IMHO: "The Real World Brooklyn" (Ep. 2): That's why you're so nice

This week's Real World was full of gay content: the roommates go to a gay bar, Ryan kisses a drag performer, metrosexual Chet's mother visits, JD reveals more about himself, and a whole lot more.

Amid all the gayness there's plenty of immature behavior, but The Real World manages to keep up the mature tone it had in the season premiere. Check out why The Real World is getting an up arrow for the second week in a row after the break.

The episode starts with Chet snooping through JD's stuff as he unpacks his bags. First Chet notes that JD brought a bottle of lube with him but his attention quickly shifts when he notices that JD has "extra large" condoms:

"I want to know what equates 'extra-large condom'. Are we looking at about a 6 x 7? And by '7' I mean circumference. Give us a radii ... In any way, congratulations for being able to fill an extra-large condom. Huge penises are a rare commodity ... I've been around enough people in the fraternity house to know they are a rare commodity."

Chet quickly reports this news to Ryan like Wilma rushing to give Betty the latest juicy bit of gossip.

Ryan and Chet have made themselves into the house jokesters. First Ryan uses his alarm clock to get everyone running around to figure out whose phone is ringing and then the roommates find a banana in a condom floating in the aquarium. JD suspects the condom was taken from his stuff (Chet insists the condom was a freebie he got at a bar), prompting a house meeting and a discussion between JD and Chet that does not devolves into yelling. Thankfully, we see the roommates' car has a GPS system, quieting my suspicions that this season was filmed a decade ago and shelved for not being dramatic enough.

JD, Sarah and Baya decide to have a night out at a gay bar. After a little discussion, they decide to invite Chet and Ryan, apparently thinking that "a bar in Chelsea" would be enough to communicate "gay bar" to Chet. Ryan has to explain that they're going to a gay bar though he proves not to possess many more clues himself beyond that. Ryan promises that they'll find "assless chaps" at this bar and that Chelsea is "all S&M".

Ryan expresses nervousness before going in and asks Chet to pretend to be his boyfriend, which really shouldn't be a challenge for those two. JD offers Ryan a hundred dollars to dance with the club's drag performer, Peppermint, but when Ryan's dancing turns out to be pretty sheepish Peppermint asks for a kiss on the cheek that turns into a kiss on the lips.

Ryan plays the appalled straight boy, making gagging expressions and making a display of washing his mouth when he gets home. They roommates laugh it off and Ryan ends up deciding to turn it into yet another prank, calling his girlfriend back home to let her know he kissed someone as if he were making a reality TV confession. So, despite the mugging, it seems like Ryan took the whole deal as a learning experience.

Chet's mom

Chet gets a visit from his family. After one of his siblings comment on what its like to see Chet wearing "normal clothes" Devyn lets them know that he was wearing eyeliner the previous night. Chet's mom seems a bit fixated by that revelation as she interrupts a tour of the house several minutes later to ask if Chet stole the eyeliner from her make-up drawer before leaving for Brooklyn.

Mama Chet delivers another funny line a moment later when she learns that JD is gay and responds with, "Well, that's why he's so nice." After that, Chet's mom thanks JD for looking out for the roommates and gives him a hug before leaving. For the most part, they seem to be looking at JD like he were some exotic animal but in the end JD takes their interest as being well-intentioned. I was getting a bit annoyed with Chet's family myself until I saw that JD focused on how they meant well.

Sarah helps Chet with his guyliner

JD also has to deal with his abusive father, who used JD's social security number to open himself some credit accounts. JD gets a call from the police officer on the case, though it's not clear if JD will be pressing charges against his dad or not. Regardless, it seems like the call stresses JD out as he goes off alone to a bar and comes home totally drunk, ranting about how those immigrants at drug stores should learn to speak English.

In a bit of role reversal, Chet is the reasonable one, telling JD that his comments about immigrants are a bit much, a situaton that looks ready to turn into a fight until the even-tempered Sarah convinces JD to sleep it off. The next moring JD and Chet have another talk that seems to end with the two agreeing that they need to try to show some sympathy for their different backgrounds. I'm not sure if I rememer the Real World San Francisco cast ending their arguments so calmly.

JD is a loud drunk

We definitely got some drama this week and we got to see a bit of the dark side that lurks underneath the responsible and smart JD we were introduced to last week. I like that The Real World producers found a gay man who overall has a good head on his shoulders but is pretty complicated, with moments when he's not all sweetness and responsibility. I'm even starting to like Ryan, whose first instinct is to be a jerk but seems to be rethinking those impulses. And then there's Chet, who continues to be fascinating for how sheltered he is (something that's emphasized by his mother's reaction to the news of his wearing eyeliner) and yet how much he wants to understand his roommates more.

What did you think? That's actually not all the gay content in that episode (Sarah and Katelynn torture Ryan with intellectual discourse! Katelynn comes out to Baya! JD takes Baya to an audition!) but I wanted to finish this before the next episode airs. Was there another moment that stood out for you? How are you feeling about JD after his "Everyone's a little bit racist" moment?