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Perhaps the cornfield was planted after the construction?

I get that looking back knowing what actually happened in the last challenge it maybe didn't matter, but the team had no way of anticipating that two challenges ahead of time. They were 100% taking a chance that 40-ish minutes was enough of a lead that they didn't have to worry. You're right, in the end, it probably didn't matter whether they had 40-ish extra minutes to attempt to complete the last challenge or hours of time. But we'll never know for sure what would have happened if Jordan and Moriah had the luxury of more time to rest and try again.

No one's mentioned the appearance of T.J.'s wife, Roxanne. It was sweet, but the whole time I was scratching my head saying, "Why? Why now?" I don't think they mentioned her business (health coach/nutritionist/personal trainer) -- that would have been the obvious reason. I cause the reason is "just 'cause," but I'm still left wondering why this challenge? why now after all these years? I didn't see much "Nany and Kaycee struggle with being on opposite teams," instead that part of the episode description should have been, "Kaycee supports Nany who is affected by memories of losing her mom" because that was the majority of their direct interactions. Faysal and Moriah are the worst "ride or dies" -- I got the impression that the only reason why Faysal "couldn't" say his ride or die's name is because he knew there were enough votes from others to send her in. Either he's thinking that the final will be individuals, or he's thinking that people whose ride or die has left will join together (maybe he's thinking he has a second shot at a final with Kaycee)...? Meanwhile, he better pray that the final doesn't involve any gross food-eating challenge. (Actually, I'm with him on that one; I can't stand watching them eat or drink something absolutely disgusting and then vomit it right back up. I usually end up looking away until it's over or... if it goes on for more than a few seconds... fast forwarding.) I agree with @aghst that, in the end, Devin helping Faysal probably didn't make a difference. But, they had no way of knowing that at the time. Dumb move. It made me wonder if Devin was more worried about Tori than his own team. Either that or he likes showing off (entirely possible with Devin).

Doing some quick Googling (very quick, so I can't guarantee 100% accuracy; I welcome corrections), I came up with this: Aneesa – 5'5"-5'6" Olivia – 5'7" Tori – 5'7"/5'9" (about half of the sources said 5'7"; the other half said 5'9") Nelson – found sites that said 5'8"-5'9" (although, oddly, a number of sources said 6'2" [doesn't seem like there's any way he's that tall]) Kaycee – 5'10" Johnny Bananas – 5'10" Chauncey – 5'11" (from a community college basketball roster) (I also saw that he's 11 years younger than Amber) Faysal – 6'4"-6'5" Underdogs: Moriah -- ??? (I couldn't find anything) Nany – 5'8" Amber – 5'9" Jordan – 5'10" Horacio – 5'11" (from a college soccer roster) Devin – 6'1" Bottom line: If the average height for U.S. women is 5'4" and the average height for U.S. men is 5'9" (per https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321132#), then the remaining women are all above average in height and the men are closer to average (other than Devin and Faysal, who are both tall).

Some (most?) of the questions weren't even trivia -- they were basic knowledge (a math problem? and an easy one to boot) or personal knowledge about their partner. I could probably give Jordan a pass on the spelling of Aneesa's last name, but Fessy was so off on how many siblings Moriah has that it makes me wonder if they're just passing acquaintances -- they're certainly not "ride or die"s. Which makes me wonder: were the questions specifically drafted for each person? If the spin had landed on Devin, would he have been asked how to spell Tori's last name (Deal)? If the questions were not random, then it seems a little unfair because, arguably, some of the questions were so easy (Adam and Eve, even though Kaycee inexplicably got it wrong) and some were harder (the two singers on "Empire State of Mind," for example).

I think if the show ends (and how could it continue if Kody is only married to Robyn?) then Meri will beat a hasty retreat. I think she stays "married" to Kody to stay on the show for the publicity for her businesses. Without the show, I can't imagine her wanting to stick around.

So now the marriage to Meri is over... does that mean the show is over? https://people.com/tv/sister-wives-meri-brown-confirms-kody-split/ It's over for Meri and Kody Brown. In PEOPLE's exclusive look at the first Sister Wives: One on One episode, airing Sunday, Meri, 51, confirms her 32-year marriage to Kody, 53, has ended. During her conversation with host Sukanya Krishnan, Meri watches a clip of Kody saying he doesn't consider himself married to her. "If she wanted to move on and marry another, she wouldn't get an argument with me," he tells cameras in a confessional. Sukanya then asks Meri how it makes her feel to hear those words from her husband. "It just doesn't make sense to me that he would be so frustrated with Christine [Brown] and be like, 'She just made this decision. We didn't consult, we didn't talk, she just made the decision and then he says, 'No, I don't consider myself married to Meri,'" she says. "Like, he just made the decision. I've never heard him say that to me." Christine and Kody announced their split in November 2021 after more than 25 years of marriage. In a sneak peek for the upcoming tell-all special released on Dec. 11, Kody and his third wife Janelle Brown also confirmed they were separated. While Meri and Kody's marriage has been trouble for years, she says the end has been painful. "Even since being in Flagstaff, he has led me to believe that he was trying," she explains. "You know, our first anniversary that we had here in Flagstaff, it was cheers to a new beginning as opposed to this last anniversary he's like, 'I don't even know why you called me Meri.' He's like, 'We're not married. We're not acting as married.'" Meri continues, "I said to him, 'Then if that's where we are, don't you think that we should address that publicly?' And he said, 'No I don't want to address it. I don't want that to be out there publicly because I don't want that judgment.'" The interviewer then asks Meri, "Where does that leave you? Are you still married to Kody? Or, do you get to decide?" Meri responds: "Well, he's already made the decision. You just saw him say that." Despite their long-term marriage coming to an end, Meri says she's still open to making things work. "Would you ever think about reconciliation," asks Krishnan as Meri replies, "I would. I definitely would. But I don't think that he's interested." I'd definitely watch a show about Christine, Janelle and Meri moving on with their lives. I'd avoid (like the plague) a show just about Kody and Robyn.

Former DWTS pro Allison Holker's husband has passed away. https://people.com/tv/stephen-twitch-boss-dead-at-40/ "Stephen "tWitch" Boss has died at age 40. Boss' wife, Allison Holker Boss, confirmed his passing in a statement issued to PEOPLE. "It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us," Allison, 34, began. "Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans." "To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt," she continued. "I am certain there won't be a day that goes by that we won't honor his memory. We ask for privacy during this difficult time for myself and especially for our three children." Closing her statement, Allison shared a message for her husband. "Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you," she concluded."

These two statements seem to be in conflict. Claire should trust the safety of the tightrope challenge, but it's okay to question the safety of other parts of the race...? As others have noted, the HGs didn't push her out of the way. (Her partner actually pushed her a little bit and pried at her fingers, trying to get her to do it.) The HGs did, however, try to psyche her out (trash talking her, in a way, I guess), which just played into her fears. Huge fan of the The Challenge here! I forgot about that re: Cara Maria's mom though until you mentioned it. --- I guess I'm in the minority because I'm liking Luis and Michelle less and less each episode. It seems like there are a lot of showboating, attention-grabbing "LOOK AT ME EVERYONE!" moments from Luis.... like all the shouting coming back from the "Sailboat Supply" Detour in the last episode. I had to chuckle because it seemed (to me) like pretty much most of the people on the beach were ignoring him.

I'll never forget that one time that Devin was relentless in following Bananas around, taunting him, and Bananas after walking away and trying to avoid him finally said something about how he hoped Devin wasn't anything like his recently deceased father. And, Devin acted like Bananas was the worst person in the world, completely ignoring the things Devin himself had said to Bananas and the fact that Devin was clearly baiting him. (I believe it was the same night that Corey tripped Tony after Tony threw Corey's pasta out of the bus window....whatever season that was...)

1) I also hope Laurel comes back next season. I've always liked her. 2) I was thinking the same thing....Jordan appeared in at least one "This season on The Challenge...." (preview) scenes that we haven't seen yet. Therefore, the result of last night's elimination was somewhat anti-climatic. I'm kind of neutral on Bananas, but I generally like Nany and wouldn't mind seeing her actually win (for once). I like Horacio, but it's hard for me to take Olivia seriously having watched her season of "Love Island." They've featured Amber and her partner so little that I don't even remember his name. I generally think of former Survivor players as being able to handle their emotions better than people from other shows (where those other shows....Real World, Love Island, etc....often purposely cast overly dramatic people, IMO), but geez, Michele is all over the place. I think she doesn't want people to be mad at her and wants others to agree that "it's just a game," but it's just too easy for the vets to make her feel guilty. I love Darrell, but can't stand Veronica, so I'm very conflicted with them. Kaycee and Kenny and Faysal and Moriah seem to be laying somewhat low, which is probably the best strategy right now.

It wasn't during the normal episodes, but on the reunion special for their season they showed footage of Tayshia flying to Maryland to talk with John Paul Jones a few weeks after filming wrapped because she realized she'd made a big mistake. The two reconciled and chose to give their relationship a go in the real world, with Jones asking her to be his girlfriend on the spot. (Six weeks after the reunion they broke up.) https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/what-happened-between-tayshia-adams-john-paul-jones-47665913

I was just waiting for either Rodney or Logan to state the obvious: if you really cared about me, you wouldn't be contemplating a date with someone else. Why should it only go one way -- Rodney/Logan have to say don't go, but can't expect Eliza/Kate not to want to go? I agree -- I liked her until this week. She seemed thrilled at the idea of two guys wanting her... she said as much in one of her talking heads, right? Agree 1000% -- Rodney deserves better. And, while I generally like Genevieve on Clayton's season, boy, she really does have resting bitch face and seems to scowl a lot. I'm trying to recall if I've ever seen her smile on this show....

Episode 5: It was interesting that they mostly focused on couples that are no longer together (Jemmye/Knight, Jordan/Tori, CT/Diem, Veronica/Rachel)... and yet ignored Zach and Jenna, who are not only currently married, but are expecting their second baby this year. I realize that Zach and Jenna's relationship might be viewed as slightly problematic, but still. Or, Cara Maria and Paulie....again, they wouldn't be my couple goals, but they are still together and seemingly happy. Or, as others have noted, Sean and Rachel. I can't stand him, but they've been married for 20+ years and have 9 kids, for crying out loud. I'm kind of surprised that they held Leroy and Kam up as the ideal love story because their road to where they are now was not without some bumps along the way. I felt bad for CT -- asking him to speak about Diem and all the comments about how they were (paraphrasing) perfect for each other. He's married -- were they expecting him to say that Diem was the love of his life or the one that got away...? Episode 6: Having watched the RW Homecoming: New Orleans show earlier this year, I'm puzzled at what Julie is attempting to do image-wise these days. I guess lean into playing the villain in a hope to get back into the MTV fold. And, did I miss it, or did they gloss over the entire team of Veterans (except Brad) screaming at Eric (Big Easy), who had collapsed and was clearly having some sort of medical episode, during The Gauntlet III? They showed a brief snippet of that happening at the beginning of the episode, so I assumed it was part of a preview of what was to come. I guess not. And, for all of Wes's self-aggrandizing during the six episodes, I wished they would have showed the scene of Kenny having to carry Wes on his shoulders during the final challenge of Rivals.

The publicist wouldn't even know what to leak unless he heard the story from Erika (or Lisa).

How would this work? If someone stumbles upon someone else's hidden idol, do the producers step in and say, "Oh no, that's so-and-so's (or that's someone else's, if they're trying to protect the anonymity of the player that found it). You're not allowed to take it."...?

UNDERDOGS: I agree with others above who said that Derrick really isn't an underdog. I would have maybe included Jay Starrett. GOATS: As always, Wes's ego knows no bounds. I was kind of surprised that Aneesa was named a GOAT**. I would have put Evelyn in there over Aneesa. Maybe even Veronica -- who I don't like -- but she's won a bunch of times. It seems like the "disgraced" players -- Evan and Kenny, Camila, etc. -- won't be mentioned at all. One of the authors of EW's ranking (June 2022) commented during a talking head. **EW had Aneesa as #40 out of 50. They also had CT above Bananas. Here's the entire list: 50. Dunbar Merrill 49. Kendal Sheppard 48. Nehemiah Clark 47. Tina Barta 46. Ruthie Alcaide 45. Kyle Christie 44. Devyn Simone 43. Theresa Jones 42. Coral Smith 41. Hunter Barfield 40. Aneesa Ferreira 39. KellyAnne Judd 38. Diem Brown 37. Tori Deal 36. Johnny Reilly 35. Jenna Compono 34. Kam Williams 33. Leroy Garrett 32. Jenny West 31. Brad Fiorenza 30. Susie Meister 29. Veronica Portillo 28. Yes Duffy 27. Frank Sweeney 26. Zach Nichols 25. Mike "The Miz" Mizanin 24. Kaycee Clark 23. Ashley Mitchell 22. Paula Meronek 21. Jodi Weatherton 20. Alton Williams 19. Tyler Duckworth 18. Camila Nakagawa 17. Abram Boise 16. Mark Long 15. Rachel Robinson 14. Evan Starkman 13. Kenny Santucci 12. Cara Maria Sorbello 11. Evelyn Smith 10. Wes Bergmann 9. Derrick Kosinski 8. Laurel Stucky 7. Sarah Rice 6. Jordan Wiseley 5. Emily Schromm 4. Landon Lueck 3. Darrell Taylor 2. Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio 1. Chris "CT" Tamburello https://ew.com/tv/mtv-the-challenge-best-players/

Echoing what others have already said... Tony may not be a great guy, but he did seem to be there for Mykelti and involved in the labor. (Meanwhile, I'm recalling when I was in a very painful labor and the anesthesiologist asked my husband to step outside "for a minute" while I was getting an epidural and my husband decided that would be a great time to wander off for 45 minutes and eat dinner in the hospital cafeteria... I'm still irked about that 18+ years later.) Back on point: Tony might not be the greatest, but he sure beats Kody! Possibly unpopular opinion alert: if someone struggles with an ailment that incapacitates them for some reason, maybe they shouldn't have a boatload of kids. Personally, I don't think Robyn has any kind of an ailment other than wanting to avoid some of the more mundane aspects of having children (cleaning up, doing laundry, making food, washing out bottles, watching the Wiggles for the 157th time, etc.). Kody often makes me think of the song "Cat's in the Cradle" (reference for anyone who was around in the 1970s). His whole reasoning was ridiculous. If the weather is *that* bad, you call, FaceTime, whatever. Maybe I'm wrong, but I've been under the impression that during COVID Christine and Janelle's kids didn't see or hear from Kody for weeks at a time sometimes.

That happened to me last week. I was watching the live show (albeit I started it late, so it was a bit delayed) and then something happened (if I recall, I switched over to another channel for a second and when I came back, I had lost access to the live show because it was over) and I was locked out. I tried again like 10 minutes later and I was able to get back in (and I could fast forward to where I had left off). I think there's a brief delay between the end of the live show and when you can watch it on replay. This is my first season watching where Tyra is hosting and...boy...is she annoying and distracting. I'm glad Teresa's gone. I was kind of nodding on and off during last night's show, but I was definitely awake during her "package," performance, and review. Unfortunately I must have snoozed during Trevor, Cheryl, and Wayne because I have zero recall of anything about any of them. I did vote for Cheryl (and Gabby*) before I started snoozing off. I was worried that Cheryl, being an older female might slip through the cracks in the voting. *It might be an unpopular opinion, but I like Gabby. Yes, she's got a probably unfair advantage with having some dance experience, but not so much as some other "stars" this season (Charli) or on past seasons (Heather Morris). I even liked Erich being there....it seemed less contrived than dragging out Jessie's toddler in an Elvis costume.

Nick M. played Tim Grimes in The Martian.

Playing devil's advocate here: keeping Alyssa is risky because she could get all the non-Leftovers jury voters' votes. She seems well liked and, unless I'm forgetting something, generally hasn't done anything to piss anyone off. I too, however, am hoping for a Taylor win. Monte shouldn't be counting on Turner to have his back; Turner's ultimately going to do what's best for his own game (which is probably getting Monte out, if he can). I agree with Turner's thoughts?/plan? to force a tie and make Monte be the bad guy and vote out either Taylor or Alyssa. I guess at this point my choice for winner (in descending order) would be: 1. Taylor 2. Turner 3. Brittany 4. Alyssa 5. Monte (seems like a nice guy, but his lack of hustle in getting outside to participate in the veto challenge is inexcusable). And, this might be an unpopular opinion based on posts I've been seeing over the last week, but I hope Michael gets AFH.

That might have been the best strategy for everyone else [throw in Angela and Sarah and you eliminate at least one threat (that's assuming Sarah is as much of a threat as she believes in her own mind)], but I don't see how it was Sarah's best strategy. Her best strategy, I think, would have been to try to win herself because then she would have earned enough from winning the daily challenge to compete in the final challenge without risking possibly being eliminated in the elimination challenge Barring that, going into the elimination against the easiest person to beat (presumably Cash or Cayla) would have been Sarah's best move, wouldn't it? Is her focus trying to make sure she's eligible to compete in the final, or rallying the house against Angela and Alyssa? She's made this personal and seems slightly unhinged.

No, she dumped Tyler, so she's down to three guys (Tino, Aven and Zach).

Yes, I agree that technically there is a difference in the two situations. Although Sarah's comment seemed -- to me, at least -- to suggest more broadly that the idea of a woman volunteering to go up against a man or men was something that hadn't happened. Completely non-substantive, but I'm not sure I'm following "brludce"...? I've spent the last five minutes trying to figure out what word that was meant to be. 🤷‍♀️🙂

When Sarah claimed that no woman had ever volunteered to do a guys' challenge, I immediately thought of Evelyn on The Island season of The Challenge. Her season-long feud with Johnny culminated in her volunteering to go up against two guys (Dan and Tyrie), both of whom she beat in the Bridge It Face-off to earn her key.