Lantern7

I had Mango Salsa Wavy Lays today. Tasted a bit funky, though I confess to never mixing mango and salsa before.

Quick reminder: this thread is about the EX-iled videos/battles on MTV.com, as opposed to spoilers in general.

I think this was the first time the consequences of Rumble Balls was addressed. With one of those, Chopper can go into one of seven modes, depending on what he needs at the time. Eating three Rumble Balls? He turns into a monster, which you just saw. Post time-skip,

Bad news . . . I think the next few weeks involve filler.

Anybody else get a hold of Lays' new chips? I had a bag of Wasabi Ginger chips a few days ago. The 7-11 was also offering Mango Salsa, so I'll have to go back there soon. In other news, I still need a life.

Watched the latest episode. I know that Naruto is dense, but I think Kakashi was a little hard on him. The kid is basically an enthusiastic puppy. ETA: Saw the latest/next episode. Are earrings a thing of commemoration in Japan? Nice that some of the cast got spotlighted along with Naruto and his training.

sinycalone . . . I kept track of the departing times. Lebya (not Libby, my bad) & CJ started 44 minutes behind the nearest team, Matt & Ashley. I don't remember how long they had to wait for their second bullet train. It should be interesting to see how far behind Hayley & Blair they were, and whether "Selfie Fail" made any difference. cooksdelight . . . I think CBS itself would be bucking for an "Amazing Wedding." Phil would probably be neutral on the subject.

Anybody else feel that Libby & CJ would qualify for an "Unfinished Business" return? They took a selfie at the wrong time, and they wound up akin to having a Charlie Brown moment. It should be interesting how far behind Hayley & Blair they were. I'm not rooting for anyone, and I'm not rooting against anyone. I should be against Harley & Jonathan because I hate boy bands on principle, but Jonathan seems like nice enough a guy, to the point where I don't hate them getting the "Date Night." Speaking of which . . . doing it at random works for me, especially if a team gets eliminated while holding onto the magic ticket. That would be funny. Phil is still Phil . . .only now, he's trying to sell romance to those who might merely be mercenary. He's great, but I hate how much he's digging in for love, especially among the blind date teams. I hope we don't get any more unbalanced Detours. Or maybe it was unbalanced to me because I can't skate. I know teams had problems with the noodles, but it paled to pushing a chair (?!?) on ice. BTW, anybody else find it ironic that a team that sent their opponents on a U-Turn wound up doing both tasks this leg? ETA: I hope Phil's opening episode narration comes back. Some traditions should never be shelved. Also: Who got the title quote?

Thinking of the B-plot . . . did anybody get the name on the shirts they were wearing? I'm guessing it was the show's version of "Pin Pals."

Theory . . . what if this was a Black Canary from another universe? It's natural, given the original canon of BC going from Earth-2 to Earth-1 after her husband sacrificed himself during a JLA/JSA event.

I'm thinking time travel fuckery. Seriously, Sara is dead. She's ceased to be. The whole Monty Python routine . . . she's a dead Canary. Meanwhile there's a timeline where Sara could dodge three arrows from a drugged-up Thea. I can see this "series" as The Brave And The Bold, an anthology series that -- like Agent Carter on ABC -- fills in whenever The Flash and/or Arrow is on hiatus.

I checked out the AV Club's review. Turns out this was the last "Wheels, Ontario." Looks like somebody else will have to make good-natured fun of Canada. And I mean on a consistent basis, not just once in a while like on South Park. Speaking of things ending . . . how many more episodes are there? Also, am I wrong for getting a little amped seeing Bobby, thinking maybe CT will be close by?

Kick-ass episode. Keith David makes anything better, and he's good at comedy. Ever hear him as Flame King in Adventure Time? Good stuff. And I want to see a Kane family reunion, especially now that Lana is out as a spy. Am I a bad person for understanding how Archer would make a Three's Company-style misunderstanding in the hot tub? I was cringing, big-time. I think the rest of the cast was wasted this week. Also, I thought the first two rules of "fight club" would prevent Pam and her homey from talking about it. On the up side, seeing Krieger's digital bride was pretty nice.

Well, that was disturbing. I don't get Luther being a dead man, though . . . one look at him should scare away anybody out to murder him for snitching. The other plot was bizarre. I take it one of the writers saw a "Life Is Happy" t-shirt on sale at an airport, and the rest wrote itself. I don't bother wondering how Frank could get his buddy to sign off on a life insurance policy. I don't even blink at the thought of Frank in an airport "just because." Is Charlie's mom that big of a slut? I only have this episode and the Christmas one to go on.

I never thought Young Justice was that serious. On the other hand, I can't believe we got Miss Martian without her mind-shredding any of the HIVE kids. I consider "Let's Get Serious" to be more about parodying the "grim 'n' gritty" genre than trolling Young Justice.

Be advised that the episode will run at 7 p.m., as opposed to 7:30. ETA: That was weird. Jake's slacker son TV finds a diary, and he gets way too into it. There's wild speculation, intense imagination scenes, and a crab hand. Oh, and Lady Rainicorn is involved, so knowing a little Korean helps. I kinda liked how TV figured the statue of limitations had long expired, giving him carte blanche to go through another person's secrets.

One metric I want to try using: the number of times a team is seen in trouble on the way to a commercial break. So far, Libby & CJ have had that happen to them twice, while Hayley/Blair, Jeff/Jackie and Mike/Rochelle got one apiece. ETA: Libby & CJ got one more tonight thanks to their ill-timed selfie. With that couple gone, Mike/Rochelle and Hayley/Blair move into the lead with two "trouble breaks" (I'm not married to the term). Also, all teams' times were shown at the beginning of the episode, so I might have another metric to work with. - Jelani/Jenny (BTW, Firefox is okay with "Jelani") 0:03 Jeff/Jackie 0:15 Laura/Tyler 0:44 Ali/Steve 1:22 Harley/Jonathan 1:40 Bergen/Kurt 1:45 Mike/Rochelle 2:03 Hayley/Blair 2;06 Matt/Ashley 2:50 Libby/CJ

Well, that wasn't completely awful. I'm hoping enough newbies and NKOTB fans climb on the bandwagon on Friday. I don't think any team caught my attention. Well, there's Mike & Rochelle, mostly because they got stuck with "#TruckStopLove," which is hilarious to me for some reason.. I'm a little distressed that three of the five "blind date" teams finished at the top, because I don't like the gimmick. Detour kinda sucked, to be honest. Racers should've been given the task of getting at least two "samurai" some sake, not just one. Sucked to see Jeff & Lyda get stuck on choreography, get U-Turned, then get the other task in good time. We're going to be stuck on the same "Right Stuff" sound clip, aren't we? Damn. At least Phil is trying to sell the season. It might be funny for him to not want to pop the eyebrow after a while. I did like him waiting at the Pit Stop, while teams struggled with the definition of "vicinity."

I forgot about the raccoon. Very cute. Better than the lizard I saw in the commercials, with the creepy-crawly things on its face.

I haven't got a rooting interest yet. The only reason why I'm bummed that So is out is because her name was/is easy to remember. I haven't gotten attached to anyone, name-wise. I am impressed by Carolyn's ability to Russell up an idol with no clues. Looks like the idols will be in plain sight. Where does one sell coconuts? And when? Also: Why do the tribes get names, when Probst is obviously not going to use those names?

This week, we caught up with the latest Ex-Ile. The teams had to dig balls out of a giant pit using sticks and only sticks. Johnny & Nany easily defeated Johnny & Averey, and it wasn't a contest. Judging by the teaser, I'm guessing that the next episode will start with a Dome battle between Johnny & Nany and Zach & Jonna. It'll be a lose-lose .. . either Johnny lucks his way back into the game, or Zach comes back to disparage women.

I really hope Zach never gets to have sex again. He's such an ass, and now he's gone. Even better, he & Jonna get to potentially take out Johnny & Nany for good in the losers' bracket. I'm assuming they beat Johnny & Avery, because "Bananas" is that lucky. I'm happy for Jordan & Sarah. If I have to root for anybody, I guess it would be for them. They're dysfunctional, but they seem to be adults when they need to be. Also, Jordan managed to overcome his handicap and out-hammer Zach. When it comes to meatheads, Zach is the bigger one.

Here are two promos hyping the 30th season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP7Gx1BwrqE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdaaE7fLols Lovely that the promo monkeys want to shove the "collars" theme down our throats. I'm more fascinated/grossed out by the caterpillars crawling on the lizard's face. Seriously, WTF?!? What happened to howler monkeys? I liked those. ETA: While looking through the show's YouTube page, I noticed that only six profiles are up. Should I read anything into that?

Sneak peek of the beginning of TAR26, which runs Wednesday night . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOZauon2NRA Anybody else cringe at the show logo inside the heart? I'm hoping there's a good reason racers are going through the mud. Why do I feel I'll be questioning everything about the show? Here's another look: "#TeamNewKid" undergoes "Samurai Sake Training." Why do Japanese legs always bring out the obvious stereotypes? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifw2sbZBCRo

Yeah, I DVRed the episode. All I know now is that LWT must have gotten one heckuva deal on puppets. Also: how hard is it to get a pony into a princess costume. "Very" would be my guess. I don't think I've seen a judge's political ad. I wonder how hard the LWT staff had to dig to find the stuff they showcased.