Watching VH1

The Pickup Artist was brand new this week. The first geek went home after a surprising elimination ceremony. Did you miss this episode? It reruns all week, or you can just read my recap after the jump!

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Last time, the geeky contestants moved into their house and showed Mystery and the wingmen their game, or lack thereof, at a club. No one was eliminated, but now the learning begins.

This week’s episode starts off with Alvaro recapping how he froze at the club. He thinks if he could talk, he would have a lot to offer. He is so ashamed of himself. The next morning, the guys are hanging out in the kitchen and Spoon has colored his fingernails black with a Sharpie. He was shot down by two women and he feels awful. He says it emotionally affected him. Mystery and the wingmen join them. Scott says he is in awe of the masters and wants to be them.

Mystery tells them they need to create their own identities now. He discusses the “Peacock Theory”. He equates men wearing tight pants to women who show cleavage and wear short skirts. He wants them to dress to be noticed. They will be given a reward challenge every week and whoever wins the challenge will receive something that will help them in the upcoming field test. Each of them have to create an avatar for themselves. They have to peacock with what they have to create a unique identity. The reward is a woman who will help one of them practice before the field test. Fred says he wants a makeover.

They all head to the salon and out to get some new clothes for the challenge. Pradeep wants to look gay to open up conversation, so the sales woman takes him to the women’s clothes. Fred says he has no butt, and Alvaro is worried about really tight pants. Scott’s pants are also tight, but he’s willing to work with the “tools of the trade”. Fred is so excited about the conversion. Brady decides to go platinum blonde with his hair. Joe D. gets his eyebrows and back waxed while he screams loudly and the lady waxing him screams. Spoon decides to pierce his ear cartilage. He gets reprimanded for trying to touch his ears with his dirty hands.

Back at the house, the guys all start getting ready to show off their new identities. Brady is first and comes out and Mystery and the wingmen tell him it’s perfect. They call him good looking and Brady has much more confidence in his pickup abilities now. Next up is Scott, and the guys think the colors in his outfit are a bit off, but like the streak of blue he put in his hair. Joe W. comes out sporting some tight plaid pants, a hat, and six gauge holes in his ears. They like the hat. Fred gets a “Sesame Street” comment about his outfit and he’s told he’s trying to be too youthful. Alvaro gets told his look won’t work at the Playboy mansion and he looks like he belongs in Breakin’ 2 Electric Boogaloo. Pradeep heads out and gets a few giggles. They tell him there is too much going on in his outfit. Spoon comes out and Mystery tells him he looks perfect. Joe D. comes out and strikes a pose, but they tell him it looks too youthful and should have gone with a mafia/strip club owner type of a suit instead. Joe D. says that it made him feel really self conscious. Mystery and the wingmen discuss who should win the challenge and they come down to Spoon and Brady. Spoon is still feeling the pressure from the night before as they line up to hear who wins. The unanimous winner is Spoon. He was so happy to win. Tomorrow’s lesson is opening conversations and Spoon gets to practice with a real woman named Tara.

The following day, Mystery tells them the most crucial step in pick up is opening. He tells them to have an interesting Gambit (story). In the field test, the one who opens the set the best will win immunity. His tip is to not come into a set (or group of people) facing directly at them and showing too much interest. Mystery says that the goal is to not creep them out. That’s pretty good advice, I’d say. He hands out some opener examples to practice with on the wingmen, and Spoon gets to practice with Tara. He’s petrified to speak with her, or any woman.

Spoon answers the door for Tara and tells her he’s nervous. She’s there to help because she knows these guys need help and want to find someone special. Spoon asks her how to approach a woman and she says her first impression was that he was a total sweetheart and scared to death of women. Matador and J-Dog help the guys out back with their openers. They all start working out their openers and stumble over some stories. Spoon tries too hard and Tara gets him to open up to her and relax.

Scott tries to cram and learn all the openers before the field test. Fred is also having trouble because they seem unnatural. Joe W. has anxiety and is afraid he’ll do the worst and be eliminated. The guys all get into their peacock outfits and jump on the bus to go downtown. Alvaro says he just needs to talk to anyone so they can see what he’s working with and he’s changed his name to Kosmo. Mystery and the wingmen are waiting for them outside the club. He explains that the person who opens the set the best will be immune from elimination. Joe D. wants to succeed so he doesn’t have to live in his parents’ basement forever. Mystery and the wingmen head into their listening truck while the contestants go inside.

Scott immediately heads up to the first group he sees and tries to open, but they can’t hear him. Brady does well with the “do you floss before or after you brush” question and opens the set. Fred tries his own opening question instead of the rehearsed lines and totally bombs out. Joe W. goes up to a guy and a girl and asks them a question, but Mystery says he had too much emotion. Joe W. says he’s frustrated he couldn’t master the technique right away and he’s disappointed in himself. Joe D. is rockin’ a dark suit and Mystery and the wingmen are impressed with his look. He does a great job and opened a 5 set which totally impresses the teachers. Alvaro walks up and offers to break dance for some girls and he uses that opener several times, which Mystery and the wingmen are not liking. Pradeep tries to use a situational opener about Alvaro’s break dancing, and loses the set instantly. Pradeep says he’s better impromptu than memorizing lines, but the teachers don’t like it at all.

Spoon stands in a corner and is totally nervous. He is totally scared and panicked. He left the club and went to the listening truck instead. He’s almost crying about being rejected that first night. The teachers tell him not to worry about failing and to keep trying. They tell him to master his fear and if he can just say hi, it will help him get over his fears. He gets back up and goes back into the club and just stands there again. He finds three girls and uses a canned opener and it works. He’s happy he did it, but he doesn’t think he could do it again because he’s scared. he is trying to decide if he wants to stay on the show or not.

All of the guys come out of the club and are proud of themselves. Mystery says he’s proud of all of them, but one stood out above the others and pronounces Joe D. as the winner of the field test. They are all happy for him, and he’s excited. Because he won the field test, he’s safe from elimination. He gets to choose 2 others to be his wingmen which will protect them from elimination as well. One of the others will be going home. When they get back to the house, Joe D. tells them he doesn’t know who he is going to pick and it’s been changing. He likes them all and appreciates all of them, so he’s not sure how he’s going to decide. They are confident he’ll make the right decision.

All of the contestants head into the elimination room and face Mystery and the wingmen. Mystery explains that each elimination ceremony will give them a medallion to show they have completed that level. The final red medallion is reserved for the master pick up artist. Tonight, the white medallion with a B on it will symbolize rebirth and growth. Joe D. is given the first medallion and everyone applauds. He chooses Brady and Kosmo as his wingmen and they take their medallions.

Mystery tells Brady he did well, but then they tell Kosmo his break dancing was tacky and to trust his charm. He dismisses those three and they leave the room. Mystery tells Joe W. that he was on adrenaline and to tone it down. He then tells Pradeep they are on to him and he’s transparent, which seems to confuse him. They tell him he creates a social mask that everyone can see through. They chide Fred for not learning his openers. Spoon is trapped by his humanity and tells him he’s not special because of his fear. Scott gets told people will trample all over him if he doesn’t assert himself. Joe W. gets a medallion is safe because he did open all his sets, even if he was too invested in them. He then gives Scott a medallion and tells him he needs to see a lot of improvement. Pradeep gets a medallion and is told they need to see much more commitment to the program if he wants to stay around.

It’s now down to Fred and Spoon. Spoon then surprisingly raises his hand and tells Mystery and the wingmen he wants to be the one to go home. This takes everyone by surprise and they tell him it’s an extremely important decision. Spoon starts crying as he thinks about trying to go back into the clubs again. They ask him again if he wants to leave and he says yes. They tell Fred they respect his desire to want to commit to this program. Mystery says he doesn’t like his choice, but they have to respect it and it’s game over for him. Spoon leaves the house right away. There is a montage of his moments on the show. He says he didn’t conquer the whole club thing, but he’s not leaving empty handed. He knows the teachers saw potential in him. He says he’s more confident and he will become that kind of person slowly in his own way and he’s happy with that.

Next time, the students have to talk to little girls who call them names. If they can lead a group of children, they can lead a set. Another person will be eliminated after the field test. Oh, and Mystery lets his hair down.