Tatum

That's a really good point. Although even if they had been able to wait it out, I think Jenna would have quit eventually, considering she was petering out pretty early and Jay had to revise his goal from "winning" to "finishing". When Sarah was yacking up the caviar, I was thinking they should have just sat and waited their time out. Even if Leroy and Theresa had come in and sunk all their rocks immediately, I don't think they would have gotten more than a 10 min head start on the next leg, and Sarah may have been able to bike and run faster if she weren't dealing with an upset stomach and constant vomiting. Were these players not allowed water? Why did everyone reference having crusted vomit stuck to their faces? I was just waiting for Jay and Jenna, after choking down the obligatory first drinks, to actually flip all the lids and not have to drink the remaining cups. So disappointed they weren't able to finish. I wonder though if Jenna wasn't secretly relieved that they could quit and blame Jay.

I agree with everything you said except one thing- Dunbar was quite the ass on the show as well. I would actually put him in Johnny's league in that regard. I remember one episode where the food was divided up, and Dunbar ate his portion right away, while a number of the girls saved theirs, and the next time there was a food drop, Dunbar lobbied that the guys that ate theirs right away should get all the food, since the girls had their reserves to eat. And when the girls disagreed, Dunbar stomped around the house bitching at all the selfish girls who weren't giving him their rations of food. I don't think Johnny was a bad person for not bringing Paula into his boat. But he should have had the balls to say at the reunion, there was no way for both me and Paula to be on the same boat and guarantee a win. Evelyn was the only one with sailing experience and although we might have beat her just using brute strength, I wasn't willing to take that chance, nor was I willing to take the chance that Derrick and Ryan (since, you know, only guys count) could pull off a win against me and Kenny and Ev, so we wanted our boat to be absolutely stacked, and Paula was deadweight. And I would respect that. Paula was not only a huge bitch during the Island, particularly to Ev (Paula really enjoyed being in the in crowd until it bit her in the ass), but did absolutely NOTHING to contribute to the construction of the boats. And if he had said all that at the reunion, or wherever it was that he basically shrugged off any responsibility, and also, at this latest aftershow, said, I was I pissed to have to go back into the final elimination after finally thinking I was safe, and I reacted poorly, and I understand now why Sarah picked me and Nany, I would agree Bananas has come a long way. But no, it appears that Bananas will pick a stacked win over a friend, but expects his friends to pick him over a stacked win (or, in Sarah's case, an improved chance of winning). Eat shit, Bananas.

It's possible she planned on being done after this challenge, but I tend to think it's more the latter theory- that she did not think Bananas would take it this badly. I mean, there are always a few bad sports every season who act like being picked for an elimination round is the most insulting and out of line thing they've ever been subjected to (ahem, Aneesa), but I've never seen anyone harp on it the way Johnny has. Even if Sarah and Johnny were actually best friends- they both came on here to make some money. The difference between 1st and 2nd place financially is massive, and it would be stupid of Sarah to go in against someone who could easily beat her. I mean, if you're going to step aside and let your friend just have the victory, what's the point of even going on this show? You would think after all his challenges Johnny would realize this (and he does, when it suits him) and yet he's still bitching about it.

Far be it for me to defend Bananas, like, ever, and it's been years since I've seen KW, but wasn't Johnny's beef in that episode more the fact that Paula was actively sabatoging his attempts to pick up that girl by telling the girl in the bar really unflattering things about him? If so, I can see why he was mad. Paula admitted herself during the season that she had a crush on Johnny and I can see her purposely discouraging other girls from talking to him or hanging out with him. I'll agree with that. I had to fast forward through most of the first half of the episode. There was no advantage to "getting into Sarah's head"- she was already in the final, as were Jay and Jenna. This was just straight up punishment for the two teams that didn't have to stress about the elimination rounds. Guess Johnny figured the only arsenal he had left in his bag was to make sure Sarah's free time in another country was as unenjoyable as possible. Prior to this episode, although I would not say it was full on redemption, I would have agreed with those that pointed out that possibly Bananas has grown up a little bit and may not actually be the same misogynistic bully he was on The Island. That's out the window now.

Johnny is going to see it differently because he did not put her in an elimination round, he did help her get a key, and she was able to compete in the final (and Teej gave Paula first pick so she did get to use the better boat). Much as I dislike Johnny, I don't blame him for the Island fiasco. Johnny was not in a position to make a lot of demands at that point, since Evelyn had all the leverage. The deal negotiated between him, Kenny, and Evelyn allowed for the three of them to be put on one boat. That left one spot for either Derrick or Paula. As far as what kind of discussion went on as to who would get the 4th spot, I don't think we were shown that. However, as both Derrick and Paula had been in the alliance, either way, one person was getting the short end of the stick. I will point out that Derrick had done far more work on both boats than Paula, and Paula had also done her fair share to alienate Ev that season. Ev's conditions for picking Dunbar's key over Johnny's may have included Derrick getting the last spot over Paula. I don't actually fault Johnny for the way things shook out, but I do think he could have shown a little more remorse to Paula who was obviously extremely hurt. All that said, Bananas whining about Sarah was ridiculous. I would give him a slight pass about being pissed at the actual moment (not that he had a right to be pissed, but you can't help how you feel), however, I'd say after 24 hours he needs to suck it up. His constant bullying of Sarah was way out of line, and if Bananas had truly changed, I would expect him to be a little more reasonable on the After show, which was filmed much later, right? There just are no words for Nia. I do think though it was what she was saying vs the actual physical contact that got her tossed, since during the commercial break there was a PSA about bullying someone over sexual orientation. Regardless, I hope she is not invited back again. Sadly though, I suspect the only BMPer with a lifetime ban is Tonya (my suspicions only, not based on anything I've heard). And Leroy is not much better for riling her up. Despite all the interviews about the confusion as to why Nia left, I think they were all pretty certain she got kicked off for the Jordan incident and would not be in the elimination. I wonder if Nany got drunk thinking that Leroy would be disqualified and she and Bananas would get an automatic advance to the final. I'm annoyed with both Leroy and Theresa but think they are the lesser of the evils between them and Banany, or whatever they call themselves. Also strongly suspect that for stupid Nany, the added opportunity to bone Bananas without cameras present was probably worth more to her than any prize money. Love Jay and Jenna. They are just too normal for this show though.

Bananas has kids?? Or was he just using hyperbole? Well, even if he adopted a bunch of impoverished, third world kids and was using his prize money to support them, I still wouldn't argue that Sarah's job is to play dead during these challenges so Bananas can win the money. Really, that's just such an irritating statement, that Bananas should be left alone to compete in the final because he needs the money. Newsflash Bananas- anyone who goes on this show needs the money. No one who was financially independent would even entertain the notion of subjecting themselves to a show where they have to live with a bunch of alcoholic drama queens in dorm style housing with limited food and do a bunch of ridiculous challenges. I guess Bananas could try to claim he used his "influence" to protect Sarah and Jordan, but seeing as how his archrival had most frequently won the Power couple designation I don't think that theory holds a lot of water. Hey Bananas, a guy that's missing his hand did better in the dome than you. Think about that. ETA: because I'm a nerd, I looked it up. Bananas was eliminated on the 5th challenge. Of the four previous, he was power couple once, Sarah and Jordan were power couple once, Wes and Theresa were power couple once, and Zach and Jonna had the 4th. Wes and Theresa were power couple again on the 5th challenge and eliminated Bananas. There is literally nothing Bananas did that helped Sarah win the challenge.

On top of that, he was responsible for losing 10 pounds of heroin. Even though he didn't turn in his dealer, that's an insane amount of heroin and per my google research, would have retailed for mid 6 figures. That's a lot of money to write off and I wouldn't feel too safe on the streets if that was on me. That was so funny. She has been a really shitty guardian the last two seasons.

Yeah, their policy is weird. In RW Seattle, RW Las Vegas (original), and RW Sydney, the housemates were sat down and had to go around the room in a circle and say if the cast member was allowed to stay. Las Vegas Brynn and Seattle Stephen were allowed to stay, Sydney Tricia had to leave. But in Extreme Challenge, RR South Pacific, RR Latin America, and whatever that challenge was where Tina hit Beth (and I use the word 'hit' loosely, Tina couldn't throw a decent punch despite all her tough girl posturing), and The Ruins- Ayanna, Abe, Gladys (I think it was her?), Tina, and Tonya all got sent home, despite the protests coming from some of the castmates. When Ayanna hit Christian on the Extreme Challenge, he went to production and said he didn't feel threatened by her and asked if she could stay, to be told that for liability reasons she could not. I thought it was interesting in Susie's essay on sexism in B/M world she gave the impression that was being sexually assaulted by Ace during the Inferno 3. While Ace did jump into bed with her after she told him to leave, the impression I got while that season was airing was that it was more that he was pranking her vs a sexual thing. But, innocent intentions or not, that's a pretty dubious area when someone jumps into bed with someone else after that person has asked him or her to leave. Susie hit Ace a couple times and neither one was kicked off the show, although I think Abe (not Ace) and Bananas did lobby to get her kicked off for hitting. Their no violence and no sexual assault policy seems pretty fluid and open to change at any time.

I am a little mystified as to Fiona's coldness towards Chuckie. Sure, Sammi is annoying and I don't blame Fiona or the rest of the Gallaghers for not feeling any sisterly bonds with her, but did Fiona really think it was fair that Sammi just sit by and let her son be punished for a crime that Carl committed? None of the Gallaghers know about Frank's involvement in the bust, so it just looks like Carl tricked Chuckie into coming along as the unwitting drug mule and left him out to dry, and now a kid with limited mental faculties is sitting in jail without having any understanding of what happened to him. And Fiona is mad that Sammi called the cops on Carl? She can hate Sammi all she wants, but can she really expect Sammi to not try and protect her son? And can she really justify letting someone like Chuckie get sent to juvenile detention in Carl's place? The whole scene just pissed me off. Especially when Fiona snapped that Chuckie wasn't destined for greatness- oh really, Fiona, as opposed to Carl who was such a great asset to society? Also, Fiona and Vee kind of snickering over Chuckie's IQ results being read aloud was way uncalled for. I think Fiona has just been a huge bitch ever since last season when she started sleeping with Mike's brother. I really don't like what they're doing with her character. I wasn't into the Frank and Bianca scenes. While it was nice that he took care of her at the end, kind of frustrating to see a kindness displayed towards her that was far more giving than anything he's ever done for any of his kids. Although I guess none of his kids have wads of cash hanging out of their purses or the ability to write prescriptions, but he still seemed sincere at the end. Although it did annoy me that he totally glorified his lifestyle- while there is something to be said for stopping long enough to enjoy the fruits of your labor, I bet no one ever sat on their deathbed feeling like they didn't live because they never woke up naked in a crackhouse.

Well exchange "only friend" for "only male left I feel can beat me" and his temper tantrum makes perfect sense. But yeah, I guess in Bananas' world, he was the benevolent grandfather who "allowed" Sarah and Jordan to make it to the finals, rather than a player who didn't send them in during his ONE time as power couple (it was only once right?) because it didn't make strategic sense to do so.

Fresh Meat II is not the challenge she won, it's the original challenge in which she was featured. Her win came from Free Agents.

Ah, thank you. I was thinking Rachel and Veronica had won Gauntlet 1 and Inferno 1 together, but only Veronica is listed as the Inferno 1 winner. So, Veronica has three wins while Rachel has two, but Rachel's duel win was probably more profitable than all other wins. Guess I should not try and outwit Wikipedia. ETA: Some of those stats are pretty interesting. For the love of God, Aneesa, hang it up.

She won them though on pretty large teams, where the pie was split quite a few ways, compared to Laurel, who only won one challenge but as a "free agent" got to keep it all. But wait- unless I'm mistaken, both of Rachel R.'s wins were with Veronica, so she actually should be on there right? Besides Inferno 3 and The Island- what is the third challenge that Ev won? I'm actually surprised Bananas hasn't racked up more money. Between just Free Agents and The Island, that is close to $300K alone. I'm surprised Jamie from the original NOLA isn't on there. He won three challenges and I would think be over the $100K mark (since one was Battle of the Sexes which was only split three ways).

Jay and Jenna are actually not bad performers, but they have gotten lucky in a couple different ways, that they couldn't have predicted. One, while they're rookies, this season included the AYTO kids, which were considered the sub-rookies, since they came from an entirely different show and there is a hierarchy in B/M world. Second, the Wes/Bananas rivalry diverted a lot of attention from them. Besides looking at each other, Bananas and Wes were also after those that they felt were on the opposite side. Jay and Jenna were smart to stay out of that mess. On top of that, they did underperform in a few of the earlier games (but not poorly enough to be an automatic elimination contender) so were considered a weaker team which made them a desirable finals opponent, at least for Jordan and Sarah, which were a frequent power couple. Really, as much as we said they were dumb, they really played the game well, politically. They stayed out of every conflict (too often rookies hurry to align themselves with a vet which may be a temporary safety net but often backfires, like the idiots on The Island found out), and appear to be the only couple (who actually were a couple, as opposed to a one time hookup) that can work well together, and both seem to be decent athletes.

I didn't watch the Bananas squawking at the end, so I just assumed Jordan and Sarah's disagreement had to do with Jordan wanting to throw in Bananas and Sarah not wanting to out of respect for their friendship, and when Sarah was sighing and rolling her eyes, that was her conceding to Jordan that they would put Bananas in. I assumed that because, like you said, the guys in the couple always seem to have the final say, and in fact, Jordan declined Jay's proposal earlier this season without even looking at Sarah. Also, whenever Sarah and Jordan have had their little spats, it seems like it's always Sarah that approaches Jordan first with an apology, even though I think Jordan has been more the one in the wrong. It wasn't until I came on here that I realized Bananas was Sarah's choice, not Jordan's. And why would Jordan disagree with Sarah? There's nothing to be gained from ensuring Bananas makes the final. He and Nany aren't the best athletes, but they are consistently good- and they don't have any glaring weaknesses, such as Leroy's incompetence in the water, Nia's fear of heights, Jenna's food aversions, Jay's small stature, or, say, a missing hand, Jordan, which bit you in the ass the last time you went up against Bananas.

That makes sense, and certainly I could see why it would be preferable if they could convince the local pharmacist to just refill the scripts, but the alternate methods Debbie was trying- like trusting the Milkovich clan to get the right drug or dosage, or faking her own mental illness- seems a lot riskier than just admitting to the original doctor what Ian did. I'm sure he's not the first patient to have done so. This is such a heartbreaking story. Sammi is annoying, but what did Lip and Fiona think was an appropriate response? Let someone like Chuckie sit in jail indefinitely when he has no idea why? And I understand that there really isn't a low Frank won't hit, but using Chuckie- who is already a victim of extreme neglect and other issues- as a way to hurt Sammi was just unbelievably shitty. My understanding of drug laws are pretty minimal- would they really hold a minor in a jail like that? I mean, I understand it was a lot of heroin and he was sitting there with it strapped to himself, but shouldn't it be pretty clear that Chuckie is no drug lord mastermind? I think Sammi must be on some kind of assistance. They've never shown her working yet she's able to buy Chuckie McDonalds for nearly every meal and she does buy groceries for the Gallagher house. There's always food in the fridge and they always show her cooking pancakes.

Yeah, that is disgusting. I think after The Ruins, like 3-4 regular female cast members said they would never come back. I may have to pony up the cash to buy The Ruins (can't get it on Youtube) and re-watch but if I recall, there were no winners from that season (as far as likeability, not actual winners of the game). Was that also The Ruins (or maybe it was The Island) where they pranked Derrick who just wanted to lay around in his bunk looking at pictures of his wife and kid, and Derrick got mad and yelled at them and said to pick on someone else? That really made me dislike Derrick (who had previously been a favorite of mine) because he was the only member of the "in crowd" to realize how obnoxious they were, and instead of standing up for the other victims, he was basically saying, do whatever as long as it doesn't affect me. ETA: Thanks for the reminder. That may have been why I didn't like Sarah at the time, and why I didn't feel sorry for her when Katie threw her out. Actually, it was pretty smart of Katie. She couldn't retaliate against JEK, (anything she did would have led to a complete escalation and she was outnumbered) but she was probably smart enough to know that JEK wouldn't bother to stand up for Sarah if she picked on her- which they didn't- so Katie gets the satisfaction of revenge against at least one person who just sat and laughed while proving to Sarah that JEK didn't give a shit about her. Seriously, how hard would it have been for anyone else in that room to be like, hey Katie, Sarah didn't do anything, leave her alone? Not very hard, but I guess it was more effort than Kenny felt like expending.

Was The Ruins the season where Katie was walking around the bedroom, drunkenly ranting while swinging a toilet plunger around, and then kicked Sarah out of the room for laughing at her? And then everyone sat there silently and only defended Sarah after Katie had left? That episode was notable to me only because I remember I sided with Katie at the time because I couldn't stand Sarah, and now I can't remember why I hated Sarah. It was not because she had a crush on Kenny. I mean, that was annoying, but that's not why I didn't like her. Yet, looking back, Katie was totally out of line to treat Sarah like that, whose only crime was to smile at a drunk swinging a toilet plunger around, and I didn't even like Katie. Sarah must have done something really annoying and I'm totally blanking on what, and I've liked her ever since the second Battle of the Seasons, when she volunteered to go into an elimination game with Chet just to prove to her team it was nothing to be scared of, and going in didn't mean going home. I thought that was cool. My pet peeve (well, one of many), and Susie is one of the worst offenders, is when someone talks a big game about how if they go into an elimination game, their dead body will have to be carried out because they are not going home and how they feel sorry for anyone who has to go against them- and then they spend the whole day/week leading up to the elimination game scheming on how to avoid it altogether. Either go in and come back, or admit you're afraid of being eliminated and don't want to go in.

I could see that. I think Johnny came off as very likeable in the beginning. In fact, I used to read his myspace blog (obviously, many years ago) and he was really funny. And I defended him during Key West when other posters said he was mean to Paula (the incident involved Paula insulting him, sabatoging him when he was flirting with other girls, and just generally being a pest until finally he snapped and told her off and then he was the bad guy because Paula started crying). Although you could see a few shades of misogyny in Inferno III (like telling the girls on his team that they shouldn't come on the shows if they don't want to "have fun" in response to the girls complaining that the guys busted into their room and jumped in bed with them, and claiming that since Cara had posed topless for a magazine she had no right to complain when the guys busted in on her and saw her topless), admittedly it was against people I wasn't too fond of (ahem, Susie) so I didn't really get too upset at him, and they were the only two incidents I remembered that was on the show that made him look unfavorable (I don't watch aftershows or get on Twitter or anything so I only know what airs in an actual episode). So, seeing him on The Island was pretty shocking. After that, there was just no liking him anymore for me. Whatever anyone else does or doesn't do that's worse or not worse- I just can't like him. I have no idea what made him act the way he did on that show, or if that was the real him all along. What bothered me most about The Island, in addition to his treatment of Ev and his treatment of the girls in general, was the way he shrugged off Paula at the end. I understand he did not negotiate that deal with Ev (believe that was Kenny), and that with the numbers working out the way they did (five people, Johnny, Kenny, Paula, Dunbar, and Derrick, and only four spots on the winning boat) someone was getting hosed no matter what, even before Ev won the final key. And of all the people in that alliance, Paula by far contributed the least and actually discouraged other girls from working on the boat, because "all girls know how to do is braid hair" and was just vile in general. That said, these two are friends, she believed she was in his inner circle and played the game based on that assumption, was completely hurt and devastated, and Johnny shrugged it off and basically said, hate the game, not the player, and made no effort (on camera anyways) to make things right with her. Even Kenny seemed pretty bummed at the end when he saw how hurt and upset Paula was. Yet she was Johnny's longtime friend and he seemed like he really didn't give a shit. It just bothered me, and this is coming from someone who thought getting tossed off the winning boat was completely deserved for Paula, who acted like a total bitch that season, and the one that followed.

I think she's loathesome this season. I also don't think letting a grieving friend sleep in bed with you means you surrender all rights to your body later. Matty was not smart to date a 13 year old. He was not smart to go to her house and get so drunk on homemade beer that he could not stay conscious. But that doesn't mean that Debbie wasn't the perpertrator here. And what I find so disgusting was that it was not even about sex to Debbie. Although she said later that she thought an erection meant he was for it- it wasn't about being a mutually beneficial experience for the two of them. It was about Debbie being able to check 'losing virginity' off her list, in a way that gave her complete and total control and autonomy over the situation. And I could maybe give her a pass about it after, if she seemed to feel the slightest bit of guilt about it, but it seems pretty clear that even though she freely uses the word rape, she doesn't really feel any guilt about it. When she was yelling at that guy, she's say's something like, I don't want to have to rape a guy to get him to want to have sex with me (I can't remember the exact words) but basically turning the whole thing into a joke, or like she's the victim for being so unfathomably undesirable to boys that she has to rape them to get laid.

His behavior on the Island forever ruined him for me, and this is coming from someone who had a TV crush on him during both Key West and Inferno 3 (I think it was Inferno 3- the one with Susie and the I HateTonya game, also where CT punched Davis). No, Ev may not have been physically scared of him, but by all accounts, he really went out of his way to torment Ev and just generally make her uncomfortable. In fact, if I recall, all the women, except Paula and Johanna, frequently complained about how uncomfortable he made them the entire time. I remember Kelly Anne lamenting that she dreamt Bananas was gone only to sadly wake up and find out it was only a dream. I also think it was hinted that he was especially obnoxious to Kelly Anne and Ashli after hooking up with both of them and his overall behavior was demeaning to them. Bananas came off to me as the kind of guy who pursues a girl relentlessly and then once he gets her, treats her like damaged goods not worthy of respect. If he has said he is ashamed of his behavior I am glad to hear it, and I will concede the last few appearances have been much improved. I do agree none of the above compares to almost killing someone while being filmed. After that incident, I think CT should never have been allowed back. Although I am sure he has his good points, I have never liked CT much.

It's unfortunately nothing new. It seems like every season a group of the girls gang up on one girl for being a "slut" despite the fact that none of the girls should be throwing stones, and the guy who was involved is sitting off on the sidelines, judgment free, laughing at all the silly women while all the men pat him on the back for being such a stud. The double standard on these shows is just maddening.

I actually think of the two Jordan is meaner, but from Theresa's perspective- she probably shrugs off most insults given by other women (you know, they're just jealous) but is super offended when a guy has a complaint about her.

It pains me to admit this, but Bananas is a solid competitor. And while he's not physically unbeatable, he IS a good athlete, he's good at manipulating people, and he tends to keep a cool head when he needs one. Sure, it's easy to say, yeah, this is his job, anyone that held the level of experience he does would have a good record...but that's not really true. Plenty of people have done this year after year and have either no wins or only one win. Bananas may not be the best, but he's decent, and he definitely maximizes his resources to their full potential. I did feel a little bad for Theresa when she started crying about being called a bitch. Mostly because it indicates that all Theresa's shit talking likely comes from extreme insecurity. I am sure "bitch" gets tossed around pretty frequently and Theresa certainly can't claim she's never said anything to deserve the title. For Theresa to be so rattled by someone calling her a bitch- someone that as far as we know she has no personal relationship with or ties to- she must really have low self esteem. Although he denies saying it, I do think it's funny if Jordan used himself as a barometer for what a bitch someone is. I kind of hope it's true. Nia is a damn idiot. She and Leroy want to bitch out whoever sends them into the dome, like the other teams just have no right to look out for themselves, fine, whatever. But to pick fights with all the remaining teams? Just a stupid move. As far as she knows, there could be one more dome fight and if she comes back, she just insulted every team and gave them an easy choice for who to send in, should it come to that.

I don't remember this scene at all, but I haven't watched every season of the Challenge. From the benefit of hindsight though, you can see Tonya's mental health declining from her first challenge appearance (the original Battle of the Sexes) to The Ruins. Even just by the trailers they were posting prior to airing the show (Tonya falling down drunk, crying, etc) it was clear she was not in a good place and I know she's an adult, but I wish Murray would have been like, yeah, you might be ratings gold, but I think you need a mental health check before you can participate on this show again. I am generally team Tonya when it comes to her conflicts with Veronica, but I actually thought Veronica was pretty restrained during this season as she was kind of ostracized by the cool kids as well. In fact, while they have never released what it was that Veronica said to Tonya, someone on TWOP who had an inside track said that he/she had heard that Veronica kind of got a bum rap for that incident. Supposedly Tonya told Veronica something she considered confidential (in a quiet voice) which Veronica loudly repeated in disbelief, not realizing Tonya wanted to keep it quiet (speculation was that it involved a miscarriage, abortion, or a previous sexual assault) since Tonya was not in the habit of confiding in Veronica. When Veronica repeated her, Tonya got mad that veronica told her secret. I have no idea if that's true, but that's one explanation I heard. Regardless, for Evan and Kenny to spend the whole time bullying and degrading Tonya and then turn around and blame Veronica for causing that breakdown was just maddening. Tonya was a hot mess before coming on to that season, and Evan and Kenny did their best to make it worse.