I can't say I'm surprised by reports that Katie Lee Joel, host/dead weight of Bravo's Top Chef, has been dropped for the series' second season.  After all, on the few moments of every episode in which she appeared, she seemed completely confused and wooden.

Guess she's going to have some more time to look after husband/grandpa Billy Joel. 

Recap: 

Dan writes:

Episode 4 finds Wes continuing to be the douchiest douche that ever douched, Tina and Kenny in the hot seat (but not really) and everyone else excited that they don't have to make a decision for another week because Wes and Johanna are obviously going into exile.

The show starts off with a mini-profile of Tina and Kenny.  The verdict?  Tina's loud and Kenny's kind of a smug tool, but they seem to get along well enough — playfully pushing each other fully-clothed in the pool.  Oh youth! 

While the attention is nice, the only reason the editors have chosen to spotlight Tina and Kenny is to cast a little bit of doubt as to whether someone besides Wes will be immediately voted into exile.

The challenge this week, "Climber's Paradise," is basically a rock-climbing wall where the players have to create their own grips by matching shapes and inserting pegs into the wall.  It's not that exciting and half the teams don't even finish in time.  Tina and Kenny get DQed when she makes a swan dive after the second step.

So Coral and Evan eke out a victory over Shane/Linnette and Tonya/Johnny who tie for second.  At this point, Wes puts on his mastermind hat, desperately trying to convince Coral that Tina and Kenny deserve to go more than anyone.  She listens more politely than I imagined she would, but in the end the choice is obvious and Wes' reaction is even more obvious.

Now Wes has turned his attention to Johanna, trying to get her to rally for getting ouster of Tina/Kenny, in so doing, proves that he is not only an egomaniacal blowhard, but wildly abusive as well.  It gets ugly and Johanna throws a water bottle at him.  She's read same the tea leaves that everyone else has (except apparently, Wes) and at the deliberation, she's voted into exile wearing gigantic Nicole Ritchie sunglasses to conceal her weeping.

Cristin's two cents:

And we have the line of the season: Theo (on Wes): "I can't really understand him because I don't speak idiot." Oh Theo, you can be my last comic standing any day! I've never wished an STD on someone so hard as I have with Wes. He's a misogynistic asshole and shouldn't be allowed to touch Johanna, Peruvian whore that she might be. Also, I liked that MTV had to blur out Tonya's chest even while she was wearing a shirt. That girl is a heat seeking nipple when it comes to nudity. Girlfriend loves to take it off.

Dan's two cents:

Normally, I'd be endlessly frustrated by a reality character as arrogant as Wes.  However, it's made a lot easier for me based on the facts that he a) is the object of the entire cast's scorn b) consistently blows the challenges.  I've also found myself having a growing affection for Theo/Chanda, the lunk-headed southerner who fancies himself a comedian and the strong black woman.  I don't know, they're just cute.

The Scoreboard:

Teams:
Cristin's Blue Iguanas: Katie/Eric; Johanna/Jesse; Tonya/Johnnie; Theo/Chanda; Shane/Linette
Dan's Green Monkeys: Coral/Evan; Melinda/Ryan; Tina/Kenny; Darrell/Aviv; Derrick/Diem

Dan's old total: 11

Dan's new total: 18

Much like the Persnickety Hero-Genius, except with a far more complicated name, the Truth-Telling Anti-Hero Asshole with a Heart of Gold is one of my favorite subsets of television character. The TAAHG is that character you know you're supposed to hate. In fact, you probably did hate him, vehemently, the first dozen or so times you laid eyes on him. He's just so mean. And not just mean — he may actually have done bad things. Very bad things. Everyone else is pulling toward a common goal, but he's arrogantly standing in the opposite direction, making terrible choices, mocking our heroes, and lashing out at anyone who gets close.

But then, ever so slowly, you start to realize that all that bickering is actually kind of hot. There's something refreshing about all his brutal honesty; why won't anyone else tell it like it is? And maybe he lashes out not because he's inherently evil, but because he's sensitve. Suffering, in some way. He's too proud to admit it, but dammit, you know he just wants to be loved.

So you do. You fall in love with him. You're so predictable. 

Of course I'm primarily talking about Logan Echolls of Veronica Mars and Spike of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Don't they look like a couple of smug assholes? ….Exactly.

There are others, of course, but these two present the distilled, ideal version of the TAAHG. Let's break it down:

1. The "Badness." Logan organized bumfights, burned public pools, made racial slurs, slept with people he shouldn't, and was generally, as Veronica introduced him, a "psychotic jackass." Spike murdered, raped, and pillaged his way across the world for over a hundred years.
2. The Suffering. Logan's girlfriend got murdered, and he has a lot of other personal family issues that I won't repeat right now because Cristin borrowed my DVDs and isn't done yet. Suffice to say, his life kind of sucks. Spike's chip in the brain didn't cause much actual suffering, but falling in love with Buffy and then regaining his soul certainly did.
3. The Irresistable Appeal of Truth. They may be mean, but what they're saying wouldn't be nearly as cutting if it weren't essentially true.
4. The Doomed Love. It may keep them from being bad for a while, but it's too dark and dangerous to maintain.
5. Not So Much Thinkers, These Guys. They tend to act from their hearts rather than heads, and they're not exactly known for their deep philosophizing. Understanding emotions come naturally to them — understanding other things is more of a challenge.
6. The Redemption. Thanks to the Doomed Love and all the constant Suffering, the Anti-Hero eventually gets his chance to become Hero, generally by saving people's lives (Buffy, Veronica, the whole world, etc). Usually, he overcomes his inner demons and does the right thing. But will it stick?

Of course, now I'm constantly on the lookout for these guys in every show, so I tend to skip the original hating-him stage. I started Lost (being only five episodes into the first season, I am still new to this whole thing, so forgive me if I'm wrong) and immediately saw Sawyer and thought "This guy's a TAAGH. I love TAAGHs!" and now I giggle helplessly at every asshole thing he says as opposed to maintaining some sort of critical distance until I figured out who he actually was.

Any other good Truth-Telling Anti-Hero Assholes with a Hearts of Golds out there? Alex Karev of Grey's Anatomy? Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice? Once you start noticing them, they're everywhere.