The Real World: Austin

The Austin Season of The Real World premiered on June 21, 2005 on MTV. It is the sixteenth edition of the popular reality series, featuring seven strangers living in a house in Austin, Texas. Their job was making documentaries about the South by Southwest Festival, a yearly music festival held in Austin.

Cast

The seven housemates are:

• Rachel, a 21-year-old from Valencia, California. She joined the army as a nurse because she couldn't find the money for college. After returning from a year in Iraq, she "looks down on guys not in the military".

• Melinda, 21, grew up in Milwaukee, but now resides in Germantown, Wisconsin. Despite having a boyfriend and a promise ring, she quickly finds love with housemate Danny. She is willing to act wildly, even making out with a female roommate and walking around in her underwear.

• Johanna, a 22-year-old from Riverside, California, describes herself as "spicy". She was born in Lima, Peru and moved to the United States when she was 11. She deferred her admission to Columbia University's Master's Program to be on The Real World.

• Lacey, a 24-year-old hairdresser from Tallahassee, Florida, is truly unique. Her 'hippie' parents ran away and had her and her sister, but were told that they and their babies would go to hell. They "moved to the other end of the spectrum" and became Christian right-wing Republicans. As a child, Lacey says that her and her sister were not allowed to watch TV and were only allowed to listen to Civil War ballads and hymns. She "turned out well" and is described as someone who is "easy to talk to" but admits to enjoying gossip. She is also the virgin of the group.

• Nehemiah, a 19-year-old student from Rancho Cucamonga, California, was born to a mother in drug rehab. Currently in college, Nehemiah is involved in film and broadcast. Nehemiah has lots of liberal opinions on President Bush and the war in Iraq. However, conflict arises when Rachel isn't afraid to give him her opinion.

• Danny, a 22-year-old carpenter from Billerica, Massachusetts, "bangs nails" with his father as he has been doing since he was 14. He has aspirations to be a lawyer, but fears that if he stays in Boston forever, he will be doomed to "banging nails" forever. His mother is an addict who has not been in his life much. She passed away during filming of the show, causing him to leave the house for two episodes of the show.

• Wes is a 19-year-old student at Arizona State University originally from Leawood, Kansas. He "has never really experienced living with an African-American," and wants to start his own business when he leaves college.

(All information was taken from MTV.com, The Real World: Austin, and The Real World Austin Casting Special: 7 New Stars in the Lone Star State)

Episode Guide

Episode 1/Episode 2

The seven castmates arrive in Austin. Immediately, Melinda and Danny feel a connection. Later on, the roommates go to a club. A drunk Johanna causes Wes and Danny to go into the streets looking for Nehemiah, and in the end a brawl breaks out and Danny gets suckerpunched and injures his eye.

Episode 3

Melinda breaks up with her boyfriend at home. They are also assigned their job of covering the SXSW Music Festival.

Episode 4

As Danny prepares for surgery, his father flies in. Melinda comforts him as he prepares for surgery. Meanwhile, Rachel is trying to get Wes, but Wes is not interested.

Episode 5

Rachel's constant talking about her Army experience in Iraq causes Nehemiah to assert that she wasn't in the war. Rachel gets very upset about this. Melinda kisses Wes, which causes Danny to become upset. They also get training for their job.

Episode 6

Wes and Nehemiah unveil that they have a "groupie drawer" where they keep the phone numbers of women they meet at bars. However, their "groupies" don't hook up with them. Rachel finds a bouncer named Colin, but it turns out he has a girlfriend.

Episode 7

Danny finally gets the stitches around his eye removed, so he can go back out. He worries that he will lose Melinda, but upon some questionable advice from Wes, decides to go out and try to get some girls. The girls have their own night out. Danny decides to stick with Melinda.

Episode 8

All the house mates prepare for Valentine's day. Danny and Nehemiah go suit shopping. Several housemates get flowers and cards from loved ones back home and new interests in Austin. Danny gets a call from his father saying that his mother has died. The rest of the episode revolves around Danny leaving and Melinda tending for him.

Episode 9

Danny heads home for the funeral. He meets his family and goes through pictures. Meanwhile, Melinda worries about Danny a lot. Lacey's boyfriend Ryan also comes in. Nehemiah also speaks with his mother, and makes sure to tell her that he loves her.

Episode 10

Johanna flirts with her bartender friend named Leo, but won't let him hold her hand. To make Johanna jealous, Wes brings home a random girl named Megan, and they hook up. He starts accusing Johanna of "playing games" with both him and Leo, and in the end they have a big argument.

Episode 11

Danny returns to Austin after his mother's funeral and immediately contemplates his level of commitment to Melinda, deliberately ignoring her on the night of his return.

Episode 12

Wes meets a girl named Wren. He brings her home and ponders his commitment to her. Later, Johanna also makes out with him. Meanwhile, Rachel kisses a bouncer at a bar, and Nehemiah disapproves. Rachel starts screaming at him for quite a while and ends up crying.

Episode 13

The crew starts working on their film profiles on each other. Nehemiah, with a background in film, gets far with his, but Paul feels there's more work to be done with his and everyone's. They also get the bands they'll have to chose from for their SXSW Music Festival. Lacey already has a strong opinion on the bands, and is rooting for her bands, even lying to the rest of the cast that Nehemiah likes her favorite bands. Nehemiah, Wes, Wren and friends go to a bar where Nehemiah is harrassed and becomes angry. The next day he tells Wes he apologized to Wren and another girl there. Nehemiah has a heart to heart converasation with his mother about how to deal with Lacey.

External link

• The Real World (Season 16) on MTV