan started off with getting his feet wet and back into it by participating in the taping of a promotional webisode for the Fairway Market grocery store in New York. He and Chet had been invited by Daniel Glickberg of the family that owns Fairway Market to watch the taping of a webisode on how to carve a turkey. Ryan watched the process with interest and actually got the opportunity to do some impromptu interviewing in front of the camera. He did a good job with it as he always look legit, no matter on what subject he's talking. Unfortunately, during the interview Ryan and Chet became possessed by the MTV spirits of Beavis and Butthead. They started giggling when there was a mention that when carving the bird you should slip the tip in and feel the bone. Unable to go on, Ryan's brief foray into instructional videos for food preparation was brought to a close.

Hoping for something better, Ryan enrolled in a 4 week program at the New York Film Academy. Once he started there he was very excited about gaining understanding about the art of film making and about evoking his creative tendencies. Early in the program he was shown a scene from Apocalypse Now with the sound muted and he said he was blown away by seeing how the emotion was still conveyed by the visuals.

During the program Ryan would have 3 projects to do. For his first project, which was on 16mm, he has to do a mise-en-scène lasting under a minute using only three shots. He had Chet Cannon and Scott Herman be the actors. Chet played a man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper with an apple, which gets stolen by Scott. In Chet fashion, he was proud and boasted of his performance in his "demanding" role.

For one of his next projects, Ryan decided to do a very "dark" film. He chose himself to be the actor because he knew what he wanted from the role. He remarked that acting was easy for him. It should be, with Ryan's expressive face and better-than-James-Dean look.

Ryan's favorite part of the process was the editing. He loved being in the editing room by himself focusing on crafting the materialization of his vision. He put a lot of hours into it but enjoyed the hard work.

One night when Chet came home very late he noticed that Ryan wasn't there. Chet became very worried and tried to call Ryan but got no answer. Eventually Ryan called back and said that he had fallen asleep on the train and now he was out on the street somewhere. Chet, Scott, and JD Ordonez immediately went to go pick him up. They found Ryan and told him how much they had been concerned about his whereabouts and how much they cared about him.

It would be good if Ryan Conklin used that as inspiration to turn away from dark subjects and make a good buddy movie, reflecting the camaraderie and goodwill that Ryan engenders in his friends and all those around him.

Before they were famous

Ryan Conklin And Girls

In episode seven of The Real World Brooklyn, most of the air time is devoted to Devyn Simone's two-timing with multiple boyfriends and to the adventure that might be called The Great Rat Caper. However, the most interesting part of the episode was snuggled in near the end and only amounted to a few minutes. It was the visit by Ryan Conklin's girlfriend Michelle ("Belle"). It provided another little insight into Ryan's personality and his persona. Though the view was brief, it showed some important characteristics.

Ryan was shown talking to Belle on the phone about her impending visit to Brooklyn. It was clear that he was happy that she was coming. He talked with her about some ideas of what they might do together while she was there. She said she wouldn't mind just sitting and staring at him all day (so I can tell right off that she and I have at least one thing in common). He replied, "Freak," as he suitably picked his nose and looked at the result and tossed it to the floor.

Belle continued her affectionate remarks with, "Ryan, I haven't seen your beautiful face in so long." Ryan in Ryan-like fashion let her know (playfully and with a smile), "Oh my God, you are going to make me throw up. Shut up!" Ryan may not like to hear comments like those but he is willing to suffer through them for another person's sake.

Some time later, Belle arrived at the doorstep. Ryan gave her a friendly hug and then showed her around the grounds. In an inserted video clip, he said "Belle is like my best friend. It's like hanging out with one of the guys, but it's a girl, and it's my girl-friend." In other words, she's a friend that Ryan can be affectionate with and touch, but not feel awkward about it like he might be with his buddies.

He also said, "I'm just glad that she's here. I feel more comfortable." That's because, despite having made new friends in the Real World house, Ryan still needed someone around that he knew he trust implicitly and who represented the kind of people he missed from back in Pennsylvania.

Ryan introduced Belle to Baya Voce. Baya showed a excruciatingly broad smile as she ran to hug Belle and tell her how happy she was to see her. The reaction probably was a way to ease any guilt that Baya felt from even creating an impression that she had been coming on to Ryan, which he had previously accused her of.

Belle and Ryan ended up going to Coney Island, with JD Ordonez acting as chaperone. In spite of any bravado about being a man of the world, Ryan still preferred to act as a gentleman with his lady.

Ryan confessed, "She's the first girl that I said that I love her. And I really true feel that way."

During the car ride from Coney Island, Ryan talked about the Inactive Ready Reserve, which he is still part of. He said that up until September 10, 2010 he could still be called back to active duty. Belle told him not to worry about it because she believed that it was not going to happen. Ryan considers the possibility but doesn't dwell on it. He claims to live in the moment. On the other hand, if it were to happen he believes it would be very tough on their relationship. He didn't state explicitly why he felt that way.

And so Belle's visit came to an end and she got ready to leave. She became tearful and Ryan gently told her to stop. In inserted video he said, "I'm just like a robot when it comes to emotions. I'm not the one that weeps and cries. I'm just not that person."

This is very strange because physical conditions that prevent tear production are not very common. Also, it is not something that can be controlled by will. Crying is an involuntary physical reaction to a sorrowful situation. You can't will yourself not to cry just like you can't will yourself not to sweat if you overheat. The absence of tears instead would indicate that you aren't experiencing something that you find sorrowful enough. Assuming that Ryan doesn't have a defective "sensitivity chip", he must just have a high threshold for what makes him sad. When something bad enough happens, Ryan will cry.

There is a final embrace between Belle and Ryan in the car. He said, "You know I hate goodbyes. It's see-ya-laters, remember?" Ryan gave her a good-bye hug, but he is not comfortable with touchy-feely embraces. He endures it for her sake.

From what we know, let's look at what Ryan needs in a girlfriend. Here is a list of requirements:

1) She has to be like one of the guys. Ryan wants a girl who is a buddy and who likes to go do buddy things with him, not someone who would rather play house.
2) She needs to be a lot like him. I thought of the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry finally met someone who he was willing to marry. It was because she was just like him. Granted, eventually Jerry decided that he couldn't stand being around someone like himself, but in Ryan's case I believe it would be longer lasting.
3) She has to be someone who is supportive of Ryan. Ryan is a free spirit and needs someone to gently encourage him to find productive ways to follow his dreams and not someone who would criticize his ideas or try to hobble him.
4) She needs to be someone who is not overly emotional. It makes Ryan uncomfortable and can only be a negative.
5) She has to be someone that Ryan feels that he can trust completely and be someone he knows will be there to lean on as he deals with his bottled up feelings.
6) She has to be someone who is understanding of Ryan. She has to know that he can only show as much emotion and care as he can, but she also has to realize that that doesn't mean he doesn't feel more than he can show.
7) She has to be someone with the same sense of humor, but not a bigger joker than he is. He's proud to be the king of comedy and isn't looking for competition.
8) She has to be someone who doesn't worry excessively about things. That would be too much of a mismatch with Ryan's "live for the day" mentality.


So does Belle fit the bill? It looks like she fits 1, 2, and 7, and possibly 5 & 6. On 3, 4, and 8, it looks like a mismatch, especially on number 3. Ryan was very disappointed that Belle didn't support his desire to be cast on the Real World and that cast a pall on their relationship.

Another thing is that Belle is a pharmacy major. Would that work, paired with a person like Ryan who favors something in the creative arts? Don't know.

From her brief appearance on RWBK, it can be seen that Belle is a really nice person, who sincerely loved Ryan very much. However, as readers of Ryan's comments on iamonmtv.com know, he and Belle are no longer together. As sad as any break-up may be, for two good people it's better to end it sooner rather than later once it becomes clear that it's not a perfect match.

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Now back to The Great Rat Caper.

The roommates discovered that their home was infested with mice. When they are spotted, JD jumped onto the countertop and Sarah onto a chair. Ryan remarked that it was just a mouse and that it was ridiculous to see how some people reacted. At the same time it was apparent he was gleeful to see people jumping.

There was ongoing bad blood between JD and both Devyn Simone and Sarah Rice. They mutually treated each other like crap, although Devyn and Sarah were much better equipped to handle it than JD. JD resented that the girls refused to acknowledge that they were mean to him, so he devised a plan for retribution. He decided to buy a rat from a pet store and put it in Devyn's bed.

He knew that he would be unable to place it in Devyn's bed surreptitiously because he would not be able to keep from laughing. For this reason he engaged Chet to help. Chet and the other straight guys were already appalled by Devyn's having two boyfriends at the same time. They felt that according to the guy code that they should do something to show their displeasure, so they were happy to join in the plot.

The "covert op" with Devyn was a success. Later, Ryan wanted to get Sarah too because he just didn't like her and wanted to see her have a bad reaction to it. He took the rat and placed it under her bed covers.

At some point Sarah turned back the covers and saw the rat droppings. Strangely, she emphasized that she has not slept on those sheets yet, as if to stress that the doo-doo pellets were not her own. She accidentally flung the rat to the floor but when she saw it she jumped onto the bed and into the rat poo. She then ran out of her room with her fecal feet to tell everyone. Ryan pumped his arms victoriously. Another triumph for Ryan and another example of what Ryan regards as having a good time with girls.

Highlight of the week: RyanConklin lying with Scott on his bed while wearing shorts, a double dose of hot maleness. Love those Ryan legs.

Ryan Conklin Returns To Smallville

Returning from Metropolis to his home town of Smallville, superhero Ryan Conkin showed the viewers of Real World Brooklyn a glimpse of the origin of his not so secret identity: the mild mannered small town boy. He also showed the source of his great power and the nature of his one weakness, the thing that he must avoid long exposure to in order to retain his abilities.

Chapter six of the RWBK series began with the characters Katelynn Cusanelli, JD Ordonez, and Sara Rice volunteering to work at the New York City LGBT community center. There the trio learned of a plan for a special fundraising event, known as Braking the Cycle. It would be a bicycle ride that coincidentally begins in young Ryan's hometown of Gettysburg, PA. The three agreed to join forces with the center and use the ride as a weapon to fight the archenemy, HIV/AIDS.

The threesome returned to Ryan's lair at Pier 41 and revealed to him the plan. Ryan, fulfilling his mission to aid mankind and to protect the American Way, quickly agreed to ally with the LGBT league and to travel back to the place where his journey had first begun.

Ryan was excited by the circumstance. Though his adventures had taken him far from home, the place was still dear to him. He wished to show the other members of the Real World team, who had also agreed to join the mission, why he loved it so much.

On the appointed day for the start of the journey, Ryan arose from his bed at the break of dawn. He was clad only in the protective boxer shorts that many have longed to penetrate though few have succeeded. Wishing to travel in the guise of an ordinary straight boy, Ryan covered his handsome physique with traveling garb and looked to gather his compatriots.

Ryan saw that the females of the group were still asleep, as though under the influence of some dark force. Relying on the training he had received years before as a member of a marching band, Ryan marched into the room to awaken them. He resourcefully used a pan, rather than his trusty trumpet, to produce a sound so great that no sleep could withstand it.

The females rouse, but in that instant Ryan was forced to flee from their presence. As the story unfolds it becomes clear that females drain Ryan of his abilities and so he must not remain long in their company. Prolonged exposure could even be mortal. Ryan's sidekick Chet Cannon was aware of this and accordingly insisted that the females ride in a vehicle separate from Ryan's man force. Ryan acknowledged that riding in the car with even one of the females for a period of four hours would cause him not to arrive alive.

In their own vehicle the boys successfully used artifice to separate themselves from the females and to proceed with haste to Gettysburg.

They arrived at the rendezvous where they had arranged to meet the other superhero in Ryan's family, his brother, the equally powerful and even more hunky Aaron Conklin. While Ryan was away in Brooklyn, Aaron had remained behind in his identity as a security officer at Gettysburg College. There he helped those in need, and protected the innocent youth of the school.

For Ryan, the immediate need was to replenish his power. The source of it is an unknown form of energy that is created by all men. It surrounds them, penetrates them and binds them all together. It can be harnessed by Ryan out of the focused effort of a group of men engaging in similar activity and in close proximity.

To effect the power production, Ryan had a plan to commandeer a local transport and use it to bring his brother and the Brooklyn man force together where they could bond and release their free testosterone. He accomplished this and the manpower began to flow. Unfortunately, half way through the process, the females arrived and threatened to negate the action. Ryan deftly diverted them away and completed his plan.

Re-energized, Ryan was then able to take time to visit with his family and introduce the Real Worlders to them. Ryan brought them all together for dinner at the The Pike restaurant in Gettysburg. Upon meeting Ma and Pa Conklin, the Real Worlders finally understood from where Ryan had gotten his good and gentle nature.

To fulfill their mission, early the next day all the Real Worlders converged on the opening ceremonies of the cycling event. There they expected to support helping others and to honor those who had passed away. Sadly, their success was marred by an antagonist from within the group. The soulless Chet Cannon used the opportunity to mock the dead and to terribly engross himself in only his own amusement.

Letting his ugliness from inside show through, Chet disrespectfully used a flag meant to honor a specific victim of AIDS in a way that he admitted was an attempt at a "joke" so that he "could have a good time."

The only joke related to this would be to have a standard size flag pole shoved up Chet's ass and then waved vigorously. He's not like Ryan, and surely someday Ryan will call him out for his bad behavior.

With the charitable event completed, Ryan Conklin returned to Brooklyn. Another chapter in the story of this American hero had reached its conclusion. Without doubt there will be many more in the future.

Ryan Conklin Light And Dark

When I saw the preview video for episode five of Real World Brooklyn, with clips of Ryan Conklin shouting and him being noticeably saddened in relation to his experience in Iraq and his being in New York for the anniversary of 9/11, I felt dread about what the episode would show. I had started to feel fondness for Ryan the character during the first episode and by the end of the fourth I definitely had affection for the person. So being empathetic towards him, I was eager to find out what happened and concerned about what that may be.

The episode begins like the relaxing ascension on the first hill of a major roller coaster. You can lean back and enjoy the view on a nice summer day.

In early September, the roommates prepared to go the Love Brigade fashion show during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for Spring 2009 in NYC. Ryan lightheartedly feigned interest in fashion with Baya Voce. It's funny, you have to know enough to know what to say in order to mock it and Ryan did it well.

Next, Ryan the scamp was shown mischievously tying people's shoelaces backwards as a playful prank. The affected roommates were mildly amused.

In the same spirit, JD Ordonez also wanted to play and to give Ryan and Chet Cannon a silly prank in return. With Scott Herman and Katelynn Cusanelli's help, he sprayed some shaving cream into Chet and Ryan's room while they were sleeping. The boys were awakened by the rain of this light foam.

By the way, we are now at the top of the hill on that roller coaster. Hang on.

Ryan immediately knew that JD was responsible (because of JD's distinctive laugh) and confronted him. Ryan began shouting at JD in a frightening rage with an out-of-control volume and demeanor that made Ryan appear to be almost completely unhinged. JD, though lying down, stood his ground and didn't let himself get intimidated, which probably fueled Ryan even more. The other roommates cowered in their rooms, fearful of the shocking outburst that they could hear. Eventually Ryan broke off the attack and returned to his room with Chet to wipe up the residue of the shaving cream.

Ryan tried to explain on his MTV blog that though he was indeed agitated by what JD had done, he intentionally wanted to look furious about being blamed for the shoelaces so that people would think he really hadn't been doing it.

Here's my take on the whole incident:

1) The reason for the reaction. Ryan admitted that he has a unusual problem with being disturbed while sleeping, which he attributes to his experience in the army. That's believable. However, when talking to Scott about JD's prank, Ryan rationalized his reaction with some clearly on-the-fly rules of pranking that he said that JD broke. Supposedly, one of the tenets of "Ryan's Rules of Pranking" is that one cannot commit a prank in someone's bedroom, especially while they are sleeping. That's not believable. I'm sure that Ryan himself would not hesitate to prank someone in a similar situation. [Update 2/11/09: Ryan wakes Katelynn and the house by banging loudly on a pan. How is that not worse than waking with foam?] [Update 2/18/09: Ryan participates in pranking Devyn with a rat in her bed while she is sleeping. By himself, he also puts the rat in Sarah's bed. Apparently the prohibition on bedroom pranks only applied during the time period that episode five was taped.]

2) The reaction itself. I believe that Ryan intended to put on a good show when confronting JD, but real rage did take over. Devyn made a good assessment that Ryan's reaction came from something much more serious that being coated with foam. To me, Ryan's being awakened did trigger something in his mind. He was unwillingly reminded that he could have some kind of negative experience back in civilian life from just being awakened and for this, at least for awhile, he hated JD for causing it to occur.

3) The planned retaliation. Seething with anger over the feelings that JD's prank had produced in him, Ryan told Chet that he would like to duct tape JD's mouth with a sock in it and tie JD to a mattress and put him outside. Later, Ryan lost sleep trying to formulate a counter-attack that would include a fish and JD slipping and potentially hurting himself. I like to believe that Ryan wouldn't actually torture or cause someone physical harm, so giving him the benefit of the doubt, these statements must just be a way of venting through imagination. Still, they reflect that something must be terribly wrong to have such ill-will over an incident so inconsequential as shaving cream.

That brings us to the subject of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is understood that the show is edited to create whatever impression is desired, but it still seems clear that something is affecting Ryan. What is really disconcerting is that Ryan keeps saying that he knows people who are badly affected by keeping their problems bottled up and by not wanting to be thought of as having a problem. As many times, Ryan also says that he, Ryan, is also like that (hint, hint). If this is not being done consciously, then certainly his subconscious is shouting to everyone that something is not right. There should be compulsory evaluation over time for stress disorders of veterans returning from combat so that pride doesn't get in the the way of getting some kind of relief.

On the 7th anniversary of 9/11, Ryan went with a army friend to the commemoration at Ground Zero. He was moved by that and by further reflections on the day and the effects the original tragedy has had on the world and on him personally. Ryan has a hard exterior but some inner sentimentality. No shame in letting a softer side show through; he should do it more.

The episode ended with Ryan Conklin looking at the light display for the twin towers and dejectedly commenting on his "crummy life". This is where the prayers of his new TV friends cause Clarence, now AS1, to be summoned and to point out to him the wonderful life before and yet to be.

Ryan Conklin Is Not The Love Guru

In episode four of Real World Brooklyn Ryan Conklin showed that his views on socializing with females are practical and utilitarian. Ryan is not interested in any extra things, like romance and sentimentality. He just wants to focus on everyone having a good time in the simplest way possible.

The episode begins with the news that Scott Herman has gotten the cast invited to a private party. Unfortunately for Ryan, it was expected that everyone should dress nice and Ryan was worried that he didn't have anything suitable to wear. Baya Voce told him he needed to wear a shirt with a collar, which confused Ryan, whose only frame of reference for that manner of dress was going to a golf club.

Ryan has the same approach to his wardrobe that he does for girls. His clothes are for casual times and require low maintenance.

Ryan settled on wearing his suit. On the way out of the house, raffish Ryan was very impressed with his sensible suit of proletarian brown and gave himself a hearty "bwang!", which is like a "schwing!" but is specifically from getting excited about seeing yourself in clothes that never need ironing.

At the party, Chet saw Scott's model friend Alex, who he had previously met. Chet hoped that he would have the opportunity to get to know her a little more "intimately" that night. Since Chet has stated that he is unwilling to engage in any sort of close or suggestive contact, I'm not sure that he understands what "intimately" means. Later we learn that in the Mormon dialect the term may refer to an act that is something on the way merely to kissing with your eyes open.

Ryan gave straight forward advice to Chet, saying, "go get her," and "trust me." Chet for some reason didn't appear yet to want to take the advice of a man who accessorized with a taped on, ersatz Snidely Whiplash mustache.

Chet did manage to chat her up and he danced with her for awhile. He thought from that they he might actually have a chance with her. Yes, with giving a girl the opportunity to be on national television he had a chance with her. Oh, it's going to be sad and lonely to be there when the cameras are turned off for good.

Chet did manage to corral a date with Alex and while she and Chet were out together she appeared to enjoy her face time on camera. After the date was over, Chet, somehow flush from his night of heavily bridled passion, talked to Ryan about the evening. Chet talked about his feelings, saying he felt like he had had a really good night. Ryan, on the other hand, wanted to be much more practical in his own assessment of the appointment.

Ryan astutely told Chet that Chet really couldn't see himself marrying the girl. Chet agreed. Ryan asked then why was Chet wasting his time dating her. Ryan explained that the reason you go on a date with someone is to "try them out" to see if you want to marry them. In other words, it's a casting process to see if the female is suitable to take care of your house, bear your brood, and most importantly, not try to hinder you from having some fun in your life by you getting out of the house and going out with the guys.

My advice to all the Mrs. Conklin-wannabes is that he's just not that into you, but don't take it personal. Ryan Conklin will choose someone for that cameo role someday, but not anytime soon. Still, if you don't mind just taking care of business, and be willing to be the subject of a prank or two, you might be the lucky one to curl his 'stache.