Jess14

So, she had the time and ability to write the column, get it to the printer (which presumably, she took it there at night), and go cry in Eloise's arms, but no time or possibility to tell Colin? Eloise is his sister. She could've even tried to get a message to him through her or she could have requested to speak to Colin's mother, but Pen didn't try because she wanted the news to be as public and damning as possible. What is the reason for disclosing that Marina was pregnant when she got to town, other than to close the possibility of Colin still agreeing to marry and pretending to be the father (had he wanted to)? Sure, the timing would've still been off, but they could have left town or something during the end of the pregnancy to obscure that fact. Bottom line, Colin/Marina could have come up with a plan and solution if they wanted to, which I think Pen knew (and was reinforced by Colin blowing off the news that Marina loved someone else), so she tried to foreclose that possibility. To be clear, I don't think Pen is the worst person ever. She is young. Lots of people do dumb and stupid things when they are young and their feelings are involved. However, she certainly had other options then to go nuclear on Marina and Colin.

Yep, it’s the outing of Marina as Lady W that completely gets me off of the “Pen is a decent person who was just looking out for her friend” train. By outing the fact that Marina was pregnant when she arrived, Pen wanted to make sure that Colin didn’t even have the choice to stay with Marina - whether he wanted to or not (and I don’t think he would’ve stayed, but that’s not Pen’s choice to make). It wasn’t about just saving Colin from being tricked, which could have been achieved by simply telling him the truth - I would’ve supported that because Marina was wrong in what she was trying to do. Rather, it was about making the situation so public and scandal-worthy that any chance at Colin/Marina was over. If that’s what “friends” do, who needs enemies.

I couldn’t roll my eyes enough at the speech that Wes gave at the end. I can’t stand the sanctimonious bs. With that said, it must suck to know that you’re going to keep getting thrown in every time, but it’s a game. In many seasons, it’s the rookies who get thrown in week after week, and no one feels bad for them. Wes probably should retire at this point. He seemed really beaten down by the game. He literally just gave up. I’ve never liked Devin, so I wasn’t happy to see him win. Josh is another one who I’ve never liked including on BB, so I would be glad to see him go soon. Darrell and his partner and Teresa and her partner seem to flying completely below the radar. Will be interesting to see how long that lasts.

Agree with everything here. The dancing was disappointing. 20 years later, I still remember the dancing from Center Stage. I won’t remember any dancing from this show next week. And don’t get me started on a classical ballet school putting on a showcase where non of the top students are en pointe.....yeah, whatever. I would really love to hear the showrunners explain why they felt the need to completely change the story for the black lead. I mean, can we have a show where the black dancer doesn’t have a bad attitude or poor technique, or isn’t consumed by family drama? And if she has to be consumed by family drama, can it not be because her mom is just a demanding stage mom, as opposed to getting out of prison? It’s just really annoying and lazy that they think black folks can’t relate to a stable family.

Having not read the book, this is really interesting and frankly, annoying. Now, I get why Neveah’s character seemed to have no real purpose other than challenging institutions. Ballet seemed to be an afterthought to her. Based on the book character described in this post, “Giselle”would’ve made for a far more compelling main character than “Neveah.”

I would really like to see the the full routine for the first dance that they were doing on the field with all of the big clapping. I thought that everyone looked awkward - even the ones who were doing it right. Perhaps the finished product is good, but from the clips, that’s one of my least favorite dances. No excuse for Kat and Meredith to be that bad. I was fine with all of the rookie cuts. I’m surprised that Alora-Rose is still there. Based on what has been shown, she seems like an easy cut.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more Big Brother and Survivor people, especially as Big Brother seems to put more and more focus on physical competitions each year.

Did Leroy and CT have a falling out? I've watched the Challenges off and on, so I may have missed something. However, I would've thought that CT would've been ok being paired with Kam because Leroy and his partner would've automatically been aligned with them. In that regard, I thought it was smart for Kaycee and Josh to pair with them. I enjoyed the first episode. The twist where players can get pick a new partner should make for an interesting season. I'm curious though. Is only one person going to go home each episode? It seems like the season would be way too long if that was the case. There must be another twist there. I find Ashley pretty entertaining, but I was happy to see Natalie beat her. Random.... but, Nany looks different in the face. On the subject of new people v. RW/RR, I'm fine with the new people. I remember being annoyed back when the Fresh Meat people first came in, and Evan and Kenny (both of whom I disliked) started dominating things. At this point however, I just roll with it and go in knowing that I won't know half of the people. It has definitely come a long way from the first few challenges with eliminations. IIRC, people were pissed at Holly/Chadwick way back in the day for cutting Yes/Veronica rather than the lowest placing team...lol! Forever ago.

I understand this point. However, the original post said that Tory probably would’ve made it if not for it being the year of the woc, which seems to suggest deserving Tory didn’t make it because of the minority women. It’s just frustrating that even when there seems to be agreement that the woc are deserving and (in this case) some of the standouts, they are still getting blamed for another girl not making. This is the case, even though they’re not even close to being the majority of the team. Kat is the only one of the woc who isn’t a strong dancer, but she’s gorgeous. If she was a plain jane, I don’t think she would made it to training camp or the team her first season -black or not. And Brianna, but she’s no more of a blender than lots other vets. Lol! I thought the same at first and had to read it again to understand.

Agreed. Unless they were told that they wouldn’t have time to change between moving in and the meeting, wearing jeans seems understandable to me. Now, it probably makes sense to wear a sundress - something that can be dressed down with cute flats/sandals or dressed up with wedges/heels to any DCC event unless otherwise told, but I’m not going to call her arrogant for wearing jeans to move in. Not like she wore exercise shorts and a Nike tank top, which is what I would wear to move a bunch of stuff in the summer heat!

The show has always done this - jump between different groups doing the same dance. I’ve always thought that they do it to highlight certain people (strengths and weaknesses), catch strong moments, etc. The editing may be the one thing that is consistent with this season and past ones. Based on the episode.....I’m still liking Dani, Jada, Armani, Jessica, Dorian, Ellie, and Claire W. Sydney continues to grow on me, and I still have no issue with Marissa. I like Sheridan, but that was cringeworthy. What on earth was she thinking? I agree with others that some of the vets probably thought they would have time to change...that seems like a reasonable belief to me. Meredith is pretty and likeable, but she was weak last year and still seems weak.

Yeah, I generally think the color changes that they make are good. One exception is Emily hit first training camp. I thought the color that they gave her almost looked grayish. I thought she looked much better the next year that she returned for training camp.

Right. Being a valedictorian is an honor worth celebrating no matter what, but there’s a big difference between being a valedictorian of a class with 50 ppl vs 600 ppl. With that said, while I assume she went to a small school, I actually don’t know how big Kalyssa’s high school was. I knew some ppl in college who were from small towns but went to fairly big high schools - just depends on how big the area that school services is.

Agreed about them taking off masks during meetings... they're taking them off when the risk is highest. Makes no sense. However, I don't have an issue with them wearing masks in the bubble. The NBA had a real, legit bubble, and people still wore masks on the sidelines, etc. The DCCs are definitely doing it for show (I fully agree with that point), but I don't see the issue in taking an additional precaution even if it was a true bubble. There is always the possibility that something was missed, and at that time during the end of summer, the United States was still in the "masks are controversial" phase in certain portions of society. So even if it was just to look good, make a point, and set an example, I actually don't think that is a bad thing, particularly at that time.

Yeah, if her bio is true, good for her! Not only is UCLA not cheap, but it's also not easy to get into. That is one of the best public universities in the country. While I've never liked her more risque pictures, she has never seemed dumb to me, so I would hope that she knows better than to flat out lie about going to college at a particular school. I hope it all works out for her. I've gone through several beliefs about Kalyssa...I disliked her at first when she did all that shimmying at auditions, then I liked her in training camp and appreciated that she had a full time job. Then, I thought her first pictures were very cheap and amateur looking, but I appreciate that she really seemed to commit. If she is actually going to school and preparing for life after "modeling," then I have no issue giving her props for that.

No, I don’t think that’s the same thing. I think that description fits the DCCs once they pick the actual team. If they have to cut a girl after that point, so be it, but the intention is not to cut someone at that point. Hiring someone and then later terminating them for performance or other reasons is way different then having a super long audition process where ppl are asked to move their life to that town, asked to quit everything that conflicts, and then kept in limbo, while the team purposely cuts 7 to 10 girls. To be clear though, the DCCs know what they’re getting into at this point. I think it’s a bad process, but no one is hiding it from them. They know full well that if they quit a full time job for training camp, they can be left with nothing in the end. It’s a choice.

Was it? I thought someone posted a while back that the audition process changed with the show. Lots of teams have training camps where the team prepares for the season, but to still be cutting ppl throughout and pretending like they can’t assess abilities enough to cut someone six weeks in? Goodness! If they’ve always waited until August to cut ppl, then they’re even worse than I thought lol.

I totally understand this viewpoint, but for me, I don't feel like COVID exposed K&J because I think everything that the DCCs have done is in character with what we've seen for 10 years+. I primarily watch for dance, and I have enjoyed the dance in the first 2 episodes this season. But in terms of K&J and Charlotte - I think they have viewed the DCCs as a marketing product for many, many years now. The usual summer-long training camp pressure cooker, when they know full well that could pick a "part-time" team in a fraction of that time, is itself proof of that, IMO.

Yep. I think that’s part of it. I have YouTubeTv, which recently added CMT, so I recorded it and watched it later. Also, the show changed to a new day, looks different, and is airing much later in the year than it usually does. There’s a reason why shows tend to air on the same days/times and season. People have habits, and when networks change too many things, they can lose people. Although, other programs have had ratings issues this year as well, so some of it is probably covid related if the ratings are down. It’s just an odd year. People’s routines are completely different than they were in March.

It’s hard to compare this rookie class to others because they were given the material ahead of time, so we’re not seeing the early struggles. However, based on what we are seeing, I think this rookie class is MUCH stronger than last year’s rookies and at least comparable (if not better) to the year before, which had a lot of great dancers. Two episodes in, and I find them to be more interesting dancers than any of the 4 or 5 years girls, other than Gina. I really liked how Amelia handled herself, and she is really beautiful. I hope she comes back. I didn’t care for Sydney first episode, but I thought she looked good dancing tonight. Her curves are a plus. I’ve always thought the DCCs’ preference for very thin women was strange given the audience. These aren’t flyers being lifted into the air or ballet dancers performing a pas de deux. These are power pom dancers. As long as the girl is in shape, curves are good and/or at least shouldn’t be a negative.

I hope that providing the routines to the girls in advance becomes the norm going forward. It was much more pleasant to watch without half of the girls looking lost the first night. Logistically, it’s also smart, as it should cut down on the length of training camp considerably - and that’s what the DCCs should want, covid or no covid. No point in girls uprooting their lives and moving to Dallas for months only to get cut, when it’s clearly unnecessary. I didn’t dislike anyone, but I thought Dani, Claire, Elli, Marissa, Jada, and Darian all looked strong dancing.

Lol.... the funniest on this list is Haleigh. Like WTF! She has a problem with Haleigh of all people...

Agreed. I get that she’s hurt, but I could also see her anger more if she and Cody were legitimate, good friends out of the house. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I read, their families are close, but Cody and Nicole seemed to be distant friends, who are on good terms and played together before - no more, no less. I do think it’s possible that Nicole could’ve taken Cody, but even if she did, I don’t think they were in the exact same situation. Nicole is a former winner. Cody is not, and he got dinged before for taking a stronger, competitor to the end over a weaker one. Strategically, it makes sense that it would have weighed on him more than her potential decision to take him. Ultimately, she knew that Cody had a final 2 with Enzo and had been close with him all season. She needed to win the final HOH...she should’ve realized that.

Just read Enzo’s exit interview...he comes off a bit delusional. He thinks that Nicole did nothing in the game, that he would’ve beaten her. And he says that he would’ve voted for her anyway had Cody cut him because he was going to be “petty” this time.... his words. I like Enzo well enough, but outside of understanding that he’s awful at comps, he doesn’t have a great grasp on reality. I couldn’t help but laugh at his comment about getting to the end with 20 year olds.....says the person who got out Kaysar (hardly a super athletic young buck) and didn’t align with any of the older players in the house, other than Memphis. Please!

Agreed. Although I don’t think the lack adversity was specific to him. It was more of a result of the power never changing sides. Half of the game was literally just non-Committee members getting picked off. The adversity that Tyler and Dani faced was basically self-inflicted, whereas Nicole, Memphis, and Enzo also had pretty easy rides through most of the game. Cody just had multiple people (Dani, Enzo, Nicole, Memphis) who seemed as invested in getting him to the end as he was about himself. It was odd. With random players next year, hopefully we won’t see all of the best comp winners get into an alliance. That killed the season. I can’t think of any other season (I skipped 21, so maybe that one) where the power never shifted. This season, the non-Committee members (I basically consider Enzo to be the Committee) couldn’t win an HOH, and even when they got small wins, like David winning the Disruptor power and Day winning veto, they didn’t control the votes. Just frustrating all around.