Solitary 4.0 Reboots with Two Quitters & One Veteran

Solitary 4.0 premiered early on Friday night so this recap may be a bit spoilerish to those who are waiting to watch on tonight's "real" premiere. After Solitary 3.0 many wondered if 4.0 would see the light of day since Fox Reality channel is ending and well, so was time. Val prevailed though and nine new pod-mates were zapped into their pods and for their first challenge they began their stay all chained up. Each were then stripped of their names and given a number, that number would also unlock them from their chains. Before we get to that though we got to know a little about each player. Pod 1 has only one testicle... and I assume that's why he was in Pod 1. He suffered through testicular cancer and was there to show everyone he could stick with it. Pod 2's name is Rommel and some of you may recognize him from America's Toughest Jobs. He basically sucked on there but is bringing his "martial arts skills" to Solitary and may prove a tough competitor.

Pod 3 is a 20 year old female "high school football player" who really seems kind of boring and not ready for this, but so did Pod 3 last year so she may prove to be in for the long haul. Pod 4 is a dancer with a fake tooth that drops out of her mouth with a simple flip of her tongue, seriously who can beat that? In Pod 5 we have a "game-show pro" who basically seems to be there for the money. He's been on the Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune and Fear Factor so he's just there to add Solitary to his list of "roles". Then we have Pod 6 who is the oldest competitor ever on Solitary at the age of 40. She's a "Nebraska mom" who is there to prove her kids and state proud. Then we have Pod 7 who really wasn't shown much, but she seems tough but has a crying streak. Pod 8 holds a rapper who has many "AKA" names and took forever to call himself number eight. Last but not least is Pod 9 who continues last years run of the crazies in Pod 9. She's a tough chick who has died three times and seems to be a free spirit with a tough as nails attitude.

So there you have it, the initial nine players of Solitary 4.0. Like I said the all began chained up but that didn't last long as they were told to free themselves using a four digit combo lock. It took Pod 4 only four minutes to realize the combo was the number of her pod in all four slots. Pod 9 would have won first, but didn't pull her lock after putting 9999 as the combo. She ended up in last place but it didn't really mean much as they went right into their first treatment. After choosing their workout equipment Val then revealed that they would have to work up a sweat to stay. Simply put, the person who would sweat the least in two hours would be eliminated from the game and forced out. It really didn't force anyone to quit but it was more a task to remove someone early rather then take someone out. Pod 8 was in the lead early as he couldn't stop sweating. He ended up with 25 viles of sweat while others weren't even close to getting 5. In the end it came down to the two ladies in Pod 4 and Pod 6. Pod 6 had the least and she went home with tears but happy tears. She realized that she is meant to return home to Nebraska to be with her kids and left her pod only to have it filled again.

Val had a few tricks up her sleeve this season and with Pod 6 now empty it opened up a slot for a veteran to return. That veteran is runner up of Solitary 2.0, Pod 7 whose real name is Tyler. You may remember him as he's the one who shaved his head during the show and really seemed to grow as a result of it. Many weren't happy that he was joining the cast but then again they had no clue who it was. I really wanted to see RobRob battle it out again but maybe, if the show gets picked up by another network, he will return for an All Star season. With Pod 6 replaced the others got a taste of Val's food bar and also got a taste from home. Pod 1 was almost ready to quit but Val pulled out the phone call from home right when he needed it. Many had tears and although they were only there for a day you could tell the mental toll that was placed on all of them. That wasn't going to stop Val from torturing them again though as the good old fashioned gross food challenge sprung up early.

Their next treatment would not be a tasty one as it was meant to take one of the weak out. Each constetant would mix together two ingredients and force the others to drink it as well. Pod 7 was up first and was nice by blending coffee and chocolate together, all rejoiced. Pod 9 was then up and got only a little mean with a ketchup and mustard combo, which many surprisingly had issues with. It was Pod 5's relish and re-fried beans though that caused an issue. Some, like my favorite Pod 9, got it down easily while Pod 3 and Pod 1 both struggled. Pod 3 was able to take the combo though but Pod 1 quit after only taking one sip of the blend. That sent Pod 1 home and he was ashamed that he quit, which was out of character. He wasn't there for the long haul anyway and was probably there for his story more then anything. The rest seem to be a strong cast and hopefully offer an entertaining possible end to the Solitary franchise.