Utahns on "The Real World: Brooklyn": Week 11

THIS WEEK’S EPISODE revolves around Ryan — the Army veteran who, it turns out, is a decorated hero of the Iraq war.

“I can’t believe you were over there…. It’s totally surreal,” Baya Voce-Hoffman says as Ryan shows her scrapbooks of his experiences in Iraq.

“I have a newfound respect and love for Ryan,” Chet Cannon says later in the episode.

It’s a moving hour that brings home the plight of veterans. And how tough it can be when those veterans are recalled to active duty — as Ryan learns is about to happen to him.

NOT SURPRISINGLY, CHET PROVIDES the comic relief in the episode. He has a cardboard cut-out made of himself.

“I think you’ve finally made it when you have a life-size cardboard cut-out of yourself,” Chet says.

Well, it might mean more if it’s not a life-size cardboard cut-out of yourself that you’ve had made for yourself.

Chet puts the cut-out up on the wall with a sign that reads, “Chet is so cool.” When it’s pointed out to Baya, she does a spit take.

Chet considers the cut-out “a piece of art.” And he’s really, really ticked when his roommates — including his good buddy, Ryan — cover his sign with one that reads “Obama is so cool.” And cover the cut-out’s face with a picture of the new president.

“Somebody has defaced my cardboard cut-out that I spent time creating,” Chet says. “That’s really offensive to me.”

“I can’t even believe what a little baby Chet is being,” Sarah says. “What the heck do you expect when you make a life-size cut-out of yourself? Of course people are going to deface it.”

And Chet gets no sympathy from Ryan.

“He calls it his ‘artwork.’ Seriously, all he did is pose for a picture and somebody else did their job,” Ryan says. “So if he thinks, ‘I spent all this time and all this money’ — it’s free, and you stood there for a picture, which you love posing for pictures anyway.”

It’s hilarious.

MTV SHOWS MORE RESTRAINT than we might have expected at one point.

This week’s episode was shot at the time of last November’s election, and we quickly learn that Chet and Scott are the only two members of the GOP in the house. And the only two not voting for Barack Obama.

“I’m a Republican, but I don’t think McCain or Obama are that qualified. It should be Mitt Romney,” Chet says. “You know what? Our problem is the economy. And he’s the only one who can do anything about it.”

The surprise is that the show never mentions that both Chet and Romney are members of the LDS Church.

Chet, by the way, looks really, really ticked as the election results come in. Bitter, even.

“It’s not healthy to have all Democrats running everything,” he says. “It’s just not functional.”

Stay tuned …