S39.E10: Bring on the Bacon

[iMonrey]

Quote

The theory I heard was that Karishma voted for Janet & Dan threw his vote on Elizabeth just in case there was an HII played.

Which is weird, because they told Karishma to vote for Janet. If they had any concerns that Karishma might play an idol they should have either told her to vote for Elizabeth, or had someone else vote for Janet too. Clearly they were taken by surprise and did not expect to have to revote between Janet and Elizabeth. I'm guessing whoever voted Elizabeth went rogue.

[Ms Blue Jay]

11 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I made fun of Karishma last week, but she earned a little respect from me this round. Partially because she made some decent strategic moves, but mostly because SHE CHOSE TO PLAY INSTEAD OF EAT.

And yes, she failed almost instantly, but at least she tried. I will never understand the cocky complacence that enables some people to risk their entire game for a few bites of pancake.  I was especially disappointed in Janet. She’s had a target on her for at least 2 episodes— how could she feel secure enough to not even try to fight for herself?? 

One way to interpret this is Lauren was really smart to bring back the tale of breakfast food to everyone.  She must have done a real number on all of them manipulating them into wanting that food more than anything.

If Lauren hadn't mentioned the breakfast, and only Jeff had, all the players would have had to make a split second decision about whether to play or eat without getting their appetites all worked up.  I can't BELIEVE how many people sat out that challenge - does that ever happen?  Is that normal?  So I tend to credit Lauren's work for that.

Edited November 30, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[princelina]

I think players in the past few seasons have talked about knowing they absolutely could not win so they thought it was better to eat and get some energy for the next challenge.  Which makes sense to me - I would have known I couldn't do that for very long and would have been better off eating some bacon 🙂

[KaveDweller]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Which is weird, because they told Karishma to vote for Janet. If they had any concerns that Karishma might play an idol they should have either told her to vote for Elizabeth, or had someone else vote for Janet too. Clearly they were taken by surprise and did not expect to have to revote between Janet and Elizabeth. I'm guessing whoever voted Elizabeth went rogue.

It is weird that they told Karishma to vote Janet and not Elizabeth. But they told Karishma they wanted Elizabeth to go home, but they were splitting the vote. I'm guessing they didn't want to tell Karishma she was the other person they were voting for, so Dan came up with Janet.

I'm surprised Karishma went along with it when she knew she was playing the idol though. 

[Haleth]

Ugh. Everyone is so unlikable at this point. I’d root for Karishma but she’s such a sad sack. I’d root for Noura but searching K’s bag was dirty. Dean thinks very highly of himself. Dan?  We’ve been through his faults. Lauren and Elaine were sullied by Dangate. Janet continues to ally with Dan.  Guess I’m rooting for Sandra’s chicken. She has cluck  pluck.

Oh, I forgot Tommy. Anyone else think he’s starting to resemble VanGogh?

Edited December 1, 2019 by Haleth

[azshadowwalker]

On 11/28/2019 at 10:25 PM, Mike from Bklyn said:

Probably because while there have been times that the women tried to have an all girl alliance to vote out the men I can't remember any time that the men tried to do that to the women.

There has been more than one all-male alliance, but men don't usually notice that and the show doesn't make a big deal about it. The female Survivors don't, either. 

[Nashville]

Personally I thought Lauren’s idol play was significantly premature, but (a) we rarely seem to get an accurate depiction of the actual pre-TC vibe around camp, and (b) I can think of two plausible reasons why Lauren might think the idol play would be warranted:

1. Simple stray-vote paranoia after Karishma played her idol; if any one person had thought to scrawl Lauren’s name on a vote parchment, then she’d have been in the TC stewpot up to her neck right alongside Elizabeth and Janet.
2. IotI paranoia.  Anybody in camp could be justifiably worried about Lauren coming back from IotI with an idol (which, indirectly, is exactly what did happen), so the prospect of having some TC votes thrown Lauren’s way is not farfetched at all - if not this TC, then maybe the next, or the next after.  Lauren playing her idol at first opportunity immediately defuses that worry; she did get an idol, but it’s gone now.

[peachmangosteen]

On 11/30/2019 at 12:58 AM, 30 Helens said:

I was especially disappointed in Janet. She’s had a target on her for at least 2 episodes— how could she feel secure enough to not even try to fight for herself?? 

Because she, like most of them, is kinda dumb lol.

12 hours ago, Haleth said:

Oh, I forgot Tommy. Anyone else think he’s starting to resemble VanGogh?

Wow, yes.

[Matteo]

On 11/28/2019 at 2:24 PM, Bryce Lynch said:

I would like to see players come up with a way to booby trap their bags to punish snoopers.  

Maybe they could put snakes or tarantulas in them.

At this point, I don't even think it's worth it to be a Bag Snooper.  I don't even get mad when people do it anymore, because everyone knows that it happens.  We've seen people snoop through others' belongings on countless seasons now, so any good player or real Survivor fan should know better than to keep their idol in their personal bag.  Hide it somewhere more creative, or keep it on your body at all times!

[amazingracefan]

5 hours ago, Nashville said:

Personally I thought Lauren’s idol play was significantly premature, but (a) we rarely seem to get an accurate depiction of the actual pre-TC vibe around camp, and (b) I can think of two plausible reasons why Lauren might think the idol play would be warranted:

1. Simple stray-vote paranoia after Karishma played her idol; if any one person had thought to scrawl Lauren’s name on a vote parchment, then she’d have been in the TC stewpot up to her neck right alongside Elizabeth and Janet.
2. IotI paranoia.  Anybody in camp could be justifiably worried about Lauren coming back from IotI with an idol (which, indirectly, is exactly what did happen), so the prospect of having some TC votes thrown Lauren’s way is not farfetched at all - if not this TC, then maybe the next, or the next after.  Lauren playing her idol at first opportunity immediately defuses that worry; she did get an idol, but it’s gone now.

In relation to the second, some may have thrown her name around just to see if she could play an idol.

[ByaNose]

I too was surprised that Janet didn’t try to win immunity. Either she thought she was really safe or thought she was likely next to go and enjoy a free meal while she was there. That is pretty odd since she would be eating soon afterwards at Ponderosa. I’m guessing Dan told her she was safe and didn’t have to worry about  being voted out. She’s been working with Dan and I guess “other” people but I have no idea exactly who she feels safe with and can trust. Unfortunately, her edit has been wonky since the Dan debacle and she hasn’t presented her game who her true alliances are. I would love for her to win but her edit isn’t showing her game. 

[RedbirdNelly]

Elizabeth going home is great. Can't complain about that. Karishma still annoys so much. She seems to be get really wound up anytime anyone tells her what the vote plan is (accurately or inaccurately).

[Bryce Lynch]

On 11/30/2019 at 8:24 PM, Haleth said:

Ugh. Everyone is so unlikable at this point. I’d root for Karishma but she’s such a sad sack. I’d root for Noura but searching K’s bag was dirty. Dean thinks very highly of himself. Dan?  We’ve been through his faults. Lauren and Elaine were sullied by Dangate. Janet continues to ally with Dan.  Guess I’m rooting for Sandra’s chicken. She has cluck  pluck.

Oh, I forgot Tommy. Anyone else think he’s starting to resemble VanGogh?

I don't think Lauren and Elaine were sullied that much by Dangate.  I don't think they were really in on Missy and Elizabeth's scheme to manipulate Kellee and gaslight Janet with the sexual harassment.  

I guess I am rooting:

1) Janet -  I don't love her working with Dan, but after the disgraceful gaslighting I don't think she knows what or who to believe.  She played well from the beginning and put her game in grave jeopardy to do what was right.   

2) Elaine - I didn't like her telling Dan that Janet was after him, but I haven't seen any evidence that she was in on the sexual harassment deception and gaslighting.  Other than that episode, I have enjoyed her and admired the way she has played a great deal.

3) Karishma - She is a sad sack, but I loved her standing up to Missy ("I don't have a watch" is one of my favorite quotes, ever) and idoling out Elizabeth.  

4) Noura - She is an idiot and I hated her bag snatching and searching, but she is less objectionable than the rest.  She is kind of like a hapless cartoon character, ala Angelina and Wile E. Coyote.   

5) Tommy - Not nearly as bright as he thinks he is and a bit arrogant in confessionals.

6) Dean - A goat and buffoon who thinks he is a playa and a "threat".  

7) Lauren - Like Dean and Tommy, not nearly as smart as she thinks she is.  Tommy Lauren and Dean are all pretty much in the same category in my book.  I could probably reverse the order on those 3.  

8 ) Dan - Yuck!  No explanation required.  

Edited December 2, 2019 by Bryce Lynch

[Bryce Lynch]

On 11/30/2019 at 12:58 AM, 30 Helens said:

I made fun of Karishma last week, but she earned a little respect from me this round. Partially because she made some decent strategic moves, but mostly because SHE CHOSE TO PLAY INSTEAD OF EAT.

And yes, she failed almost instantly, but at least she tried. I will never understand the cocky complacence that enables some people to risk their entire game for a few bites of pancake.  I was especially disappointed in Janet. She’s had a target on her for at least 2 episodes— how could she feel secure enough to not even try to fight for herself?? 
 

Ha— I love this.  Eeyore is definitely her spirit animal.

Dan, on the other hand... at this point, I am fairly confident that if I were to do an image search for “cockroach”, a picture of his face would pop right up.

I had no problem with Janet eating.  I sort of see things the opposite way.  I think sometimes people who have no realistic chance of winning an immunity challenge, compete, rather than eat, out of "cockiness".  

I think Lauren analyzed the competition pretty well and realized it would come down to Noura and Elizabeth.  Janet probably did a similar analysis.  

Janet read the tribe correctly.  It was an "easy" near unanimous vote for Karishma.  She, like everyone else, didn't account for Karishma's idol.  But, Janet wasn't even the backup plan, as Elizabeth was voted out 7-0 on the re-vote.  

[blackwing]

On 12/1/2019 at 10:58 AM, ByaNose said:

I too was surprised that Janet didn’t try to win immunity. Either she thought she was really safe or thought she was likely next to go and enjoy a free meal while she was there. That is pretty odd since she would be eating soon afterwards at Ponderosa. I’m guessing Dan told her she was safe and didn’t have to worry about  being voted out. She’s been working with Dan and I guess “other” people but I have no idea exactly who she feels safe with and can trust. Unfortunately, her edit has been wonky since the Dan debacle and she hasn’t presented her game who her true alliances are. I would love for her to win but her edit isn’t showing her game. 

From a gameplay perspective I agree that she needed to try for immunity.  But they had hours or maybe even a day to think about the challenge.  Lauren described it in detail and then she also talked about all the food.  She and Tommy said they were going to keep talking about the food to get people nonstop thinking about the food.  Janet probably knew that she didn't have the stamina to outlast some of the younger people in the challenge.

I think Lauren had the tribe pegged exactly.  Noura does yoga and has surprising physical and inner strength.  Elizabeth is an Olympic athlete.  Janet is a lifeguard and probably in decent shape but not like those two.

[3jt]

On 11/27/2019 at 8:35 PM, tvgoddess said:

Literally the only part of the episode I enjoyed. The rest was pretty much trash.

I hope to god not. I can't remember someone I've actively rooted against this much. I laughed out loud when she fell out so soon from the challenge. Jeff was actually nice to her when she was Little Miss Crybaby over there all by herself trying to convince herself that she'd be fine not eating. Everything about her annoys me. As far as how people treat her, I think she brings it on herself by her lousy attitude, wavering between outright smug and downright irritating.

I wish I could like this 1000 times. I cannot stand her!!!!!

[JudyObscure]

One of the many things about Karishma that annoys me is the very thing most people admire her for -- standing up to her "bullies."  That may be admirable on the playground or if it's become a problem with a co-worker, but this is Survivor and the goal is to not get voted out. It's not the time to stamp your little foot and declare, 'I wont let other people tell me what to do!" 

From day one  Karishma has been telling anyone who'll listen that she's on the bottom, so when someone comes up and says, "We're voting x-person,"  she should be, in the winning words of Sandra, saying, "Anybody but me!"  But no.  In Karishma's mind it's time to rock the boat, start arguing, and see if she can't get her own name back up to the top of the list. Her thing with  Missy was the perfect example, she was handing Karishma a detailed plan to save herself, but the most important thing in Karishma's mind was that she wasn't going to, "let anyone talk to her like that.!"  Does a million dollars mean nothing to her?

I've always thought standing up for yourself is overrated. It's what the wives are always encouraging their husbands to do on, "Fear Thy Neighbor," and now they're widows.

On 12/1/2019 at 9:14 AM, Matteo said:

I don't even get mad when people do it anymore, because everyone knows that it happens.

I agree. Looking through people's  bags is one of those thing that you would never do in real life but has long been permitted on Survivor, like wearing your underwear to sporting events.

Edited December 3, 2019 by JudyObscure

[Special K]

53 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

I've always thought standing up for yourself is overrated. It's what the wives are always encouraging their husbands to do on, "Fear Thy Neighbor," and now they're widows.

LOL. 

[Bryce Lynch]

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

One of the many things about Karishma that annoys me is the very thing most people admire her for -- standing up to her "bullies."  That may be admirable on the playground or if it's become a problem with a co-worker, but this is Survivor and the goal is to not get voted out. It's not the time to stamp your little foot and declare, 'I wont let other people tell me what to do!" 

From day one  Karishma has been telling anyone who'll listen that she's on the bottom, so when someone comes up and says, "We're voting x-person,"  she should be, in the winning words of Sandra, saying, "Anybody but me!"  But no.  In Karishma's mind it's time to rock the boat, start arguing, and see if she can't get her own name back up to the top of the list. Her thing with  Missy was the perfect example, she was handing Karishma a detailed plan to save herself, but the most important thing in Karishma's mind was that she wasn't going to, "let anyone talk to her like that.!"  Does a million dollars mean nothing to her?

I've always thought standing up for yourself is overrated. It's what the wives are always encouraging their husbands to do on, "Fear Thy Neighbor," and now they're widows.

I agree. Looking through people's  bags is one of those thing that you would never do in real life but has long been permitted on Survivor, like wearing your underwear to sporting events.

Karishma didn't need Missy to save her.  Missy needed Karishma to save her.   If it was follow Missy's obnoxious orders or go home, sure, go along.  But, Karishma put herself in a position to decide who went home and she sent Missy's obnoxious, bullying, sexual harassment lying ass home.   

I'm not sure caving to bullies is always the best Survivor play.  If you can usurp the bullies, why not do that?  

[fishcakes]

2 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I'm not sure caving to bullies is always the best Survivor play.  If you can usurp the bullies, why not do that?  

One of my favorite moments was Yau Man NOT caving to Alex and Mookie's bullying when they threatened to tell everyone he had an idol unless ... something (I can't remember what they wanted him to do). Yau just calmly said something like, well, I'm not doing that so I guess you better tell everyone about my idol. Then they slunk away and were the next two voted out.

[Nashville]

On 12/2/2019 at 3:24 PM, blackwing said:

I think Lauren had the tribe pegged exactly.  Noura does yoga and has surprising physical and inner strength.  Elizabeth is an Olympic athlete.  Janet is a lifeguard and probably in decent shape but not like those two.

Agreed, unfortunately.  One of the few true advantages youth has over age is neither simple raw strength nor stamina, but the combination of the two; past a certain age one can focus their energies upon maximizing one or the other, but the body’s available reserves are often quite simply insufficient to maximize both. Good on Janet for recognizing that, and capitalizing on the opportunity to refuel instead of wasting what little reserves she did already have in a Pyrrhic effort.

But as for Karishma...?  It appeared literally every other single member of the tribe knew both Noura and Elizabeth planned to compete - so was Karishma simply THAT far out of the tribal conversation loops, or did she choose to ignore the information laid at her feet?  If the latter, then Karishma choosing to compete was dumber than a sackful of wet mice.  At the very least, K deciding to go up against Noura - who we’d already seen having to inchworm-drag K’s boat anchor ass through the sand on a previous comp - was laughable in the extreme.  What did K expect - that some heretofore-unrevealed Wonder Woman alter ego would suddenly bust out all over the place and propel her to victory???  Or that her Super Secret Power of the Whine would annoy Noura and Elizabeth to the point they’d throw the comp just to get her to shut the FUUUUCK up???

There’s a word for a plan in which success absolutely depends upon your opponent suddenly and uncharacteristically screwing up and/or forfeiting; it’s called a “wish”.  😛

[ProfCrash]

Karishma did exactly what posters normally want people to do, complete even when they don't have a chance of hell in winning. The normal conversation on the board when this decision comes up is "Why does anyone choose to eat? You are there to play the game so play the game."

So Karismha plays and people are criticizing her for playing when everyone else eat. The only person anyone seems surprised with not playing is Janet and then everyone is fine with that because, well she had no shot.

I respect Karishma's decision to play. Yes, she had no chance at winning. Yes, it was comical how quickly she dropped out. Yes, she was mopey on her way over to the bench not being able to eat. But at least she played. The only person who had not good reason to not play was Lauren.

Tommy was not going to control that idol, no matter what Lauren said. His willing to go along with a plan that benefited Lauren and only Lauren was silly.

Dean has a false sense of confidence that is kind of amazing to watch play out. Dan and Elaine have this strange confidence in their alliance that makes little sense to me. Dan maybe, he should realize that he is a goat but I doubt that he does. Elaine knows she is seen as a social threat.

Janet might not have a chance to win but she has a target on her back after the Dan vote. She got a vote at tribal that night. She might not have a chance of winning but damn if it is stupid to know that you are at the bottom on an alliance, seen as a social threat, and probably have a few votes sitting on the Jury because of the Dan mess and choose to eat.

Karishma is the only person who did what posters demand every year, she played. She lost in a very humorous fashion, but at least she played.

[Josh371982]

4 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Karishma did exactly what posters normally want people to do, complete even when they don't have a chance of hell in winning. The normal conversation on the board when this decision comes up is "Why does anyone choose to eat? You are there to play the game so play the game."

So Karismha plays and people are criticizing her for playing when everyone else eat. The only person anyone seems surprised with not playing is Janet and then everyone is fine with that because, well she had no shot.

I respect Karishma's decision to play. Yes, she had no chance at winning. Yes, it was comical how quickly she dropped out. Yes, she was mopey on her way over to the bench not being able to eat. But at least she played. The only person who had not good reason to not play was Lauren.

Tommy was not going to control that idol, no matter what Lauren said. His willing to go along with a plan that benefited Lauren and only Lauren was silly.

Dean has a false sense of confidence that is kind of amazing to watch play out. Dan and Elaine have this strange confidence in their alliance that makes little sense to me. Dan maybe, he should realize that he is a goat but I doubt that he does. Elaine knows she is seen as a social threat.

Janet might not have a chance to win but she has a target on her back after the Dan vote. She got a vote at tribal that night. She might not have a chance of winning but damn if it is stupid to know that you are at the bottom on an alliance, seen as a social threat, and probably have a few votes sitting on the Jury because of the Dan mess and choose to eat.

Karishma is the only person who did what posters demand every year, she played. She lost in a very humorous fashion, but at least she played.

I dont get how so many of them can feel confident. All these people sitting and eating just came off as entitlement Arrogance and stupidity. Its asboulety stupid to want Noura Karshima(and Elizabeth) out over Tommy Lauren and Elaine. 

[Special K]

I think in general, the play-or-eat decision should go like this:

1. Do I need to win (either for myself or to keep someone else from winning)?  If yes, then play.

2. Do I have a chance of winning?  If yes, then play.  If no, see questions 3 and 4.

3. If I decide to eat how will not playing appear to the others (alliance and enemies), and will that hurt my game?

4. Even if I probably can't win, are there benefits to my game and my alliance in appearing to try to win?

Edited December 4, 2019 by Special K

[DEL901]

23 minutes ago, Special K said:

I think in general, the play-or-eat decision should go like this:

1. Do I need to win (either for myself or to keep someone else from winning)?  If yes, then play.

2. Do I have a chance of winning?  If yes, then play.  If no, see questions 3 and 4.

3. If I decide to eat how will not playing appear to the others (alliance and enemies), and will that hurt my game?

4. Even if I probably can't win, are there benefits to my game and my alliance in appearing to try to win?

Great list, but I'll add a 5th:

5. Even if I probably can't win, will there be harm to my game in appearing to try to win?

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, Special K said:

I think in general, the play-or-eat decision should go like this:

1. Do I need to win (either for myself or to keep someone else from winning)?  If yes, then play.

2. Do I have a chance of winning?  If yes, then play.  If no, see questions 3 and 4.

3. If I decide to eat how will not playing appear to the others (alliance and enemies), and will that hurt my game?

4. Even if I probably can't win, are there benefits to my game and my alliance in appearing to try to win?

I don't disagree but that normally doesn't stop the board from bashing people who don't play in past seasons. So the one time that some one plays who had probably didn't have a shot of winning, people are complaining that she played. I think if Janet had played people would have been cool with it, even if she didn't have a chance of winning.

I guess I just like for consistency and these type of conversations drive home the point that people look for reasons to snark on the people that they don't like regardless of the situation.

[Nashville]

37 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I don't disagree but that normally doesn't stop the board from bashing people who don't play in past seasons. So the one time that some one plays who had probably didn't have a shot of winning, people are complaining that she played. I think if Janet had played people would have been cool with it, even if she didn't have a chance of winning.

I guess I just like for consistency and these type of conversations drive home the point that people look for reasons to snark on the people that they don't like regardless of the situation.

Two points which contradict comparing this eat-or-play comp to seasons past, though:

1. The players were forewarned.  Unlike past seasons where the players had to make snap solo judgments on the playing field with little to no time for thoughtful consideration, these players had plenty of time to discuss the opportunity among themselves and engage in analysis of the alternatives.  This opportunity for coordinated analysis led to the second point...
2. The vast majority chose to sit out and eat.  Previous seasons’ eat-or-play comps rarely resulted in more than one or two people choosing to sit out and eat, and the stigma attached to such a display of (over?)confidence frequently came back to bite them on the ass at next Tribal - and why not?  When you’re scrambling for ANY rationale upon which your TC vote, being able to narrow it down immediately to the one or two people who chose to sit out can make a difficult decision very simple.   In this situation, though, the players were able to discuss and coordinate their their responses to Jeff’s offer in advance.  With the end result being an outright reversal of the historically “normal” eater:player ratio, who’s left to stigmatize them at TC?

In truth, any player stupid enough to attempt stigmatizing 3/4 of their tribemates would probably be begging to get their own torches snuffed.

[ProfCrash]

eh, I think it is more that people don't like Karishma and are looking for reasons to bitch about her. (shrugs)

Enough people have been to the Island of the Idols that there is no way that Lauren returns and people cannot figure out that Lauren has something to gain from most of them sitting out. I would be shocked if there is anyone in the game who does not know that Sandra and Rob are there and that they offer an advantage or a an idol.

This seems to be a large enough alliance that people are very comfortable with themselves and their positions and so they were just sitting down to pancakes because they are comfortable. And we all know that there is no way that many people are safe.

Anyone who is not comfortable should be competing. And that means Karishma. She got all but one vote from the tribe.  That is why Elisabeth competed, which benefited Lauren because she was one of the two people Lauren said would win.

And yes, Karishma had no chance of winning but if she had sat out everyone would be complaining that she sat out a challenge when she was at the bottom of the totem pole.

[JudyObscure]

Yes, I've criticized Karishma for a lot of things but not for playing.  To me not playing the challenges is close to not doing work around camp.  Anyone who wants to play survivor should put those things on their list of absolute minimum effort.

For one thing, I don't put much store in the advantages of eating one meal.  The meal will burn fast and probably be long gone before the next challenge, you'll likely feel hungrier the next day because of the blood sugar spike and crash, and you might even have some digestive upset to deal with.  For another thing you can't look at someone's age and muscle tone and be sure they're going to do well.  Elizabeth fell out very early!    Even someone as good at endurance challenges as Noura is subject to a cramp or a moment's distraction.

So I thought it was a fine thing that Karishma played, but her proud remarks about it 45 seconds later,  saying how she  wanted to "test myself and show what I'm made of," were typical Karishma to me. So overly proud of herself over the smallest things.  She makes me laugh though so I don't actually dislike her.

[Rachel RSL]

Have people criticized Karishma for playing?  (Not doubting you, it's just been a long week and I don't remember those comments.)  In any case, I'm with you in that I respect her for playing even if she only lasted a few seconds.  I always think that everybody should play and, while I acknowledge that it's really easy to judge people while I'm sitting at home on my couch, it doesn't stop me from judging everybody who chooses to eat instead of play every single time.

[fishcakes]

I won't criticize her for playing, but I will laugh at her Mopey Dick posture when she lost almost before Jeff finished saying, "this challenge is on."