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It would not remotely surprise me to find out that John has a mental database of all of the big payouts over the years.

You would not believe how many we have in this house. I think Wyatt has some idea that Steffy's anger at Quinn is of the "we wuz robbed!!" Liam-related variety. I think that's why he seems exasperated by her constant bitching about Quinn sometimes. He knows Quinn hasn't done anything, directly, to Steffy. I do wish he'd dump her, but, at this point, I think he's so invested in his "win" that he can't actually admit it out loud, and he certainly won't dump her.

Not to mention that John lost an elimination twice that season. He and Nany just weren't a strong enough team together to get it done. That's not Sarah's fault. And, for all of the bitching that he's done about how evil Sarah was to do that to him, he knows damn well that, if he was faced with that decision, and he was looking at two really strong teams who could potentially go into the final with him, leaving him facing a possible third place finish, vs. ensuring that the "layup" team made the final with a solid hold on third place, he would have sent the two strong teams in against each other so that he only had to worry about one of them in the final. He likely wouldn't do it to Vince or to someone like Leroy, but he would have absolutely done the same to Sarah and Jordan if he was the one who won that time and had the option of sending in the two of them or Jenna and her dipshit ex. He just hates that someone else dared to take a page out of his book. And he used that to excuse being an ass and taking all of the money this time. And you notice he's talking out of both sides of his mouth on this one. One moment, he'll be playing the poor victim of Sarah who was finally able to avenge the great wrong done to him. The next, he'll be posturing and saying how he would have done it to his own mother. Personally, I think the latter is the truth. He would have stuck it to anyone to get that big payday. And he knows it only works for him that he's now known as "the guy who pulled the dirtiest move in Challenge history." As they say, any press is good press. He knows that being a controversial cast member just ups his profile (and helps him sell more of those shitty t-shirts). He likely loved hearing Devin and Vince saying they'll split, because, that way, his move had a bigger impact. I just hope that, next time he shows up on a season, he finds himself with no allies (unless his cousin is along for the ride again, or Johnny R, since he seems like he's stupid enough to still latch onto John's coattails). I want to see his ass get thrown in every single elimination until he's gone. Maybe it can be one of those large team challenges, where the winning team splits the money among whoever is left at the end of the season, and his team can keep voting him in because none of them want to get to the final, win, and find out that he somehow gets to decide how the money is split among them.

At this point, if they want to redeem this whole Liam/Steffy/Wyatt/Quinn/Eric mess for me, they should have Wyatt get fed up with Steffy's constant bitching about his mother. Have him stand up to her and point out that her grandfather is an adult who is well aware of Quinn's past. Then tell her that if she is still so hung up on how she was "robbed" of a life with Liam, she should go to Liam. Then, I want to see Steffy realize that Liam, when there's no drama of some force trying to keep them apart, it really rather boring, and she misses Wyatt. Then she can end things with Liam for good and go grovel to get Wyatt back. And I want a pony. Preferably a flying pony. And a baby manatee.

They don't care to write anything deep or emotional or significant for anyone.

On the other hand, the network knew who he was and what he did when they hired him. I'm sure they want to take advantage of his pre-existing audience by having some of the show appeal to them. If this isn't what they hired him to do, then they almost certainly would have put an end to it by now. I would say Seth is doing a similar amount of political stuff on his show, so it's not something solely being done here. And, I don't think it's any coincidence that two guys who were most successful before they got their late night gigs doing that kind of material (Stephen with TCR, and Seth with Weekend Update) are incorporating that into their late night shows. (I know Fallon did WU, too, but he did more of a variety of stuff on SNL, where Seth was mostly known or WU). This stuff is what Stephen is good at, so it makes sense for him to be doing it. It might not appeal to all viewers, but it's definitely serving a segment of the late night audience. I think it's a smart move, because if he just does what Fallon and Kimmel are already doing, then how does his show find its groove? Why are people going to watch his show over theirs if it's just the same kind of thing with a different host?

I'm absolutely sure some do. (And I'd be willing to bet that John is one of them.) I was totally saying "push him off the mountain" when John said he'd keep the money. As for Sarah suing, I bet she won't get far with it. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a clause in the contracts they signed that says something along the lines of "prize money to be distributed at producer's discretion." If the cast members are even reading every line of their contracts (and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a lot of the regulars just sign it thinking "same old contract I sign every time"), when they get to that line, they probably assume it's referring to the announcement TJ does at the beginning of each season, telling them the total prize money and how it's allocated to each team that reaches the final. And, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the same clause was in every season's contract, because that can cover their butts in a variety of circumstances that could potentially arise, like someone cheating at some point along the course of the final challenge, or someone breaking one of the overall rules during the final. From what I understand of contracts for The Challenge and similar shows, they are generally pretty protective of the show's interests, specifically so they can avoid things like Sarah suing them now. For example, as Sarah can verify*, it's possible to be sent home early through no fault of your own - you can obey all the rules, you can avoid injury, etc, but if you're partnered up with someone who breaks the rules, you're just as done as they are. (*Maybe Susie has a point, and Sarah should just stick to "civilian life." This is obviously a more extreme example, but it all boils down to the idea that you can do everything "right," and it still doesn't guarantee you anything. With all of the experience BMP and MTV have at doing these shows, I'd be shocked if there wasn't something in the contract Sarah signed that makes this twist totally legitimate. Shitty, but legitimate. Reading TJ's tweets, he thinks the twist itself and John taking advantage of it were dirty moves. Although he gives John more credit than I do, in saying that, he thinks that John wouldn't make the same choice again after having time to think about it. Please. He thought about nothing else for the two days they were competing in the final, and he's shown exactly zero remorse since then, even doubling down enough to try to throw dirt on Sarah and Susie's friendship. (By the way, I think that him doing that really contrasts that whole "he's a great guy off screen" thing. The season's over, he's done what he's done, and while he does have some people coming down on him on social media, he has about an equal number saying they loved the move and would have done the same, so he's not losing much fan support or anything. The only reason to make private text messages public at this point was to be a petty ass and give the knife an extra twist.) Now that they've done this twist, I hope that, next time John's on, they do the twist the way Bachelor Pad does it. Because there is just no way that whoever is partnered with him is going to trust him enough to go "split it." Now that he's pulled this, and proudly said he'd do it to his own mother, your only choice, as his partner, is to say you'll keep it all. That way, if you don't get any money, neither does he, and if actually attempts to do the right thing, you get it all, but there's no chance that you come out like Sarah - getting nothing while he walks away with it all. I can see trusting other people, but no way should anyone trust him, even if he swears on his mother's life that he'll split the money. I'd lay even odds that, if he and his partner both said "take it all," he'd still sit there at the reunion all indignant that his partner did this to him and cost him money, while conveniently ignoring that he was equally responsible for it since he also said "take it all." Because John is absolutely that far up his own ass. I could totally see him sitting on that stage self-righteously ranting about how his latest "Judas cost me $275,000."

This whole thing just got a million times more dramatic. John tweeted screen shots from text conversations he had with Susie (who is, supposedly, Sarah's BFF), where Susie is saying she agrees with his decision and is basically putting Sarah down for her reaction. Susie's response was to say that she approved of good game play, but she has since changed her mind about his move, since she found out he took Adderall to stay up all night, and the show fined him $5,000 for using it.

I noticed while watching that AfterShow that there were multiple times where Sara looked pissed. She played along with whatever was going on at any given moment, but when she wasn't speaking, she had that same look you get when you're out with someone who you're mad at, but you know you can't say anything to them about how mad you are until you're alone - that kind of clenched jaw, angry eyes look. And there was that part where she was urging Nany to just be done with John, because of how shitty he is to her. If she was still friends with John, I wouldn't expect her to say that kind of thing, especially in front of an audience and with him sitting right next to her. I think that they sent her out there and told her she had to pretend everything was fine, because this was being shown not only before we knew the outcome, but before we knew there was an option as to how the money was split.

When even Vince, immediately said "I wouldn't be here without her, we split the money," you know you're a true asshole, John. As I mentioned in previous episode threads, I don't watch AYTO, so I had no pre-existing baggage with Devin. But, at this point, unless he was straight up murdering kittens on every episode, I don't even care what he did there. He has just been so freaking awesome this season, especially in the final and the reunion. His distaste for John is my second favorite thing about this season (behind the Wes/Nany pairing). As others have mentioned, he was the anti-Frank/Zach in the final with Cheyenne. And, even though I don't like Sarah, his defense of her on stage, and running back (with Cheyenne) to help her when she ran off stage just endeared me to him more. Loved Nany's "oh, yes, 100 percent he would have" when the host asked her if she thought John would have taken all the money if she was his partner. I hope Nany's newfound perspective on John's level of asshole remains in her life. And while I hate that Wes was agreeing with John (although I wonder if he was doing it because they needed someone, other than Vince, to be on John's side on that stage, so Wes took the hit), I loved him pointing out how monumentally stupid the rest of the cast was for not voting in John or Vince every time they got the chance, Dario. And, no, John, taking away money she won right alongside you, as your partner, is NOT the same thing as sending an opposing team into an elimination round. It's just not. You can say it as often as you want, but it's not. You were not Sarah's teammate on Exes. And his insistence on how many people he's won with who weren't Sarah was ridiculous. Nobody said "you wouldn't have won any other season without her." They were saying that, this season, this one, right here, you wouldn't have won it with any other partner. And they're right. You wouldn't have dominated the weekly missions at the same level, and you would have absolutely come in second to Vince and Jenna with a lesser partner in the final, if you made it to the final without the benefit of being protected from elimination most times because you and Sarah won the missions. And his excuse that he tried to make sure he did more time on the stump because he couldn't trust Sarah to make the decision about the money? Bitch, what did you do with that decision? You don't get to whine about what you thought Sarah was going to do when you went ahead and did it. Ass. Oh, and I laughed at Sarah's "I'm going to take all of my clothes off so you can't film this!" rant backstage. And while I still think it was shitty of her to not stand up for Cheyenne last week in the moment, vs. talking to her privately later, Cheyenne seems very grateful for what she did do, and was likely referencing it when she was telling her "remember what you told me..." Cheyenne is definitely too good for this crowd, but I do hope she and Devin are back again. I need somebody on each season I don't want to punch. I'm torn between being thrilled at the idea of John never darkening our screens again and wanting him back just one more time so he can reap the rewards of stabbing his partner in the back with the entire cast gunning for his ass from jump. No more John as everyone's favorite master of ceremonies. No more of people bending over backwards to do his bidding. I want him to be on the receiving end of exactly what he does to people like Wes season after season.

I'm sure that, when Nina does see him, MS will put on a quietly understated performance.

Wait, who did kill Silas? Swear to God, I cannot remember. As for Morgan, I figure it's part of his never-ending quest to become their favorite son. "If they liked banging on Mikey's couch, they'll love dinner parties at my place!" OK, I admittedly am not exactly devoted in my viewing lately, so maybe I'm wrong, but, wasn't he arrested and locked up (or at least hanging out in the Jason Morgan Memorial Interrogation Room)? Why would you expect someone to have been calling and texting when the safe assumption was that you didn't have your phone on you, being, you know, locked up and all?

I'm kind of relieved if they're going to go with some Nina/Valentin thing. I had genuine fear that we were going to get a Nina/Jax hook up while IR is back, so if she's busy with Valentin, that saves me from the horror. Plus, I mean, Valentin is supposed to be so evil he scared Helena. We can always hope that, after he mates, he kills.

It occurs to me that, between yesterday's tear through the streets of Monte Carlo and that months ago Steffy/Liam run towards each other on the beach, JMW should just never run on camera again. And Steffy tried to forbid her grandfather from his favorite past time (hooking up with the crazy)?

Didn't Quinn actually try to push Steffy and Liam together when she was first in town? To clear the way for Wyatt to Hope? Or am I mis-remembering? Regardless, though, Quinn definitely never tried getting between Steffy and Liam until Amnesia Cabin. So, if he'd said "over the months," Liam would be dead on.

I could listen to him call Trump a "fucking asshole" for hours. It's not exactly a groundbreaking insult, but he delivered it with the perfect amount of righteous indignation and venom (all perfectly accompanied by his accent). And he's dead on about the ick of imagining Drumpf being beyond poorly suited to offer comfort to the families of our fallen soldiers. Just..no.

I just had a horrible thought. Someone get the holy water and sprinkle it all over this post for me, but what if she's pregnant with a Lulu/Stavros embryo somehow? Because...Helena.

You mean we didn't even get a Holy Hitman head injury? The coccyx is back? I may have to fire up the DVR just to see Jax. You're too good for this shit, Ingo.

Right? We're supposed to believe she's so super-famous (I mean, that is the point of this whole social media story, no, show?), but people weren't jumping in with their iPhones, documenting her wild chase? Could you imagine if one of the Kardashian sisters was running through the streets after some woman like that? We'd be seeing videos of every stretch of her run, from every angle, with commentary, editing, etc. And in those videos, we'd see a bunch of other people holding their cameras and pointing.

I was happy to see that a lot of people reminded her of her own past and that she should know better.

Agreed. If she had spoken up, Jenna might have spoken up. Then you've got 4 people all telling the two drunk assholes that they're being drunk assholes. And Cheyenne doesn't feel alone and doesn't feel like the majority of the group is condoning their shit, or that their bullying her is not important enough to any of them (except her partner) for them to say something loud and proud in front of the group, instead of in hushed tones, off camera, where the bullies can't hear them...Sarah.

This reminds me of people complaining during the 2008 election that comedy shows, especially, SNL, weren't being "fair" in the distribution of their jokes. But, I mean, come on...President Obama generally doesn't put much out there that lends itself to satire. And, if you're a comedian, and you're looking at the group of Obama/Biden/McCain/Palin, where is the bulk of your satire going to come from? The unhinged airhead, or the guy who manages to maintain his dignity 99% of the time? Same thing here. There's only so much you can do with regard to Hillary's two most lampoon-able traits - her years long desire to be POTUS (that can sometimes be made to look desperate) and her often awkward attempts to portray herself as "just regular old folks like the rest of you." Trump, on the other hand, offers up a buffet of shit to make fun of on an hourly basis. I'm kind of dreading the idea that we might get an appearance here by Trump at some point during the next few months. I don't think the network would give Stephen the freedom to fully call him out if he says anything stupid or blatantly untrue. I'd pay PPV event level money to see the Stephen who said he'd ask Trump "how does Putin's dick taste" interviewing Trump.

She's so full of shit. Standing up for Cheyenne in that moment didn't require a full sit down conversation with two drunk guys about all of the reasons what they were doing was wrong. Sure, that longer conversation should take place when they're not drunk a 4 AM. However, no matter what time, and no matter where the bullies fall on the sober to drunk spectrum, you can absolutely say "stop it." You can make your displeasure known. All she would have had to say was "guys, stop, you're drunk and acting like assholes, go sleep it off, because how you're behaving is not OK."

Haven't JaSam been in a coma already for months? So we've got two down. Many to go. (I'm looking at you, Sonny, Carly, Morgan, Nina, Darby, Julian, Nik, Alexis, Franco, Claudette, and Nathan...oh, wait, I'm pretty sure he's already in a coma, too.)

The one thing that surprises me is that they really did not leave it ambiguous, like I thought they would. I thought for sure that we'd get some kind of "but was Riley really who Lucas picked, or did he find out that she was his only option first?" kind of thing. But, from the moment he came down the stairs and was clearly upset about Riley talking to Evan, it was pretty clear. And when he panicked when Maya pretended that she was really into him and "knew" he picked her. That they made it so clean cut was surprising. As for Josh/Maya, I don't really have a problem with the age difference. As a teen, I dated guys who were about that age difference (hell, in college, I dated a guy 10 years older than me). I know it's cliche to say that girls mature faster than boys, but, well, as the parent of a 13 year old boy, I can assure you, it's true. There's absolutely a maturity difference when you look at my son and the boys in his grade and then you look at the girls in his grade. Now, the difference in places they're each at in life is more of an issue. A college relationship is, often, more "mature" than a high school relationship. The experience level is generally very different. Not to mention that a high school girl who's committed to a guy who isn't even there on a day to day basis is going to miss out on a lot of the kind of life a girl in high school should be experiencing. (On a related note, I knew more than a couple guys, freshman year of college, who were dating sophomores in high school from back home. Those relationships generally didn't last beyond the mid point of freshman year, because both parties end up feeling like they're missing out on the full high school/college experience). So, while I have no problem with the three year age difference, the experience level is enough to give an adult pause, because we have the experience to realize the pitfalls. I'm glad they're at least taking the step of not creating an actual Josh/Maya relationship. The opposite, in fact. Josh talked about how they would both be out there living their lives. While I acknowledge that the reasoning for Maya's interest and loss of interest in Lucas was stupid*, I actually thought a lot of this episode was rather sweet, at exactly the level it should be for the Disney Channel watching crowd. And Riley seemed a lot less, well, stupid, in this episode. (Except for the fact that she was stuck in that boot the whole damn time.) And I feel like Lucas showed more personality than he has in most episodes. I'll give Peyton credit, whenever the script has called for him to be clearly interested in Riley, he does a good job of selling it. The boy knows how to make his face light up. And, I'll admit, I cracked up at Riley's panicked "Maya!!!" when Lucas pulled out the ring box, followed by "stay where you are!" when he revealed it to be a jelly bean. Those kind of moments are where she really clicks as Cory's kid for me. The best part, by far, though, was the reinforcing the Riley/Maya friendship, complete with the two of them getting the closing scene to show that it's still the most important relationship. (Honorable mention to the look on Topanga's face at " Mr. Matthews? My Mom says hello.") *An explanation that would have made far more sense, while still incorporating the "Maya was becoming Riley" narrative (which is kind of dumb, but it's what they've given us to work with for weeks), would have been some realization that Maya has always wanted to have a family like Riley's, and she was still harboring some inner turmoil over the idea that she wasn't "good enough" for a family. I know they had the episode where she meets her father and he tells her that it was never her fault, and she forgives herself, but some of that could still, easily, be in there. Teens don't just get over deep emotional pain that quickly, even when they're absolved of the pain like that. Now that she's getting that family, in Shawn proposing to her mom, that could have been the thing that made her realize that she doesn't have to be like Riley to be loved and cared for. I honestly thought that was going to be some of the reasoning, since it seemed intentional that Shawn's proposal came at the end of the same episode where Maya was trying to stop being Riley. Part of the problem with any explanation is that they shouldn't need one. The writers let themselves be lured into this triangle as fan service to the people who had started shipping Lucas/Maya, a relationship they hadn't planned on doing. Trying to be all things to all fan bases left them with a story they needed an exit for, so we ended up with this mess they needed to clean up.