Why don't we have a thread for The Challenge?

[orangeinohio]

Spoiler

Well, CT was definitely the scumbag in this episode. Stating the obvious here.
That fireside meeting where he wanted to make peace with Big T was such an incredibly weak effort. He wasn't even trying. At least Big T is smart enough to not fall for that BS.
'Tell that to my son'? Come on, don't rope your son into this melodrama.
BTW, I know she was humiliated and depressed but it looked like she wasn't wearing as much makeup as usual, as if the producers possibly suggested that she shouldn't make herself look as good as usual. Maybe I'm overthinking this but I enjoy coming up with these things.
Gabby on the other hand, at the hot springs in the one-piece...wow.

It's going to work out fine for CT. How many times has Johnny Bananas done the same thing and ended up winning the season?

Agree with your point on Nany.
If the future of this show is some kind of Big Brother dominated group that is led by Josh, then just put a fork in it.

 

[Cusefan78]

Spoiler

Well, CT was definitely the scumbag in this episode. Stating the obvious here.
That fireside meeting where he wanted to make peace with Big T was such an incredibly weak effort. He wasn't even trying. At least Big T is smart enough to not fall for that BS.
'Tell that to my son'? Come on, don't rope your son into this melodrama.
BTW, I know she was humiliated and depressed but it looked like she wasn't wearing as much makeup as usual, as if the producers possibly suggested that she shouldn't make herself look as good as usual. Maybe I'm overthinking this but I enjoy coming up with these things.
Gabby on the other hand, at the hot springs in the one-piece...wow.

It's going to work out fine for CT. How many times has Johnny Bananas done the same thing and ended up winning the season?

Agree with your point on Nany.
If the future of this show is some kind of Big Brother dominated group that is led by Josh, then just put a fork in it.

I’m guessing that with the real world reunion show and road rules coming back there will be a new real World Series. It’ll be good for casting to be able to draw off those shows again. The big brother group just doesn’t have any excitement

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I’m guessing that with the real world reunion show and road rules coming back there will be a new real World Series. It’ll be good for casting to be able to draw off those shows again. The big brother group just doesn’t have any excitement

Yeah, it seems to work pretty well when they snag people from trash reality shows, as opposed to other more legitimate competition reality shows.

 

[chugg21]

Just finished. Smart move for CT but went too crazy.

Bizarre thing is that I've been at that hot spring before. 1st time in Iceland did the blue lagoon like every tourist. 2nd time wanted to avoid it and find a different spot. Had to a text a friend for their geotag because it looked familiar. Secret Lagoon it was.

 

[Melancer46]

Putting everything in spoilers here just in case but some random thoughts from the episode:

Spoiler: Challenge Stuff

• That suuuucked for Big T. Just way over the top from CT after he's been such a good sport this season. I think Big T would still have been upset no matter what, but CT at least could have kinda rationalized the move being both to his own benefit as well as hers if he had tried to explain that nobody wants to see him in an elimination and now that he has a skull, he doesn't want to go back in either, so it's best for them to separate so that she gets paired with someone that is more likely to be sent in with her. Again, still probably would have hurt her feelings, but you never know. In the very least, it might have helped with damage control. Even after his over-the-top thing, the fireside conversation could have been okay if he had just stopped at "All I did was help you realize how strong you actually are" and left it at that but instead he followed it up with basically saying "But lastly, you suck and you could never finish a final hahahahahaha"
• Happy to see Darrell survive and advance, but sad to see Devin go. I've always found him to be entertaining, but he was particularly good this season. Pretty strong showing from him overall this season but he probably would have been eliminated shortly after this week anyways, as he would have become target #1 by a mile with Josh gone.
• Sucks to see Nam go too. If any of you guys haven't watched it already, Ultimate Beastmaster on Netflix is a great show too.
• Apparently Josh's harness broke when CT dropped down so he literally couldn't even attempt to catch up to CT, not that it would have mattered with how quickly he solved the puzzle.
• I know people are pissed at CT right now, but I'm not sure who will have the balls to want to send him and Kam into elimination.
• I'm curious to see how the final will be formatted. What happens if, for example, Cory gets a skull but Gabby doesn't? Will there be some sort of re-aligning of pairs again before the final starts? Will it be like that Free Agents season where you alternate partners throughout different stages of the final?

 

[kirbivore]

Just finished. Smart move for CT but went too crazy.

Bizarre thing is that I've been at that hot spring before. 1st time in Iceland did the blue lagoon like every tourist. 2nd time wanted to avoid it and find a different spot. Had to a text a friend for their geotag because it looked familiar. Secret Lagoon it was.

I get he's trying to get air time, but the humane way would've been "I going with Kam because I know Kam can finish a final. If I went to the final with you (Big T), I'd be hoping you could finish the final. I'm old and don't have many shots left at this and I can't take that chance.

 

[orangeinohio]

Putting everything in spoilers here just in case but some random thoughts from the episode:

Spoiler: Challenge Stuff

• That suuuucked for Big T. Just way over the top from CT after he's been such a good sport this season. I think Big T would still have been upset no matter what, but CT at least could have kinda rationalized the move being both to his own benefit as well as hers if he had tried to explain that nobody wants to see him in an elimination and now that he has a skull, he doesn't want to go back in either, so it's best for them to separate so that she gets paired with someone that is more likely to be sent in with her. Again, still probably would have hurt her feelings, but you never know. In the very least, it might have helped with damage control. Even after his over-the-top thing, the fireside conversation could have been okay if he had just stopped at "All I did was help you realize how strong you actually are" and left it at that but instead he followed it up with basically saying "But lastly, you suck and you could never finish a final hahahahahaha"
• Happy to see Darrell survive and advance, but sad to see Devin go. I've always found him to be entertaining, but he was particularly good this season. Pretty strong showing from him overall this season but he probably would have been eliminated shortly after this week anyways, as he would have become target #1 by a mile with Josh gone.
• Sucks to see Nam go too. If any of you guys haven't watched it already, Ultimate Beastmaster on Netflix is a great show too.
• Apparently Josh's harness broke when CT dropped down so he literally couldn't even attempt to catch up to CT, not that it would have mattered with how quickly he solved the puzzle.
• I know people are pissed at CT right now, but I'm not sure who will have the balls to want to send him and Kam into elimination.
• I'm curious to see how the final will be formatted. What happens if, for example, Cory gets a skull but Gabby doesn't? Will there be some sort of re-aligning of pairs again before the final starts? Will it be like that Free Agents season where you alternate partners throughout different stages of the final?

It's been a couple days so I think it's safe to end the 'Spoiler' masking.

Regarding your penultimate bullet point -
I think that people won't vote in CT and Kam primarily because everybody likes Kam. Even Big T probably. So if you're going to vote in Scumbag CT, there's a chance that Kam might pay the price.

Once they get into the final, I bet there will be one male and one female winner, each getting $500K. This is solely based on the fact that it was done this way last season. If the total prize was over $1M, I could see four winners but the producers don't want the winners to get less per person than last season.

Obvious conclusion here but I don't see anybody beating CT in the final. Definitely not Leroy or Fessy. Darrell, maybe. He's tougher than Leroy and Fessy.
As for the female competitors, I don't think the MTV veterans are in good enough shape (Aneesa, Nany) and most of the Big Brother/Love Island/etc people are mentally weak. I'm going out on a limb and predicting Amber.

Based on the length of previous seasons, I think that there are going to be three more eliminations and then the final. So that would be two more females and one more male getting kicked out.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

So, hypothetically, if I decided to blow some of my Dogecoin to get Brad to do a cameo for our little thread on this board, is there anything specific we'd want to ask him to talk about?

 

[Melancer46]

We could get TJ Lavin to do a cameo for the thread? Now that would be amazing. Hmmmm.

https://www.cameo.com/browse/reality-tv/mtv/the-challenge?qid=1614831318

Wow Josh's picture...he looks like he's doubled in size since that was taken.

 

[Ghost]

So, hypothetically, if I decided to blow some of my Dogecoin to get Brad to do a cameo for our little thread on this board, is there anything specific we'd want to ask him to talk about?

I'd like a shout out for Syracuse! Also, I would like to know his feelings on Applebees. I'm going to think on this. Getting him to contribute to random threads, "What's a terrible movie" would amuse me.

 

[Ghost]

Okay, I'm not going with a spoiler thing either, so here we go:

• Very sad to see Devin go. He had the most personality on the show other than Kyle, and they both had some good lines this week.
  • Leeroy: "C'mon guys, who wants it!!!!"
  • Devin (ascending the stairs w/ Darrel): "Uhhh, we both do Leeroy."
    • Leeroy looks embarrassed. lol
  • Kyle calling himself a follower, Kam a leader, and then stating he liked following her around.
• I think Kyle was genuinely hurt about CT switching partners, perhaps he overreacted, but he's like a happy villain that I think probably tries not to hurt anyone's feelings - even when he wants to fight Paulie he seems sorta concerned that Paulie doesn't feel bad about it before they go at it (same with Cara)
• I did not think CT was going to switch partners! Damn, that was cold, and so much worse with his cheesy apology/argument. I would echo everyone's else's opinion that he could have done it MUCH better.
• I really wanted to see Nam get into a proving ground match, like a Hall Brawl, I have a feeling he may have killed someone - like Turbo always seemed primed up to try, but a calm version of Turbo that would feel bad after his murder.
• I want more Hall Brawl - Hall Brawl all the time!! I feel like the proving ground matches this season have been a little lackluster

Was it big dumb Josh that lost the 'tug of war' thing to one-handed Jordan a few seasons ago? If there was ever a challenge someone was destined to lose - it was one-handed Jordan in a tug-o-war match. Man that Josh is big and dumb.

They need to move most of the Big Brother people out...they're so boring it's insane. Try any other reality show. Bring on people that won Wheel of Fortune for all I care, they can't have less personality than these people. Has anyone ever watched the show? Is it insanely boring?????

 

[jordville]

So, hypothetically, if I decided to blow some of my Dogecoin to get Brad to do a cameo for our little thread on this board, is there anything specific we'd want to ask him to talk about?

What's next?
Bam Bam Bigelow. Kidding, kind of.

Did the old Google search to see what Brad was up to these days and clicked on his Instagram. He has become a man of the woods in Michigan. But looks like he'll be ready for his next challenge of and when called upon.

 

[Melancer46]

Okay, I'm not going with a spoiler thing either, so here we go:

• Very sad to see Devin go. He had the most personality on the show other than Kyle, and they both had some good lines this week.
  • Leeroy: "C'mon guys, who wants it!!!!"
  • Devin (ascending the stairs w/ Darrel): "Uhhh, we both do Leeroy."
    • Leeroy looks embarrassed. lol
  • Kyle calling himself a follower, Kam a leader, and then stating he liked following her around.
• I think Kyle was genuinely hurt about CT switching partners, perhaps he overreacted, but he's like a happy villain that I think probably tries not to hurt anyone's feelings - even when he wants to fight Paulie he seems sorta concerned that Paulie doesn't feel bad about it before they go at it (same with Cara)
• I did not think CT was going to switch partners! Damn, that was cold, and so much worse with his cheesy apology/argument. I would echo everyone's else's opinion that he could have done it MUCH better.
• I really wanted to see Nam get into a proving ground match, like a Hall Brawl, I have a feeling he may have killed someone - like Turbo always seemed primed up to try, but a calm version of Turbo that would feel bad after his murder.
• I want more Hall Brawl - Hall Brawl all the time!! I feel like the proving ground matches this season have been a little lackluster

Was it big dumb Josh that lost the 'tug of war' thing to one-handed Jordan a few seasons ago? If there was ever a challenge someone was destined to lose - it was one-handed Jordan in a tug-o-war match. Man that Josh is big and dumb.

They need to move most of the Big Brother people out...they're so boring it's insane. Try any other reality show. Bring on people that won Wheel of Fortune for all I care, they can't have less personality than these people. Has anyone ever watched the show? Is it insanely boring?????

Re: Big Brother, I’ve watched some seasons, including the one that Josh won (yes he won). Some seasons are entertaining, some are not. The people they’ve brought onto The Challenge are nowhere near my favorite characters but the best characters on Big Brother usually are not the athletic people (or whatever you call Josh).

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Re: Big Brother, I’ve watched some seasons, including the one that Josh won (yes he won). Some seasons are entertaining, some are not. The people they’ve brought onto The Challenge are nowhere near my favorite characters but the best characters on Big Brother usually are not the athletic people (or whatever you call Josh).

My understanding is that his Big Brother win was one where he kinda lurked all season and nobody took him seriously as a contender, and then, well... someone has to win it in the end.

 

[Melancer46]

My understanding is that his Big Brother win was one where he kinda lurked all season and nobody took him seriously as a contender, and then, well... someone has to win it in the end.

I definitely don’t think people took him seriously but it wasn’t like he just sat by quietly under the radar. He literally spent a night smashing frying pans together to try to drive everyone insane lol.

He basically latched onto this guy Paul (who is one of the best characters they’ve ever had in the seasons I watched at least) who was just really good at manipulating people and basically pulled the strings all season on his way to the finale against Josh.

When people get sent home, they receive goodbye messages from the remaining contestants, and instead of just saying “great to meet you, talk to you later” like everyone else, Josh used his messages to secretly tell everyone that would eventually be on the jury about how Paul was lying to their faces and stabbing them in the back without them knowing. Then Josh won the final daily challenge and brought Paul to the final vote with him, banking on the jury turning on Paul, and it ultimately worked.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I definitely don’t think people took him seriously but it wasn’t like he just sat by quietly under the radar. He literally spent a night smashing frying pans together to try to drive everyone insane lol.

He basically latched onto this guy Paul (who is one of the best characters they’ve ever had in the seasons I watched at least) who was just really good at manipulating people and basically pulled the strings all season on his way to the finale against Josh.

When people get sent home, they receive goodbye messages from the remaining contestants, and instead of just saying “great to meet you, talk to you later” like everyone else, Josh used his messages to secretly tell everyone that would eventually be on the jury about how Paul was lying to their faces and stabbing them in the back without them knowing. Then Josh won the final daily challenge and brought Paul to the final vote with him, banking on the jury turning on Paul, and it ultimately worked.

Even big dumb animals find a nut once in a while.

 

[orangeinohio]

Kyle's teeth glow in the dark.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Spoiler: Recent shenanigans

so sometimes when you can tell they meddle in the show it's good, like the convoluted way to stuff Josh in elimination against CT, and sometimes, like tonight, it's bad.

There's just no possible way that Kyle's move was going to be to put Big T and Cory in. No way that was the shakeup. I thought for sure he was going to throw in Fessy and Nany. It would have been a great blindside.

If every person gets a chance at a gold skull, it's a busted mechanic. Part of the strategy with it has to be that people can be blocked from elimination if they don't win the regular challenges.

 

[orangeinohio]

I didn't realize until tonight that Kyle has tattoos on the back of his head and neck also.
I never noticed.

Kyle seems to have a lot of issues with his appearance.

I know The Sun is a rag but this includes some info about what he has done to change his appearance.

Geordie Shore's Kyle Christie's had '£11,000-worth' of surgery and still 'not happy'

GEORDIE Shore’s Kyle Christie has revealed he’s still not happy with his face – despite having “£11,000-worth” of surgery on it. The reality star has been open about h…

www.thesun.co.uk

I'm not making a joke here. It's actually depressing to see someone go overboard like this.

 

[chugg21]

I didn't realize until tonight that Kyle has tattoos on the back of his head and neck also.
I never noticed.

Kyle seems to have a lot of issues with his appearance.

I know The Sun is a rag but this includes some info about what he has done to change his appearance.

Geordie Shore's Kyle Christie's had '£11,000-worth' of surgery and still 'not happy'

GEORDIE Shore’s Kyle Christie has revealed he’s still not happy with his face – despite having “£11,000-worth” of surgery on it. The reality star has been open about h…

www.thesun.co.uk

I'm not making a joke here. It's actually depressing to see someone go overboard like this.

Certainly ridiculous considering the girl he just knocked up. You'd think that would help clear up self doubt issues but guess mental health isn't really rational.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I didn't realize until tonight that Kyle has tattoos on the back of his head and neck also.
I never noticed.

Kyle seems to have a lot of issues with his appearance.

I know The Sun is a rag but this includes some info about what he has done to change his appearance.

Geordie Shore's Kyle Christie's had '£11,000-worth' of surgery and still 'not happy'

GEORDIE Shore’s Kyle Christie has revealed he’s still not happy with his face – despite having “£11,000-worth” of surgery on it. The reality star has been open about h…

www.thesun.co.uk

I'm not making a joke here. It's actually depressing to see someone go overboard like this.

Whoa, that's wild.

I remember Shane or somebody had busted him about getting hair plugs a while back.

 

[orangeinohio]

Spoiler: Spoiler Talk

Not a very exciting episode again. When a Fessy vs CT argument is one of the major storylines of the episode, it's a bad sign. I'm not sure if the producers highlighted this because it's going to be a significant factor during the final but I don't think it added much. We already knew Fessy is egotistical and a blowhard and that CT has anger management and impulse control issues.

The challenge itself in this episode was such a small part of the episode. It really came down to the fact that you need to run a fast half mile. For all the flashy pumping iron that goes on, it's amazing that they can't run a fast half mile nonstop.

I feel a little bad for Aneesa that she was eliminated but it's a show that requires contestants to be physically fit and she is not that. If you're going to compete in The Challenge at 39 years old, you gotta be in shape.
(Side note: If you're old and you want to be on MTV, your best option appears to be the show 'Delicousness'. Does the average MTV viewer have any idea who is Tiffani Amber Thiessen?)

What happened in the Crater was really bad. It looks like a really difficult event but she couldn't lift her body at all. She made Big T look like a gamer.

According to IMDB (take it with a grain of salt), there are three more episodes this season.
Since next week is not the final, I guess they're going to eliminate another male and female from the competition. Kyle is in trouble.
Leroy, OTOH, appears to have a pretty good chance of winning.

 

[orangeinohio]

One other thing -

Am I the only person who thinks TJ takes himself a little too seriously?
He always takes about 'running my final'. He chastises people for not competing hard enough.
He's really judgy.

For you 30 Rock fans out there, he reminds me of Greenzo.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Spoiler: Spoiler Talk

Not a very exciting episode again. When a Fessy vs CT argument is one of the major storylines of the episode, it's a bad sign. I'm not sure if the producers highlighted this because it's going to be a significant factor during the final but I don't think it added much. We already knew Fessy is egotistical and a blowhard and that CT has anger management and impulse control issues.

The challenge itself in this episode was such a small part of the episode. It really came down to the fact that you need to run a fast half mile. For all the flashy pumping iron that goes on, it's amazing that they can't run a fast half mile nonstop.

I feel a little bad for Aneesa that she was eliminated but it's a show that requires contestants to be physically fit and she is not that. If you're going to compete in The Challenge at 39 years old, you gotta be in shape.
(Side note: If you're old and you want to be on MTV, your best option appears to be the show 'Delicousness'. Does the average MTV viewer have any idea who is Tiffani Amber Thiessen?)

What happened in the Crater was really bad. It looks like a really difficult event but she couldn't lift her body at all. She made Big T look like a gamer.

According to IMDB (take it with a grain of salt), there are three more episodes this season.
Since next week is not the final, I guess they're going to eliminate another male and female from the competition. Kyle is in trouble.
Leroy, OTOH, appears to have a pretty good chance of winning.

Gotta feel like they're setting it up for Fessy to take a big fall and lose.

 

[orangeinohio]

Just re-read my two posts from this week's episode and, man, I sound like a bitchy bitch.