Tatum

I don't know if it's ever been 50%, but all these challenges since probably Inferno 3 (2007) tend to be disproportionate with the 2-3 most recent seasons making up the majority of the casts, which, if you haven't watched the later seasons, they'll all seem like newbies. I just realized I haven't seen a RR cast member for awhile, but since the last season aired almost 10 years ago (after a several year hiatus), I guess that makes sense. Was the Ruins the last we saw of a RRer (Susie and Veronica)? I know Tori was on one with Brad, but don't remember if that was before or after the Ruins. Although they're frequently regulars now, I think the series jumped the shark with the introduction of the Fresh Meat concept. I can't believe I still watch this show.

They show the shadows of the two exile winners coming back to the dome, and I really don't think it could be Zach and Jonna. Actually, the girl shadow looked like Averey so I was wondering if they pulled it off somehow. But I'm guessing it must be Johnny Bananas and Nany. Like there was ever any doubt once those two were exiled which couple was coming back. The look on Wes's face though will be funny either way.

I was really excited when Zach sat Jonna down and explained to the camera, "I'm going to try and explain the root of my anger." I was like, yes, finally, why are you such a prick, please explain. And then all he did was act even more like a prick because Jonna wasn't falling over herself to excuse his prick-ness, but rather calmly listening and waiting for a rational explanation, which of course she did not get. I did not care for Jonna before this season, but I can respect how scrappy she is (seriously, I thought she had no shot at the sledgehammer and she did okay for having no technique and a delayed start), and I also appreciate how she did not immediately excuse Zach during his half asses apology like he was clearly expecting. Jordan and Zach are both such poor sports. Did anyone notice though- did Jay and Jenna make the same mistake as Sarah and Jordan? How were they able to untangle themselves? I thought Teej said once you were tangled, there was no way to compete. I'd rather see Zach gone than Wes, but I hate how smug Wes gets when he manipulates people. Leroy really should have sent Wes and Theresa in- either way, you get a strong couple eliminated, and given how Zach falls apart on a lot of missions, and sabatoges Jonna by yelling at her and messing up her concentration, they would be a good couple to compete against in the final. At a bare minimum, he should have told Zach that it was Wes who suggested Zach, so at least if Zach did come back, he would likelier be angrier at Wes than Leroy. I don't see what at all Leroy gained by insisting Wes had nothing to do with it. Nia's right, Leory sucks at politicking, but Nia wasn't willing to do anything about it so I guess they get what they get. And Nia and Leroy are ridiculous with this vendetta they have against Jay and Jenna. I loved Jenna's reaction to the whole thing. Those two are really growing on me. I mean, Leory and Nia were acting like Jay and Jenna should kiss their feet or something. It was really annoying.

I didn't say it happened because Tonya believed it happened, I said she believes it happened so she can't be lying (my post said she could be wrong, but not lying). My point was, regardless of what the truth is, I think Tonya believes it (vs. knowingly lying about it in an attempt to squeeze some money out of Viacom). From what I read, her accusation wasn't just that it happened, it was that it happened while being taped, and that no one, from the cameraman to the production crew, bothered to do anything about it and ignored her when she complained. If someone told her it happened in room A at time B, that should be easy enough to verify if they have that particular footage. As far as what the settlement "proves", you're right, it proves nothing, but Viacom's reaction to the whole thing makes me think there's some truth to the accusation. Tonya is either a victim of a serious sexual assault, or a mentally ill woman who mistakenly believes she is the victim of a serious sexual assault, and either scenario deserves more compassion than a public and official statement saying that Tonya is a drunken slut who can't keep her clothes on or her legs closed on a bet and therefore deserved whatever she got. I never even heard Murray Productions or Viacom ever actually deny that they had footage of this incident, which seems like the place to start for me to refute a sexual assault liability claim.

Technically, I think it was Viacom who said that. Also, I know I read somewhere that someone in production replaced the toothbrush in question- and that at the time, the owner of the toothbrush was considered the victim, not Tonya, in that little "prank". Perhaps that was never true, but I did read it. I do believe it happened, if only because it's not even a he said/she said- Tonya couldn't swear to anything because she was unconscious, so therefore she can't be lying (she could be wrong, but not lying). So there must be something that makes her believe this happened. Plus, if whoever clued Tonya in on what happened provided such an accurate time stamp for the incident that Susie could swear on her life that she was there and it did not happen, why could production not just produce the tape from that time period and show that no such incident happened? Legal issues be damned- if someone accused me of sitting back and watching while someone else was raped, I would want to show that was not the case, even if it was decided I did not legally have to (Viacom's defense for not producing the tape was that they were not legally obligated to turn it over). I mean, this appears to be such an open and shut case on the surface- alleged victim is not a credible source, and can't swear to anything anyways, other so called witnesses deny any wrongdoing, etc. I mean, this would be like a defense attorney's wet dream (if this case were to go to criminal court, which obviously it wouldn't). Yet, there was evidently some kind of shred of evidence that kept this case going.

Not only that, but it really isn't fair how the last team standing might not have answered the most questions correctly. Sarah was the first to go each round, so when she got her second strike, she was dropped and Jay and Jenna declared the winners, despite the fact that Jenna hadn't gotten her question that round right (yet) either, and probably wouldn't have. It's like in a spelling bee- if someone gets the spelling wrong, the person behind them isn't automatically declared the winner- he or she has to spell the word correctly in order to win. Had Jenna been in line ahead of Sarah, Sarah and Jordan could have easily been the winners. I would have loved to see Jenna have to spell "diaphragm". However, still pretty impressed Jay got erogenous. The spelling would have been hard for me. I'm a pretty good speller, but I need to see the word as I'm writing it. Spelling it out loud without that benefit while being suspended in the air would be hard. Although I don't think I would have gotten tripped up on libido.

I suspect with Averey, it's a situation where she's basically saying, yeah I did A and B, but I didn't do C and D, and Johnny thinks I did A-D and I must set the record straight, while the fact that she did A-B is enough for Johnny to not want to be with her and she's still insisting on clearing her name on C-D which is a moot point. Sometimes I like Averey but I think being around her all the time would just be exhausting. I'm sure that relationship would have ended eventually even without cheating allegations.

I know! I despised that wispy little kid when the show first started, because I can't stand when guys brag about how much they've cheated on girlfriends (Knight, I'd be looking at you too if the circumstances were different), but alas, he has really grown on me. He seems to care about Jenna without wanting to be with her, and most of his teasing seems to be more in fun than really mean spirited (ahem, Zach and Adam). Also, for being a little guy, he's pretty scrappy. He reminds me of Derrick in that regard.

Right, and by virtue of being a woman, Jonna should automatically know how many cups are in a gallon, because you know, clearly she spends so much time baking cookies for her big strong man. When is this guy going to get his comeuppance? And damn, I liked Johnny Reilly before this episode. Really disappointing to see him egging Zach's bullshit on. I'm embarrassed to admit there were a few trivia questions I did not know. I wouldn't have gotten the Japan one right. Hilarious that Wes messed up on libido while Jay got "erogenous". I laughed so hard at that.

Totally agree. While spying on her was creepy, you could make the argument that he was originally trying to determine whether popping back in her life would be best for her. But, since he spied from afar and only popped back in when it seemed like he felt threatened that she had moved on, I don't think he cares about her well being at all. I mean, he may enjoy being with her, but he doesn't stop and think about what's best for her. He just doesn't want her to get over him. That said, I think Gus is on borrowed time. Yay for Fiona for realizing her mistake and stopping (albeit the second time, after succumbing the first time), but it's pretty clear that no decent guy is ever going to do it for her in the long run. If she turns down Jimmy and she and Gus try and make it work, it seems like only a matter of time before either Jimmy comes back or some other random Bad Choice comes along and catches her eye. Still, I do hope she tells Jimmy to pound sand and he's written off for good. So, is Deb ever going to feel any guilt over the Matty thing, or is that water under a bridge now? I don't really like where they are going with her character.

I agree. Hell, she wouldn't even have to go to sleep. She could have gotten up to use the bathroom or get another drink. It really doesn't take much time to violate someone with a toothbrush. Even though I dislike Susie, I don't believe she would stand by and watch that happen to someone. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen while her back was turned. And I've heard some conflicting stories about the footage. Didn't Viacom at first focus on the technicalities, instead of saying the incident didn't happen, said something like Tonya couldn't sue them based on the fact that she was a resident of Washington and they were CA based, and the incident happened out of the country, and also, Tonya was not their employee? And then when a judge overruled them and said, hand over your tapes, they were like, uh, we don't have them anymore? I could swear I read that. Tonya may be crazy, but if she was unconscious during the time frame, she has to have more evidence than just a random castmate telling her it happened, wouldn't she? I mean, she certainly seems convinced it happened. Susie's essay about the disrespect in B/M world clearly indicates she does not believe Tonya, but then goes on to say that the culture in these houses clearly promotes disrespect and sexual aggression towards women. The underlying note in her essay appeared to me to be, anyone could be a victim as long as we are not talking about Tonya. It really rubbed me the wrong way. Obviously, she was there, I wasn't, she knows more about it than me. But I would not consider her an unbiased witness.

That would have been a good idea. It did not seem fair that the guys were responsible for all the weightlifting and the girls responsible for all the memorizing. I do love though how Zach had such an advantage and still managed to blow it by haranguing his partner and ruining her concentration. I hope his family is giving him hell for the way he's appearing on the show now. He better be apologetic at the reunion. I'm not a huge Reilly and Averey fan, but I'm really hoping this is the week that Adam and Brittany leave. They are both annoying. Adam is not the catch he thinks he is, and Brittany's histrionics only egg him on. I did not realize Averey had a boyfriend. Why is she moping over Johnny then? This is the first episode I noticed where Johnny seemed a bit bitter about the breakup. Before, he just seemed so over her and embarrassed by his past relationship with her, but this episode, his comments about how she and Adam can run off together and he absolutely does not care seemed a bit over the top for someone who has moved on. Since Wes already promised not to send Zach or Sarah in, and Wes probably wants Jay and Jenna and Leroy and Nia in the finals due to the fact he feels he can beat them, I suppose it makes sense to send in Johnny and Averey (even knowing they could come back, they haven't been close to winning a challenge yet so I suppose Wes does not see them as a threat). But the way he smirked about it was so annoying- like Wes was basically saying, nah nah nah, this is what you get for being friends with Bananas.

What happens if the power couple don't agree on who to send in? I remember one of the previous challenges Nany and Bananas couldn't come to an agreement over who to put in, and Lavin said that if they couldn't agree, then it was Nany and Bananas going in instead. Nany immediately backed down. If it's the same this time, it would be interesting to see who would back down first. But it's pretty clear that Jonna is never going to display any kind of backbone. May God strike me dead, I do too. I have despised him since the Island (despite really liking him on his season and on Inferno 3), but these last two times he's been only mildly offensive to not offensive at all. I loved it when he told Nany she should be grateful he's so supportive, unlike Jonna, who has an emotionally abusive partner. I am glad to see the other castmates have noticed Zach's horrible treatment of Jonna and find it as distasteful as the viewers do. The only possible explanation I can think of (besides Zach is a sociopath who likes to make Jonna cry) for his treatment of her is that he fears that showing the slightest bit of kindness or support to her will be encouragement to her that he wants to reconcile. If Jonna had a hard time letting go of the relationship, that would maybe make sense, but Zach's behavior has still been nothing short of cruel.

I absolutely believe some kind of fling happened between Bananas and Nany. I don't know either of them personally, and have no more insight to either of them than anyone else who watches the show, but they seem like exactly each other's type. Bananas seems to make a habit (particularly off camera) of going after pretty but extremely insecure and/or emotionally unstable girls, like Kelly Anne or Camila. And Nany is just the kind of girl who goes after meatheads like Bananas because she gets a self esteem boost from attention from emotionally unavailable men (like, Cohutta was just not enough of a challenge for her, any guy too into her she considers not good enough, kind of a twist on, I wouldn't be in any club that would have me for a member). I'm also starting to side eye Jenna's modeling career. I get it, there's all types of different models and some aren't that conventionally attractive, but the fact that Jenna finds a gratuitous way to mention it every episode (I'm good at balancing because I'm a model...I can't mess up the face because I'm a model and it's my moneymaker, etc) makes me think she's exaggerating. Reminds me of a girl from True Life who was in her 20s dating some dinosaur and every other word out of her mouth was, I'm a model, or, I model. Come to find out, she'd booked a couple calendars and had her picture featured in Hometown Hotties of Maxim one year, and that was the extent of her career. The rest of her "modeling" pics were from a photo session for her portfolio which she likely arranged and paid for herself.

I agree. I was further disturbed with her conversation with Lip when she seemed dismissive and annoyed by Matty's anger. And then later, during her talk with Fiona, her melancholy seemed to more about losing her virginity in general rather than the fact that she totally violated someone who had been a good friend to her. Can she honestly not put herself in his shoes, and try to imagine how she'd feel if she woke up and found out someone had had sex with her while she was passed out? Even as desperate as she was to lose her virginity, I don't think that would be something she'd consider okay.

I watched the scene with Deb and Lip again and I think Lip's blasé attitude about the rape was mostly due to Deb way downplaying what she did. All she said was that Matty was drunk. Lip probably thought that while Matty was enough of a law abiding citizen to abstain from sex with minors while sober, during a severe judgment impairment due to alcohol he had had sex with Deb and was horrified after sobering up and blamed Deb for taking advantage of him. At no point in their conversation did Deb admit that Matty had been passed out the entire duration. If she had, Lip may have been a little more taken aback by her actions. And I don't think what Amanda did to Lip is the same as what Deb did to Matty. Amanda started blowing Lip with the expectation he would wake up and be a willful participant. Deb mounted Matty knowing he wasn't awake and likely wouldn't be the entire time. You could that both girls committed a crime by touching the guys without permission, but Amanda at least thought it would be a mutually beneficial endeavor. Deb was indifferent as to whether or not her partner was awake. That's creepy.

I was worried about that too. Although he seemed nice enough at the club, something about him asking her to meet him at a coffee shop by his house that just happened to close permanently that morning, and him inviting her to his apartment, just screamed setup to me. And then when he was following her really closely while she wandered around I was just waiting for him to get scary aggressive. I was glad to be wrong though. I'm torn on that one. Obviously, female on male sexual abuse is not taken anywhere near as seriously as the reverse, and I can kind of understand a 14 year old thinking an erection is implied consent. That said, I find it beyond creepy that she did it while he was passed out. Who even wants to do that? It's not like she merely took advantage of his drunken lowered inhibitions- who besides sexual predators enjoys having sex with someone who's not even awake? That is what tips the scales for me and makes me think Debbie is perhaps as much as a sociopath in training as Carl appeared to be in the early seasons. In all fairness though, it wouldn't have been that simple. Sure, he could have told her he loved her, and maybe that would be enough to convince her to break things off with Kenyatta and he would move without her, but then what? I agree he doesn't love her, and he's not going to be able to fake it long term. Once Mandy figures it out, she'd either go back to Kenyatta or find another guy who would probably treat her the same. Mandy is a deeply damaged person, and it's not on Lip to pretend to love her indefinitely to protect her from herself. I thought that was pretty bitchy of Ian to suggest that Lip should have gone that route. I will miss Sheila, but love, love, love that she finally got away from Frank and is doing something for herself. And Frank really pissed me off in the final scene. Yeah, perhaps everything he said about Sheila and Sammi were true (minus perhaps, the parting shot about Sheila's cooking) but Frank is in no position to insult someone's parenting, hygiene, or choice of sexual partners and activities.

Johnny just seems so completely over her though, and not mad, just indifferent. It makes me wonder if maybe he wasn't looking for an excuse to get out of that relationship, and jumped on the cheating thing as a way to break things off with her while not looking like a jerk. So, while Averey is convinced it's just a misunderstanding, while Reilly just doesn't want to be with her, regardless of what may or may not be the whole story. As far as Theresa's beef with Nany, I have to believe it really has nothing to do with Nany and Reilly hooking up. Either there is something else at the root of the hostility, or Theresa is just one of those mean girls that enjoys exploiting insecurity in other women. Nany is clearly the type of person who can't stand it when someone doesn't like her, even if she doesn't like or respect that person either. Theresa probably enjoys the power she feels when she realizes how easily she can get under Nany's skin. That said, I'm really not a fan of Nany either. I didn't like how she treated Cohutta during the last challenge. When she saw she hurt him, she started crying and basically made him feel like he had to comfort her when she had been insensitive in the first place. It just all seemed very manipulative to me. And then the first episode when she's trying to dissect her relationship with Bananas- I find it arrogant tht Nany thinks Bananas has been lying awake at night wondering where he and Nany went wrong, or that he would want to have that conversation on their first night in the house, surrounded by drunk and nosy castmates. She just bugs me. I was wondering the same thing! Jenna has a really nice body (although she seems a bit full figured for traditional modeling) but her face is really not pretty. I don't get it.