Vote for Dave and Jasmine on "Beauty & the Geek"

There, I said it. I've made it known where my allegiances are: squarely with Dave and Jasmine.

Last night's final elimination room on Beauty and the Geek proved not to be that at all, instead for the first time "in the history of Beauty and the Geek" booting the final two teams back to their hometowns for a change, allowing them the opportunity to see their teammates in their natural habitat.

It was a nice twist in a reality competition that seems hellbent on redefining its own rules and twists, what with cash on the table to walk away (which no one actually ever picked up), a male beauty and a female geek this season, and the final twist: that "America" would decide who would walk away with the $250,000 prize. (Half of me just wanted the adorably clueless Jasmine to ask if Ugly Betty herself really had that much sway over their final fate.)

It's pretty remarkable to me to see just how far Dave and Jasmine have come over the course of the season, considering how very much at odds they were in that first episode. I certainly couldn't have predicted that a team comprised of LARPer Dave and babysitter Jasmine would ever be sitting in the final two and yet they quickly learned to put aside their many differences, to find common ground, to support one another and to communicate. If that doesn't best sum up the entire shared goal of Beauty and the Geek (along with, yes, that cash prize at the end of the rainbow), I don't know what does.

Throughout the entire competition, both Dave and Jasmine have been able to push each other out of their comfort zones, to strive towards a better understanding of their own strengths, and to help them accept who they are as fully functioning adults. I am sure that Jasmine kissing Dave helped this immensely, as did Dave's striking transformation: gone is the scary 'fro and oversized novelty glasses and instead we find a guy who is more at ease with himself, even when that guy has a tendency to LARP for eight hours at a time in medieval costume. (A son gout, as the French would say.)

I was thoroughly impressed that Jasmine threw herself wholeheartedly into the LARPing experience when Dave took her to Boston. You could tell that she wasn't totally comfortable with playing an elf named Evergreen in a quest to obtain a potion from an evil baron at first, but she soon got into it in the adorable fashion she does everything. And wasn't Dave super chilled and relaxed when he visited Jasmine's family in Columbus, Ohio?

Meanwhile, I'll be honest and say that I don't really think that Sam has changed much as a person. He's leaving this competition just as cocky and self-absorbed as when he entered it (just look to last week's challenge lose--and his childish sulking--for proof of that). Yes, he learned how to study and to "read things and remember them" but this series has always been about challenging stereotypes and people's perceptions. It's also about leaving the series crying about how much you've learned and how you've come to regard your teammate as a friend, etc., and I just don't see Sam doing either of these things. Did he learn from this experience? Sure. But it hasn't altered his entire personality, world view, or confidence per se.

I do like Nicole. I was impressed with how relaxed she was getting on stage at Tufts and singing to Sam but I also saw how much more herself she was with her friends than she has been this entire competition. She's come far but still has a lot more work to do.

So, here's the deal. I intend to vote for Dave and Jasmine as the winners of Beauty and the Geek 4 and urge you to do the same. (Of course, I'll be voting online via this link to the CW's Beauty and the Geek subsite, rather than paying the $1 per vote via mobile.) I think that they embody the virtues of the series and have made the most in-roads in meeting the brief originally set out for them.

Next week on Beauty and the Geek ("And the Winner is..."), it's the return of all of this season's teams for a reunion as the winner of Beauty and the Geek 4 is unveiled after America's votes are tallied.