SophiaD

This has to be one of the most boring semifinals that I've ever seen. Only one finisher so far. I did like the cocky teen with the single mother. And Lance Pekus is a great person. Other than that, it's not holding my attention at all. Bummer. Edited: Great, now we have a "Power Tower" matchup with a nice, quiet kid against the "Country Boy" ninja. Also, the commercials are terrible. At this point, I'm watching to see who made it into the final and to view the previews for next week. Ugh. And, quite possibly, the most annoying competitor of the night gets the "safety pass." Groan. I think next week, I'll just DVR the show and watch the ending first.

They are definitely paying more attention to the editing this year. The "something for everyone" focus continues, complete with spunky teens, quirky characters, dauntless women, and fan favorites. The semifinals course was challenging. I liked the new split decision, but I did wonder how tall you have to be to navigate it successfully. The googly-eyed ghosts were kind of awesome in a slightly disturbing way. By far, for me, the highlights of the show were Flip and Najee making it through. I was happy for Rachel Degutz, too, but I'm not as familiar with the other women. I felt badly for Joe Moravsky for falling, but he has had a really charmed life on this show, so not terribly. Also, the focus on the young woman (Paige?) who fell felt borderline exploitative to me. My interest plunged with the Power Tower. (It didn't help that I was rooting for the kid who didn't win). I just can't get excited about an affluent teen whose story arc is focused where he is going to get to go to college. I'm happy that he gets to go, but it was a bit meh. I'm definitely multi-tasking while I watch this show these days.

OMG. Thanks for pointing that out. Since the women's championship was broadcast so close to the Qualifiers, I thought we'd maybe seen Meghan and I had pandemic brain. I hope she's okay. I'm not sure if we saw the Papal Ninja, either.

Meh. It was fine, I guess, but I'm still un-enthused about the new direction. SO many finishers got the WWWA treatment, and, again, more backstories. On the plus side, I do think they were handled more sensitively in years past, and, as I said last week, are doing a service for people, especially kids, watching. They're doing a good job engaging with tough themes without shying away from them, with the occasional dose of quirky. It was a bummer to not see David Campbell do a full run. He's earned it after all of those seasons! We're missing a lot of previous top ninjas, too. Abel Gonzalez. Tremayne Dortsch. Nick Hansen. Sam San. I suppose that's normal in a show that's run as long as this has, but it was kind of a bummer. On the plus side, we didn't have to endure the bro-tastic Towers of Power, so that's something. Can't say I missed the Speedo Ninja, either, or some of the other odd ones from years past. Speaking of which, it looks like the Power Tower is back next week, for the semis. I was very glad to see Tianna make the semis. I hope she manages to make it through to the finals.

I think this is being rebroadcast tonight at 8 PM on NBC.

LOL. I will say, the backstories are more relevant and helpful this season. Kids watching this show will get a more powerful message from watching the young lady with diabetes complete the course (and what a great run she had!) than they would have had over Nicholas Coolridge's dumpster diving or whatever.

I think one of the reasons we're seeing so many women succeed is that they actually did what many of us were hoping for - they put a balance obstacle in the middle of the course and stopped relying so heavily on upper-body strength. The real test will be in the Finals, which is usually All All About the Upper Body. It will be interesting to see if they discontinue the Top 5 women thing, although that's preferable to the Wild Card for me. Decent episode last night. I didn't really care as much about the final competitor as much as, say, Jody Avila (who got the WWWA treatment for the most part). Some really nice runs and the backstories were less tedious than usual. I did think the Shark/T. Rex thing was a bit overblown. For me, the best moment was Barclay Stockett and her adorable new fiancée. So happy for them both and very happy for Barclay that she got such great support and is finding happiness in the wake of her mother's death. It was especially nice after her poor showing last season and at the Women's Championship.

Perfectly fine episode, but the continued shift in focus shows that this show has been rebranded to be more "family entertainment" than a competitive athletic show. Jamie Rahn and Ethan Swanson both got the WWWA treatment. Continued focus on the teens and their families, especially the young woman playing with her young siblings and the guy whose mother has had breast cancer. (I do remember him from last season, and he seems nice). Matt and Akbar commenting with their dog-avatar selves. Shawn Johnson, who probably a lot of people remember fondly from the Olympics, commenting with Akbar and Matt in the booth. And so on. Even Chris Di Gagni got the WWA treatment. My guess is the whole thing with Drew really shook them, so they are transitioning away from "sport/activity that appears to weird, quirky, and awkward young-ish men" to this new focus. I do think some of the PSAs are helpful, particularly with mental health, and I appreciate that they support LGBTQIA+ athletes and kids. Also, it was great to see Maggie Thorne again, although I'm afraid she's nowhere near the athlete she was before the injury. And, of course, Flex was the absolute highlight of the evening for me, although I think the way they are setting it up as a competition with her and Chris is annoying.

Sandy is out. The "Jersey Girls" all made it, plus at least one teen. I don't think Jesse recovered enough from her surgery, and, reading between the lines, it look as though Alyssa isn't training as much as she was before. She mentioned James was "doing his three hundredth pull-up" while she was getting ready for work. Or maybe she just had an off night. I hope Flex does well. This week's episode wasn't as interesting as last week's, at least to me. Too many people doing well, and/or completing the course during the "while we were away" section, and too many folks had the backstory setup only to flame out. I imagine that they're doing this to add interest, so we don't have repeat backstories, but, for me, at least, they're tilting too much towards entertainment and not enough towards athleticism.

RJ Roman! What an amazing run. He got the Mega Wall and the Fastest time? Yay for the women ninjas, Casey Rothschild and Jordan Carr! Those were some great runs. For some reason, the "backstories" annoyed me less than usual tonight. Either they were topics that interested me (the three-legged dog was adorable) or I'm just in a good mood. The young lady with ADHD didn't bother me - girls are often overlooked with those conditions. Happy that Flip moved on. It's nice to see him. I'm not a big public proposal person, but I'm happy for James and Alyssa. The second couple's baby was adorable.

I'm about midway through this, and I have to say it's a bit meh for me. I liked it better when we got to see real skills - watching the ninja do crazy demonstrations of their amazing abilities. This just seems like high camp. And I see the teens are front and center again. Jessie mentioned using her winnings from the Women's Championship to pay for a blowout wedding. (I'd probably invest it, but that's me).

Just as an FYI, the women's championship is going to be rebroadcast tonight at 9 PM.

Love everything here, especially LM Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Frances Hodson Burnett. I also loved L. Frank Baum's Oz books, and Louisa May Alcott, although her books got a bit preachy. Same with the Narnia and Tolkein books, although the roles for girls were somewhat limited. (I did really like Jill, though) Adored Joan Aiken's short story and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Black Hearts in Battersea. That turned into a very long series, but I wasn't as crazy about Dido Twite as a main character, rather than Bonnie and Sylvia or Simon and Sophie. Elizabeth Goudge's children's books are and were awesome. Linnets and Valerians and the Little White Horse came out in paper, but she also wrote a bunch of others: The Blue Hills, Sister of the Angels, and the Valley of Song among others. When I found the Valley of Song at a used bookstore, I pounced on it. Alexander Key's paranormal books were great, if slightly dated. The Forgotten Door and The Case of the Vanishing Boy were great. Rumer Godden's children's books were also good. Jennie Lindquist's trilogy is a favorite and I still go to Open Library and read them regularly - The Golden Name Day, The Little Silver House, and The Crystal Tree. Virginia Hamilton was a ground-breaking author for me, especially her Dustland trilogy. Also loved Lensey Namioka. And of course Tamora Pierce, although I wasn't a child anymore when they came out.

@mlp, the regular season starts on June 6th. I foolishly did not set my DVR, but streamed it off of Comcast. It will be active until 5/11, for any who might have missed it last night. It really hit all of the buttons for me! Great competition, women supporting one another, a tasteful cameo from Kacy Catanzaro, a nice opportunity for Jessie Graf to serve as commentator, and all of my favorite women ninjas, with a great final competition and a great win. Plus, a few plucky new faces, and some very promising new women, Megan Rowe and Casey Rothschild. And, aside from a bit of tedious story about Sandy Zimmerman, who is a great competitor and doesn't need all of the propping, tedious backstories were kept to a minimum, in favor of some really great runs. I hope Barclay Stockett gets better soon, because she is a favorite. And i hope Jeri D'Aurelio and Tiana Webberley have great seasons ahead, because they're much better athletes and ninjas than this showed.

OMG, that's so sad for Ashley and Timothy. I think whatever happened must have occurred early on, because she didn't seem to have any awareness of where she was in the air. I wonder if she has a concussion? Or an inner ear infection? Regardless, I hope she's okay. Very, very happy for Alexa and Brandon, though. Huge congratulations to them!

Not just Sha'Carri. Brianna McNeal lost on appeal was banned for FIVE YEARS. Christian Coleman was banned for a year and a half and missed the last Olympics, where he was expected to seriously contend for a medal. Both of them missed drug tests, IIRC, they didn't test positively for anything. I have to say, I am really disinterested in the women's competition now. I've been wondering about this for years - why this one coach magically has young woman after young woman who can do quads, but no one else can? I thought I was just being a jerk for suspecting cheating. Guess I wasn't.

Tara and Johnny are absolutely bringing it. Good for them.

I'm not watching the women's event. This is sickening. Both Johnny and Tara are coming out strongly against the decision. Plus, they actually are dressed in ordinary clothes.

I hope they replay the monobob runs somewhere. I was watching ice dancing and switched over just in time to see Kaillie Humphreys win. That being said, congratulations to Kaillie, Elena, and Christine!

Chiming in a bit late, but that Lady Gaga piece was one of the worst renditions I've ever heard. OMG. Other than that, it's fun to see the pairs further down in the standings.

Lindsey. Freaking. Jacobellis. That is all. OMG. Can I just say how delighted that a 36-year-old and a 40-year-old just won a team gold medal? What a great race! I'm so happy for them!

Ironically, I was thinking that Tara and Johnny had finally found their stride as interviewers this year, unusual outfits notwithstanding. Dick Button was good, back in the day, but even he had his moments, especially when he really liked a skater, or was commenting about women's layback spins. (He also got a bit grumpy about their practice schedules and work ethics, whereas Terry, Tara, and Johnny are much more diplomatic).

I am so impressed by Nathan's mental toughness. His skating skills are brilliant, but the fact that he could withstand all of that pressure and skate last and skate BRILLIANTLY, well, that's just next-level. Also, I'm delighted to see both he and Arutyunian savoring the moment. They earned every second in my book.

(DELIGHTED PRIMAL SCREAM) YAAAAAAAAAY, NATHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU BROUGHT IT!

I'm not really getting a strong Sinatra vibe from this program. Maybe it's the choreography, especially in the middle.